〜にわたって: 'Throughout / Over' (Meaning + Examples)
Covering an entire range
〜にわたって says that an event, action, or state extends across the whole of a given period, area, or scope — it didn't just happen once or in one place, but continuously or repeatedly across the entire range named.
やったんは三日間にわたって町中を捜し歩いた、迷子のモチを見つけるために。
やったんは みっかかんにわたって まちじゅうを さがしあるいた、まいごの モチを みつけるために。
Yattan searched the whole town for three straight days to find the lost Mochi.
三日間にわたって = across the entire three-day span, not just a moment in it.
広い地域にわたって大雪が降った。
ひろい ちいきにわたって おおゆきが ふった。
Heavy snow fell across a wide area.
その王は40年間にわたって人民の上に君臨した。
そのおうは よんじゅうねんかんにわたって じんみんの うえに くんりんした。
That king reigned over the people for a span of 40 years.
Attaching to a range of time, place, or scope
〜にわたって follows a noun phrase that names a measurable extent — a duration, a physical area, or a number of occasions. The noun-modifying form 〜にわたる is used directly before another noun.
| Attaches to | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | 期間 + にわたって | 百年にわたって (spanning a hundred years) |
| Area | 地域・範囲 + にわたって | 広い地域にわたって (across a wide area) |
| Count/occasions | 回数 + にわたって | 三回にわたって (over three separate occasions) |
| Before a noun | 〜にわたる + 名詞 | 長年にわたる努力 (years-long effort) |
モチの旅行記は五回にわたって雑誌に連載された。
モチの りょこうきは ごかいにわたって ざっしに れんさいされた。
Mochi's travel diary was serialized in the magazine across five installments.
にわたる before a noun: 五回にわたる連載.
Don't confuse with 〜において
〜において (「において」) marks a single point or context — a time, place, or field where something happens or is true (会議において, 教育において). 〜にわたって instead marks a continuous or repeated extent that spans the whole named range. において is about where/when; にわたって is about how far or how long something stretches.
The short version
- 〜にわたって = "throughout / spanning" — covers the entire extent of a time period, area, or number of occasions.
- Attaches to: a duration, area, or count + にわたって; noun-modifying form is 〜にわたる.
- Nuance/register: formal, common in news reports and writing about large-scale or long-term events.
- Don't confuse with: 〜において, which marks a single point or context, not a spanning range.
Practice it
Choose にわたって when the sentence describes something spanning an entire range of time or area.
＿＿＿に入れるのに最もよいものを選びなさい。
広い地域＿＿＿大雪が降った。
Where 〜にわたって fits
Shaky on this? Get these solid first
- 〜に行く · N5 — 〜に行く/来る/帰る says you go, come, or return somewhere to do something. Learn the ます-stem + に pattern, suru-nouns like 買い物に行く, and how to mark the place.
- Past Tense · N5 — The plain past た-form means 'did.' It follows the same sound changes as the て-form (just て→た, で→だ): 食べた, 行った, 飲んだ. Learn it by verb group.
- 〜てください · N5 — 〜てください is the standard way to politely ask someone to do something ('please do…'). Learn the formation, the negative 〜ないでください, softer variations, and see clear examples.
More N2 grammar to explore
Keep going with related patterns at the same level:
- 〜のももっともだ — 〜のももっともだ follows a reason to mean 'it's only natural' or 'no wonder' — 約束を破られたのだから、怒るのももっともだ (given the broken promise, it's only natural to be angry). It expresses reasoned understanding, not just sympathy.
- 〜のもとで — 〜のもとで attaches to a noun to mean 'under', 'with', or 'in the environment/authority of' — 先生のもとで学ぶ (study under a teacher). It frames an influence, guidance, or condition that something happens within.
- 〜抜きで — 〜抜きで attaches to a noun to mean 'leaving out', 'skipping', or 'without' — 冗談抜きで (joking aside, seriously). It signals that something normally present is deliberately omitted from what follows.
- 〜抜く — 抜く as a main verb means 'to pull out/extract' — 栓を抜く (pull out a stopper). Attached to a verb's ます-stem, it becomes a suffix meaning 'do all the way through despite difficulty' — 生き抜く (survive to the end), やり抜く (see it through).
- 〜おまけに — おまけに is a sentence-connecting conjunction meaning 'to make matters worse', 'on top of that', or 'what's more'. It piles a second unwelcome fact onto an already bad situation described in the previous sentence.
- せいぜい — せいぜい is an adverb meaning 'at most,' 'at best,' or 'only' — せいぜい100ドル足らず ('at most, barely 100 dollars'). It caps an estimate at its upper limit, usually implying that limit is smaller or less impressive than expected.