How to Express Subjective Evaluation: さえ, でも, まで, なんて, くらい, and こそ

Last time, you learned how to express addition, e.g. “日に本ほんは魚さかなだけでなく肉にくも美味うまい (In Japan, not only fish but meat is delicious),” and “宿しゅく題だいはもちろん予よ習しゅうもちゃんとした (I properly made the preparations, not to mention doing homework too).” Then, if you underestimate the importance of homework like, “you don’t have to do such homework,” how should you say this? In this lesson, you will learn how to express subjective evaluation.

Explanation for the Usage of さえ, でも, まで, なんて, くらい, and こそ

The words that you will learn here can be categorized into the focus particle group. Thus, please be aware of the grammatical rules; (1) Focus particles are replaced with the particle が and を. (2) Apart from が and を, focus particles are attached to particles like にだけ and でだけ. (3) Some focus particles can be placed both before and after particles like へだけ and だけへ.

さえ: Expressing Surprise By Showing Extreme Examples

さえ expresses surprise by showing extreme examples. With the above example, by taking hiragana as an example, you express how surprised you are like “even though now hiragana is very easy, I was unable to read it when I first started learning Japanese.” さえ can modify any part of speech, but as for verbs, it should be in the polite form, the te-form, or the plain form with a nominalizer, i.e. 読みさえ, 読んでさえ, and 読むことさえ.

さえ also expresses inclusion like the particle も. For example, we guess that “論文: thesis” is one of the hardest documents to correct. Taking thesis as an extreme example, you imply that the teacher corrects other easier documents, too. Therefore, we can say that さえ are も are similar. Then, you can express surprise with stronger nuances by combining さえ with も (*look at the third example below).

There is an important combination, which is さえ and the conditional form ば. By using さえ in conditionals, you can express extreme conditions like “if X is just true (and there are no other conditions), Y is true.” This can also be used to express past conditionals (*look at the third and fourth example below).

すら has the same function as さえ, but sounds like an old word. As of today, they are interchangeable. Note: The combination between さえ and ば is not interchangeable.

You cannot use さえ when you ask or invite others to do something.

でも and だって: Implying Reasonableness by Showing Extreme Examples

でも implies reasonableness by showing extreme examples. With the above example, the fact that the book can be read by elementary school students is the extreme example. That implies the book can be read by everyone such as junior high school students and adults. でも can modify any part of speech except for i-adjectives and the plain form of verbs. Combinations with nouns are the most common. In colloquial expressions, でも can be replaced with だって.

One of the important usages of でも is to combine with question words. For example, the combination between 誰 and でも indicates “anyone” or “whoever.”

でも is often used to make invitations or give advice. By showing examples, you imply that there are other options and your invitations or suggestions can vary. In this context, でも is NOT interchangeable with だって.

でも and さえ have the common usage which is showing extreme examples. Thus, they are interchangeable in some contexts. However, please be aware of the difference of the nuance.

まで: Adding Unexpected Factors

The function is to add unexpected factors. With the above example, the speaker thinks people generally take a bath at night. However, the younger sister is an exception. The speaker tries to express additional unexpected factors by using まで. Unlike さえ and でも, まで can modify nouns, the polite form and the te-form of verbs, and clauses (not adjectives). When people use まで in negative sentences, they customarily add は like までは. Otherwise, it sounds unnatural.

も is sometimes used together with まで and indicates surprise.

This is a different usage, but までも indicates something like a result that you are almost satisfied with. This is rather close to reverse conditions like が and けど.

なんて and など (なんか) : Expressing “Evaluation Beyond Standard”

なんて expresses evaluation beyond standard, which can have positive and negative meanings. English translations don’t work well here. “There is no point in thinking about it” can roughly be the counterpart in English. The above examples say something like “I have some experience in learning Japanese, so there is no point in thinking about it. Hiragana is easy and kanji cannot be memorized.” Note: なんて has to be placed after particles, i.e. 日に本ほんになんて is correct, but 日本なんてに is wrong.

なんて can modify any part speech. However, you need to pay attention to the variety of connections especially when used with verbs and adjectives.

Be careful. なんて can have offensive meanings like “There is no point in thinking about it because I gave a low evaluation on it.” Therefore, if you are talking with a person who wants to be a teacher. you should say the second example below.

など is a formal word and なんか is a casual word with the same function as なんて. The difference in the usage is that they can be placed before particles.

くらい: Expressing Reasonableness By Treating It as Elementary Things

くらい expresses reasonableness or naturalness by treating it as elementary things (*Some people use ぐらい instead of くらい). With the above example, you treat greeting as an elementary thing, which implies that greeting is the one you have to do at least. English translations also don’t work well here, but “at least” might roughly be the counterpart in English. くらい can modify nouns and the plain and the polite form of verbs. Note: くらい doesn’t appear in negative sentences.

くらい can work like a nominalizer especially when used with verbs. Be careful. You can be look rude by using くらい. For example, the example below implies that you treat English as an elementary thing, which may upset those who struggle with learning English. The second one is one of the alternatives.

There is an important usage. くらい has to be used when there are gaps between expectation and reality. For example, “挨拶くらいちゃんとしよう” must be said when you have found people who don’t greet. That is to say, the expectation is to greet, but the reality is not to greet.

こそ: Making Distinction between One and Others

The function is to make distinction between one and others. The above example implies that there are many geniuses in the world, but Einstein is the real genius. You may roughly translate こそ as “X is the one” or “especially” in English. こそ mainly modifies nouns, the te-form of verbs and clauses.

Summary

1. さえ expresses surprise by showing extreme examples.
2. でも implies reasonableness by showing extreme examples.
3. まで adds unexpected factors.
4. なんて expresses evaluation beyond standard.
5. くらい expre sses reasonableness or naturalness by treating it as elementary things.
6. こそ makes distinction between one and others.

This lesson must be long, but we would like to introduce the focus particles all together. They are similar to each other, but certainly have their own functions and nuances. As for overall communication, it is no problem even if you don’t use focus particles. However, they are indispensable for communication with detailed nuances. Please try to master them in order to become an advanced Japanese speaker.