1級 Grammar: 11-15

ADMINISTRATORS' NOTE:

We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources, and even more important that you CHECK THE COMMENTS after each post. We're lucky to receive corrections and clarifications from native speakers and other foreigners more knowledgeable than we, and they don't always make it back into the body of the post. Thanks, and 頑張って！

1級 Grammar 11-15:

Rerunning points 11-15, revised explanations and examples, hopefully less half-assed and more accurate than before.

11. ～が早いか
~ no sooner... than
~ as soon as

There are two things that seem to separate 「が早いか」 from similar ２級 points 「かと思うと」 and 「～か～ないかのうちに」. First, all of the book's examples for 「が早いか」 describe things that occur in an objectively short time span:

"As soon as she heard the news, she turned pale."
"As soon as the bell rang, the kids cleared their desks and left."
"As soon as my son had stuck his head in the door and said 「ただ今」, he dropped his backpack and ran off to play."

You can literally imagine all of these things happening in a matter of a few seconds, while the old examples for 「かと思うと」include "Christmas has just ended and it's already New Years." Or "As soon as I finish this job, the boss will give me another one." for 「～か～ないかのうちに.」 I get the sense that the old grammar points lend themselves better to subjective ideas of how fast time has passed. 「が早いか」 seems designed for things that can be objectively established as happening almost at once.

Second, according to the book sentences that include 「が早いか」 end, most often, with verbs in the past tense. The others are not so restricted.

You use it by adding it onto the dictionary form of a verb.

Ex. 散歩に行こうと決めるが早いか、雨が降ってきた。



12. ～からある
~ as many as
~ more than

「か らある」 gets defined as 「もある」, to be used especially in cases when you want to emphasize how large the number is, relatively of course. It seems straightforward enough.

Ex.言語500種類からあるインドという国は歴史が長く、深い文化を持つ国です。

13. ～きらいがある
~ to have a tendency to

I don't know whether or not it's related, but the fact that 「きらい」 is a part of this grammar point makes it easier to remember that it's only used to express a negative judgement about that tendency. Also, it's not used to talk about things like "a tendency to get sick," or a "tendency to miss work" (use ～がちだ for those), but for talking about the essential nature of a person.

Often used in the same sentence as phrases like 「ともとすると」 and 「とかく。」 Use it with the dictionary form of a verb, of following a noun + の.

Ex. インターネットで、簡単に仲間と連絡のやり取りはできるし、色んな情報をすぐ調べることもできるので、本当に便利なものだと思います。しかし僕みたいな若者は、ともするとインターネットに頼りすぎるきらいがあるでしょう。

14. ～極まる　・　～極まりない
~extremely
~ exceedingly
We've talked about 極める in our other posts. It means "to take something to the extreme," and can be used to talk about "mastering," or "perfecting" something. In this case, it only gets used negatively, and only shows up in writing, according to the book.　It expresses a very STRONG judgement.

極まりない is like a stronger version of 「嫌だ,」 or 「不愉快だ.」 It expresses the same idea.

The format for it is : （な形容詞　・　名詞１）＋極まる＋名詞２

or: 　（な形容詞　・　名詞１）＋極まる　・　極まりない　(and you can end the clause here, or add another めいし）.

This ones a bit hard, so here are some book examples.
その小説を読んでみたが、平凡極まるストーリーで、がっかりした。
I tried to read that book, but the story was so extremely cliche that I was disappointed.
電車が近づいているのに、踏切を渡るとは、危険極まりない。
Crossing the tracks while the train is approaching is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

And mine:

Ex.授業妨害や苛めなどのような失礼極まる行為を許せません。

15. ～ごとき　・　～ごとく
~ like
~ as
～のような
～のように

This is another one that is only used in writing, and is a very formal way of saying things. Besides that, it doesn't seem very difficult.

名詞　（with or withoutの）+ ごとき + 名詞

or

名詞　＋　ごとく　＋（形容詞・動詞）

Ex. 皆様のごとき日本人が私たちの変な日本語をいつも丁寧に訂正して下さることに感謝しています。

1級 Grammar 6-10

ADMINISTRATORS' NOTE:
We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources. Before you leave a comment, please check the message posted here.

Thanks, and 頑張って！

1級 Grammar 6-10:

6.　～かぎりだ
Very ~
Extremely ~
とても～
非常に～だ　と感じる

Well, well, well, かぎり... we meet again. This time, though, we find it in probably its simplest form yet - tack it onto an い-type adjective (one that describes your emotions), and voila! While it's not a very common usage, it is very easy to use. There's nothing else to it.

Ex.　彼のお嫁さんはモデルとして、大成功して、お金持ちになりました。羨ましい限りです。

7.　～が最後...
If A happens, then B will definitely happen.

Even though you're literally saying "A is last," A actually starts things off in this chain of events. And once A's gotten rolling, B can't be stopped... and B is going to be something bad. While degrees of "badness" are relative (this expression works for "Once he starts talking about movies, he won't stop," as well as "Once I push this button, the lethal injection procedure will commence."), it's generally used for special emphasis. It gets tacked onto a verb in the past tense.

Ex.　ダイエットしつつ、彼女は我慢強くなってきましたが、甘いものを食べだしたが最後、一日中食べ続けるから、最初から食べさせないほうがいい。

8.　～かたがた
while in the process of ~,
～のついでに

A very formal phrase used in letter writing or the most formal greetings. It's not that hard to understand in terms of usage, but everywhere you see it, it's bound to be surrounded by 敬語:　御 honorifics, like　お世話、 ご相談、お礼、お詫び、and formal verbs like 伺う、参る、and 致す。　We're going to post book examples on this one, because, well... I'm not capable of coming up with one that's as good as the book's on my own. :(

かたがた follows a noun.

Ex.　先日はたいへん失礼いたしました。今日はお詫びかたがたご相談に伺いました。
Ex.　この度はたいへんお世話になりました。来週にでもお礼かたがたご報告ぶまいります。

9.　～かたわら...
doing ... in addition to ~
doing ... while doing ~
～しながら

Whatever you list first is the main activity, and the second part is...secondary. But in spite of that, BOTH things are done continuously - ie jobs, volunteering, studying, etc. You would not use this phrase to say "I bought some ice cream while walking around the park."

Use with a verb in the dictionary form, or with a noun and の, like so:

Ex.　日本で就職のかたわら、日本語を勉強しています。

10.　～がてら
While A, B.
When A, B.

One of many expressions that can be essentially boiled down to しながら, but here's are the elements that set this apart:

• ～がてら is used for trivial things that are over and done with quickly, so it's the perfect choice for buying ice cream while walking around the park. You wouldn't use it for anything big or permanent.
  
• It's used when the situation in A presents the opportunity for B, like watching a movie with subtitles is a chance to learn some new vocab, or going for a jog is a chance to remember the way to the post office...
• Most of the time, A involves moving around: coming or going.

Ex.　今朝、会社に通いがてら、携帯でお母さんに誕生日のメールを入れました。

There's 5 more down. See you next time.

1級 Grammar 1-5:

ADMINISTRATORS' NOTE:
We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources. Before you leave a comment, please check the message posted here.

Thanks, and 頑張って！

1級 Grammar 1-5:

Technically we already posted 35 1級 grammar points a while ago, but we were kind of half-assing them. Now that we've got about another year of Japanese experience under our belts, and actually intend to take 1級 next year, we're going to start fresh. Bear with us while we get back up to speed.

1.　～あっての
... It's thanks to ~ that ... exists.
... would not be without ~.
... is nothing without ~.

This would be an excellent bit of grammar to incorporate into your going away speech since it is most commonly used in indicating appreciation or a indelible relationship between people or groups. "It's thanks to my family that I'm here today, I would be nothing without all of you helping me, etc." In AあってのB, B could not exist if A was removed from the equation.

Most of the examples I've come across use this to end sentences：　
AあってのBである。
AあってのBです。

The book does include one example where it's used to modify a subject, like so:
Aあっての私だと、感謝しています。

Ex.　読者の皆さんあってのデーリー四字である。ありがとうございます！また一緒に文法を勉強しましょう！

2.　～いかんだ　・　～いかんによっては
based on ~,
depending on ~,
is up to ~ ～次第だ

You should recognize ～次第だ from 2級, and while these two points are very close in meaning, I think you use ～いかんだ to talk about specific results, not decisions. "Depending on the boss's evaluation, we may or may not adopt this policy." 'Depending on your test results, you may admitted to the hospital immediately." While it might be cool to use 次第 to say "Whether or not we go on a picnic next week depends on the weather," I don't think いかんだ or いかんによっては could be used there.

The book explains: in BはAいかんだ　or AいかんによってはB sentences, B is a result that changes in accordance with the conditions of A.

In the picnic example, a picnic depends on the weather, but it's not a result of the weather. It's an independent entity. Adoption of a policy however, could not be done without the boss, or his or her evaluation. Admission to the hospital is one possible result of the medical test.

Ex.　面接の結果いかんによっては、転職はできるかもしれません。


3.　～いかんによらず　・　～いかんにかかわらず
Regardless of ~,

This one is made a lot easier if you happen to remember that にかかわらず is a grammar point all by itself. See if you can remember what it means. If not, just click the link and browse around, but it should shed some light on this usage - in this case, it reverses いかん by itself. Also, as I imagine will be the case for a lot of 1級 grammar, it falls on the formal side of Japanese.

This was a grammar point I was told is so old and formal that today, it's pretty much only used used in a phrase that means "No refunds: 理由のいかんによらず、返金されない。"　

Ex. お父様の許可いかんによらず、結婚します。


4.　～うが　・　～うが～まいが　・　～うと～まいと
Even if A~, ...
Whether A or not A, ....

The ～う in the following few points means that you're using the volitional form of a verb there. In the case of ～うが, it means "Even if A happens," as in "Even if I get home late, I always pack my lunch for the next day before going to bed."
Whip out ～うが～まいが when the occurence or non-occurence of A is irrelevant to what comes next in the sentence. You can use it to say "We're gonna go to the movies, whether or not you come," but you can also use it to say things like "Whether you come or not, it doesn't matter to me."
What's tough about this point is the nuances of the construction: In the case of AうがAまいが, the first occurence of verb A will be the volitional form, whereas the second occurence will just be plain old dictionary form (like 行こうが行くまいが).

Also, do not confuse this with the extremely similar ～うか～まいか of 2級 past. The か one is used when you're wondering about whether A should or should not be done, whereas using が or と means that neither option is changes things.

Ex.　どんなに遅くまで働こうが、部長は気づいてくれない。
Ex. 2　君は私のこと、愛してくれようがくれまいが、私は君のこと、ずっと愛する。


5.　～うにも～ない
can't do A even if you tried/wanted to do A.

For when there is something one would like to do, but can't since something is interfering. It has a pretty strong meaning, but seeing as one of the example sentences reflects on how a book is so difficult, you couldn't read it even if you tried, I'd say you can be a bit relaxed with it. Another note that Nirav reminded us of, the second occurence of the verb in this phrase should be in the potential form ( 食べられる、読める and the like).
FINALLY, it should be an external force that is preventing you from doing the thing you want to do.

Ex.　(courtesy of Nirav!) 毎日新しい四字が書きたいけど、仕事やら学校やらで忙しいから書こうにも書けない。

1級 Grammar: 21-25

ADMINISTRATORS' NOTE:

We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources, and even more important that you CHECK THE COMMENTS after each post. We're lucky to receive corrections and clarifications from native speakers and other foreigners more knowledgeable than we, and they don't always make it back into the body of the post. Thanks, and 頑張って！

1級 Grammar 21-25

My turn on the grammar bus again. This week, I'm feeling pretty good. My work life is coming together nicely, I have enough money to buy food, I'm back on a good Japanese study schedule, and most importantly, my new place is finally all furnished and habitable. Which means that I don't have to live in Brett's apartment anymore. Which means that now would be a good time for some conscience cleaning:

Confessions of a Freeloader!
居候の自白

21. ～ずにはすまない
~definitely must do
~definitely have to do

This is to be used in situations where there's room for internal debate, but in the end there's only one right thing to do. Or as the book explains, 「～しないですめばいいけれどダメだ。やはり、しなければならない」という意味。

Use it like you would with any ～ずに construction, by attaching it to the stem of a verb in ～ない form, with the exception of 「する」which becomes 「せずに」.

Ex. ブレットのアパートに泊まっていた間に、起こった事件が多すぎたので、ブレットに自白せずにはすみませんよ。

22.～そばから
~ as soon as
~right after

If you're anything like me, you're getting sick of grammar points that mean "as soon as" or "right after." There's tons of them, and it's hard to keep the nuances straight. Nonetheless, I'll attempt to explain this one.

It's used for things that happen at almost the same time, but the first part of the sentence MUST occur just before the second part. Also, the two parts should be opposite concepts, like "clean up" and "get messy," or "hear something new" and "forget it." You couldn't use it for "leave the house," and "started raining" for example.

And last, you use it for things that are habitual, not one time occurrences.

Use it with the dictionary form of verbs.

Ex.　例えば、ブレットがビールを買ったそばからそれを私が飲んでしまうことです。飲んだ後、彼に怒られないように、寝ている彼の布団の中に空き缶を放り込みました。次の日、彼が起きると、「お前がまた夜中に起きて暴飲して、酔っ払った」と私が嘘をつきました。

23. ～すら　・　ですら
~ (not) even
～さえ

Links to ～さえ will help explain this one. It means "even" or "not even" as in "Even children can understand," or "Without even water to drink," or "Not even weeds grow here." The difference between さえ and すら, is that すら is an even more formal word, used mostly in writing.

Attach it to nouns.

Ex. そしてブレットがアメリカに帰っていた２週間の間、郵便物を集めることを彼に頼まれました。しかし、手紙などが多くて、毎日集めるのが面倒くさかったので、彼のポストに、「ひらがなすら読めない外国の方がこちらに住んでいますので、郵便物を停止してください」と書きました。


24. ～ただ～のみ
~ only

「ただ～のみ」　is a formal expression or one for written use that emphasizes the sole nature of something. Use it like a very strong version of 「だけ」 or 「しかない。」

Ex. そして、彼がまだ居なかったクリスマスの頃に不在通知が届きました。「アメリカからの荷物10個を数回も配達しに参りましたが、お客様がいらっしゃらなかったので、現在、北郵便局にてお預かりしています。お渡し方法はただ取りに来て頂くのみとなっております。どうぞよろしくお願いします。」僕はその通知を彼に伝えることを忘れました。

25. ～ただ～のみならず
~ not only

Again, like many of these points, 「ただ～のみならず」 is a stronger form of more basic grammar, intended for use in writing, which make my example sentences all that much more difficult.


Ex. ある日、彼の大家さんより、メッセージも届きました。
「スタベルさんへ、
こちらのビルの部屋を借りている方は、ただスタベルさんのみならず、子供が居る家族もいらっしゃるので、夜遅くまで、パーティをしたり、音楽を流したり、風俗のお姉さんたちを呼んだりすることをご遠慮ください。
秀島大家より。」
ブレットがアメリカから戻ってこないうちに、私がそのメッセージの紙を彼の寝室で燃やしました。
伝言を伝えなかったこと、そして、あなたの家を燃やしたこと、ごめんなさい。