In short

This lesson is a reading lesson. Two families of stiff Japanese are collected here: を-based frames that live in press releases and official notices (〜を皮切りに, 〜を余儀なくされる, 〜をもって, 〜を経て), and classical 文語 survivals that you meet on signs, in contracts, obituaries, speeches and proverbs (〜べく, 〜べからず, 〜ごとし, 〜んがために). The goal is confident recognition and correct parsing - for every item below there is a modern equivalent you should say instead.

The rule

Step 1 - The を-frames attach to a NOUN. The default shape is Noun + を + [frame]; several of them (を皮切りに, をよそに, をものともせず, を機に) also accept a clause nominalised with の - 親が心配するのをよそに - and note the plain 心配する before の. This を is not the direct object of the main verb: in 東京を皮切りに公演を行います the verb 行う already has its own object 公演. Read the を-phrase as one sealed unit, then read the rest of the sentence.

• 〜を皮切りに(して)／〜を皮切りとして (o kawakiri ni, literally “skin-cutting”, originally the first moxa burn of a treatment) - starting with, and crucially a series follows: a tour, a campaign, a wave of openings. It is never used for a one-off start. Modern equivalent: 〜から始まって.
• 〜を余儀なくされる (o yoginaku sareru) - be forced into, and the outcome is always unwelcome: 中止, 撤退, 変更, 入院. The subject is the victim, so the verb is passive. The mirror form 〜を余儀なくさせる (o yoginaku saseru) has the circumstance as subject: 大雨が中止を余儀なくさせました. News register only; in speech say 〜しなければならなくなりました.
• 〜をよそに (o yoso ni) - indifferent to, disregarding what other people feel: 反対, 心配, 批判. Mildly critical of the person acting.
• 〜をものともせず(に) (o mono to mo sezu) - undaunted by a hardship, and admiring: 寒さ, 危険, けが. Note the classical negative せず = しないで.
• 〜を顧みず (o kaerimizu, from 顧みる “to look back on”) - without regard for danger, one’s family, one’s own health: 危険を顧みず.
• 〜をもって (o motte) does two jobs. With a time word it is the official “as of”: 本日をもって, 三月末をもって. With a means it is a stiff で: 書面をもって, 実力をもって.
• 〜を限りに (o kagiri ni) - as of the end of a period, said when something stops for good: 今月を限りに閉店します.
• 〜を経て (o hete, from 経る “to pass through”) - via, after passing through a stage, a place or a process: 審査を経て, 香港を経て.
• 〜を機に／〜を契機に(して) (o ki ni / o keiki ni) - taking an event as the opportunity for a change: 入学を機に, 事故を契機に. Neutral or positive; compare the ceremonial 〜にあたって in lesson 64.

Step 2 - The classical auxiliary べし, and its modern faces. Everything in this group comes from the classical べし (“should, must, is to”). It attaches to the dictionary form, with one irregularity you must memorise: する → すべき／すべく, not ×しべく (するべき and するべく are heard in modern writing, but the literary form is the す- one).

• V-dictionary + べく (beku) = in order to, a written 〜ために: 実現すべく努力する (jitsugen subeku doryoku suru, strive in order to realise it).
• V-dictionary + べくもない (beku mo nai) = there is no way to, a literary 〜ようがない: 知るべくもない (shiru beku mo nai, there is no way of knowing).
• V-dictionary + べからず (bekarazu) = prohibition, and it is a finished sentence - it never takes です or ます after it: 立ち入るべからず. On the sign itself you usually see the noun compound 立入禁止 instead.
• V-dictionary + べからざる (bekarazaru) is the adnominal of the same thing: 許すべからざる行為 (yurusu bekarazaru kōi, an unforgivable act).

Step 3 - ごとし: the literary ようだ. 〜ごとし means “like, as” and inflects in three classical shapes: final ごとし, adverbial ごとく, adnominal ごとき. After a noun it needs の (or classical が); after a verb it takes the plain form, often with かの: 光陰矢のごとし, 以下のごとく, 彼のごとき人物. Modern equivalent: 〜のようだ／〜のように／〜のような (lesson 49). Beware the separate deprecating 私ごとき = “someone as lowly as me”, which is humble or dismissive, not comparative.

Step 4 - The ん that is NOT a negative. In 〜んがために (n ga tame ni, “for the sake of ~ing”) the ん is the classical volitional む, not the negative. It attaches to the same stem as ない: 勝つ → 勝たんがために, 生きる → 生きんがために, する → せんがために. So 勝たんがために means in order to win, never in order not to win. The related 〜んとする (n to suru) = 〜ようとする (“be about to”): 日が沈まんとする.

Step 5 - Classical negatives: ずして, ず, まじき. 〜ずして (zu shite) = without doing, a literary 〜ないで: 戦わずして勝つ (tatakawazu shite katsu, to win without fighting); する → せずして. 〜まじき (majiki) is the adnominal “must not be”, now surviving chiefly in one frame: 〜にあるまじき + noun, “unbecoming to a ~”: 教師にあるまじき行為, 指導者にあるまじき振る舞い. For the everyday 〜ず／〜ぬ of written style see lesson 60.

Step 6 - 〜たる: in the capacity of. Noun + たる + Noun is the classical である used adnominally: 教師たる者 (kyōshi taru mono, one who is a teacher), 代表たる資格. It is nearly always followed by 者 or a role noun and introduces a duty: 教師たる者、常に学ぶべきです. Do not confuse it with the 〜たる of 堂々たる (a たる-adjective, tagged “taru adjective” in dictionaries - classically タリ活用, a class of its own, not な); both are classical, but that one is a stative adjective, not a copula.

Forms & patterns

The を-frames - all take a bare noun:

The べし family - note the する irregularity:

Classical survivals - shape, source and where you meet it:

Examples

Common mistakes

• 会社は工場の閉鎖を余儀なくしました。 (Kaisha wa kōjō no heisa o yoginaku shimashita.) -> 会社は工場の閉鎖を余儀なくされました。 (Kaisha wa kōjō no heisa o yoginaku saremashita.) - the party who suffers the outcome takes the passive 〜される. The active 〜させる is only for the circumstance that forces it: 不況が閉鎖を余儀なくさせました.
• 勝たないがために練習します。 (Katanai ga tame ni renshū shimasu.) -> 勝たんがために練習します。 (Katan ga tame ni renshū shimasu.) - the ん of 〜んがために is the classical volitional む, not the negative ない. “Correcting” it to ない reverses the meaning.
• 合格するべく毎日勉強しました。 (Gōkaku suru beku mainichi benkyō shimashita.) -> 合格すべく毎日勉強しました。 (Gōkaku subeku mainichi benkyō shimashita.) - with する, the literary べく／べき／べからず attach to す: すべく, すべき, すべからず. するべき is tolerated in modern prose, but in this stiff register すべく is the expected form.
• 時間は矢ごとし。 (Jikan wa ya gotoshi.) -> 光陰矢のごとし。 (Kōin ya no gotoshi.) - after a noun, ごとし needs の (the classical genitive). ごとし is never glued straight onto a bare noun.
• 立ち入るべからずです。 (Tachiiru bekarazu desu.) -> 立ち入るべからず。 (Tachiiru bekarazu.) - べからず is already a finished classical predicate; adding です (or ます) mixes two grammars in one sentence.

Tips

• Read these, do not say them. Every row in the tables has a modern equivalent column for a reason. Saying 本日をもって終了いたします to a friend sounds like reading a notice aloud; say 今日で終わります. The C1 skill being tested is parsing, not production.
• One kana ん, two classical auxiliaries. In 〜んがために and 〜んとする the ん is む (volitional, = 〜よう); in ません and the blunt 知らん it is ぬ (negative, = 〜ない). Decide by the frame that follows, never by the kana alone.
• Sort the を-frames by emotional colour. 余儀なくされる = bad and unavoidable; ものともせず = admiring; をよそに = quietly critical; を機に = neutral or positive. Choosing the wrong one is not a grammar error but a tone error, which is worse in a news or business text.
• する is where these forms break. Memorise its irregular pieces together: すべく, すべき, すべからず, せずして, せんがために, ものともせず. Every other verb behaves predictably; する is the one that catches learners out.