Japanese from zero · N1 Lesson 40
The tea farm
〜に〜を重ねて ・ 〜にして ・ 〜ごとき/〜ごとく ・ 〜めく ・ 〜じみた
In this lesson, you will learn to describe effort piled on effort with 〜に〜を 重ねて, to say a stage was reached only at a certain age or time with 〜にして, to say 'like' in a literary way with 〜ごとき and 〜ごとく, to say the air or a tone has a touch of something with 〜めく, and to say something smacks of something unwelcome with 〜じみた. Lisa visits Grandma's old friend's tea farm, and Sakura comes along to sketch.
By the end you will be able to say
改良に 改良を 重ねて、今の お茶が できました。Through improvement after improvement, today's tea came to be.
七十にして、やっと お茶が 分かった 気が します。Only at seventy do I feel I finally understand tea.
まるで 絵の ごとき 景色ですね。It's scenery like a painting.
風が 涼しく なって、秋めいて きました。The wind has turned cool, and it's starting to feel like autumn.
年寄りじみた 話を して しまいました。I've been going on like an old man.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜に〜を 重ねて — (effort) piled on (effort); again and again — The same noun twice, with に and then を 重ねて, stresses long, repeated effort that leads to a result.
- 〜にして — only at (an age or a stage) — A number or a stage + にして says that only on reaching it did something happen, usually with やっと or はじめて.
- 〜ごとき / 〜ごとく — like; as if (literary) — Noun + の ごとき + noun and noun + の ごとく + verb or adjective are the literary forms of のような and のように.
- 〜めく — to have a touch of; to start to feel like — A noun + めく makes a verb meaning 'to take on a touch of (N)': 秋めく, 春めく, 冗談めいた.
- 〜じみた — smacking of; -ish (unwelcome) — A noun + じみた + noun says something has the unwelcome feel of (N): 年寄りじみた, 子どもじみた.