long, run-on sentences

Hi Mikawa,

Thanks for the new, larger test. Ok, let me try and give you what I can understand from the text:

Even with new measures..(I don't understand "mattaku nai wake dewa nai desu ga")

I know "mattaku" means fully, clearly

The old/used something...(I don't understand "da toto ku ni") gas and water supply, toilet, bath, facilities...I don't recongnize the word (老朽化)_ know the first character meands old and the last "ka" change..."ni tomonai" (I don't understand)

From the new people moving in there have been many requests for improvements.

Sorry, but that is all that I can piece together.

Paul

Hmm...ok. Well, keep practicing reading, and you'll get better little by little. Personally I recommend reading online newspapers like www.asahi.com or 日本経済新聞 and see if you can't get ahold of some novels. One book in particular that I think is good (although it may be a little difficult due to the puns) is this:
Amazon.co.jp : �E�C���錾�t

By the way, the sentence I gave can be loosely translated as follows:

Although it's not the case that this is completely absent from new properties, when it comes to used properties, there will be more and more requests for improvements from your tenants as such fixtures as especially LP gas, hot water, toilet, and bath deteriorate with age.

It would have been easier, perhaps, without the extraneous spacing.

Not: "da toto kuni"

Should be: "da to toku ni"

Hi Mikawa,


Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the suggestions but I am feeling a little overwhelmed. If I cannot understand the sentence you provided, how am I supposed to understand Japanese newspapers. I am sorry if I am coming across as being negative, but I feel pretty discouraged after relaizing how far off the mark my translation of the sentence was...Do you think I should enroll in a Japanese language school full-time for a year of study to try and learn the basics, since it seems clear to the other contributors to this thread that I have not fully grasped them.

Paul

Mike Cash said:

It would have been easier, perhaps, without the extraneous spacing.

Not: "da toto kuni"

Should be: "da to toku ni"

Click to expand...

You're absolutely correct. I don't know why Jref adds a space every 20th character or so. It'S especially annoying when it causes mojibake!

It didn't always do that, either. I think something happened during one of the upgrades four years or so ago where the code completely changed and it started adding the half-width space. If you go back and look at some of the old threads in Japanese you see a completely different kind of mojibake than what happens now. At any rate, it would be awesome if it quit doing that.

undrentide said:

例えば「時間に追われて生活するのはアメリカ人にとってはごく当たり前のことだと思います」なんてどうでしょう？

（いつのまにやら Big off topicになっちゃいましたが・・・）

Click to expand...

It's getting isogashii bun, but as undrentide-san suggested and with a darker twist. Maybe working in 奔走 somehow to show the frantic pace of life ??

このごろ、時間に追われるのにちょっと反抗するアマリカ人が多いと思うので・・・

Paul Kelaey said:

Hi Hirashin,
I have been studying Japanese on my own using textbooks. I have studied basic grammar on my own. Below is the reading passage that was VERY difficult for me-i.e. trying to ascertain the subject/topic at the sentence level, and then answer the comprehension questions.
Paul

Click to expand...

Hi, Paul. Thank you for telling us about it.

Wow! You are reading a really stiff and complicated piece of writing.
I don't like to read this kind of stuff and I'm not competent to translate
it into English, but I'll try my best to give you some hints and tips that
might help you a little. It's only about the first half of your passage.
Please correct my English if needed.

Paul Kelaey said:

この話をする前に、「時間というものは作ることができ ない」という、あたり前のことを言っておきたい。

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時間というものは作ることができない is the same as 時間は作ることができない,
which means "It is impossible to create time."

There is a little difference between 言いたい and 言っておきたい. The latter
has a nuance that the writer wants to say it in preparation for something.

Paul Kelaey said:

1日が24時間であることを変えることはできない。

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一日が２４時間であるということ can be replaced with 一日が24時間である
（という）事実.

Paul Kelaey said:

睡眠時間を削ればいいと言う人もいるだろう。

Click to expand...

(verb) + 人もいる means "some people (do something)".
My translation would be
"Some people might say that you can reduce the length of your sleep."

Paul Kelaey said:

必要な睡眠時間は個人差があるうえに、無理をすると苦 痛も大きい。

Click to expand...

How many hours of sleep needed depends on the person. Besides, if you
push yourself too hard, it will give you a lot of pain.

Paul Kelaey said:

楽しいことをするために睡眠時間を削るのはそれほど苦 にならないものだけれども、勉強のために睡眠時間を削 るなど、①なかなかできるものではない。

Click to expand...

苦にならない means "not unbearable"

苦にならないものだけれども is almost the same as 苦にならないけれども. It is
hard for me to explain this もの. I think it suggests general tendency or
something.

Sorry. That's all for today.

Hope it helps a little.

Hirashin