# Connecting two actions with "and"



## ryanshanabarger

Hello. I am trying to learn how to use "and" to connect two actions in Japanese. Please respond in hiragana (I've been studying japanese for 5 days, so I don't know kanji). 

For instance:

The boy is eating and reading a book.

I read alot of entries about different "and" words, and I think I've narrowed it down to そして or the "te" form of verbs (which I understand less because I haven't learned conjugation yet). 

Would this work:

おとこのこはたべてそしてほのをよんでいます 。

otokonoko-wa tabete soshite hon wo yonde imasu. 

Thanks for your help!!

Ryan


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## 涼宮

Hello!

You don't use そして with the te-form together, you must use one of those. The usual connector would be the te-form for connecting actions.

おとこのこはたべて、ほんをよんでいます。

This would be the usual way.

I would say that そして is more like a ''next'' or '' and then'', ''after that''. Not a plain ''and''. 

But you can perfectly say:

おとこのこはたべている。そしてほんをよんでいる。


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## ryanshanabarger

涼宮 said:


> But you can perfectly say:
> 
> おとこのこはたべている。そしてほんをよんでいる。



So this would mean "The boy ate. And (after that) he read a book."?

Can you explain what the "te" form of a verb is? I guess the word "eating" that I learned (たべて) is already in the "te" form... But what about the other verbs I've learned like よんで or のんで？

Also, why would some verbs like "eating" and "running" be in the "te" form if they AREN'T being used to connect two actions? Like I learned "おとこのこはたべています。" as aseparate sentence, but it is using the "and - te" form why?

どもありがとございます！


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## Flaminius

Hi,

Welcome to the WR forums!

As you have probably read in your textbook, connecting verb phrases is done by different methods from the one for connecting nouns.  Methods of connection differ according to the relationship between the two verbs.

Now, with your following sentence, I'd like some clarification.


> The boy is eating and reading a book.


Is eating here for having meal?  Unless self-evident from the context, I am more at ease using the Japanese verb 食べる with an explicit object.

 I think a natural Japanese sentence would have the focus on one verb and mention the other as the background for it.  It's probably awkward to use the construction as Suzu's because it's a pure juxtaposition.  So, which do you prefer?  eat while reading? or read while eating?



> どもありがとございます


The phrase should have two long O's, so it should be:
*どう*もありが*とう*ございます


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## ryanshanabarger

I'm trying to describe a boy, sitting at his kitchen table, chewing a sandwhich while he reads a book. "The boy is eating and reading."

*どう*もありが*とう*ございます ------> So this is how you write "domo arigato gozaimasu"?


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## Flaminius

Eating is eating meal.  Understood.
男の子はご飯を食べながら本を読んでいます。 OR
男の子は本を読みながらご飯を食べています。

Use the adverbial form plus _-nagara_ in order to set the background (while) against which the main verb takes place continually.

The problem with "domo arigato" is that it cannot distinguish the short vowel from the long one.  It's always good to check what the  transcription look like in the original script.


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## ryanshanabarger

I think in need to wait to use this forum until I know more. Everyone's answers are confusing me more than before I asked haha! I need to talk to people used to teaching people who've only been studying for a week 

But I thank you very much for your help all the same.


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## Flaminius

Well, *ryanshanabarger*, I think "and" for verbs is one of the things that Japanese teachers are reluctant to discuss with beginning students.   Anyway, it won't take much time until you get to understand what's being discussed here.


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## ryanshanabarger

Flaminius said:


> Well, *ryanshanabarger*, I think "and" for verbs is one of the things that Japanese teachers are reluctant to discuss with beginning students.   Anyway, it won't take much time until you get to understand what's being discussed here.



Well for now I think I'll use the (sentence 1) . (soshite +sentence 2) form. It might not be perfect or sound very good, but I think it'll get the idea across until I can learn other ways. 

おとのこはたべています。そしてほんをよんでいます。


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## 涼宮

Flaminius said:


> The problem with "domo arigato" is that it cannot distinguish the short vowel from the long one.  It's always good to check what the  transcription look like in the original script.



I'd rather say it is because many people romanize Japanese badly and forget about the long vowels, it should be romanized as doumo arigatou or doomo arigatoo

Ryan, it is not exactly that the answers are too confusing but rather that the topic of ''and'' is not simple in Japanese and that you need more complicated things to express simple things, sorry but that's how Japanese works. Flaminius used ながら to tell you how to say that 2 actions happen at the same having the same doer, but to use ながら you need to know the verb's stem, which is very used. I think that that is not a topic for someone who has begun Japanese 5 days ago. 

To express a gerund or continuous action you always use the te-form + いる. So たべる (infinitive) to eat; たべている = eating. As simple as that, it doesn't have to do with connecting sentences. 

Not because it is called te-form the verb will always end in て it can also be ～で. So, よんで、のんで are also in the te-form.

You should not try to get into the te-form yet if you just begun studying Japanese. Pick simpler topics


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## ryanshanabarger

To express a gerund or continuous action you always use the te-form + いる. So たべる (infinitive) to eat said:


> Can it also be te-form + います。?
> Or is it really always te-form + いる?


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## 涼宮

Yes, it can be います. Japanese has 4 degrees of formality. います is simply the formal form of いる.  All verbs have a formal form. But you will always find in the dictionary the dictionary/informal/infinitive form.


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