Japanese なかなか grammar nakanaka
Hello everyone ! In this post, Learn Japanese Daily would like to introduce you to the lesson: Japanese なかなか grammar nakanaka
Contents
1. なかなか + N/A
Meaning : Express the surprise and unexpected about something that you have thought is not good. It means “quite”, “pretty”
Example :
この料理はなかなか美味しいですね。
Kono ryouri ha nakanaka oishii desu ne.
This dish is quite delicious.
田中さんが描いた絵はなかなかうまいよ。
Tanaka san ga kaita e ha nakanaka umai yo.
The picture that Mr. Tanaka drew is quite beautiful.
あの女の人はなかなか美人ですね。
Ano onna no hito ha nakanaka bijin desu ne.
That woman is pretty beautiful.
なかなかいいやつだね。
Nakanaka ii yatsu dane.
He is a nice guy, isn’t he!
あの問題はなかなか解けやすいですよ。
Ano mondai ha nakanaka tokeyasui desu yo.
That problem is quite easy to solve.
なかなか良いようです。
Nakanaka yoi you desu.
It seems quite good.
有名なファッションデザイナーがデザインした服はこんな値段で買えるのはなかなか安いですね。
Yuumei na fasshon dezaina- ga dezain shita fuku ha konna nedan de kaeru noha nakanaka yasui desu ne.
It is quite cheap to be able to buy clothes designed by famous fashion designers at such prices.
A「このスマホんはそこまでできるの？なかなか便利ですね。」
B「もちろん！新型スマホんだから。」
A : “Kono sumahon ha sokomade dekiru no? Nakanaka benri desu ne.”
B : “Mochiron! Shingata sumahon dakara”.
A : “Can this smartphone do that? Is it quite convenient, isn’t it”
B : “Of course! Because it’s a new smartphone.”
Note : Compared to とても(very)、すごく (extremely)、かなり (considerably, quite), なかなか is more moderate. Therefore, we don’t often use なかなか with strong adjectives like 危険 (dangerous),…
2. なかなか + A
Meaning : quite, pretty
Example :
A「昨日のテスト、できた？」
B「それは、なかなか簡単ですよ。」
A : “Kinou no tesuto, dekita?”
B : “Sore ha, nakanaka kantan desu yo.”
A : “Can you pass the test yesterday?”
B : “It’s pretty easy.”
あの人はなかなかケチですね。
Ano hito ha nakanaka kechi desu ne.
He is quite stingy.
A「石田さんはどんな人か教えてくれない？」
B「なかなか腹悪いやつですよ。」
A : “Ishida san ha donna hito ka oshiete kurenai?”
B : “Nakanaka fukuwarui yatsu desu yo.”
A :”Can you tell me who Mr. Ishida is?”
B : “He’s a pretty bad guy.”
A「今度の面接はどう？」
B「なかなかですね。」
A : “Kondo no mensetsu ha dou?”
B : “Nakanaka desu ne.”
A : “How was this interview?”
B : “It is quite good”.
A「この歌、どう思う？」
B「なかなかだ」
A : “Kono uta, dou omou?”
B : “Nakanaka da.”
A : “What do you think about this song?”
B : “It’s okay”.
Note : なかなか can be used alone and it means “quite good, okay”.
3. なかなかの + N
Meaning : It means “good”, “quite”. It has positive meaning and is often used to praise.
Example :
A「この本はなかなかの本だよ。石田さんも読んでみて。」
B「私、読書が苦手なんだ…」
A : “Kono hon ha nakanaka no hon dayo. Ishida san mo yonde mite”.
B : “Watashi, dokusho ga nigate nan da…”.
A : “This is a good book. Try reading it, Mr. Ishida.”
B : “I don’t like reading book so much…”
この地域ははなかなかの景色だよね。
Kono chiiki ha nakanaka no keshiki dayo ne.
This area is quite beautiful.
ここはなかなかのホテルですね。日当たりもいいし。
Koko ha nakanaka no hoteru desu ne. Hiatari mo ii shi.
This is a good hotel. It has good exposure to sunlight.
なかなかのドレスですね。君にとても合うと思うよ。
Nakanaka no doresu desu ne. Kimi ni totemo au to omou yo.
It is a pretty dress. I think it suits you very well.
なかなかの色づきですね。この色を使うと、絵が明るくなるよ。
Nakanaka no iroduki desu ne. Kono iro wo tsukau to, e ga akarukunaru yo.
It is quite a color. When using this color, the picture gets brighter.
なかなかの辞書ですね。何かわからなかったら、この辞書を使ってみてください。
Nakanaka no jisho desu ne. Nanika wakaranakattara, kono jisho wo tsukatte mite kudasai.
It’s a good dictionary. If you don’t know something, please try using this dictionary.
4. Be used with conditional sentences（たら、ば）
Usage : …に + Vさせたら、なかなかのものだ
Meaning : If letting someone do something, they will do it well.
Example :
高橋さんに書類を準備させたら、なかなかのものだよ。
Takahashi san ni shorui wo junbi sase tara, nakanaka no mono da yo.
If we let Mr. Takahashi prepare the documents, he will do it well.
リンさんにダンスをさせたら、なかなかのものだよ。
Rin san ni dansu wo sase tara, nakanaka no mono da yo.
If you let Ms. Lin dance, she will dance pretty good.
俺に絵を描かせたら、なかなかのものだよ。
Ore ni e wo kakasase tara, nakanaka no mono da yo.
If you let me draw a picture, I will draw pretty good.
買い物は全部佐藤さんに任せたら、なかなかのものだよ。彼女は几帳面な人ですから。
Kaimono ha zenbu satou san ni makasetara, nakanaka no mono da yo. Kanojo ha kichoumen na hito desu kara.
If you let Ms. Sato do the shopping, she will do it well. Because she is a tidy person.
今度の会議、スミスさんにお客様に翻訳させたら、なかなかのものだよ。彼の英語が上手ですから。
Kondo no kaigi, sumisu san ni okyakusama ni honyaku sasetara, nakanaka no mono da yo. Kare no eigo ga jouzu desu kara.
If you let Mr. Smith translate for customers in the next meeting, he will do it well. Because he is good at English.
５歳の娘に家事をさせたら、なかなかのものだよ。少し大きくなるならいいなあ…
Go sai no musume ni kaji wo sase tara, nakanaka no mono da yo. Sukoshi ookiku naru nara ii naa.
If I let my 5 years old daughter do housework, she will do it well. It will be nice if she grows a little bigger…
5. なかなか + clause
Meaning : “It takes time/work” more than you expected.
Example :
あのやつは友達に助けるために、なかなか苦労がかかったそうです。
Ano yatsu ha tomodachi ni tasukeru tameni, nakanaka kurou ga kakatta sou desu.
It is said that it took that guy a lot of effort to help his friend.
ここから郵便局に走るのはなかなか力を尽きますね。
Koko kara yuubinkyoku ni hashiru noha nakanaka ryoku wo tsuki masu ne.
It makes efforts to run to the post office from here.
バスを待つだけなのになかなか時間がかかりそうです。
Basu wo matsu dake na noni nakanaka jikan ga kakarisou desu.
It seems to take time to just wait for the bus.
なかなかお金がかからないと、この段階に達することはないよ。
Nakanaka okane ga kakaranai to, kono kaidan ni tassuru koto ha nai yo.
If you don’t spend much money, you won’t reach this stage.
なかなか苦労しないと、今の私にならないでしょう。
Nakanaka kurou shi nai to, ima no watashi ni naranai deshou.
If I didn’t have a hard time, I wouldn’t become me as now.
子供に教えたら、なかなか忍耐がかかるだろう。
Kodomo ni oshietara, nakanaka nintai ga kakaru darou.
It will take a lot of patience when teaching children.
この商品は日本からベトナムに運輸するために、なかなかお金がかかったよ。
Kono shouhin ha nihon kara betonamu ni unyu suru tameni, nakanaka okane ga kakatta yo.
It took a lot of money to transport this product from Japan to Vietnam.
6. なかなか + Verb in negative form
Meaning : It has negative meaning. It is used when you want to say something that unexpectedly happened.
Example :
この薬をたくさん飲んだのに、なかなか効かない。
Kono kusuri wo takusan nonda noni, nakanaka kikanai.
Although I took a lot of these medicines, they does not work well.
君のパソコン、何度も再起動したのに、なかなかうまく動かない。
Kimi no pasokon, nando mosaikidou shita noni, nakanaka umaku ugokanai.
Although you has been restarted your computer many times, it doesn’t work very well.
この辞書はなかなか役に立たない。なかなかお金がかかって買ったのに…
Kono jisho ha nakanaka yaku ni tatanai. Nakanaka okane ga kakatte katta noni…
This dictionary is not very useful. It took me a lot of money to buy it…
どんなに謝っても、彼女との関係はなかなか良くならなくて結局分かれた。
Donna ni ayamattemo, kanojo to no kankei ha nakanaka yokunaranakute kekkyoku wakareta.
No matter how I apologized, my relationship with my girlfriend didn’t improve very well and we finally broke up.
たくさん問題を練習したのに、テストのときに緊張して点数がなかなか取れなかった。
Takusan mondai wo renshuu shita noni, tesuto no toki ni kinchou shite tensuu ga nakanaka torenakatta.
Although I practiced doing a lot of exercises, I was still nervous at the time of the test and couldn’t get good grades.
どんなにダイエットしても、体重がなかなか減らない。
Donnani daietto shitemo, taijuu ga nakanaka heranai.
No matter how I diet, I am not losing weight.
どんなに勉強しても、なかなか良くならなくてとても疲れた。
Donnani benkyou shitemo, nakanaka yoku naranakute totemo tsukareta.
No matter how I studied, I am not getting better, so I’m very tired.
この機械はなかなかうまく動かないね。捨てたほうがいいじゃない。
Kono kikai ha nakanaka umaku ugokanai ne. Suteta hou ga ii janai.
This machine does not work well. You should throw it away.
A「このペン、なかなか使えないね…」
B「使う前に、振ってみたら？」
A : “Kono pen, nakanaka tsukaenai ne…”
B : “Tsukau maeni, futtemitara?”
A : “I can’t use this pen easily…”
B : “How about trying shaking it before using?”
足がしびれたので、今日はなかなかジョギングできなかった。
Ashi ga shibireta node, kyou ha nakanaka jogingu dekinakatta.
My foot is numb, so I couldn’t go jogging very much today.
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