Japanese from zero · N1 Lesson 1
Graduation day
〜てからというもの ・ 〜を経て ・ いかに ・ 〜を限りに
In this lesson, you will learn to say that life has changed for good ever since something happened with 〜てからというもの (and that a whole stretch of time went into one thing with 〜というもの), that something came about only after a long road with 〜を経て, how very true something is with いかに, and that something ends as of a certain day with 〜を限りに. It is March, and Lisa graduates from あおば大学 after four years in Japan.
By the end you will be able to say
日本に 来てからというもの、毎日が 勉強でした。Ever since I came to Japan, every day has been a lesson.
この 一年というもの、卒業論文ばかり 書いて いました。All through this past year, I did nothing but write my graduation thesis.
四年を経て、大学を 卒業しました。After four years, I graduated from university.
友達が いかに 大切か、日本で 学びました。In Japan, I learned how important friends are.
今日を限りに、カフェの アルバイトを 卒業します。As of today, I'm graduating from my part-time job at the café.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜てからというもの / 〜というもの — ever since; all through (a stretch of time) — A verb's て-form + からというもの says life changed at that moment and has stayed changed; a length of time + というもの says the whole stretch went into one thing.
- 〜を経て — after going through; after (a time) has passed — A noun + を経て says something came about only after passing through a stretch of time, a stage or a place.
- いかに — how (very); how much — いかに + an adjective or a verb, closed by か or ことか, stresses how very true something is; it is the formal, written どんなに.
- 〜を限りに — as of (this day), no more — A word for a point in time + を限りに marks the last day of something: after it, the thing stops.