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つかっちゃう and kana/kanji usage

LewiiG

先輩
27 Dec 2012
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カガミがないときは代わりにCDをつかっちゃう時がある よ

What kind of meaning is given by the つかっちゃう here? Is it like "unintentionally using" or "find yourself using" or something.

Also why use とき and 時 and why カガミ? Speaker is android but it doesn't seem to be that reason.

"When you don't have a mirror there are times you'll just use a CD instead"?
 
つかっちゃう / つかってしまう shows that the speaker thinks it's not good behavior to use a CD instead of a mirror.

As for kanji and kana, とき is more common when it's used as "when". カガミ would be just the writer's preference. Generally, kanji tends to look more stiff than kana.
 
つかっちゃう / つかってしまう shows that the speaker thinks it's not good behavior to use a CD instead of a mirror.
I see. I guess it's the "regret" side of しまう. I need more of a feel for it.

1.Would "resort to use a CD instead" (not something you want to do) work as a translation?

As for kanji and kana, とき is more common when it's used as "when".
Interesting とき usage. Good to know for reference. Thanks Toritoribe :)

カガミ would be just the writer's preference. Generally, kanji tends to look more stiff than kana.

I thought it might be something like that. It looks like the writer is trying to strike a balance or something between the writing systems. I assume this app is for "everyone" so maybe it has to do with the audience.

Some extra questions:

2. Might it be too much kanji = stiff/difficult for some, too much kana = hard to read/annoying. Or is it just the writer's preference and everyone could cope with anything?

3. Would かがみがないときは just look like too much hiragana or does カガミ just look better than かがみ?

4. say you were to read かがみ カガミ and 鏡. Does this have any impact on the way you read it in your mind and therefore how a character/person is saying it? E.g does reading カガミ feel stressed or reading 鏡 feel idk more refined or something compared to something basic like かがみ or is it all the same the only thing different is the look/feel of the writing only? (Is it how the writer wants the text to look or how the writer wants the characters lines to be read in your mind?) I realize this might be far fetched but I still want to know.

These questions are all kind of related. I just had some thoughts going that I'd be interested to know about.
 
I forgot to tell that the subject is the speaker "I", not "you".

1)
Yeah, "resort" is a good translation.

2)~4)
JIMO, 鏡がないときは代わりにCDを使っちゃう時があるよ looks like normal / common / ordinary, whereas カガミがないときは代わりにCDをつかっちゃう時があるよ is childish.
 
I forgot to tell that the subject is the speaker "I", not "you".

1)
Yeah, "resort" is a good translation.

2)~4)
JIMO, 鏡がないときは代わりにCDを使っちゃう時があるよ looks like normal / common / ordinary, whereas カガミがないときは代わりにCDをつかっちゃう時があるよ is childish.

Mmm. I was thinking that was a possibility but what might indicate the subject is "I" in this sentence other than context?

Okay thanks.

Interesting. That makes sense. How general is your view of more kanji = normal, less kanji = childish? E.g are there people who would feel no or hardly any difference when reading the two versions?
 
The sentence final particle よ is used to inform an information the addressee don't know(or the speaker thinks the addressee don't know). If the subject is second person "you", it shows that they don't know a fact that they sometimes use a CD instead of a mirror. It can be correct only when they are a somnambulist or something.:D

It totally depends on the kanji. If it's a rarely-used one, kana is more common, of course.
 
The sentence final particle よ is used to inform an information the addressee don't know(or the speaker thinks the addressee don't know). If the subject is second person "you", it shows that they don't know a fact that they sometimes use a CD instead of a mirror. It can be correct only when they are a somnambulist or something.:D

It totally depends on the kanji. If it's a rarely-used one, kana is more common, of course.

Thanks. Things like that are really good to know. I had to look up "somnabulist" but yeah xD I thought it was just a general statement as in about a habit that people do. Where "you" doesn't point to a single person but just people as a whole.

Okay yeah that makes sense. Much appriciated Toritoribe :)

I have another question it's kind of unrelated to thread title but I don't want to make another thread just for it so I'll ask here.

When the subject is "you" as in people in general, not pointing to a single person, what is the word for it in Japanese?
E.g "when you are hungry, you eat" (not refering to "you" but just habits of people)
飢えたら食べる or something. What is the subject in Japanese? 人?
 
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