2級 Grammar 151-155

If we manage to stay on track, it looks like we only have four more weeks before we've exhausted the grammar points of our book of choice. Which is good, since we only have about 7 or 8 weeks until the test. For those of your reading this with the test in mind, it would be a good idea to click on the "2 kyuu" tag at the bottom of this post. It will automatically call up ALL of our grammar posts for your perusal, making it a pretty sweet study guide. Also, if anybody declares their interest, I'm in the process of making an anki deck that includes all of these grammar points. Pretty swish, huh?

If you don't know what anki is, check it out here. I'm normally pretty lax at reviewing a lot of things, largely because I don't have a good system for it and I feel like sitting down without a set goal just makes me bored and/or frustrated. But the nice thing about anki is it lets you set your own daily goals and whatnot, not to mention edit and synch your cards. Go check it out if you're in need of a good computer-based review system.

All that out of the way, this last weekend I went to the Tokyo Game Show, a trip I had also made last year. It's fun for a lot of reasons, but it's also just as taxing - if not more so - than it is entertaining. And I'll tell you why.

151)　～はともかく　・　～はともかくとして
Right now ~ isn't the issue/problem/concern/reason, it's ...
Putting ~ aside, ...

I'm having trouble coming up with an apt English translation for this phrase. The idea is that you are talking about two things that are somehow related, but the first thing you mentioned is not the current subject or point of interest. What you write AFTER it is.

Ex. TGS (Tokyo Game Show)の出席者達は、ヲタクともかくとして、あんまり洗わない人が多すぎると思う。僕が気にしなかったんですが、つれた友達はずっと体臭について文句言った。


152)　～はもちろん
~is a given, but .... is also true.
Not only ~, but also ...

This one is best explained with examples, but I'll hazard more forms speculation anyway. The word you mention before this phrase is something that should be obvious, and the things that follow it are less so. Both things are nouns. BEHOLD.

Ex.　TGS言えばゲームはもちろん、ブースベーブと言うモデルやライブ演奏もある。


153)　～はもとより
Not only ~, but ....

This one is almost exactly like the previous はもちろん, with the addition that whatever phrase you use after this expression has more emphasis. Not to say the above can't be the same way, but はもとより　stresses that point even more.

Ex.　そのゲームショーに行きたいなら、旅行時間はもとより線で待ち時間も我慢できないぐらいある。


154)　～反面　（～半面） (both read as "はんめん")
On one hand, ~, on the other, ....

Another nice cleancut grammar point. You use this to string together two contradictory aspects of the same thing, LIKE SO.

Ex.　TGSで四回目のコスプレできました！コスプレするごとは楽しい反面仮装を作ることが難しい。


155)　～べき　・　～べきではない
~should/must and shouldn't/mustn't, respectively

Another one I knew from a long time ago, if only from hearing "守るべき" a MILLION times in as many different anime. And since you just tack it onto a dictionary form of a verb, usage couldn't be easier.

Ex.　ゲームが好きと日本に住むなら、一回少なくともTGSを見に行くべきだ。しかしその一回は多分もう十分です。

I should be adding some pictures once I upload them. BRETT, OUT!