～て (Non-Sequence)Non-sequence, And, But (Contrast), Parallel action/state

One of the common functions that the conjunction particle て has, is that it can contrast things that share some sort of relationship. This is similar to the contrastive use of は. In order to identify this nuance of て, we will need to think about whether the things being described are happening one after the other, or are simply describing '(A), and then (B)'. Let's look at some examples.

Due to this 'contrast' that is shown with て, sometimes it is translated as 'while (A), also (B)'. The primary difference between this nuance of て, and other 'while' or 'but' grammar points, is that (A) and (B) will always have equal weight/importance in a て sentence. Comparatively, structures like けど, のに, だが and similar points will usually imply that either (A) or (B) is more important in some way.