syukudai wo site, sorekara nemasu.

Questions & Answers about syukudai wo site, sorekara nemasu.

What does do after 宿題?

marks 宿題 as the direct object of the verb する.

So in 宿題をする, the thing being “done” is 宿題.

This pattern is very common in Japanese:

  • 勉強をする = to study
  • 仕事をする = to do work
  • 運動をする = to exercise

In casual speech, people sometimes drop and say 宿題して, but 宿題をして is the clearer and more standard form.

Why is する changed to して?

して is the て-form of する.

The て-form is used for several things in Japanese, and one very common use is linking actions together. In this sentence, it connects:

  1. 宿題をして = doing homework
  2. それから寝ます = then sleeping

So the structure is basically:

  • [first action in て-form] + [next action]

For する, the て-form is irregular:

Why is the first verb not します? Why is only 寝ます in polite form?

In Japanese, when you connect verbs, usually only the final verb carries the tense and politeness.

So:

  • 宿題をして、寝ます

means the whole sentence is polite because the final verb is 寝ます.

The earlier verb appears in て-form, not in polite form:

  • して, not します

This is completely normal. You do not say:

  • 宿題をします、寝ます
    if you mean to connect the actions in this way.

Instead, the natural linked form is:

  • 宿題をして、寝ます
What does それから do here?

それから means something like after that, and then, or then.

It makes the sequence of actions very clear:

  • first: do homework
  • after that: sleep

So it adds an explicit sense of order.

Without それから, the sentence still works:

  • 宿題をして、寝ます。

That already suggests one action followed by another.

Adding それから just makes the transition more obvious and natural in many contexts.

Does this sentence mean I finish the homework before sleeping?

Yes, that is the natural interpretation.

The combination of:

  • 宿題をして
  • それから
  • 寝ます

strongly suggests a sequence:

  1. do homework
  2. then sleep

In other words, the homework comes first, and sleeping happens afterward.

Japanese て-form by itself can connect actions in sequence, and それから strengthens that sequential meaning even more.

Could I say 宿題をしてから、寝ます instead?

Yes, absolutely.

宿題をしてから、寝ます means I will sleep after doing my homework.

This is very close in meaning to:

  • 宿題をして、それから寝ます

The difference is mainly in structure and nuance:

  • 〜て、それから… = do A, and then do B
  • 〜てから… = after doing A, do B

So 〜てから focuses more directly on B happening after A.

Both are natural.

Can それから be omitted?

Yes.

You can simply say:

  • 宿題をして、寝ます。

This is already natural and understandable.

Adding それから gives a stronger sense of then / after that. So:

  • 宿題をして、寝ます。 = I do homework and sleep.
  • 宿題をして、それから寝ます。 = I do homework, and then I sleep.

The second one sounds a bit more explicit about the order.

Where is the subject? Does this mean I?

Japanese often leaves out the subject when it is obvious from context.

So even though there is no word for I, the sentence is naturally understood as something like:

  • I do my homework, and then I go to sleep.

In Japanese, saying the subject every time can sound unnecessary. If needed, you could add it:

  • 私は宿題をして、それから寝ます。

But in many situations, 私は is omitted.

Why is there a comma after して?

The comma shows a pause between the two parts of the sentence:

  • 宿題をして、
  • それから寝ます。

It helps readability and reflects the break between the connected actions.

In Japanese, punctuation is somewhat flexible, so you may see:

  • 宿題をしてそれから寝ます。
  • 宿題をして、それから寝ます。

Both are possible, but the comma is very common and makes the sentence easier to read.

Why are there spaces between the words here? Does Japanese normally use spaces like this?

No. Normal Japanese writing usually does not use spaces between words.

So this sentence would normally be written as:

  • 宿題をして、それから寝ます。

The spaces in learning materials are often added to make the structure easier for beginners to see:

  • 宿題 / を / して / それから / 寝ます

But in real Japanese text, those spaces are usually not there.

Is 寝ます specifically go to sleep, or just sleep?

In many everyday contexts, 寝ます is understood as go to bed / go to sleep.

The basic verb 寝る covers the idea of lying down to sleep or sleeping. In a sentence like this, where someone is listing evening actions, English often translates it naturally as:

  • go to bed
  • go to sleep
  • sometimes just sleep

So the exact English wording depends on context, but grammatically it is the polite form of 寝る.

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How do verb conjugations work in Japanese?
Japanese verbs conjugate based on tense, politeness, and mood. For example, the polite present form adds ‑ます to the verb stem, while the past tense uses ‑ました. Unlike English, Japanese verbs don't change based on the subject — the same form works for "I", "you", and "they".

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