以上は vs 限り

Japanese
#1

Hey there,

I studied 限り as a translation for “as long as”.
Currently I added the grammar point 以上は which has several translations but one of them is also “as long as”

I looked at the example sentences in Bunpro and to me I cannot recognize a difference in the “as long as” examples within the 以上は grammar point and I don’t know why I cannot use 限り there.

I also checked other grammar pages and explanations in the internet but they are rather concentrating on the translation “now that” or “since” regarding the 以上は grammar point. So, that also did not help me further.

Can someone explain the difference to me regarding the translation “as long as”?

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#2

I think it’s better to think of 以上 as “Since” or “Because”, and 限り as “As long as” or “While…”. It’s not that you can’t use the “As long as” translation for 以上, as much as that it probably translates better without it most times.

As for when to use them, the difference is that 以上 is more versatile in that in can be used with any plain form verb, nouns and adjectives; while 限り can only be used with non past plain form verbs and nouns.

HTH!

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#3

My tip would be the same as @Jose7822, especially when we consider the literal meanings of 以上 and 限り. The former indicates that something has reached or exceeded a set value, while the other indicates a limit. Hence why I think it’s easier and safer to consider 以上は as “since” and 限り as “as long as” here.

In my limited experience I have yet to encounter a sentence where translating 以上は as “as long as” instead of “since” would make me go “Eureka!”, but maybe someday it will :man_shrugging:

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#4

As the others have already mentioned, sometimes thinking of things in terms of their more literal meanings is by far the easiest way to determine the differences.

限り = ‘to the limit of that (A), (B)’
以上は = ‘on that (A), (B)’

‘on that’ meaning ‘on top of that (A) is the situation, (B)’

Although you really need to bend English quite a lot to create a literal translation, this is actually not a bad thing if we remember that the bent English sounds perfectly natural in Japanese. However, if you look at the English itself, we can still see the nuance/strength differences, even if we wouldn’t say that ourselves in English.

Edit - Super biased answer because I am inclined toward the literal-is-best way of learning.

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#5

Thanks to all of you taking the time to answer my question. Then I’ll go with the literal meaning comparing both grammar structures. Then it’s also not difficult to differentiate them

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