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The following sentence appears in my textbook.

山下先生はいい先生です。教えるのが上手だし、しんせつだし。

Is the second し at the end of the sentence necessary? Does it change the meaning to omit this second し? Does the second し imply that there could also be other reasons (which are not mentioned) why 山下先生 is a good teacher?

1 Answer 1

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し has two different functions:

  1. Lists things with slight emphasis. The second し must not be added.

    彼は背が高いし足も速い。 He is tall and he can run fast.

  2. Denotes a reason.

    遅くなったし、もう帰ろう。 It's already late, so let's go back.
    だって怖かったし。 Well, coz I was scared.

し often plays these two roles simultaneously. 「お金がないし時間もないし、どこにも行きたくない。」「もう帰ろうよ。暗いし、寒いし。」 The second し in each sentence can be replaced by ので, から, etc. 「お金がないし時間もないので、どこにも行きたくない。」

Anyway, sentence-end し is usually for denoting a reason. In your case, the final し marks a reason why 山下先生 is a good teacher, referring to the previous sentence. Even if you dropped it, the sentence is still understandable, but it's not "optional".

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