わざと (wazato)
わざと — “on purpose / deliberately”
Pattern
-
わざと＋動詞（普通形・過去形など）do ～ deliberately -
わざと＋動詞ない形＋ない／ようだdeliberately not do ～ / seems on purpose
Meaning
わざと tells the listener that the action was not an accident. 彼はわざと負けた: he lost knowingly, for instance to let someone else win. It is placed before the verb it modifies.
Typical purposes
The sentence often has a reason with ために or ようと: 笑わせようと、わざと変な顔をした. The action itself can be kind, playful or unkind, so context shows the attitude.
Compare with わざわざ and 故意に
わざわざ is “take the trouble to” and is about effort, not hidden intention. 故意に is the stiff, written version of わざと, often used for bad actions (故意に壊した). Use わざと in everyday speech.
Examples
-
彼（かれ）はわざと負（ま）けたようだ。
Kare wa wazato maketa you da.
It seems he lost on purpose.
-
弟（おとうと）を笑（わら）わせようと、わざと変（へん）な顔（かお）をした。
Otouto o warawaseyou to, wazato hen na kao o shita.
I made a funny face on purpose to make my little brother laugh.
-
相手（あいて）を怒（おこ）らせるために、わざとひどいことを言（い）った。
Aite o okoraseru tame ni, wazato hidoi koto o itta.
He said something cruel on purpose to make the other person angry.
Common mistakes
- Do not confuse わざと (hidden intention) with わざわざ (taking the trouble). They look alike but differ in meaning.
- わざと is not used for a plan the speaker proudly announces; it sounds like admitting to something.
More grammar points
- ばよかった ～ばよかった — I should have ～, if only I had ～
- ばかりで ～ばかりで — only ～ (and nothing else, with a negative feeling)
- ばかりでなく ～ばかりでなく — not only ～ but also ～
- だけでなく ～だけでなく — not only ～ but also ～
- だけど だけど — but, however (casual)
- ふりをする ～ふりをする — pretending to ～
- 一方（いっぽう）だ ～一方だ — keeps ～ing in one direction
- 一体（いったい） 一体 — what on earth ～ (emphasizing a question)
- じゃない ～じゃない — isn't it ～! (surprise or confirmation)
- か何（なに）か ～か何か — ～ or something
- 代（か）わりに ～代わりに — instead of ～, in return for ～
- 結局（けっきょく） 結局 — in the end, after all
- きり ～きり — only ～; ever since ～
- っけ ～っけ — was it ～? (recalling)
- ことになっている ～ことになっている — it is the rule or plan that ～
- ことは～が ～ことは～が — it is true that ～, but ～
- くせに ～くせに — even though ～ (with reproach)
- も～ば～も A も ～ば B も ～ — both A and B
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