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ki ni nasaru = ki ni naru?

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こんにちは、

It's been quite a while since I posted here.

My Japanese penpal (a sweet, 71 year old woman named Minaeko) recently wrote: 私がスティーヴさんに、ほとんど英語のメールを書いていないのは、スティーヴさんがあまりにも立派な日本語を書かれるからです。下手な英語なんか書けないのですよ。Language exchange のパートナーとして、スティーヴさんはそれを気になさった のでしょうか。

My question is the phrase in blue. I know that she's wondering if I'm thinking about the fact that she hasn't written in English, but I want to make sure of the nuance. I know that 気になる can mean 'to worry' or 'to feel uneasy', but I'm not sure if 気になさる means something is just casually on my mind, or if it also indicates some kind of thinking with worry or concern. Or perhaps I'm completely off base.

By the way, in this letter she did write a couple of paragraphs in near flawless English. The Japanese tend to be so incredibly humble-->

Thanks for your help.

ところで、英語で返事を書くのはいいですよ。いつも日本語を練習したいんです。
 
I'm fairly sure this is the honorific 気に為さる(nasaru) for Ki ni suru, but I'm always second guessing with polite forms so better to wait for a native speaker (and then try to verify their answer).

BTW, did you want the answer in Japanese or English ?
 
It is indeed the honorific. Not that I can help with a halfways decent translation...
 
All she appears to be wondering about is whether, as a language exchange partner, her not writing in English (since you can write such great Japanese) was a concern for you (ki ni suru being less emphatic and more conversational than ki ni naru).
 
Elizabeth said:
I'm fairly sure this is the honorific 気に為さる(nasaru) for Ki ni suru...
Thanks Elizabeth

Ah yes, now I see. My problem was that I could not find 気になさる in the dictionary, but I didn't even think to look under the plain form, 気にする。 And, sure enough, it's right there at Jim Breen's:

気にする 【きにする】 (exp) to mind (negative nuance); to care about; to worry; to pay undue (amount of) attention to (something)

Minaeko-san is an older woman, and so tends to use quite a bit of extremely polite language, which I'm not used to. In class we concentrated on the desu-masu style. Since she is older than me, I should probably be using the more polite forms when writing to her but, since I'm a guy, and a foreigner, I guess she probably lets it slide.
 
そうなんでしょうね。

よく、中年以上の日本人女性が使いそうな言葉ですね。
でも、外人が「です・ます」型で話せれば、文句はないくらいだと思います。
 
?
Elizabeth said:
でも、外人が「です・ます」型で話せれば、文句はないくらいだと思います。
私もそう思います。これは私のペンフレンドの写真です。71歳のを信じられますか?


質問してもいいですか。エレザベスさんはどのように日本語を学んでいますか。
 
おばあさんはかっこいみたいね|
かんぱぁ~いっ
 
Damicci said:
おばあさんはかっこいみたいね|
かんぱぁ~いっ

yeah かんぱい...She probably took to drinking after trying to read my Japanese!

Damicciさん、はじめまして。I see that you have a blogspot...think I'll wander over and take a look.
 
Last edited:
Sumiyoshiさん、

あなたの友達は、ずっとまだ年のわりに(実際の年よりは)、若く見えますね。 (She does look young for her age)。 「元気ですね。特別なことをしていらっしゃいますか?」という風に彼女に聞きましたか?
 
じゃあ、私の友達はひじょうに謙虚です。私に写真が偽っていると言いました。しかしながら、彼女は気持ちが若いのです。彼女の最近のEメールは英語で次のものを書きました。たぶんエリザベスさんはそれがおもしろいと思うでしょう。

"I am sorry for my late reply. I had been sick in bed till three days ago. I started to have a sore throat about two weeks ago but I didn't take it seriously and went to Hiroshima on a trip 10 days ago. I started to have a fever and felt very fatigued. After coming home I went to see a doctor, who had my chest x-rayed, which did not indicate I had a pneumonia as I was afraid of. It was just a cold. He told me to have plenty of rest and gave me some antibiotics to prevent my cold from developing to pneumonia. I was hospitalized for it last year. I followed his advice and I have completely recovered from the cold. I learned a lesson this time. I am not a young woman anymore. I know I am over 70 years old but I often forget it.
I seldom got sick enough to see any doctors till last year. I am afraid I had too much confidence in my health."

彼女の英語がずいぶん上手ですねぇ!
 
住吉さん、みなさん
こんにちは&はじめまして!

Elizabeth said:
I'm fairly sure this is the honorific 気に為さる(nasaru) for Ki ni suru, but I'm always second guessing with polite forms so better to wait for a native speaker (and then try to verify their answer).

とても素敵な日本語を書かれる方ですね。
尊敬語 (polite form)だと思います。。。
会話では、「気にされる」という言い方をよく聞くと思います。

ところで、
住吉さんのペンパルは
ホントにお若くて、英語がお上手ですね。
若さの秘訣を聞いてください~。
 
猫娘さん、はじめまして。
nekomusume said:
ところで、住吉さんのペンパルはホントにお若くて、英語がお上手ですね。
はいそうです。
若さの秘訣を聞いてください~。
そうするつもりですよ。酒を飲むのでしょうか。。。
 
私の場合、謙虚な感じとは関係ないんですけど。
自分では実際の年よりは若く見えると思っていますが、周りの人はどう思って
いるかは分かりません。一週間1~2回、大きな茶碗に並々と酒を注いで一気に飲むようにしています。
 
うん。
お酒はやはりいいんだね~。
「酒は百薬の長」ということわざもありますから・・・。


Elizabeth said:
一週間1~2回、大きな茶碗に並々と酒を注いで一気に飲むようにしています。
マジで~~??!!
一気ってすごいなぁ。
その場合やっぱり、日本酒ですよね?

私も酒は好きですよ。
ワインとビールをよく飲みます。
 
I'll pass on the sake. That's one part of Japanese cuisine I just haven't been able to aquire a taste for. I've tried hot and cold, filtered and unfiltered, and after a sip or two, I feel The same goes for beer. それに反して、私はワインが好きです。おまけに一日につき一杯のワインは心臓のためにいいと考えられています。
 
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