から (kara) Meaning Japanese Grammar - Because

The particle から (kara) is one of the most used particles in Japanese, and it has various meanings, including because, since, from.

The two main uses of から are:

• Indicate an origin, in the sense of a starting point or place (from)
• Indicate an explanation, reason or cause of what has been said (because, because)

から is then used in various expressions, including:

• てから
• それから
• からといって
• ことから
• からには
• そばから
• からする

In this post we learn more about the meaning of から, how it is formed, and when から is used through real example sentences.

から to indicate an origin

The first use of から is to indicate the origin or starting point of something, both temporally (starting from...) and spatially (arrived from...).

In these cases から generally translates as from.

Let's see a simple example to understand this meaning:

In this sentence the particle から follows the noun 来(らい)年(ねん) next year. For this reason, から indicates that next year is the origin, the starting point of the indicated action, which in this example is begin (開(かい)始(し)する) in its polite form:

Let's also see an example where から indicates a physical starting point:

In this case から indicates a place of origin, which is placed before the particle: ニューヨーク New York.

から~まで: from one point to another

Two particles that are often associated in a sentence are から and まで:

• から indicates a point of origin (starting from...)
• まで indicates a point of arrival (...until)

Difference between から and に

The particles から and に are similar in that they can both indicate an origin. For this reason, in certain contexts it is possible to use から or に while keeping the same meaning.

Specifically, when the sentence indicates a starting point or origin, then either から or に can be used:

In this case the origin of the action is friends 友(ゆう)達(たつ), so it is possible to use both particles.

However, when the sentence does not indicate the origin of an action, then から cannot be used, but に is used:

In this example the party (パーティー) is not the point of origin, but rather indicates the destination (location) of the action. For this reason, only the particle に can be used.

In this sentence the form てもらう belonging to the giving and receiving verbs was used; Neko ‘received’ from Tanaka his presence at the party. This also implies a request from Neko to Tanaka to come to the party.

から: reason or cause

The second main use of から is to indicate a reason or cause that led to performing an action or being in a certain state.

In these cases から translates as because, since, the reason is that....

When から indicates a reason or cause it follows verbs, adjectives, and nouns. When から is preceded by an adjective in な or a noun, add だ:

Another way から can be found to indicate a reason or cause is at the end of the sentence before だ (in informal situations だ can be omitted):

から in these cases is used to say:

• Because (A), then (B)
• Why (B)? It is because (A)

The (A) part of the sentence therefore indicates the reason or cause that led to (B).

幼(よう)稚(ち)園(えん) the Kindergarten

Here is the interrogative form 何(なん)歳(さい)から that literaly means from what age? Other interesting uses of から in the article:

• 何(なん)歳(さい)から at what age, from what age
• 3歳(さい)から from the age of 3 years

We find から followed by the particle の:

3歳(さい) + から + の + 幼(よう)稚(ち)園(えん)入(にゅう)園(えん)

Anime from the 80s

If you are looking for Anime Soundtracks click アニメのサウンドトラック anime no saundotorakku or simply アニメサントラanime santora

日本(にほん)人(じん)と外(がい)国(こく)人(じん)

Literally: Image of Japanese people as seen by foreigners

てから: after having done

An expression that uses the particle から is てから. This expression consists in adding から after the て form of the previous verb:

てから is used to indicate that something starts immediately after performing another action (temporal order):

In the example we can see how the second action going out (出(で)た) follows in temporal order the first action calling (電(でん)話(わ)して).

てから implies a sense of planning or control, and emphasizes the chronological order of events.

When you do not want to emphasize the importance of the temporal order of events, you can omit the particle から and simply leave the て form:

Examples of から