Hi,
1. （私は）５時からがいいと思いますけど。
I'm not sure of the grammatical structure of this. Does が mean "but", or is it a subject marker with ５時から somehow behaving as a noun? What does the sentence mean as a whole?
2. 彼はそう言ったがそれは出任せに決まっている。
Translation given: "He must have said so without giving it much thought."
Is に決まっている giving the sense of "must have"? Is it an instance of the expression 決まって, meaning (per dictionary) "always; without fail; usually; regularly", or is it used differently here?
3. 愛煙家にとってはつらい世の中になったものだが、外で 吸うからにはちゃんと吸い殻は灰皿に捨てなかればいけ ないと思っている。
My translation: "Times have become hard for smokers, but since they smoke outside, I think they ought to properly dispose of cigarette ends in ashtrays."
Is this all OK?
4. Next sentence:
コンビニはこんな者にとっても非常に役に立っているわ けであるが、ある日コンビニのもう一つの大切な役割に 改めて気がついた。
My translation: "The convenience store also provides a great service for these kinds of people, but one day I noticed for the first time another important role of the convenience store."
Is this OK? Specifically,
a) I wondered if 非常に might mean "in an emergency" (i.e. when they've run out of cigarettes), but in the end I thought it probably just intensified 役に立っている. Is that right?
a) What is the role of わけ here? Often I am unsure about exactly what わけ is adding to sentences.
5. A young child is trying to figure out instructions for disposing of a bottle.
ゴミ箱にある説明には、実はふたのことは書いてなかっ た。
My translation: "In fact, the explanation on the rubbish bin said nothing about (how to dispose of) the lid (of the bottle)."
I'm having a bit of a mental blank about the form 書いてなかった. Could it be the negative past tense of 書いてある, having a sense a bit like "nothing had been written"?
1. （私は）５時からがいいと思いますけど。
I'm not sure of the grammatical structure of this. Does が mean "but", or is it a subject marker with ５時から somehow behaving as a noun? What does the sentence mean as a whole?
2. 彼はそう言ったがそれは出任せに決まっている。
Translation given: "He must have said so without giving it much thought."
Is に決まっている giving the sense of "must have"? Is it an instance of the expression 決まって, meaning (per dictionary) "always; without fail; usually; regularly", or is it used differently here?
3. 愛煙家にとってはつらい世の中になったものだが、外で 吸うからにはちゃんと吸い殻は灰皿に捨てなかればいけ ないと思っている。
My translation: "Times have become hard for smokers, but since they smoke outside, I think they ought to properly dispose of cigarette ends in ashtrays."
Is this all OK?
4. Next sentence:
コンビニはこんな者にとっても非常に役に立っているわ けであるが、ある日コンビニのもう一つの大切な役割に 改めて気がついた。
My translation: "The convenience store also provides a great service for these kinds of people, but one day I noticed for the first time another important role of the convenience store."
Is this OK? Specifically,
a) I wondered if 非常に might mean "in an emergency" (i.e. when they've run out of cigarettes), but in the end I thought it probably just intensified 役に立っている. Is that right?
a) What is the role of わけ here? Often I am unsure about exactly what わけ is adding to sentences.
5. A young child is trying to figure out instructions for disposing of a bottle.
ゴミ箱にある説明には、実はふたのことは書いてなかっ た。
My translation: "In fact, the explanation on the rubbish bin said nothing about (how to dispose of) the lid (of the bottle)."
I'm having a bit of a mental blank about the form 書いてなかった. Could it be the negative past tense of 書いてある, having a sense a bit like "nothing had been written"?
