Japanese from zero · N1 Lesson 34
Ryo's complaints
〜だの〜だの ・ やれ〜やれ ・ 〜わ〜わで ・ 〜なり〜なり ・ 〜ときている
In this lesson, you will learn to list complaints with 〜だの〜だの, to say one thing after another keeps coming up with やれ〜やれ, to pile up bad things that happened at once with 〜わ〜わで, to offer choices with 〜なり〜なり, and to add the last straw with 〜ときている. Ryo, now a team leader at his delivery company, tells Lisa all about it over ramen.
By the end you will be able to say
遅いだの 重いだの、ドライバーは 文句ばかりだ。It's too slow, it's too heavy: the drivers do nothing but complain.
やれ 雨だ、やれ 故障だと、毎日 何か 起きる。One day it's rain, the next a breakdown: something happens every day.
雨は 降るわ、トラックは 壊れるわで、最悪だった。What with the rain and the truck breaking down, it was the worst.
上司なり 組合なりに 相談して みる。I'll try talking to my boss or the union or someone.
運送会社の 仕事は 大変な 上に、給料が 安いときて いる。Work at a delivery company is hard, and on top of that the pay is low.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜だの〜だの — ... and ... and so on (complaints) — だの after each example lists things someone keeps saying, usually with annoyance.
- やれ〜やれ — one minute it's ..., the next it's ... — やれ before each item lists things that keep coming up, one after another.
- 〜わ〜わで — what with A and B — Two plain forms, each + わ, the second + で, pile up bad things that happened at once.
- 〜なり〜なり — A or B or something like that — なり after each of two examples offers choices, any one of which would do.
- 〜ときている — and on top of that, it's ... — A plain form or a noun + ときている adds the last, decisive fact, the one that makes things worse or explains them.