2級 Grammar 136-140

Two weeks in a row on grammar, I've picked back up on all my kanji studies, and I've got four other posts for this site coming. I'm back on my Japanese study game and all thanks to how incredibly unemployed I am. Man it was nice being in Japan, oblivious to how screwed up the American economical and political landscape has become. Let me do my best to tell you about in Japanese...

136) ～にほかならない
~ nothing short of
~ is guaranteed

Use this to make extremely strong statements of equation: War means death. Think of the ほかならない in terms of what it means conceptually: it won't be(come) anything else.

Ex. Palin副大統領の地位は、ファースにほかならない。　

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137) ～に基づいて　・　に基づく
~ to be grounded in
~to be rooted in
~to be based on

This is a pretty easy one. 基づく means "to be based on; to originate from." You could use this to say that hiragana and katakana are derived from kanji, or that all computer software is based on binary code. Or how about this one?

Ex. 今の不景気はサブプライムローン危機に基づいている。

138) ～によって　・　により
~ according to
~ by means of
~ due to

によって or により is used to identify the cause or the means of something. My book's examples use によって to say "supported by volunteers," and により to say "due to the blackout."

Ex. 不景気により、ずっと探しても仕事はまだできない。

139) ～によっては
~ depending on

I'm not entirely clear on this one, so I could use a little help, but I think that によっては is used to say,　"in this situation, X is the case." I chose to define it as "depending on" because my book's examples lend themselves to that interpretation. Like 「たいてい遅く帰宅しますが、日によっては６時ごろ帰れる場合もあります。」 I read that as, "Usually I head home late, but depending on the day, I can also leave around six." Maybe "...on some days, I can leave around six," would be a better reading. Let's see if I can use it accurately, despite a spotty understanding, and see if Nirav, Clay, or Blue might be able to help iron out the wrinkles.

Ex.　私は 経済のことを心配しているけど、人によってはビジネスは前よりうまく行っているみたい。



140) ～による
~ because of
~ due to
~ is the cause of

Not looking a whole lot different from 138, huh? This is another case where the main difference is in how this phrase can be fiddled with grammatically, and how it finds its way into sentences. It's pretty much the same difference between 132 and 133, wherein this grammar point actually changes the focus of the sentence. The word preceding による acts as something of a modifier, whereas the actual subject is now the noun that follows it. And yes : it can only be followed up by a noun (or noun phrase).

Ex.　外国に住んでいるアメリカ人は、経済による不安を完全に理解できないと思う。

2級 Grammar 86-90

Whew - it has been a long, long time since I've posted anything, and Jeff has been double-timing it in my absence. Well... that might not be fair to say since he usually does 4/5 of the work anyhow, but plus-one-quarter-timing it isn't as catchy. Still, I'm back from America, so I may as well share some of the wisdom I (re)gained setting foot in the best United States I know. Those of America, of course.

86)　～とか
it seems like ~
I heard/read that ~

When I first saw this phrase, I thought "oh man, I know the hell out of 「とか」, this'll be cake". Little did I know there's another usage beyond the "...and such" tag "とか" conveys for lists. Still, this one is pretty straight forward. It's a lot like "そうだ", and is best used in situations where you're talking about something you learned or observed third-hand.

Ex.　僕の日本人の友達とアメリカについてはなすたびに、かれらは「アメリカはとても危険な国だとか」と言っている。 やばいところもあるんだが、俺にとって困ったこと無し。


87)　～どころか　(1)
~ is definitely not the case, but rather ~
~ is not true at all, it's ~

This is a fun little grammar point when you want to stress that something is completely contrary to a certain belief. It also asks no modification, and can be stuck between two clauses with very little effort.

Ex.　アメリカ人の皆が銃持ってるどころか、僕の友達の中で一人ぐらいが持ってるぞ。


88)　～どころか　(2)
Of course ~, but even ~ is okay/not okay.

This one took me awhile to translate, partially because I looked at it from the wrong angle at first. I'll let the book's definition speak for itself as a disclaimer
「AどころかB」＝「Aはもちろん、もっと簡単なBもだめだ。」
　　　　　　　　　「Aはもちろん、Bも大丈夫だ。」
So the idea is that of course 'A' condition is/isn't met, but 'B' condition is/isn't met, either/too. An example might help better than my ranting...

Ex:　アメリカの芝にあるフラミンゴがたくさんどころか、この畸形もある。


89)　～どころではない ・ ～どころではなく
~is DEFINITELY not the case

This one is simple - a more powerful assertion that something is not true. Think number 87 on speed.

Ex.　いつも同じことに関する文を作ることはやさしいどころではなく、僕の大好きなアメリカにつて文もういいです。


90)　～ところに ・ ～ところへ ・ ～ところを
RIGHT as ~ happens, ...
just as ~, ...

Another pretty straight-forward grammar point, which means exactly what it appears to mean. My only glitch here is when to use に、へ、or を... but I'm afraid that's a question for a different grammar point.

Ex.　アメリカはうんざりするところに、アメリカの旗を見るとうれし泣きする。

IMPORTANT NOTE: Check the comments section for corrections from blue, a native speaker and friend of the Yoji.