どのくらい... / この仕事... / 我らがアジト / 地球温暖化

Hello!


1. どのくらい、アメリカにいますか。

Probably I should know this, but does this mean "How long will you be (staying) in America" or "How long have you been in America"?


2. この仕事、早く終わらせちゃおう。

I'm assuming the basic meaning of this is "Let's hurry up and finish this work". Is the following literal analysis correct?

早く ... しまおう = Let's quickly finish up...
この仕事 ... 終わらせて = (and) cause this work to end


3. 諸君らのたゆまぬ努力と労働によって、ついに我らがア ジトが完成した！！

Translation given: "Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks to your untiring efforts our hideout is finally complete!!"

Why is this 我らがアジト and not 我らのアジト? Or maybe it's a typo?


4. These are some instructions prefacing a reading comprehension exercise:

「暖冬」「地球温暖化」がどんなものか、本文を読む前 に、新出語を参考にしながら話してください。（分から ないところはそのままでもいいです。）

My attempted translation: "Before reading the text, please talk about the meaning of 'warm winters' and 'global warming' while reviewing the new vocabulary. (You can do this the same way even for parts that you don't understand.)"

I do not have great confidence in this translation.

a) I'm not sure whether 話してください refers to がどんなものか or 新出語.

b) I'm not sure what ところ refers to. I wondered if it meant "parts of the new vocabulary", but then what does そのままでもいいです mean? It's OK if you do what in the same way?

1)
Both interpretations are possible. It depends on the context.

2)
しまう is an auxiliary verb, meaning "to finish doing/to have done".

3)
が is the possessive particle here. It's from classical grammar. (In classical Japanese, の is the subject marker, and が is the possessive particle. So, 我らがアジト has an archaic/solemn nuance.)

4)
新出語を参考にしながら is more likely "by reference to The New Words".(I assume the text has a 新出語 section.)

a)
The former.

b)
分からないところ refers to "parts you don't understand in (the explanation of) 新出語".
そのままでもいい means "it's OK to leave it be", i.e., "you can skip the parts that you don't understand".

Thanks Toritoribe.

In #2, of course I am quite familiar with しまう, but in this case I got confused with the combination of 終わらせちゃおう. Using your suggestion like "finish doing", I got things like "Let's finish causing this work to end", which in English is pretty nonsensical, which put me off. Could you help me understand, in a literal sense, exactly how しまおう combines with 終わらせて to create a sensible meaning?

Regarding #3, I have encountered the use of の as subject marker, but I think not が as possessive marker. So in classical Japanese it was exactly the opposite way round from typical modern Japanese usage?

eeky said:

In #2, of course I am quite familiar with しまう, but in this case I got confused with the combination of 終わらせちゃおう. Using your suggestion like "finish doing", I got things like "Let's finish causing this work to end", which in English is pretty nonsensical, which put me off. Could you help me understand, in a literal sense, exactly how しまおう combines with 終わらせて to create a sensible meaning?

Click to expand...

Hmm, yeah, it's more likely "make the work end and finish it" than "finish making/causing". "The -te form + auxiliary verb" has a nuance of "doing something and then/after that ~", as in 買物してくる.

eeky said:

Regarding #3, I have encountered the use of の as subject marker, but I think not が as possessive marker. So in classical Japanese it was exactly the opposite way round from typical modern Japanese usage?

Click to expand...

Strictly speaking, が and の were used both as a subject marker and a possessive marker.
In old and Early Middle Japanese, the subject marker wasn't usually used in the main clause. (Non-particle was common.) The subject marker が/の was used basically only in the attributive/adnominal clause. Also, it's said that が tended to be used mainly for Chinese origin -suru verbs, and の was for Japanese origin verbs.
As a possessive marker, が was for inner groups(e.g. 我が国; my country), and の was for outer groups(e.g. 彼の国; that country) in Old Japanese(Nara, Heian Period).
Japanese language greatly changed in Middle age, Kamakura and Muromachi Period. The use of が and の became close to the one in Modern Japanese through the eras.

Thanks Toritoribe.

eeky said:

Thanks Toritoribe.
In #2, of course I am quite familiar with しまう, but in this case I got confused with the combination of 終わらせちゃおう. Using your suggestion like "finish doing", I got things like "Let's finish causing this work to end", which in English is pretty nonsensical, which put me off. Could you help me understand, in a literal sense, exactly how しまおう combines with 終わらせて to create a sensible meaning?

Click to expand...

It's just informational. For instance, someone calls and reminds you that the party is in 10 minutes. Ok, I'm going to wrap up this work (before leaving). Similar to この仕事、早く終えちゃおう。