Every-so-often Grammar/Phrase/Word

I wasn't kissing her, I was whispering in her mouth. -- Chico Marx

よう に (you ni)1

2004-03-14
よう に (you ni)1
Basic meanings: as; like
Comments: an adverbial form of よう だ
Key sentences:
  1. 私が言うように書いて下さい。
    watasi ga iu you ni kaite kudasai.
    Please write it down the way I say it.
    See footnote 1.
  2. 今日は春のように暖い。
    kyou wa haru no you ni atatakai.
    Today is warm like spring.
  3. スミスさんは日本人のように日本語を話す。
    sumisusan wa nihonjin no you ni nihongo o hanasu.
    Mr. Smith speaks Japanese like a Japanese.
  4. このようにして下さい。
    kono you ni shite kudasai.
    Please do it like this.
Formation: MOD_PHRASE よう に
  • {話す, 話さした} よう に
    {hanasu,hanasita} you ni
  • {高い, 話さない} よう に
    {takai,hanasanai} you ni
  • 静か {な, だった} よう に
    sizuka {na,datta} you ni
Additional examples:
  1. 前に話したように、来月会社をやめる。
    mae ni hanasita you ni, raigetu kaisya o yameru.
    As I said before, I'll be quitting [the company] next month.
    See footnote 2.
  2. 若い時のように元気が出ない。
    wakai toki no you ni genki ga denai.
    I'm not healthy like when I was young.
  3. いつもように、田中さんは遅い。
    itumo you ni, tanakasan wa osoi.
    As always, Mr. Tanaka is late.
    いつもように = As always
  4. 猫が可愛いように犬も可愛い。
    neko ga kawaii you ni inu mo kawaii.
    Dogs are cute, like cats. (lit. Like cats are cute, dogs are also cute.)
Usage notes:
  1. The adverb まるで (marude) (=just, exactly, entirely; etc) is often used for emphasis (eg, "just like", "exactly like").
  2. ように can express counterfactual statements, as in this sentence:
    あの子はまるで大人のように話す。
    ano ko wa marude otona no you ni hanasu.
    That child speaks just like an adult.
Footnotes:
  1. ように is often replaced with 通りに (toori ni), especially after verbs. When the two are interchangeable, 通りに can sometimes imply a greater degree of similarity between the things being compared. Key sentence 1, while grammatically correct, sounds more natual when ように is replaced with 通りに.
  2. There's more than one way to express "As I said before, ...", and 前に話したように is not the most natural in this situation. More commonly, 前に話したけど (informal) or 前に話しました {が, けど} (formal) is used. Literally, it means "I've said this before, but...".

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