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N1

すら

Even

鉛筆えんぴつすら持もってきてないの?本当ほんとうにやる気きあるの?

You didn't even bring a pencil? Do you actually want to do this?

Explanation

「Nすら」 means 'even N'. You pick the most basic, tiny or close example and follow it with a negative or an exclamation, hinting 'if even this is so, the rest goes without saying'. 「自分の名前すら書けない」 (He can't even write his own name), 「水すら飲めない」 (I can't even drink water), 「親にすら言えない」 (I can't even tell my parents). More formal and written than 「さえ」. After a noun it can stand in for 「が」 and 「を」.

Mixed up with

「さえ」: the most general in modern Japanese, fine in speech and writing, and also makes conditions (~さえ~ば).

「すら」: stiff written style, only for 'even the most basic example...'; not used for conditions.

「だに」: old style, often with words of thinking or dreaming: 「夢にだに見ない」, 「想像するだに恐ろしい」 (scary even to imagine).

Examples

  1. 彼かれにすら話はなしてないのに、親おやと話はなすわけがない。

    I haven't even talked to my boyfriend about it, there is no way I'm telling my parents.

  2. 南極大陸なんきょくたいりくでは夏なつですら気温きおんが0度ど以下いかである。

    In Antarctica, temperatures are below zero even in summer.

  3. マンガの道みちに迷まよった主人公しゅじんこう:「何日なんにちたったのかすら...」

    A manga hero who has lost his way: 'I don't even know how many days have passed...'

Tested 5 times in past papers

N2 · Jul 2023, Q43N1 · Dec 2022, Q43N2 · Jul 2021, Q31N2 · Dec 2013, Q48N2 · Dec 2011, Q34