Grammar Info
N1 Lesson 4: 15/17

だと思（おも）いきや
thought...but, when...thought that...but, despite having thought...

Structure
Verb + （か）+ と思いきや + Phrase［た］
［い］Adjective + （か）+ と思いきや + Phrase［た］
［な］Adjective + (か(1)）+ と思いきや + Phrase［た］
Noun + (か(1)）+ と思いきや + Phrase［た］

(1)（だ）
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使用域 一般
Information
  • [Noun/な-Adj + だか思いきや is generally not used. Either か or だ (or neither) is used
  • [Aと思いきやB is used to emphasize the speaker's surprise that contrary to expected result A, B is actually the case]
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娘（むすめ）は部屋（へや）がとても静（しず）かだからきっと寝（ね）ていると思（おも）いきや、意外（いがい）にも勉強（べんきょう）していた。
I thought that my daughter was sleeping because it was very quiet, but to my surprise she was studying.
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    • いよいよ晴（は）れるだろうと思（おも）いきや、たちまち雨（あめ）が降（ふ）り出（だ）してしまった。
    I thought that the weather would finally clear up, but it suddenly started raining.
    [だろう appears frequently before と思いきや]
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    • うたげさんが小（ちい）さいから同級生（どうきゅうせい）かと思（おも）いきや、驚（おどろ）くことに先生（せんせい）だった。
    Because she was small (like me), I thought Utage-san was (my) classmate, but, to my surprise, she was (my) teacher.
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