4.6 Clause-Linking Particles: から/ので, が/けれど/のに, し & 〜たり〜たり
Key Takeaways
- から and ので both mean 'because', but から presents the speaker's own reasoning and licenses commands and volition, while ので presents the cause as an objective circumstance and is the softer, more polite choice for excuses and requests.
- ので and のに attach like な-adjectives: after a noun or な-adjective you must insert な (病気なので, 静かなのに), not だ.
- が and けれど are neutral 'but'; のに adds the speaker's surprise or dissatisfaction that the expected result failed to appear.
- のに cannot be followed by a command, request, invitation or volitional statement — that restriction is the fastest way to eliminate it in Mondai 1.
- 〜たり〜たり lists representative, non-exhaustive activities and must close with する; 〜し stacks reasons and implies there are more.
Clause-Linking Particles (接続助詞)
Case and focus particles attach to nouns. Conjunctive particles (接続助詞) attach to clauses and glue two of them into one sentence. They dominate Grammar Mondai 1, and they are the entire content of Grammar Mondai 3 (文章の文法), where a connected passage has to cohere.
Get the attachment form right before anything else — half of all mistakes here are morphological, not semantic.
1. Attachment: The な Rule
Several of these particles behave like な-adjectives, which means a noun or な-adjective in front of them needs な, never だ.
| Preceding word | から | ので | のに | が / けれど | し |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verb 行く | 行くから | 行くので | 行くのに | 行くが | 行くし |
| い-adj 高い | 高いから | 高いので | 高いのに | 高いが | 高いし |
| な-adj 静か | 静かだから | 静かなので | 静かなのに | 静かだが | 静かだし |
| Noun 病気 | 病気だから | 病気なので | 病気なのに | 病気だが | 病気だし |
Commit the middle column to memory: ので and のに take な; から, が and し take だ. ✗病気だので and ✗病気だのに are among the most reliable wrong answers on the paper.
2. から vs ので: Two Ways to Say "Because"
Both are causal. The difference is whose reasoning it is.
| から | ので | |
|---|---|---|
| Frames the cause as | The speaker's subjective reason | An objective circumstance |
| Register | More direct, more assertive | Softer, more polite, more deferential |
| Can be followed by a command, request or volitional? | Yes | Generally avoided |
| Typical use | Explaining your own judgement, answering どうして | Excuses, apologies, polite requests |
- 「危ないから、触らないでください。」 — a warning; the speaker asserts the danger. ✓
- 「頭が痛いので、早く帰らせていただけませんか。」 — an excuse presented as circumstance, paired with a humble request. ✓
- 「電車が遅れたので、遅くなりました。」 — a neutral explanation. ✓
The register point the exam rewards. When the second clause is a request to a superior, or an apology, ので is the expected answer. Using から there sounds like you are pressing your reason on the listener. When the second clause is a command or a strong suggestion (〜てください, 〜ましょう, 〜なさい), から is the safe choice.
Note also that から can answer a どうして question on its own — 「どうして来なかったんですか。」「病気だったからです。」 — while ので cannot stand alone that way.
3. が / けれど / でも / のに: Four Ways to Say "But"
| Form | Position | Force |
|---|---|---|
| 〜が | Joins clauses inside one sentence | Neutral contrast; also a neutral preface ("I'd like to ask, but…") |
| 〜けれど / 〜けど | Joins clauses inside one sentence | Same as が, more conversational (けど is the most casual) |
| でも | Starts a new sentence | Neutral contrast, spoken register |
| 〜のに | Joins clauses inside one sentence | Contrast plus the speaker's surprise, disappointment or complaint |
The のに Restriction — Your Best Elimination Tool
のに expresses that an expected outcome failed to occur, which is a comment on reality. Because of that, the clause after のに cannot be a command, request, invitation, or statement of intention.
- ✓「たくさん勉強したのに、試験に落ちました。」 (I studied a lot, but I failed — disappointment.)
- ✓「まだ五月なのに、とても暑いです。」 (It's only May, yet it's very hot — surprise.)
- ✗「高いのに、買ってください。」 → must be ✓「高いですが、買ってください。」
So in a Mondai 1 item where the second clause ends in 〜てください, 〜ましょう, 〜たいです or 〜つもりです, のに is eliminated immediately and が/けれど is the answer.
が Also Prefaces Politely
A second, purely functional use of が: opening a request or an enquiry without any contrast at all.
- 「すみません、駅へ行きたいんですが…」 (Excuse me, I'd like to get to the station…)
- 「山田ですが、田中さんはいらっしゃいますか。」 (This is Yamada — is Mr Tanaka there?)
This is extremely common in the Listening section's phone and shop dialogues, and it is not a contrast; it is a softener that hands the turn to the listener.
4. 〜し: Stacking Reasons
〜し attaches to the plain form and lists reasons with the implication that there are more.
- 「この店は安いし、おいしいし、駅からも近いです。」 (It's cheap, it's tasty, and it's near the station too.)
- 「今日は雨だし、疲れているし、出かけるのはやめます。」 (It's raining, and I'm tired, so I won't go out.)
Two exam-relevant properties:
- A single し still implies more. 「時間もないし…」 trailing off means "there's no time, and there are other reasons besides" — a very common way to decline politely without spelling everything out.
- も frequently accompanies it, reinforcing the additive sense: 「駅からも近いし」.
Compare with から: から gives the reason; し gives some of the reasons.
5. 〜たり〜たり: Representative Listing
The form is たform + り, repeated, and closed with する.
- 「日曜日は本を読んだり、映画を見たりします。」 (On Sundays I read, watch films, and so on.)
- 「昨日は掃除をしたり、洗濯をしたりしました。」 (Yesterday I cleaned and did laundry, among other things.)
Three rules that generate wrong answers when broken:
- You must close with する (します / しました / しています). ✗「読んだり、見たりです」
- The list is non-exhaustive and unordered. If the two events must happen in sequence, use 〜てから or the て-form instead: 「宿題をしてから、遊びます。」
- A single 〜たり is possible and implies unstated others: 「時々、日本の映画を見たりします。」
There is also a contrastive use with paired opposites: 「電車が来たり来なかったりで、時間が分かりません。」 (The trains come and don't come — you never know the time.)
The Confusion Set
| Form | Meaning | Order matters? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〜たり〜たりする | Representative examples | No | 読んだり書いたりします |
| 〜てから | After doing A, then B | Yes | 手を洗ってから食べます |
| て-form | Sequential or simultaneous linking | Usually | 朝起きて、顔を洗います |
| 〜ながら | Two actions at once, same subject | Simultaneous | 音楽を聞きながら勉強します |
| 〜し | Stacking reasons | No | 安いし、おいしいです |
6. Elimination Order for a Clause-Link Blank
- Read the second clause's ending first. A command, request, invitation or intention (〜てください / 〜ましょう / 〜たい / 〜つもり) rules out のに and favours が / けれど / から.
- Check the politeness of the situation. Excuse or request to a superior → ので. Warning or assertion → から.
- Check the form in front of the blank. A noun or な-adjective plus な points to ので / のに; plus だ points to から / が / し.
- Ask whether the two clauses agree or clash. Agreement → から / ので / し. Clash → が / けれど / のに.
- If several reasons are being piled up rather than one asserted, the answer is し.
Choose the correct form: 「今日は子どもの誕生日（ ）、早く帰らせていただけませんか。」
Which sentence is grammatically impossible in Japanese?
Choose the natural completion: 「休みの日は、家で音楽を聞い（ ）、近くの公園を散歩し（ ）します。」
Choose the most natural completion: 「あのレストランは値段も安い（ ）、店員さんも親切です。だから、よく行きます。」