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How to say "succession of actions" (linguistics) in Japanese?

The context here is linguistics, as for instance, "The conjunct "and" is used to express a succession of actions".

I found that 'succession' is said 連続 and I bet it is the correct word for this expression. But I can't find the correct word for 'action' here. From different searches on Google, I found some instances of "作用の連続" or "アクションの連続", but I don't know, it seems it is not so common.

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I don't know the technical term, but just as a Japanese phrase, the most likely is 連続した動作. 動作の連続 may work as well. The difference between the two is the emphasis is on action in the former, succession in the latter.

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  • Just after publishing my question, I found the word 行動 used in a linguistic context. Would 行動の連続 be ok?
    – Starckman
    Dec 28, 2022 at 12:48
  • @starckman Yes, the same applies to 連続した行動/行動の連続. (To me, however, these sound less idiomatic than 連続した動作/動作の連続.)
    – sundowner
    Dec 28, 2022 at 12:54
  • What is the difference between 行動 and 動作 then?
    – Starckman
    Dec 28, 2022 at 13:15
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    @starckman 行動/動作 is like action/movement. 行動 feels like including the will of the acter. When it is about objective description, 動作 sounds better to me.
    – sundowner
    Dec 28, 2022 at 14:13
  • Ok, thank you very much!
    – Starckman
    Dec 28, 2022 at 14:38
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As a linguistic term, we say 継起【けいき】 (literally: "successive occurrence").

For example, from a random English learning website:

2-1. 継起「～して」

Taking a key out f my bag, I opened the box. 私はかばんから鍵を取り出して、その箱を開けた。

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  • Thank you very much. In which case must I use 継起 and in which case 動作の連続?
    – Starckman
    Dec 29, 2022 at 6:38
  • @starckman I never heard of 動作の連続 in grammatical discussion. It'd be closer to saying "an action after another" in English.
    – broccoli forest
    Dec 30, 2022 at 9:05

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