Thursday, August 03, 2006

せめて: At least...

せめて At least~
This expression is used only when there is the implication that more of something is desirable. It's like a minimum satisfaction level.

せめて日本語で日常会話ぐらいはできるようになりたいんです。
I would at least like to become able to engage in everyday conversation in Japanese.

Each sentence should end in a direct or indirect statement of desire.

(1)せめて一度は日本に行ってみたいと思う人は多いだろうね。
There are probably a lot of folks who want to go to Japan just once.

(2)夫にせめてお皿荒いぐらいしてもらいたいと思う主婦は多いだろう。
There are probably a lot of housewives who wish their husband's did dishes, at the very least.

(3)日本にいる間に、せめて一回ぐらいは会いに来て下さい。
Please visit me at least once while you are in Japan.

(4)せめて、辞書なしでほとんどの漢字が読めるといいですね。
I just wish I could read most Kanji wihout a dictionary.

(5)一日にせめて二回は歯を磨くべきだ。
You should brush your teeth at least twice a day.

You can say せめてのもの instead of せめて. せめてのもの is stronger than せめて.

10 comments:

jljzen88 said...

ヤバイ! この記入にはあまり興味がないかな

Anonymous said...

It's just that it seems like a lot of the grammar here is in the Intermediate Dictionary, and for those who have that already, it might not be so interesting to come here.

Anonymous said...

I've never come across せめて before! I have the blue book but it's a damn hard read, this blog helps me to review that JLPT2 stuff. Keep it up jzen! :-)

For me, an entry on ところ would help as I've never fully understood its meaning.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and what about は+が? Never found a good (full) explanation for that.

Anonymous said...

To me, は and が are the Japanese equivalent to the English "a" and "the" in terms of difficulty in mastering... one tip I can surely give is that if the noun being referred to is part of a subordinate clause, it's almost always が. If you're trying to point out a difference between one thing and another, は provides the emphasis you need. I really think though that this is one issue that can only be resolved by speaking to a lot of Japanese native speakers.

jljzen88 said...

I'll be putting more stuff up soon. Yeah, I did consult the Intermediate Dictionary for some examples, but there are a ton of topics that I have on my mind. I'll be posting a list shortly for the weekend.

Anonymous said...

は and が are really not all that difficult. Tricky at first because there are a lot of rules and exceptions governing their uses, which Japanese people are often unaware of because that is their gift for being native speakers, but they ARE logical.
I have a small (by small I mean roughly 200 pages) textbook written in Japanese which deals only with は vs が and their usage. Mind-numbingly boring at times, but you will never have a problem with either of them again after reading it.

Anyway, nice work with the site! Keep it up.

jljzen88 said...

I've thought about doing something on は versus が, but something like that is...for lack of a better explanation...just something you learn by imitating and making mistakes. There are so many exceptions, rules and other ideosyncracies. Maybe we could make a list of some rules and stuff...

Unknown said...

I want that wa/ga textbook. isbn?
I think you got the kanji for "arai" in "osara-arai" wrong.. sorry!

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