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Need a word or phrase translated?

Thanks epigene and undretide.

That helped a lot. For example, "彼がやったんです！" means that HE did it (and not some other person).

But then another question arises. Would it be correct to say

1. 彼はやったんです？

To be honest, I haven't seen は used in that context but judging from the explanations given by the kind members of this board, I am starting to get the feeling that は and が are interchangeable. Of course, I understand that this is not the case and that is exactly why it becomes all the more confusing.

Would anyone be able to provide an example where using が instead of は or vice versa would provide a completely different meaning?

Once again, thank you very much.
 

が and は are not interchangeable.

It is possible to say
彼はやったんですか (you have to add か for question)
but under a very specific situation - in this case, both the speaker and listeners have common understanding what he did (or not) as the focus is not on 彼 but whether he did (it) or not.

e.g.
One of the books is missing.

彼がなくしたんですか。
(Did he lose it? - Is it him who lost it, or someone else did?)

彼はなくしたんですか。
(Did he lose it? - Obviously it is him who did something with the book, but what he did is not clear.)

Did you see the thread Elizabeth san quoted? If you follow the link you'll find some helpful information.
This might be also of some help.
Japanese Particles: Wa VS Ga
 
彼はなくしたんですか。
(Did he lose it? - Obviously it is him who did something with the book, but what he did is not clear.)
Click to expand...
As shikyo-san also mentioned, in an A は B ("A is B" or "A does B") pattern は signifies that B will be a statement about A. A は is frequently omitted when it is either known or understood. The focus of the sentence in that case obviously shifts to telling what or how B desu did something or is something by means of A.

In a A が B sentence, on the other hand, the focus is on information that comes before the particle, on who or which one performed the action.


One context in which they may provide a clearly completely different meaning
would be the difference between these two said by a customer to a clerk:

それがいいです。I want THAT one.
それはいいです。 That's nice, but no thanks. I prefer something else.

(*Disclaimer* This example comes from a textbook, I've never used the latter in real-life).
 
Thanks Elizabeth and undertide.

I really appreciate this help. I am going through the links provided.

Thanks again.
 
Elisabeth, the second one in my experience is used quite a bit, I think it is a good example of saying no thanks to something. Also you could say this "それは結構です。"
 
Aが、ある現象について、 進歩した面としない面をのべる。
"[A] states the page that doesn't progress and does progress concerning a certain phenomenon"

I see "としない" as "and [a page] that doesn't..."


I wasn't sure how to translate "面" here. The sentence is explaining certain sentence structures. I have the most trouble translating directions for some reason, and it drives me bat-crazy. Does anyone have a clear answer as to what this sentence is actually saying? :auch:
 
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I might translate this as
"'A' states areas both in which progress has and has not been made regarding a certain phenomenon."
 
I don't understand what you are trying to say? Would you be able to clarify the English sentence? That Japanese sentence does not make sense to me, sorry. Is it your translation or is it out of a book or off TV or something? B/c I would like to see the full paragraph to make sense of it. Thanks
 

The meaning of the whole sentence is as Mikawa Ossan translated.
面 is not a page - it could mean surface, face, mask, etc. but here it means area, aspect, points, sides.
 
fine82 said:
Thanks Elizabeth and undretide.
I really appreciate this help. I am going through the links provided.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
どういたしまして。

That's why I've always used a real text book supplemented as needed by online or other materials. : There's an index for easy reference and organization is by categories of grammar or vocab.


But in any case, here's another one that has some good stuff on the は、が difference near the end.

Two 'wa' subjects in one sentence? | Japan Forum
 
Mikawa Ossan said:
I might translate this as
"'A' states areas both in which progress has and has not been made regarding a certain phenomenon."
Click to expand...

成程。僕の文章を翻訳し、直してくれてありがとうございます。また、ありがとう
FrustratedDave-San. 僕の変な文を読もうとしていてくれた。
いろいろとお世話になっています。
 
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Would a kind person please translate this?

Hi my friend. How are you? Do you play video games? What's it like in japan? I've been collecting more united states coins lately, and practicing my magic tricks. What are you up to?

Thanks
 
No worries Fuumei, but let me explain why I think the sentence needs clarification. I don't understand how a "現象" can "進歩する"、it may just be me , but I think these are the wrong choice of words, b/c the sentence does not make any sense when read in Japanese .
 
Assuming that it's just part of a longer narrative, I assume that it has to do with something like the "heat island" phenomenon or something like that which has been caused by human activity and presumably can be counteracted by human as well.

I admit that by itself, the sentence doesn't make much sense, but I can see how it might fit in a larger context.
 

Mikawa Ossan, FrustratedDave-san, I'm glad I am not the only one who feels a bit lost in that sentence. There is an english translation to the side (Rather poor) and mentions nothing about a "phenomenon". Here is the book's view:

"[A] remarks on both the changes and constancies of a situation." Is "constancies" even a word? I don't think so.
In any case, thanks for your effort. Without all of you I wouldn't be able to continue my studies on my own.

Also, special thanks to Undrentide-san for further explaining the definition of 'men'. Lately that has caused confusion in a wide range of articles to me.
 
Geez...how is a Japanese supervisor expected to act ? Taking on that challange as an outsider must be enough to dump any sane person into the depths of despair.

At least marrying into a foreign culture you can recognize the problems, try to iron out any differences and make the relationship work. But as a boss, the employees must be as uncertain of your expectations as you are being in the role just as you probably have no idea what they are honestly thinking.

There are at least a few others here, FrustratedDave, in a similar situation that I'm sure can feel your dispair more personally....you may want to start a separate thread (if not forum....) just for them.

人生は、紆余曲折でいっぱいね。。
 
I have a question about the difference between ~としては and ~にしては when used to make comparisons.

ボブは日本語をいっしょけんめい勉強しているにしては、ちょっと下手です。

I asked a teacher, and he said that you couldnt used としては in this sentence, but couldnt explain to me why (language barrier et al.)

So, Question 1: Is that because you can't but a verb in the plain form before としては？ Can you only put としては after a noun?

Question 2: How do the two differ when following a noun?

In the book, the example for としては is このステーキは日本のステーキとしては安いです。

Could you add change this one to a にしては sentence?

In the book, it says that the word preceeding にしては is presupposed to be the same as subject. I cant quite wrap my head around this one. I tried to explain my own thoughts, but actually couldnt at all. Any help anyone could give me regarding these two grammar points would be great.
 
The difference is more in connotation than usage or grammar. Both are used after nouns。 にしては、can be translated more along the lines "considering that it is..." 一月にしては、割りに暖かい。(It is quite warm for January (not for other months necessarily).

and "としては" is often just "for" 彼女の行動は子供としては普通です。(Her behavior is normal for a child (not adultlike).) I hope that sentence is roughly natural...

or "as for/for one/for my (the subject's) personal part..." which emphasizes what may be in constrast to other views or perspectives.

私(個人)としては、そのクラスに参加したいと思います。 I, for one, would like to participate in that class.


Less helpful, but this is how my dictionary deals with the nuances :

X にしては "for an X" normally presupposes that the person/thing referred to by the subject actually is an X and can be paraphrased as "considering the fact that it is an X" whereas X としては "for an X" carries no such presupposition. In the former case, the judgement by the speaker sounds more subjective; in the latter case sounds more objective and based on conventionally accepted standards.

このステーキは日本のステーキにしては安いです。I'm not 100% sure, may be a bit awkward with the repetition of ステーキ but I would say this also fine.


HTH
 
Just accidentally deleted a very long post. Sigh. Anyway, I'm not sure I quite understand. If you could list typical situations where you would use the one type but not the other, maybe that would help. Here are examples I created myself. Does it seem like I'm getting the hang of it?

にしては １ Example

(子供と一緒に映画を見に行ってから、二人のお母さんが叛しています。)
After going to see a movie with their children, two mothers are talking.
A: 子供対象の映画にしては、この映画に暴力がたくさんあったわね。
（Considering this movie was intended for kids, it had a lot of violence, dont you think?)
B: そうですね。見なければ良かったわね。
（Yeah. I wish we hadn't seen it)


としては ２ Examples

一流の俳優としては出演した演劇が少ないです。
（For a top notch actor, he hasn't appeared in many plays。）

プロ野球選手としてはボールを投げるのが速いです。（今まだ高校生ですけど）
(Even) For a pro baseball player, he throws fast. (even though he's still in high school).

Would this (the second) be a good example of the subject and object of comparison differing? Or not? Also, how are all my sentences, in terms of the にしては/としては differentiation, and also just in general?
 
I don't understand the use of は in として in this sentence. If you're meaning he is above average maybe it should be "even for a pro baseball player" (としても？）Unless it's to imply he's playing against other types of athletes that can throw harder or faster and thus suffers by comparison ?

I also didn't realize that high school students could turn pro, but if he's only a high school student and is thus far exceeding expectations for his age but not necessarily against established players then I would go with 高校野球選手にしては。 The standards are already mediocre for what is considered normal, but he is beating the odds and doing better than the mean.


If you could list typical situations where you would use the one type but not the other, maybe that would help.
Click to expand...
にしては can sound rude or condescending depending on how it is used.
I think としては is much more general and common. For me, it is usually in cases like

日本語文章としては問題ありません。For Japanese (as a Japanese sentence), it is no problem...
 
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A が「だけど、。。。」以下で反対の意見をのべたあと、

I'm not quite sure how to translate "以下で" in this sentence. Any hints at least would be greatly welcome. This book I'm studying from just seems to get nastier and nastier as each page is turned.
 
以下で here means "in the statement that follows だけど、".
以下 means the below.
 

Yeah, I meant something like this. Imagine a pro scout is at a high school game, talking about a high school pitcher to another scout, and he says something like 'even for a major league pitcher, this kid throws hard.' I was trying to but ても ＯＲ でも in there but didn't know if or where it would work, so I left it out. In that case, ～としても？ Or ～にしては？



Elizabeth said:
にしては can sound rude or condescending depending on how it is used. I think としては is much more general and common. For me, it is usually in cases like.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's the kind of thing I was looking for. I've never actually heard にしては used, but it sounds like a much more common word, or at least a word with a greater range of uses, in the dictionary I am using. I wish there was a dictionary that had a word's usage score relative to other words with identical/similar meanings, or described exactly the kind of situations one word (or grammatical phrase) was used in over another. Obviously that kind of dictionary would be tough to write, especially since usage differs according to area and person, but I think it would be a useful supplement to the normal way of picking up usage, ie encountering material time after time after time in real situations....
 
Quick question: is there something like P.S. in Japanese where you can add things you forgot at the end of a letter, blog, etc? I've started writing a blog, and at the end I always think of random irrelevant things I want to add. But I don't know if people normally do that, let alone if there's a specific term for it. I've been using そして...
 
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