# いちいち



## lammn

Another JLPT question testing the most appropriate use of いちいち：



> 1　すみません、この三つ、*いちいち*包んでいただけませんか。
> 2　小山さん、*いちいち*親切してくれてありがとう。
> 3　うちの親は私のやることに*いちいち*文句をつける。
> 4　たなの上には、思い出の品が*いちいち*ならんでいる。


 
#3 is the correct answer.
But why are #1, 2 and 4 wrong or inappropriate?

Thanks for any help!


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## Noamoxkaltontli

いちいち has a negative connotation. Though it means "one by one" It is only used to describe negative actions being done "one by one", like #3.


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## lammn

Oh, really?
Then it is very much different from its Chinese counterpart.

Thank you!


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## Noamoxkaltontli

There are some other words for "one by one", of course. 
How interesting to hear of a new _faux ami_ between Chinese and Japanese. I will keep it in mind in my upcoming basic Chinese lessons.


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## lammn

箇中不同又豈能一一道破?


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## masatom

Ｈｅｌｌｏ．

1　すみません、この三つ、*ひとつひとつ*包んでいただけませんか。
2　小山さん、*いろいろ*親切してくれてありがとう。
3　うちの親は私のやることに*いちいち*文句をつける。
4　たなの上には、思い出の品が*ひとつひとつ*ならんでいる。 

ひとつひとつ（一つ一つ）is one by one and doesn't have  a negative connotation.

Thanks.


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## Noamoxkaltontli

Noamoxkaltontli said:


> I will keep it in mind in my upcoming *basic* Chinese lessons.



Heheh, does that mean the unbiased way to express "one by one"?
If that is the question then:
一つ一つ　or 一つずつ depending on the case.


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## lammn

Thank you masatom! 
Your explanation is very helpful!

While we are on it, I have further questions:



masatom said:


> 2　小山さん、*いろいろ*親切してくれてありがとう。


 
I find a dictionary defines いちいち as 一つ一つ.
In particular, it has an example sentence いちいち親切に教える.
Isn't it very similar to #2 above?


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## masatom

Hi,lammn.
I think your question is very good and also very tough for me to explain.
I agree that いちいち親切に教えてくれてありがとう　is OK and we use it.
And I agree that いちいち親切してくれてありがとう　and いちいち親切に教えてくれてありがとう　is almost the same meaning. 
Yet we don't say いちいち親切してくれてありがとう. 

I think myself why. And finally I got the answer. But I don't have confidence to convey it to you. But I will try...

In case いちいち親切に教えてくれてありがとう;Thank you for your kind teaching one by one.
We can image that there was pleural questions ahead of the speaker, for example six questions. And the friend taught him/her the answer and how to solve one by one. In this case we can image "one by one", so it is OK. 

いちいち親切に教えてくれてありがとう　and ひとつひとつ親切に教えてくれてありがとう　are interchangeable.

On the contrary いちいち親切してくれてありがとう; "Thank you for your being kind to me *one by one*. "
This time I can less image pleural kinds of kindness. Why one by one?
Even in English, it is rather odd, isn't it?
"Thank you. You are *very* kind."
Do you say" I appreciate your every kindness one by one."?

If we say ひとつひとつ親切してくれてありがとう, it is unnatural to our ear.
In this case ひとつひとつ is strange.
So we think of いちいち's another meaning, which is わざわざ（dare to ).
わざわざ親切してくれてありがとう, which have caustic remark.

And this is the reasons why we don't say いちいち親切してくれてありがとう　but we say いちいち親切に教えてくれてありがとう.

Oh, I wish I could convey my message better!


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## Flaminius

lammn said:


> masatom said:
> 
> 
> 
> 2　小山さん、*いろいろ*親切してくれてありがとう。
> 
> 
> 
> I find a dictionary defines いちいち as 一つ一つ.
> In particular, it has an example sentence いちいち親切に教える.
> Isn't it very similar to #2 above?
Click to expand...

Hello lammn,
There are not really the same.  Counting kindness one by one is rather unnatural in this context.  The act of telling what to do (教える) is easier to count.

Hi *masatom*,
I am afraid I cannot read the Japanese sentences in your post above.  —> edit: just saw it fixed.


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## lammn

masatom said:


> On the contrary いちいち親切してくれてありがとう; "Thank you for your being kind to me *one by one*. "
> This time I can less image pleural kinds of kindness. Why one by one?


 


Flaminius said:


> Counting kindness one by one is rather unnatural in this context.


 
Oh, I have misread 親切して as "doing something kindly".
Now I understand why it doesn't work.

Thanks to both of you! 



Noamoxkaltontli said:


> いちいち has a negative connotation. Though it means "one by one" It is only used to describe negative actions being done "one by one", like #3.


 
But in the case of いちいち親切に教える, it does not have a negative connotation.


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## Noamoxkaltontli

You think? 

It is a bit of a leap of imagination on my behalf but I see it like this:
The person saying  いちいち親切に教えてくれてありがとう is putting him or herself in the shoes of the person that is teaching him or her, and believes he or she is causing troubles or taking excessive time from this "teaching person". So as an apology of sorts he or she utters this phrase. 

お大事に


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## lammn

Noamoxkaltontli said:


> The person saying いちいち親切に教えてくれてありがとう is putting himself or herself in the shoes of the person that is teaching him or her, and believes he or she is causing troubles or taking excessive time from this "teaching person". So as an apology of sorts he or she utters this phrase.


 
Aha. It does have negative element in that statement.
Searching the word いちいち further proves that it is often used with a negative connotation.



Noamoxkaltontli said:


> お大事に


体の調子を問わず、仕事を続けているなんて、泣き顔を表す顔文字を描きたい．．．


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## Noamoxkaltontli

More specifically, there is a negative element to the teaching. The teaching is being performed at such a--let us say slow-- pace that it _must_ be excruciating to the person performing it.

I would dare say the sentence conveys similar emotions to:
"(Sorry to keep you here for *so long*.) Thank you for teaching me *so patiently*. You are very kind."

Maybe I am exaggerating, but that is the way いちいち fits in here, in my opinion.


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