Japanese from zero · N2 Lesson 8
The entry sheet
〜末に ・ 〜あげく ・ 〜抜く ・ 〜ことなく
In this lesson, you will learn to tell how a long effort turned out: 〜末に for 'after a long time of it, finally', 〜あげく for 'after all that, (sadly) in the end', 〜抜く for 'all the way through', and 〜ことなく for 'without (once) doing'. Lisa writes the self-introduction for her internship entry sheet, and Ryo offers to read it.
By the end you will be able to say
悩んだ末に、新聞部の ことを 書く ことに しました。After thinking it over for a long time, I decided to write about the newspaper club.
一時間 議論した あげく、りょうは 寝て しまった。After arguing for an hour, Ryo fell asleep.
私の 長所は、最後まで やり抜く ところです。My strong point is that I see things through to the end.
一号も 休む ことなく 記事を 書いて きました。I've written articles without missing a single issue.
考え抜いた 答えなら、自信を 持って いい。If it's an answer you've thought through, you can be confident about it.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜末に — after (a long time of it), finally — A past-form verb + 末に, or a noun + の末に, says a result came at the end of a long process.
- 〜あげく — after all that, (sadly) in the end — A past-form verb + あげく, or a noun + の あげく, says a long, tiring process ended in a disappointing result.
- 〜抜く — all the way through; to the very end — A verb's ます stem + 抜く says something is done completely, to the end, even though it is hard.
- 〜ことなく — without (ever) doing — A dictionary-form verb + ことなく means 'without doing it', often with 'not even once': 一号も 休む ことなく (without missing a single issue).