もう誰も信じなくなって / 迎えられます / 絵を完成する

[eeky]

Hi,

1. それに、歳をとってひどい被害妄想に取り憑かれるようになったらしい。もう誰も信じなくなって。

How do we know whether もう誰も信じなくなって means "He doesn't trust anyone any more" or "No one trusts him any more"? Both seem to make sense in the context.

2. よいイースターを迎えられますよう。

Is 迎えられます passive? Why would it be passive? I try to make sense of it as indirect passive, but I can't get my head round it.

3. 彼が絵を完成するのを手伝った。

Can this be interpreted in both these ways?:

[彼が絵を完成するの] を（私が）手伝った。
彼が[絵を（私が）完成するの]を手伝った。

 

[Mike Cash]

1. By the absence of くれる (at least it serves as a hint)

2. The "polite" version of passive. I forget the real name for it.

3. Only the latter

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
In addition to Mike-san's explanation, the topic of the first sentence is "he", and the topic is not changed in the second oneyet, so "彼はもう誰も信じなくなって" is the most common interpretation.

2)
If the speaker is talking about his Easter "I wish I have a good Easter", that's potential.

3)
I think the former interpretation is correct. A general description for "my drawing picture" is 彼は絵を完成するのを手伝ってくれた。. 彼が(third person の)絵を完成するのを手伝った。 can be possible, but 絵を完成するのを手伝ったのは彼だ is more common for the case since 彼 is the key information the speaker wants to convey.

 

[eeky]

Thanks, the translation provided for (2) is "Warmest Easter wishes for you", though sometimes this source has translation errors. Is that translation possible, and, if so, how does this affect the explanation of 迎えられます?

 

[Toritoribe]

Then, that's an honorific, as Mike-san wrote.

 

[eeky]

Then, that's an honorific, as Mike-san wrote.

So is 迎えられますよう a kind of imperative?

 

[Mike Cash]

So is 迎えられますよう a kind of imperative?

It is the same sort of phrasing often used in prayers.

It also parallels the typical year-end phrase 良い年を迎えますように

 

[Majestic]

An imperative would be an order or a command (I command you to welcome Easter!).

The polite/honorific passive is just the accepted way of wishing someone well for some future event. "May you have a nice Easter" or "May you welcome a nice Easter" (or weekend or New Year or some other calendar-related event).

You could say it is the default way of translating a set-English phrase into an acceptable set-Japanese phrase. Even though it isn't a one-to-one direct translation - which may be the thing that is throwing you off since the verb "to welcome" doesn't exist in the original English - it is the closest thing available.

 

[Majestic]

And, to add further, if you did want to translate it directly, it would be... weird.

あなたに最も暖かい復活祭（イースター）を希望します。 ← a phrase which you would never hear or say in Japan.

In the set phrase 迎えられますように is the embedded implication that the speaker is hoping or wishing for something.

 

[eeky]

An imperative would be an order or a command (I command you to welcome Easter!).

Well, "Have a great Easter!" is an imperative.

Thanks for the explanations.

 

[Toritoribe]

So is 迎えられますよう a kind of imperative?

It's considered a shortened version of 迎えられますようお祈りいたします "I pray/wish you have a good Easter."