Structure
ろくに + (Negative) Phrase
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About 陸に~ない
When the adverb 陸に 'satisfactorily' appears in ない sentences, it indicates that (A) is 'not satisfactory', 'not enough', or 'not being done properly'. This grammar pattern appears at the beginning of phrases, before the (B) part of the sentence will include a ない word, often a verb in its potential form.
- 息子は英語をろくに話せないのに、アメリカにひとりで行くそうだ。大丈夫かな。Apparently my son is going to the States, even though he can barely speak English. I hope he will be okay.
- あの人はろくに仕事も出来ないのに、偉そうな態度をとるから会社中で嫌われている。He is disliked by everyone in the company because he has an arrogant attitude even though he can barely do his job.
- 仕事が忙しすぎて、ここ最近、ろくに友達にも会えてない。Because I am so busy, I barely have time to see my friends.
- 近所のワンちゃんが朝までずっと吠えていたから、昨晩は陸に寝れなかった。A dog in my neighborhood was barking until this morning so I barely got any sleep.
- 豆なんて碌に食べないのに、うちには豆の缶詰がいっぱいある。I have a lot of canned beans at home even though I hardly eat them.
Fun-fact - 陸 comes from the kanji meaning 'land', and is used with the reading of ろく when the nuance is flatness, correctness, or seriousness.
Synonyms
Examples
彼はケーキを焼くどころか、シンプルな料理さえろくにできない。
Far from baking a cake, he can't even cook a simple meal properly.
毎日、うちの猫に起こされるせいでろくに寝られない。
Every day I am woken up by my cat, so I can't sleep well.
英語をろくに知らないのに父が外国人のカップルに道を教えようとした。
Despite barely knowing any English, dad tried to give directions to a foreign couple.
ろくに準備もしていないのに、ショップをオープンさせた。
Even though we had barely prepared, I had them open the shop.
ろくに稽古もせずステージに出て、悲惨なことになった。
I went on stage, not having properly prepared, and it was a disaster.
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陸に~ない – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (5 in total)
s1212z
About 2 years ago
Yeah, I saw that but I don’t see why, the meaning is pretty solid ( 陸に should be ateji, not 碌に)
I now see there are a couple sources that have it otherwise too. Adverbial definition list both but 碌に as primary. Again, not a big deal if kana only, just curious.
nekoyama
About 2 years ago
My other dictionaries all agree on which one is ateji.
I couldn’t find anything definitive online, only some theories about the satisfactory/proper/normal meaning coming from a comparison of flat land vs. uneven land. I’m not sure about those but my 古語 dictionary does list that meaning for 陸 (it doesn’t have an entry for 碌).
oreoreo
About 2 years ago
What is the difference between ろくに and ちゃんと?
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