くらいなら / しっかり / ために / 努力規定 / ことだ

[eeky]

Hello,

1. だから、危ない人間と一緒に電車に乗るくらいなら犬と 一緒のほうがましだと考える人もいるかもしれない。

My translation attempt: "Because of this, there may be people who think it is better to be accompanied by a dog in case there are dangerous people with them on the train."

Is this correct? I'm unsure about くらいなら. I guessed at "in case" just because it seemed to make sense.


2. 犬よりもまず人間のほうがもっとしっかりしなければい けない。

I'm assuming this means "We should ... people first, rather than dogs". I equate the blank to しっかりする, but I have no idea what it means in this context.


3. 聴導犬や介助犬の働きが認められるにしたがって、きっ と法律も変わっていくだろう。そのためには、このよう な犬たちに対する私たちの理解も必要だ。

My translation attempt: "Wanting the work of helper dogs for deaf and disabled people to be recognised, the law is surely going to change. そのために, our appreciation of dogs like this is essential."

a) Who/what is the subject of したがって? Is it the law? The author? Something else?

b) Does ために mean we should appreciate these dogs so that the law will be changed? Or is it because the law will change?


4. 民間の職場やマンションへの受け入れについては努力規 定がある。

This is from a note explaining the enactment of new laws that recognise the role of helper dogs for disabled people and allow them to travel on public transport etc. I understand it's saying something about the application of the laws to private workplaces and residences, but I can't work out exactly what. In particular, I can't figure out what 努力規定 means.


5. 冷蔵庫に入れたものは忘れがちだが、悪くならないうち にできるだけ早く食べてしまうことだ。

My translation attempt: "(Someone) is apt to forget things put in the fridge, but (someone) eats them up as quickly as possible before they go bad."

a) I don't understand the overall purpose of the sentence -- whether it is describing what people in general do, or what the author does, or telling readers what they ought to do.

b) I don't understand how the two parts are linked: my "but" makes no sense.

c) I don't understand what ことだ signifies. I think I should know this one, but I'm having a blank with it.

 

[Mike Cash]

ことだ signifies what one should do or is expected to do and is somewhat akin to a command.

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
It's similar to より, but has negative nuance.

［5］ ある事柄を示し、それがひどく悪いもの、嫌うべきもの として表す。「くらいなら」の形をとることが多い。

降参する―なら死んだ方がましだ

http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=U...0000&pagenum=1

Your translation is correct, but "in case" is from the clause 危ない人間と一緒に電車に乗る itself.

2)
Both 犬 and 人間 are the subject of しっかりしなければいけない.

3) a)
～にしたがって･･･ is a structure meaning "the more~, the more...".

b)
The former.

4)
That's 努力しなさいという規定, a stipulation that you should make efforts to do. It's not an obligation, but things to do as much as possible.

5) a)
The last one, as Mike-san answered.

b)
が doesn't mean an adversative conjunction here. It's more clese to ～だから.
Someone is apt to forget, so someone should eat...

c)
The difference between ものだ and ことだ | Japan Forum

 

[eeky]

Thank you both. Sorry for にしたがって and ことだ, both of which I have definitely met before but forgotten. Sometimes I feel I am forgetting stuff that I once knew faster than I am learning new stuff.

1)
It's similar to より, but has nagative nuance [...] "in case" is from the clause 危ない人間と一緒に電車に乗る itself

Sorry, I don't see this yet. Do you mean the whole of くらいなら means より? In the sense of "than"? I'm now trying to make sense of it like:

犬と 一緒のほうがましだと考える人もいるかもしれない = there may be people who think it is better to be accompanied by a dog

くらいなら = than

危ない人間と一緒に電車に乗る = ride the train with dangerous people.

I'm not sure if this can be right. I thought that the people wanted to be accompanied by a dog to potentially deter dangerous people that might be on the train with them. In that case "than" does not make sense.

2)
2)
Both 犬 and 人間 are the subject of しっかりしなければいけない.

Could the whole thing mean "Even more so than dogs, people should first behave more sensibly / with more discipline." (i.e. before people start worrying about/criticising dogs, they should behave better themselves)?

 

[Toritoribe]

Sorry, I misinterpreted your translation.

The subject "people who think it is better to..." is not the owner of the dog.

危ない人間と一緒に電車に乗るくらいなら/より犬と一緒のほうがましだ
It's better to ride the train with a dog than (to ride the train) with dangerous people.
(犬と一緒 actually means 犬を連れている人と一緒 "with someone who is accompanied by a dog", since dogs can't ride the train alone, of course.)

Could the whole thing mean "Even more so than dogs, people should first behave more sensibly / with more discipline." (i.e. before people start worrying about/criticising dogs, they should behave better themselves)?

Yes.

 

[eeky]

Oh, thanks, I see. I think I never would have disentangled that sentence about riding trains with dogs.