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I'm trying to say sentences like "I can accomplish (a) by doing (b)." in Japanese, and I can't seem to figure it out.

An example sentence would be "I can earn good grades by studying hard."


Maybe the english example wasn't quite right. I know accomplish complicates the question but I do feel thats what I'm looking for. Maybe this example of what I'm looking for will help.

"I can show initiative by working hard."

Or if someone was presenting a product demonstration before an audience.

"I can make this product appeal to the audience." "I just need to show its usefulness."

What I want to construct is more "i can make this product appeal to the audience by showing its usefulness."

I'm not necessarily looking for a direct translation of these sentences. An example of how to construct the idea or something similar would work.

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There are a number of ways to express this. Roughly in the order of informality, those include:

「~~すれば + Vpotential。」

「~~すれば + Vdictionary + ことができる。」

「~~することで + 《Noun |Verb + こと》 + が[可能]{かのう}になる。」

「~~すること《により | によって》 + 《Noun |Verb + こと》 + が可能になる。」

「~~すること《により|によって》 + Noun + が[達成]{たっせい}できる。」

To use one of your examples "I can make this product appeal to the audience by showing its usefulness.", you can say the following. (I take this to be about TV shopping.)

「[商品]{しょうひん}の[実用性]{じつようせい}を[示]{しめ}せば、[視聴者]{しちょうしゃ}にアピールできる(or アピールすることができる)。」

「商品の実用性を示すことにより、視聴者アピールすることが可能になる。」

「商品の実用性示すことで、視聴者へのアピールが可能になる。」

「商品の実用性[提示]{ていじ}により、視聴者へのアピールが達成できる。」

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I don't think there is a good literal translation of this construction into Japanese.

Here are some related expressions that might help.

「一所懸命{いっしょけんめい}勉強{べんきょう}したら、いい成績{せいせき}を取れる{とれる}。」
"If I study really hard, I can get good grades."

「一所懸命勉強して、いい成績を取る。」
"I'll study really hard and get good grades."

「いい成績を取れるように、一所懸命勉強する。」
"I'll study really hard (in order) to get good grades."

Though to be honest, I'm not sure I'd ever say "I can earn good grades by studying hard." in English, except maybe when literally listing things I could accomplish by doing something else? If I wanted to do that in Japanese, I suppose I'd use the first construction I provided: 「〜たら、〜れる。」.


"I can show initiative by working hard."

I honestly can't think of a context I'd say this in English. Maybe we speak different dialects?

"I can make this product appeal to the audience by showing its usefulness."

I think I would say this when trying to convince someone to entrust a talk/product to me.

The "can" does not seem particularly core to the meaning, it is more like a way to commit to less when you say it; compare, "[If you leave it to me] I will make this product appeal to the audience by showing its usefulness".

For that reason I think it leaves a bad taste in my mouth in English, and I personally wouldn't say the equivalent of it in Japanese. I would say something like this:

有用性(or実用性/便利さ)を示して、顧客に訴えます。
"I will exhibit its usefulness, and make it appeal to the customers."

(You should wait for a native speaker to check that if you actually want to say this line to someone, as I'm not particularly good with business language.)

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You over-complicate your question by putting "accomplish" in there. You should instead be trying to learn, "if this, then that".

頑張って勉強すると卒業することができます

"If I persevere and study hard, I'll be able to graduate"

You can use と as a conditional linking the former statement to the latter statement, in a fashion that the former will be IF and the latter will be the THEN, as in what will happen if the former is true.

To make a similar, but not a 100% concrete certainty statement, you can write it like

頑張って勉強したら卒業することができます

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    I may be wrong but somehow your example with と does not feel natural, possibly because the ability to graduate is not an inevitable consequence of studying hard.
    – Tim
    Oct 13, 2014 at 1:03
  • Depends how strongly you want to suggest it as a certain outcome.
    – Ricky
    Oct 13, 2014 at 1:04
  • I am not sure because I am not a native speaker. I understand what you are saying but if most people would not say it then, invariably, it is best to find a different expression. 勉強して卒業する for example sounds fine. It has a temporal meaning but you can also imply a cause-effect result.
    – Tim
    Oct 13, 2014 at 1:25

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