The "I found some Japanese I don't understand" thread.

[JoelMember]

Yamada wrote:

I thought the word with the second kanji being 要 was 概要 (がいよう) and it would make sense with the sentence but maybe its wrong?

Nah, that looks good to me. It’s got the bits I can make out in the right places…

[YamadaMember]

:D

毎秒は一世一代。

[QndrezMember]

Thanks a lot, both of you. You’re a great help :)
That’s very interesting, since i was already considering the second album.
I’ll have to look into it more.

Oh, and i wanted to edit my other post with a better picture, but i can’t (there’s a timer, i guess?).
Anyway, here it is in higher rez, and both sides. Link.

Oh, and also please nobody steal my code :P

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by  Qndrez.

[JoelMember]

Yep, that’s 概要.

You want a translation of the back side too? Only the last line is “entry deadline: March 7th (Fri), 2014 at 23:59″, so you’ve missed it a little…

[QndrezMember]

Aw… Oh well. I guess i don’t need the rest translated.
Thanks again for the help, though :)

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by  Qndrez.

[JoelMember]

No problem.

If it makes you feel any better, I think you were going to require a Japanese mobile phone to enter with anyway…

[MisterM2402 [Michael]Member]

僕に彼女ができたんだ

It’s the name of a song.

I know each of the words but it’s the particles and how it all fits together that get me, as usual.

Help.

Thank you please.

[YamadaMember]

MisterM2402 [Michael] wrote:

僕に彼女ができたんだ

It’s the name of a song.

I know each of the words but it’s the particles and how it all fits together that get me, as usual.

Help.

Thank you please.

Did you want help translating the whole song or just the title? I would guess that the title means “I was able to get a girlfriend.”

• This reply was modified 10 years, 2 months ago by  Yamada. Reason: spelling issues on mobile

毎秒は一世一代。

[MisterM2402 [Michael]Member]

Nah, not the whole song, just the title.

“I was able to get a girlfriend” – With the に there, I’m not sure that works. To be fair, your translation is what I initially thought too, but it doesn’t seem right to me now.

Googling 彼女をする suggests that maybe 彼女＊に＊する means “to make someone a girlfriend”, though I could be wrong. Does the particle always change to が with a potential form?

Thanks :)

[YamadaMember]

I just checked with my Japanese friend and the title is synonymous with 僕は彼女と付き合えた。
This means it should be “I was able to get a girlfriend” or “I was able to go out with a girl.”

As for に, it was used with the subject, 僕, which is used in places denoting continuation. Like in 僕は銀行に務める、I am employed at the bank vs. 僕は銀行で働く、I work at the bank. The latter “work at” denotes a temporary action. Maybe they worked at the bank for the day but are not working there long term.

For the title, 僕に彼女ができたんだ, I would assume that に carries a similar feeling, but, in my dictionary, its defined as “indicates such things as location of person or thing, location of short-term action, etc.”
So 僕 is the location. Getting pretty close, lol.
Its reminds me of the 僕はあなたにプレセントをあげる。or あなたにプレセントをもらう。

Its a weird sentence, but it reminds me of the giving and recieving verb uses.

Hopefully this helps. :D

• This reply was modified 10 years, 2 months ago by  Yamada.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 2 months ago by  Yamada. Reason: "get a girlfriend" not "make a girlfriend", lol

毎秒は一世一代。

[redMember]

I am having trouble getting the full (or maybe correct) meaning out of this sentence:

いれからしばらくはいいが家になるんだから

My intuition tells me it is something along the lines of “Since it has been a while I would like to come in [to your house]“, however there are parts that can’t figure out at all (namely なるん).

いれ – enter (as in speaker wants to enter a place, most likely)
から – from
しばらく – duration of time
は – particle
いいが – along the lines of “if it is okay”
家 – house (I think the word “home” works better though)
に – particle
なるん – seems to be part of asking a question but really I have no idea.
だから – because/since (explanatory tone).

Any help or advice is appreciated. Thanks!

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by  red.

[JoelMember]

What’s that from? It’s coming across a little weird, though I have a feeling that it’s something more like “make yourself at home”.

In any case, なるんだから isn’t なるん + だから but rather なる + んだ + から. んだ is used to “create harmony and shared atmosphere”, according to Nakama, and also as a way of indicating that you’re providing clarification (or, when used in a question, to elicit clarification).

[redMember]

It is probably sample dialogue from a Japanese grammar site that didn’t provide a translation. Occasionally when I see something that looks easy to translate (I am only on season 2 here and just finished basic grammar on guidetojapanese.org) I copy it down and poke at it periodically. It can be a fun challenge and helps provide a break from standard studying when I am not feeling particularly motivated.

Anyway, since the above was not useful, I will add that I think the prior text was pretty much “Hi, how are you” &c. and nothing relevant as I normally make note of context (if there was any to begin with).

At this point I am only familiar with んだ as a form of のだ, is there a place I can read more how it can be used to “create harmony and shared atmosphere”?a

[JoelMember]

Got a link? =)

As for んだ (which is, by the way, a form of のだ), I can’t really find anything on the internet, though it could be that my search-fu is weak. My grammar dictionary describes it as being used “when the speaker is explaining or asking for an explanation about information shared with the hearer. The information is often what the speaker and the hearer have observed or heard.” I guess it’s implying “I know, and I know that you know, and I know that you know that I know, so look at all this shared atmosphere”.

It also adds: “It’s also used when no information is shared by the speaker and the hearer and the speaker is not explaining or asking for an explanation. In this case, the speaker is talking as if some information were shared with the hearer, and the effects of this are, for example (a) to involve the hearer in the affairs he is talking about and/or (b) to impose his idea upon the hearer or, at least, to emphasise his idea emotively.”

[redMember]

Unfortunately I do not remember where it came from; probably one of the sights I do not use often (or maybe something else entirely). I just have it written down as something to try and figure out when bored :)

Thanks for helping though.

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