Grammar Info

N2 Lesson 9: 14/23

だけあって

Is only natural, …Being the case, Because, As might be expected

Do not use with negative reasons/results!

Structure

Verb + だけ(のことあっ
[い]Adjective + だけ(のことあっ
[な]Adjective + + だけ(のことあっ
Noun + だけ(のことあっ

Details

  • Register

    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

About だけあって

Like だけに, だけあって is a phrase that is used to show that something is 'only natural for (A)', or 'as might be expected of (A)'. This structure includes the particle だけ 'just', or 'only', and the て-form of the う-Verb ある 'to be'. In this way, the more literal meaning may be interpreted as 'just being (A), (B)', and implies that the innate trait or traits of (A) led to the expected result of (B).
だけあって will only be used when the expected result is something that is positive in relation to (A).
Like most other grammar patterns that begin with だけ, this structure may be used with verbs, い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives followed by な, or nouns.
  • (かれ)は10(ねん)(かん)日本(にほん)()んでいただけあって日本語(にほんご)日本人(にほんじん)のように(はな)せる。
    As one might expect, he can speak Japanese like a Japanese person because he lived in Japan for 10 years.
  • あのホテルは(たか)だけあって、サービスがとてもいい。
    As one might expect, that hotel has great service because it is expensive.
  • 浅草(あさくさ)有名(ゆうめい)だけあって平日(へいじつ)でも観光客(かんこうきゃく)(にぎ)わっている。
    As might be expected with how popular Asakusa is, it is crowded with tourists even on weekdays.
  • 田中(たなか)先生(せんせい)習字(しゅうじ)先生(せんせい)だけあって漢字(かんじ)()くのが上手(じょうず)です。
    As expected, Tanaka-sensei is good at writing kanji because she is a calligraphy teacher.
Caution - As だけあって emphasizes an innate or constant quality of (A), it will not be used for things that are not obvious, or have not yet happened. This means that だけあって will not appear in sentences discussing things that may happen in the future, and will also not often be utilized with phrases such as だろう, でしょう, かもしれない, or similar structures that express uncertainty.
  • (おそな)(ころ)からアイススケートを(なら)っていただけあって将来(しょうらい)はオリンピック選手(せんしゅ)になるでしょう。
    As expected from someone who has been learning ice skating from a young age, she will probably be an Olympic athlete in the future.
  • 毎日(まいにち)一生懸命(いっしょうけんめい)勉強(べんきょう)しただけあって(かれ)試験(しけん)合格(ごうかく)するだろう。
    As expected, he studied hard everyday, and would probably do well on his exams. (Unnatural Japanese)

Examples

  • 頑張(がんば)って勉強(べんきょう)しただけあって(いもうと)いい大学(だいがく)入学(にゅうがく)できた。

    As expected, my little sister studied hard, and got into a good college.

  • ()(もの)(ひか)えただけあって(わたし)は3キロも()せた。

    As might be expected, I avoided eating fried food and I lost three kilograms.

  • 茶道(さどう)(なら)っているだけあって礼儀(れいぎ)(ただ)しい。

    As one might expect, since she is learning tea ceremony, she is polite.

  • あの二人(ふたり)仲良(なかよ)だけあっていつも一緒(いっしょ)いるよね。

    As might be expected with how close those two are, they are always together.

  • 専門家(せんもんか)だけあって(かれ)いつも中身(なかみ)()提案(ていあん)をしてくれる。

    As might be expected from a specialist, he always gives us proposals with dense content.

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だけあって – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (5 in total)

  • Aythreuk

    Aythreuk

    About 3 years ago

    So what you’re telling me is, any noun can be a na adjective as long as I believe with my heart?

  • s1212z

    s1212z

    About 3 years ago

    lol!

    There is a difference between 形容動詞 (adjectival nouns) and nouns. I can’t think of a ‘na adjective’ that can’t be considered a noun (since they are already fundamentally a noun ). But the reverse of any noun into an adjective?..I don’t think this makes sense entirely (or even want it), just like every verb doesn’t require a tran/intrans variation. So I think it’s just an experience of what works or not.

    Slightly off topic but II like this fun Tofugu article talking about the adjective-noun spectrum and some creative ways to modify nouns into adjectives.

  • djcostcosamples

    djcostcosamples

    About 1 year ago

    I’m necroposting here, but I came across a similar sort of conundrum a long time ago with Nounな+わけ and was thoroughly confused at the time.

    It’s not really that every noun can act like a な-adjective, but rather that 形式名詞 , AKA dummy/formal nouns (ones without substantive meaning in larger contexts, think もの、はず、くせ、ため, etc.) have a greater tendency to accept modification/attribution from nouns with な. In this sense, な is no different from using the である form of the copula instead.

    However, this doesn’t really apply to the question at hand…

    In the case of だけ, it’s slightly different. だけ in this context is not actually a noun, but rather a particle, so it doesn’t take modification in the same sense as the dummy nouns described above. Think about it the same way as constructions such as「それので、…」or「今日は休みのよ」.

    These kinds of particles (e.g. の、ばかり、ほど、だけ) can be viewed as sort of noun-like in function (I think ...

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