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Formation: V-dictionary / V-た + そばから

Describes a repeated situation: every time X is done, Y immediately follows and usually cancels it out, so the effort keeps being wasted. It carries frustration or exasperation. It is for habitual, repeated events, not a single occurrence, and the main clause describes what happens, not the speaker's will or a request. 〜が早いか, 〜や否や and 〜なり also mean 'as soon as', but they describe one particular event, usually in the past, without the sense of endless repetition. It appears in both writing and speech, but it sounds a little literary.

Variants: 〜たそばから

Examples

• 片付けるそばから、子どもが部屋を散らかしていく。
  No sooner do I tidy up than the kids make a mess of the room again.
• 新しい単語は、覚えたそばから忘れてしまう。
  I forget new words as fast as I learn them.
• 雪かきをするそばから、また雪が積もっていく。
  The snow piles up again as fast as I shovel it away.

In real texts 0 occurrence(s)

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