In this lesson, we will learn about a phrase composed of a generic noun and the standard-marking particle に. The noun in question this time is 通り, which literally refers to a road in a town in which people and cars pass along. First, we will study more literal definitions of the word and then learn about the expression ～とおりに, the true focus of this lesson.
Intonation Note: とおり↓
1. 前面は歩道のある比較的大きな通りに面している。
The front part faces a relatively large street with a sidewalk.
2. 銀座通りに近いので、利用者も多い。
Because it is close to Ginza Street, there are lots of consumers.
通り not only can mean “road,” but it can also refer to the flow of people and things trafficking said road. Thus, it is akin to “street traffic,” which isn’t the same “traffic” as in one is stuck in traffic. That is technically referred to as “traffic conjugation,” which translated as 渋滞.
3. 道が狭く、車の通りが多い。
The street is narrow, and there is a lot of vehicle traffic.
From this concept of the flowing of things, 通り by extension can also refer to the flow of liquid and gases. It can also refer to the transmission of sound and by extension the reach of someone’s voice. And from extension of this, the meaning of reputation also comes about. After all, one’s reputation is formed by the dissemination and coalescence of what others are saying.
4. 空気や水の通りを良くして植物の根に酸素を与えるという仕組みです。
It’s a mechanism that gives oxygen to the plant roots by bettering the flow of air and water.
5. 通りの悪い声で困っています。
I’m bothered with my voice not carrying well.
6. 自分の業界で通りが良さそうな名前を使えばいいのではないかと思います。
I think it’d be a good idea to choose a name that seems reputable in one’s industry.
By further extension, the very flow of ideas that compose one’s understanding is yet another meaning of 通り. With understanding comes methods, which is how 通り can be used as a counter to count “method.”
7. 今のところ通りの良い説明だろうか。
Would it really be a sensible explanation currently?
8. 白髪になるパターンは3通りあります。
There are three patterns to turning gray.
It is this last meaning of “method” that forms the semantic basis for the grammar pattern ～とおりに meaning “just as.” ～とおりに follows after nouns or verbal expressions.
| Part of Speech | Pattern Forms | Examples |
| Nouns | ～のとおりに ～どおりに | 地図｛のとおりに・どおりに｝(according to the map) |
| Verbs | ～るとおりに ～たとおりに | 言うとおりに (just as…says) 言ったとおりに (just as…said) |
As demonstrated, when ～とおりに attaches to verbal expressions, the tense of the verb can either be in the non-past or the past tense. However, as is also demonstrated by the chart, one mustn’t interchange the tenses for the other because the meaning will change accordingly.
When ～とおりに attaches to nouns, there are two options. One can use the particle の to attach it to the noun, or one can just append とおりに to the noun with it being consequently voiced as ～どおりに, with the latter option being the most prevalent choice. Grammatically speaking, the particle の here can be viewed as substituting for a fully worded verbal expression. Using ～どおりに, by comparison, causes this semantic simplification to be understood analytically. To understand what this means, consider the following.
9a. 地図のとおりに進んでください。
9b. 地図どおりに進んでください。
9c. 地図に書いてあるとおりに進んでください。
Please proceed according to the map.
Grammatically speaking, all three versions of this sentence are perfectly sound, and you can hear all three versions. 9c, although the wordier version, is still just as viable and usable as the others, and this may very well be because it forms the grammatical basis for why the shorter versions are possible. How one wishes to phrase things is typically based on the flow of the given context.
Another point that must be noted is that Ex. 9 exemplifies the basic sentence pattern X + とおりに + Y, but it’s important to understand that the pattern X + とおりだ is also possible and used profusely.
Orthography Note: Unlike many other grammatical patterns, this one can be just as easily written in Kanji as it can in Hiragana.
Translation Note: ～｛とおり・どおり｝に is most often translated as “just as/according to.” It implies that one is doing X a certain way 100%.
10. 僕｛が・の｝想像したとおりだ。
It’s just as I had imagined.
11. 事実、僕の想像通りだ。
As a matter of fact, it is just as I imagined.
12. 道はまさしく地図どおりに繋がっていた。
The route was evidently connected just like the map.
13. 取扱説明書どおりに設置したのに、接続されません。
It won’t connect even though I set it up just like how it was written in the user’s manual.
14. 言われたとおりにお箸で食べてみました。
I tried eating it with chopsticks just as I was told.
15. 私｛が・の｝言うとおりに動いてください。
Move as I say.
16. 私｛が・の｝言ったとおりに動いてください。
Move as I said.
17. 私の言ったとおりになったでしょう。
It happened just as I said, right?
18. 前日の天気予報のとおりに雨模様。
Signs of rain just like the weather report the other day said there would be.
19. 午後からは、天気予報どおりに雨が降ってきました。
Just like the weather report said, the rain came starting in the afternoon.
20. なぜ、仕事が予定どおりに終わらないのか。
Why doesn’t work end like planned?
21. 先生が教えてくださった通りにやったら解けました。
When I did it just how my teacher taught me, I was able to solve it.
22. 本案件の成果物は、期限どおりに納品された。
The results of this project were delivered in due course.
23. 自分の都合で相手に期待し、自分の思い通りにならないと腹を立てる。
To get angry when one expects of someone on one’s own circumstances but things don’t turn the way one thought.
24. 心理学の理論どおりに人が動くとは限らないし、経済学の理論どおりに経済が動くとは限らない。
It isn’t always true that people will operate according to the theories of psychology, and it isn’t always true that the economy will operate according to the theories of economics.
25. 記憶がある事実は、記憶どおりに答えます。
For facts you have memory of, answer exactly according to your memory.
26. 教えたとおりにやりなさい。
Do it exactly how I’ve taught you.
27. 神様は必ずしも聖書どおりに行動するわけではない。
It is not the case that God always acts exactly according to the Bible.
28. 人生は思い通りに、予想通りにいくことばかりではないのだ。
Life isn’t full of things going as one wants or expects.
29. 全く仰る通りです。
You’re absolutely right.
30. その通りだ。
That’s exactly right.
31. 明日から元通りだね。
Things will be back to normal starting tomorrow, huh.
32. ｛以下・下記｝の通りです。
(It) is as follows:
33. 私はいつも通りです。
Same as usual.
34. 私にできる限り、部長のご指示通りに行いました。
I carried it out according to the chief’s instructions to the best of my ability.
35. スケジュール通りに仕事を進めていきたいと思います。
I would like to proceed with the work according to the schedule.
Omission of に
The に after とおり・どおり is the standard-marking に. Unsurprisingly, because the noun itself expresses adherence to a standard by 100%, it is possible to delete it with no effect to the grammaticality of the sentence. However, it is more often used than not.
In fact, it’s quite unnatural to drop に when using ～のとおりに. One motivation for this is that the に used in this expression is also adverbial in nature. It is this adverbial nature that makes it grammatical redundant and thus omissible in expressions like いつもどおり (Ex. 36).
There are also situations where omitting に brings about a more formal tone, similarly to how when it is omitted in other expressions such as ～ために (Ex. 37).
36. 休日でもいつもどおり（に）起きてしまう。
I end up waking up as usual even on weekends.
37. 自分が決めたことを計画通り（に）実行できれば、なんでもやれる。
You can do anything if you’re able to carry out according to plan what you’ve decided to do.
38. イギリスの諺にもある通り(に)、自分の国以外の他のことを知ることで、 自分の特徴がより深く理解できるのだ。
Just as is also in the English proverb, one can more deeply understand one’s own characteristics by knowing other things outside one’s own country.
～｛とおり・どおり｝の
With X + とおりだ being a valid sentence pattern, it is only logical that it can be used to directly modify a noun phrase, and in doing so, one gets ～｛とおり・どおり｝の.
39. 希望通りの職種に就きながらも、不満を感じている若手社員は意外に少なくない。
The number of young employees who feel frustrated despite being employed in the occupation they hoped for is surprisingly not few.
40. 評判どおりの良いホテルだった。
It was a good hotel that lived up to its reputation.
～てのとおり
Interestingly, there are two expressions in which ～のとおり follows verbs in the gerund form made with the particle て. These phrases are 見ての通り (as you can see) and 知っての通り (as you know). Grammatically, the particle の can be viewed as taking the place of some other phrase.
As for 見ての通り, one such “other phrase” that would fit perfectly here is わかる. In fact, 見てわかる通り is another way of saying “as you can see.” As for 知っての通り, の can be thought of as a substitute for いる.
It’s important to understand that 見る and 知る can still be used just like other verbs in other forms provided the semantic combination of said form with 通り makes sense. Such examples will be sprinkled in with examples of ～てのとおり below.
Particle Note: Partly due to being set phrases, neither 見ての通り nor 知っての通り are followed by the particle に.
43. 見ての通り、話すのは得意じゃなくてね。
As you can see, I’m not good at speaking.
44. 見てわかる通り、毎日暇です。
As you can see, I’m free with my time every day.
45. グラフ｛に見る・で分かる・の｝通りに、15年間の比率は4.5だった。
[As can be seen in the graph/as can be understood with the graph/exactly as the graph says], the fifteen-year ratio was 4.5.
46. 私が手本を示すから、見たとおりにやってみてください。
I’m going to show an example, so try doing it just as you see it.
47. 知っての通り、HP・攻撃・防御は異常に高いのです。
As you know, its HP, attack, and defense are abnormally high.
48. ご存知の通り、冷えは身体に良くありません。
As you know, chilliness is not good for the body.
Variant Note: ご存知の通り, alternatively also seen as ご存じの通り, is the honorific form of 知っての通り, and it is actually more frequently used due to it being politer as 知っての通り can often sound too direct.
49. 外は、ご覧の通りの長蛇の列です。
Outside, there’s a long line, as you can see.
Variant Note: ご覧の通り is the honorific form of 見ての通り, and is arguably used more than its non-honorific form. As Ex. 49 demonstrates, ご覧の通り can even be used to modify noun phrases with the help of the particle の. The same thing can be said for ご｛存知・存じ｝の通り, but not for either phrase’s non-honorific form.
50. 皆知っている通り、顧客なしではビジネスは成り立たない。
As everyone knows, business is not viable without customers.
51. 誰も知る通り、紙は主に樹脂からとられる。
As known by everyone, paper is largely taken from resin.
～ように
As an aside, it is worth noting that ～とおりに is similar to ～ように, with the latter being translatable as “as.” Just as ～とおりに establishes some standard X by which the agent is to act 100% accordingly to, ～ように can also establish a standard X by which the agent is to act accordingly to, but the expectation is not set at 100%.
52. 説明したように適当にしてください。
Do as you see fit as explained.
53. 前にも言ったように、この案件は来週の金曜日に終わる予定です。
As was said earlier, this project is scheduled to end on Friday of next week.
54. よくも悪くも、想像したようにはまったくいかないな。
Good or bad, it just doesn’t go at all like I imagine.
55. ご覧のように、具と麺が別々に出てきます。
As you can see, the noodles and ingredients come out separately.
Phrase Note: Due to it being more indirect, ご覧のように is somewhat politer than ご覧の通り.