くどいよ / 驚くなかれ

E

eeky

先輩

8 Jun 2010

2,431

22

• 7 Dec 2015

• #1

Hi,

1. くどいよ君の質問は、もううるさい。

What is the grammatical connection between くどいよ and the rest of the sentence?

2. こんなことを言っても信じないだろうが、驚くなかれ。

The first part looks to me to mean something like "Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me", but I can't understand what 驚くなかれ is saying. Maybe I have the whole purpose of the sentence wrong.

 

lanthas

　

27 Apr 2014

940

243

• 7 Dec 2015

• #2

1. Just 君の質問はくどいよ swapped around.
2. This very sentence is listed as the example for なかれ on jisho.org (maybe that's where you got it from?), the given translation is "You might not believe what I'm about to tell you, so don't be surprised".

 

E

eeky

先輩

8 Jun 2010

2,431

22

• 7 Dec 2015

• Thread starter
• #3

2. Ah, OK, I have it with another translation which makes little sense in English.

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Moderator

Fifteen-year veteran

22 Feb 2008

18,266

4,926

• 7 Dec 2015

• #4

FYI, なかれ is the imperative form of the classical adjective なし（＝ ない）. 驚くなかれ is mostly used as an idiom in modern Japanese, and surprising information almost always follows it.
e.g.
驚くなかれ、あいつ彼女と結婚したらしいよ。