Breakdown of sakuya, densya ga okurete yakusoku ni tikoku site simaimasita.

Questions & Answers about sakuya, densya ga okurete yakusoku ni tikoku site simaimasita.
- 遅れる literally means “to be late” or “to run late” for something or “to be delayed” (e.g. a train, a meeting). It focuses on the fact that something/someone doesn’t arrive or start on time.
- 遅刻する specifically means “to arrive late” for a scheduled event or appointment. It always implies you missed the start or deadline of something you were supposed to attend.
In our sentence, 電車が遅れ (“the train was delayed”) causes “I” (the speaker) to 遅刻してしまいました (“end up arriving late” for the appointment).
- が marks the subject of 遅れる (the thing doing the delaying). Here, the train itself is experiencing the delay: 電車が遅れて.
- に marks the target or point you’re late for when using 遅刻する. You’re late for the appointment, so you say 約束に遅刻して.
The construction ~てしまう (in past polite form ~てしまいました) adds a nuance of regret or unintended outcome. It shows:
1) You feel sorry about the result.
2) The action was completed (you definitely were late).
Without しまいました, the sentence would be more neutral; with it, you express “I regret I ended up late.”
They serve different roles:
- 遅れて (て-form of 遅れる) explains the cause or situation: the train was delayed.
- 遅刻して (て-form of 遅刻する) plus しまいました describes the speaker’s result or regret: you arrived late for your appointment.
Using the て-form connects cause and effect smoothly.
Yes, you can use ので to show cause:
“電車が遅れたので、約束に遅刻してしまいました。”
That’s perfectly correct. The ~て form is just a more casual/flowing way to link actions: “the train was delayed, so I ended up late.”
Yes. In casual speech, ~てしまう often contracts to ~ちゃう (and the past ~てしまった to ~ちゃった). So you’d say:
“昨夜、電車が遅れて約束に遅刻しちゃいました。”
It’s more informal and friendly.