- JLPT N1
ごとく
NikoThis lesson is on:
JLPT N1: ごとく・ごとき (like; as)
As I set out to write this lesson, I thought, Oh, awesome, ごとく and ごとき. I can write about the first time I heard ごとき in the idiom:
✕ 光陰矢のごとき
✕ こういんやのごとき
✕ Time flies like an arrow
Just one problem. The idiom is actually:
〇 光陰矢のごとし
〇 こういんやのごとし
〇 Time flies like an arrow
Oops.
Just another example of my brain messing my Japanese up again. *_*
Anyway, ごとく、ごとき、and ごとし all pretty much mean the same thing: "like" or "as."
In other words, they mean ように, only they are outdated Japanese typically appearing only in formal and/or written content.
I should be more specific.
ごとく is like ように
ごとき is like ような
That's why ごとき can come before nouns, but ごとく cannot.
Is this all sounding a bit familiar?
Well, maybe that's because we've had a lesson on ごとき before!
No worries if you'd forgotten all about it. I personally had forgotten about that lesson until I got to the end of this one! To my credit, that was over a 100 lessons ago, and I've been teaching a lot of Japanese since then.
In the previous ごとき ／ ごとく lesson, we were looking at a more metaphorical usage of ごとき and ごとく. Like in this sentence:
生まれたばかりの子供は天使のごとく美しい。
うまれた ばかり の こども は てんし の ごとく うつくしい。
A newborn child is as beautiful as an angel.
Am I the only person that thinks newborns look like little alien monsters?
That's some complicated-looking grammar.
Luckily, in the current lesson we're not dealing with metaphors.
Rather, we're dealing with "like" and "as" as they are used in sentences like this:
先週メールで知らせたごとく、店をたたむことになりそうだ。
せんしゅう メール で しらせた ごとく、 みせ を たたむ こと に なりそう だ。
As I mentioned in the e-mail last week, it looks like we’ll be closing down the shop.
Makes sense looking at the literal breakdown, yeah?
Let's get the construction out of the way. Ugh.
Generally speaking, we can do:
Plain Form ＋ ごとく ／ ごとき
For example, we just saw:
知らせたごとく
しらせた ごとく
as mentioned; as informed; as notified
If we're dealing with a NOUN, we'll have one of these:
NOUN + の + ごとく ／ ごとき
NOUN ＋ である ＋ ごとく ／ ごとき
And with NA-ADJECTIVES, we'll get:
NA-ADJECTIVE ＋ な ＋ ごとく ／ ごとき
NA-ADJECTIVE ＋ である ＋ ごとく ／ ごとき
Examples appear below.
前述のごとく、未成年者は保護者の同意が必要です。
ぜんじゅつ の ごとく、 みせいねんしゃ は ほごしゃ の どうい が ひつよう です。
As mentioned above, minors require the consent of a parent or guardian.
入学試験は、次のごとき日程で行われます。
にゅうがく しけん は、 つぎ の ごとき にってい で おこなわれます。
The entrance exam will take place according to the following schedule.
宇宙の大きさと比べたら地球がちっぽけであるごとく、わたしの悩みもちっぽけだ。
うちゅう の おおきさ と くらべたら ちきゅう が ちっぽけ である ごとく、 わたし の なやみ も ちっぽけ だ。
Just as the Earth is minuscule in comparison to the size of outer space, so too are my worries (minuscule).
Although I don't really use ごとく or ごとき in my own speech, I do come across them from time to time, particularly in written materials.
So let's remember this stuff!
Niko
