Table of Contents

ところ Expressions

This page explains common ところ using expressions.
Expressions covered here include:

ところで – By the way
ところが – Contrary to expectations
どころか – Not X as expected but../More than that

For verb + ところ, see here.
Please be aware that ところ may also mean “place”, so not every ところで etc. will be a phrase per say.
I.E. 寒いところに住む、静かなところで勉強する.

ところで

By the way
ところで + Sentence

ところで means and is used almost exactly like “by the way”.
The only thing to really remember is to change the topic, which should be natural.
While not a requirement per se, it is usually related to what was just talked about.

Examples

インターネットで日本語を調べるのは疲れる。
It’s so tiring researching Japanese online.
そう？ところで、Hakushiki Japanese というサイトを知っていますか？Really? By the way, do you know the website Hakushiki Japanese? (A little bit forced I know)
ところで、フグを食べたことありますか？
By the way, have you ever had blowfish?
ところで、Tamakitei という店知っていますか？
By the way do you know the store called Tamakitei?
ところで、昨日映画を見に行った
By the way, I went to see a movie yesterday.

ところが

But unexpectedly…
ところが + Contrary sentence

ところが is an phrase that expresses a result that is contrary to expectation.
Like ところで it goes at the beginning of a sentence.
Be careful not to confuse this with Verb + ところ + が.
Although similar to “but” が, ところが places more emphasis on the unexpectedness of the statement.

Examples

彼はいつも勉強している。ところが、ほとんど覚えていない
He’s always studying. But unexpectedly he doesn’t remember most of it.
彼は有名な医者だ。ところが、大学に行かなかった
He’s a famous doctor. But unexpectedly, he didn’t go to college.
もうすぐ終わると思った。ところが、さらに5時間かかった
I thought “it’ll be over soon”. And then it took 5 more hours.
彼は成績がとてもよかった。ところが、不合格だった。
He had really good grades. But unexpectedly, he didn’t pass.

どころか

Not what was expected/More than that
Dictionary form verb/Noun/Adjective + どころか
な adjectives may become などころか。

どころか rejects a statement and then stresses a differing statement. It has 2 similar usages:

“Instead of being..” – The most common usage, used when stressing the opposite of expectations.
Unlike ところが, the sentence before どころか is rejected as false.
“More than that” – A lot less common, used to emphasize a stronger degree of something.
Most common with like/dislike adjectives.

Unlike the other 2 expressions here, どころか is embedded in the sentence, and directly modified.
I.E. it doesn’t join 2 separate sentences, but creates a compound sentence.

どころか is most commonly used about people.

どころか may be seen as それどころか, which is used like ところが.

Examples

Instead of being:

嬉しいどころか、怒っていた
Instead of being happy (expected), they were mad (unexpected).
感謝されるどころか、彼は文句を言った
Instead of thanking me (expectation), he complained about me.
漢字が読めるどころか、ひらがなさえも読めない
Instead of being able to read Kanji (expectation), he isn’t even able to read hiragana.
彼は貧乏だと思ったが、それどころかお金持ちだった。
I thought he was poor, but unexpectedly he was rich.

More than that:

猫が好きなどころか、僕は猫だ。
I don’t just like cats, I am a cat. (Weird example, sorry).
彼女のことが好きなどころか、愛している
I don’t just like her, I love her.
寿司を食べるどころか、寿司しか食べないだ
I don’t just eat sushi, it’s all I eat.
お母さんは元気だ。それどころか、マラソンにも参加する
My mom is healthy. Not only that, she’s also competing in marathons.