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Question:

  1. ハンバーグを作るのは難しいと思っていたが、（ ）思ったより難しくなかった。

A. 作っているうちに
B. 作ったとしても
C. 作ってみると
D. 作った後で

I chose D, but the right answer is C, why? I think C and D both are pertinent, can anyone clarify the discrepancy?

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Using AでB directly marks the time A of the event B. This means option D will imply that you had the thought (that the ハンバーグ was difficult to make) after making it, which doesn't make sense.

作った後で思ったより難しくなかった。 It was more difficult than what I had thought after making it.

For で・に to be used in this sentence, you would have to change it to 作る前.

作る前に思ったより難しくなかった。 It was more difficult than what I had thought before making it.

Of course, it still isn't a good choice because the first part of the sentence already implies what you thought of before making it with the ~ていた form. So it is redundant.

On the other hand, Aてみると／てみたらB is appropriate because it is a phrase specifically to mark that expression B is what you came to notice/what came about as a result of verb A. It does not directly mark the time of B, but specifies that B came as a result of A.

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  • 「作った前に思ったより難しくなかった。」<-- 「作った前に～」じゃなくて「作る前に～」って言うと思いますけど。
    – chocolate ♦
    Jun 30, 2022 at 15:46
  • Yes you are right. 作る前, 作った後. Thank you!
    – mcvain
    Jun 30, 2022 at 16:35
  • (not a native, but) I would personally read D as actually saying more that after you had made it, it was harder than you thought, but before you made it it might have been easier. (i.e. the act of making it made it become harder than you thought) This is because using 後で usually contrasts the before-time with the after-time as being somehow different (in this case, implying that the difficulty had changed).
    – Foogod
    Aug 2, 2022 at 18:55

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