Please help me understand this grammar: ようになるだけではなくて

Question

I'm having trouble understanding this grammar. Could someone please help.

「ようになるだけではなくて」

Taken from the sentence:

本を読めるようになるだけではなくて

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Breaking this apart a bit:

• potential form+ようになる means "become able to..."

• XだけではなくてY means "not only X, Y"

So, (assuming there is something after だけではなくて and it's not a complete sentence), from there I think you can come up with:

本を読めるようになるだけではなくて…
Not only will (you) become able to read [a book/books], ...

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The way I understand よう is it means "state"/"situation"/"form"/"way", and is usually written in Hiragana though can be written with the Kanji 様{よう}. So for example:

• ～ようになる can mean "become into the state of...":

  NGOはさらに大きな影響力を持つようになるのか。¹
  Will NGOs gain greater influence?
  (lit. "Will NGOs become into the state of having greater influence?")

• ～できるようになる can mean "become into the state of being able to..." or "become able to..."/"come to be able to..." etc:

  あなたはすぐにもっと上手にテニスができるようになるでしょう。²
  You will be able to play tennis better soon.
  (lit. "You will soon become into the state of being able to do tennis more skillfully")

• ～ように (often at the end of a sentence etc) can mean "towards the state/situation of..." or "may you..." etc, this is used for hoping or wishing for something:

  あなたに不幸が訪れますように！
  May misfortune befall you!
  (lit. "Towards the state/situation of misfortune befalling you!")

• XようにY can mean "to go towards a state/situation of X, Y" or "X in order to Y":

  時間におくれないように家を出た。³
  In order to not be late, (I/he/she etc) left the house.
  (lit. "To not go towards a state/situation of being late, (I/he/she etc) left the house")

• XのようなY can mean "Y that's of a similar state/form to X", "Y that's like X":

  人生とは自転車のようなものだ。倒れないようにするには走らなければならない。⁴
  Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
  (lit. "Life is a thing that's of a similar state/form to a bicycle. ...")

• よう as in どのよう "how"/"what way" etc can also mean "way"

There are probably some other usages too.

Edit: tried to expand on the different usages of よう.

Answer 2

I think you have to break it down:

本を読めるようになる = so that [I] was able to read [the book/books/a book]

AだけではなくてB = not just A(but also)B....

=> Not just so that I could read books (but also)...

BTW: Just in case this wording sounds awkward, you have asked about a phrase not a complete sentence. The exact wording in English will depend on the rest of the sentence and the full context not provided, eg:

• Is this a specific book or books in general (see comments below)?
• The inclusion of なる (as per comments) suggests the latter(?)
• I assumed the subject was I but it could be 2nd person/more general
• I have used "just" which felt natural but "only" is perhaps technically a more precise word

Supplementary grammar note: ために　is often translated as "in order to", ように　is often translated as "so that". The main difference b/w the two is that ために　is generally used for actions that can be controlled by the subject, ように　is typically used for verbs in potl form, -ve form or stative verbs such as 分かる. Compare the following two sentences

日本語を勉強するために日本にきました。

日本語が上手になるように一緒懸命勉強しています。