Structure
Verb + （か）+ と思いきや + Phrase［た］
［い］Adjective + （か）+ と思いきや + Phrase［た］
［な］Adjective + (か(1)）+ と思いきや + Phrase［た］
Noun + (か(1)）+ と思いきや + Phrase［た］
(1)（だ）
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About と思いきや
と思いきや is an expression used in Japanese for indicating that something is not as one had thought, and will often be translated as 'despite having thought (A), (B)', or 'when I thought that (A), it was actually (B)'. と思いきや is a combination of the case marking particle と, the conjunctive form of the う-Verb 思う, 思い, the classical auxiliary verb き, which indicates past tense, and the classical binding (adverbial) particle や, which marks actual or rhetorical questions in the same way as か. Due to this, a more literal translation is 'I thought it had (A), but I guess (B)'.
Despite the origin of the phrase, in modern Japanese と思いきや is just thought of as an emphatic structure that highlights the speaker's surprise in relation to something not being as they had expected.
と思いきや may follow any word in its standard form.
The particle か may appear before と思いきや, but this just further emphasizes the same rhetorical question, as や itself has the same role.
Caution
A past tense phrase will always appear in (B), as it is considered to be the actual situation which has come about, or has been realized by the speaker.
- 彼は日本に10年も住んでいるもんだから日本語をペラペラに話せると思いきや、少しも話せない。He had lived in Japan for 10 years, so I thought that he could speak Japanese fluently, but he can't speak a word of it. (Unnatural Japanese)
Synonyms
Examples
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娘は部屋がとても静かだからきっと寝ていると思いきや、意外にも勉強していた。
I thought that my daughter was sleeping because it was very quiet, but to my surprise she was studying.
いよいよ晴れるだろうと思いきや、たちまち雨が降り出してしまった。
I thought that the weather would finally clear up, but it suddenly started raining.
うたげさんが小さいから同級生と思いきや、驚くことに先生だった。
Because she was small (like me), I thought Utage-san was (my) classmate, but, to my surprise, she was (my) teacher.
納豆はまずそうに見えるから、間違いなくまずいと思いきや、実際は、そうではなかった。
I thought for sure that natto would be gross since it looks unappetizing, but that was not the case.
「やっぱり、今度も失敗したか...」と思いきや、見事合格だった。
Despite having thought, 'As expected, I failed again,' I passed with flying colors.
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