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Word 1237 of 2252

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せっかく

with much effort, specially

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. せっかく来たのに休みだった。

    せっかくきたのにやすみだった。

    I went all the way there but it was closed.

  2. せっかくの休みだから、ゆっくりしよう。

    せっかくのやすみだから、ゆっくりしよう。

    It's a precious day off, so let's take it easy.

  3. せっかく作ったのに、誰も食べなかった。

    せっかくつくったのに、だれもたべなかった。

    I went to the trouble of making it, but nobody ate it.

  4. せっかく日本に来たのだから、温泉に行きたいです。

    せっかくにほんにきたのだから、おんせんにいきたいです。

    Since I've made it all the way to Japan, I want to go to a hot spring.

Common patterns

せっかくの機会
a valuable opportunity
せっかく～のに
even though I went to the trouble of ~
せっかくですが
thank you, but (polite refusal)

Memory tip

せっかく marks effort or a rare chance as something that would be a waste to throw away. With のに it becomes regret (wasted), with だから it becomes "let's make the most of it". せっかくですが is the standard soft "no thank you".

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What does せっかく mean?