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なんか / ~そうにする

raikado

先輩
29 Oct 2012
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Hello,

1) 水だ!
なんか
水出てるぞ!

So, they were performing some kind of spell, and unexpectedly, the room starts filling with water.

a)The translation given for this is "Water! Something like water is coming out!". I would translate this as "Water! Somehow water is coming out!", because he already states that it's water that is coming out, so I see no reason to say "some kind of water". Am I right?

b) What if he were to say only

なんか
水出てるぞ!

Could you tell if なんか means "some kind" or "somehow"?

2) そんなキツそうにされたら、見捨てられないでしょ。

The girl finds the protagonist collapsed in his house due to a very bad cold. He knows that she is kind of upset with him, so he tries to crawl back up the stairs, to his room, on his own. The girl then helps him and says that sentence.

Firstly, I am assuming that in the first clause, it's the adversative passive, with the subject being the girl.

I would translate that as "If you act like it's that tough (the act of climbing the stairs), I can't abandon you.". Is this ok? I am assuming する can be translated as "to act" from here 偉そうにする.

3) もし 輪から外れていたり淋しそうにしてる生徒がいたらフォロー宜しくお願いしますねっ

My translation is "If there are students that are separated from the group or something as if they are lonely, then follow them please."

What I want to ask here is if adverbs are allowed between ~たり and する. For example, does a sentence like AたりBたりCたり D(adverb)にする translate as "Do A, B and C, all in a D manner?"
 
obs:Sorry, I can't type in kana right now.

1) There is a difference in nuance between "nanka" and "nantoka".
なんか水出てるぞ! is similar to "nanka tsumetai mono ga nomitai" , closer to "kinda, some kind of"

On the other hand, "nantoka" is a lot closer to the commonly used "somehow/manage to" english expression.
As in "nantoka shite agetara" , "nantoka shite kure"


2) To me it sounds like "I can't leave you like that(in such a harsh condition) (deshou)" or in a more rough but direct way "If you were left in this harsh (condition), I can't abandon you (right?)

be careful when interpreting the passive voice of a verb
 
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1) a)
Right.

b)
That's "somehow". You can think this なんか as なぜか. The order of the words must be 水かなんか for "some kind", since 水 refers to a concrete thing, unlike 冷たいもの.

なんか冷たいもの (some kind)
なんか水みたいな(も)の (some kind)
なんか水 (not "some kind" but "somehow/for some reason")

2)
Yes for 迷惑の受身.
たら is more likely "when". It refers to a real fact just like されてるのに, not conditional "if", in this case.

3)
輪から外れている and 淋しそうにしてる both modify 生徒. That's the same as 淋しそうにしてたり輪から外れている生徒.
(Grammatically, the structure should be ~たり…たりする, i.e., 輪から外れていたり淋しそうにしてたりする生徒, but the last たりする is often omitted especially in conversations.)
 
1) I was thinking that 水 could also mean "liquid", therefore なんか水出てる = some kind of liquid is coming out.

I also found this sentence
なんか紙ちょうだい。Can I borrow something to write on?

Does なんか mean "some kind of" here because it is a request and "somehow" doesn't make sense?

2) I was also asking what きつい refers to. In the dictionary, it says that きつい can also mean "determined", "strong-minded". Does she say that the boy acts so determined, or that climbing the stairs seems tough?
 
前から時々気になってたんですが、自分が聞きたいことだけ聞いておいてお礼もなしですか?しかも聞き方がけんか腰であたかも答えたほうに非があるように聞こえますけど?
 
What? You know I always thank you. I am really grateful for all your help until now, I am really sorry there's no way to show it to you other than a simple "thanks".

It's true that there are times when I repeat the same question because I am not sure whether or not you answered that question, or another. Take 2) for example. I just wanted to make sure about that usage of きつい since you didn't explicitly say "yes" to that, there was the possibility that you overlooked it.

At 1) I didn't mean to say "You are wrong, here is a counterexample.". That sentence is from tangorin and it was one of the sentences that made me doubt myself in the first place. The reason why I showed it to you was more along the lines of "This seems like an exception, since 紙 is a concrete thing. Could you explain why it is so?"

Lastly, my way of asking might seem ungrateful, but I am trying to ask the questions as directly as possible in order to not waste your time with unnecessary sentences.

I'm sorry that my way of asking makes me seem like I am trying to say you are wrong and doesn't show how grateful I am for your help. I'd really like you to understand though, that I really respect you, both for your knowledge and for your unconditional help. I never tried to say that you were wrong, just that there are sentences that don't seem to fit your explanations, so I thought that you could explain those as well.
 
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I dont want to take part in this but , despite my mistake in question 1, I think he was agreeing with me in question 2, 迷惑の受け身、so, maybe he considered it answered already. Of course I am not 100% sure of it, anyway.
 
I was sure that he was agreeing with me since I had said "Firstly, I am assuming that in the first clause, it's the adversative passive, with the subject being the girl. "
 
それならそれなりの言い方があるとは思いますけどね。Anyway,

1)
It should be なんか水みたいなの for that case.
紙 actually refers to 書くもの (e.g. メモ用紙, 広告の裏) in that sentence, as in the translation "something to write on".

2)
He seems tough. The two interpretations "his condition" and "climbing the stairs" are both possible.
 
Thank you! I really don't want to sound ungrateful, so I will also try to change my way of talking.
 
Hello,

Today I encountered another sentence with 何か, and I am unsure of how to translate it.

あんた良いヤツだからさー 何か色々私のこと言ってそうだしさ。

Firstly, 色々 is an adverb here, right? So 何か should also be an adverb, therefore I think it means "somehow".

In the case that 色々 is not an adverb though, I'm not sure. For example, I found this sentence:
何か色々なことがありすぎて、頭がごちゃごちゃします。
色々なこと doesn't seem like a concrete thing, but it doesn't make much sense to translate 何か as "some kind of" >>>> "some kind of various things". Therefore, is 何か translated as "somehow" in this case as well?
 
Have you ever seen an "anyway" thrown into English when it really didn't serve any purpose?

This is colloquial speech...the worst candidate for direct literal translation. Get the gist and render it in colloquial English:

何か色々なことがありすぎて、頭がごちゃごちゃします。

"So anyway, I've had a bunch of stuff going on and my mind is all messed up"

or something along those lines.
 
I see, so it doesn't add any useful information to the sentence. I assume it's the same with the first sentence as well? (あんた良いヤツだからさー 何か色々私のこと言ってそうだしさ。)

Thank you!

One last question because it's not entirely clear so I'd like to make sure. Is this 何か similar to
なんか水 (not "some kind" but "somehow/for some reason")
?
 
From the nuance of the sentence, 何か would be "somehow" in that case, as Mike-san interpreted. But when 何か modifies 私のこと, 何か色々私のこと can mean "something about me", for instance in a sentence 何か色々私のこと言ってませんでしたか?(= 私について何か色々言ってませんでしたか?).

The point is that なんか doesn't always modify the word right after it, especially when it means "somehow" (since it's "somehow", of course).
e.g.
何か色々なことがありすぎて、頭がごちゃごちゃします。 = 色々なことがありすぎて、何か頭がごちゃごちゃします。
なんか冷たいもの今は飲みたくないんだよね = 冷たいものは今はなんか飲みたくないんだよね (not "some kind")
 
But when 何か modifies 私のこと, 何か色々私のこと can mean "something about me", for instance in a sentence 何か色々私のこと言ってませんでしたか?(= 私について何か色々言ってませんでしたか?).

Thank you. I was really interested what happens in a situation like this. Unfortunately, I still don't understand what 色々 does. If the whole 何か色々私のこと means "something about me", what purpose does 色々 serve. Wouldn't 何か私のこと also mean "something about me"?

This is also because I don't understand how the equivalent sentence (= 私について何か色々言ってませんでしたか?) divides into clauses.

If it is like this 私について何か色々言ってませんでしたか? where 私について modifies only 何か then I think I understand. (Something about me, didn't you say various things? >>> Didn't you say various things about me?)

If 私について doesn't modify only 何か (which seems to be the case since a lot of sentences on the internet have a comma between について and 何か色々), then I really am at a loss.
 
色々 gives the meaning of "plural", plus, it often has nagative nuance.

~について works as a particle, so it's common to interpret that it's connected to the verb 言う.
 
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