第318課: Advanced -べき Phrases: ～べくもない, ～べからず・ざる, ～べく, ～べくして, & ～べし
～べきだ is actually an evolved form of the auxiliary ～べし. With that said, we will first look at the bases which were neglected the first time to make the different forms of it found in more advanced/rarer usages easier to make and use.
The Bases of ～べし
The modern form of ～べし is ～べきだ. Now it is important to see what the bases are for this auxiliary because rarer/archaic usages employed today use them.
| 未然形 | 連用形 | 終止形 | 連体形 | 已然形 | 命令形 |
| べから- | べく-・べかり- | べし | べき・べかる | べけれ- | 存在しない |
Conjugation Note: It’s usually only used with verbs, but when not it shows a strong sense of “should”. -べし should follow the かる-連体形 of 形容詞 and the copula as なる for 形容動詞 and nouns. As for ～べきだ, it should follow 形容詞 like in あたらしくあるべきだ and after the copula である for 形容動詞 and nouns.
漢字 Note: The auxiliary can rarely be seen written as 可し.
～べくもない
～べくもない is used to show that there is absolutely no possibility in something you hope could happen. You just don’t have the means even if you try. This is interchangeable with できるわけがない and できるはずがない.
1. 将来、東京大学の教授になろうなんて望むべくもない。
There’s no way that I could ever become something like a Tokyo University professor in the future.
～べからず・ざる
～べからず, the negative form of -べし is primarily used today to make negative imperatives. When used in ～ざるべからず with ～ざる being the 連体形 of the classical negative auxiliary ～ず, it means “must” in the same way ～なければならない is used today but with more of a command sense to it. At other times, it might be used to show incapability of something, especially with verbs like 許す (to forgive). In this usage it is usually seen in the べからざる-連体形. ～べからず can also be used like ～べくもない, but this would have to be quite archaic for it to have any importance.
2. 予測すべからざる事態。
A situation that one cannot predict.
3. 芝に入るべからず。
Keep off the grass.
4. 羽なければ空をも飛ぶべからず。（ちょっと古風）
Since you have no wings, you can’t even fly in the sky.
5. 天皇を重んぜざるべからず。（Archaic)
One must honor the emperor.
6. 「触るべからず！」 (Old-fashioned)
“Do not touch!”
天皇を重んぜざるべからず。（Archaic)
One must honor the emperor.
Note: The above pattern ～ざるべからず is equivalent to ～なければならない. This is an archaic pattern, and you would only see it in things like proverbs or sayings today.
「触るべからず！」 (Old-fashioned)
“Do not touch!”
～べく & ～べくして
The べく-連用形 may be used similarly to ために to mean “in order to”, being quite formal. It is placed after the 連体形. It may be translated as “in trying to”. This is far more formal, and it is seen all the time in informative books, but you hardly ever hear it in spoken Japanese.
7. 早く帰るべく、準備をし始めた。
In trying to go home early, I started making preparations.
8. 我々は、将来を担うべく努力することを誓います。
We vow to endeavor to bear the future.
～可くして
- “It’s only natural as”. The same verb must be repeated for this usage!
- Followed by an antithetical statement, it means “even if it’s possible to”.
9. これは勝つべくして勝った試合です。
This is only natural that it’s a match that we were going to win.
10. するべくして、するべからず。（Old-fashioned)
Even though you can do it, you should not do it.
11. その教科書を読むべくして理解しがたい。(Old-fashioned)
Even if you can read the textbook, it is hard to understand.
12. この説は言うべくして行うべからず。(Old-fashioned)
Even if you can say the theory, you shouldn’t carry it out.
13. 負けるべくして負けた。
It’s only natural that we lost.
–可くして
- “It’s only natural as”. The same verb must be repeated for this usage!
- Followed by an antithetical statement, it means “even if it’s possible to”.
これは勝つべくして勝った試合です。
This is only natural that it’s a match that we were going to win.
するべくして、するべからず。（Old-fashioned)
Even though you can do it, you should not do it.
その教科書を読むべくして理解しがたい。(Old-fashioned)
Even if you can read the textbook, it is hard to understand.
この説は言うべくして行うべからず。(Old-fashioned)
Even if you can say the theory, you shouldn’t carry it out.
負けるべくして負けた。
It’s only natural that we lost.
～べし: Command
This is rarely seen, but it is of the same mindset as the other usages. It’s forceful, and it has the same effect for the affirmative as ～べからず does for the negative.
14. 辞職すべし。
Resign!