Lesson 21
Adverb + Fixed Ending
- 1 もしかすると〜かもしれない moshika suru to ~kamo shirenai possibly ~ might Add "possibly" to N4's かもしれない — the chance drops, the tone softens.
- 2 おそらく〜だろう osoraku ~darou probably More certain than "possibly", less than "surely" — a likely guess.
- 3 せっかく〜のに／から sekkaku ~noni / kara despite the effort / since we've come this far Effort made, a rare chance had — either wasted, or worth making the most of.
- 4 〜ことに ~koto ni to my (surprise / regret) "Sadly, …" — feeling first, then the event.
- 5 〜そうもない・そうにない ~sou mo nai / sou ni nai unlikely to The negative of N4's 「〜そうだ」(looks like) — but not simply そうじゃない.
Lesson check
All 5 forms of this lesson together — pick the right one from its look-alikes, the way the exam does. 6/8 completes the lesson.
🔒
「もしかすると、田中さんはもう帰った＿。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:What does もしかすると pair with?
もしかすると〜かもしれない = possibly, maybe. そうもない needs the ます-stem, but here we have the た-form.
「＿明日は雨だろう。空がとても暗い。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:だろう — a fairly confident guess.
おそらく〜だろう = probably. せっかく is about effort or a rare chance; なかなか and ぜんぜん don't express a guess, and ぜんぜん needs a negative.
「＿作ったのに、だれも食べてくれなかった。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:Made with care, then wasted.
せっかく〜のに = I went to the trouble, but it was wasted. おそらく and もしかすると are for guesses.
「せっかく日本に＿、富士山を見に行こう。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:It ends in "let's go" — making the most of the chance.
せっかく〜から = since we have this chance, let's…. のに can't be followed by an invitation like "let's go".
「＿ことに、試験に落ちてしまった。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:Feeling first — how does a な-adjective attach?
な-adjective + な + ことに = "sadly, …". うれしい clashes with 落ちてしまった, and 残念だ or bare 残念 can't attach.
「仕事がまだたくさんあって、今日中には＿。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:Lots of work left — does it look like finishing?
ます-stem + そうにない = unlikely to. 終わりそうだ says the opposite — "looks like it'll finish".
「＿の休みなのに、雨で出かけられなかった。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:A rare day off, wasted.
せっかく + の + noun = a precious, hard-won …. おそらく and もしかすると can't take の.
Which sentence is unnatural?
💡 Hint:After ことに, what must come — a fact or a guess?
〜ことに must be followed by something that actually happened, not a guess with だろう.
Your score: /8