using hodo

[aang_ya]

what's the meaning of hodo and when we use it?

 

[Toritoribe]

What type of "hodo" do you want to know, for example? It has many meanings.

 

[aang_ya]

Thanx for reply.
I'm sorry that I didn't ask clearly.
It's from a song, "Hora anata ni totte daijina hito hodo".
What's the meaning hodo in that sentence?
Thanx.

 

[Ashikaga]

The phrase you posted is incomplete but HODO in it probably means the following.

The more important the person is to you, the more ___________.

OR

_____________is not as ____ as the person who is very important to you.

It really depends on what comes after what you gave us.


HODO usually means "as much as".

彼は、みんなが思っているほど悪い人ではありません。
Kare wa, minna ga omotteiru hodo warui hito dewa arimasen.
He is not as bad (a person) as everyone thinks he is.

私はあなたほど英語が上手くありません。
Watashi wa anata hodo eigo ga umaku arimasen.
I am not as good at English as you / My English is not as good as yours.

あなたは歌が上手ですね。
Anata wa uta ga jouzu desune.
You sing very well.

いや、それほどでも(ありません）...
Iya, sorehodo demo（arimasen)....
Noooo, I'm not that good (not as good as you say I am).

Another common meaning is what I suggested in my first guess.
The more________, the more_________.

酒をたくさん飲む人ほど、肝臓の病気になる可能性が高い。
Sake wo takusan nomu hito hodo, kanzou no byouki ni naru kanousei ga takai.
The more a person drinks, the more likely that he will suffer an illness of the liver / The more a person drinks, the higher the chance of him damaging his liver.

I can think of a couple more common usages for HODO but I will save that for some other time.

Please supply us with the line that directly follows what you have posted and we will know for sure what is means.

 

[Toritoribe]

小さな恋のうた by MONGOL800

ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの
ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい 響け恋の歌


というわけで、英訳詩はお願いします。ASHIKAGASAさん

 

[Elizabeth]

I can think of a couple more common usages for HODO but I will save that for some other time.
Please supply us with the line that directly follows what you have posted and we will know for sure what is means.

It is taken from the song 小さいな恋の歌。


ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほどすぐそばにいるの

The most important person is (always?) beside you...??


ほど is tricky enough to pin down. I won't even attempt a direct translation of ほら without more context...

 

[Ashikaga]

小さな恋のうた by MONGOL800
ほら あなたにとって大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの
ただ あなたにだけ届いて欲しい 響け恋の歌
というわけで、英訳詩はお願いします。ASHIKAGASAさん

OK, I will take a crack at it.

See? The one who's important to you is usually right by your side.
I want this song to reach you and you only. May your heart ring with this song of love!!

I tried but it doesn't quite sound like a song lyric the way I translated it.....

ANYWAY, the literal translation of the sentence in question is,

You see, the more important the person is to you, the more likely s/he is to be right there by you.

I wrote it out like that to show you the function of the HODO in this sentence but what Elizabeth had in her post was basically it.

Also, as Elizabeth wrote, ほら could be interpreted number of ways. In this case, I think the protagonist is directing someone's attention to something, saying, "See?" or "Look!" as in "See? He is right there by your side!!"

 

[aang_ya]

Arigatou gozaimasu. Ima, wakarimasu. Nihongo wa mada sukoshi dake ga dekimasu. Soshite benkyou shite imasu. Kanji ga dekimasen.

 

[AJBryant]

Ima, wakarimasu.

Just a quick note:

I see beginning students write this a lot. "Now I understand" is an English idiom, not a Japanese one. In Japanese, you would just say "wakarimashita."


Tony

 

[aang_ya]

Gomen nasai. Thanx for correction.

 

[Elizabeth]

Arigatou gozaimasu. Ima, wakarimasu. Nihongo wa mada sukoshi dake ga dekimasu. Soshite benkyou shite imasu. Kanji ga dekimasen.

Personally I don't feel the wakarimasu/wakarimashita confusion is such a big deal . It isn't really wrong either way.


What is more confusing is the rest of it: "Nihongo wa mada sukoshi dake ga dekimasu...."

More naturally as "(Watashi wa) sukoshi dake nihongo ga dekimasu. Benkyou shite imasuga, mada kanji ga yoku wakarimasen."

 

[Toritoribe]

Nihongo wa mada sukoshi dake ga dekimasu.

Or you can also say "nihongo wa mada sukoshi (dake) shika dekimasen."

"Sukoshi dake nihongo ga dekimasu" could be interpreted as a humble expression of "I actually can speak Japanese somehow fluently." (depending on context, of course

 

[aang_ya]

Oh there's a lot of mistakes. Gomen nasai. Nihongo wa muzukashii desu ne. Thanx for correction.