I need a bit of help in some phrases

Dante12 · 7 Jun 2006

Hi, does anybody here know what this phrase is trying to say?

Koushite kimi no koto ga
Daiji de shikata nai watashi de itai

It doesnt really make much sense if I break it down into word by word or phrase by phrase. Especially the 'koto ga
Daiji de shikata nai' part, I do not really understand it...

So, if anyone here knows what it actually meant, can u pls enlightened me? Any help is greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!!

Fehrant · 8 Jun 2006

kimi no koto = yourself (the person the sentence is referring to).

I don't know the specifics, but using a personal pronoun (watashi/anata) + no koto is the equivalent of myself/yourself.

From my limited understanding, the sentence goes something like this: Thus it can't be helped that it hurts me that I'm not important (to you).

koushite = thus
daiji = important
shikatanai = can't be helped
itai = hurts
watashi = me

Then again, I'm at a stage where particles are really tricky and I can tell you with a 70% probably that my above sentence is wrong. I wanted to give it a try, though. Don't worry, someone with far more experience will eventually give us a hand.

Elizabeth · 8 Jun 2006

It means "I want to be the person that loves you very much." :inlove:

nice gaijin · 8 Jun 2006

Fehrant said:
itai = hurts

I believe "itai" in this case is a conjugation of "iru," meaning "want to be." It would be clearer if it weren't in romaji, but I agree with Elizabeth-san's translation.

Glenn · 8 Jun 2006

I get the feeling that it has the sense that they want to keep being the person who loves them in a way so that they can't help it.

Fehrant · 8 Jun 2006

nice gaijin said:
I believe "itai" in this case is a conjugation of "iru," meaning "want to be." It would be clearer if it weren't in romaji, but I agree with Elizabeth-san's translation.

Hmm, I guess I'll be standing here on the newbie corner for a long time before I attempt a translation again.

Glenn · 8 Jun 2006

Nah, I don't think it's a problem to throw caution to the wind and make an attempt, especially since you let the OP know that you were 70% sure you were wrong and just wanted to practice. We all have to learn somehow.

Fehrant · 8 Jun 2006

Glenn said:
Nah, I don't think it's a problem to throw caution to the wind and make an attempt, especially since you let the OP know that you were 70% sure you were wrong and just wanted to practice. We all have to learn somehow.

Hahaha, then it's ok to make half-arsed translations as long as I state it is most likely incorrect?

nice gaijin · 8 Jun 2006

It's certainly nothing to beat yourself up over. Translating from romaji is actually more difficult than from Japanese characters, because you have to be much more aware of the possible meanings the context defines. Your attempt was valiant, I didn't mean to put you down at all.

Fehrant · 8 Jun 2006

No offense taken, nice gaijin. And yes, I understand romaji can be trickier than kanji.

It just surprised me a bit that my translation was not even close.

epigene · 8 Jun 2006

Fehrant said:
No offense taken, nice gaijin. And yes, I understand romaji can be trickier than kanji.

It just surprised me a bit that my translation was not even close.

This sentence is something that cannot be translated literally because of the presence of fixed phrases. The sentence should be broken up into:

Koushite: this way
kimi no koto ga daiji: I treasure you; you are important to me
de shikata nai: can't help (as in "suki de shitaka nai," can't help loving you)
watashi: I/me
de itai: want to be

So, the literal translation is: I want to be me, who can't help (thinking/feeling) you are important [to me] in this way.

Hope you got the idea!

Glenn · 8 Jun 2006

Fehrant said:
It just surprised me a bit that my translation was not even close.

I know what you mean, but I've done the same on more than one occasion. Like I said, it's all part of the learning process, so just take it in stride.

Fehrant · 8 Jun 2006

Hmm, interesting. I thought that when breaking up a sentence is order to understand it, you had to take the word and the particle that preceded. For instance, "daijin de", "watashi de", because the particles in japanese go after the word they refer to, yet you divided "de itai", "de shikata nai" -- I'm kinda confused.

I know what you mean, but I've done the same on more than one occasion. Like I said, it's all part of the learning process, so just take it in stride.

In order words, more lame translations to come!

cheapshot · 8 Jun 2006

better to attempt it and find that your wrong then move on...

whats the famous quote... "If at first you don't succeed, try try again!"

Glenn · 8 Jun 2006

Fehrant said:
Hmm, interesting. I thought that when breaking up a sentence is order to understand it, you had to take the word and the particle that preceded. For instance, "daijin de", "watashi de", because the particles in japanese go after the word they refer to, yet you divided "de itai", "de shikata nai" -- I'm kinda confused.

I think of it like this:

koushite
kimi no koto ga kaiji de
shikata ga nai
watashi de itai

The de itai is a form of the copula with iru instead of aru. I think of it as meaning existing in a certain way, so it's not really like da in that it's an equal sign, but it's similar, I think. Does that help?

Elizabeth · 8 Jun 2006

"Watashi wa itai" is also grammatically acceptable, with the twist in nuance of "I want to be the one" rather than the stressed "me" that is better here -- "It is me that wants to be the one." (not in English naturally )

Fehrant · 9 Jun 2006

Glenn said:
The de itai is a form of the copula with iru instead of aru. I think of it as meaning existing in a certain way, so it's not really like da in that it's an equal sign, but it's similar, I think. Does that help?

I see. So in this case "de" is a derivative of "iru" rather than the particle "de" per se. Notwithstanding, am I right in saying that particles usually modify or alter the word that precedes them? For instance, in "tokyo e ikimasu" the particle e refers to tokyo and not ikimasu.

でしょうね?

Glenn · 9 Jun 2006

Yes, that's right. So in the case of the example you could say that de iru modifies watashi (well, sort of).

Fehrant · 9 Jun 2006

何時もありがとうございます。

しかしそのアバターは変わってくださいね?DBZはいいアニメではありません。

Glenn · 9 Jun 2006

それにしても、好きですよ。今度は「剣心」でいいですか。

Fehrant · 9 Jun 2006

いいですよるろうに剣心のovaは。でもテレビのるろうに剣心はまあまあです。

Dante12 · 11 Jun 2006

Thank you guys!!! I am really greatful for all your help!! Once again, THANK YOU!!!

I need a bit of help in some phrases

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