～て vs ～てから for sequencing activities


This is potentially much simpler than I'm expecting but when simply ordering
events within a sequence are there any contextual differences between using ～て
and ～てから?

For example, if I was talking about my morning routine and wanted to say I eat
breakfast and then brush my teeth I could say it using either ～て or ～てから.

> 毎朝、朝ごはんを食べ **て** 歯を磨きます。  
>  Every morning I eat breakfast and brush my teeth.
>
> 毎朝、朝ごはんを食べ **てから** 歯を磨きます。  
>  Every morning I brush my teeth AFTER I eat breakfast.

My interpretation is that meaning wise, these two sentences are essentially
the same, first I eat my breakfast then I brush my teeth. Is this correct?
Does ～てから place emphasis on one of the two events over the other or are these
just two different ways of saying the same thing? How are these sentences
different? In a situation like this why would I choose one over the other, is
it simply a stylistic choice? Is there some nuance I'm missing here?




This question is trickier than it may appear to many Japanese learners and
here is why.

OP's first sentence means what s/he stated in English not only because 「て」 was
used but also because the two activities happen to be those that physically
could **not** take place simultaneously -- " **brush teeth** " and " **eat**
".

「て」 can certainly signify the sequence of activities, but it can also signify
" **juxtaposition** ".

See definition 一-5 in
[デジタル大辞泉「て」](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%A6?dic=daijisen&oid=12537100)

This means that if the two activities chosen to form the example sentences had
been " **eat breakfast** " and " **watch TV** ", which could easily be
performed simultaneously, the 「て」 would have been ambiguous in function and
meaning. If one of those two activities still took place before the other,
using 「てから」 would have been the only possible choice in order to clarify the
sequence.

We would often say something like:

> [朝]{あさ}はいつも[朝]{あさ}シャンして、コーヒー[飲]{の}んで、[新聞読]{しんぶんよ}んで・・・みたいな[感]{かん}じかなあ。

When a native Japanese speaker says this, the 「て/で」(depends on verb) would
often be for juxtaposition, and not necessarily for sequence. The three
activities mentioned could take place in any order.

That is the difference between 「～～て」 and 「～～てから」.

＊「朝シャン」 is a slangy/colloquial word for "shampoo in the morning".




This question is trickier than it may appear to many Japanese learners and
here is why.

OP's first sentence means what s/he stated in English not only because 「て」 was
used but also because the two activities happen to be those that physically
could **not** take place simultaneously -- " **brush teeth** " and " **eat**
".

「て」 can certainly signify the sequence of activities, but it can also signify
" **juxtaposition** ".

See definition 一-5 in
[デジタル大辞泉「て」](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%A6?dic=daijisen&oid=12537100)

This means that if the two activities chosen to form the example sentences had
been " **eat breakfast** " and " **watch TV** ", which could easily be
performed simultaneously, the 「て」 would have been ambiguous in function and
meaning. If one of those two activities still took place before the other,
using 「てから」 would have been the only possible choice in order to clarify the
sequence.

We would often say something like:

> [朝]{あさ}はいつも[朝]{あさ}シャンして、コーヒー[飲]{の}んで、[新聞読]{しんぶんよ}んで・・・みたいな[感]{かん}じかなあ。

When a native Japanese speaker says this, the 「て/で」(depends on verb) would
often be for juxtaposition, and not necessarily for sequence. The three
activities mentioned could take place in any order.

That is the difference between 「～～て」 and 「～～てから」.

＊「朝シャン」 is a slangy/colloquial word for "shampoo in the morning".

