それから details
Examples
and then; after that — the next event or step in a sequence
まず宿題やっちゃうね。それから、ゲームする。
mazu shukudai yatchau ne. sorekara, geemu suru.
I'll knock out my homework first. And then I'll play games. casual
材料を全部切ります。それから、弱火で三十分煮ます。
zairyou o zenbu kirimasu. sorekara, yowabi de sanjuppun nimasu.
Cut all the ingredients. After that, simmer them on low heat for thirty minutes. neutral
and also — tacks one more item onto a list just given
コーヒーを二つ、それからチーズケーキもお願いします。
koohii o futatsu, sorekara chiizukeeki mo onegai shimasu.
Two coffees, and a cheesecake as well, please. neutral
恐れ入りますが、当日は身分証と印鑑、それから住民票をご持参ください。
osoreirimasu ga, toujitsu wa mibunshou to inkan, sorekara juuminhyou o go jisan kudasai.
Sorry to trouble you, but on the day please bring identification, your seal, and also a copy of your residence record. formal
Formation
それから、clauseattaches to plain clauseN、それからNattaches to noun phrase (schematic)
Notes
ordinary time expressions: それからずっと (ever since), それから三年
(three years after that), それからは (from then on).
Related patterns
Similar
てから subordinates the first event to a verb inside one sentence and makes it the precondition for the second (お金を入れてから、ボタンを押します); それから is a free word standing before the next step and claims order alone, which is why a spoken list of steps runs on それから instead of stacking てから.
Both carry a narrative forward, but それから only claims the next thing came next, while それで claims the previous sentence CAUSED it — swapping それで into a bare list of steps invents a causal link the speaker never made.
そして only claims the next thing belongs with the last one, so between two clauses it links states as readily as events (安い。そして、うまい); それから between two CLAUSES recruits temporal order, so forcing it between two simultaneous facts asserts a sequence that isn't there — order-free それから survives only in item lists (コーヒー、それからケーキ).
Lookalikes
Both end in から and it is a different から each time — それから reads それ as a starting POINT IN TIME ("from there on"), while だから is the copula だ plus から the reason particle; それから、休んだ says the rest came next, だから、休んだ says it came as a consequence.