# わけ（だ）



## John_Doe

> A: 少し気が咎める？彼に秘密で私と取り引きしてたこと。
> B: 別に。真広にはもっと大きな隠し事をしている*わけ*だし。 ("B" is a friend of 真広)
> A: だけど　なんか激しすぎない？妹さんへの彼の気持ち。
> B: そうですか？
> A: 兄妹っていっても　血はつながってなかった*わけ*でしょ？
> B: 知ってたんですか？



I don't understand why わけ is used in this dialogue. Could someone explain it?


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## nana.e.shanty

What I can think of  is the first わけ is used to explain a good reason for B of not feeling guilty.
And second わけ describes why A thought that 彼 feels extremly about his sister.


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## John_Doe

Thank you.

Can we replace the first わけだ with からだ？


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## nana.e.shanty

I would say No .
If we try to grab this meaning very roughly,からだcan be acceptable.
But からだ means reason ,わけだ covers even more depending on contexts.
In this case,it seems like わけ also implies a judgement of B.


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## John_Doe

Your explanation is kinda vague, I'd say. In this connection, I have several examples concerning usage of わけ when presenting a reason for something, and I'd like to discuss them first and then return to sentence in question.



> 1. 今年は米のできがよくなかった。冷夏だったわけだ。
> 2. 彼女は猫を3匹と犬を一匹飼っている。一人暮らしで寂しいわけだ。
> 3. 姉は休みの度に海外旅行にでかける。日常の空間から脱出したいわけだ。



1. The first one seems to represent a simple fact, not something  that was obtained by reasoning. "... because it was a cold summer". Can  we use からだ instead without any changing in the meaning? 
2 and 3 seem to be, as you said, "a judgement". "She must be lonely and  that's the reason", "I think she want escape her daily routine by  traveling overseas". Is it correct?

On the side note, I've always thought that わけ has to do with logical reasoning and represent some sort of conclusion (X. Yわけだ --- X. Consequently, Y) but these examples from "日本語文型辞典" don't go with the idea. Well, 日本語文型辞典 covers usage of わけ as an indication of 結論, too, but this confuses even more because it turns out that わけ can be used in two opposite ways.


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## nana.e.shanty

1. The first one seems to represent a simple fact, not something that was obtained by reasoning. "... because it was a cold summer". Can we use からだ instead without any changing in the meaning? 

--  Yes, I think からだdoesnt change the meaning in this sentense.
Its obvious that because of the weather,they couldnt have a good hervest.


2 and 3 seem to be, as you said, "a judgement". "She must be lonely and that's the reason", "I think she want escape her daily routine by traveling overseas". Is it correct?

--  I think your translations are correct as well.
But these 2 examples sound different from 1 to me.
I woud imagine that the speaker wants to connect two situations like 
"she is lonely"and "she has 3cats and a dog"
"she wants to escape"and "she travels a lot"
But,she might not be lonely at all.She might just like cats and dogs.
We cant know how SHE actually feels about that from the sentense with わけだ.
Its just the speaker tried to judge and reached the conclusion,which is "she must be lonely!".
)]It does sound like a reason,but its just the speaker's conclusion.
Thats why わけだ means reason and conclusion at the sane time and its difficult to define.


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## John_Doe

Thank you.

What would you say about this usage of wake?


> (X and Y are discussing a tree which is frequently struck by lightning)
> (Y is a traveler who noticed a burned tree in the garden of X)
> 
> X: あの木が　何か…
> Y: 何度も落雷に遭っているとか。さぞ不安なことでしょう。何か原因があるんじゃないかと思いましてね。
> X: 原因と言いますと？
> X: あの木は確かに立派だが他にも周囲に大きな木はある。それなのに何度も落雷する場所ってのはなんらかの要素が加わってる場合が多い*わけ*です



Does it mean "*I'm saying it* (何か原因がある) *because *there are many cases when..."?


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## John_Doe

> [The narrator tells about how he run into his aquaintance]
> 僕の住む阿良々木家からそう遠くない、とある交通点においてのことである。気付けばすぐ隣に、足取りまで隠れる長いスカートを穿いた、見覚えのある女の子がいた*というわけだ*。





> 商人がな、どんな盾でも貫く最強の矛と、どんな矛でも防ぐ最強の盾を、並べて売ってたんだ。そこに通りかかったひとりの子供が、言ってのける*わけ*よだ。『でも商人殿、その最強の矛とやらで最強の盾とやらを突いたら全体どうなるのかね？』



It seems that these two わけ are used as some kind of a narrative device, but what purpose exactly they are used for?

I guess it's to present a new element of the narrative. But 女の子 isn't one, because the narrator begins with the conversation itself, and we already know who he is speaking with. As for the second example, it's unclear why only one sentence is marked by わけ. Such usage seems to be completely arbitrary.


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## Cowrie

I don’t know if you are still waiting for an answer, John – but because your last two posts, left unanswered, caught my eye, I throw in my two cents here. 

I feel each case of “wake” can be explained as “…; this is why…”. 

それなのに何度も落雷する場所ってのはなんらかの要素が加わってる場合が多い; this is why (I said 何か原因があるんじゃないかと思いましてね). 

気付けばすぐ隣に、足取りまで隠れる長いスカートを穿いた、見覚えのある女の子がいた; this is why (the current situation is like this). 

そこに通りかかったひとりの子供が、言ってのける; this is why (I am telling this whole story). 

I think “wake” gives a logical touch to a sentence.


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## OED Loves Me Not

(1) 真広にはもっと大きな隠し事をしている*わけ*だし。
(2) 兄妹っていっても　血はつながってなかった*わけ*でしょ。

As some other commentators may have already pointed out, I don't think the words "わけ" 
in these two sentences mean anything specific.  Consequently, they can safely be changed 
into the following without major changes in their meanings:

(1-a) 真広にはもっと大きな隠し事をしている*ん*だし。(or いる*の*だし or いるし)
(2-a) 兄妹っていっても　血はつながってなかった*ん*でしょ。(or なかった*の*でしょ or なかったでしょ)

The only differences among these versions lie in *rhythm*.  Different people like different words 
or phrases not only because of the differences in shades of meaning but also 
because of the slight differences in rhythm.


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