Japanese from zero · N1 Lesson 38
Before the executives
〜をものともせずに ・ 〜を押して ・ 〜ずにはおかない ・ 〜でなくてなんだろう ・ 〜というわけだ
In this lesson, you will learn to praise someone who goes ahead undaunted with 〜をものともせずに, to say someone acts in spite of an illness or pushes past opposition with 〜を 押して and 〜を 押し切って, to say something is bound to move people with 〜ずには おかない, to make a strong rhetorical claim with 〜でなくて なんだろう, and to sum up an explanation with 〜という わけだ. In August, Lisa presents her tea plan to the company's executives.
By the end you will be able to say
夏風邪を 押して、会議に 出ました。I went to the meeting in spite of a summer cold.
ミラーさんは、反対をものともせずに 最後まで 話した。Undaunted by the opposition, Miller-san spoke to the end.
この お茶は、飲む 人の 心を 動かさずには おきません。This tea cannot fail to move anyone who drinks it.
これが 地方の 力でなくてなんでしょう。If this isn't the strength of the regions, what is?
お茶の 背景には 町の 物語が ある。だから 売れるという わけです。Behind the tea is the town's story. That's why it will sell.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜をものともせずに — undaunted by; in the face of — A noun for an obstacle + をものともせずに praises someone who goes ahead as if it were nothing.
- 〜を押して / 〜を押し切って — in spite of (an illness); overriding (objections) — A noun + を 押して says someone acts in spite of a condition that should stop them; を 押し切って says they override other people's objections.
- 〜ずには おかない — is bound to; cannot fail to (move people) — A verb's ない-stem + ずには おかない says something is bound to cause a reaction, or that someone is determined to make it happen.
- 〜でなくて なんだろう — if this isn't (X), what is? — A noun + でなくて なんだろう is a rhetorical question that says, with feeling, that something is X above all.
- 〜という わけだ — that's why; so that's how it is — A plain form + という わけだ closes an explanation by stating the conclusion that follows from it.