Is V-て + は used to connect the two clauses of the following sentence with a conditional relationship, a causal relationship or a different one?


I came across the following sentence in my textbook when studying the grammar
point Verb -て + ばかり + いる.

「そんなに働いてばかりい **ては** 病気になりますよ。」

The role of ばかり is clear, I just included it to give context and keep the
sentence as it appears in the book. **I would like to figure out if this
sentence is a condition (A), a causality (B) or something else (C).**

* * *

## **A: Conditional hypothesis**

I understand (i.e. _I guess it means_ ) the original sentence above as "If you
keep working like that, you will get sick" but if I had to formulate the
sentence in my own words, I would say either of the following sentences:

  1. 「そんなに働いてばかり **いたら** 病気になりますよ。」
  2. 「そんなに働いてばかり **いると** 病気になりますよ。」

* * *

## **B: Causal hypothesis**

Another possibility I have thought of is that this Verb -て is conveying a
causal relationship between the clauses:

「そんなに働いてばかりい **て** 、病気になりました。」

meaning "You keep working like that so you get sick". However, it is clunky
because I have only seen that grammar used in past tenses and I am not sure
whether it could be used with present or future tense clauses such as
「病気になります」.

* * *

## **C: I don't have a clue hypothesis**

Did I miss something important? Maybe the sentence has a different meaning
whatsoever?

Thank you very much!




Vては is a grammar that has two usages.

Firstly, according to my source it is used "to express if or since something
will or has happened." Therefore it conveys condition and it can also be used
with adjectives (いAdjくては、なAdj + では) and nouns (N+では). For example,
「こんなに雨が降っては、買い物ができないな。」

Secondly and interestingly, the grammar has a second usage that fits well in
the sentence I posted, particularly because ばかり means "keeping doing
something". The usage is V1ては〜V2 and "it represents a continuous or repetitive
pattern between those two verbs". For instance,
「子どもの頃、姉とケンカしては、母に叱られたものだ。」(When I was a kid, I would often get scolded by my
mom for fighting with my older sister).

So while I have not determined yet which of the usages is being used in the
original sentence (maybe both nuances are present and its just ok this way) I
think that the original sentence can be understood as a conditional. In this
case, the ては grammar is reinforcing the idea of repetition conveyed with ばかり
while making the sentence a conditional one.

source: [https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/ては-では-tewa-
dewa/](https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-
grammar/%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AF-%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF-tewa-dewa/)




Vては is a grammar that has two usages.

Firstly, according to my source it is used "to express if or since something
will or has happened." Therefore it conveys condition and it can also be used
with adjectives (いAdjくては、なAdj + では) and nouns (N+では). For example,
「こんなに雨が降っては、買い物ができないな。」

Secondly and interestingly, the grammar has a second usage that fits well in
the sentence I posted, particularly because ばかり means "keeping doing
something". The usage is V1ては〜V2 and "it represents a continuous or repetitive
pattern between those two verbs". For instance,
「子どもの頃、姉とケンカしては、母に叱られたものだ。」(When I was a kid, I would often get scolded by my
mom for fighting with my older sister).

So while I have not determined yet which of the usages is being used in the
original sentence (maybe both nuances are present and its just ok this way) I
think that the original sentence can be understood as a conditional. In this
case, the ては grammar is reinforcing the idea of repetition conveyed with ばかり
while making the sentence a conditional one.

source: [https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/ては-では-tewa-
dewa/](https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-
grammar/%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AF-%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF-tewa-dewa/)

