Need a word or phrase translated?

[Charles Barkley]

First たぶん is for Ｘさん (not someone else), the second one is for 恋をしている (have a certain feeling towards X san, most likely "love").
-- > "Do you mean you are in love probably with X san

Thank you for the help, but I feel like I don't understand this English. This is the English that I was coming up with, but it doesn't make any sense to me, and as a result, I have had difficulty conceptualizing what exactly the author was getting at.

 

[Buckaroo Banzai]

It would be better translated as: Is it probably X-san with whom you are in love? Or is it X-san with whom you are probably in love?

Whoever asked this is trying to clarify if he is sure that X-san is the one (you know, the proverbial "one") or if he is sure he is in love with X-san. Is he sure of the person or is he sure of his feelings toward X-san.

 

[Charles Barkley]

To Barkley: It's not in past tense, at least this is what I was taught, because it is more a meaning of 'it is,' rather than 'it has been.' I mean, even in English you can see 'it is become.' Believe it or not that is NOT grammatically incorrect.

Why isn't it then この会社に勤めて、もう六年になっています, since the others are 勤めています?


I imagine この会社に勤めて、もう六年間です would eliminate the resistance I am having to this point, but I still would like clarification on the above. Thanks in advance.

 

[Buckaroo Banzai]

Hmm...yeah, you got me there. But it may just be archaic. If I remember correctly "narimasu" is classical Japanese for "desu." Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[yasir]

@Elizabeth

Thank you for your kind help
Gokurusamadeshita

 

[Toritoribe]

Why isn't it then この会社に勤めて、もう六年になっています, since the others are 勤めています?
I imagine この会社に勤めて、もう六年間です would eliminate the resistance I am having to this point, but I still would like clarification on the above.

In general,
他動詞(transitive verb)「勤める」+「ている」 means 継続 "be continued".
自動詞(intransitive verb)「なる」+「ている」 means 結果/状態 "be in the state".

この会社に勤めて、今年で六年(目)です/になります。
この会社に勤め始めて、もう六年(間)経ちました。

(「この会社に勤めて、今年で六年になります」sounds natural, I think...)

If I remember correctly "narimasu" is classical Japanese for "desu."

The archaic auxiliary verb なり corresponds to だ/です.
「我は毘沙門天なり!」

 

[orochi]

I don't know how much context I need, so I will err on the side of plenty. What is the difference here between the two punctuated phrases?
私は言う、「そして僕は彼女に恋をしている」
「Xさんに？」
「そう。多分そうだと思う」
「たぶん？」と大島さんは言って眉をしかめる。「それ はたぶんXさんに恋をしている、ということ？それともXさんにたぶん恋をしていると言うこと？」

Buckaroo Banzai's explanation of how the "tabun" is simply shifted to emphasize either X-san or "love" is right on target.

Here's how I'd write it out:

I'm in love with her.
With Anne?
Yeah, I think so.
You think so? You think it's Anne that you're in love with? Or that you're in love with Anne?

This involves a lot of wordplay, and personally I wouldn't recommend studying Japanese via this sort of writing until you require zero explanation in English of the material at hand.

 

[briareos]

I was chatting with a japanese acquaintance and the following came up. I've no idea what they mean... could anyone help with the translation?


nee, doushite mop wo motte iru no?

- what are you doing with a mop?

sou, fuku ha takai desu kara ne

- yes, clothes are expensive

free ja nai no, katta no ne

- it's not free

iroiro ari masu ne

- there are many different types

takusan moratte, takusan sute mashita

- ??

mata atta toki ni kime ru

- ??

gomen mata kondo ne

- ??

 

[Elizabeth]

(「この会社に勤めて、今年で六年になります」sounds natural, I think...)
The archaic auxiliary verb なり corresponds to だ/です.
「我は毘沙門天なり!」

Yes, I suppose この会社に勤めて、今年で六年になります is more objective than
この会社に勤めて、もう六年になっています. I can't explain why you don't say
XXXkan ni narimasu, though. Sorry. It's simply a way of speaking I've never encountered. In the same way "a period of 6 years," emphasizing a discrete unit of time, conflicts or sounds incompatible in English with "has/will become," which focuses on the terminal or concluding point.

So, anyway, finally back to yasir : Any and all of the below should be fine.

Watashi wa rokunenkan kono kaisha ni tsutomete imasu.
Watashi wa kono kaisha ni rokunen (kan) tsutomete imasu.
Watashi wa kono kaisha ni tsutomete kotoshi de rokunen ni narimasu.

 

[Charles Barkley]

Buckaroo Banzai's explanation of how the "tabun" is simply shifted to emphasize either X-san or "love" is right on target.
Here's how I'd write it out:
I'm in love with her.
With Anne?
Yeah, I think so.
You think so? You think it's Anne that you're in love with? Or that you're in love with Anne?
This involves a lot of wordplay, and personally I wouldn't recommend studying Japanese via this sort of writing until you require zero explanation in English of the material at hand.

After reflecting on this, what confused me here, more than the japanese, was trying to find meaning when really it was just meaningless wordplay. In the context of this story especially, but in general as well, I can't think of any situation where one could be confused about who the target of one's love is, although actually this case is pretty good because the figure in question is a 15 year old nocturnal ghostly incarnation of a 50+ year old woman who is still alive, so to some extent it is ambiguous who he is in love with. But the person asking the question does not know any of that, so his question cannot include that knowledge. Consequently, even after reading Buckaroo's explanation, I was no less confused than before, because that was basically how I had already understood it.

I think your use of the word 'wordplay' was what has helped me the most--its just wordplay, so of course it means nothing. Anyway, thanks for the help, but I am going to stick to reading this. Outside of a few passages, its not very difficult, and I would have been fine with a japanese explanation, I just didn't know how to word my question in japanese, and this is an english site, so it was easier to ask in English.

 

[Charles Barkley]

I was chatting with a japanese acquaintance and the following came up. I've no idea what they mean... could anyone help with the translation?
nee, doushite mop wo motte iru no?
- what are you doing with a mop?

sou, fuku ha takai desu kara ne
-right, its because clothes are expensive

free ja nai no, katta no ne
- it wasn't free, I bought it

iroiro ari masu ne
- there are many different types

takusan moratte, takusan sute mashita
-I got a lot and threw a lot away

mata atta toki ni kime ru
- (I) will decide next time (we) meet

gomen mata kondo ne
-sorry. see ya later (next time).

 

[Buckaroo Banzai]

Well, unless you are a pubescent 15 year old Then it might be possible to be confused about that sort of thing. やっぱり恋の悩みですね。

 

[undrentide]

nee, doushite mop wo motte iru no?

- what are you doing with a mop?

It means "why do you have a/the mop?"
(This "have" could be either "in your hand(s)" or "own", it depends on the context.)

"What are you doing with a mop" is "moppu wo motte nani shiteiru no?"

 

[Charles Barkley]

What are you doing with a mop? = Why do you have a mop?

The latter is just more emphatic, like, why the hell do you have a mop?

 

[Elizabeth]

What are you doing with a mop? = Why do you have a mop?
The latter is just more emphatic, like, why the hell do you have a mop?

Really ? "Why do you have a mop?" could much more easily be mistaken for an innocent question. Because your living space is fully carpeted etc....

"What are you doing with a mop?" in hand definately implies to me something more accusatory. It's with you walking down the street and looks like you're about to bludgeon the neighborhood dog....etc. When it's resting in the storage cabinet, "doing with" would be a bit strangely aggressive...

 

[82riceballs]

While I was watching a drama, I copied down a few words that confused me. Can you help me figure them out? Thanks in advance.

ど下手クソ. I know that "hetakuso" means "crappy," but why "do"?

それがきっかけでヴィエラ先生に気に入られ
- kikkake here just means "starting from" right?
- "ki ni iru" means "to like," so why "ki ni IRARE"?

お前指揮者にでもなるつもりか？
-Why is "demo" there? Doesn't it mean "but"? Wouldn't the sentence be fine without it?

 

[undrentide]

Ah, 82riceballs, you're reading のだめ, aren't you? ;-)

ど下手クソ. I know that "hetakuso" means "crappy," but why "do"?

ど is to emphasize 下手クソ, originally came from Kansai dialect, I believe.

それがきっかけでヴィエラ先生に気に入られ
- kikkake here just means "starting from" right?
- "ki ni iru" means "to like," so why "ki ni IRARE"?

Kiniirare is passive form of kiniiru.
ヴィエラ先生に気に入られ
is liked* by Mr. Viella.
*In this particular context, 気に入る is more like "recognized (as a good conductor, etc.)"

 

[Buckaroo Banzai]

でも also means '...or something like that'

気に入られる is the passive, meaning 'to be liked'

When you cut a verb down to its stem, such as 気に入られ, it is because you are going to say something after it.

きっかけで does indeed mean opportunity or motive/motivation. So, it would be like 'with that as my starting point/motivation/opportunity'

 

[orochi]

What are you doing with a mop? = Why do you have a mop?
The latter is just more emphatic, like, why the hell do you have a mop?

I agree. Depending on context, both are fine translations for "nee, doushite mop wo motte iru no?". Since we didn't receive any context, putting out lots of possibilities is the best course of action.

 

[82riceballs]

Ah, 82riceballs, you're reading のだめ, aren't you? ;-)

Yes, nodame cantabile! It's so good! Do you know if the 2nd part came out yet?
Anyways, thanks for the explanation!

でも also means '...or something like that'

Thanks, would it be correct to say: お前指揮者になるつもりか？ or お前指揮者になるつもりある？

 

[Buckaroo Banzai]

The former is correct. To be a little more polite, you can add です as in ～つもりです（か）。

 

[Elizabeth]

The former is correct. To be a little more polite, you can add です as in ～つもりです（か）。

お前指揮者になるつもり（は、が）ある？is fine as well. However, my reading of the nuance would be as a question less related to the answer (confirming intention of being a conductor) than shifting the emphasis to this part -- do you intend, have the intention, or not, of being a conductor or something ??


But I could be way wrong. Hard to say without any info on the context.

 

[82riceballs]

Ok. Thanks!
I have more questions:
<よく>分かんないけど、ホントに偉そう
What's "yoku" doing there? Doesn't it mean "well"? Wouldn't the sentence be fine without it, or is this just how Japanese like saying things?

Also what does 曲かてお前の好きなベートーヴェン mean? and does お前んち mean your family?

 

[Charles Barkley]

Yeah, it means well, so in this case you are saying something like (hard to translate wakaru withou context) 'I'm no expert, but...' Its just means that you don't 分かる well, or are saying that to be modest.


My question: Something has popped up sometimes in my reading, i.e., in the following example:

警察が電話番号から桜の身元を割り出せなかったのがせめてもの救いだ。

My question is about 救い・もの救い

It seems clear that 救い means something like 'a saving grace.' But what does the もの do here? Is もの救い some kind of set phrase? I tried using this with my language partner and he had no idea what I was talking about, and at the time I didn't have the example to reference...

And one more question: (person is talking on the phone):

僕はすくし間を置く。 Is this read あいだ or ま here? Also, it does mean, 'I pause for a moment,' right?

 

[Toritoribe]

Ok. Thanks!
I have more questions:
<よく>分かんないけど、ホントに偉そう
What's "yoku" doing there? Doesn't it mean "well"? Wouldn't the sentence be fine without it, or is this just how Japanese like saying things?

an euphemistic expression in negative form. almost same meaning without よく.
口語ではものすごくよく使う表現です。「あんま(り)よく知らない」とか。

Also what does 曲かてお前の好きなベートーヴェン mean? and does お前んち mean your family?

曲かて＝曲(きょく - tune/song)だって Kansai dialect, not from 曲がる
お前んち＝お前のうち: your home
EDIT:
「うちの母親怒りっぽいんだけど、お前んちは？」In this case, お前んち means お前んち(の母親).
So, if he talked about his/someone's family and then said 「お前んち」, that might mean お前んちの家族 - your family.

My question is about 救い・もの救い
It seems clear that 救い means something like 'a saving grace.' But what does the もの do here? Is もの救い some kind of set phrase? I tried using this with my language partner and he had no idea what I was talking about, and at the time I didn't have the example to reference...

せめてもの: not enough but acceptable

せめてもの－救い
せめてもの－慰め
せめてもの－はなむけ
EDIT:
in other expression,
警察が身元を割り出せなかった分だけまだまし。
警察が身元を割り出せた場合よりまだまし

And one more question: (person is talking on the phone):
僕はすくし間を置く。 Is this read あいだ or ま here? Also, it does mean, 'I pause for a moment,' right?

間を置いて、そのあとすぐに言葉を続けたなら多分「ま」。 意味は近いですが、「あいだ」のほうが「ま」よりも長い時間という印象があります。(急に日本語ですいません。。。)
EDIT:
Roughly speaking, 「ま」 - for a moment, 「あいだ」 - for a while (depending on context, of course)