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Need a word or phrase translated?

Glenn said:
Well, it depends, I guess. I want it to be for not having done something a while ago, like, say, 24 hrs or more. Which one is better for that?
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If you wanted to make perfectly clear you didn't intend to say anything stupid and hope it wasn't taken that way I would just say that directly.
Well, maybe not exactly this way but any natural variation on it.

私が言ったことはばかのように（ばかだと）思わなければいい。。。聞こえなければいい。。。
 
Because I want to know ... Would 「三月までは、日本の入国管理局からビサの許可を待っています 。」 work? Grammatically, at least, it would seem that it would to me.

Mikawa Ossan said:
絶対に入学させてくれると思います。
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「させて」 is the -te form of the causative form of 「する」, isn't it? I don't understand how that fits in. Also, could I receive a brief explanation of 「くれる」, because I'm not sure exactly what it means. I've seen it before, but what's its purpose?

Mikawa Ossan said:
Honestly, you had very few actual mistakes. Keep up the good work, and good luck at Yamasa! It's just a hop, skip, and a jump from where I live, so if you need any help getting set up that the school doesn't provide, I'll try to lend you a hand!
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どうもありがとう！よろしくおねがいします。 I appreciate your kind help very much.
 
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今私は里絵子ちゃんに私の便のインフォを訳してとしています。
今までこれがした：
そう思いますか？いいですか？
 
訳してとしています。
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「訳してとしています。」はどういう意味でしょうか？
訳しようとしていますか？(Trying to translate) ということのですか？
 
あ！訳しようとしています。～とするをまだ良く分かんない。頑張ります。
 
"kaisha mo yasuminanode, itsumo wa yogorete iru tokyo no sora ga, kyou wa kirei de kimochi ga ii."

I'm having a little trouble understanding a part of this sentence. At the end of the first phrase 'yasuminanode', I read that as "because/since the company was closed.." But the sentence goes on to say "itsumo wa yogorete iru tokyo no sora". I've only encountered sentences with 'node' that have the reason listen directly afterward. But here there is this phrase "itsumo... etc" right after it. Can anyone tell me how I'm supposed to see this sentence in my mind correctly? Any help would be appreciated. If possible, please respond with limited kanji (if at all.)

Thanks
 
-どいつもこいつも
2-おもいしったか (did you learn a lesson? (!????))
3-もったいねエー( what a waste!, but dictionaries say it means "too good" !!???)
4-Who uses ( さらば! ) ?

Would you please analyze them grammatically, especially the first one.(for exaple indicating the omitted parts of the sentence, if the were any)
 
Hello.

Fuumeiさん。

会社も休みなので → かいしゃ も やすみ なので → Because no one had to go to work...

いつもは汚れている東京の空が → いつも は よごれて いる とうきょう の そら が → the skies in Tokyo are usually smoggy but...

今日はきれいで気持ちがいい。 → きょう は きれい で きもち が いい。 → Today they were clean and I feel good.

"Because no one had to go to work today, (fewer vehicles were being used), so although the skies in Tokyo are usually smoggy, today they were clean and I'm feeling good."

MtoMさん。

１．どいつもこいつも
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"That's a set phrase. It's slang. You can say that when you learn that no one knows about something or can do it. You should say the phrase as if you were fed up or disgusted."

2-おもいしったか (did you learn a lesson? (!????))
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おもいしったか！？→思い知ったか！？(past tense of 思い知る + か)

思い知る literally means "to realize." "Did you learn a lesson?!" is not a literal translation but it expresses the subtle meaning of 思い知ったか well. It's like a set phrase basically. I wouldn't say it's a very common thing to say, though, although anyone would understand it. (Thanks T)

3-もったいねエー( what a waste!, but dictionaries say it means "too good" !!???)
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もったいない = What a waste!

Dictionary definition: too good; more than one deserves; wasteful; sacrilegious; unworthy of.

Too good = more than one needs/excessive = wasteful

4-Who uses ( さらば! ) ?
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I've never heard anyone say that so...
 
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Grammatically I see nothing wrong about your sentence. I can think of other ways to say it, but I think that for now that would more than suffice.
「させて」 is the -te form of the causative form of 「する」, isn't it? I don't understand how that fits in.
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Yes, you're right. Maybe if you think of the sentence more along the lines of, "I'm positive that they will llet me enter their school," it would make more sense to you.

Keep in mind that させる has at least two different meanings in English.
1) to make someone do something
2) to let (or allow) someone to do something

Distinguishing between the two meanings can be difficult, but you can usually tell from the context.
Also, could I receive a brief explanation of 「くれる」, because I'm not sure exactly what it means. I've seen it before, but what's its purpose?
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How's this for short? くれる is the same as くださる, only less polite.

Good luck in your continued studies!
 
MtoM said:
4-Who uses ( さらば! ) ?
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On a regular basis? Probably no one. I've heard used on several occasions in the exact same context that you might say "Farewell!" in English when you want to say good-bye in an interesting way.
 

I don't think that's the "but" が*. It looks more like "Since we're off of work, the skyies of Tokyo, which are always dirty, are clean today so I'm feeling good." However, this is confusing for me, too. It seems like an odd use of "since." The only thing I could think of that would make sense would be if なので was just なのだ in -て刑, and it read more like "We're off of work, and the usually dirty skies of Tokyo are clean today so I feel good." Any other opinions?

*I say this because が follows a noun directly here. It only means "but" when it follows a predicate of some sort, be it verb, adjective, or na adjective/noun plus copula. That is, unless there's some exception to this rule that I haven't learned yet.
 
Fuumei said:
"kaisha mo yasuminanode, itsumo wa yogorete iru tokyo no sora ga, kyou wa kirei de kimochi ga ii."
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会社も休みなので、いつもは汚れている東京の空が、今日はキレイで気持ちがいい。

Above is the original sentence. Below, I have changed the placement of the dots a little. Maybe it will help.

会社も休みなので、いつもは汚れている東京の空が今日はキレイで、気持ちがいい。

Below I changed the word order a little.

今日は、会社も休みなので、いつもは汚れている東京の空が、キレイで気持ちがいい。

And here I stripped it down to its bare essentials.

会社も休みなので、東京の空がキレイで気持ちがいい。
 

That helps quite a bit. I wasn't sure how to string that extra long sentence together. Honto ni arigatou!
 
+++
どいつもこいつも
"That's a set phrase. It's slang. You can say that when you learn that no one knows about something or can do it. You should say the phrase as if you were fed up or disgusted."
+++
Well, that is exactly what I know about it. What I don't is where did it come from.
I think it is maybe, どいつ も こいつ も
＝だれも -かれも- （出来る）

and how is ,too good=wasteful ??
 
Glenn said:
"We're off of work, and the usually dirty skies of Tokyo are clean today so I feel good."
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Turns out that Luthien Rouge had the right idea about the linking of ので here. It's because of the factories being closed that the skies are clean today. Thanks to Mikawa Ossan for pointing that out to me.

But, to my credit, that が is the subject marker.
 
But, to my credit, that が is the subject marker.
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Haha sorry. Thank you for pointing that out. :note: >>Mikawa Ossan, Glenn

MtoMさん。

Sorry, your original question wasn't clear to me. Ok, here we go:

どいつ も こいつ も ＝ だれ も かれ も yes.

I was chatting to people about how to explain it in English. Hanenone suggested "One and all." Does that make sense? Try to feeeel the word; become one with the word. ☝

too good=wasteful
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Maybe you're thinking of it in the wrong sense...hmm...

Too good → excessively good → more than needed.

If you have more than you need or if it's better than what you need, then it's wasteful, isn't it?
 
There's a very subtle difference in tone between "nanode" and "dakara" or "desukara" but I've never had it explained very satisfactorily. Anyone have any further sense of when, if ever, it would make a difference to use one over the other ?
 
I've heard if you're going to make an excuse to your boss about something it's better to use ので because it's a bit softer and doesn't show as direct a connection. I'm not sure how much that helps you, but that's about all I've got.
 
Hey guys.
Mikawa：
I have a question.
In this case, why is it 「会社も休みなので、東京の空がキレイで気持ちがいい」 instead of 「会社も休みなので、東京の空はキレイで気持ちがいい」？
 
Wow, asked for by name! You think far too highly of me, friend!

Anyway, the first thing that comes to mind is that the は pair already present is a contrastive set as it is. Contrasting いつも and 今日.
 
If it means anything that sounds right to me, too.
 
Sorry guys, but I'm still confused.

If we were to just say this sentence on its own:

「会社も休みなので、東京の空（が／は）キレイで気持ちがいい」

Without 今日は(implied) or いつもは汚れている(nonessential).

This is meant to read "Because no one had to go to work (today in Tokyo, the factories were closed, less cars were being used etc), the sky in Tokyo is clean and I'm feeling good." If が is used, it feels like you're comparing Tokyo's sky to the sky in other places, doesn't it? With は, it feels like the emphasis is on the condition of Tokyo's sky. Am I reading it a different way than it was intended to be read? :?
 
Mikawa Ossan said:
Wow, asked for by name! You think far too highly of me, friend!
Anyway, the first thing that comes to mind is that the は pair already present is a contrastive set as it is. Contrasting いつも and 今日.
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Although 空がきれいで気持ちがいい seems fine as well, independent of any contrastive elements. If it is OK, the use of が in these cases may also work to emphasize what it is -- the unusually clean, clear sky -- that was the cause of the speaker's good feelings. :?
 
は and が and the differences between them, especially in practical usage, are notoriously difficult to explain. Remember that this is just my own personal interpretation. I am sure there are other and perhaps better "textbook" explanations. When I was learning Japanese I tried to think of shortcuts, too (kind of like a "duct tape" solution: it doesn't really fix the problem, but it gets you through temporarily until something better comes along!), so I wouldn't have to worry so much about the finer points of grammar. Therefore, let me say that I hope in this attempt to help you, I do not confuse you any further.

My first bit of advice is to brush up on whatever your textbook says the differences are between the two. With that info in mind, let's continue.

OK, so let's make the sentence consist of nothing but
空がきれいで気持ちがいい

I think as the sentence is written above is the best way to write this sentence.

Next, think about changing the first が into a は.
空はきれいで気持ちがいい

How do you think this changes the meaning of the sentence?
You can either think of the subject changing from an understood "I" to the sky, OR, there's a slight shift in nuance so that it almost sounds as if everything else is dirty(!). But neither of these things, do you want to say, do you? (When did Yoda enter my body?!?)

OK, so let's keep that が intact, and instead change the second one. Our new sentence is:
空がきれいで気持ちはいい。

Here, for reasons beyond my ability to explain, the subject will stay at the understood "I", so that changing of subject issue is not a problem.

But again, it almost sounds like there's SOMEthing amiss. Like, kimochi is good, but nothing else necessarily is. It's hard to explain. But maybe there's a situation like this: the subject of this sentence, "I", has a problem that has been going on for some time. S/he is very worried or troubled by this problem. It is one of those feelings that just won't go away until the problem is solved, but there's no end in sight. So today, "I" walks outside and lo and behold, it's a beautiful clear sky. S/he feels good, BUT there's still that nagging feeling that remains underneath.

Another way to think of this, in reverse order, is as follows:

気持ちがいい
is for the most part a set phrase. It's just the regular standard way to say it.

空がきれいで
is a subclause in the main sentence. Therefore unless you want to specifically single out 空 as something in contrast to something else, the default is が. This is one of those "shortcuts" I was talking about earlier.

I hope this helps! (I REALLY hope this wasn't confusing. I offer my sincerest apologies if it was.)
 
Thanks Mikawa, that was helpful ! The Japanese people I've talked to also have slightly different takes on the subject, though, so confusion is only to be expected.
And "Sora wa kirei" taken alone may set up a weird feeling of opposition to everything else but it also has a general feel (to me at least). As if you are referring to skies or the sky in general as being clean or pretty but which doesn't necessarily reflect anything about the immediate condition of the way it appears right now (for that "ga" is more natural).
 
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