At a glance
それで starts a second sentence that is the result of the first one. It means "so" or "that's why" and works in polite and casual speech.
文A。それで、文B。
昨日は熱がありました。それで、学校を休みました。 I had a fever yesterday. So I stayed home from school.
How to form it
それで is a connector. 文A gives the cause, and 文B, which starts with それで, gives the result.
| Where it goes | Example | Register |
|---|---|---|
| Start of 文B, after 文A ends with 。 | 熱がありました。それで、休みました。 | Polite and casual |
| Start of a reply, using what the other person said as 文A | それで遅れたんですね。 | Polite and casual |
| Alone, to ask someone to go on | それで？ | Casual |
A comma after それで is common but not required.