Word
せっかく 早く 起きたの に、 電車 が 遅れて がっかりしましたsekkaku hayaku okitano ni, densha ga okurete gakkarishimashita
Meaning
I was disappointed because the train was delayed even though I got up early.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of sekkaku hayaku okitano ni, densha ga okurete gakkarishimashita
がga
subject particle
電車densha
train
〜て〜te
connective form
〜た〜ta
past tense
Questions & Answers about sekkaku hayaku okitano ni, densha ga okurete gakkarishimashita
What does せっかく add to this sentence?
せっかく adds the feeling that someone made a special effort, but that effort did not pay off.
So here it is not just I woke up early. It is more like:
- I went to the trouble of waking up early
- I woke up early for once / on purpose
- I made the effort to wake up early, but...
That is why it works so naturally with のに later in the sentence. Together, they create the feeling of I did all that, and yet...
Why is it 早く and not 早い?
Because 早く is the adverb form of the -i adjective 早い.
- 早い = early / fast
- 早く = early / quickly
Since it modifies the verb 起きた (woke up), you need the adverb form:
- 早く起きた = woke up early
Using 早い directly before the verb would be ungrammatical here.
Why is it 起きた and not 起きました?
