adverbial N1 uncommon casualpolitewritten
たかが — merely
たかが
Meaning
- merely / just / at most — belittles something as trivial or not worth the fuss
Key sentence
たかが試合に負けただけだ。そんなに落ち込むな。
You just lost a game, that's all. Don't be so down about it.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Before a noun or noun phrase being belittled | たかが + 名詞(句) |
Examples
たかが千円のことで、そんなに怒らないでよ。
Don't get so angry over a mere thousand yen.
たかが風邪と油断してはいけない。
Don't let your guard down thinking it's just a cold.
Easily confused with
たった たった emphasises that a quantity or number is surprisingly small ('only'). たかが dismisses something as trivial in importance, not just small in number. 〜だけ だけ neutrally limits ('only'). たかが adds a belittling 'it's not worth getting worked up over'. に過ぎない に過ぎない formally deflates ('no more than'). たかが is the spoken, dismissive 'it's merely ~'.
Notes
- Set phrase たかが〜、されど〜 ('it may be only ~, but even so ~').
See たかが in real sentences
Jengo shows たかが 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 Advanced Japanese Grammar.