connective N3 common casualpolitewritten
それに — besides
それに
Meaning
- besides / on top of that / what's more — adds a further point pushing in the same direction as the one before it
Key sentence
この店は安い。それに料理もおいしい。
This place is cheap. Besides, the food is good too.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| sentence-initial, joining to the preceding sentence | [statement A]。それに [statement B]。 | 近い。それに静かだ |
Examples
今日は寒い。それに風も強い。
It's cold today. On top of that, the wind is strong too.
彼は親切だ。それに頭もいい。
He's kind, and what's more, he's smart.
When you can't use it
- それに piles on a point in the SAME direction (both good, or both bad); it cannot introduce a contrast — for 'and yet' use それなのに, for a plain 'but' use しかし.
Easily confused with
そして そして chains events in sequence ('and then'); それに simply adds another supporting point ('and besides'), with no sense of time order. その上 Both add 'on top of that'. それに is the everyday spoken form; その上 is a touch more formal and often marks the added point as more striking. それなのに それに adds something in the same direction; それなのに flips direction to a result that contradicts the expectation.
Notes
- Very common in casual speech to stack reasons: 高いし、それに遠い ('it's expensive, and besides it's far').
See それに in real sentences
Jengo shows それに the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.