JLPT N2 - Word/Grammar Point of the Day #12
示す (shimesu) means "to show" or "to point out".
It's very similar in meaning and usage to 表す (arawasu), which also directly translates to "to show" or "to express". The difference is that in practice, 表す is used more often in situations where feelings or emotions (something internal) is being expressed, and 示す is used more often in situations with things or concepts that can be seen (something external).
友達が示した方向へ行った。
I went in the direction my friend indicated.
Grammar Point of the Day #12 - 「 V / N + にあたって 」
「 V / N + にあたって 」 or 「 V / N + にあたる 」 means "at the time of" or "on the occasion of". The short explanation from 日本語の森 suggests that にあたり or にあたって is the same as 〜の前に.
That said, other sources suggest that ~にあたり is better translated as "when" rather than "before". I believe it's actually closer in meaning to 際に or 時に.
The heuristic of 〜の前に can sometimes work well, though, because 〜にあたって / 〜にあたり is most frequently used for warnings and suggestions. And many suggestions are for people to do things in preparation for an event or activity. I'll give a quick English example to show why this works.
Take the sentence, "Make sure to put on sunscreen when you go outside!" You're technically using the word "when" to indicate that your suggestion - "put on sunscreen" - should be followed at the time the condition - "go outside" - is performed. However, the sentence still means roughly the same thing if you change "when" to "before": "Make sure to put on sunscreen before you go outside."
I'll give two example sentences, one where this heuristic works, and one where it doesn't.
例文１ー when the heuristic of 〜の前に works:
マンションを買うにあたって、妻と色んな調査をしました。
When I bought an apartment, I did a lot of research with my wife.
The action of doing research naturally must happen prior to the actual purchase of the apartment, so it's fine to think of this as "Before I bought an apartment..."
例文２ー when the heuristic of 〜の前に doesn't work:
試験を始めるにあたり、まずは注意事項を読んでおいてください。
When starting the test, please first read the important points.
As you will likely not have access to a test before it begins, you can't swap out "when" for "before" here.
