“wazawaza” vs “sekkaku”：What’s The Difference with 16 e.g.
I’d say “わざわざ(wazawaza) and せっかく(sekkaku)” are one of the quite complicated words for you and actually these are so similar to each other. However, they have subtle differences. After figuring out, why don’t use them? Let me introduce how you correctly use them today!
わざわざ (wazawaza)
All the way / Go out of your way
“わざわざ(wazawaza)” means “All the way or Go out of your way” and the nuance of using わざわざ is what someone does is pretty hard, difficult, tough, or he/she gets tired or can’t be bothered to do something, unlike せっかく. So the nuance of “わざわざケーキを買ってきたけど、食べなかった。(I went out of my way to buy the cake, but I didn’t eat it.)” is that buying the cake was pretty hard which means waiting in line for 1 or 2 hours to get the cake or the shop selling the cake was too far, unlike “せっかくケーキを買ってきた。” that I explained next. When you got tired to do something for someone, you could use わざわざ.
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Sample
yukaたつやがわざわざ来てくれたよ。 (Tatsuya came all the way here.) (tatsuya专程过来一趟了呢。) (타츠야가 일부러 와 주었어.) (Tatsuya đã bỏ công đến tận đây đấy.) (tatsuya ga wazawaza kite kureta yo.)
tatsuya電話をかけるのにわざわざ外まで行かないといけないの？ (Do I really need to go all the way out there to call?) (为了打个电话，有必要特意走到外面吗？) (전화 하나 거는데 일부러 밖까지 나가야 해?) (Chỉ là gọi điện thoại thôi mà phải đi ra tận bên ngoài á?) (denwa wo kakeru noni wazawaza soto made ikanaito ikenai no?)
yukaわざわざ大阪まで行ったの？ (Did you go all the way to Osaka?) (你专程去了一趟大阪吗？) (일부러 오사카까지 간거야?) (Cậu đã tới tận Osaka hả?) (wazawaza Ōsaka made itta no?)
tatsuyaわざわざ電話をかけてくれてありがとう。 (Thank you for going out of your way to call me.) (多谢你特意打电话过来) (신경써서 전화 해줘서 고마워.) (Cám ơn cậu đã gọi điện thoại đến.) (wazawaza denwa wo kakete kurete arigatō.)
yukaお母さんがわざわざ手伝ってくれたんだー。 (My mom went out of her way to help me.) (我母亲是专程过来帮助了我 。) (엄마가 신경써서 도와 준거야.) (Mẹ đã cất công giúp đấy.) (okāsan ga wazawaza tetsudatte kureta nda-.)
tatsuya俺のためにわざわざラグビーのチケットを買ってきてくれて、ありがとう。 (Thank you for going out of your way to get me the rugby ticket.) (感谢您特意为了我，购买橄榄球票。) (나를 위해 일부러 럭비 라켓을 사다줘서, 고마워) (Cám ơn cậu đã mua vé xem bóng bầu dục cho tớ.) (ore no tame ni wazawaza ragubī no chiketto wo katte kite kurete, arigatō.)
yukaわざわざ家まで送ってくれてありがとう。じゃあね。 (Thank you very much for driving me all the way to my house. See ya.) (谢谢你特意送我回家。拜拜。) (일부러 집까지 바래다줘서 고마워. 다음에 봐.) (Cám ơn cậu đã đưa tớ về tận nhà. Gặp sau nhé.) (wazawaza ie made okutte kurete arigatō. jāne.)
tatsuyaわざわざ健康診断を受ける必要はないと思うけどなー。 (I think I don’t need to go out of my way to take a health examination.) (我觉得没有必要特意去做体检。) (일부러 건강 검사를 받을 필요는 없다고 생각하지만 말야.) (Tớ nghĩ là không cần phải mất công đi khám sức khỏe làm gì đâu.) (wazawaza kenkō shinda wo ukeru hitsuyō wa nai to omou kedo na-.)
せっかく (sekkaku)
Since / Although / Even though
“せっかく(sekkaku)” means “Since, Although and Even though” and the nuance of using せっかく is not what someone does is pretty hard, difficult, tough, or he/she gets tired or can’t be bothered to do something, unlike わざわざ. And the nuance of using せっかく is that there are a few opportunities to do something”. For instance “せっかくケーキを買かってきたのに食たべなかった。(Even though I bought the cake, but I didn’t eat it.)” is that buying the cake was not pretty hard, just bought it on your way home or something, however, it means there are a few opportunities to buy the cake. Then, what is the difference between “わざわざここに来た。” and “せっかくここに来た。”? The nuance of “わざわざここに来た。” means to come here is pretty hard such as there is no time to come there or to get there took so long time and “せっかくここに来た。” means is that there are a few opportunities to get there such as on Sunday, on your way to hometown and so on which means it was not hard to do things. That’s what the difference is. Furthermore, you could also use “せっかくの___なのに〜(Since___,〜)”. After saying せっかくの would be only the noun not to use verbs, adjectives such as せっかくの誕生日, せっかくの日曜日, etc.
Sample
yukaせっかく日本に来たんだから、たくさんおいしいもの食べない？ (Since we are here in Japan, why don’t we eat lots of good food?) (难得来到日本，难道不多吃一些美食？) (모처럼 일본에 왔으니까, 맛있는거 많이 먹지 않을래?) (Đã cất công đến Nhật rồi thì nên ăn thật nhiều món ngon nào.) (sekkaku Nihon ni kita nda kara, takusan oishī mono tabenai?)
tatsuyaせっかく日本語を勉強したのに使うチャンスがあんまりないなー。 (Even though I studied hard, there is a little chance to use Japanese.) (好不容易学习了日语了却没有机会使用啊。) (모처럼 일본어를 공부했는데 사용할 기회가 별로 없네.) (Đã mất công học tiếng Nhật mà lại không có cơ hội sử dụng gì cả.) (sekkaku nihongo wo benkyō shita noni tsukau chansu ga anmari nai na-.)
yukaせっかく来てくれたけど、ちょうど出かけるとこなんだー。ごめん！ (Even though you took the time to come, I’m just going out now. Sorry!) (你难得来一趟，但是我刚好要出门呢。抱歉！) (모처럼 와 주었는데, 지금 막 나갈 참이라서. 미안!) (Cậu đã mất công đến nhưng đúng lúc tớ phải ra ngoài. Xin lỗi nhé!) (sekkaku kite kuretakedo, chōdo dekakeru tokona nda-. gomen!)
tatsuyaせっかく会えたのに喧嘩したくないよ。 (Since we meet, I don’t want to get into a fight.) (难得见面，我不想吵架。) (모처럼 만났는데 싸우고 싶지 않아.) (Chẳng mấy khi gặp nhau tớ không muốn cãi cọ đâu.) (sekkaku aeta noni kenka shitakunai yo.)
yukaせっかくの日曜日だからどこか行かない？ (Since it’s Sunday, why don’t we go somewhere?) (难得的周日，不一起去哪走走吗？) (모처럼 일요일인데 어디 가지 않을래?) (Chẳng mấy khi chủ nhật cậu có muốn đi đâu chơi không?) (sekkaku no nichiyōbi dakara dokoka ikanai?)
tatsuyaせっかくの休日なのに仕事だよ。最悪だわー。 (Although it is a long-awaited holiday, I have to work. It sucks.) (难得的假期却要工作。真是太糟糕了。) (모처럼 쉬는 날인데 일이야. 최악이네.) (Được mỗi ngày nghỉ thì lại phải đi làm. Chán thật đấy.) (sekkaku no kyūjitsu nanoni shigoto dayo. saiaku dawa-.)
yukaこの間せっかく休み取ったのに、風邪ひいてもったいなかったよ。 (Even though I took a day off the other day, I caught a cold and wasted it.) (前些日子难得休了假却感冒了，真是浪费啊。) (얼마전에 모처럼 휴가를 얻었는데, 감기에 걸려서 아까웠어.) (Mãi gần đây mới có ngày nghỉ thì lại bị cảm, phí thật.) (konoaida sekkaku yasumi totta no ni, kaze hīte mottainakatta yo.)
tatsuyaせっかくチケット取れたし、ちゃんと見ればよかったぁ。 (I should have enjoyed the drama more since I’ve got the ticket for it.) (好不容易拿到的票，我应该去看看的。) (모처럼 티켓을 구했으니까, 잘 보면 좋겠어.) (Mãi mới mua được vé đáng lẽ ra nên xem cho cẩn thận.) (sekkaku chiketto toretashi, chanto mireba yokatta-.)
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