Need a word or phrase translated?

[cacawate]

Ok, what's up with these?

捜す 【さがす】 (v5s) to search; to seek; to look for; EP

探す 【さがす】 (v5s) to search; to seek; to look for; EP

探る 【さぐる】 (v5r) to search; to look for; to sound out; EP

Do they refer to something strange like searching for inanimate objects/intangibles (i.e. on the web; seeking truth) vs. animate (in your closet)? Do I really have to worry about them? Is the 探る intransitive? Any help appreciated! Especially if it's from the infamous @jt_ .

 

[CorDarei]

Ok, what's up with these?

捜す 【さがす】 (v5s) to search; to seek; to look for; EP

探す 【さがす】 (v5s) to search; to seek; to look for; EP

探る 【さぐる】 (v5r) to search; to look for; to sound out; EP

Do they refer to something strange like searching for inanimate objects/intangibles (i.e. on the web; seeking truth) vs. animate (in your closet)? Do I really have to worry about them? Is the 探る intransitive? Any help appreciated! Especially if it's from the infamous jt_.

There was a discussion on 捜す vs 探す on s.l.j earlier this week, the upshot of which was (if I remember right) that 捜す is used when you are looking for something you have lost, and 探す is used when looking for something that you want. I'm not sure how 探る ties into the picture though.

 

[PaulTB]

There was a discussion on 捜す vs 探す on s.l.j earlier this week, the upshot of which was (if I remember right) that 捜す is used when you are looking for something you have lost, and 探す is used when looking for something that you want.

Pretty much. Except that 捜す is used for police and such hunting for criminals.

 

[cacawate]

There was a discussion on 捜す vs 探す on s.l.j earlier this week, the upshot of which was (if I remember right) that 捜す is used when you are looking for something you have lost, and 探す is used when looking for something that you want. I'm not sure how 探る ties into the picture though.

CorDarei, PaulTB,

Thanks for the responses. To clear things up can I use each for intangible things? As in 失恋を捜すand 恋を探す? Thanks again.

BTW, I'm really not searching for these things, they were just the first things that popped into my head. BACK OFF LADIES!

 

[bentenmusume]

CorDarei and PaulTB have already provided some really good info, but... I just couldn't ignore a question from someone who considers me "infamous." (I'm not sure how to feel about that, but I suppose it's better than no fame at all )

Just to add to what's already been explained, first of all here's a link to one post from the sci.lang.japan thread that CorDarei mentioned, which sums up some examples of the contrasting usage between 「探す」 and 「捜す」.

Moving on to your other questions:

Thanks for the responses. To clear things up can I use each for intangible things? As in 失恋を捜すand 恋を探す? Thanks again.

「恋を探す」 is fine. 「失恋を探す」 (with either kanji) sounds strange to me because of the meaning of 失恋. You realize that this doesn't mean "lost love" as in an 'old flame' (or someone you had feelings for but lost touch with, or the like), but rather it means rejected/unrequited love. 「失恋を探してる」 would make it sound like the person in question is actively seeking to get rejected by the object of their affection.

Finally, regarding 「探る」, let me give a rough, abridged translation with example sentences from 大辞泉:

1) To use the tactile senses of e.g. one's hands and feet to seek/feel out something that cannot be seen.
「小銭がないかとポケットを探る」「暗闇を探る」 (note here that を is marking the area/"space" being searched, not what's being searched for, though a quick Google search suggests that this might be somewhat flexible.)
2) To indirectly gauge the thoughts, condition, movement, location of one's opponent/another party.
「敵情を探る」「探るような目つき」
3) To observe/investigate for purposes of clarifying something as-of-yet unknown.
「語源を探る」「事故の原因を探る」
4) To seek out the best possible way of doing something.
「解決の糸口を探る」
5) To seek out and enjoy little-known lands/areas or beautiful scenery.
「秘境を探る」「古都の秋を探る」

Anyway, I have no idea if this will be helpful or not, but for whatever it's worth, there it is.

If there are specific examples that you're still unsure of, I find that judicious use of Google is a really good way to get an idea of the extent to which native speakers actually use a particular phrase.

 

[cacawate]

Thanks jt_ !!!

(Imagine that Stimpy girlish scream he does)

 

[Osaka-chan]

Hello!

Would someone please be kind enough to help me translate these sentences?

1. I'm Leslie.
2. How do you do. I'm very glad to meet you.
3. Leslie, this is Brian of Home Depot.
4. Are you a student?
5. Yes, I am a student of Gavilan College.
6. Are you American?
7. I am an American.

I am trying to learn on my own with little help from anyone. Our teacher goes way too fast and she won't let us write anything down (which is how I learn), so I'm afraid I might fail this class... I want the letters in English so I can memorize them but she's trying to get us to read out of a book with no English! We've only been doing this for 4 days!

 

[GoldCoinLover]

For, your question, "I'm an american" I know one way to use it with anata (note of caution: saying anata in japan can be seen as rude. Perhaps someone can find a better way to say this)

Anata wa american-jin no desu.
"I'm an american"

watashi wa amerikin-jin desu
Or simply watashi amerikin-jin imasu.
わたし は あめりきんーじん です。
（わたし あめりきんーじん います。）

---

american-jin desu ka?
"Are you an american?"
あめりきんーじん です か？

--

Do you speak english?

Eigo wa wakarimasu ka
えいご わ わかります か？

--

NOTE: The question marks can be dropped. Its just there for clarification.

 

[GoldCoinLover]

Hello!

Would someone please be kind enough to help me translate these sentences?

1. I'm Leslie.
2. How do you do. I'm very glad to meet you.
3. Leslie, this is Brian of Home Depot.
4. Are you a student?
5. Yes, I am a student of Gavilan College.
6. Are you American?
7. I am an American.

I am trying to learn on my own with little help from anyone. Our teacher goes way too fast and she won't let us write anything down (which is how I learn), so I'm afraid I might fail this class... I want the letters in English so I can memorize them but she's trying to get us to read out of a book with no English! We've only been doing this for 4 days!

1) I'm Leslie.
watashi wa Leslie desu.
わたし は レリエ です。

2) Hajimemashite.Ogenki desu ka.
はじめまして。おげんき です か？

2) I forget how to say "student" in japanese.
5) Don't know
6) Amerikin-jin desu ka (I spelled american wrong here )
Roughly, あめりきんーじん です か？
Or, amerikin-jin imasu ka (again not spelled correctly)
あめりきんーじん います か。
--
In japanese, "jin" means person. So amerikin-jin is "american person".
Try not to use the word you anata, it is formal and rude for polite conversations.

Instead, just drop it. FOr example, if I wanted to say, "Do you know english?" without using anata, simply:
eigo wakarimasu ka?
Roughly translated, "Know english?"
えいご わかります か。

Oh, and for "I am an american."
watashi wa amerikin-jin desu.
わたし は あめりきんーじん です。

--
You see, I'm learning myself. Enjoy!

 

[GoldCoinLover]

Need help with translation - "I'm learning japanese."

I need to translate "I'm learning japanese" to japanese. As well as "I'm a student in physics." in japanese.

Here's what I have so far:
はじめまして, ---> よこしろ
hajimemashite yokoshiro
\\ --> わたし は ケヴィン です。-->
watashi wa kevin desu.
\\ --> おげんき です か？
Ogenki desu ka?

Anata wa american-jin no desu.
あなた は あめりきんーじん の です。

 

[Damicci]

anata is normally considered "you" as speaking to someonelse. watashi atashi watakushi boku ore are forms of saying me/I. yokosiro should be yoroshiku by normal standards i think. that i show i introduce my self to japanese speakers. it is probably better to say
"watashi no namae wa Kevin desu" (seems more polite) "My name is Kevin" instead saying "I am Kevin"

"I am learning japanese" you could say "watashi wa nihongo o benkyoushimasu" I am studying japanese"

"are you a student" - "anata ha gakusei desuka" gakusei is student in particular daigakusei - college student

"Yes, I am a student of X-University." - "Hai, watashi wa X-daigaku no gakusei desu." I think is how you would say your a student of whatever university/college i am sure there is abetter way but thats an idea.

Leslie, this is Brian of Home Depot. [probably drop the mentioning of Leslie it will be assumed brian is speaking to leslie.]
Konnichiha watashi ha Home depot no Brian desu. - Hello I am brian from Home Depot.

osaka-chan make sure you let the teacher know how you feel about the class' speed.

 

[GaijinPunch]

I need to translate "I'm learning japanese" to japanese. As well as "I'm a student in physics." in japanese.

That'd be (respectively)
Watashi ha nihongo wo benkyou shiteimasu
butsurigaku no gakusei

If you wanted to connect them for a dialgoue, you might say something like "butsurigaku no gakusei desu ga, nihongo mo benkyou shiteimasu".

 

[Damicci]

That'd be (respectively)
Watashi ha nihongo wo benkyou shiteimasu
yeah gaijin's is better

"watashi wa nihongo o benkyoushimasu"
mines actually says "I will study japanese."

-masu = will do future tense
-teimasu = perfect present tense "at the very moment of speech"
something like that just in cas eyour wondering the difference. i forget to use teimasu alot

 

[Pox]

このMaciamoさんのポストに疑問があるのですが、

19 is still teenage and I have never heard of anyone of that age getting pregnant among my European acquaintances. However in Japan I have (and many times).

19歳はまだ10代と考えられ、自分の知り合いの10代のヨーロッパ人で妊娠したという人を聞いたことがありません。
一方、日本ではその年齢で妊娠した人を幾度と無く聞いたことがあります。


という和訳は正しいですか？


自分が中学校の時に見た世界統計なので、もう約3年の年月がたっていますし、
自分の記憶もややかすれています。
が、その時点ではヨーロッパの国で日本より10代の妊娠率が低い国はほとんど
無かったはずです。この数年でそこまで妊娠率が変わるとはちょっとにわかには
信じがたいです。ネットで調べてきます。

EDIT:この和訳が自然かどうかということではなく、
俺が読み間違えていないかどうかということです。

 

[Elizabeth]

このMaciamoさんのポストに疑問があるのですが、

19歳はまだ10代と考えられ、自分の知り合いの10代のヨーロッパ人で妊娠したという人を聞いたことがありません。
一方、日本ではその年齢で妊娠した人を幾度と無く聞いたことがあります。


という和訳は正しいですか？

Poxさんの和訳で英文中の[still considered to be a teenager] はどうなりましたか？

多分「19歳はまだ10代で」というのは英語の直訳で日本語では、不自然に聞こえますね。 英語でも「19歳はまだ10代と考えられ」というような言い方が良いと思うけど。

最後の文の意味が正しいかどうか分かりません。「幾度と無く」とはどういう意味でしょうか？

 

[GoldCoinLover]

I need this translated. There is a member of this forum I'm trying to communicate to, shes learning English. I'm still a novice at Japanese, and a member of this forum who gave me the harsh truth of how bad my Japanese actually is (I can't really do dialect that good, but we all gotta start somewhere!) responded in all Japanese to a person learning English.

I'm trying to translate this sentence -- but without knowing a lot of kanji and how they combine with kana, its hard! Please give me the explanation to this sentence as well as how the kanji combines.

では、これからも永島さんから色々勉強させていただき たいと思っていますから
よろしくお願いします！

Here's what I got so far:
Dewa, kore kara mo Mr.Naga kara (various studying)

I know its mixed up, but its hard to learn the kanji! Takes practice, hehe. Especially to be able to have it make sense.

 

[GoldCoinLover]

That'd be (respectively)
Watashi ha nihongo wo benkyou shiteimasu
butsurigaku no gakusei

If you wanted to connect them for a dialgoue, you might say something like "butsurigaku no gakusei desu ga, nihongo mo benkyou shiteimasu".

Thank you!

 

[Elizabeth]

では、これからも永島さんから色々勉強させていただきたいと思っていますから
よろしくお願いします！

I don't recommend beginning with polite/formal sentences like these in the passive tense, but in any event the writer is asking 永島さん (Nagashimasan) from this point on to please allow him the pleasure of receiving help with various aspects of Japanese study.

 

[GoldCoinLover]

I don't recommend beginning with polite/formal sentences like these in the passive tense, but in any event the writer is asking 永島さん (Nagashimasan) to please continue allowing him the pleasure of receiving help with various aspects of Japanese study.

Thank you Elizabeth-san!

I saw the kanji for "various" in there, but various of what? It turned out to be various Japanese study. What would be the kanji for Japanese study?

Would it be 日本語 + (Japanese kanji for study) = kanji for Japanese study

 

[bentenmusume]

I don't recommend beginning with polite/formal sentences like these in the passive tense

Actually, it's causative+いただく, not passive.

but in any event the writer is asking 永島さん (Nagashimasan) to please continue allowing him the pleasure of receiving help with various aspects of Japanese study.

I'd just like to say on the record here that "the writer" of the above sentence is me, and while I feel comfortable enough expressing myself in Japanese, I'm not hot about the idea that someone would use my Japanese as a model to study from.

GoinCoinLover, if you're looking for examples of Japanese to use as study practice, I would recommend sticking to the posts by the native speakers (NANGIさん, Hiroyuki Nagashimaさん, epigeneさん, Poxさん, etc.)

 

[Elizabeth]

Thank you Elizabeth-san!

I saw the kanji for "various" in there, but various of what? It turned out to be various Japanese study. What would be the kanji for Japanese study?

Would it be 日本語 + (Japanese kanji for study) = kanji for Japanese study

I am just assuming Japanese is the commonality between these two people and thus too obvious to mention. 勉強 of course is study. Iroiro is sort of a filler word and often isn't translated at all, but the jist of it is he's asking
Nagashima to please respect his interest in Japanese and give him the benefit of any possible help.

 

[bentenmusume]

Please see my message above, and keep in mind that this is a sentence produced by a non-native speaker of Japanese (me).

では、これからも永島さんから色々勉強させていただき たいと思っていますので
よろしくお願いします！

Also, 日本語 is mentioned nowhere in the sentence. (it's implied perhaps, but I wouldn't call it a "commonality" because obviously the statement is directed to a native speaker who is not "studying" Japanese) I used 色々 in the sense of "various things." I just meant it as a simple polite closing. "I look forward to learning more (having the opportunity to learn more) from you in the future, so よろしくお願いします"

If there's something wrong/unnatural with my sentence (I don't think there is, but as a non-native speaker, I can never be 100% confident), I'm hoping that someone will point it out to me.

 

[Elizabeth]

Actually, it's causative+いただく, not passive.

Yeah, I was in a hurry, somehow saw it as "されて" and was later trying to explain to myself how that could be....

 

[CorDarei]

19歳はまだ10代と考えられ、自分の知り合いの10代のヨーロッパ人で妊娠したという人を聞いたことがありません。
一方、日本ではその年齢で妊娠した人を幾度と無く聞いたことがあります。


という和訳は正しいですか？

正しいと思いますけど。「幾度と無く」と言う文節の意味はなんとなく分かる気がしますが、「何度も」とほとんど同じ意味でしょう。それで、調べの結果は出ていますか？

 

[GoldCoinLover]

Did I translate this right? I am a Beginner in Japanese

I'm a beginner in Japanese, so this is probably wrong, but I gave it my best shot:

、去年の9月まで16年間 東京に住んでいました
今は、福岡に住んでいます。

English translation:
Last year (the 9th) until the 16th of the year I lived in Tokyo. Now,
I live in a Fukuoka prefecture (Kyuushuu) <-- [Edited: Is that a place? That's the dictionary word for those kanji at the end of the sentence]