Hi there, can someone please help me understand this grammar point?



I don't get the meaning/explanation of it. I see it involves the dictionary form of a verb, then だけ, and then the same verb in te-form, but I don't really get what it's supposed to be expressing?

It seems to say, "something that is at the limit of its range."

No idea on any of the examples though.

Reading through here:
http://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%A0%E3%81%...3sentences
I found 出来るだけ which obviously means "as much as possible." Maybe that's close to it?

1. That cardboard that is here. Pack it into that car as much as possible and bring it.
2. Father worked as much as possible and retired before retirement age.
3. ???

Not sure.

3. Today I felt relieved after I vented to the section chief [told him all the unfulfilled stuff I could]
4. This is a buffet meal, so take and eat as much as you want.

~の範囲の限界まであることをする

v1 goes on until it reaches the a limit or extent of it's scope, and then something happens(the second part of the sentence)

That's the same だけ as in できるだけ, "as much as possible."

You can think of it as "as much as," and as you noticed, it pairs up nicely with potential verbs.

Although, for 2, I can't help but wonder if it would be "My father worked as much as he was going to" rather than as much as he "could." It's 働く instead of 働ける, so going with 大辞林's definition of 「それが限界で、それ以上には及ばないという気持ちをこめて、程度を表す」, I almost think you could almost rephrase it as 働く限界まで働いて, wherein the nuance becomes that the father simply reached the end of all the work he'd (planned to) do and then retired before retirement age.

Perhaps someone a bit more insightful than I am could confirm or deny this interpretation.

Thank you! In a way, and I might be wrong here, it might be easier to understand these four examples as three different structures:

1. verb + 「だけ」 + verb
2. 「～たいだけ」 (= as much as X wanted to...)
3. fixed phrases: 「出来るだけ」, 「好きなだけ」, 「必要なだけ」, etc.

Points 2 and 3 are easy to grasp, but the first one seems trickier. I think that Raulsen is correct in emphasizg the *limit* aspect of point 1 (rather than "as much as") when saying that "the nuance becomes that the father simply reached the end of all the work he'd (planned to) do and then retired before retirement age".

I did more research and found this in imabi:

Verb＋だけ＋Verb

だけ shows a limit, and in this expression you make it even more clear that you are not expecting, wanting, or doing any more. 　

23. このことは両親にも話すだけは話しておいた方がいい。
As for this, it's best that you at the most talk to your parents.

24. やるだけはやったんだから、静かに結果を待ちましょう。
I'll wait quietly for the results since I did what I had to do.

25. 言うだけ言ったらすっきりした。
I feel good now that I've said (what I had to say).

26. まあ聞くだけ聞いてくれ。
Come on, at least listen to what I have to say.

http://www.imabi.net/l78theparticledake.htm