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Japanese Translation Needed. Can you help me convert this sentence please?

bluemariodog

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25 Jun 2017
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So, I'm trying to decipher this sentence. It's like this:

masakaantasorede

and from what I understand, it means

"Wait, don t tell me that s everything?"

If the words below mean the following:

ma = wait, pause, etc
sorede = everything

how does the rest translate if I have these right? I'm pretty shure I'm overlooking a particle I don't know about, but here's a picture with the source reference. If it helps, she's talking about having all of her luggage to go on a trip.
Screenshot (29).png
. Thanks in advance.
 
masaka anta sore de

That's not a complete sentence. "Dekakeru tsumori nano?" or something like that is omitted after "sore de" since, as is often the case in colloquial conversations, what the speaker wants to say is obvious from the context. The given translation is a free translation. The original Japanese means "Are you really going to (go on trip) just with that (small luggage)?" or like that.
 
Some more details:
まさか = expression indicating surprise and disbelief. "Don't tell me that ...!"
あんた = shortened version of あなた, "you"
それ = "that"
で = particle meaning "with", "using".

"Don't tell me you (are planning to go on the trip) with (only) that (luggage)?"

Considering you matched up それで with "everything", it seems you're attempting to learn the language based on translated anime subtitles. I hope this example is enough to show you that this approach doesn't work. English and Japanese are wildly different, and as a result, translations also often use different words and sentence structure from the original. Notice that the original in this case doesn't use "wait" (まって) or "everything" (ぜんぶ) anywhere.
 
Some more details:
まさか = expression indicating surprise and disbelief. "Don't tell me that ...!"
あんた = shortened version of あなた, "you"
それ = "that"
で = particle meaning "with", "using".

"Don't tell me you (are planning to go on the trip) with (only) that (luggage)?"

Considering you matched up それで with "everything", it seems you're attempting to learn the language based on translated anime subtitles. I hope this example is enough to show you that this approach doesn't work. English and Japanese are wildly different, and as a result, translations also often use different words and sentence structure from the original. Notice that the original in this case doesn't use "wait" (まって) or "everything" (ぜんぶ) anywhere.

So does Japanese use more expressive terms than literal ones? I get that some words transfer over perfectly eg: hai = yes and ie = no but would it be true to say expressive language is more dominant in Japanese?
 
Probably people would argue that Japanese is less expressive because so many things are not explicitly stated. They leave a lot of things unsaid (meant to be understood by context).
 
Probably people would argue that Japanese is less expressive because so many things are not explicitly stated. They leave a lot of things unsaid (meant to be understood by context).
What do you think would be the best way to learn about context in Japanese? How do you know when to drop a subject and understand when it's implied?
 
Practice. Speaking with Japanese people (and making many, many, many mistakes). Writing in Japanese (and making many, many, many mistakes).
 
I get that some words transfer over perfectly eg: hai = yes and ie = no
"Hai" and "iie/ie" doesn't always mean "yes" and "no" in English, respectively. There are different rules in each language.
e.g.
Shiranakatta n desu ka? Hai, shirimasen deshita.
Didn't you know that? No, I didn't.

How do you know when to drop a subject and understand when it's implied?
Actually, there are some rules. You'll be able to find it in Genki.
 
"Hai" and "iie/ie" doesn't always mean "yes" and "no" in English, respectively. There are different rules in each language.
e.g.
Shiranakatta n desu ka? Hai, shirimasen deshita.
Didn't you know that? No, I didn't

I would not characterize this as "hai" not meaning "yes". Rather, I would characterize this as Japanese and English using "yes" and "no" in different ways from each other in certain contexts. "Hai" still means "yes" in your example sentence, but when translating that sentence into natural English, you would express it in a way different from a strictly literal translation (直訳).
 
Even with はい and いいえ, there's no reason why a translation should consistently convert them to "yes" and "no". There's the case mentioned by Toritoribe for one, but also in general, you have to know that these words carry a nuance of politeness. This means that depending on the situation, it might be more fitting to translate はい as "Yes, sir" or "Certainly" or "I'm aware".

You see there's a risk of learning wrong things even with simple words like this. After all, you can't use はい in a translation of "We will most certainly win".

Use a proper learning resource like a textbook. Considering you had a hiragana chart open on the side, it's still far too early to try to "discover" things on your own. In a few years time, you'll be able to pick up new vocabulary from anime - by listening without subtitles, instead looking up words you don't know in a dictionary.
 
I would not characterize this as "hai" not meaning "yes". Rather, I would characterize this as Japanese and English using "yes" and "no" in different ways from each other in certain contexts. "Hai" still means "yes" in your example sentence, but when translating that sentence into natural English, you would express it in a way different from a strictly literal translation (直訳).
For confirmation, this might be more suitable to the Learning English section, but do you mean "Yes, I didn't." is valid as an answer to the question "Didn't you know that?"?
 
In English, "Didn't you know that?" "No, I didn't". I think it's not literal since the Japanese is more like "Yes, (I) didn't know."
 
For confirmation, this might be more suitable to the Learning English section, but do you mean "Yes, I didn't." is valid as an answer to the question "Didn't you know that?"?

No, that is not at all what I mean. What I mean is that Japanese uses an affirmative expression in that particular context, while English uses a negative expression. But that doesn't somehow change the intrinsic meaning of the word 「はい」.
 
It ain't that hard, folks.

In Japanese, the yes/no matches with the question. In English it matches with the answer. That's what causes the twist in questions phrased in the negative.

It is important to be aware that はい also has (at least) a couple of uses in which it doesn't mean "Yes"

1. "I understood your question and now I am about to give an explanation".

2. "I heard you". This is the one that I think has the greatest potential for intercultural miscommunication. It doesn't imply agreement, permission, or consent, etc.
 
No, that is not at all what I mean. What I mean is that Japanese uses an affirmative expression in that particular context, while English uses a negative expression. But that doesn't somehow change the intrinsic meaning of the word 「はい」.
I used "No, I didn't" as an example that "hai - yes" and "iie/ie - no" are not one-to-one corresponding as the OP is misunderstanding. As Mike-san explained, it's rather "Japanese always uses 'hai' when agreeing the question whether the question is affirmative or negative" (and needless to say, "English always uses 'no' when the following answer is negative whether the question is affirmative or negative") than "Japanese uses an affirmative expression in that particular context". That's the "rule" I mentioned in my previous post or "the intrinsic meaning of the word 「はい」" in Japanese. Makes sense?

By the way, Japanese learners of English tend to use "yes" when agreeing negative questions such like my example in the early stage of learning due to this difference in rules in each language. The OP's misunderstanding reminds me of my junior high school days.
 
So, I'm trying to decipher this sentence. It's like this:

masakaantasorede

and from what I understand, it means

"Wait, don t tell me that s everything?"

If the words below mean the following:

ma = wait, pause, etc
sorede = everything

how does the rest translate if I have these right? I'm pretty shure I'm overlooking a particle I don't know about, but here's a picture with the source reference. If it helps, she's talking about having all of her luggage to go on a trip.View attachment 24974 . Thanks in advance.
So, at this point in time I'm hoping someone might be willing to exchange phone numbers with me to teach me. If there are any volunteers, I'm willing to pay to learn conversation and grammar.

Or even skype, as that might be less intrusive to some.
 
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I would suggest looking up such services online if you're willing to pay for them. I have a feeling most of the native Japanese speakers here mostly want to help facilitate learning as opposed to teaching the language. At least that way you get people that have the specific purpose of teaching someone Japanese to work with.

Also keeping time difference in mind makes it difficult to co-ordinate even if they are interested. Where someone online offering those service may already have that in mind.
 
I would suggest looking up such services online if you're willing to pay for them. I have a feeling most of the native Japanese speakers here mostly want to help facilitate learning as opposed to teaching the language. At least that way you get people that have the specific purpose of teaching someone Japanese to work with.

Also keeping time difference in mind makes it difficult to co-ordinate even if they are interested. Where someone online offering those service may already have that in mind.
Fair enough. Do you have a specific website in mind you might be willing to recommend??
 
Fair enough. Do you have a specific website in mind you might be willing to recommend??
I've never used any of them so I don't know any of them well enough to recommend any of them. I have heard of iTalki quite a bit so that might be a good place to start.
 
you could look into utalk or duolingo, I heard that they just added Japanese to their roster
 
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