What's new

にして / の一つ / と言ってもよいだろう / どうだった / 日本人の友達 / 使える

eeky

先輩
8 Jun 2010
2,431
22
48
Hi,

1. 石油を原料にして、いろいろな物ができます。

Translation given: "Various products are made from the raw material petroluem."

I don't understand how 石油を原料にして works in this sentence. I thought it meant "Raw materials that make (constitute) petroleum", which doesn't exactly fit the translation given.

I think a highly literal translation of the whole sentence might help me (even if it results in unnatural English).


2. 日本人がアメリカ人によく聞かれて困る質問の一つに、...

My translation: "One of the troublesome questions that the Japanese are often asked by Americans..."

Am I right that の一つ means "one of the..."?


3. Examples of occasions on which fixed Japanese expressions are required have been mentioned. Then,

それを覚えるのが、大事な社会教育だと言ってもよいだろう。

I roughly understand this to mean "remembering these (expressions) is important to one's social education", but how would you translate と言ってもよいだろう? There's just a bit too much going on there for me to decipher. I suppose it's expressing the writer's opinion about the probable degree of importance of remembering these expressions, is it?


4. 夏休みはどうだったか、先生に聞きなさい。

Does this mean "Ask the teacher how his/her summer holiday was" or "Ask the teacher what he/she did during the summer holiday"?


5. Depending on context, can 日本人の友達 mean either "friends of a Japanese person" or "(one's own) Japanese friends"?


6. 例えば、カメラ付きケータイはどんなことに使えるだろうか。

My translation: "For example, what sort of things do you use your camera phone for?"

Is 使える the potential form of 使う ("can use") or the verb 使える ("to be useful")?
 
1. 石油を原料にして、いろいろな物ができます。
Translation given: "Various products are made from the raw material petroluem."
I don't understand how 石油を原料にして works in this sentence. I thought it meant "Raw materials that make (constitute) petroleum", which doesn't exactly fit the translation given.
I think a highly literal translation of the whole sentence might help me (even if it results in unnatural English).
石油を原料にして
Using petroleum as a raw material

2. 日本人がアメリカ人によく聞かれて困る質問の一つに、 ...
My translation: "One of the troublesome questions that the Japanese are often asked by Americans..."
Am I right that の一つ means "one of the..."?
Yes.

3. Examples of occasions on which fixed Japanese expressions are required have been mentioned. Then,
それを覚えるのが、大事な社会教育だと言ってもよいだ ろう。
I roughly understand this to mean "remembering these (expressions) is important to one's social education", but how would you translate と言ってもよいだろう? There's just a bit too much going on there for me to decipher. I suppose it's expressing the writer's opinion about the probable degree of importance of remembering these expressions, is it?
That would be more likely "generally speaking".

と言ってもよいだろう
It can be said that.../We can say that...

4. 夏休みはどうだったか、先生に聞きなさい。
Does this mean "Ask the teacher how his/her summer holiday was" or "Ask the teacher what he/she did during the summer holiday"?
The former. The latter is 夏休みはどうしていたか.

5. Depending on context, can 日本人の友達 mean either "friends of a Japanese person" or "(one's own) Japanese friends"?
Hmm, it can mean both, but the latter might be more common. Just 日本人 sounds a bit awkward as a Japanese person. Probably something like あの日本人 or a nuance of a specific person would be needed for the case. Incidentally, 友達の日本人 has a clear meaning of "one of one's friends, a Japanese".

6. 例えば、カメラ付きケータイはどんなことに使えるだろうか。
My translation: "For example, what sort of things do you use your camera phone for?"
Is 使える the potential form of 使う ("can use") or the verb 使える ("to be useful")?
The latter. Literally, "What sort of things can a camera phone be used for?"
 
Back
Top Bottom