一方
方 (ほう) is a noun meaning “direction“, side”, or “other one”. It’s also the ほう from ほうがいい.
When used with 一 (いち) as 一方(いっぽう) it can be used to express:
Continuing in one direction (A trend)
A side (of a story)
Noun Examples
- 一方的な勝負 – A one sided match.
- 空の方へ見る – Look toward the sky
- 一方に傾く – Slant to one side.
Verb + 一方
Keep going one way
Dictionary form verb + 一方
するNoun + の一方
Verb + 一方 is used to express “continuing in one direction or manner”.
It is used to describe a consistent change in a certain direction.
Typically, this pattern is only used with a handful of intransitive verbs that express some kind of change, such as:
なる、増える、減る、etc.
See also ばかりだ (N2)
Examples
- 彼女への想いが強くなる一方だ – My feelings for her keep getting stronger.
- 政治の腐敗はよくなるどころか、悪くなる一方だ – Rather than get better, political corruption keeps getting worse.
- 犠牲者が増える一方だ – The number of victims keeps increasing.
- 株の価値が上がる一方だ – The price of the stick keeps going up.
- 年とともに、彼女が美しくなる一方だ – My girlfriend keeps getting prettier with the years.
- Hakushiki Japaneseは急上昇の一方だ – Hakushiki Japanese keeps climbing (the ranks) fast.
一方で
On the one hand, but/also
Plain non-negative verb/い Adjective + 一方で
Noun/な Adjective + である一方で
一方で actually has 2 uses:
To express contrary statements and
To express “while“.
You could possibly wrap both meanings up into “While X (but/also)
を in the clause after 一方で tends to be replaced with も
Examples
Opposites (But)
- 子供にやさしい一方で、大人に厳しい – They are nice to children, but on the other hand mean to adults.
- よく遊ぶ一方で、よく勉強する – While he plays a lot on the one hand, he studies a lot too.
- 母は厳しい一方で、父は優しい – While my mom is strict on the one hand, my dad is very nice.
- 猫は好きである一方、犬は嫌いだ – While liking cats on the one hand, I hate dogs.
“While” (Also)
- 料理する一方で、明日の準備をする – While cooking, also get ready for tomorrow.
- 体を鍛える一方で、学校の勉強もしている – While training my body on the one hand, I’m also studying.
- 子供を育てる一方で、ホテルで働いている – While raising kids on one side, also working at a hotel.
- 大学で勉強する一方で、パートで貯金している
While studying at college, also working a part time job to save money. - 警備員である一方で、部活の顧問もやっている – While being a security guard, he also advised a club.