If you translated wo megutte directly into English, it would mean “concerning; with regard to; about.” But a literal definition doesn’t really help when trying to use wo megutte properly in Japanese.

 

wo megutte / をめぐって

A few days ago we had a post about ni kanshite. Wo megutte, really, means just about the same thing, only it tends to only be used when discussing disputes, rumors, arguments, etc.

It’s sort of similar to the way we use the word “over” in English when saying, “They fought over the last slice of pizza.”

Similarly, it works for sentences like, “They argued about the election.”

Example Sentences / 例文

そのおもちゃをめぐって子供達が争った。
The children fought over the toy.

彼の浮気をめぐるうわさは学内に広がった。
The rumor of his affair spread throughout the school.
(lit. The rumor about him having an affair spread throughout the school.)

Grammar Formation

Wo megutte only ever comes after a noun.

Noun + をめぐって (or をめぐり)

Noun + をめぐる + Noun

Examples of both of these formations are above. The second formation is what is used when wo meguru is part of a noun phrase, such as “彼の浮気をめぐるうわさ (the rumor about him having an affair),” shown above.

What I’m Not Sure About

Wo megutte, for the most part, seems like a pretty straightforward construction.

I’ve only ever seen it written with kana, but the Jisho.org entry leads me to believe that it can be written with kanji, as well. They have a few options, but I’m not sure which one would be appropriate.

The JGram listing of wo megutte, uses the kanji: を巡って, and I guess that’s the kanji I would guess too, if I had to.

Take a look at the Jisho.org entry, then let us know if you know which usage is correct, please?

Them’s Fighting Words

Since today’s post was a little short, I thought I’d also include a short and random vocab list of “things people like to fight about.”

日本語	English	Jisho.org Entry
おもちゃ	toy	Jisho.org
ピザ	pizza	Jisho.org
選挙	election (e.g. for a government post)	Jisho.org
宗教	religion	Jisho.org
権利	right (e.g. women’s rights); privelege	Jisho.org
同性結婚	same-sex marriage; gay marriage	Jisho.org
教育	education	Jisho.org
議論	argument; discussion; dispute	Jisho.org

The comments open the happiness door.

Good luck with your studies, everyone.

Keep swimming!

Niko

p.s. Here’s my free course, bundled with awesomeness (and love):