Japanese from zero · N2 Lesson 35
The night before
〜に越したことはない ・ 〜に限る ・ 〜とも ・ 〜だけは ・ 〜ては/〜では
In this lesson, you will learn to say what is always the safe choice with 〜に越したことはない, what nothing beats with 〜に限る, to set a limit such as 'at the latest' with 〜とも, to say what you did at least with 〜だけは, and to say 'whenever' or 'if (with a bad result)' with 〜ては and 〜では. It is the night before Lisa's final interview, and Minju cooks dinner.
By the end you will be able to say
時刻表は 確認するに越したことはない。You can't go wrong checking the timetable.
前の 日は 早く 寝るに限る。The night before, nothing beats going to bed early.
遅くとも 七時には 出よう。Let's leave by seven at the latest.
できる ことだけは やった。I did everything I could, at least.
寝坊しては 大変だ。It would be terrible to oversleep.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜に越したことはない — it's best to; you can't go wrong with — A verb, an adjective or a noun + に越したことはない says this is always the best, safest choice.
- 〜に限る — nothing beats; the best thing is — A dictionary-form verb or a noun + に限る says, from the speaker's own experience, that this is the best.
- 〜とも — at the latest; at the earliest; even if — After the く-form of an adjective, とも sets a limit: 遅くとも (at the latest), 早くとも (at the earliest).
- 〜だけは — at least (this much); this one thing — だけは picks out one thing and says that this, at least, holds, whatever else happens.
- 〜ては / 〜では — whenever; if (with a bad result) — A て-form + は means 'whenever' for a repeated action, or sets up a bad result as a condition.