Definition of そもそも

そもそもsomosomo☆《抑・抑抑・抑々》

adverbial noun:

  • in the first place; to begin with; from the start; originally; ab initio

conjunction:

  • after all; anyway; actually; well, ...; ... on earth (e.g. "what on earth?"); ... in the world (e.g. "why in the world?") - used when bringing up something already mentioned

noun / ~の noun:

  • beginning; start

Example Sentences

そもそもsomosomo指名手配shimeitehaiされたsaretaだけdakeでdeはha「犯人hannin」じゃないjanaiですdesu。
In any case, just being wanted by the police isn't enough to make you "a criminal."
私watashiはha彼kareにni言い聞かせているiikikaseteiruがga、彼kareはhaそもそもsomosomo聞く耳を持たないkikumimiwomotanai。
I've tried reasoning with him but he just won't listen.
そもそもsomosomo彼kareがga来たkitaとしたらtoshitara、驚きodorokiだda。
If he comes at all, it will be surprising.
そもそもsomosomo責任者sekininshaがga責任をとらないsekininwotoranaiならnara、存在sonzaiするsuru意味imiがgaないnaiではないdehanaiかka。
Is there an existing meaning if the person in charge does not take the responsibility to begin with?
そもそもsomosomo事故jikoのno大半taihanはha熱帯雨林nettaiurinではなくdehanaku、身近なmijikana場所bashoでdeおこるokoruのnoであるdearu。
Most accidents, after all, happen around the corner, not in the rainforest.

© Based on JMdict, KANJIDIC2, and JMnedict, property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, used in conformance with the Group's licence. Example sentences from the Tatoeba project (CC BY 2.0). Kanji stroke order data from the KanjiVG project by Ulrich Apel (CC BY-SA 3.0). See comprehensive list of data sources for more info.