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Grammar: N3 - leonl - 2012-08-27
うかっていたらいいな。 でも、できなかったら おちているかも.
This sentence is in the N3 sou mattome grammar. It is translated as
I hope I will pass the exam, but I may fail because I don't think I did well.
I understand the first part. But I don't quite understand how the second part translates to I may fail. I get that ochiteiru kamo means chance of falling/failing, but I can't quite make sense of the this phrase as a whole. Any help?
Thanks
Grammar: N3 - kainzero - 2012-08-27
かも is short for かもしれない which means "probably" or "maybe" or "likely."
so it means "i probably failed."
Grammar: N3 - JimmySeal - 2012-08-27
kainzero Wrote:かも is short for かもしれない which means "probably" or "maybe" or "likely."かもしれない is usually not as strong as "probably." "I might have failed" is the more likely interpretation.
so it means "i probably failed."
The original text seems a bit weird though. Is there nothing missing there?
Grammar: N3 - leonl - 2012-08-27
That is the entire sentence, I did forget an extra a, at the end of ii naa, but thats it. I understand that kamo, is short for kamoshirenai, but it still doesn't make sense to me. Dekinakattara ochiteiru kamo. I would translate if I don't pass, I might fail. Which while technically correct doesn't make sense to me. I'm still confused. Thanks to everyone who has replied so far
Grammar: N3 - JimmySeal - 2012-08-27
Yeah, I'm confused too. It really seems like it means:
I hope I passed. If I couldn't do it, I might have failed.
Which is pretty redundant.
Grammar: N3 - kainzero - 2012-08-27
the ～たら is not the conditional form but the sequential form like てから。
"I couldn't do it and might have failed."
Grammar: N3 - NijiRanger - 2012-08-27
I also found it confusing, and I have the book so I looked it up in hope of finding at least some clue...
You probably just misread a bit; it actually says できなかったから
Grammar: N3 - leonl - 2012-08-27
Thanks, NijiRanger. I'm at work now, so I can't look at my book and see, but the sentence makes a little more sense that way.