Japanese from zero · N2 Lesson 21
Opening day
〜だけあって ・ 〜だけに ・ 〜だけのことはある ・ 〜かのように
In this lesson, you will learn to praise something for living up to what you expected with 〜だけあって, to say a feeling is all the stronger because of a fact with 〜だけに, to say the effort behind something shows with 〜だけのことはある, and to say something looks as if it were true with 〜かのように. It is November, and Sakura's first exhibition opens at a gallery in Tokyo.
By the end you will be able to say
有名な 画廊だけあって、作品が 素晴らしいです。As you'd expect from a famous gallery, the works are wonderful.
川の 水が 本当に 動いて いるかのように 見えます。The river's water looks as if it's really moving.
遠くに いるだけに、みんなの 声が うれしい。Being far away, I'm all the happier to hear everyone's voices.
毎日 練習しただけのことはある。That's what practicing every day gets you.
楽しみに して いただけに、本当に 感激しました。I'd looked forward to it so much that I was truly moved.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜だけあって — as you'd expect from; living up to — A fact + だけあって praises a result that lives up to that fact: 有名な 画廊だけあって, as you'd expect from a famous gallery.
- 〜だけに — all the more because; precisely because — A fact + だけに says a feeling or a result is stronger because of that fact: 遠くに いるだけに、うれしい.
- 〜だけのことはある — no wonder; it shows — At the end of a sentence, だけのことはある says a good result is worth what came before it: the effort, the price or the name.
- 〜かのように — as if — The plain form + かのように says something looks or acts as if it were true, though it is not: 動いて いるかのように 見える.