N2 grammar · Lesson 9

Degree and limit: 「ほど〜はない」「くらいなら」「限かぎり」

満員電車まんいんでんしゃに一時間いちじかんも揺ゆられるくらいなら、少すこし早はやく起おきて自転車じてんしゃで行いく。

「ほど〜はない」: nothing beats it; 「くらいなら」: I’d rather; 「限かぎり」: as long as, as far as I know, all you can; 「に越こしたことはない」: best, of course.

Practise Paid

After this lesson you can

Use 「〜ほど〜はない」 and 「〜くらい〜はない」 to say “nothing is more … than …”, and tell it apart from 「AはBほど〜ない」.
Use 「〜くらいなら〜ほうがいい」 to say you would rather take another option than do something you don’t want to do.
Use 「〜限かぎり（は）」 for “as long as a state lasts”, and 「知しる限かぎり」, 「見みる限かぎり」 and 「できる限かぎり」 for “as far as …” and “as much as possible”.
Use 「〜に越こしたことはない」 for the common-sense “of course, it’s best to …”, and tell it apart from 「ほうがいい」.

6 sections · 6 practice sets · 35 questions

In this lesson

01「〜ほど〜はない」: nothing is more … than …
02「〜くらいなら」: rather than …, I’d sooner …
03「〜限かぎり（は）」: as long as …; as far as …; as much as possible
04「〜に越こしたことはない」: of course, it’s best to …
05Compared with similar expressions
06Dialogue and short text: getting to Kyoto, my grandfather’s bakery

Practice

What does this sentence mean?
Which sentence uses it correctly?
Choose the phrase for each blank
Rewrite as asked
Put the pieces in order
Read the passage and answer the questions

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Practice

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