Sentence translation checks

eeky · 25 Jun 2010

Hi, I wonder if anyone would be so kind as to check my translations of the following sentences.

1. マリオさんは、どうして、日本語で話してもいいかと言ったのですか。
"Why did Mario ask whether it was OK to speak in Japanese too?"
(does も mean "too" here?)

2. クラーク会長に、電話をしてくれましたか。
"Did you call company chairman Clark for me?"

3. ボーナスは、多くても２か月分しか出ないでしょう。
"The bonus will be only two months' salary at most."

4. わたしが、どんなに注意しても、言うことをきかない。
"However hard I try to pay attention, I don't hear what's being said."

5. きのう、電車の中で、わかい女の人に、英語で話しかけられてね。

I'm guessing this must mean something like "Yesterday, on the train, I was spoken to / hailed / greeted / etc. in English by a young woman." However, I do not understand かけられて. Among the many of meanings of かける, I don't see any that fits.

Glenn · 25 Jun 2010

They all look good to me. I suppose 4 could also mean "they never listen, no matter how much I warn them" or something along those lines, depending on the topic of the sentence. Since it isn't marked, it's a bit ambiguous, unless it's a stand-alone sentence. But even so, it seems like it should be わたしは.

That かける means to do an action in the direction of someone, so 話しかける is like talking to someone. Although, it's a bit difficult to explain, I guess, because we don't have anything like it in English. It actually has its own entry in the dictionary: 話し掛ける.

Elizabeth · 25 Jun 2010

eeky said:
Hi, I wonder if anyone would be so kind as to check my translations of the following sentences.
1. マリオさんは、どうして、日本語で話してもいいかと言ったのですか。
"Why did Mario ask whether it was OK to speak in Japanese too?"
(does も mean "too" here?)

X-temo ii desu ka is like"is it okay, even if I do X?" and X-te ii desu ka is "is it ok to do X?" I don't think that the former necessarily implies that there are more options to choose from than the latter. Both take the presumption that not doing the action in question will be fine.

Toritoribe · 25 Jun 2010

#4 should be Glenn-san's interpretation or both of the object/target of 注意する and the subject of 言うことをきかない is not the speaker. When 注意する means "to pay attention", what is expressed in the main clause should be the thing the speaker can control by paying attention, e.g. わたしはどんなに注意して（いて）も、忘れ物が多い.

eeky · 25 Jun 2010

Toritoribe said:
#4 should be Glenn-san's interpretation or both of the object/target of 注意する and the subject of 言うことをきかない is not the speaker.

Right. I understand Glenn's interpretation, but I don't quite understand how your second option differs. Would it be possible to give me an English translation in the style of the second option?

Toritoribe said:
e.g. わたしはどんなに注意して（いて）も、忘れ物が多い.

Can I translate this as "No matter how careful I am, I'm always losing things"?

Glenn · 25 Jun 2010

eah, that's pretty much it.

I believe he was saying that きかない will be interpreted as negative volition (will/do not listen) as opposed to a negated passive* (will/do not hear), probably because where we use "hear" Japanese tends to use 聞こえる. But that's a guess.

*I mean that as a lexical passive and not a morphological passive. I.e., you listen to thing of your own will, but you just naturally hear them as they resonate in your ears whether you want them to or not. The passivity is in the word, not the inflection/conjugation, in other words (i.e., it's not a (ら)れる form).

eeky · 25 Jun 2010

Toritoribe said:
#4 should be Glenn-san's interpretation or both of the object/target of 注意する and the subject of 言うことをきかない is not the speaker.

eeky said:
Right. I understand Glenn's interpretation, but I don't quite understand how your second option differs. Would it be possible to give me an English translation in the style of the second option?

Sorry, I may have suffered a misunderstanding here. When you (Toritoribe) said "#4 should be Glenn-san's interpretation or both of the object/target..." I thought you were saying there were two possibilities: Glenn's and the one that you went on to explain. Now I'm thinking that in the part after "or" you are just explaining Glenn's interpretation rather than offering an alternative one.

Glenn · 25 Jun 2010

Wait, I posted the above one. But it doesn't matter -- I'm confused now too (or maybe I was confused from the outset). I guess I'll just wait to see what Toritoribe says, perhaps after I get some sleep.

Toritoribe · 25 Jun 2010

Oh, sorry for making you confusing.:sorry: Yeah, I meant "Glenn-san's interpretation, that is, both of the object/target..."

言うことをきかない is a kind of set phrase to mean "not to take (my) advice/to be out of (my) control." The one for "I don't hear what's being said" would be (someoneが)言ったこと/言われたことが聞こえない or something like that, as Glenn-san wrote.

Sentence translation checks

eeky

先輩

Glenn

一切皆苦

Elizabeth

先輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

eeky

先輩

Glenn

一切皆苦

eeky

先輩

Glenn

一切皆苦

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

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