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一人でも多くの人に

The7thSamurai

Master of the Universe
4 Feb 2005
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What does 一人でも多くの人に means in the context of:

忙しくて忙しくて、誰でもいいから一人でも多くの人に 手伝ってもらいたい。

I can see it means something like "busy, busy, I want to get some help, from anyone", but I can't understand the 一人でも多くの人に part. To me it looks like "even one person, from many people".

My Japanese friend reckons it means "as many as possible", but I fail to see how it can mean that.

What do you all reckon?
 
What does 一人でも多くの人に means in the context of:

忙しくて忙しくて、誰でもいいから一人でも多くの人に手伝ってもらいたい。

I can see it means something like "busy, busy, I want to get some help, from anyone", but I can't understand the 一人でも多くの人に part. To me it looks like "even one person, from many people".

My Japanese friend reckons it means "as many as possible", but I fail to see how it can mean that.

What do you all reckon?

"as many (persons) as possible" is a good interpretation, and 一人でも adds "(I want) more person even by one (than now)".
(i.e. currently there are only two persons are helping you. You need more people, even only one additional person's help would be great, etc.)
I hope this makes sense...
 
忙しくて忙しくて、誰でもいいから一人でも多くの人に 手伝ってもらいたい

Means that (you) are busy and you want MORE people to help, even if it means just one more person. Doesn't necessarily follow that you want "as many people as possible", just more people.
 
Ahh, maybe I've been confused with 多くの人. Does this mean "many people" or "more people"? If it means "more people" then I understand. "I want help from more people, from anyone, even one (more)". Hmm...
 
Yes, the trouble is that you're parsing it incorrectly. You're probably looking at it this way:

[一人でも][多くの人]

when it should actually be like this:
[一人でも多く]の人
and roughly putting that into English you'd get:
[even one more] person
people [even one more]

Does that make any sense?
 
What does 一人でも多くの人に means in the context of:
忙しくて忙しくて、誰でもいいから一人でも多くの人に 手伝ってもらいたい。
I can see it means something like "busy, busy, I want to get some help, from anyone", but I can't understand the 一人でも多くの人に part. To me it looks like "even one person, from many people".
My Japanese friend reckons it means "as many as possible", but I fail to see how it can mean that.
What do you all reckon?
I remember that one, was it from the book nihongo chuukyuu ?
 
"as many (persons) as possible" is a good interpretation, and 一人でも adds "(I want) more person even by one (than now)".
(i.e. currently there are only two persons are helping you. You need more people, even only one additional person's help would be great, etc.)
I hope this makes sense...
I see the translation as "I am so busy , even if it was one person it would not matter who it was because I want that help!"
 
Jimmy, you're right. That's how I was reading it. And Frustrated Dave, yep that's the book! How long ago did you study with it?
 
This is a common idiomatic construction, used when one wants to express the desire to maximize x by having even just one more.

日本には一日でも長くいたい。
漢字は一つでも多く覚えたい。
 
Righto, so I'll think of this "one thingでも多く" as an idiomatic expression, just so I don't have to think about the logic behind it too much!

Cheers everyone.
 
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