"I eat the meal, and drink tea."

Translation: ごはんを食べて、それからおちゃをのみます。

[Jenya320003]

I thought それから meant "after that". The english sentence makes me feel like the eating and drinking happen at the same time.
Doesn't the japanese sentence mean they happen one after the other?

[Rhiaaaaannon]

You're right.
"I eat the meal, and drink tea." → ご飯を食べてお茶を飲みます。
I eat the meal, and then I eat tea → ごはんを食べて、それからおちゃをのみます。
would be how I interpret the sentences.

[Tripp1n]

I though this too. I reported it.

ご飯を食べて、お茶を飲みます。
This should be right I think ^

[MaynardHogg]

Yes, a simple "then" would decrease the ambiguity and lameness.

[LoriQuaid]

I expected to see そして for "and". I'm also unclear as to why the TE form is being used for "I eat".

[Tripp1n]

Hello! The "te" form is used when listing multiple actions, so "and" is implied and not needed here.

[Poryjohn-Z]

Thank you for the explanation! Super helpful

[MaynardHogg]

Indeed. Plain 食べ was my first choice. REJECTED.

それから、「食べてから」にしてみました。REJECTED.

[MaynardHogg]

I don't why I bothered—the "English" sentence is so lame (放送禁止用語)—but I tried a few variations.

REJECTED: 食後、お茶を飲みます。

REJECTED: 食事してから、お茶を飲みます。

REJECTED: ご飯を食べてから、お茶を飲みます。

REJECTED: ご飯を食べ、お茶を飲みます。

REJECTED: ご飯を食べ、それからお茶を飲みます。

ACCEPTED: ご飯を食べて、それからお茶を飲みます。

REJECTED: 食後、お茶を飲みます。

REJECTED: 食事してから、お茶を飲みます。

REJECTED: ご飯を食べてから、お茶を飲みます。

REJECTED: ご飯を食べ、お茶を飲みます。

REJECTED: ご飯を食べ、それからお茶を飲みます。

ACCEPTED: ご飯を食べて、それからお茶を飲みます。

[Sapphiresflame]

I expected to see 料理 here instead of ご飯. I thought ご飯 was "rice", not "meal" lol

[MaynardHogg]

You haven't been paying close enough attention. ご飯やメシ are synonymous with "meal." So much so that Japanese hospitals serve rice three times a day. Every two weeks, we got noodles for lunch. Still 75% carbs, though.