Hello, denizens of the net, and welcome to another thrilling installment of The Daily Yoji!So! It looks like I didn't make good on a lot of the promises of the previous posts. To be completely honest, I really lost track of time last week. And not in the "goodness gracious, is it tea time already? Jeeves, fetch the scones, we've company en route!" sense of the word, but in the "wha...what day is it today? Where am I? I don't remember putting on these pants this morning..." meaning. Some of you might have noted posts went up on days they weren't supposed to, and that was just one symptom of my losing synchronization with reality. What can I say: things here have been pretty busy. With the balloon festival coming up, Saga was working all cylinders, meaning I - after 2 years spreading my roots - was, too. Even this three day weekend that just finished up was more tiring than relaxing.
All that being said, I apologize for the delay, and I know this next week might be a little crazy, too. If not for me, then at least for anybody in America. Why? Election Day.
171) ～ものなら
If だれだれ were able to ~,
If だれだれ could ~,
You tack this on to the potential (ie. 行ける, 食べられる, etc) form of verbs, and it expresses something you would like to do, but probably won't be able to.
Ex. アメリカに投票できるものなら、絶対オバマと票する。しかし不在投票まだ来なかったので。。。
172) ～ものの
~, but...
although ~, ...
~のに
I'm not sure how this differs from ~のに, but I'm going to hazard a guess and say...formality? Expert-on-Japanese commenters - ACTIVATE.
Ex. オバマは投票結果でかっているものの、十一月の五日までなんか緊張する。。。
173) ～たいものだ
always wanted to ~
always dreamed of ~
When there's something you've always wanted to do or always wished would happen, this is the grammar point for you. It doesn't work for short periods of longing, but rather long-felt desires and dreams.
Ex. ブッシュは投票されたから、僕はずっと民主党な大統領がいる時代に帰りたいものだ。
174) ～ようがない
There's no way one can ~
~ can't be done.
~できない
The format for this one: verb ます形, minus the "ます", plus ようがない. Besides that, the definition speaks for itself.
Ex. もしマケインが投票されたら、アメリカは世界の人々の尊敬をもらいようがない。
175) ～ように
in order to ~,
for ~,
~ために
Again, I'm pretty sure anybody who has taken 3級 will recognize this one. Some important usage hints: the ~ will be for something the speaker cannot control, but they're making their efforts regardless. Also, potential and negative forms of verbs pop up a lot with this one. Class dismissed!
Ex. 安心と予報するように、毎日 www.pollster.com を見てる。やりすぎるかな。。。
A quick note: it just occurred to me that there are, statistically, some people who read this who are probably very conservative-minded. My goal with these examples is never to be inflammatory or to turn readers away, but usually just to get some practice in by stating what's on my mind. Seeing as the past few months have been pretty exhaustive topic-wise, and that today is election day, I hope you'll let it slide. And besides - it should help a little that despite all my partisan example sentences, I still won't manage to get to vote due to an absentee ballot blunder.
On the other hand, if you're a bit more left-leaning - sorry!
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