Return Styles: Pseud0ch, Terminal, Valhalla, NES, Geocities, Blue Moon. Entire thread

日本語 Japanese Ask Questions Thread 4

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-09 8:07

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


Japanese Ask Questions Thread2
http://dis.4chan.org/read/lang/1206158123/1-40

Japanese Ask Questions Thread3
http://dis.4chan.org/read/lang/1267485093/1-40

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-21 9:30

>>40
Kanjidamage? FTW!

Gently ftfy

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-21 11:51

>>40

If it bothers you that much, pretend I said Remembering the Kanji then

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-21 12:09

練習として勉強している文法を暗記するために例文を作成してみました。
だれかが下記の文章の正しさを確かめてくれれば、うれしいです。

「この機会を与えてくださってありがとうございます」
”Thank you for giving me this oppurtunity"

「学生達は気を散らすものを見かけたら、授業はすぐに大混乱になる傾向があります」
”When the students see something distracting, the class has the tendency to fall into disorder"

「転職することは自分勝手な決断なんですけど、将来にとって必要なことだと思います」
”This change of occupation is certainly a selfish decision  but I think its necessary for my future."

「彼の夢が実現したけど、その夢の結果が社会に悪影響を及ぼすことに気が付きませんでした。」
”His dream had been realized but he was not aware that the results of that dream would have ill-effects on society"

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-22 12:55

>>43
文法の間違いはないと思います。
ただ失礼ながら、ぎこちなさを感じるところが少しあります。

「学生達は気を散らすものを見かけたら、授業はすぐに大混乱になる傾向があります」
「学生達が気を散らすものを見かけとき、」

「転職することは自分勝手な決断なんですけど、将来にとって必要なことだと思います」
「転職することは自分勝手な決断なのですけれど、将来にとって必要なことだと考えています」
こちらのほうが少し丁寧で、ビジネスパーソンにふさわしい表現です。

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-22 12:59

>>44
失礼。「将来にとって」は「私の将来のために」でないと、伝わらないと思います。

Name: WK 2011-04-23 4:49

Hey all. First time poster here.

I'll get right into it. I'm trying to translate a song, some lines are giving me grief. This is what I've got.

何度となく別れる別れないを繰り返して
Time and time again, we’ve broke-up and got back together
今度こそは最後 本当にお別れなんですね
This time is the last; it’s truly over now isn’t it?
「行かないで」
“Don’t go”
いつものように泣いてすがったなら
It always seemed like I would turn to crying
「もういいよ」って髪撫でてくれると思った
You would pat me on the head and tell me “It’s okay”

(何を話しても)伝わらなかった
(No matter what I said) I wasn’t able to tell you
(あなたの意志は)固かった 揺るがなかった
Your will was so strong, it never wavered
私の手をさっと振り払って
You quickly shook my hand off
虚しい悲鳴が激しく鳴り響いた


泣いているよあなたが恋しくてずっと
この手を離したらもう二度と会えないよ
Don’t let go of this hand, because we won’t meet again
「愛してる」だけではもう繋ぎ止めることはできない
(これが本当に) 最後のI Love You
(This is truly) the last “I Love You”
それでも仕事には行かなくちゃ 悲しみは隠さなきゃ
どうしようもなくなって一人になれるところを探した
家に帰ると返された合鍵寂しそうにぽつりと
まだ涙が止まらない
The tears won’t stop flowing

(あなたがいないよ)時間をもて余してる
(When you’re not here) I don’t know what to do with my time
(私たちの数年)こんなに簡単に消えちゃうなんて
(Our time together) it’s so easy to forget it
信じたくない やっぱり納得できない ah
I don’t believe it, and still I can’t comprehend it
このまま諦めたくない
I’m don’t’ want to give up like this
諦める訳ない I need to be your girl
I can’t give up - I need to be your girl

泣いているよあなたが恋しくてずっと
この手を離したらもう二度と会えないよ
Don’t let go of this hand, because we won’t meet again
「愛してる」だけではもう繋ぎ止めることはできない
(これが本当に) 最後のI Love You
(This is truly) the last “I Love You”

愛してるってもっと言えばよかったのに
It would have been great if I said “I love you” more often
もっとあなたの気持ち考えればよかったのに
It would have been great if I considered your feelings more
あの時あなたを引き止めればよかったの
It would have been great if I stopped you from leaving
愛した日々に戻りたい
I want to go back to the days you still loved me
本当にI need you
Truly, “I need you”

泣いているよあなたが恋しくてずっと
この手を離したらもう二度と会えないよ
Don’t let go of this hand, because we won’t meet again
「愛してる」だけではもう繋ぎ止めることはできない
(これが本当に) 最後のI Love You
(This is truly) the last “I Love You”

泣いているよあなたが恋しくてずっと
この手を離したらもう二度と会えないよ
Don’t let go of this hand, because we won’t meet again
「愛してる」だけではもう繋ぎ止めることはできない
(これが本当に) 最後のI Love You
(This is truly) the last “I Love You”


Work in progress.
(cont)

Name: WK 2011-04-23 5:05

Hey all. First time poster here.

I'll get right into it. I'm trying to translate a song, some lines are giving me grief. This is what I've got.

泣いているよあなたが恋しくてずっと
is it "I am crying, but I will always love you"?

家に帰ると返された合鍵寂しそうにぽつりと
don't know where to start with this.
"The key to your house which i returned will seem to be lonely"
Bah. Might pour myself a cup of tea before looking at this again

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-23 12:05

>>46-47
I'd begun to write this reply carelessly before I read all yours.
I see that lyrics as a story like this:
A woman has been dumped a short time ago. She had thought they were able to make peace but they didn't go well. She got home; want to make it up with him and is upset and repenting.

泣いているよあなたが恋しくてずっと
is it "I am crying, but I will always love you"?
"I'm crying all the time because I miss you"
I think that 'ずっと' doesn't mention the future.

家に帰ると返された合鍵寂しそうにぽつりと
don't know where to start with this.
家に帰ったとき、貴方に返された合鍵が寂しそうに見えた。その合鍵はぽつりとあった。
"The key to your house which i returned will seem to be lonely"
"When I got home, the duplicate key which you had returned seemed to be lonely and alone"

Bah. Might pour myself a cup of tea before looking at this again
Lol take it easy.

----

いつものように泣いてすがったなら
It always seemed like I would turn to crying
「もういいよ」って髪撫でてくれると思った
You would pat me on the head and tell me “It’s okay”
I'm sorry it is possible that I don't get yours properly though. I understand that like this:
"I thought if I turned to crying and clung to you as usual,
You would pat me on the head and tell me “It’s okay”"

虚しい悲鳴が激しく鳴り響いた
"My fruitless crying echoed bitterly"
Probably that means she really cried but he has gone.

「愛してる」だけではもう繋ぎ止めることはできない
"I can no longer bond you by simply saying "I Love You""

それでも仕事には行かなくちゃ 悲しみは隠さなきゃ
"Despite that, I must go to work and hide grief"

どうしようもなくなって一人になれるところを探した
"There was no way and I looked for where I can be alone"

(あなたがいないよ)時間をもて余してる
(When you’re not here) I don’t know what to do with my time
" (I lost you)"

>(私たちの数年)こんなに簡単に消えちゃうなんて
>(Our time together) it’s so easy to forget it
"it’s so easy to lose it"
I think that represents she can't spend the time with him as well as before.

Name: WK 2011-04-23 13:23

Your clarity is amazing.

How long have you been studying/speaking Japanese? I hope that someday I'll be able to translate as logically as you.
Props.

Name: WK 2011-04-23 14:22

>それでも仕事には行かなくちゃ 悲しみは隠さなきゃ

I got: "And yet, I must go to work, I gotta hide my sadness"
I feel that she's saying "I have to work to keep busy, and I have to hide my sadness while doing it"


>いつものように泣いてすがったなら
>It always seemed like I would turn to crying
>「もういいよ」って髪撫でてくれると思った
>**and** You would pat me on the head and tell me “It’s okay”

These lines obviously run on into each other. What is the purpose of "なら" at the end of the first line? My translation ignored it but I think it's something I shouldn't have done (haha, my bad). I can definitely see now that your interpretation is correct.


>「愛してる」だけではもう繋ぎ止めることはできない
I checked tangorin and it suggest "to hold onto" for 繋ぎ止める. I'm very unsure of the meaning of this sentence because of the string of [だけではもう]


>(何を話しても)伝わらなかった
>(あなたの意志は)固かった 揺るがなかった
>私の手をさっと振り払って
>虚しい悲鳴が激しく鳴り響いた
I got: I wailed an empty cry which echoed
From the lines before, it seems the guy has already left and she's crying as a result.

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-24 0:34

I'm attempting to read Harry Potter in Japanese and need an elegant way to translate という and というのが both in the context of the two sentences provided and in a general sense. These concepts are very elusive to me. Thank you.

それどころか、ダーズリー夫人は妹などいないというふりをしていた。

どこを探したってこんなにできのいい子はいやしない、というのが二人の親バカの意見だった。

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-24 10:39

>>49-50
When I was born, I heard Japanese because I came to this great stage of japs. Haha, my English is not good enough yet so I feel similarly. I'm sure that your translation is more polished.

>それでも仕事には行かなくちゃ 悲しみは隠さなきゃ
Do you mean her thought is "I'm able to hide my sadness by keeping busy"? That sounds good.
I feel she thinks "I have to work even though I'm rather sad". In other words, perhaps her purpose is working and hiding the sadness is necessary for doing it.

>「愛してる」だけではもう繋ぎ止めることはできない
「愛している」と言うだけでは、もう以前のように、貴方を私のもとに繋ぎ止めておくことはできない
The object of that '繋ぎ止める' must be 'you'(the guy). In this case, probably the meaning of the verb is like 'tie' or 'keep'. That should express keeping him in love with her.

>虚しい悲鳴が激しく鳴り響いた
I see your interpretation is pretty reasonable. She wouldn't able to talk over with him after she began to cry.

>>51
That seems difficult. In your case, each という/というのが makes the previous words a clause. As for というのが, maybe it is the combination of という and the particle の and the case particle が.
I found JK's original sentences. That is not a literal translation though.

それどころか、ダーズリー夫人は妹などいないというふりをしていた。
"In fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, .."
'THAT' between 'pretended' and 'she' is left out. という corresponds to this 'THAT'.

どこを探したってこんなにできのいい子はいやしない、というのが二人の親バカの意見だった。
"..and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere."
My literal retranslation of that Japanese sentence: "The opinion of two doting parents WAS THAT no matter where anybody sought, there was no kid as fine as him(=Dudley).
というのが is equivalent to this 'WAS THAT'.

In this examples, "A という B" means like "B that is A".
未来から来たという女: The woman WHO came from the future
$10,000以上の価値があるという株: The stock WHICH is worth $10,000 or more
彼が上司に辞表を出すという決断: The decision THAT he will hand in his resignation to the boss
生きるということは戦うということ: TO live is TO fight
煙草を吸うというのが彼の悪癖だ: His bad habit IS TO smoke a cigarette

In this examples, "A という B" means like "B CALLED/NAMED A".
日本という国: The country NAMED Japan
愛という狂気: The madness CALLED love
変態という名の紳士: Gentlemen NAMED hentai (=Gentlemen whose names ARE hentai)
『欲望という名の電車』: "A Streetcar NAMED Desire"
今日という特別な日: The special day CALLED today

When a setence ends with という, the word means like 'say', 'tell', 'hear' or so on. It is often ignorable.
私ははっきりという: I say clearly
命に別状はないという: It is not life-threatening (=I heard it was not life-threatening)
彼女は既に結婚しているという: She has already been married (=I heard that...)

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-24 15:00

Are there any firefox addons which convert the writing system to romaji? I'm mainly having trouble with kanji and hirigana, and I've been trying to find something simple that lets me highlight anything I don't know and convert it to romaji. I suppose I could just keep a tab up with a converter though.

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-24 18:08

>>53

Found this one
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/furigana-inserter/

I don't recommended studying Japanese with romaji. Force yourself to use kana until you know it. Flash cards too. It's not very difficult and should only take a week or two.

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-24 18:42

How would one say: "Do you like being punished?"
My idea: 「(あなたは)罰せられるのが好きですか?」

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-24 20:24

>>52

What a phenomenal explanation. It seems from your explanation that という is essentially another way Japanese circumvents not having relative pronouns. Would you say that is a fair interpretation? Thank you once again.

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-24 20:48

挙法の体さばきはにんな感じなんですけど

Can someone translate this? It is supposedly poetic I think, not sure.

Name: WK 2011-04-25 7:32

Yeah, studying Japanese with romaji's bad because you're never going to use it anyway after you learn the kana. It's like wasted effort.

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-25 7:56

>>55
Your idea could come across though. Is that said to ask if the hearer is a masochist?
If so, good ways are:「(あなたは)虐められるのが好きですか?」, 「(あなたは)いたぶられるのが好きですか?」, but these are probably too polite for that sort of situation.
During such a training: 「(お前は)虐められるのが好きか?」, 「(お前は)いたぶられるのが好きか?」

>>56
Yes, that's what I meant.

>>57
"The tai sabaki of kung-fu is like this/that though/but."

That is not poetic but colloquial. That にんな感じ is mistaken for こんな感じ. けど is similar to "though". The word is originally a conjunction; some Japanese, especially youth, finish sentences with it. That way is not good though.
"Tai sabaki" cannot be easily translated. It's written on Wikipedia for some reason, so please read that article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_sabaki

Name: WK 2011-04-25 18:52

Japanese anon, if it's possible, could you give me a quick rundown of obsolete speech used by old dudes? Or better yet link me to a Japanese page which explains it?

Like washi from watashi
da to ja
ne to na/nou
te iru -> te oru

Any common ones i missed?

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-26 8:40

>>43
>だれかが

Wait. Genki stated that 誰か is not to be used together with は、が、も particles(lessons 8,10). However after seeing >>43 post I googled and looks like it's used:
"映画『誰かが私にキスをした』公式サイト".
Tae Kim's guide uses 誰かが too (http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/question)

So what does it mean? Have I been trolled by genki? Or ga/ha/wo can be omitted optionally?

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-26 11:25

>>61
誰か can be used with が in cases where it is necessary to show that the "someone" of the sentence is the subject and performs the action therein. In cases where it would be used with は and も, the particle is omitted. However, it is often used with directional sentences as with に and から.

「外出する間に誰か{が}留守番電話にメッセージを入れました」
"Someone left a message on the answering machine while we were out"
「誰か{X}最後の1個のピザ欲しいですか?」
"Does someone want the last piece of pizza?"

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-26 12:05

>>61
In addition to >>62 , the COMBINATION of the word 誰 and the particle か is used with that particles.

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-28 3:50

Is there ever a situation where a compound word ends and after it immediately a new word starts, without any hiragana between the two words? I'd imagine that is very likely possible but since I haven't read anything 'more advanced' text, I don't know. In that situation I'd just need to know where the word ends and a new one starts?
Sounds fucking hard with words like 自動販売機 to know where they end.

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-28 12:34

>>64
こういうやつのこと?
   ↓
23年度自動販売機設置促進計画骨子策定業務委託

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-29 14:42

>>64
Yes it happens all the time actually. just think of it as nouns acting as adjectives for other nouns.

In your example you use all only On-yomi. so じどうはんばいき
another example is "International education center" 国際教育センター

Name: Anonymous 2011-04-29 14:47

>>66
And now I realized I answered your question wrong.

Just gotta memorize words...

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-01 16:01

This is a  MUCH more noobish question then everyone elses, but I'm looking over my japanese review and am for some reason totally spacing out on this one.

It's a correction question, where the first sentence is wrong and needs to be corrected.
First sentence:
きのう、デパートで何も買いました。
Second sentence:
きのう、デパートで何も買いませんでした。

My derp question is, what is the form of かう in the second sentence?
And why must it be changed to that form?

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-01 18:44

>>68
what is the form of かう in the second sentence?
It is i form and ません makes negative forms.

And why must it be changed to that form?
Do you not use 何も as "nothing"? It means like "anything".

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-01 19:20

I could use some help understanding the last part of this section:

「砂漠に咲く一輪の花」……
そう呼ばれた時期もあった……
ということにしておいてくれ

First of all, this is a young lady saying this line to another young lady if that adds any context. I believe the first two lines mean, "'The lone flower that blooms in the desert' is what I was once called..." However, I'm unsure of the last line. If someone could help break down the usage of "にして", "おいて", and "くれ" and how they fit together, that would be very helpful.

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-01 21:57

>>70
>ということにしておいてくれ
>And I'd prefer you leave it that way

Literally, ということ (that which was just said), にしておく (to leave as is), くれる (after the te-form, to do for one's benefit, though the use of the imperative form indicates a command)

A little less time on Precure, a little more time studying.

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-02 8:37

>>71
uzaina detected

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-02 9:24

>>68
>きのう、デパートで何も買いました。

"買いました" implies you bought something already, this contradicts the "何も".

Let's look at a similar statement, you should be able to recognize the logic afterward.

"I haven't done it yet"
>まだしなかった。
>まだしてない。

The second one is correct. Why? The action was not performed, as opposed to the first statement where the action was performed. Just remember negation is necessary in all parts of the sentence for the logic to flow for Japanese.

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-02 10:51

何も can only be used in negative sentences.

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-02 18:51

>>71
It's not from Precure. It's from Busou Shinki. But thanks anyway.

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-04 13:49

vos debes ser un peruano indocumentado en estados unidos

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-04 21:05

What is the difference between saying:

最近、彼女は変になる。
and
最近、彼女は変になってきた。

I would guess that the first case means, "Lately, she is becoming strange," and the second one means, "Lately, she has become strange." "ってきた" means that something has happened, right?

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-05 2:46

>最近、彼女は変になる

常態。

>最近、彼女は変になってきた。

予兆。

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-05 4:06

>>77
First: "Lately, she (sometimes) becomes strange."
Second: "Lately, she has (gradually) become strange." "ってきた" means something has already happened; in many cases, it also means the thing is still running.

Name: Anonymous 2011-05-06 5:28

Could someone translate this for me please?
It's about a resin kit,so " kito" in the sentence refers to the resin kit.
I only understand " thank you very much"

ありがとうございます!!次回はキットに出来ないくらいのモノにしようとおもっちょります!

Newer Posts