Japanese - Ask questions thread

Basically if you have a question about the language, ask it and fellow 4channers might see it and answer it for you.

To start it off. When an animate object (iru) dies, is it considered inanimate(aru)?

>>240
それは、地下鉄ですか。
sorewa, chikatetsu desu ka
this is "誤変換" (misconversion from kana to kanji)
from what I know つ is not used as particle except as short for という
note added か to ask question

>>241
yeah I thought chikatetsu was just chikate, that's what got me confused. Thank you, though!

Can someone explain to me when desu and deshita are used in past tense sentences?

Yes, desu is used with i-adjectives and deshita with nouns and na-adjectives.

楽しいですｰ>楽しかったです
大変ですー>大変でした

notice negative for na-adj/nouns
楽しくないですー>楽しくなかったです
大変じゃないですー>大変じゃなかったです

how/when is ne (ね) used after desu?

>>245
something to the extent of isn't it, it're really not important.
きれいですね。It's pretty, isn't it?
きれいです。It's pretty.
おもしろいですね。I think it's interesting, don't you?
おもしろいです。It's pretty.

it's pretty straightforward

I've heard this phrase many times: 悪いことは言わない。
It's often used just before giving an advice.
Taken literally it means: I don't say bad things.
Googling it shows that it's used in:
悪いことは言わない。やめておけ
However if I do a direct translation of that:
I don't say bad things. Just stop.
This sounds engrish, so I assume it isn't to be taken literally.
What does it actually mean?

>>247
ALC (http://www.alc.co.jp) translates it as "Here's some friendly advice."

>>248
Thanks a lot. That certainly clear things up.

Well, it doesn't have "I" in it at all, so from my perspective I read it as "Don't say bad things. Drop it"

>>248
iterally translates to "i'm not saying anything bad." "stop it(in preperation for something)".

This is >>247.
I assume that the sentence means (implicitly and explicitly):
I won't be critical of/say anything negative about what you already did, but here's my friendly advice: Drop it.

>>250
That is not right, if the person is telling another not to say bad things, he'll say 悪いことを言わないで。

>>253
*is 250*
I kind of meant it as passive or something. Why would de make it addressed to someone?

err and by passive I mean not directed at anyone, more of a statement, and could be for both sides

In that case, it shouldn't be "Don't say bad things", but "Bad things aren't said", which translates to 悪いことが言われない.
"Don't say bad things" isn't passive, it is directed towards the listener.

Asked this in /r/, but no response yet. Might aswell see if people here can give me some tips.

I pretty much gave translating hentai a try and here are a few lines I'd like to hear how accurate/decent I managed to translate. Tried to prioritize them after how well I think I managed to translate (start with those that I have no idea about)

Thanks in advance.

でもさ
<can't figure this one out>

ニャアコ　つながりっこ　するよ
Mew-girl, lets link up. <One of those sextoys to be inserted on both ends>

第壱語　幕開け
First chapter, the beginning.

部活の　作業で　連日　部室に　寝泊まり　して　いた　僕はー
I worked late everyday at the clubroom so I...

でも　この　ままじゃ　みんなに　みつかって　とんでもない　こと　に。
。。
But as it is everyone probably has noticed it...

その　格好で　みつかたら　大変　でしょう！？
With these you should blend in, don't you think?

ほらー　ゆすっちゃうぞ
Look at us! Trembling and shaking

そう　それを　いうなら　みのりちゃんの　方　だよ
Really, how can you say that in this situation?

今日　お雛祭りで　男子　登校　しちゃ　いけない　のに
Although today is the girls' (doll) festival he still went to school.

今は　共学　となり　男子生徒の　手前　日頃　閉ざされ　秘める　ことの
　多い　乙女の　部分
Before when studying with boy pupils we had to keep our feelings closed, and cover our female parts...

今日は　それを　思う存分　解放　して
Today you are free to do whatever you wish

Some of those might be ok in context, but they look pretty inaccurate overall.

>でもさ
"But you know..."

>ニャアコ　つながりっこ　するよ
Sounds plausible.

>第壱語　幕開け
Ok.

>部活の　作業で　連日　部室に　寝泊まり　して　いた　僕はー
寝泊まる is about staying at a place overnight to sleep. "Due to club duties, I would sleep over in the clubroom for several days in a row"...

>でも　この　ままじゃ　みんなに　みつかって　とんでもない　こと　に
You're forgetting the end of the sentence. "But if this go on like this, everyone will notice and things will turn sour" (it can be past as well, depending on whether the omitted verb is なっちゃう or なっちゃった).

>その　格好で　みつかたら　大変　でしょう！？
It's pretty much the opposite. "Come on! What if someone/he sees you in this outfit!?"

>ほらー　ゆすっちゃうぞ
Your "look at us" may be correct but it's difficult to say for sure out of context.

>そう　それを　いうなら　みのりちゃんの　方　だよ
"Hey, look at who's talking"

>今日　お雛祭りで　男子　登校　しちゃ　いけない　のに
"Today is Girls' Day, boys have to go to school" (のに applies to the whole thing, so the idea is that, even though boys have to go to school, one particular boy didn't, or something).

>今は共学となり、男子生徒の手前日頃閉ざされ秘めることの多い乙女の部分
I'm not quite clear about 乙女の部分 but I think it refers to the lady-like (as opposed to child-like) aspect of their(?) personality. "Now that education is mixed, we generally have to keep the young woman in us to ourselves in front of the boy pupils".

>今日は　それを　思う存分　解放　して
"You can set it free/unleash it to your heart's content". I'd rather not speculate on what "it" is.

>でもさ
><can't figure this one out>

first part is just でも, さ is like a filler word, like the word like.

so you could translate it to "But like,"
As for the rest, I could give my opinion but it might be wrong so I'll let someone better do that.

eh I had this window open and didn't pay attention until just now, so I didn't see post above, so you can forget my post >>259

Thanks for the response. Of course some of my dialogue was influenced by the images.

"Due to club duties, I would sleep over in the clubroom for several days in a row"
- I was thinking this first, but the following image looked like your classic apartmentsystem so I guess I got a bit confused and didn't pay enough attention to the sentence.

"Come on! What if someone/he sees you in this outfit!?"
- Image that went with this one had her dress the guy in her own clothing. I think I might have the wrong person in mind for speaking though. It might be the guy talking about her remaining clothes. And since she only wear 1 piece of clothing I think I'll change "in this outfit" to "like this".

"Hey, look at who's talking"
- This is exactly what I would have used myself, but couldn't quite get it right. Thanks.

"Today is Girls' Day, boys have to go to school" (のに applies to the whole thing, so the idea is that, even though boys have to go to school, one particular boy didn't, or something).
- This doesn't make any sense. A previous sentence which I didn't list says:
その日　学校で　男子　禁制の　ある　イベントが　行われる　ことを　すつかり　わすれて　いたの　です
Which I translated to roughly:
I had forgotten that today boys were banned from school because of the event (dolls festival) taking place.

"Now that education is mixed, we generally have to keep the young woman in us to ourselves in front of the boy pupils".
- This sounds pretty logical.

"You can set it free/unleash it to your heart's content"
- This feels like it need some adjustments to sound good in english. Think I might go for "Today you can set yourselves free" or so. It sort of goes together with the part about mixed education, which had them act different.


Here is another piece that might need an extra check.

今年も　伝統ある　我が　姫宮学園　女子生徒の　予餞会 お雛祭りを　開催　する　ことが　できました
This year we have been able to continue the tradition of throwing a farewell party for the princess campus female graduates during the Girl's (doll) festival.

I didn't list this one, and several others, since I felt quite happy with the translation, but since it is a long sentence it might be best to check it.

As you said, they might be ok in context (some more than your corrections if I may say so), but it is nice to see some others attempt/success at translating the parts so I can see how close I am. Hopefully I'll improve from this, since I'm not very skilled yet (and have a lousy memory for japanese grammar). English isn't my native language either so it is pretty much dual language practice.

Thanks again.

>>261

Me again. Finished the whole chapter now, and really couldn't figure out a few sentences at all.

こんな　格好で　隠れて　なけりやならない　なんて
Something about hiding in his current outfit or so, but the なけりやならない really throw me off. Hard to see if the や is big or small in the text, and I know about なら and ない, but unsure if the construction ならない might be part of a verb or something.

いったい　これから　どう　なる　んだろ？
Something along "what is going to become of me" or so, but really very uncertain.

下校　時間　まで　ココに　いれば　大丈　末　だ　から
"Until school ends you'll be safer staying here." But it feels slightly odd.

I'm hoping that when I reach enough translated material, I'll more or less be able to search previous translations and find the words and structures.

But as I said, my grammar is a bit rusty (and actually I've learnt it japanese <-> swedish, and not japanese <-> english which adds a bit of mind bending for getting the right translations in english.)

However, atleast it feels like I managed to figure out most of the "plot" and "story" in this chapter. Thanks again, and hope some of you might be able to check my last two posts remaining sentences and give some suggestions to what they should say.

>>262
なけりやならない is colloquial for なければならない
can't help you with the meaning unless I see the context.

いったい　これから　どう　なる　んだろ？
"what is going to become of me" is correct, or it could be "us" or "the current situation".

It isn't exactly the easiest context to explain.

Girl has just left him at a toilet saying "it is best that you stay in here" or something similar. So he is sitting there alone, wearing no pants and the girls shirt. And that sentence is his thoughts at that moment. It is also the sentence right before the "What is going to become of me?" sentence, so it should probably describe his situation in some way.

"I'm pantless in the toilet, how did this happen?" would be a good guess on content, but not based on the actual text.

((This year too, the female students of our long-standing (seeped in tradition?) Himemiya Academy were able to organize the doll's festival held before graduation))

伝統ある我が学園 exceeds my translation power, let's be honest here.

こんな格好で隠れてなけりゃならないなんて
having to hide in this outfit is...("embarassing" "sucky" etc.) (nante is one those awful fucking vague words that I think!! replaces particles to show emotional involment, in this case ”のは”?)

下校時間までココにいれば大丈末だから
"Until school ends you'll be safer staying here."
no problem with this. the だから implies "so stay there!" or "don't worry" etc.

今日お雛祭りで男子（は）登校しちゃいけないのに
there's a particle missing here?
1) >>258 is way way better than me
2) however 登校しちゃいけない = 登校してはいけないのに
so "even though boys are NOT allowed to come to school today because of the doll festival... (one came)" just like your first translation except 男子 would not be 'he' but 'boys' since it's a general statement "boys can't come but..."

>今は共学となり、男子生徒の手前日頃閉ざされ秘めることの多い乙女の部分
this is hardcore, haha.

Another question here, which doesn't involve a huge sentence to be translated.

futanari is best left as futanari in translations, or changed into hermaphrodite? (or dickgirl, as I believe the general term sometimes is). I'm thinking it might be like senpai, in that there is no common english option that sounds good.

Personally I think hermaphrodite sounds like something people wouldn't go around and say, but then again that might be because they are rare. Futanari sound better to me, but I'm uncertain if it is just me, or if others also prefer the japanese term.

Also, have a bonus sentence which is confusing me, even though I know I've already translated something almost identical.

学校で　男子　禁制の　お雛祭りが　ある　ことを　忘れ　きって　いた　ボクは

I figure it again is about boys banned at school during the festival, and that he had forgotten but still gone to school. Just the general grammar here confusing me a bit. More specificly: 忘れ　きって　いた, which I think is 3 verbs, unless there is a 忘れきって form which I can't recall. I'm not used to verbs ending in れ though.

futanari is best left as futanari in translations, or changed into hermaphrodite? (or dickgirl, as I believe the general term sometimes is).
what sinister thing am I part of?　(ﾟдﾟ)
Seriously though the opinion of the guys in /a/ is to translate as much of the text as possible and I tend to agree... Also, to obtain the most natural translation senpai (or other titles) should be replaced by the person's name, in my opinion.

More specificly: 忘れ　きって　いた, which I think is 3 verbs
this expression is pre-masu verb form+ 切る and means "completely"

忘れる→忘れます→忘れきる→忘れきっていた "I had completely forgotten"
http://www.jgram.org/pages/viewOne.php?tagE=kiru

Hmm, good to know. Always helps with kanjis to tell things apart. When it just said kitte I assumed it was -te form of kimasu (or kuru I believe it being an irregular verb).

And now that you mention it there probably was quite a few pre-masu things I've studied once upon a time. Had completely forgotten about them (only remembered the base form, or casual form whatever they are called).

Thanks for the link asell. I'll bookmark it with my other great sources of japanese info (which I never remember to look at... need to start spending a little more of my own time and less of others time)

>>267 what sinister thing am I part of?　(ﾟдﾟ)

It isn't that sinister. Your avarage school hentai, with masses of naked women. And then that "unlucky" guy ending up in the middle of it. There really is no futanari at all in it, they just aren't very clever. "only girls allowed at school" + "penis" = futanari.

Maybe I should check if I have any translated futanari-like hentai and see what they did.
[Shiwasu no Okina] Sei So Tsui Dan Sha
Seem to use Dickgirl in their translation.
[Sanpei Kamirenjaku] Anal Justice 1 & 2
Seem to use hermaphrodite in their translation.

Sadly I can't think of any other right now, so I guess the general method seem to be to translate it, while any translation will do.

What are some very common dialect words I might hear often?

like nai = hen
also I think seya naa (seyana?) is one too, I know what it means but I don't see it in a dictionaries or anything

>>269
se = sou
ya = da
just make deductions.

What's the GK fad supposed to mean on 2chan? It's used for ps3/360 as insults. I think it means gate keeper. I think it's like us spouting viral marketing everywhere..

my question is what did >>55 REALLY say in this thread
http://dis.4chan.org/read/lang/1180002177

>>257
If you cant figure out でもさ give the fuck up right now.

You are in way over your head, and you'll learn exactly fuckall about the language from looking up words in the dictionary and trying to guess their order. Make sure to keep putting spaces in at random, as that really makes it a lot fucking easier to read.

>>272
Exactly as he said in English.

What is the masculine version of ね？

>>275
な.

ummm no, in some places な is a regional dialect that is equivalent  to ね in 関東弁 but if this is standard japanese we are talking about then な and ね have two different nuances.

>>277
of course he's talking about tokyo-ben you smartass. There's no ne in kansai-ben.

>>278
Which is why, genius, I said he was wrong because they aren't the same in Tokyo. He would only be right if he was talking about な being the "masculine version of ね" in 中国 or 中部地方.

Who the fuck said anything about Kansai?

Let me clarify the question, since I do know about the な that >>277 are referring to.

A: (talking about their age)
B: 二十歳ね？
A: Are you a woman? If not, you shouldn't use "～ね".