...as well as a few grammar points to help you in dealing with said crab.36) ~くらい, ~ぐらい, ~くらいだ, ~ぐらいだ.
about ~,
something is so *blank*, that it's approximately ~.
The usage here is cake: Just add it to the dictionary form of either verbs or adjectives, and you're in business. The key thing to remember is that it's used for assessing the level of something that has already been measured, so a "何々くらい" sentence will be meaningless without context.
Writing down the English definition to this one is kind of ridiculous to do without examples, but it's just a slight adaptation of the "くらい" we all know and love. It's used to help demonstrate the level of something. One way it differs from "みたい" or other phrases, though, is that it's meant to give practical clarification. ie leave your metaphors and hyperbole at the door.
Ex. その強大な敵蟹はでかくて、体育館に入らないくらいだ！
37) ~げ
looks ~
seems ~
appears ~
This one is almost just like ~そう, with the important distinction that it's only applicable for emotions or mental states. It's also useful in that it's more grammatically functional. To suit up an adjective for -げ, remove the "い" and add the "げ". then you can finish it off with a "です", make it an adverb with a "に + verb", or pair it with a "な + noun".
Ex. そのカニやろうが血も凍るほど恐ろしく叫んでも、そいつの目はなんとなく淋しげだ...
38) ~こそ
~は
~も
The easiest way to think of this one is like italics. You use it in place of は or も when you REALLY want to emphasize what you're talking about.
Ex. ソビエトロシアでは、カニこそがお前を食べる！
39) ~ことか
Isn't it ~!
What a ~!
How ~!
This is another way of adding emphasis to something, and is unique in that it is particularly structured to go along with phrases starting with "何~", "なんと", "どんなに" and the like.
Ex. そのかにを倒したら、どんなにすばらしくてうまい御馳走になることか。。。
40) ~ことから
Due to fact that ~,
Because ~,
This is a replacement of the "ので" form with a few nuances. Whereas "ので" could make loose cause-and-effect ties, "ことから" is more of a matter of fact. This is the way things are, or the reason they should be this way. Remember that if you want to end the causative sentence in a noun or な-type adjective, you have to put a だった between it and the ことから.
Ex. 昔の日本人は巨大なカニに困らされていたことから、カニを大きくならないうちに食べてしまう習慣が生まれた。
Note: Thanks to Nirav for some clarifications and sexing up some of the example sentences. 君はプライメリ！
2 comments:
38 - Instead of に that should be a では (食べる being an action verb - though I'm sure I don't have to tell this to the champion).
39 - (Not that your example is wrong!) Often times this form is used to express some kind of wish - "If only I could kill this crab, what a feast that would be!" あのカニを倒せたらどんなにすばらしいご馳走になることか・・・ You might consider this usage when you want to preserve the overwhelming-ness of the crab, seeing as how I wouldn't expect it to be so easily defeated. Also, this sentence is さすがチャンピオン！
40) I don't know if I'd use the phrase "clear-cut replacement" for this and ので. Seems to me that ことから is a more matter-of-fact, this is why things are the way they are (or this is why things should be a certain way) sort of thing. Not always a salient distinction, but useful to remember sometimes. In that vein, I might change your example sentence to read something like: 昔の日本人は巨大なカニに困らされていたことから、カニを大きくならないうちに食べてしまう習慣が生まれた。
Hey, thanks for the help! I struggled a lot with that ~ことから sentence since I had the feeling that there was another meaning snuck into it, but I couldn't figure it out just with my grammar book's description. EDDIITTTEEDDD!
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