Japanese from zero · N1 Lesson 33
Tanaka's secret
〜ようにも〜ない ・ 〜ないものか ・ 〜んがために ・ 〜たら〜ところだ
In this lesson, you will learn to say you cannot do something however much you try with 〜ようにも〜ない, to wish hard for a way out with 〜ないものか, to name a single, solemn purpose with 〜んがために, and to say what would have happened if things were different with 〜たら〜ところだ. Tanaka asks Lisa to meet him after work: he has a secret to tell her.
By the end you will be able to say
いざと なると、言おうにも 言えない。When the moment comes, I can't say it, try as I might.
何か いい 方法は ないものだろうか。I wonder if there isn't some good way.
結婚の 申し込みを せんがために、彼は 帰国した。He came home for the sole purpose of asking her to marry him.
もっと 早く 打ち明けて いたら、今ごろ もう 結婚して いたところだ。If I had told her sooner, I'd be married by now.
もう 少し 遅かったら、電車に 間に合わない ところだった。A little later and I would have missed the train.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜ようにも〜ない — can't, however hard (I) try — A verb's volitional form + にも, then the same verb in the potential negative: you want to or try to, but something stops you.
- 〜ないものか — isn't there some way ...? (a wish) — A ない form + ものか wishes hard for something that seems out of reach.
- 〜んがために — for the sole purpose of (formal) — A verb's ない form without ない + んがために is a solemn, old-fashioned 'in order to'.
- 〜たら〜ところだ — (if ...,) would have — An untrue condition with たら, then a result + ところだ, says what would have happened if things were different.