Japanese from zero · N2 Lesson 17
Lisa writes back
〜以上に ・ よほど ・ 逆に ・ 〜ばかりか ・ おまけに
In this lesson, you will learn to say that something went beyond what you expected with 〜以上に, to guess at a strong reason with よほど, to say that things have turned the other way round with 逆に, to say 'not only ... but also' with 〜ばかりか, and to pile on one more fact with おまけに. Lisa writes back to Tanaka, and a message from her mother in Seattle has news about him.
By the end you will be able to say
思って いた 以上に 元気そうで、安心した。He seems even better than I'd thought, and I'm relieved.
母は 「よほど お腹が 空いて いたのね」と 書いて いた。My mother wrote, 'He must have been really hungry.'
今は 逆に、私が シアトルの ことを 教えて いる。Now it's the other way round: I'm the one telling him about Seattle.
たなかは 料理を 残らず 食べた ばかりか、おかわりまで した。Not only did Tanaka eat every bit of the food, he even had seconds.
駅前の 店が 値上げした。おまけに、ケーキも 来月から 値上げだ。The shops by the station raised their prices. On top of that, the cakes go up next month, too.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜以上に — even more than (expected) — X 以上に says something goes beyond X: 思って いた 以上に, 去年 以上に.
- よほど / よっぽど — very much; must have been very — よほど (casual: よっぽど) says 'to a great degree', often guessing at a strong reason behind what you see.
- 逆に — on the contrary; the other way round — 逆に says the result is the opposite of what you would expect, or that two people have swapped places.
- 〜ばかりか — not only ... but also — X ばかりか Y says not only X but also Y, with Y going even further.
- おまけに — on top of that; what's more — おまけに adds one more fact of the same kind, often one more bad thing.