[aDoIJG] S 💮 A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar

Japanese Language
1

Entries S

81lAlBfRpEL.SL1500
81lAlBfRpEL.SL15001023×1500 114 KB

A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar :white_flower: Home Thread

Previous part: O - R
Next part: T

Week
Start Date
 Reading Entry Count Page Numbers Page Count
#21 May 25th さ to しかも 8 358 - 395 38
#22 Jun 1st したがって to それでも 8 395 - 420 26
#23 Jun 8th それどころか to すぐ 8 420 - 441 22

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.

The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.

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 have finished this part
  • I’m reading a previous part
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
0 voters

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

2

The さえ entry is another of those I found oddly long compared to how comparatively straightforward the grammar point seems to me…

3

さ

さ as a sentence-final particle is usually used by male speakers in very informal speech and it expresses the speaker’s encouragement, or their assertion to negate someone’s challenge, or their light touch comment, or their irritation about someone’s words or behavior, or opposition. さ is also used by both men and women to draw the hearer’s attention to something.

When a Wh-word is used with さ, the predicate part has to be の-nominalized. The non-nominalized version is totally unacceptable.

All the uses of さ in the examples can be replaced by よ. A few of the examples in the related expressions note will change to strictly female speech, because よ is attached to a noun or to a nominalized clause, but other than that, the crucial difference is that さ is far more informal than よ. This is why よ can be connected with both informal and formal forms but さ can be connected only with informal forms.

Wh-word よ/さ is always connected with informal forms, so there is no contrast between よ and さ.

Another sentence-final particle とも can replace さ when the latter expresses encouragement or assertion to negate someone’s challenge.

The sentence-final particle ね is fundamentally different from さ, because the former indicates the speaker’s request for confirmation or agreement from the hearer, whereas さ indicates a male speaker’s assertion. But both can be used in a non-sentence-final position to draw the hearer’s attention to something. さ used this way can be used by both male and female speakers in very informal speech and sounds much more informal than ね. The excessive use of such ね and さ in a single sentence leads to vulgarity.

It was a bit difficult to look for TJPW examples (a single kana grammar item is difficult to ctrl+f for…), but I did find some mid-sentence ones!

Here is once again from Yuki Kamifuku, from that same post-match comments I've already linked haha from the 2024.01.20 show, where Kamiyu and Mahiro Kiryu lost their tag tournament match:

Hard mode: here’s the video. (Usual disclaimer that the transcripts are from shupro and the translation is mine and may contain errors.)

上福「オマエ、先週体調不良で休んでる代わりになんかてっきり真弥ちゃんとしてるから遠くまで行って無酸素トレーニングとかチョーやってると思ったんだけど」

Kamifuku: “You know, while I was out last week, I thought ‘surely since Mahiro-chan’s got it together, she’ll be off somewhere doing buttloads of anaerobic training right about now.”

桐生「ごめんなさい！とくに無酸素…なんですか？」

Kiryu: “Sorry! I didn’t particularly do any anaerobic… what was it?”

上福「酸素トレーニング」

Kamifuku: “Hard training.”

桐生「トレーニングは…」

Kiryu: “Training…”

上福「してなかったのか。もうどうするの、だってさ、ゆきもゆきなんだけど、どうする？こんだけ歴ばっかくってさ、うちらの友情期間ばっか延びてさ、一回気合入れ直そうと前回のベルトで負けて、Wi-Fiに。でも一回解散だーとか言ったくせに、早々にやっててさ、結果も残してない。どうしたら良いと思う！？」

Kamifuku: “You didn’t? What are we going to do now—It’s my fault, too, but what are we going to do? For all this time we’ve just been kept going by the mere fact we’ve been doing it for a long time, so we just keep prolonging our friendship, and we tried to get fired up for a fresh start, but then we lost our chance at the belts, to Wi-Fi. But even though I said once that we were breaking up, we’re back at it again so soon, and still no results. What should we do?!”

桐生「どうしたらいいんですかね！？なんか、どうしよう…」

Kiryu: “What should we do?! What should we do…”

We can always count on Kamiyu for a grammar example illustrating vulgarity :saluting_face:.

さえ

Side note: I didn’t realize until I read this entry that さえ expresses “even” in non-conditional clauses, and “only” in conditional ones. I suppose that does make sense if you think about it…

The particles が and を do not appear with さえ, the directional particles え and に optionally precede さえ, and the other case particles (hey we know what these are now!) must precede さえ.

When さえ is used in a conditional clause, the clause expresses such ideas as “if only”, “as long as,” and “the only thing someone needs is”. In other words, in “S1 (conditional with さえ), S2” S1 presents the only condition that must be met in order for S2 to be true. In this structure, the ば-conditional is most commonly used. The たら-conditional can be used but is less common. The なら-conditional is used only in limited contexts. The と-conditional is unacceptable.

In conditional clauses, さえ can appear in various positions. The focus changes according to the position.

まで is also used as an emphatic marker and can replace さえ. まで, however, can’t replace さえ in negative sentences and conditional clauses.

The emphatic marker すら is very similar to さえ, but すら is more literary. すら can replace さえ except in conditional clauses.

The particle も also functions as an emphatic marker in some contexts, though it’s weaker than the others. First, も functions as an emphatic marker in negative sentences. It can also replace さえ after で. で and も are often used together as an emphatic particle.

But も in ordinary affirmative sentences does not function as an emphatic marker, and も can’t replace さえ in conditional clauses.

Found some TJPW examples! I looked for a conditional and a non-conditional example.

First up, here's from the 2023.09.18 show, which featured a very entertaining match where masters of chaos Hyper Misao, Pom Harajuku, and Raku teamed up against Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe, and Himawari, putting poor AKB48 idol Shiori Aoki's referee skills to the test.

Hard mode: here’s the video. Some further context is that Rika Tatsumi is called the “White Dragon”.

らく「負けました～」

Raku: “We lost.”

ぽむ「いや、3人のチームワークは完璧だったし、おしりんさんも完璧だったんですよ」

Pom: “No, our teamwork between the three of us was perfect, and Oshirin-san was perfect, too.”

ミサヲ「完璧だった。え、何が起きた？ 途中でなんかさ、大暴れした暴れドラゴンがいて。それさえなければ…」

Misao: “It was perfect. Huh, what happened? There was something in the middle of it, a rampaging dragon. If it weren’t for that…”

ぽむ「だってレフェリーのことを…あれ負けですよね？」

Pom: “But doing that to the referee… it should be a loss, right?”

ミサヲ「これ判定覆る可能性あるな」

Misao: “There’s a chance that the decision will be overturned.”

ぽむ＆HIMAWARI「あるあるある」

Pom & HIMAWARI: “It’s possible.”

ぽむ「勝ちじゃない？」

Pom: “Isn’t it a win?”

ミサヲ「アイドルの人を失神させることなんて、できる？ おかしい。幻の勝利だったんじゃない？」

Misao: “Knocking out an idol, is that something you can even do? It’s ridiculous. It was an illusory victory, wasn’t it?”

Next, here's a quote from the 2023.07.03 contract signing leading up to Mizuki vs Maki Itoh for the Princess of Princess championship at Summer Sun Princess.

Here’s a link to the video, and here’s the official transcript. Additional context is that these two have a lot of history together (they were tag partners, then broke up very dramatically because Itoh’s jealousy ate her alive and she was unable to handle Mizuki outperforming her), which Itoh has spent this whole feud basically trying to deny and brush past.

伊藤「今回が4回目の挑戦になるんですけど、伊藤は絶対取る気でいますし。瑞希については闘いすぎてね、伊藤は何がきても大丈夫かなと思ってます。もうすべてを受ける覚悟もできてるし、簡単に倒せる相手じゃないことも重々わかっているので。どっちが先に倒れるのかの勝負だと思ってます。まあでもね、伊藤はアメリカで修行もしてきたので、自信もあるので。このまま結果だけ残して、伊藤が勝って、瑞希からベルトを獲って、昔から続く伊藤麻希vs瑞希の物語を終わらせようと思います」

Itoh: “This will be my fourth time challenging for the belt, but I’m determined to win it. Concerning Mizuki, I’ve fought her so much that I think I’ll be fine no matter what she throws at me. I’m ready to take it all, though I know full well that she’s not an easy opponent to beat. I think it’ll come down to which of us drops first. And, well, Itoh has been training in the U.S., so I have a lot of confidence. I’m just getting results at this rate, so I’m going to win and take the belt from Mizuki, and finally finish the Maki Itoh vs Mizuki story that has been going on for ages.”

瑞希「ベルトを獲ってから目まぐるしい日々でいろんなことがあるんですけど、私はまだまだ途中だと思っていて。過去とかをみんなは見ると思うんですけど、私はその過去を自分の気持ちだったり、応援してくださってるみなさんの気持ちだったり、対戦相手だったり、すべて愛を持って闘ってきたので、その過去さえもちゃんと愛せてるなと思っています。だから今回の闘いもちゃんと自分らしく、愛で闘いたいと思います」

Mizuki: “Ever since I won the belt, my days have been hectic and so much has happened, but I think I’m still only part of the way there. I think everyone sees our past, but for me, that past holds my feelings, and the feelings of everyone kind enough to cheer for me, and my opponents, and so on, and through all of that, I’ve fought with love, so even my past is something that I’m able to love completely. And so for this, too, I want to fight in my own way, with love.”

4

Week 22 Begins!

Pages: 395 - 420

Entries: したがって to それでも

5

Wow, the weekly reading load for these portions is a lot, haha. I’m so behind… :smiling_face_with_tear:

際(に)

際(に) is used to indicate a special occasion on which someone does something, so the phrase can’t be used on common occasions.

Only Vinf or N or demonstrative adjectives この, その, あの can be used before 際に. Vinf・nonpast and Vinf・past indicate incompletion and completion, respectively, in relation to the action in the main clause.

The particle に of 際に may be dropped. When に is dropped, the focus shifts from the occasion to what is described in the main clause.

際に is a formal expression that is often used with Sino-Japanese words. In the examples given in note 4 in which neither a Sino-Japanese verb/noun nor a honorific polite verb is used, 際に is unacceptable.

N に際して is more formal than N の際に. When the former is used, N has to express a very special occasion. If N expresses an occasion which is not so special, N の際に can’t be replaced by N に際して.

際に indicates the time when something special takes place, whereas 折に indicates an occasion when something ordinary takes place.

There is another expression 場合, “case”, which is used in the form of Vinf 場合 or N の場合. 場合 means “a suppositional case”, so an event that precedes it may not take place. So if the event is a real event, 場合 can’t be used.

Here are a couple 際に examples from the Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling press conference on 2024.01.09 wherein Juria Nagano announced that she would be retiring from wrestling:

Here’s the video, and here’s the official transcript.

長野「今回は私のことでこのような場を設けていただき誠にありがとうございます。私、長野じゅりあは4月13日をもって東京女子プロレスを卒業することとなりました。理由と致しましては今後は芸能の仕事によりいっそう力を入れていきたいというところがありまして、その際にプロレスが中途半端になってしまうのが自分としても嫌だなというところがありまして、このような決断をいたしました。また昨年、手の骨折もあり、その際に半年間ほど仕事ができなかったという状況もあり、今後の人生プランを考えた時に卒業しようと自分の中で決めました。プロレスラーとして叶えたかった夢とかやりたかったことはまだまだたくさんあります。ですが、長野じゅりあとしてやりたいことややらなきゃいけないこともあり、今回このような決断に至りました。プロレスを始めてから2年間、本当に逃げ出したくなる時とか、辛いこととかもあったんですけど、それよりもリングに立つのが楽しくて。応援してくださった皆さんの声援がすごく力になりました。感謝しています。プロレスを続けてきて東京女子プロレスの皆さんがすごくやさしくて。先輩方とかも私、人見知りなんですけど最初からいっぱい話しかけてくれたりとか、練習を遅くまで見てくださったりとか、後輩も入ってきて、すごくいい環境でできたなと思っています。本当にこの環境でプロレスができたことに感謝しています。卒業まで3ヵ月あるので、プロレスラー・長野じゅりあとして、燃え尽きるまでしっかりと闘っていきたいと思います」

Nagano: “Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to speak. I, Juria Nagano, will be graduating from TJPW on April 13. The reason is that going forward, I’d like to focus more on my work in the entertainment industry, and I don’t want to thereby end up pursuing pro wrestling half-heartedly, so I came to this decision. Also, I broke my hand last year, and I was unable to work for about six months, so when I thought about my plans for my future career, I decided to graduate. I still have dreams and things that I wanted to do as a professional wrestler. However, there are also things that I want and need to do as Juria Nagano, so I came to this decision. Since I started wrestling, for the past two years, there have been times when I really wanted to get away from it, and there were times when it was hard, but above all of that, I enjoyed standing in the ring. The cheers I’ve received from everyone supporting me have given me incredible strength. I’m grateful to all of you. Everyone at TJPW has been incredibly kind to me as I’ve kept going with pro wrestling. I’m a shy person, but from the very beginning, my senpais have talked to me a lot, and they’ve watched over me during practice until it got late, and new juniors have also joined, and I think everyone has made it a really nice environment. I’m truly grateful that I was able to do pro wrestling in this environment. I have three months until I graduate, so I’m going to fight hard as the pro wrestler Juria Nagano until my flame burns out.”

さすが

さすが expresses one’s strong feeling that something has turned out as one expected, or that something has turned out to be contrary to one’s expectation, and as one has not expected (Japanese sure doesn’t like to make things too easy for us, huh?).

In the structure さすが は X だ, は can be omitted.

さすが～だけ may take either あって or に.

In the case of さすが の X も, the speaker wants to say that something has occurred contrary to what one can expect from the characteristics of X.

さすが can be used like an exclamation in conversational Japanese.

The related expression note tells us that やはり / やっぱり is similar to さすが. However, やはり does not express the strong feeling of fulfillment of expectation that is expressed by さすが. やはり does not have prenominal nor pre-copula use.

I don't see さすが nearly as often as I see やっぱり in TJPW, but I found one from the 2024.02.10 show after Yuki Kamifuku challenged Yuki Arai for the International Princess title after Arai successfully defended her belt against Juria Nagano:

(No video because this happened in the ring.)

荒井「初めての防衛戦ということで、卒業が決まっているじゅりあちゃんがベルトに挑戦することはきっとすごい勇気のいることだったと思うので…すごい強い気持ちを感じる試合で、自分も闘えてよかったなと思いました。ありがとうございました。私はこの後も誰が相手でもベルトを守って、もっともっといろんな景色を見ていきたいなと思いますので、これからも応援よろしくお願いします（ここで上福が登場）」

Arai: “This was my first title defense, and I know it took a lot of courage for Juria-chan, who will be graduating, to challenge for the belt… I really felt her strong feelings in the match, and I’m glad that I was able to fight her, too. Thank you very much. I want to keep defending my belt from here no matter who my opponent is, and I want to see even more different scenery, so please keep supporting me.” (Kamifuku enters)

上福「お疲れ様～。試合直後とは思えないくらいのこの美しいビジュアル、さすがだなって思うし。本当にいつも東京女子プロレスとアイドル業と、どっちもすごい頑張って。名古屋と東京どっちも行き来して忙しそうにしてるのに『忙しいでしょ？ 疲れてるでしょ？』って聞くと「いや～、そんなことないです」って言えるかんじ。もう全然鼻についてないよ。愛されてるところとかも全然ひがんでないんだけど、まぁ私も東京女子プロレスを盛り上げたい気持ちはあるのね。最近は色んなアジアの国に行って、よく分からない食べ物食べたりして頑張ってるんだけど、ここで東京女子プロレスを盛り上げたい。そしてビジュアルを大切にしている同士、お互いの顔面を崩し合って、そしてこのベルトを懸けて闘いあったらもっと盛り上がるんじゃないかなって思うんですけど～」

Kamifuku: “Great job! An unimaginably beautiful visual right after the match, as expected. You’re always working so hard both in TJPW and in the idol industry. It’s like how even though you seem so busy going back and forth between Nagoya and Tokyo, when people ask, ‘You must be busy, huh? Aren’t you tired?’ you’re like, ‘No, not really!’ I’m not at all sick and tired of it. I’m not at all jealous of how much they love you!! But, well, I also want to liven up TJPW. Lately I’ve been going to different countries in Asia and eating foods that I don’t really understand and working hard, but I’d like to make TJPW more exciting right here. And I thought, wouldn’t it get more exciting if we two people who care about looks break each other’s faces, and fight with that belt on the line?”

せい

せい is a dependent noun, so it needs a modifying word, phrase, or clause. せいで is used only when the result is undesirable (example (1) b. gets the full three Michelin question marks, haha). せいか, however, is used whether the result is desirable or undesirable.

Example (2) c. has 気のせい, which I personally think of as a specific word in and of itself rather than 気 + the せい structure…

せいで is used when the speaker finds the cause of an undesirable result to be beyond their control. So if the cause is within the speaker’s control, せいで can’t be used. But せいか has no such restriction.

せい can’t be used to express a reason.

おかげ and せい are similar in that both express a cause, but the difference is that おかげ is used when the result is desirable, and it also implies that the person who attained the result is thankful for the cause. おかげ is sometimes used with an undesirable result for the purpose of sarcasm.

ため(に) can also express a cause (as well as a reason). And unlike せい, ため(に) doesn’t have the same restrictions.

I see せい fairly often in TJPW, usually used by the wrestlers when pointing blame at whoever took the pin in their team (thus costing them the match), haha. Here are several examples from the 2024.01.13 show after the team of Miu Watanabe, Pom Harajuku, and Rika Tatsumi lost in the main event (due to Pom getting pinned):

Hard mode: here’s the video. Further context is that there was a bit of friendly fire in this match, which certainly was not an おかげ situation for Pom…

未詩「神戸で私は山下さんと前哨戦でもあったんですけど。あらためて挑戦者に決まってからすごい強みを感じたんですけど、でもあと3カ月近くあるので頑張りたいなと思いました」

Miu: “In Kobe, I had a preview match with Yamashita-san. I felt her amazing strength anew after being chosen as her challenger, but we have almost three months to go, so I wanted to try to do my best.”

辰巳「それもあるし、タッグのトーナメントも始まるので。せっかく白昼夢もいるし、ぽむもいたので勢いつけたかったなっていうのと、あとみずぴょんのご家族の方も来てたので。私はすごいアピールしたかったので…でもやられてしまって、ちょっと複雑な心境ではあります。でも明日もあるので気合入れていこうと思います、岡山」

Tatsumi: “There’s that, and there’s also the tag tournament starting. We were together as Daydream, and Pom was also there, so I wanted to gain some momentum, and Mizupyon’s family was there, too. I wanted to really show off for them… But I lost, so my feelings are a bit mixed. But we have tomorrow, too, so I’m going to give it my all at Okayama.”

ぽむ「なんだか今日は相手のチームがすごく強くて。白昼夢と組んで今日は心強ーいって思ったはずなんですけど、終わってみて、あれ？ なんかすごい味方からもやられた気がするんですけど」

Pom: “The other team was really strong today. I was teaming with Daydream, so I felt veeeery reassured, but looking at it after the fact, I feel somehow like I also got really beat up by my teammates!”

辰巳「ぽむのせいだよ」

Tatsumi: “It’s Pom’s fault.”

ぽむ「ぽむのせいじゃないですよね？」

Pom: “Is it, though?”

辰巳「完璧にぽむのせいです」

Tatsumi: “It’s completely Pom’s fault.”

ぽむ「はい、すみませんでした！」

Pom: “Yes, I’m sorry!”

6

I know, it’s a lot. I personally have been skimming & coming back to an entry if I end up seeing in the wild.

7

せめて

I think this one’s new to me!

せめて indicates the speaker’s/writer’s “minimally satisfactory level; he is well aware that he cannot realize an ideal state.” Each sentence ends in a direct or indirect expression of desire, such as たい, (といい)んですが, のに, (させて)ください, ようと思っています. Of these, のに expresses counter-factual desire.

少なくとも is another adverb that means “at least”. But the difference between 少なくとも and せめて is that the former focuses on rather objective lower limits of number/quantity; whereas the latter on the speaker’s strong desire to realize a certain minimum level of satisfaction.

No せめて examples that I could find in Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling!

次第

This took me a bit to wrap my head around when I first encountered it, haha. I don’t think my previous Yomichan dictionary was as clear as the one I have on Yomitan now…

Vます / VN 次第 and N 次第 だ/で mean "as soon as " and “depends on/depending on” respectively. In both cases, an action or state indicated by the preceding verb or noun is a prerequisite for another action or state expressed in the main prerequisite.

Note 2 was worded in a way that I found amusing, haha: “The Vます of Vます 次第 can hardly be する-verb, probably because it will create a sequence of し-し which is hard to pronounce.”

The Vます forms of honorific, polite verbs are irregular.

For the 次第 structure, the main clause can’t be past tense.

Another structure, たらすぐ, has the meaning “as soon as”. The difference between Vます / VN 次第 and たらすぐ is that the former expresses a planned sequence of two actions, whereas the latter can express any kind of sequence of two actions.

N 次第 だ in a few of the examples can be replaced by N による. But not all cases of N による can be replaced by N 次第 だ, because the former has a wider meaning: N による can indicate “cause” for something, “means”, or “source”, and it cannot be replaced by N 次第 だ in any of these because 次第 lacks these particular meanings.

Here's an example from the TJPW show on 2023.08.13, after Yuki Kamifuku lost to Miyu Yamashita in the finals of the Tokyo Princess Cup tournament:

Hard mode: here’s the video (the part quoted below starts around 2:53).

上福「（アンチを見返せた？）そうですね。アンチもちょっと驚いてるんじゃないですか？ だから、ここからいま10代の子とか練習生の子とか。まぁ別に東京女子じゃなくてもいいんです。なんか、どんな仕事やっててもうぜえこと言われることあると思うんですけど、もうワンチャン自己満でよくね？っていう世界に入ってきて。なんか負けないでほしいですね。周りは周り、自分は自分。人生を面白くするのは自分次第なので。文句言われても、もうヤバくね？みたいな。別に家がなくても自分が楽しいと思えばそれでいいし。もう好きに生きたらいいよって思いました」

(Did you triumph over your haters?)

Kamifuku: “Yes. Aren’t they also a bit surprised? So, from here, current teenagers and trainees and such. Well, it doesn’t have to be TJPW. I think there are things that people will say no matter what kind of work you do, but if you already find yourself in “what, like it’s wrong to have pride in myself?” mode then I don’t want you to give up. It’s your business, not theirs. It’s up to you to make your life interesting. If people complain about you, just be like ‘wow, pretty wild, huh?’ Even if you don’t have a house, it’s alright as long as you’re having fun. You should just live how you want to.”

8

しかも

しかも has three basic uses: First, it’s used when one provides additional important characteristics of someone or something. Second, it’s used when one adds special information to a statement about a rather uncommon action or state. Third, it’s used when one provides information which is rather unexpected from the preceding statement.

In the second use, additional information can be provided with an independent phrase or with a sentence, but the version with an independent phrase is more common.

The first use of しかも can be replaced by その上, おまけに, or それに.

The second use of しかも can be replaced by それも.

The third use of しかも can be replaced by それでいて or (それ)にもかかわらず.

Here's an example from my most recent Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling translation, which was for the 2024.05.25 show, where Yuki Kamifuku teamed up with Aja Kong in her hometown Fujisawa (I actually slightly tweaked my translation after reading this entry, haha):

No video for this because it happened in the ring after the match. Some important context is that Kamiyu “accidentally” hit Aja with a move near the end of the match, which took Aja out of action for the end, though Kamiyu managed to get the win on her own.

上福「ちょっと待って…アジャさん、違うんすよ～。違うんすよ～。自分ね、もう、ね…違うんすよ～。いやでも3年連続、こうやって興行できて、そのうち3分の2アジャさんが来てくれるなんて、ホントビックリっす。また来てくださいよ」

Kamifuku: “Wait, Aja-san, it’s not like that! I didn’t mean it! I’m, well, it’s… it’s not like that! No, but, the fact that we’ve been able to do these shows for three years in a row, and the fact that Aja-san has come to two thirds of them, I’m really shocked. Please come again!”

アジャ「蹴らない？」

Aja: “Are you going to kick me?”

上福「蹴らないです。わざとじゃないんです。ホントにアジャさんが今回も来てくれて、しかもコスチュームもおそろいの水色で来てくれました！ まだまだペーペーの私が大ベテランの思考をジャックするっていう素晴らしいことになって、ありがとうという気持ちでいっぱいです。親も来てるので、すみません。自分はアジャさんを最初に見た時はマジで怖すぎて、ホントにあいさつもまともにせずに逃げていた記憶があるんですけど。でも私、ここだけの話なんですけど、プロレス界で相当お世話になっている存在でして、感謝しかないんです。アジャさんのおかげで、アジャさんが私を食事に連れていってくれたおかげで、いまは刺身と一緒に大葉が大好きになりました。ありがとうございます！ 藤沢市民に一言お願いします」

Kamifuku: “I won’t. I swear I didn’t do it on purpose. Aja-san really did come again this time, and not only that, she came wearing matching light blue gear! It’s wonderful that someone who’s still a small fry like me can hijack the consideration of a great veteran, and I’m filled with gratitude. My parents are here, too, sorry. The first time I saw Aja-san, I was seriously scared, and I remember running away without even a proper greeting. But, and this doesn’t leave the room, she’s someone to whom I am very indebted to in the pro wrestling world, and I have nothing but gratitude to her for that. Thanks to Aja-san taking me out to dinner, now I love to have oba with sashimi. Thank you very much! Please say a few words for the people of Fujisawa.”

したがって

S1 したがって S2 is used to express that S2 naturally results from S1. The focus of the conjugation is more on the result than the cause.

したがって is used either in written Japanese or in formal speech.

If what is expressed in S1 is a reason for what is expressed in S2, したがって can’t be used; だから has to be used.

だから can replace したがって in all of the examples, but not vice versa, because the former can express both reason-action and cause-result relations, but the latter expresses cause-result relation only.

No したがって examples in TJPW! (Unsurprising because it’s written and/or formal grammar)

9

そうかと言って

Example sentence (B)

アメリカの方が土地も家も安いが、そうかと言って、簡単に移住するわけにもいかない。

Land and housing are less expensive in America, but we cannot easily immigrate.

Wow, this book truly was written in a different time, huh? :sweat_smile:

そうかと言って is used when one is inclined to accept what one’s conversational partner has said, or what has been mentioned in the preceding sentence, but this inclination is accompanied by a realization that it is impossible to accept its corollary due to some circumstance.

そうかと言って always occurs with an explicitly or an implicitly negative predicate. It often occurs with わけに [は / も] いかない, but there are cases where an implicitly negative predicate is used.

そうかと言って used in sentence-initial position can be replaced by disjunctive conjugations such as けれど(も), しかし, (そう)ですが. The same phrase used in non-sentence initial position cannot be replaced by such conjugations. (I’m enjoying the increasing ?? in the examples).

Disjunctive conjugations such as けれど(も), しかし, etc. can’t be replaced by the structure in question unless そうかと言って satisfies the above condition.

I didn’t think I’d seen this one before, and sure enough, a search turned up no Toyko Joshi Pro Wrestling results, so I don’t think I’ve been exposed to it there, in any case.

そこで1

そこで can’t connect a cause and a result.

In general, when そこで is used, the situation presented as a reason is a special situation.

(Reading some of these examples, I’m realizing I sometimes have a bit of trouble differentiating a reason from a cause…)

In “S1 そこで, S2”, S2 usually represents a controllable action. S2 cannot be a command, a request, a suggestion, or an invitation.

それで and そこで are similar and are interchangeable in many situations. それで also can’t be used with a command, a request, a suggestion, or an invitation.

However, それで can connect a cause and a result while そこで can’t. Also, それで is used to mean “that’s why”. そこで can’t replace it in this use. And when それで is used, the situation does not have to be a special one, and nor does it have to be controllable.

I tried searching for this structure in TJPW but had a surprisingly hard time finding examples because the そこでs that I kept finding were all not this one. I think I managed to find one, though? This is from the 2024.02.17 show where rookie Wakana Uehara faced Miyu Yamashita, the ace of TJPW:

Hard mode: here’s the video.

上原「今日は山下さんとの初シングルで、ずっと山下さんとは闘いたいと思ってたので。夢プロレスの時に山下さんは他の選手と最終ミッションで闘ってて。私はその試合を見て、東京女子のトップの選手はこんなに強いんだなっていうのを見てましたし。そこから夢プロレスが終わって、デビューしてから1年。まったくシングルマッチとか、タッグでもあんまり闘うことがなくて。なのでホントに今日はすごく楽しみにしてた日でした。でもやっぱり実際闘ってみて、東京女子の顔というか…エースって呼ばれてる選手はこんなにも強いんだなって思い知らされたというか。私もいつか、何年かかるか分かんないけど…いつかは東京女子のエースって言ってもらえるような選手になりたいって夢があるので。その壁が高いほど、難しい夢かもしれないけど…夢が大きいほど燃えるというか、頑張ってやってやるぞって気持ちに今なってるので。また次闘う時は強くなった姿で、いつか山下さんみたいに東京女子のエースって言ってもらえるような選手になれるように練習頑張って闘っていきたいと思います。

Uehara: “Today was my first singles match with Yamashita-san, and I’ve always wanted to fight her. When I was in Yume Pro Wrestling, Yamashita-san was fighting another wrestler in our final mission. I watched that match, and I saw just how strong the top wrestler in TJPW was. From there, Yume Pro Wrestling ended, and I made my debut a year ago. I’ve not fought in very many singles matches at all, or tag matches, for that matter. So I was really looking forward to today. But actually fighting her, the face of TJPW… the wrestler we call the ace, I realized just how strong she was. I have a dream that someday, I don’t know how long it’ll take, but… someday, I want to become a wrestler who can be called the ace of TJPW. The higher the wall, the more difficult the dream may be, but… the bigger the dream, the more fired up I get, or rather the more I feel now like I’m going to try to do my best. The next time we fight, I want to show that I’ve gotten stronger, and I’m going to keep fighting and training hard so that someday I can become the kind of wrestler who can be called the ace of TJPW like Yamashita-san.”

（いまの全力は出せた？）そうですね。でも、全力は出したんですけど…山下さんのすごいところって闘う前から気迫がすごくて。一瞬、怖気づきそうな時もあったんですけど、お客さんの声がすごい…応援してくださる『わかなー！』って声が聞こえてきて。そこで気持ち切り替わって、今日は全部ぶつけられたかなとは思います」

(Did you show everything you’re capable of now?)

“Yes, I did. I gave it my all, but… what’s amazing about Yamashita-san is that she has so much spirit even before the fight. For a moment, I almost lost my nerve, but the voices of the audience were so loud… I could hear their voices cheering for me, calling ‘Wakanaaa!’ That helped change my mindset, and I think I was able to hit her with everything I have today.”

そこで2

In “S1. そこで S2” S1 represents an event and S2 an action at the time of the event.

S2 is often a command, a request, a suggestion, or an invitation.

そこで may appear in mid-sentence position in S2.

Examples of this type are much more plentiful in TJPW. Here's one from the 2024.01.03 press conference before Miyu Yamashita defended the Princess of Princess championship against Masha Slamovich:

Here’s the official transcript, and here’s a video of the whole press conference.

――つねづね甲田代表にマーシャ選手とのシングルマッチを要望していたとのことだが、それだけクオリティーの高い試合を見せられる自信がある？

――You said that you were constantly asking representative Koda for a singles match with Masha. You are confident that you can give a match that is such high quality?

山下「そうですね。ワクワクできる相手なので。それを日本でも試合したいなと思って。アメリカでもシングルは2回やってますけど、ホントに2つともマーシャの奥深さというか…選手としてここはこうだなって思ってたら2回目に闘うと全然違う技を出してきたりとか、リズムも違うので。日本で3回目になりますけど、新たなマーシャの強さが見れるんじゃないかなと思うので。そこで生まれてくる私の強さもたぶんあると思うので、そこは私が上回って勝ちたいと思っています」

Yamashita: “Yes, I am. Because she’s a very exciting opponent. So I wanted us to have a match in Japan as well. We’ve had two singles matches in the U.S., but in just those two matches, I saw the depth she has… Just when I thought ‘this is what she can do as a wrestler,’ the second time we fought, she brought out totally different moves, and her rhythm was also different. In Japan, this will be our third match, but I think you’ll get to see Masha bring entirely new strengths to the table. I think my own strength will probably come out there, so I want to surpass her and get the win.”

It was honestly pretty helpful looking at examples of そこで and trying to figure out which use of it was happening in any given instance. I feel like I had internalized this one as “at that point”, haha, so the “so” meaning comes to me less intuitively.

そこを

そこを is used to express some positive efforts in spite of some negative situation mentioned either in the first half of the sentence or in the interlocutor’s line.

It’s often used to push one’s request in spite of an initial negative reaction. In this case, the sentence often takes the form of そこをなんとか～でしょうか.

そこを can be replaced by そこのところを without changing the meaning when そこを is used to express the speaker’s beseeching.

I had a bit of trouble finding examples of this one, too. I think maybe this is one? This was from Miyu Yamashita's comments after losing to Miu Watanabe at Grand Princess on 2024.03.31:

Hard mode: here’s the video (the part quoted below starts around 3:14).

山下「（前哨戦では未詩とだいぶ差があると言っていたが、今日の未詩は何が違った？）正直、自分にも自信あったし差は感じてましたけど、めちゃめちゃ詰められてるなって気持ちはありました。なので内心焦ってはいたんですけど、でも私なら絶対勝てると思いましたし。そのまま今日を迎えて試合に実際なって、トーナメントで負けた時もありましたけど、やっぱり未詩も私と同じかんじでやられればやられるほど、苦しければ苦しいほど、そこを耐えて越えてくる子だったので。そこが今日負けましたね。気持ちは全然負けてなかったんですけど、取られましたね。それが結果だと思います。気持ちかな」

(You said during the preview matches that there was a large gap between yourself and Miu, but what was different about her today?)

Yamashita: “To be honest, I had confidence in myself and I felt that gap, but I had the feeling that it was rapidly shrinking. So I was internally anxious, but I thought that I was definitely going to be able to win. I went into today with that mindset, but in the match, I thought that the gap really has closed. I had lost in the tournament, but like me, the more Miu gets beaten, the more pain she’s in, the more she perseveres and overcomes it. And that is where I lost today. I didn’t lose to her in terms of mindset, but she got me today. I think that was the final outcome. I guess it was my mindset.”

And I guess that’s as far as I’ll be able to get until someone else posts, haha.

10

Combo breaker!!

11

そうになる

Vます そうになる expresses the idea that something almost happens. It’s often used with “an extra adverbial phrases” (typo in the dictionary, lol) such as 危うく “narrowly” (wow, I don’t think I’ve seen that one before?) and もう少し / ちょっとで “a little more, then ~”, which reinforce the idea of almost.

It’s restricted to non-volitional verbs (verbs that express something that is beyond human control). Since passive and potential forms are regarded as a non-volitional verb, they can also be used with そうになる. If the verb is a volitional verb, Vます そうになる can’t be used if the subject is the speaker themself.

However, if the entire situation expressed by the whole sentence expresses a situation that is beyond human control, a volitional verb can be used even if the subject is the speaker themself.

If the subject is someone other than the speaker, Vます そうになる can be used, even if the verb is a controllable verb, because whatever happens to the third person is considered to be beyond the speaker’s control.

All the examples of Vます そうになる can be replaced by もう少しちょっとで～するところだった, except when Vます そうになる is used in a dependent clause. The latter expression focuses on both the impending aspect of something and the point of time at which something occurs, but the former focuses only on the impending aspect. The verb of Vます そうになる is restricted to a non-volitional verb, but もう少しちょっとで～するところだった is free of this restriction.

Here's an example from a very unique Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling show: Hyper Misao's produce show HYPE! 2 on 2024.04.19:

(No video link because this was said in the ring). I suppose a bit of extra context is that this show is a bit different from normal pro wrestling in that it’s acknowledged as a performance in kayfabe (typically in pro wrestling, the characters openly referring to the fact that pro wrestling is scripted and the results are predetermined is a major no-no, especially in Japanese wrestling, where kayfabe is more protected).

So the segment below comes from the portion after the performance (which was substantially more theatrical than typical pro wrestling) where the wrestlers are speaking candidly about how the show came together.

This show featured exactly one actual pro wrestling match: Raku, who was the protagonist of the show, faced Aja Kong in a singles match. The match itself exists in sort of an in-between space with regards to kayfabe, where it is considered more real than the rest of the show, while also still being technically part of the performance. So even though the show itself took place within a dream, and it featured alternate universe versions of the wrestlers, Raku’s match with Aja Kong within that performance is treated as real.

With that out of the way, here’s the portion with the actual quote:

アジャ「らくちゃん…ごめんね～。ごめんよ。ごめんごめん、ごめんねー。でも、今日1日の出来事を裏でずっと見てたんですけど、らくちゃん最高にカッコよかったです。最後の最後にこんな変なおまけが飛び出てくるとも知らずに、ね。その前のソロ曲歌って終わりだと思ったよな。みんなもそう思ってるよ。あれで大団円だと思ったよね。でもこういう場面でらくちゃんと初めて対戦できて、ホントに嬉しかったです。ありがとう。でもやっぱりらくちゃんとは組む方がいいから、今日、こんな変な目にあわせたプロデューサーがいるかあ、2人でガッツリぶっ潰しましょう」

Aja: “Raku-chan… I’m sorry! I’m sorry. Forgive me! But I’ve been watching all of the events of today from backstage, and you were so cool. Even without knowing that such a strange bonus chapter would pop up at the end. I thought it was over after the solo song right before that. Everyone else thought so, too. You all thought that was the grand finale, huh? But I’m really happy I got to face Raku-chan for the first time in a scene like this. Thank you. But I think it’s better to team up with Raku-chan, so let’s see if the producer who made us undergo such an experience is here, and let’s crush her together.”

アジャは先に退場。入れ替わるように他の面々がリングに上がり、らくの周りを囲む。

Aja exits. Replacing her in the ring, the other wrestlers enter and surround Raku.

辰巳「らく、ホントにお疲れ様～（泣）。ホントによくやったよ。すごい長い長い夢だったね。でも現実でこうやってらくの歌と、らくのアジャ様との試合を見て、私はめちゃくちゃ心臓をギューッとつかまれました。最高だった！ お疲れ様ー！ よかったよかった、本当に。チョコップル…？」

Tatsumi: “Raku, you did amazing.” (cries) “You did such a good job. It was a long, long dream. But seeing Raku sing like this in the real world, and seeing her match with Aja-sama, it really grabbed me by the heart. It was amazing! You did so well! It was really, really good. Shokopple…?”

中島「HYPEが決まったのはちょっと前だけど、台本を書き終わるか終わらないくらいでハイパーミサヲがアメリカで骨折したんです。けっこうバタバタで、けっこう時間なかったんですよ。今回の興行。でもね、らくは誰よりも一番最初にセリフを覚えてきたし、主役やるってミサヲに言われてから、間違いなく一番努力してきたと私は思いました。アジャさんとの試合を見て私は泣きそうになってしまいました。成長しました。えらい！ すごくダメージがあると思うんですけど、らくの一言いいですか？」

Nakajima: “HYPE was scheduled a little while ago, but just as the script was about to be finished, Hyper Misao broke her ankle when she was in the U.S. So we were rushing to get it all together, and we didn’t have much time, this time around. But, y’know, Raku was the first person out of everyone to memorize all of her lines, and ever since Misao told her she’d be playing the lead role, I think without a doubt that she’s the one who’s been working the hardest. Seeing her match with Aja-sama, I almost cried. She’s grown so much. It’s amazing! I know you’ve taken a lot of damage, but can you say a few words, Raku?”

その上

その上 is used to introduce an emphatic statement. So an emphatic marker like まで often appears in the added statement.

上(に) can replace その上.

おまけに can replace その上 without changing meaning, although おまけに is slightly more casual.

それに is similar to その上 except that the added statement is not emphatic. So this statement is often supplementary information.

I couldn't find any examples of その上 in TJPW, but I found a lot of その上でs. I'm not exactly sure of the full distinction there? In any case, here's a その上で from the 2024.01.06 Inspiration show after Miu Watanabe won the battle royale which earned her a shot at Miyu Yamashita's belt (hey, this is another one that I tweaked a bit thanks to reading this dictionary!):

Hard mode: here’s the video.

山下「いよいよ3月31日両国国技館の相手がこのベルトを懸けて闘う相手が決まりました。きょうの試合は最初から最後まで見てましたけど、上福、中島、瑞希、リカ。この4人を倒してる姿を見てやっぱ強いなって。試合のなかでの未詩はやっぱり強いなって思ったし、すごいなあとも。率直な気持ちとしては思いました。それと同時に両国という大舞台で、そして東京女子にとってすごく大事なこの大会のメインで未詩と闘えるっていうのはものすごく嬉しいですし、高まる気持ちがすごくありました。ただまぁでも絶対に負けないんで、そこだけは揺るがないというか自分のなかの絶対な自信があるんで。未詩には全力で私を倒しにしてきてもらって。その上で、受けた上で私らしくチャンピオンとしてこのベルトをもっともっと東京女子プロレスのエースとして私が闘い続けて強くありたいなと思います。みなさん応援よろしくお願いします。

Yamashita: “Finally, my opponent is set for who I’ll be facing on March 31 at Ryogoku Kokugikan with this belt on the line. I watched today’s match from the beginning to the end, and Kamifuku, Nakajima, Mizuki, Rika, seeing her beat all four, I thought she was quite strong. I thought Miu was really strong in the match, and I thought she was amazing. Those were my honest feelings. At the same time, I’m very happy and excited to get to face Miu on a big stage like Ryogoku, and in the main event of such an important show for TJPW. That said, I absolutely won’t lose. On that, I’m unwavering—I have the utmost confidence on that point. I want Miu to come at me with everything she has to try to defeat me. In addition, after taking her on, I’m going to continue to be strong and fight in my own style as the champion, as the ace of TJPW, while I bear this belt. I look forward to your support.”

12

I think this is probably 上で, which gets an entry later in the intermediate volume (”a compound particle that is used to express a preparatory action for a future important action"). You can see the on the fly speech correction/clarification from その上で to 受けた上で. That would make it something like “Having accepted her challenge, I’m going to continue to be strong and fight in my own style etc”. But I’m not super confident about this.

13

This is possible, but Yomitan has a separate entry for その上で which defines it in English as “moreover; in addition”, and in Japanese (from 実用日本語表現辞典) as: “既出の情報を前提して（念頭に置いて）話題を言い足す場面で接続詞的に用いられる表現。” So it seems pretty close to the その上 meaning.

Oh, actually, I just thought to google it and there’s a stackexchange question on the exact topic!

14

それでも

それでも means that in spite of the circumstance expressed in the preceding sentence, something surprising or contradictory takes place. If this basic meaning is missing, それでも can’t be used.

(それ)にもかかわらず also means “in spite of (that)”, and it can replace それでも in almost all of the examples, except for the one with the very colloquial use, because (それ)にもかかわらず is only used in written or formal spoken Japanese.

それでも can be rephrased by ても. But Wh-word ～ても cannot be rephrased by それでも.

Here's an example from the Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling press conference on 2024.03.18 leading up to Yuki Arai defending the International Princess Championship against Yuki Kamifuku:

Here’s the video of the whole press conference, and here’s the official transcript (though I believe mine here was pulled from shupro instead, so if there are any discrepancies, that’s why).

荒井「今回は上福さんが挑戦者として名乗りあげてくださったんですけど、自分自身、相手にチャンピオンとしてシングルマッチをするのが初めてなので、勝てたことのない相手ですし、私の中でインターナショナルのベルトが結構、上福さんのイメージがあって、上福さんが持っている、似合ってるイメージがあって、まだまだ自分の色を全然付けられてないし、どっちかと言うと上福さんが持っていそうって思う人がたくさんいるんじゃないかなって、今の時点では自分もそう思ってしまうんですけど、今のチャンピオンは私なので。このベルトと言えば荒井優希だと言ってもらえるようになりたいですし、もっともっと自分色に染めて、いろんな景色をこのベルトと一緒に見ていきたいなと思うので、両国国技館でも必ず防衛してまだまだ先に進んでいきたいと思います」

Arai: “Kamifuku-san has put her name forward as challenger, but this is my first time having a singles match against a senpai as champion, and since she’s an opponent I’ve never beaten, and my association with the International belt is pretty much Kamifuku-san, an image of her holding it and looking very becoming of it, I haven’t left my own mark on it at all. If prompted, I think a lot of people would say that it feels like Kamifuku-san’s, and at this current point, I think so, too, even though I’m the champion. I want people to say that the name that comes to mind when they think of this belt is Yuki Arai, and I want to give it more and more of my own color and see some new sights with this belt, so I’m absolutely going to defend it at Ryogoku Kokugikan, and I’m going to keep marching onward for a long time.”

上福「（このベルトは上福のイメージがあると言っていたが？）そうですね。割とその時期はコロナで街も悲しい感じになっていたし、自分にとっても初めてのベルトなのもあって、自分なりにはすごく盛り上げようと必死だったので、そういうふうに思ってくれている人がいたんだなって思うと、あの頃頑張っていてよかったなって。海外にいったり、海外の選手と試合をしたわけでもなく、田舎者のやつと試合をしたんですけど、それでもそういうふうに思ってくれていたんだなと思うと、すごく今ありがたいなと思います」

――She said she associates the belt with you?

Kamifuku: “That’s right. Everyone was pretty miserable because of covid, and it was also my first belt, so I was desperately trying to raise everyone’s spirits in my own way, so to think that there are people who feel that way about it, I’m glad I worked so hard back then. I didn’t go overseas or face foreign wrestlers, though I did fight a country bumpkin or two, but when I think about it being thought of in such a light despite that, now I feel very grateful.”

それどころか

それどころ {か / ではない / じゃない} can indicate a flat rejection of an invitation/request/command of the conversational partner. S2 gives an unusual circumstance which makes it impossible to accept the invitation/request/command.

それどころか can be replaced by { Adj(い/な) / V}inf・nonpast どころか or N どころか, if the negative predicate of S1 is switched to an affirmative predicate.

No それどころか examples that I could find in TJPW!

15

Well, depression just cost me two more weeks of this book club…

それが

I don’t think I had ever formally learned this, though the examples make intuitive sense to me, so I’m certain I’ve encountered it.

それが can be used with or without an interjection such as いいえ, いえ, or いや. When an interjection is used, それが follows it.

Although それが is often used when the response is negative, it can be used when the response is positive.

I thought note 3 was a bit interesting: “Because of the nature of the situations where それが is used, it is often pronounced with a somewhat hesitant tone.” I have a hard time with intonation stuff, but I’ll have to try keeping an ear open for this.

In contrast to それが, それは is used when the speaker provides an expected response to a question.

Here's an example from the 2024.05.20 Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling press conference where Nao Kakuta announced her produce show on 7.06:

Here’s the video, and here’s the official transcript. Some additional context is that the main event of this show (Nao Kakuta & Tae Honma vs Natsupoi & Anou Saori) is a pretty special match because all four wrestlers got their start in the same company (Actwres girl’Z), but then ended up walking very different paths. Only Natsupoi and Anou are currently in the same company (Stardom, which is TJPW’s biggest rival company).

――角田選手は、ほかの3人のリングでの活躍ぶりは？

――Kakuta, how do you feel about the other three’s activities in the ring?

角田「多恵はフリーなのによく週末いろんなところで試合をしているなって。自分が前の団体を辞めることを選んだ時に今後どうするかを考えて、フリーの道って不安がすごくあって、その中で、私が東京女子にお世話になった時間をずーっと一人で走り続けているので。毎週、名前見るしね。フリーとしてここまでずーっと個人で走れているっていうのが、なんかすごいなって。同い年なのでなおさらすごいなって。昨日も川崎いって、夜、千葉いってみたいな。その活動の幅に尊敬しているし。なつみ（なつぽい）は、相談にのってもらった上で、私は今ここにいるので。それがいつの間にか2人（安納となつぽい）でまた一緒にね。なんかこの2人って、どこまでいっても繋がっているんだなって、2人がこうやってスターダムに上がり始めた時に思いました。それぞれまた別の道にいるはずが、結局2人なんだなみたいな。上がり始めても結局タッグやるんだなって。すごいですよ。週プロさんの表紙飾った時とかって絶対におめでとうがあるんだよね、我々。グループLINEで「サオリ、表紙おめでとう」とか、なんか同期だからライバルだけどお互いを称え合って、自分たちを褒め合って一緒にここまできたみたいな感じなので。今回私は引退という道を選びましたけど、この3人はまだまだ辞めないので。まだまだプロレスラー街道を突っ走って欲しいなと思ってます。見に行きます。応援に行きます。ケガなく頑張って欲しいなと思います」

Kakuta: “Tae is freelance, but she often does matches in various different places on weekends. When I chose to leave my previous organization, I was thinking about what to do in the future, and I was very anxious about the freelance path, and while I was being looked after in TJPW, that whole time, she’s been running along her own path by herself. I see her name every week. It’s amazing to continue on so long as an individual freelancer. We’re the same age, so it’s even more amazing. She’ll be at like Kawasaki yesterday, and then Chiba at night. I have so much respect for someone active over such a wide range. And it was because I consulted Natsumi (Natsupoi) that I’m here now. And yet somewhere along the line those two (Anou and Natsupoi) have ended up together again. Those two will be connected no matter how far they go, that’s how I felt when they started to rise in Stardom like this. It’s like two people walking what seem to be surely different paths, but in the end they wind up together. Even after starting their ascent, they ended up as a tag team. It’s amazing. Whenever any of us get onto the cover of Shupro, we always congratulate each other. In the group LINE, we’ll be like, ‘Saori, congrats on making the cover!’. We’re in the same debut class, so we’re rivals, but we praise each other, and I feel like it’s through that mutual praise that we’ve made it this far together. I chose the path of retirement this time, but the other three aren’t quitting yet. I want them to keep running ahead as pro wrestlers. I’ll go see them. I’ll go cheer them on. I hope they’ll keep doing their best, free of injuries.”

I chose this example because it’s actually a positive one instead of a negative one.

それも

The phrases or clauses before and after それも are connected to the same noun phrase, verbal, or clause which follows.

それも usually appears in mid-sentence position although it can appear as an independent phrase as well.

There’s actually (I think) an example of this in the last TJPW translation draft I’m working on, though it’s still a rough draft so I won’t share it, lol.

This one was a bit tricky, but I think I have an example of it from the 2024.01.03 TJPW press conference leading up to Yuki Aino & Ryo Mizunami getting their surprise tag title shot on the Ittenyon show:

Here’s the video and here’s the official transcript. Some additional context is that Yuki had previously won the tag titles with her older sister, Nodoka Tenma (now retired), and Ryo’s nickname is アニキ, and she is specifically referred to as “みんなのアニキ”.

ユキ「今回このような形でタッグベルトへの挑戦権を得られてすごいチャンスをもらえて、すごく嬉しいです。しかも“アネキ”がいなくなったと思ったら“アニキ”とベルトに挑めるということで、このチャンスを確実にものにして、正式にみんなのアニキから私のアニキにするために、私は力づくでも何がなんでもベルトを獲りにいきます！」

Yuki: “I’m really happy to have gotten an opportunity like this to challenge for the tag belts. Just when I thought ‘aneki’ was gone, I get to challenge for the belts with ‘aniki’. I’m going to take this chance, and in order to officially make her go from ‘everyone’s aniki’ to ‘my aniki’, I’m going to recover my spirit and do whatever it takes to win the belts!”

[portion of the press conference omitted to save space]

――水波選手、愛野選手の「みんなのアニキから私のアニキに」というコメントについては？

――Mizunami, what do you think about Aino’s “from ‘everyone’s aniki’ to ‘my aniki’” comment?

水波「そんなふうに思ってくれていたのを今この場で初めて知ったので正直恥ずかしいというのが一番の感想です。でもそんだけ思いがあるということで、それもこのベルトを争う闘いで出していければ、それも一つの強さになると思うので、必ず勝ちたいと思います」

Mizunami: “I just now found out that she thinks of me like that, so to be honest, my main thought is that I’m embarrassed. But if that’s how she feels about it, and if she can show those feelings while competing to win the belts, I think that’ll be one of our strengths, so we’re definitely going to win.”

I think the first それも is this grammar point. Basically: “If she feels that strongly, and what’s more, if she can show it in the ring”. I don’t think the second それも is, though; I think it’s just the regular それ + も saying that this will be (another) one of their strengths (in addition to their other strengths).

That last example was another one I slightly tweaked after reading this entry.

Looks like I’m back to waiting for another person to post so I can continue… :sweat_smile:

16

I’m impressed you managed to find a それが that was this grammar point - there must have been lots of irrelevant それが to sift through to find it…

17

It actually wasn’t too difficult! There were only 24 それが’s in my 2024 translation document, and the one I quoted here was the second use (the document is in reverse chronological order, so the most recent stuff comes up first). I had a suspicion that a decent amount of the それがs that I encounter here are actually this grammar point instead of the basic meaning because I couldn’t remember それが even coming up actually all that frequently.

Looking through them, though, I honestly have a bit of trouble differentiating them in some occasions… Many of them seem to be more or less the basic それが meaning, just with an element of surprise to them (hence how this grammar point became a thing, presumably), with the が placing the focus on the “それ” instead of what comes after, which is a bit unusual for a demonstrative.

Here's another example from the same press conference I took the above example from (this was number 1 of the 24 それが uses haha):

角田「もう1個言わせて。そして、このメインだけスペシャルリングアナウンサーをお願いしていまして。それがですね、相羽あいな！ あいなにリングアナウンサーをお願いできることになりました。知らない人も多いかと思うんですけど、相羽あいなも私たちと尾崎妹加と一緒に同期でプロレスをしていた仲間で。まさなここで、超絶スペシャルですよ。私たちの名前をコールしていただけることになりました。嬉しい。こういう形でまた再会できるのがすごく嬉しいです。みなさんも楽しみにしていただければと思います。というわけで、発表が以上になります」

Kakuta: “Let me say one more thing: I have also requested a special ring announcer just for the main event. And that’s Aina Aiba! I was able to ask for Aina to be the ring announcer. A lot of people might not know this, but Aina Aiba is a friend who also did pro wrestling at the same time as Maika Ozaki and us. And so with this, it transcends special. She’ll be announcing our names for the match. I’m so happy! I’m so glad we can all meet again like this. I hope everyone is looking forward to it. So, that’s all I have to announce.”

This was a bit tricky! It feels like the それが could just be a demonstrative for the スペシャルリングアナウンサー, or it could be emphasizing the unexpectedness of the answer she’s about to give. The “それがですね” is a bit odd either way (but that’s natural speech for you, haha), though I’m inclined to think it’s this grammar point because it treats それが as a separate unit which ですね is then applied to. I definitely interpreted it as just the demonstrative when originally reading/listening to the presser (as you see reflected in my translation), but the unexpectedness connotation really leaps out at me now that I’m taking a second look at it.

I went and hunted down the actual timestamp for this one to see if her intonation could give us any clues (the part quoted just above starts at 13:58 in the video. If you want specifically the それが, it’s at 14:05). I’m not sure what exactly the “somewhat hesitant tone” mentioned by the dictionary entails, though…

To compare, I guess, the other それが (the original example I gave) is at 12:10.

Honestly, I find it really helpful to look through examples and compare them for points like それが and それも and such. Often these grammar points happen in a sentence that gave me a bit of trouble initially haha but I didn’t realize what was tripping me up because I was seeing the wrong grammar point. It’s fun having that moment where I reread them and suddenly understand some nuance I totally missed the first time.

18

The それ + particle trend of grammar points continues. I considered trying to lump them into the same post, then saw how many pages these went on for, and decided not to bother…

それに

This one is one of those grammar points that I learned pretty early on.

Learned something new from example (e): テレビ電話, a TV telephone… Had to look up the publication date of this book at that point. It was published in 1995, so I was one year old at the time, hence why I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard of one of these things, haha.

テレビ電話専用端末 NTT PICSEND-R

テレビ電話専用端末 NTT PICSEND-R

それに introduces an additional non-emphatic item or statement.

{V/adj. / N + Cop.}て, Vます, and Adj(い)く can also precede それに, the latter two usually being used in written language.

おまけに and それに are used in similar situations, but おまけに introduces an emphatic statement while それに introduces a non-emphatic statement. When おまけに is used to introduce an item, and emphatic marker like まで is necessary.

Here's an example from the Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling press conference on 2024.04.30, leading up to the rookies Wakana Uehara and Himawari challenging Arisu Endo and Suzume for the tag belts:

Here’s a link to the video, and here’s the official transcript.

――チャンピオンチーム、前哨戦で闘ってチャレンジャーチームの勢い以外で警戒する部分は？

――For the champion team, after facing the challengers in a preview match, is there anything you’re worried about other than their momentum?

鈴芽 進化のスピードですかね。デビューから見てきて、私自身もデビューから1年ちょっとでベルトに挑戦したこともあって、すごく重ね合わせる部分は大きいんですけど、ちょっと比べられないスピードで進化しているなというか。試合中もそうだし、ぶつかっている中でもどんどん強くなっていくというのも感じるし、それに加えて2人ともすごく気持ち、メンタル面も強いなというのを試合の中で感じました。わかなは勝利に執着する気持ちがすごく強いなと思うし、HIMAWARIは本当に耐えて耐えて、絶対に負けないという強さがあると思うので、そこは警戒というか強い部分だなと思っています。

Suzume: “The speed of their evolution. I’ve been watching them since their debut, and I myself challenged for a belt a little more than a year after my debut, so I think we actually have a lot in common, but their speed of evolution is beyond compare. During the match, too, as we fought, I could feel them getting stronger and stronger, and additionally, they both had strong feelings—I could also feel their mental strength during the match. I think Wakana has a very strong desire to win, and HIMAWARI has the strength to just endure and endure and never lose, so I think those are strengths of theirs that we need to watch out for.”

それと

それと appears only in spoken Japanese. It’s often used when the speaker wants to add an item or statement which they have forgotten to mention.

それに is similar to それと in that both introduce an addition item or statement. The difference is that それに is used when the preceding clause/phrase and the following clause/phrase are closely connected while それと is used when the connection is weak. So それに can’t be used when the speaker adds an item or statement that they forgot to mention.

それと can’t be used when the preceding clause or phrase has a continuative ending.

それから can replace それと without changing meaning.

Surprisingly (considering this is a spoken grammar thing) didn't find many examples in TJPW. Here's one from the 2023.08.17 show after Mizuki faced (the soon to be retiring) Aiger:

Hard mode: here’s the video.

瑞希「なんとか、なんとか…怖かったですけど、勝ちました。安心してます。もうたぶん、今回がアイガーと闘う最後だったと思うので、必ず勝ちたかったなって思いつつ。やっぱり、こう面と向かうと思い出す恐怖？ あらためて怖かったなって思うし。それと一番気に食わないのが、さきっぽ（SAKI）がアイガーの方のセコンドについてたことで。でもまぁなんとかできたので。頑張りました」

Mizuki: “Somehow, somehow… even though I was scared, I won. I’m relieved. I think this is probably the last time I’ll face Aiger, so I absolutely had to win. That fear you remember as soon as you meet face-to-face? I think I got scared all over again. And what really didn’t sit well with me was the fact that Saki-po (SAKI) was seconding for Aiger. But, well, somehow I did it. I did my best."

それは

そりゃ is the contracted form of それは.

Interjections like はい, ええ, and うん can be used with それは. When such an interjection is used, それは follows it.

それは in the demonstrative pronoun use is different from this それは (this bodes a bit poorly for me finding an example of this grammar point…). The それは in the examples in note 3 can’t be preceded by the interjections above.

I went through my whole 2024 translation document (29 uses of それは; plus one そりゃ) and didn’t find a clear example of this grammar point, so I think I’m going to give up on finding one.

19

それぞれ

それぞれ is used to express an idea of “each” or “respectively”. I learned this one in at least one one (possibly both) of my textbooks. Never had too much trouble grasping it, I don’t think.

There are two types of construction that involve それぞれ. One is a condensed version of two or more coordinated sentences. The other is not a reduction from a coordinated sentence.

それぞれ can be used as a pronoun, in which case it’s used in a combination of それぞれのN. It can also be used as a kind of noun.

銘々 and 各々 are similar in meaning to それぞれ, but they can refer only to a human, whereas それぞれ can refer to anything. Also, それぞれ can be used in a condensed structure, but neither of the other two can be used in this structure.

I found a great example from the Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling press conference on 2024.05.20, which announced Nao Kakuta's produce show (I quoted a bit from this already in this thread):

Here’s the video, and here’s the official transcript.

角田 そして最後、メインですね。角田奈穂＆本間多恵vsなつぽい＆安納サオリ。ということで、今日は実はずっと待ってもらってるんですよ。なので今日は3人にも入ってきていただきたいなと思います。みんな～来て～、呼んでるよ～。

Kakuta: “And finally, the main event. Nao Kakuta & Tae Honma vs Natsupoi & Saori Anou. They’ve actually been waiting here this whole time. So, today, I’d like to ask the three of them to come on in. Everyone, come into the room!”

（3人が登壇）こんなことありますか？ めっちゃスペシャルだよ～。めっちゃ嬉しいー。ラフに来てって言ったらホントにラフなかんじで来ました（笑）。嬉しい、ありがとうございます。このタッグマッチ、私がまずは先に話させてもらおうかな。私には欠かせない大事な同期たちなので、ずっとね…それぞれがそれぞれのタイミングでバラバラになって、それぞれの道を歩んで。もうすぐ、今月で我々9周年、10年目になったわけですけど、久々に引退っていう機にこうして対戦させていただけるのはすごく嬉しくて。多恵もだし、スターダムさんにもご協力いただいて、岡田社長のご理解もあって、今回の試合が実現しました。ホントにありがとうございます。いままでやってきた、バラバラで歩んできた道でまたこうやってリングで対戦できるのは楽しみだなって、嬉しいなって思うし。1個だけ言いたいのは、今日ここにくるまでに4人で昼にご飯食べてたんですよ。待ち合わせたんですけど、誰ひとり約束の時間に来なかった。全員遅刻…もう慣れてるんですけど、試合当日は入り時間遅刻しないように来てくれたらいいなと思います。よろしくお願いします。

(The three wrestlers enter) “Is this even possible? It’s incredibly special; I’m so happy! I told them to come casually, and they came really casual.” (laughs) “I’m so happy, thank you so much. For this tag match, I’ll speak first. They’re my cherished, indispensable generation-mates, and we’ve always… we’ve each at our own individual timing split off from the rest and gone our own way. Soon, this month will be our 9th anniversary, and we’ll be entering our 10th year, so I’m very happy to get this chance to face them like this for the first time in a long time, thanks to the opportunity afforded by my retirement. With the cooperation of Tae and Stardom, as well as President Okada’s understanding, this match was able to happen. Truly, thank you so much. I’m really looking forward to being able to face each other in the ring again like this, after everything we’ve done so far, and each of us having walked our own separate paths. I’m really happy. One thing I want to mention is that the four of us had lunch together before coming here. We met up at a prearranged time and place, but not a single one of us showed up on time. Everyone was late… I’m used to that by now, but I hope on the day of the match, you all come on time so that you won’t miss the start. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

This is a fun one because you get a noun example as well as pronoun examples (sadly no condensed structure to round out all the examples).

すぐ

I really liked the definition they had for this: “without having much temporal or physical distance”. I’d never thought about this word in those terms before, but it’s a neat way of framing its meaning.

すぐ in most of the examples in the book means “without much temporal distance”, but in a few of them it means “without much spatial distance”.

～たら/と すぐ is used to mean “as soon as ~” if the main verb is a volitional verb. It can’t mean “as soon as” if it’s a non-volitional verb.

Actually, I found that a bit odd, because in my opinion, “The cheap TV broke as soon as I bought it!” is a natural-sounding English sentence to me? Albeit maybe a bit strange grammatically.

Here’s example sentence (d) for reference:

安いテレビを買ったらすぐ、壊れてしまいました。

I bought a cheap TV and it broke right away.

I dunno, maybe it’s one of those areas where a linguistic shift happened.

もうすぐ is used to mean “something is going to take place very soon since a triggering event has already taken place”. So it can’t be used if the triggering event has not taken place, or if it has already taken place.

Here's a すぐ example from Hyper Misao's produce show Hype 2 on 2024.04.19, when Raku, the star of the show, was talking on the mic at the end about how the show came together:

No video because this happened in-ring:

らく「ミサヲさんに飛行機に乗る前に主役ですって言われたんですよ。で、最初は断ろうと思ってて…。で最後、誰かと試合するんだけどって言われて誰だと思う？っていうのをトイレで言われて。でも私がすぐ思いついたのはアジャさんで、ホントにまた断ろうと思って…。ユキさんに断り方ってどうやったらいいですか？って。ミサヲさんもギリギリで大変だけど、アジャさんとのシングルはホントに引退試合だとしてもやりたくないって思って相談したら、このきっかけがらくの何かいいきっかけになるから、ミサヲさんがこの話を与えてくれたんだよって言ってくれて、それでやろうと思って決めました。みんな時間ない中、みんなで夜遅くまで…（「本当に！」と叫ぶ辰巳に）リカさんが余裕ないの初めて見ましたよ。でもね、こうやって大変だったけど、みんなたくさん来てくれて、笑ってくれて。みんな今日頑張ってよかったなって思ってると思います」

Raku: “Misao-san told me before I got on the plane that I was going to have the lead role. And at first I thought I was going to refuse… In the bathroom, she told me I was going to have a match with someone at the end, and was like, ‘who do you think it is?’ I immediately thought of Aja-san, and I really wanted to say no again… I asked Yuki-san, ‘how do I tell her no?’ I felt that although it would be hard on Misao with how down to the wire everything was, a singles match with Aja-sama was really something I didn’t want to do even for a retirement match! We talked about it, and she said, ‘Misao-san gave this story to you because the opportunity will be a good one for you,’ and so I decided to do it. We had no time, so we all stayed up really late…” (Tatsumi shouts “Really!”) “It was my first time seeing Rika-san so stressed about something. So it was really tough, but so many people came, and you smiled and laughed. I think we’re all glad that we worked so hard today.”

Looks like that’s the last of the S’s! I’m like three weeks behind, but I’m finally moving onto the T’s!