Grammar a Day - Level 1 [ ごとき・ごとく (gotoki/gotoku) ]

ごとき・ごとく (gotoki/gotoku) - Like, As if

--- Notes ---
Noun + (の) + ごとき + Noun
Noun + ごとく + Adjective/Verb

Not to be confused with ことごとく, which is an unrelated word meaning
'entirely':

　ことごとく信じる。
　Believe something totally.

--- Examples ---
烈火のごとき非難。
Criticism like fire.

私のごとき初心者にとって、。。。
For a beginner like me, ...

ジェット機のごとく空を飛ぶ。
Fly through the sky like a jet.

以上のごとく
As stated above...

常のごとく
As usual.

生けるごとく
As if it is alive.

鳥のごとく空を飛ぶこと、これは人間の夢である。
To fly through the sky like a bird; that is the dream of man.

ライオンのごとく勇敢な人だ。
That person is as brave as a lion.

--- Comments ---
Very formal written grammar. (contributor: blabby)

#5428 私ごとき is ok, too.
#5432 生けるがごとく
#5433 This is different. kotogotoku is written as 悉くor 尽く in kanji
but I don't use them in kanji. hehe (contributor: Miki)

Miki, thanks for your valuable advice.

In #5428, I understand that the の is optional but is #5432 incorrect? Or
are 生けるがごとく and 生けるごとく both acceptable?　Google
gives me 79 results to 31 respectively.

Rather than delete #5433, I marked it as 'question' so other readers can
see that it is different.
(contributor: blabby)

ごとく or 如く is literal diction and not normally used (sounds
pedantic) in conversational speech. ような or ように can usually
replace ごとく.
As between 生けるがごとく and 生けるごとく, the former is the
conventional usage, but the latter is more or less acceptable (with
emphasis on 'less'). (contributor: bamboo4)

「ごとく、ごとき」は「ように、ような」の古い言葉で、名詞の前に付かれて、改まった場所での会話や、硬い文章に使われます。
(contributor: 誠)

生けるかのごとく (contributor: 誠)

To be consistent, #5433 should be deleted - not just marking it like blabby
suggests.
(contributor: bamboo4)

I've overwritten #5433 with an example which contains the grammar point and
moved the previous example up into notes.
That way, those people giving the page a thorough read can be alerted to
the difference, while those just scrolling down to get examples of the
actual grammar point won't be confused by unrelated sentences.
Does this keep everyone happy? (contributor: mochabean)

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http://www.jgram.org/pages/viewOne.php?tagE=gotoki/gotoku

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