cheapshot
後輩
- 30 Nov 2004
- 220
- 1
i recently came across these expressions of comparison as i was teaching some students about "simile" and i wanted to create some simile in Japanese to help them.
here is what i came up with
今日は地獄と同じくらい暑いです。 today is at hot as hell
～～～せんべいと同じくらいぺちゃんこ。 ~~as flat as a senbei (rice cake)
ニュースを聞いた時、彼のかおはゆうれいと同じくらい白くなった。 - when he heard the news, his face went as white as a ghosts.
i showed my attempts at simile to the japanese teacher to check and she corrected the hird in this way:
ニュースを聞いた時、彼のかおはゆうれいのように白くなった。
i checked this in my grammar book and dictionary and found out that it means "like a~~" such as.. 彼はチーターのように走った。 -- he ran like a cheetah
so i asked her why she corrected it and said that in English (well, the english i use anyway) we say "as white as a ghost". "like a ghost" just doesn't sound right to me.
so, she couldn't explain the difference, but she asked me to think about English and why we use certain ways rather than others. so that's what i have done...
i have come up with a few (albeit silly or cliched) simile to test my theory...
compare:
1/this chicken is like a cheetah.
2/this chicken is fast like a cheetah.
3/this chicken is as fast as a cheetah.
1/my love for you is like and ocean.
2/my love for you is deep like an ocean.
3/my love for you is as deep as an ocean.
1/his face went like a ghost.
2/his face went white like a ghost.
3/his face went as white as a ghost.
ok. time to explain
1/ ====== vague
2/ ====== indirect comparison
3/ ====== direct comparison
if we take the ghost simile for example.
1/ "his face went like a ghosts" -- in what way? ugly, translucent, white..? there is an adjective missing which makes the simile very vague.
2/ "his face went white like a ghosts" for me this implies that his face went as white for a human as a ghosts face is white for a ghost. it is more of an indirect comparison. so i feel like the sentence could be "his face went white like a ghosts face (is white)
3/ "his face went as white as a ghosts" Here i feel that this is a direct comparison between the whiteness of a ghost and the guys face. (but this expression is still metaphorical so i am a little confused :S)
i hope i still have people reading... anyway, i 'll continue...
so if we go back to the original "his face went as white as a ghosts".. i would like to know why i can't use と同じくらい in japanese, i have to use ～～のように instead.
so basically i feel that as _____ as is the strongest of the three examples. but in Japanese i don't feel that you can use the three expressions in all situations.
can anyone shed a bit of light on these to expressions for me?
yorkii
(sorry for the length of this thread. i should have just asked the difference instead of giving all the background. sorryyy....)
here is what i came up with
今日は地獄と同じくらい暑いです。 today is at hot as hell
～～～せんべいと同じくらいぺちゃんこ。 ~~as flat as a senbei (rice cake)
ニュースを聞いた時、彼のかおはゆうれいと同じくらい白くなった。 - when he heard the news, his face went as white as a ghosts.
i showed my attempts at simile to the japanese teacher to check and she corrected the hird in this way:
ニュースを聞いた時、彼のかおはゆうれいのように白くなった。
i checked this in my grammar book and dictionary and found out that it means "like a~~" such as.. 彼はチーターのように走った。 -- he ran like a cheetah
so i asked her why she corrected it and said that in English (well, the english i use anyway) we say "as white as a ghost". "like a ghost" just doesn't sound right to me.
so, she couldn't explain the difference, but she asked me to think about English and why we use certain ways rather than others. so that's what i have done...
i have come up with a few (albeit silly or cliched) simile to test my theory...
compare:
1/this chicken is like a cheetah.
2/this chicken is fast like a cheetah.
3/this chicken is as fast as a cheetah.
1/my love for you is like and ocean.
2/my love for you is deep like an ocean.
3/my love for you is as deep as an ocean.
1/his face went like a ghost.
2/his face went white like a ghost.
3/his face went as white as a ghost.
ok. time to explain
1/ ====== vague
2/ ====== indirect comparison
3/ ====== direct comparison
if we take the ghost simile for example.
1/ "his face went like a ghosts" -- in what way? ugly, translucent, white..? there is an adjective missing which makes the simile very vague.
2/ "his face went white like a ghosts" for me this implies that his face went as white for a human as a ghosts face is white for a ghost. it is more of an indirect comparison. so i feel like the sentence could be "his face went white like a ghosts face (is white)
3/ "his face went as white as a ghosts" Here i feel that this is a direct comparison between the whiteness of a ghost and the guys face. (but this expression is still metaphorical so i am a little confused :S)
i hope i still have people reading... anyway, i 'll continue...
so if we go back to the original "his face went as white as a ghosts".. i would like to know why i can't use と同じくらい in japanese, i have to use ～～のように instead.
so basically i feel that as _____ as is the strongest of the three examples. but in Japanese i don't feel that you can use the three expressions in all situations.
can anyone shed a bit of light on these to expressions for me?
yorkii
(sorry for the length of this thread. i should have just asked the difference instead of giving all the background. sorryyy....)