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折角

せっかく

with much trouble, at great pains; long-awaited, precious

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 折角の休みが雨でつぶれた。

    せっかくのやすみがあめでつぶれた。

    My precious day off was ruined by the rain.

  2. 折角来たのに、店は閉まっていた。

    せっかくきたのに、みせはしまっていた。

    I came all this way, and the shop was closed.

  3. 折角ですから、もう少しゆっくりしていってください。

    せっかくですから、もうすこしゆっくりしていってください。

    Since you've come all this way, do stay a little longer.

Common patterns

折角の～
the precious / hard-won ~
折角～のに
even though I went to the trouble of ~
折角だから
since we've gone to the trouble

Memory tip

Two moods to keep apart: 折角～のに regrets that effort went to waste, while 折角だから happily makes the most of an opportunity. In modern writing it is nearly always spelled せっかく.

Kanji in this word

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What does 折角 mean?