adverbial N3 common casualpolitewritten
せっかく — with effort / a precious chance
せっかく
Meaning
- with much effort / a precious (opportunity) — something took effort or is a rare chance, so wasting it would be a shame
Frames an effort or opportunity as valuable. Very often paired with 〜のに to lament that the value is going to waste; or with 〜から to urge making the most of it.
Key sentence
せっかくの休みなのに、雨だ。
It's a precious day off, and yet it's raining.
Examples
せっかく作ったのに、誰も食べてくれない。
I went to the trouble of making it, and yet no one will eat it.
せっかく東京に来たんだから、観光しよう。
Since we've made it all the way to Tokyo, let's do some sightseeing.
Easily confused with
See せっかく in real sentences
Jengo shows せっかく the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.