How to Express Limitation: 限る, にかけては, ならでは, and ともかく

Last time, you learned topic-related expressions, e.g. “アイヌ語ごというのは北海道ほっかいどうの一いち部ぶで話はなされている言こと葉ばのことだ (Ainu languages is a language spoken in part of Hokkaido),” and “北海道ほっかいどうといえば、私わたしは何なん度どか行いったことがある (As for Hokkaido, I have been there some times).” Then, if you would like to say, “Ainu languages is a language spoken in only part of Hokkaido,” how should you say it? In this lesson, you will learn how to express limitation.

Explanation for How to Express Limitation in Japanese

You already know the word だけ to indicate limitation. だけ is certainly a powerful word and is used in various situations. In fact, the sentence: “Ainu languages is a language spoken in only part of Hokkaido“ can be expressed by だけ like this “アイヌ語ごというのは北海道ほっかいどうの一いち部ぶでだけ話はなされている言こと葉ばのことだ.” However, there are some types of limitation that だけ cannot express.

The Wide Usage of 限かぎる

限かぎる literally means “to limit” and “to restrict.” You can utilize this verb for various expressions. The one that we introduced in the partial negation lesson is one of the utilization, e.g. “アイヌ語ごが話はなされているのは北海道ほっかいどうだけとは限かぎらない (It’s not necessarily that Ainu language is spoken in only Hokkaido).” The conjugation is the key.

The Plain Form 限かぎる: To Indicate "Restricted" and "Only"

The basic function is to express restriction of something. The target of restrictions is expressed by に. This sounds a little formal. Then, here is a different function. 限る can also express the best thing in a certain topic like “As for X, Y is better than anything.” By contrast, this is mainly used in conversation and sound casual.

The Te-form …に限かぎって

に限って has two functions. The first is to express that something inconvenient happens particularly when you had hoped nothing would happen. This is generally used with time expressions in both writing and conversation. In this case, it may not be strictly limited to occurring in only that time/situation.

The second is to express something like “You wouldn't expect X to do/be Y” or “X would be the last person to do Y.” In general, に限って works as a subject marker and is used with the negative form. Be careful. This may sound like a strong statement.

Some people utilize the second function for emphasizing and pointing out bad activities. This may grammatically be not correct, but used to express irony.

The Conjunctive Form …に限かぎり: Certain Rules Apply to a Restricted Group

に限り is a formal way of expressing that authorized people apply certain rules to a restricted group of people. The sentence structure is a little tricky. If you are confused by the structure, you can reword them as follows:

In this context, you can replace に限り with に限って or だけ and make your speech less formal.

Don’t be confused with the noun form of 限る. The 限り in the following example works as a noun and that’s different from the function of the conjunctive form.

Negative Conjunctive Form …に限かぎらず: To Negate/Soften Limitation

に限らず works to negate or soften limitation. With the first example, the new range is mentioned, i.e. from the elderly to the young. However, making ranges unlimited is also common, as in the second example.

Supplementary Subordinate Clauses …を限かぎりに: Time Limit

を限りに is used with time expressions and indicate time limit. You can grammatically consider the を限りに part as a subordinate clause. In this context, を限りに is often interchangeable for で and をもって.

Other Expressions for Limitation

There are still other expressions which are not interchangeable with だけ and 限る. They express "ranges" rather than "limitation." For the sake of completion, we would like to cover all of them here.

…にかけては: Prominence in a Certain Field

The function is to indicate prominence in a field specified by にかけては. In terms of the sentence structure, you may consider the にかけては part as a kind of topic marker.

…ならでは（の）: Specialty

ならでは is used with だ/です and indicates specialty or uniqueness like “something you can experience only in that place” or “something that only X can do.” This can be also used with の to modify nouns as follows:

…（は / なら）ともかく: Exclusion

（は / なら）ともかく expresses the exclusion of something from consideration. は and なら are interchangeable. However, なら is the one used in conditionals, so なら can be connected to any part of speech and implies a hypothetical condition. That is to say, with the third example, he/she doesn’t have fever in reality. With the fourth example, Inoue-san is not incapable in reality.

Summary

1. Each form of 限かぎる expresses limitation with different nuances;
   • 限かぎる expresses restriction of something.
   • に限かぎって expresses that something inconvenient happens particularly when you had hoped nothing would happen.
   • に限かぎって also expresses “You wouldn't expect X to do/be Y” or  “X would be the last person to do Y.”
   • に限かぎり expresses that authorized people apply certain rules to a restricted group of people.
   • に限かぎらず works to negate or soften limitation.
   • を限かぎりに is used with time expressions and indicates a time limit.

2. …にかけては expresses prominence in a certain field.
3. ならでは（の） indicates specialty or uniqueness.
4. （は / なら）ともかく expresses the exclusion of something from consideration.

限る can mean various things depending on the form, but don’t worry, this is kind of an unusual verb. Japanese verbs generally don’t have multiple meanings like 限る. Now, you know how to express limitation in various ways. Next, you will learn the opposite concept: how to express addition.