Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 4: 7/21

(わけ)For that reason, No wonder, As you'd expect, Naturally, Thus, This is why

Structure

Verb + (という) + わけ
[い]Adjective + (という) + わけ
[な]Adjective + (1) + わけ
Noun + (1) + わけ

(1) という

Details

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About わけだ

One of the most misunderstood words in Japanese is (わけ). Of the many ways it can be translated, the most common are 'reason', 'cause', 'meaning', or 'conclusion'. Despite this, it may be beneficial to consider it almost identical to an equally versatile English word 'so'.

In all of its uses, わけ simply highlights the plain existence/determination of something in the same way that 'so' does in English. This can be seen in its most basic form in わけだ. A combination of わけ and the auxiliary verb .

わけだ will be used at the end of sentences, and is sometimes preceded by という. This use is often translated as 'for the reason of (A)', 'no wonder its (A)', or 'its (A), as you'd expect'. Realistically though, it just means 'it is so that it's (A)', or 'so it's (A)'.

Due to わけ being a noun, it will need to follow the attributive form of whatever word comes before it. As we can see 'so' and わけ have an extremely close pattern of nuances, ranging from 'because', all the way through to simple emphasis (like with 'naturally', and 'as you'd expect').

わけ may also be used in questions, implying that the speaker is trying to determine something that they have heard. わけだね 'so its (A) right?', and わけですか 'so is it that (A)?' are good examples of this.

Antonyms


Examples

--:--

    (ゆき)()っていた。(さむ)(わけ)

    It snowed. This is why it is cold.

    また(わす)れたの?それで先生(せんせい)(しか)られた(わけ)

    You forgot again? No wonder you were scolded by the teacher.

    夜更(よふ)かししてばかりいるの?それじゃあ遅刻(ちこく)する(わけ)

    Why do you keep staying up late? No wonder you are always late.

    (かね)無駄(むだ)使(つか)っている。貯金(ちょきん)がない(わけ)です

    You waste your money. No wonder you have no savings.

    彼女(かのじょ)医者(いしゃ)になりたいから、医学(いがく)勉強(べんきょう)をする(わけ)

    Since she wants to be a doctor, this is why she is studying in the medical field.
    (as you'd expect)

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      わけだ – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (7 in total)

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        English translation:
        for that reason
        no wonder
        as you’d expect

        Structure:
        Verb + (という) + わけだ
        いAdj + (という) + わけだ
        なAdj + な/だった/という + わけだ
        Noun + の/だった/という + わけだ

        View on Bunpro

      • seanblue

        seanblue

        I need some help with this grammar point for Bunpro reviews. I understand the meaning of this grammar point perfectly fine when reading, but the English prompts just don’t click with me.

        For example:

        雪が降っていた。寒いわけだ。

        The English prompt for this one was “as you would expect”. This just doesn’t scream 「わけだ」 to me. Any tips for this to help with reviews? Maybe I should just mark it as “known” since I understand it fine when reading and call it a day.

      • ulurujamman

        ulurujamman

        To what extent can んです be used synonymously to this construction?

        e.g.

        彼女は医者になりたいから、医学の勉強をする わけだ

        vs

        彼女は医者になりたいから、医学を勉強するんです

      • cin27

        cin27

        maybe looking at the kanji (even though it isn’t used in this grammar form) would be helpful. according to jisho.org the kanji is “訳 【わけ】 conclusion from reasoning”

        so in the example the english could be:

        1. It is snowing. One can conclude from reasoning that it is cold.

        or

        1. It is snowing. As you would expect, it is cold.
      • Humin

        Humin

        The Dokkyo University link is 404’d.
        As is the 日本語の森 link.

      • Ambo100

        Ambo100

        There’s a six part series of videos on 訳 covering most of the uses and expressions it’s used in. The first video is for わけだ

      • Daru

        Daru

        Resources have been fixed.
        Thank you for pointing it out!

      • ddavo

        ddavo

        This grammar point is also available on まるごと中級1, p. 200

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