Japanese Grammar when the End is Unclear
Learned a useful grammar pattern this morning for expressing a range between dates, times, or locations.
から~にかけて
(kara~ni-kakete)
The construction is very similar to から~まで (kara~made) but with a subtle difference: it means the destination is unclear.
Here’s an example from the 日本語文法辞典(中級編) (Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar) by Seiichi Makino and Micho Tsutsui.
日本は六月から七月にかけて梅雨が続く。
Roomaji: “Nihon wa roku-gatsu kara shichi-gatsu ni kakete tsuyu ga tsuzuku.”
Translation: “In Japan, the rainy season continues from June to July.”
This implies the rainy season starts sometime in June and continues until an unclear day or time in July. (It varies from year to year).
Tricky Japanese.
New Vocabulary
Found one new word today:
堅固な (kengo-na) – an adjective that means “hard” or “firm” in reference to a physical object
That’s all for today!
Hope you enjoyed this brief lesson.
If you’re just getting started, my 5-Day email course “Nihongo Navigator” is a great way to get the basics down.
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