A Japanese friend is trying to explain Valentines Day and White Day. I am not quite getting the last sentence... Maybe if someone would be so kind to explain what the らず attached to 限 means? I have not been able to find any information about this.

もらった男性は　３月１４日にお返しに何かプレゼントしなければいけないんだよ。　　３月１４日は、ホワイトデー　っていうんだよ。 キャンディーを女性にあげるのが定番だけど、それに限らず女性の好きなものをプレゼントするんだよ。

Thanks!

http://guidetojapanese.org/negverb2.html
It means something like 'without restraint'

限らず is a negative form of the verb 限る. It can be replaced by 限らなくて and keep the same meaning in this sentence. ～ず　is used instead of ～なくて in written Japanese. The phrase それに限らず can be loosely translated as "not limited to that".

So the final sentence can be translated as "It's standard to give girls candy but you can also give whatever you like as a present."

Instead of saying "not limited to that", I said "you can also" and I also inserted "you can give" where "one can give" would probably be more accurate.

I always thought that Japan's valentines day customs were a bit hard on the poor boys who don't receive anything on the 14th of Feb. There's nothing they can do.

uberstuber Wrote:http://guidetojapanese.org/negverb2.html
It means something like 'without restraint'

The page you referenced only refers to ず being used to replace a verb ending in ないで. It doesn't refer to what's happening in the above, which is なくて and not ないで.

I think "without restraint" is a poor translation because it sounds like you've got the wrong sense with "restraint" and that you're using the "without" translation that is often used with ないで and not なくて.

In short, here, the ず is a substitute for なくて　used in written Japanese. So the verb 限る（かぎる） in its negative form becomes 限らない　（かぎらない）. And since the sentence is continuing,　限らない　becomes 限らなくて, ...

So I suppose you're left with something like: although it's typical to give candy to women, it's *not limited to that and* (men give) things that women like.

edit: i'm obviously a slower typist :-)

Lightning fast responses to Japanese questions on the Reviewing the Kanji forums! :-) What more could you ask for?

wrightak Wrote:

uberstuber Wrote:http://guidetojapanese.org/negverb2.html
It means something like 'without restraint'

The page you referenced only refers to ず being used to replace a verb ending in ないで. It doesn't refer to what's happening in the above, which is なくて and not ないで.

Oh shoot, this is what happens when I don't read the page before sending it to someone. Sorry Gibosi!

Thank you all for your replies! Yes indeed, a "lightening fast response"! You guys are great!!

I see... ず takes the place of なくて, a continuing negative. And this is
written Japanese... not spoken. So the present one wants to give is not limited to candy and such, but can be something the woman likes.

But the poor guy who doesn't get anything, not even 義理チョコ, on Valentine's Day, cannot give anything to the girl he's been secretly admiring on White Day? I didn't know this... I would probably be one these guys!! ahaha... this is really sad...

Thanks again!