見物 / したまえ / パリにいる時 / つきかねる / ひとつ

[eeky]

Hello,


1. This is part of a film synopsis:

スリリングなカーチェイス・シーンが見物。

Does this mean "Sheen and the car chase are worth seeing"? (Sheen is an actor in the film.)

I do not exactly understand the grammar that connects スリリングなカーチェイス and シーン.


2. 警部、もっと警官を投入できるようになるまでは、事態を表に出さないようにしたまえ。

Translation given: "Sergeant, try to keep a lid on the situation until we can get more police down there."

What is したまえ? It looks like it could be an imperative, but I can't find the relevant verb.


3. パリにいる時に、必ず思うことのひとつは、東京に帰ったら、もっと大勢友だちをよんで、気楽に、一夜を過ごせたらということだ。

My translation: "When I am in Paris, one thing I always think is that, when I return to Tokyo, it would be good to call lots of friends and spend a fun evening with them."

a) Does 過ごせたら express the writer's desire, something like "If I was able to pass time (with my friends) then it would be good"?

b) Does もっと imply a comparison with the writer's lifestyle when she is in Paris?


4. The author then goes on to explain why, when she does actually return to Tokyo, she rather changes her mind about inviting all her friends round:

もうひとつは、貧乏ひまなしで、日本の違う現実につきあたり、おたおたして、昼と夜の暮らしのけじめがつきかねる。

My translation: "For another thing, 'there is no leisure for the poor', I'm shocked by the clash with the different reality of Tokyo (i.e. compared to Paris), and the distinction between life in the daytime and in the evenings is blurred."

a) Although this is not the greatest English sentence ever written, is the meaning essentially correct?

b) I assume つきかねる is from つく + けなる, but which つく is this, and what is its literal meaning?


5. それなら、なぜ、パリにいるとき、日本へ帰ったら、ひとつ、と思うのであろう。

My best guess at this is: "In that case, I wonder why, when I'm in Paris, I think 'if only I could return to Tokyo'."

a) What is the purpose of ひとつ in this sentence? Does it combine with ～たら to create sense like "if only", as I translated?

b) What is the purpose of であろう? Does なぜ ... のであろう form a pattern?

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
a thrilling car chase scene

シーン is not the name of a person here.

2)
する ＋ たまえ

だった / できた / まえ / 決まった用紙 / あったり | Japan Forum

3) a)
Exactly. That's the omission of 過ごせたらいい.

b)
Maybe so. It depends on the context. (It could be a comparison with the writer's previous lifestyle when she was in Tokyo.)

4) a)
Yes. (In the first place, the original Japanese sentence itself is not so clear in meaning to me.)

b)
Probably you meant つく + かねる.

５ ある定まった状態がつくられる。
①解決する。まとまる。落着する。「話が―・く」「勝負が―・く」

つく - goo辞書

けじめがつきかねる is a classcal form of けじめがつけられない "I can't draw a line (between life in the daytime and in the evenings)".

5) a)
This ひとつ is an adverb, but more likely used as an interjection.

［副］
１ これから行動を起こそうとするときに用いる語。ちょっと。さあ。試しに。「―やってみよう」「―歌でもいかがですか」

ひとつ - goo辞書

I wonder, when I'm in Paris, why I think 'if I return to Tokyo(, it would be good to call lots of friends ...)'.

b)
Yes, that's right.

 

[eeky]

Thank you.

1. How weird, because this is about a film that actually does star チャーリー・ シーン!

4b. So, this かねる has nothing to do with 兼ねる? If you had to write this つきかねる or つけられない using kanji, what would it be?

Is this classical form used because it is frozen in a set expression?

5b. So, なぜ ... のであろう has the sense of "I wonder why...", right?

 

[Glenn]

4b. It would be 付く. The dictionary (well, at least this one) marks when a character that isn't the first one is used to write a word, so the only ones not written that way are the ones that fall under #2 --（着く）あるものが他のものや他の所まで達する。

兼ねる is how it would be written in kanji:

か・ねる【兼ねる】
４ 他の動詞の連用形に付いて用いる。
①…しようとして、できない。…することがむずかしい 。「納得し―・ねる」「何とも言い―・ねる」

4. Used along with the ren'youkei of other verbs.
1. Try to do something, but cannot. Doing something is difficult.

5b. Yes, it has that sense.

 

[eeky]

Oh, OK, I originally thought it was かねる as in 兼ねる, but I did not understand the exact sense in which つき was used. However, when Toritoribe said it was classical Japanese, I thought it was something different. So, are we saying that ～兼ねる is a form used in modern Japanese, but has its origins in a classical Japanese negative potential form?

 

[Toritoribe]

Ah, sorry, "classical" might not be appropriate. It's more likely "written word" or "formal word".

And yes, つく is 付く.
けじめを付ける - Yahoo!辞書

 

[Glenn]

I don't know about the roots of it, but it is used in modern Japanese as a negative potential form, yes.

[Edit] Well, that one was neck-and-neck!

Ah, sorry, "classical" might not be appropriate. It's more likely "written word" or "formal word".

And yes, つく is 付く.
けじめを付ける - Yahoo!辞書

That's 大辞林, right? Where'd the accent marks go?!

 

[Toritoribe]

That's simply because けじめを付ける is a sentence/clause.;-)

(I give up linking the URL...)

 

[Glenn]

Yeah, I just saw that. I was looking at 大辞泉 when I checked. I thought it would still be 大辞林 since that was where I came from, but it wasn't.

 

[Mike Cash]

～かねる was a hard one for me to get a grasp of, as it is a positive which typically translates into a negative in English.

While the positive form may be mostly written, the negative form is common enough in colloquial speech, typically in a usage that fits the "I wouldn't put it past him" idiom in English.

 

[Toritoribe]

Ah, yes, the negative form might be more commonly used; あいつならやりかねん, as Mike-san wrote.

 

[eeky]

Ah, sorry, "classical" might not be appropriate. It's more likely "written word" or "formal word".

Right, thanks, that makes more sense to me now.

Thanks everyone for the info.