[aDoAJG] 💮 Part 2 - [A - D]

A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar

Part 2 - [A-D]


A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar :white_flower: Home Thread

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Next part: [G-K]

Week
Start Date
Reading
#4 Feb 1st あえて、あげく(に)、あくまでも、あながち~ない、あるいは、あたかも
#5 Feb 8th ばかりに、ばこそ、べからず/べからざる、べく、べくもない、べくして
#6 Feb 15th ちなみに、だけ、だけあって、だけに、だけのことはある、だに
#7 Feb 22th だの、だって、だって、であれ、~であれ~であれ、でも/じゃあるまいし
#8 Mar 1st ~でも[Wh-word]でも、どちらかと言うと、どうか、どころではない、ども、どうにも~ない
#9 Mar 8th 同士 (and in Part 3 thread, が早いか、~が~なら、ごとし、反面、はたして)

Discussion Guidelines

Spoiler Courtesy

In general, this series doesn’t have a problem with spoilers, however there are two instances where spoiler tags are a good idea.

  1. When you share sentences from what you are consuming, any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).

  2. If you decide to translate a sentence you are sharing, please hide that behind a spoiler so people have a chance to take in the sentence without a translation. Or if you are helping someone and use translation as a part of that help, then hiding it behind a spoiler tag would be good too.

Instructions for Spoiler Tags

Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).

Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:

Example

This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.

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This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.

Posting Advice

  • When asking for help, please mention entry (and the page number), and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked. As the threads get longer, it becomes more convenient to use the Search function, which is located in the upper right corner of the forum. It is the magnifying glass which is near your profile picture! The best way to search is usually to type part of the sentence you are confused about, and select “in this topic”. This will show you all posts within the current thread which has that string of text.

  • Be sure to join the conversation! It’s fun, and it’s what keeps these book clubs lively! There’s no such thing as a stupid question! We are all learning here, and if the question has crossed your mind, there’s a very good chance it has crossed somebody else’s also! Asking and answering questions is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, so never hesitate to do so!

Resources

For additional explanations, here are some options:

Participation

Will you be reading along with us this week?

  • I’m reading along
  • I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I have finished this part
  • I’m here for the discussion
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0 voters

Don’t forget to set this thread to Watching in order to stay abreast of discussion!

4 Likes

Week 5

  • ばかりに
  • ばこそ
  • べからず/べからざる
  • べく
  • べくもない
  • べくして
  • I’m reading along
  • I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I have finished this part
  • I’m here for the discussion
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
0 voters
2 Likes
Week 4 Notes

あえて

  • Adverb
  • Meaning: Daring to do something in spite of danger or opposition
  • The person daring has to be yourself or someone close to you
  • Related Expression: 思い切って meaning someone doing something difficult whether it is common sense or not, where あえて is specifically against common sense
  • Related Expression: 強いて meaning to force oneself to do X, without implications of danger

あげく(に)

  • Adverb
  • Meaning: Finally, Eventually
  • Used: After informal past verb, at start of new clause
  • Usually represents something troubling, so positive vibed sentences not allowed
  • Cannot be used for events in future
  • Uses の if before noun

あくまでも

  • Adverb
  • Absolutely, Persistently, Completely, Strictly
  • When meaning “To the end” it is only used when someone does something despite the situation being against them
  • Final mo sometimes drops
  • Related Expression: doko made mo, synonymous when meaning “to the end, persistently. strict;y, ultimately”
  • Related Expression: Saigo synonymous when meaning “to the end”

あながち-ない

  • Meaning: not necessarily, not always
  • Thing that isn’t necessarily true goes in the middle
  • Related Expression: kanarazushimo - nai, can be used in the same cases, but anagachi can’t be used without a reason for the assumption

あるいは

  • Conjunction
  • Meaning: Or, either or, perhaps
  • When used with kamoshirenai can mean perhaps
  • Used: Start of sentence, or after plain forms + ka (optional ka with nouns)
  • Sits between the two options
  • More formal than just ka
  • Related Expressions: mata wa, moshikuwa, soretomo. Soretomo cannot be used if the speaker is wondering which of two choices should be chosen
    • Formality: moshikuwa > mata wa > aruiwa > soretomo
    • moshikuwa and soretomo can’t be used with kamoshirenai

あたかも

  • Adverb
  • Meaning: Just as if
  • Used: atakamo + form + youni/na OR de aru
  • What atakamo describes is not true
  • Usually paired with grammar meaning “to appear like” like youda, gotoshi
  • ka no can go before you day, gotoshi etc
  • Youda etc can be omitted when N represents sensations and impressions, but otherwise is mandatory
  • Can also be used with verbs of thinking and perception
  • Can mean “just” when N refers to specific times
  • Related Expression: marude (still uses youda etc). Synonymous but atakamo sounds more bookish

Week 4

類語辞書 results. WordNet section may be worth looking at.

Perhaps also other x-ref if I find something good.

…いやというわけではない …正しいとは言いきれない 金持ちだからといって…えらくはない …でもない顔つきをする
必ずしも
あながち
まんざら
3 Likes

Week 6

  • ちなみに
  • だけ
  • だけあって
  • だけに
  • だけのことはある
  • だに
  • I’m reading along
  • I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I have finished this part
  • I’m here for the discussion
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
0 voters
1 Like

This is an unfortunate side-effect of back-transliteration from the romaji

2 Likes

Oops, thanks for mentioning it! Will correct it now

2 Likes

Didn’t write notes this week but popping a little message so I remember I’ve read week 5! All the べ starting ones I’ll probably get confused between lolol but grammar wise they don’t seem difficult to understand which is good

1 Like

Week 5

Yomitan with grammar dict may be put to work.

①さすが自慢する…なかなか美しい ②旧家…しきたりが厳しい ③期待されていた…失敗が悔やまれる ④期待されていた…目ざましい活躍を見せた こちらから言い出した…損をした
だけに
だけあって
ばかりに
1 Like

Week 7

  • だの
  • だって
  • だって
  • であれ
  • ~であれ~であれ
  • でも/じゃあるまいし
  • I’m reading along
  • I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I have finished this part
  • I’m here for the discussion
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
0 voters
1 Like

Week 8

  • ~でも[Wh-word]でも
  • どちらかと言うと
  • どうか
  • どころではない
  • ども
  • どうにも~ないだの
  • I’m reading along
  • I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I have finished this part
  • I’m here for the discussion
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
0 voters

By the way next week, only one entry is in this thread (同士), the other 5 will be in the next thread (が早いか、~が~なら、ごとし、反面、はたして).
I chose to keep 6 entries per week no matter what, instead of recalculating everything as it was done in the previous editions. Simply because I thought that would be easier for me. There will be links to threads everywhere to enable easy discussion and navigation. Hope that’ll work okay for everyone!

Week 6

①さすが自慢する…なかなか美しい ②旧家…しきたりが厳しい ③期待されていた…失敗が悔やまれる ④期待されていた…目ざましい活躍を見せた こちらから言い出した…損をした
だけに
だけあって
ばかりに
①子供(に)…分かる問題 今から…間に合う 休む時間…ない お茶…飲みませんか
でも
さえ
だって
など

Week 7

好物は刺身…うなぎです 太郎…花子の二人 五大老は徳川…前田などだ 赤…白…色とりどりの風船 行く…戻る…好きにしろ
とか
だの
やら
なり
  • だって、⋯
  • だって
    1. でも/さえ/だって/など
  • であれ
    • でも
    • であっても
    • であろうが
    • であろうと
  • ~であれ~であれ
    • ~と言わず~と言わず
  • でもあるまいし
    • じゃあるまいし

Week 9

Discussed in this thread:

  • 同士

Discussed in Part 3 thread:

  • が早いか
  • ~が~なら
  • ごとし
  • 反面
  • はたして
  • I’m reading along
  • I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I have finished this part
  • I’m here for the discussion
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
0 voters

Week 8: どちらかと言うと

It annoys me a little when the example sentences completely contradict the explanation below.

山本は決して呑気な男ではない 。 どちらかというと 神 経 質 な 男 だ 。
(Yamamoto is far from easygoing. He’s more of a nervous type of guy.)

Then it says below that this is only for tentative rather than emphatic statements (where you’d use むしゅろ instead).

Would you mind elaborating a little on where the contradiction is?

Does this example not feel tentative because of 決して in the first sentence? If so, I’d say that the second sentence is still in fact tentative, the speaker hedges the 神経質 characteristic, this is just an outsider’s opinion of 山本.

Yes, I mean the 決して, and the fact they translate it as “far from”. It seems the どちらかと言うと phrase means “I’m erring on the side of this”.

I don’t feel super strongly about this btw, but feel I’m more likely to remember things if I think about them in detail!

1 Like

I think this example combined with description might give an impression that どちらかと言うと compares 2 alternatives 呑気 and 神経質, which I agree would sound odd. But I read it as comparing 神経質 to other, unnamed options.

Something like this:
“Yamamoto is far from easygoing (not tentative at all). I’m not sure how exactly to describe him, but if I had to pick a word, I’d say he’s more of a nervous type of guy (tentanive).”

1 Like

Yeah, that sounds fair.