Category: Grammatical Construction

There are two functions of ほど that may throw you off when you first encounter them.  The first is a sentence such as this:

修理には一週間ほどかかります。

Here it is synonymous with くらい or ぐらい: The repairs will take about a week.  You will know that it is functioning in this way when it follows a quantity.  Note that it is not used with times or dates that do not involve duration.

The other unusual use of ほど is actually just a stealth version of the basic “extent” sense.  Consider this example:

悪い奴ほどよく眠る。

This sentence, which is the title of a film by Kurosawa Akira, means “The more evil someone is, the better they sleep.”

One more example:

そういう言葉ほど、・・・はっきりくっきり聞こえた。

松田青子、「おにいさんがこわい」

This sentence means, “The more the words were of that sort, the more clearly and distinctly he could hear them.”

This ほど is not actually a different sense; it can be thought of, instead, as an abbreviation “であればあるほど”.

I am referring to this construction as the “involuntary causative” because it most often describes involuntary functions, usually of the body.  I have also seen it called the “reflexive causative” (再帰使役).

Consider the following sentences from the story “Uzu” by Takemoto Yoshio:

今日もいたずらすな子供がポチャポチャした頬っぺたを輝かせながら、しきりに狙いをつけているが、…

松田は蒼白い顔をくもらせて、直裁にでて来ない言葉をいくらか震わせながら、苦しそうな表情をした。

信介はベットリと冷汗の浸み出た額に、苦悶の色を浮かべて、藻掻き疲れた体をふるわせながら、絶叫していた。

一緒に山伐りをしていた人達は、能面のように顔を硬わ張らせて、…

Note that none of the causative verbs actually involve the subject consciously causing something to happen; in all cases, the actions are occurring involuntarily: cheeks glowing, expressions darkening, voices quaking, bodies shaking, and faces stiffening.

Though this construction primarily appears with bodily reactions, it can also happen with plants, animals, and machines. This article provides examples.

How do we distinguish situations in which the action is done voluntarily from those in which it is done involuntarily?  In almost all cases, this will reflect an involuntary action; the context should make it clear if it is voluntary.

動揺と混乱を悟られたくなくておおげさに机にうつぶせたぼくの頭や背中に、類がどさどさと落ちてきた。

重松清「チマ男とガサ子」

We do not expect, in most cases, to find an object with a verb that appears to be conjugated as a passive. In this case, what we have is the indirect, or adversitive, passive (間接受身), in which the topic/subject of the passive verb will be affected (emotionally) negatively (in most cases) by the action, the agent of which would be marked by ni (if it appeared in the sentence.)

山田さんは奥さんに逃げられた。

Mr. Yamada’s wife ran away on him. (Presumably a negative.)

太郎は春子にタバコを吸われた。

Taro had a cigarette smoked by Haruko (imposed) on him. (Also negative.)

木村さんは美人に横に座られてうれしそうだ。

Mr. Kimura, having had a pretty woman sit beside him, looks happy. Here the effect is positive.

Usually, the agent of the event is animate and the action is volitional. There is, however, one common exception to that rule:

僕は雨に降られた。

I was rained on.

Therefore, the phrase in the sentence at the top, were it an independent
sentence with all implied elements made explicit, would be:

ぼくが彼に動揺と混乱を悟られたくない。

I do not want him to perceive the tumult and confusion (in my heart/mind) (as
that would bother me.)