- JLPT N2
あげく
NikoJLPT N2: あげく（に）《after... [finally...]》
Salutations, fellow student!
Itching for another N2 grammar lesson?
No?
Well let's study one anyway...
First, a sentence:
龍之介はさんざん借金をしたあげく、とうとう自己破産した。
りゅうのすけ は さんざん しゃっきん を した あげく、 とうとう じこはさん した。
After going really far into debt, Ryūnosuke finally declared bankruptcy.
*You nod your head in understanding.*
Yeah, I suppose it's fairly straightforward: We use あげく when stating that X happened after a lot of (undesirable) stuff was done.
In the sentence above, "a lot of (undesirable) stuff" (for Ryūnosuke) was:
さんざん借金をした
さんざん しゃっきん を した
went really far into debt
Then, after all of that (あげく) he:
とうとう自己破産した
とうとう じこはさん した
finally declared bankruptcy
Altogether that gives us:
龍之介はさんざん借金をしたあげく、とうとう自己破産した。
りゅうのすけ は さんざん しゃっきん を した あげく、 とうとう じこはさん した。
After going really far into debt, Ryūnosuke finally declared bankruptcy.
Dictionaries seem to enjoy defining あげく as "in the end (after a long process)," "finally," "after all," etc.
I think those definitions are a bit off, though, because the sentence containing あげく often contains words that mean those things, like とうとう (finally) or 結局 (けっきょく // after all; in the end).
Instead, we should go with the dictionary entry 揚句 (あげく // last line [of a renga]), the characters literally meaning "deep-fried" (揚) "phrase" (句).
Oh, wait. That's not right either. Also, what's a "renga?" (Found it on Wikipedia!)
(In the unlikely event that you do see あげく written in kanji, it'll probably be 挙げ句.)
How about this, instead: Don't try to put a definition to あげく! Just use it in sentences saying "After a lot of (undesirable) stuff, X happened." (In our example sentences, I think it corresponds most closely to the English word "after.")
V た ＋ あげく
NOUN ＋ の ＋ あげく
We already saw that first pattern:
龍之介はさんざん借金をしたあげく、とうとう自己破産した。
りゅうのすけ は さんざん しゃっきん を した あげく、 とうとう じこはさん した。
After going really far into debt, Ryūnosuke finally declared bankruptcy.
Here's the second pattern:
私たちは８年間にわたる別居のあげく、とうとう離婚することになった。
わたし たち は はち ねん かん に わたる べっきょ の あげく、 とうとう りこん する こと に なった。
After living apart for eight years, we're finally getting divorced.
Note that our translations don't necessarily need to include the word "after" in them:
どの参考書を買うべきかさんざん悩んだあげく、結局何も買わずに帰った。
どの さんこうしょ を かう べき か さんざん なやんだ あげく、 けっきょく なにも かわず に かえった。
I was so lost as to which study book I should buy that in the end I went home without even getting one.
This is our second sentence containing the phrase さんざん, yeah? The meaning of this word can vary quite a bit depending on how and where it's used. In the following dictionary entry, the meanings for #2 are closest to how we're seeing it in this lesson:
散々（さんざん）
1) severely; harshly; terribly; miserably; wretchedly; badly
2) thoroughly; completely; utterly
3) scattered; disconnected; dispersed; smashed into tiny pieces
The best way to understand this word (or any word, really) is to just look it up in a Japanese-only dictionary, which will tell you that it means "being severe to an unpleasant degree; terribly."
It is possible that you'll come across the idiomatic expression あげくの果てに(あげくのはてに) instead of just あげく：
寒空の下３時間も待ったあげくの果てに、デートをキャンセルされた。
さむぞら の した さん じかん も まった あげくのはて に、 デート を キャンセル された。
After I’d waited out in the cold for three whole hours, my date ended up canceling on me.
In all of our examples, you'll see that "a lot of (unpleasant) stuff" can cover a wide variety of things: going really far into debt; living apart for eight years; waiting for three whole hours; etc.
あげく is a picky lover, so it'll only pair up with stuff like this. あげく will be very unhappy if you try to pair it up with one-time and/or insignificant things like "I ate too much":
✕ 食べ過ぎたあげくに、お腹を壊した。
✕ たべすぎた あげく に、 おなか を こわした。
✕ After eating too much, I got an upset stomach.
✕ Literally: “ate too much + あげくに, + stomach + を + broke.”
The end!
Did you read all of the word-by-word breakdowns?
Can you recite one of the examples with your eyes closed?
Did you just scroll straight to the bottom of this lesson without reading anything?
Whatever the case, I congratulate you, dear friend.
Niko
