"Don't get caught amidst the chaos"

[Fearabhata]

Let's say I meet someone who works in an hectic and busy environment. In germany we have a saying which translates fairly to the title above, and want to say it in Japanese, as a mix of friendly and humorous manner.

Now, I am in the process to absolve my N4 course and know the pattern, which I want to use for some time now in a conversation:
no naka de
Tsukamaru translates to being caught, but could have a very negative meaning, as if to say that someone is a criminal and shouldnt be caught. Can I use it anyway, in the right context or is there another verb?

Also I am at lost wheter to use the imperative or passive form. I know there is a combinational form of passive and causative, but not in this case. Also there is the confusion with the missing future tense. So can I say something along the lines of

Konton no naka de tsukama-ra-re-masen okudasai.

 

[Toritoribe]

A literal translation is 混沌に巻き込まれないで。Konton ni makikomare nai de.

 

[Majestic]

If you are at your restaurant, and just want a phrase to indicate sympathy for one of the staff's busy work, you could just say "忙しいですね"
I worry that if you try too hard to say even slightly sophisticated phrases, they will not have the desired effect. And it kind of has the air of attention-seeking.

If you want to show how well your Japanese is progressing, I would stick to well-known or expected/anticipated Japanese phrases. If you were in a restaurant in Japan, and you unexpectedly said "konton ni makikomaranaide" the wait-staff might be puzzled. Even if your accent was perfect. I don't think it will convey the humous or light-hearted feeling you intend. And its slightly presumptuous.

Apologies if I am misreading your intention. I just feel if a patron in Japan said to a shopkeeper "konton ni makikomaranaide" it would be very awkward.

 

[Fearabhata]

nope.. just happened that I met someone in the inner city, while reading on the bench . He was making some errands in the shopping district and it was chaotic. And I am more interested in the grammar than just talking for chinchat anyway. Thanks for worrying about me being an attentionwhore though ^^

 

[Fearabhata]

If you are at your restaurant, and just want a phrase to indicate sympathy for one of the staff's busy work, you could just say "忙しいですね"

"koko ni isogashidesu ne" is actually a phrase I use pretty often, so thanks for the headsup Really appreciate it

 

[bentenmusume]

"koko ni isogashidesu ne" is actually a phrase I use pretty often, so thanks for the headsup Really appreciate it

Sorry to nitpick, but for one thing, it should be "isogashii desu ne". Vowel length is important in Japanese.

Also, what exactly are you trying to say by the "koko ni"? That's not grammatical. The particle "ni" only marks destination/place of existence, so (for example) "koko ni imasu" or "koko ni sunde imasu" or "koko ni kimashita" are valid expressions, but "koko ni isogashii" is not.

If you're just trying to say "it's busy here", i.e. at the restaurant, it would be "koko wa isogashii desu ne", but like Majestic-san says, it's more natural to just drop the first part entirely, as it's understood in context that if you just say "isogashii desu ne", you're talking about the restaurant and the people who work there.

 

[Fearabhata]

shoot, I even had in on the voicememo from last Dezember, you right, it is "wa", not "ni".
Guess that is what happens, when you have too many online sources, I get all muddy in the brain; so I bought today a book that covers all the grammar from N4-N5

 

[Toritoribe]

Konton no naka de tsukama-ra-re-masen okudasai.

Tsukamaru translates to being caught

Also I am at lost wheter to use the imperative or passive form.

I am more interested in the grammar

You said you knew tsukamaru meant "to be caught", then, why do you think you are going to use the passive form of it? The passive form means "to be been caught", doesn't it? Actually, つかまる(捕まる) "to be caught" doesn't have the passive form つかまられる, except for passive of adversity. Even for this meaning, つかまえられる, i.e., the passive form of つかまえる is far more commonly used.

Incidentally, つかまる has another meaning "to hold on to~" with another kanji 掴まる/捉まる, and the passive form つかまられる does exist for this meaning.

I don't know which, "particle 'o' + kudasai" or "polite prefix 'o' + kudasai", you meant by "okudasai", but anyway, it's ungrammatical. You need to learn how to form the polite negative request. Hope you can find explanations about these grammatical things in your new textbook.