Hiya,
1. Mrs Oshima is pressing some some guests to accept food, the guests having politely refused at the first time of asking.
大島さんはなおも重ねて「でも、エイミーさんは食べられるでしょう、まだ若いんだし。」と言っ た。
a) Is 食べられる an honorific form?
b) To me, まだ若いんだし looks to mean "besides, (Amy) is still young", but since that seems to make no sense in context I guess I'm wrong?
2. 「家ではかんそうきを買おうかって言っているんですけ ど、どうでしょうか。」
My translation: "We're talking about whether to buy a かんそうき [some kind of houshold drying gadget] for the house -- what do you think?"
Is this right? Is 買おうかって = 買おう ("we will buy") + か (question marker) + って (quote marker)?
3. Amy has just explained that she's leaving Japan to go home to America next Saturday. Then Amy's host mother says to Mrs Oshima:
「ああ、そうそう、それで思い出したけれど、今度の金 曜日にエイミーのお別れ会をするんです。来ていただけますか。」
My translation: "Oh, I've just remembered that next Friday is Amy's leaving party. Will you come?"
Is this right? I'm not very sure about the first part. Even if my translation is roughly correct, what exactly does そうそう mean here?
4. This is a true-or-false question in a reading comprehension test:
お母さんは寿司を食べられなかったようです。
Does it mean "Mother behaved/seemed/appeared as if she couldn't eat sushi"? I'm having trouble relating this to the text. Is there any implication in this wording as to why she "couldn't" eat it? Or maybe it doesn't mean that?
1. Mrs Oshima is pressing some some guests to accept food, the guests having politely refused at the first time of asking.
大島さんはなおも重ねて「でも、エイミーさんは食べられるでしょう、まだ若いんだし。」と言っ た。
a) Is 食べられる an honorific form?
b) To me, まだ若いんだし looks to mean "besides, (Amy) is still young", but since that seems to make no sense in context I guess I'm wrong?
2. 「家ではかんそうきを買おうかって言っているんですけ ど、どうでしょうか。」
My translation: "We're talking about whether to buy a かんそうき [some kind of houshold drying gadget] for the house -- what do you think?"
Is this right? Is 買おうかって = 買おう ("we will buy") + か (question marker) + って (quote marker)?
3. Amy has just explained that she's leaving Japan to go home to America next Saturday. Then Amy's host mother says to Mrs Oshima:
「ああ、そうそう、それで思い出したけれど、今度の金 曜日にエイミーのお別れ会をするんです。来ていただけますか。」
My translation: "Oh, I've just remembered that next Friday is Amy's leaving party. Will you come?"
Is this right? I'm not very sure about the first part. Even if my translation is roughly correct, what exactly does そうそう mean here?
4. This is a true-or-false question in a reading comprehension test:
お母さんは寿司を食べられなかったようです。
Does it mean "Mother behaved/seemed/appeared as if she couldn't eat sushi"? I'm having trouble relating this to the text. Is there any implication in this wording as to why she "couldn't" eat it? Or maybe it doesn't mean that?