Need a word or phrase translated?

naark · 21 Oct 2012

@Toritoribe
Thanks for the help and clarifications...

Toritoribe · 21 Oct 2012

bailey620 said:
Hi there! I am comparing the Japanese version of the Pokemon games to their English translations and trying to figure out how the translators got from a to b. Already I'm having trouble with a sentence.

The Japanese sentence is そのポケモンといういきものをひとはペットにしたりしょうぶにつかったり...

Translates to "For some people, Pokemon are pets. Others use them for battling."

Here's what I have gathered so far. その means that (I think), so I guess I don't understand how it fits. ポケモン is obviously pokemon. という means said? Idk about that one, just looked up definition. いきもの means animal with the を particle attached to it. ひと probably means people with the は particle. ペット means pet I think? with the に particle (I think I get the に particle but I welcome another explanation). I know したり is probably し with the たり particle (which I only somewhat understand) and has something to do with lists. しょうぶ means compete I think so I assume this is battling? also with the に particle. つかったり must be related to 遣った but I don't understand why it has a り at the end.
I appreciate any help!

～たり･･･たり

Usage

Non-exhaustive list of actions (like AやB is used for non-exhaustive lists of objects): 本を読んだり、テレビを見たりした hon o yondari, terebi o mitari shita (I read a book, watched TV, etc.)

Japanese verb conjugation

That's not a literal translation, so there are no words equevalent to, for instance, その or いきもの in the English translation. そのポケモンといういきもの literally means "that creature (which is) called Pokemon".

bailey620 · 21 Oct 2012

@Toritoribe thanks so much for the help!!! You are very kind

Rei Yahya · 22 Oct 2012

Toritoribe, if suru you ni naru means that, could you confirm that I'm using it correctly?

彼は泳ぐようになりたがったら、明日教えてあげるさ！
If he wants to be able to swim, I guess I'll teach him tomorrow!

Andromedashun · 22 Oct 2012

無理をすれば買えないこともないが、やはりやめておこう。

It is not that I don't buy but if I see it is unreasonable, after all I will drop it.

Sorry for sounding awkwards but I have no idea to get a good translation of this.

Macrobiotic · 22 Oct 2012

Edit

What is the function of べく in this sentence and what exactly is the sentence saying? Is it that it for some unknown reason feels "as if I could pass it along in my family if I pass it to you"? or maybe it's "for some reason it feels as if this was kept in my house to be passed on to you" or something?

なんとなく、あんたの手に渡るべく
ワシの家に伝えられていたような
気がするのじゃよ・・・・・・。

Edit. I found out べく can have an "in order to" meaning. This means it must be closer to the "for some reason it feels as if this was passed down in my family/house to be passed on to you". However, what is the difference between 伝えられる and 伝わる here and why isn't 伝わる used?

Toritoribe · 22 Oct 2012

Rei Yahya said:
Toritoribe, if suru you ni naru means that, could you confirm that I'm using it correctly?

彼は泳ぐようになりたがったら、明日教えてあげるさ！
If he wants to be able to swim, I guess I'll teach him tomorrow!

彼が泳げるようになりたがっているなら、明日教えてあげるよ
(なりたがったら means more likely "if he happens to become to~".)

彼が泳げるようになりたいと思っているのなら is another option.

Andromedashun said:
無理をすれば買えないこともないが、やはりやめておこう。

It is not that I don't buy but if I see it is unreasonable, after all I will drop it.

Sorry for sounding awkwards but I have no idea to get a good translation of this.

(lit.)It's not impossible to buy it if I force myself to do so, but I'm going to pass it up after all.

BTW, did you realize that I edited my previous post to your last question? You don't seem to give us any responses to our answers...

Macrobiotic said:
Edit

What is the function of べく in this sentence and what exactly is the sentence saying? Is it that it for some unknown reason feels "as if I could pass it along in my family if I pass it to you"? or maybe it's "for some reason it feels as if this was kept in my house to be passed on to you" or something?

なんとなく、あんたの手に渡るべく
ワシの家に伝えられていたような
気がするのじゃよ・・・・・・。

Edit. I found out べく can have an "in order to" meaning. This means it must be closer to the "for some reason it feels as if this was passed down in my family/house to be passed on to you". However, what is the difference between 伝えられる and 伝わる here and why isn't 伝わる used?

Yeah, your interpretation is correct. べく is 連用形(adverbial form) of a classical auxiliary verb べし, which means "should".

伝わっていた also can work there, but 伝えられていた, the passive form of the transitive verb 伝える, more strongly suggests the existence of the doer(s)/people who have been passing it down until now, comparing to the intransitive and spontaneous verb 伝わっていた.

Andromedashun · 22 Oct 2012

Toritoribe said:
(lit.)It's not impossible to buy it if I force myself to do so, but I'm going to pass it up after all.

OK thanks!

Toritoribe said:
BTW, did you realize that I edited my previous post to your last question? You don't seem to give us any responses to our answers...

OK I haven't check until now. Is there something wrong? Can you be more specific because I don't understand what you meant?

Mike Cash · 22 Oct 2012

He means he answers your questions and you never acknowledge the answers.

Rei Yahya · 22 Oct 2012

Thanks Toritoribe. Is the ~tara conditional more of an 'if it happens' as opposed to nara?

もし日本に行ったら、私にお土産を持って帰ってください！
If you happen to go to Japan, bring me back a souvenir!

If 'nara' were to be here instead of ~tara, would the difference be the removal of the 'happens to' nuance? Assuming there even is one - I'm not going off of much, forgive my questions!

Alish · 23 Oct 2012

Help me translate the following sentences:

大きいな桃がどんぶらこと流れてきました。

お祖父さんお祖母さんみんなんの炊からものをとった悪い鬼をたいじしてきます

and what is the meaning of どんぶらこと ?

Macrobiotic · 23 Oct 2012

Thanks for the help on my last question too. All this help is invaluable to my japanese studies.

Here's my next question. What does なとど stand for here?

どうせ自分はとか、どうせこの子はとか、どうせあいつはなとど言わずに、人間の可塑性を信頼しましょう。

Toritoribe · 23 Oct 2012

Andromedashun said:
Can you be more specific because I don't understand what you meant?

I do want to know whether my answer can solve the question or it doesn't make sense for the questioner, or at least it's read by the questioner.

Rei Yahya said:
Thanks Toritoribe. Is the ~tara conditional more of an 'if it happens' as opposed to nara?

もし日本に行ったら、私にお土産を持って帰ってください！
If you happen to go to Japan, bring me back a souvenir!

If 'nara' were to be here instead of ~tara, would the difference be the removal of the 'happens to' nuance? Assuming there even is one - I'm not going off of much, forgive my questions!

No problem to ask questions about Japanese language. This is a thread exactly for that.

なら conditional can be used for a present or past fact. The main clause 明日教えてあげる seems to me to imply that the speaker already knows he(= 彼) wants to become to be able to swim, so I used なら. たら is a normal conditional, so the speaker doesn't know whether he wants it or not.

もし shows it's a normal conditional, thus, もし日本に行くなら and もし日本に行ったら are almost the same in this case.

Macrobiotic said:
Thanks for the help on my last question too. All this help is invaluable to my Japanese studies.

Here's my next question. What does なとど stand for here?

どうせ自分はとか、どうせこの子はとか、どうせあいつはなとど言わずに、人間の可塑性を信頼しましょう。

That's just a typo of などと.

Mike Cash · 23 Oct 2012

Alish said:
Help me translate the following sentences:

大きいな桃がどんぶらこと流れてきました。

お祖父さんお祖母さんみんなんの炊からものをとった悪い鬼をたいじしてきます

and what is the meaning of どんぶらこと ?

Those children's stories can probably be found online already translated.

If you have the idea that Japanese children's stories will be easy for beginning students of Japanese to read, you're about the millionth person to have that idea....and discover it is wrong. Children need stories that are thematically simple, not linguistically simple. The children who hear and enjoy those stories may be very young, but they have an understanding of Japanese vocabulary and syntax which is far far beyond that of any foreign beginning or intermediate student....and probably advanced students most of the time.

Rei Yahya · 23 Oct 2012

Thank you toritoribe! Makes a lot more sense! It really helps. In your example sentence, 彼が泳げるようになりたがっているなら, is there a specific reason 'ga' is chosen over 'wa'? As far as I've learned, that makes the implication of it 'as for him, and not these other guys', does it make more sense in that sort of context to use ga?

Also, 彼が泳げるようになりたいと思っているのなら, would a rough translation of that be 'if he thinks he wants to become able to swim'?

DranzerX13 · 23 Oct 2012

Everyone else is getting help but not me. I've been asking politely, and waiting patiently only to be ignored. Once a week I come on here asking for a Chinese to Japanese episode title translation. Just once a week. I don't even know any Chinese at all. I try to research the words online, but sometimes there are some words that don't show a translation for at all.

Andromedashun · 23 Oct 2012

Toritoribe said:
I do want to know whether my answer can solve the question or it doesn't make sense for the questioner, or at least it's read by the questioner.

No problem. Yes, I can understand them all. I'm just too lazy to convey another translation. Maybe the next time, thanks!

Mike Cash · 23 Oct 2012

DranzerX13 said:
Everyone else is getting help but not me. I've been asking politely, and waiting patiently only to be ignored. Once a week I come on here asking for a Chinese to Japanese episode title translation. Just once a week. I don't even know any Chinese at all. I try to research the words online, but sometimes there are some words that don't show a translation for at all.

How much Chinese do you think the rest of us know?

Toritoribe · 23 Oct 2012

Rei Yahya said:
Thank you toritoribe! Makes a lot more sense! It really helps. In your example sentence, 彼が泳げるようになりたがっているなら, is there a specific reason 'ga' is chosen over 'wa'? As far as I've learned, that makes the implication of it 'as for him, and not these other guys', does it make more sense in that sort of context to use ga?

は covers the whole sentence, so it can't be used when the subject of the conditonal clause and the subject of the main clause are different. In your example sentense, the subject of 泳げるようになりたがっている is 彼, whereas the subject of 教えてあげる is the speaker. That's why は can't be used there. For instance, you can say 彼は、泳げるようになりたいなら、明日プールに来るべきだ or 泳げるようになりたいなら、彼は明日プールに来るべきだ, since the subjects of the two clauses are both 彼 in this case.

Rei Yahya said:
Also, 彼が泳げるようになりたいと思っているのなら, would a rough translation of that be 'if he thinks he wants to become able to swim'?

Yes, that's right. 彼が泳げるようになりたいなら can hardly convey a nuance of "he actually wants it now".

DranzerX13 said:
Everyone else is getting help but not me. I've been asking politely, and waiting patiently only to be ignored. Once a week I come on here asking for a Chinese to Japanese episode title translation. Just once a week. I don't even know any Chinese at all. I try to research the words online, but sometimes there are some words that don't show a translation for at all.

Alish · 24 Oct 2012

Mike Cash said:
Those children's stories can probably be found online already translated.

If you have the idea that Japanese children's stories will be easy for beginning students of Japanese to read, you're about the millionth person to have that idea....and discover it is wrong. Children need stories that are thematically simple, not linguistically simple. The children who hear and enjoy those stories may be very young, but they have an understanding of Japanese vocabulary and syntax which is far far beyond that of any foreign beginning or intermediate student....and probably advanced students most of the time.

I didnt ask that because I thought "children's stories will be easy for beginning students of Japanese to read" or 'cause I'm interested in knowing the story. I asked that just because our sensei had told us to translate it as a HW. If you had that much time to gave such an explanation, why didnt you just give my answer? I think it was easier.
If you are tired of answering peoples questions, just leave it be. Anyway it's not your problem, it's mine.

DranzerX13 · 24 Oct 2012

I'm sorry. Thank you guys for helping me. I should've said thank you at the end of every one of your posts you guys answered for me.

Mike Cash · 24 Oct 2012

Alish said:
I didnt ask that because I thought "children's stories will be easy for beginning students of Japanese to read" or 'cause I'm interested in knowing the story. I asked that just because our sensei had told us to translate it as a HW. If you had that much time to gave such an explanation, why didnt you just give my answer? I think it was easier.
If you are tired of answering peoples questions, just leave it be. Anyway it's not your problem, it's mine.

If it is your homework then we will be glad to help you with it. But that doesn't mean do it for you. Show us your attempt at doing it.

Alish · 24 Oct 2012

Mike Cash said:
If it is your homework then we will be glad to help you with it. But that doesn't mean do it for you. Show us your attempt at doing it.

Please note that my HW is to translate the whole story and only two sentences is not a big problem. So I'm very grateful that my teacher is not as restricted as you (If she was, I would be F... up!)
(I'm Joking!)

Ok I'll show you my attempt at doing it:
I can understand the story but I dont know the exact translation.

大きいな桃がどんぶらこと流れてきました。
A big peach was floating in the water and coming up to her.
お祖父さんお祖母さんみんなんの炊からものをとった悪い鬼をたいじしてきます
Momotaro wanted to get rid of a bad ogre who was annoying grandpa, grandma and the others.

どんぶらこと ?
zenzen wakarimasen.

Macrobiotic · 24 Oct 2012

Thanks for clearing that typo out.

I fail to grasp the full meaning of this text. Especially the last part.

昨日のひとしきりの雨のあと、夏は早々と身支度をしてもう旅立ちの準備です。
懐かしい夏、ありがとう。今年はよくもあんなに暑くしてくれたな。（って口調が違うか）

This is what I make of the first part, up until the text marked in bold writing.

"After the brief rain yesterday, summer promptly got his gear together and is already preparing for departure (or rather, to leave on a journey). Thank you, dear summer."

After that, I can't make out the tone or exact meaning.

Toritoribe · 24 Oct 2012

Alish said:
大きいな桃がどんぶらこと流れてきました。
A big peach was floating in the water and coming up to her.
お祖父さんお祖母さんみんなんの炊からものをとった悪い鬼をたいじしてきます
Momotaro wanted to get rid of a bad ogre who was annoying grandpa, grandma and the others.

どんぶらこと ?
zenzen wakarimasen.

大きいな桃が --> 大きな桃が

Dictionary is your friend. WWWJDIC has an entry for どんぶらこ.

BTW, how did you translate みんなんの炊から which doesn't make sense at all as a Japanese phrase???

Macrobiotic said:
I fail to grasp the full meaning of this text. Especially the last part.

昨日のひとしきりの雨のあと、夏は早々と身支度をしてもう旅立ちの準備です。
懐かしい夏、ありがとう。今年はよくもあんなに暑くしてくれたな。（って口調が違うか）

This is what I make of the first part, up until the text marked in bold writing.

"After the brief rain yesterday, summer promptly got his gear together and is already preparing for departure (or rather, to leave on a journey). Thank you, dear summer."

After that, I can't make out the tone or exact meaning.

You Buster(= Summer) really made this year(= this summer) damned hot! (Oops, this tone doesn't fit the previous part.) or something along the line.

Need a word or phrase translated?

先輩

松葉解禁

後輩

ぺらぺらになりたい生徒

先輩

Sempai

松葉解禁

先輩

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

ぺらぺらになりたい生徒

後輩

Sempai

松葉解禁

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

ぺらぺらになりたい生徒

Japanese Anime Fan!

先輩

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

松葉解禁

後輩

Japanese Anime Fan!

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

後輩

Sempai

松葉解禁

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