What does “shikashi” mean in Japanese?
Probably, many Japanese learners know “shikashi” as it is often used in Japanese conversations. Native speakers use it mainly in two different ways: to mean ‘but’ to join two sentences or phrases; to mean ‘by the way’ to shift a topic. In this blog post, I will explain these two types of “shikashi” with example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “shikashi” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
“Shikashi” to join two sentences or phrases
Let me start with “shikashi” used to join two sentences or phrases.
- shikashi – しかし : a conjunction used to join two sentences or phrases which have different or opposite meanings.
Native speakers normally use this type of “shikashi” between two phrases or sentences which have different or opposite meanings. So, its usage is similar to those of the English conjunctions like “but” and “however”. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.
Example #1: how to join two sentences with “shikashi”
fuyu ga ki ta. shikashi mada samuku nai – 冬が来た。しかしまだ寒くない (ふゆがきた。しかしまださむくない)
Winter has come. But it is not cold yet.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- fuyu – 冬 (ふゆ) : a noun meaning ‘winter’ in Japanese.
- ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “fuyu” to make the subject in the first sentence.
- ki – 来 (き) : one conjugation of the verb, “kuru”, which means ‘to come’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, this is used after “ki” to make its past tense form, “ki ta”.
- mada – まだ : an adverb meaning ‘still’ or ‘yet’ in Japanese.
- samuku – 寒く (さむく) : one conjugation of the i-adjective, “samui”, which means ‘cold’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- nai – ない : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to deny its meaning. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese nai form. In the example, this is used after “samuku” to deny its meaning.
This is a typical usage of this type of “shikashi”. In this example, it works at the beginning of the second sentence which states the unexpected thing from the first. When we want to join two sentences or phrases which have different or opposite meanings, “shikashi” is a very good option.
“Shikashi” to shift a topic
Next, let me explain “shikashi” used to shift a topic.
- shikashi – しかし : a conjunction used to shift a topic. This is often translated into English as “by the way” or such.
Native speakers use this type of “shikashi” at the beginning of a sentence which means something very different from what someone has just said. So, we can consider it as a topic shifter. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.
Example #2: how to shift a topic with “shikashi”
shikashi hisashiburi desu ne – しかし久しぶりですね (しかしひさしぶりですね)
By the way, long time no see.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- hisashiburi – 久しぶり (ひさしぶり) : a Japanese phrase for ‘long time no see’.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb mainly used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “hisashiburi” to make it sound polite.
- ne – ね : a sentence-ending particle used to ask for agreement softly. As the definition suggests, this is used at the end of the example sentence to ask for agreement in a soft way. This has not been reflected in translation, though.
This is a typical usage of this type of “shikashi”. In this example, it works at the beginning of the sentence to shift a topic. We can assume that the speaker and the listener have had a conversation just before and the speaker has started to say “long time no see” with using the topic shifter. When we want to shift a topic in Japanese, this type of “shikashi” is a good option.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the two different types of “shikashi”. And also, I’ve explained how to use them through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- shikashi – しかし : a conjunction used to join two sentences or phrases which have different or opposite meanings. Native speakers often use this at the beginning of a sentence which states an unexpected thing from another. So, the usage of this conjunction is similar to those of the English ones like “but” and “however”. When we want to join two sentences or phrases which have different or opposite meanings, this is a very good option.
- shikashi – しかし : a conjunction used to shift a topic. This is often translated into English as “by the way” or such. Native speakers use this at the beginning of a sentence which means something very different from what someone has just said. So, we can consider this as a topic shifter.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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