Use of で in 小川さんは語学が得意で、フランス語もイ夕リア語もできます


In 'All About Particles', I have come across the sentence:

> 小川さんは語学が得意で、フランス語もイ夕リア語もできます。
>
> (Ogawa is good at languages, he can speak both French and Italian.)

What is the use of で in this sentence? I can kind of understand it as placing
the second part in context, however I would have used です, would that also
work?




で like this is essentially the conjunctive form of です. You can make two
separate statements: 「Aです。Bです。」 Or you can make one statement that combines
the two: 「Aで、Bです。」In this usage pattern, as you note, the A part provides the
context, and the で functions a bit like the English " **it is** A **and** it
is B".




で like this is essentially the conjunctive form of です. You can make two
separate statements: 「Aです。Bです。」 Or you can make one statement that combines
the two: 「Aで、Bです。」In this usage pattern, as you note, the A part provides the
context, and the で functions a bit like the English " **it is** A **and** it
is B".

