~てはじめて
〜te hajimete
Formation
Verb-て form + はじめて
Realization or action done for the first time; 'only after', 'not until'.
When to use
てはじめて: only after doing X did you realize or could (失ってはじめて).
Explanation
The ~てはじめて grammar point indicates that something is realized or happens for the first time only after another action is completed. It can be translated as 'only after' or 'not until'.
Example sentences
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Only after going abroad did I realize how great Japan is.
Kaigai ni itte hajimete, Nihon no yosa ga wakarimashita.
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I realized her importance only after breaking up with her.
Kanojo to wakarete hajimete, kanojo no taisetsusa ni kizuita.
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I understood how fun my student days were only after graduating from university.
Daigaku o sotsugyou shite hajimete, gakusei jidai no tanoshisa ga wakatta.
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I understood how parents feel only after I had a child.
Kodomo ga dekite hajimete, oya no kimochi ga wakatta.
Sequence (After / As A Result)
- ~たきり〜takiriN2Express 'since then' or 'after'; used to indicate that an…
- ~上で〜ue deN2Used to express that something is done after or on the…
- ~あげく~agekuN2Expresses the outcome of a series of actions or events…
- ~以来〜iraiN2Indicates something happening 'since', 'ever since', or…
- ~末~sueN2Express the outcome after a period of time or series of…
- Verb てから~〜te karaN5Express a sequence of actions or events; 'after', 'since'…
- ~きり〜kiriN3Expresses the idea of 'only', 'since', or 'after'.
- Noun の あとでNoun no atodeN5Expresses the order of events; 'after', 'later than'.
- Verb た あとでta ato deN5Indicates an action that takes place after another action.
- Noun にして初めてNoun nishite hajimeteN1Expresses 'only when/after... for the first time'.
- Verb てからというものVerb te kara to iu monoN1Expresses that ever since a certain event happened, a…
- Verbる 始末だ〜ru shimatsu daN1Indicates a (often unfortunate) result or conclusion of an…
Corpus examples (37)
自分が子供を産んではじめて母親の愛がどんなものかわかりました。
It was not until I had a baby myself that I knew what mother's love is.
生まれてはじめて良心の呵責を感じましたが、そうする以外にその場をしのぐ方法はありませんでした。
For the first time in my life, I felt a pang of conscience, but there was no other way out.
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I didn't know the actor until I saw the movie.
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It is not until you lose your health that you realize its value.
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It is not until you have lost your health that you realize its value.
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It is not until we lose our health that we realize the value of it.
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It was only when I met him that I realized his true intention.
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It's not until you have met him that you really understand a man.
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It was not until he was thirty that he started to paint.
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You will learn your lessons only in so far as you are willing to keep studying them.
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It wasn't until I left school that I realized the importance of study.
人生の危機を無事、通り抜けてはじめて、平穏な時期を迎えることができる。
We cannot expect to have halcyon days until we get safely through the crucial period in life.
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He did not come back until nine o'clock.
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She did not eat anything until she was rescued.
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It was not until the baby was fed that he stopped crying.
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It is only when you have your own children that you realize the trouble of parenthood.
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He did not decide to be a writer until he was thirty.
それから5年後になってはじめて、彼が結婚したことを聞きました。
It was not until five years later that I heard of his marriage.
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It is not till we lose our health that we realize its true value.
個々の木を見分けるのが困難になってはじめて森が見えるようになるのである。
You get to see the wood only when it becomes too difficult to distinguish individual trees.
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It was not until I called that he came.
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It was not until three days after that I knew she had disappeared.
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It was not until I got off the bus that I realized I had left my umbrella.
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He was the first actor I had met in my life.
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It was not until yesterday that I got the news.