〜すら

Meaning

「すら」 is an adverbial particle that presents an extreme example to imply that other cases can be inferred by analogy. It is used in the same way as 「さえ」 and 「も」, meaning "even."

Formation

Examples

1. 小学生ですら解ける問題
   A problem that even an elementary school student can solve.

2. 祖父は手術後、一人では食事すらできさないような状態なので、母が面倒を見ている。
   After the surgery, my grandfather is in a state where he can't even eat by himself, so my mother is taking care of him.

3. 僕は初デートの時に緊張しすぎて、彼女と目を合わせることすら出来ませんでした。
   On my first date, I was so nervous that I couldn't even make eye contact with her.

4. ジョンさんは日本に5年間も住んでいましたが、自分の名前をカタカナで書くことすらできない。
   John lived in Japan for five whole years, but he can't even write his own name in katakana.

5. 数学者ですら解けなかった問題を、ある中学生が解いたなんて。本当に天才としか思えない。
   A middle school student solved a problem that even mathematicians couldn't solve. You can only think of them as a true genius.

Summary

• 「〜すら」 means "even"
• Attaches to Noun