Sunday, July 5, 2009

~と相まって・go hand in hand with;

~と結びついて・~と影響し合って

This expression means "combined with~" and is used to indicate that a certain trend or situation occurs or is intensified as the result of two things happening in conjunction. The second element is added to the first to increase the intensity of result.

(1)その古い神社は、濃い霧と相まって、幻想的な雰囲気に包まれていた。

(2)好天とあいまって、この週末はどこも大変な混雑にあった。

(3)この物語は、主人公の幼い女の子の可愛らしさも相まって、戦争の悲惨さを強く印象づける作品となっている。

(4)多くの国々は、水や空気の汚染と相まって、環境破壊が進んでいる。

(5)コーチの指導力と選手のやる気が相まって、優勝できた。

(6)実力と運とが相まって、彼を成功に導いた。

~とばかり(に)・virtually seems to; as if

いかにも~というような様子で Some attitude or appearance is nto conveyed verbally, but appears a certain way through actions. Describes other people so not used to describe speaker. Usually clause following conveys forceful, extreme action. "really appear/seem to~"

(1)あの子はお母さんなんか嫌いとばかりに、家を出ていってしまいました。

(2)皆が集まって相談していると、彼女は私には関係ないとばかりに横を向いてしまった。

~ずくめ totally immersed in, all in...

Suffix that expresses the fact that "it was...all the way from start to finish" or that "everything was all one way". To be filled with something, or one thing after another happens. Used for things, colors and events. Most often used when a person is inundated with nice things.

(1)彼女は派手好きで、いつも全身ブランドずくめだ。

(2)早朝の散歩は、ダイエットにも健康にもいいから、いいことずくめだ。

(3)うちの学校は規則ずくめで、窮屈でしかたがない。

~(が)ごとし・~(が)ごとく・~(が)ごとき  ~ごとき(に) like, as

~ごとし is an old expression equivalent in meaning to ~ようだ it is often used in idiomatic expressions. When - appended to a verb it can also be used bby adding ~が。 ~ごときに apphends to a word describing people with a putdown implied and is used with the same meaning as ~なんかに. Humble if appended to 私.

(1) 光陰矢のごとし (ことわざ 月日は、矢が飛ぶようにあっという間に過ぎる。

(2)彼は眠るがごとく安らかに、最期の時を迎えた。

(3)例のごとく、歓迎会の2次会はカラオケです。

(4)飛ぶがごとく、彼は走っていった。

(5)私ごとき未熟者にこのような大役が務めるかどうか心配です。

(6)おまえごときに俺の気持ちがわかってたまるか?

(7)陽子さんは、読んで字のごとし、明るい性格の子です。


最期・さいご・

Monday, June 29, 2009

こととする・is decided to be; is deemed to be; is judged to be

こととする;

「。。。と見なす」「。。。と判断する」「。。。と決める」と言う意味を表す
Means "Is deemed to be, "is judged to be" or "is decided to be" etc.

(1)<規則>会議を欠席する場合は、事前に議長宛に届けを提出することとする。
When you cannot attend the meeting, it has been decided that prior notice should be given to the Chairman.

(2)この度の法律改正は喜びべきこととして受け止れている。
We have decided that the reform of the law this time is something to be happy about.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

必ずしも・・・ない; It’s not always the case that...

「Xなら、かならずYだ」という論理がいつもあてはまるわけではなく、そうではない場合もある、という意味。例えば(2)は「語学が得意なら就職に有利だ」ということが常に当てはまるわけではない。「わけではない」「とはかぎらない」などと共に使うことが多い。書き言葉的。

This phrase means "The thinking that [If X, then always, without fail Y] is not always appropriate. There are cases when Y does not follow". For example, in (2) that "Being good at languages is good for finding a job" is not always true. Often comes with "wake de ha nai" or "to wa kagiranai".

(1)金持ちが必ずしもしあわせだとは限らない。
Its not always the case that being rich makes you happy.

(2)語学が得意だからといって、必ずしも就職に有利だとは限らない。
If you are good at languagues, it is not always the case that it will be good for getting a job.

(3)日本人は礼儀正しい人々だと言う人もいるようだが、実態は必ずしもそうではないと私は思っている。
There may be people who say that the Japanese, but this is not always the reality I think.

(4)政治家たちは国連は重要だと言う。しかし、必ずしも、常に尊重しなければならぬものだと思っているわけではない。
Politcians say that the United Nations is important. But they don't always think that it always has to be respected.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

品詞と文

1.1 Standards for identifying parts of speech

Words can be separated in various ways but one such way is through parts of speech - 品詞・ひんし. However the distinction between parts of speech is not always so clear. For example

(1)平和な世界
(2)平和の象徴

In (1) heiwa is an adjective while in (2) it is a noun. However if you line up nouns in order from concrete to abstract peace is towards the abstract, adjectival end of the spectrum. The concept of words extending over boundaries is 「品詞間の連続性・ひんしかんのれんぞくせい」 and can be seen in words such as 白 and 白い, 愛、愛する etc. Actual role can depend on context, which includes not only the words but also the situation (e.g. words at an interview may be different from those used with friends).


1.2 Parts of speech and their functions: 補語・ほご;修飾語・しゅうしょくご;述語・じゅつご complement, modifiers and predicate

In order for a part of speech to fulfill its role, it has to be in a position in the sentence where it can exercise its role. The position can be split largely into four: 補語;連体修飾語;連用修飾語;述語。

補語 or complement, is a noun phrase with a particle attached called a 格助詞・かくじょし. Together with the 述語 the 補語 forms the main skeleton of the sentence.

The 述語 requires different 格助詞 depending on the 述語 itself. Also certain 述語 require certain 補語, called 必須補語・ひっすほご。 For example with the sentence 田中さんが乗る is missing its 必須補語, something like タクシに。

The predicate also rounds off or anchors the sentence. There are three types - 動詞、形容詞 and 判定詞 (だ、である、です etc). Items which add on to the predicate to suplement their meaning are called 助動詞。 Sentences are can be referred to according to the type of predicate - 動詞文、形容詞文、名詞文.

There are also different types of modification - 連体修飾 is modification of nounds whereas 連用修飾 is modification of the predicate. Examples of 連用修飾 include 早く帰る、静かに話す、たいへん美しい、こう言いました。The modifier is called 修飾語 whereas the item modified is called the 被修飾語。 Adverbs, 副詞、 by default are 連用修飾. However note that some words may also function as both nouns (連体修飾) and adverbs - for example 朝はたいていパンを食べる or たいていの場合、朝はパンである。