Grammar Info

N1 Lesson 4: 15/17

と思(おも)いきやThought...but, When...thought that...but, Despite having thought...

Structure

Verb + （か）+ と思(おも)いきや + Phrase［た］
［い］Adjective + （か）+ と思(おも)いきや + Phrase［た］
［な］Adjective + (か(1)）+ と思(おも)いきや + Phrase［た］
Noun + (か(1)）+ と思(おも)いきや + Phrase［た］

(1)（だ）

Details

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    Standard

About と思いきや

と思(おも)いきや is an expression used in Japanese for indicating that something is not as one had thought, and will often be translated as 'despite having thought (A), (B)', or 'when I thought that (A), it was actually (B)'. と思(おも)いきや is a combination of the case marking particle と, the conjunctive form of the う-Verb 思(おも)う, 思(おも)い, the classical auxiliary verb き, which indicates past tense, and the classical binding (adverbial) particle や, which marks actual or rhetorical questions in the same way as か. Due to this, a more literal translation is 'I thought it had (A), but I guess (B)'.

Despite the origin of the phrase, in modern Japanese と思(おも)いきや is just thought of as an emphatic structure that highlights the speaker's surprise in relation to something not being as they had expected.

と思(おも)いきや may follow any word in its standard form.

The particle か may appear before と思(おも)いきや, but this just further emphasizes the same rhetorical question, as や itself has the same role.

Caution

A past tense phrase will always appear in (B), as it is considered to be the actual situation which has come about, or has been realized by the speaker.

  • 彼(かれ)は日本(にほん)に10年(ねん)も住(す)んでいるもんだから日本語(にほんご)をペラペラに話(はな)せると思(おも)いきや、少(すこ)しも話(はな)せない。
    He had lived in Japan for 10 years, so I thought that he could speak Japanese fluently, but he can't speak a word of it. (Unnatural Japanese)

Examples

--:--

    いよいよ晴(は)れるだろうと思(おも)いきや、たちまち雨(あめ)が降(ふ)り出(だ)してしまった。

    I thought that the weather would finally clear up, but it suddenly started raining.

    「やっぱり、今度(こんど)も失敗(しっぱい)したか...」と思(おも)いきや、見事(みごと)合格(ごうかく)だった。

    Despite having thought, 'As expected, I failed again,' I passed with flying colors.

    うたげさんが小(ちい)さいから同級生(どうきゅうせい)と思(おも)いきや、驚(おどろ)くことに先生(せんせい)だった。

    Because she was small (like me), I thought Utage-san was (my) classmate, but, to my surprise, she was (my) teacher.

    納豆(なっとう)はまずそうに見(み)えるから、間違(まちが)いなくまずいと思(おも)いきや、実際(じっさい)は、そうではなかった。

    I thought for sure that natto would be gross since it looks unappetizing, but that was not the case.

    娘(むすめ)は部屋(へや)がとても静(しず)かだからきっと寝(ね)ていると思(おも)いきや、意外(いがい)にも勉強(べんきょう)していた。

    I thought that my daughter was sleeping because it was very quiet, but to my surprise she was studying.

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