Please help me with this sentence ...

でも、アルバイトをし過ぎると、勉強時間が足りなくなるから、これ以上はやらないことにしようと
思っています。

What does ことにしよう mean? Is it ことにする with しよう　being the contraction of しましょう? Which should mean decision to quit working in the part time job so much? Or what else could it mean and what's the best way to translate this sentence?

Thanks for any help.

Nagareboshi Wrote:Please help me with this sentence ...

でも、アルバイトをし過ぎると、勉強時間が足りなくなるから、これ以上はやらないことにしようと
思っています。

What does ことにしよう mean? Is it ことにする with しよう　being the contraction of しましょう? Which should mean decision to quit working in the part time job so much? Or what else could it mean and what's the best way to translate this sentence?

This is a combination of Vことにする "decide to V" and ~ように思う "think I will ~" (both in DoBJG), giving "I think I won't do any more than this". Note that これ以上はやらない is "won't do any greater amount than this", not quitting or cutting down.

PS: しよう isn't a contraction of しましょう, it's just the plain (non ます) equivalent. That is, it's the plain volitional form of する. する => しよう ; 書く => 書こう ; します => しましょう ; 書きます => 書きましょう.

pm215 Wrote:

Nagareboshi Wrote:Please help me with this sentence ...

でも、アルバイトをし過ぎると、勉強時間が足りなくなるから、これ以上はやらないことにしようと
思っています。

What does ことにしよう mean? Is it ことにする with しよう　being the contraction of しましょう? Which should mean decision to quit working in the part time job so much? Or what else could it mean and what's the best way to translate this sentence?

This is a combination of Vことにする "decide to V" and ~ように思う "think I will ~" (both in DoBJG), giving "I think I won't do any more than this". Note that これ以上はやらない is "won't do any greater amount than this", not quitting or cutting down.

PS: しよう isn't a contraction of しましょう, it's just the plain (non ます) equivalent. That is, it's the plain volitional form of する. する => しよう ; 書く => 書こう ; します => しましょう ; 書きます => 書きましょう.

Thank you, for the explanation! So it was ことにする ... The idea that しよう is a contraction of しましょう comes from Genki 2. I've just been flipping through the book to look for the conjugation table of Volitional forms. The first sentence in the chapter that discusses the grammar point is:

The volitional form of a verb is a less formal, more casual equivalent of ましょう.

As i was only interested in the conjugations, i didn't pay much attention to this piece of information, but the following sentence was catching my attention.

結婚しようよ。Hey, let’s get married!

And somehow i managed to mix things up. But now everything is clear to me, and another sentence plus some others, can be checked off.

Following sentence (yeah, I know.. よう) troubles me a bit:

説明に最も合う言葉　１・２・３・４から一つを選びなさい！
①何も見えないで書いたり言ったりできるように覚える。
1.暗記する　2.聞き取る　3.見直す　4.済ませる

"I don't see anything/nothing, it seems I can write and speak." ??

Tori-kun Wrote:Following sentence (yeah, I know.. よう) troubles me a bit:

説明に最も合う言葉　１・２・３・４から一つを選びなさい！
①何も見えないで書いたり言ったりできるように覚える。
1.暗記する　2.聞き取る　3.見直す　4.済ませる

"I don't see anything/nothing, it seems I can write and speak." ??

"I'm learning/memorising so that I can write and speak without looking at anything."

In this case ように shows the person has a goal they want to achieve. The goal is 「何も見えないで書いたり言ったりできる」 'Write and speak without looking at anything'. They are working towards the goal by 「覚える」 'memorising'.

I hope this makes sense!

Great sense! The meaning of ように is the same as in ために／のに right? "in order to..."

Yeah, ように and ために are very similar. There's an explanation of ように and ために here which might be helpful. Look at 目的を表す「ために」 and 目的を表す「ように」 at the bottom of the page.

I don't think のに is similar to ように.

pudding cat Wrote:のに is similar to ように.

(from AAP)
漢字を覚えるのにいい方法を教えて下さい。
Please tell me a good way to learn kanji.

のに "to, in order to.." - Ain't it?

You're right, it is similar as well. I'm pretty sure you can't just use them interchangeably though. Maybe someone else knows more?

I googled a bit and this is what I found:
This page has a list of examples about when to use ように and ために. Basically use ように to express a state and ために to express an aim.

I found a place that compares ように、ために and のに! But it's in Polish I think. It's here.

No, that's different. edit: ok it's similar, but the function is different
漢字を覚えるの (turning it into a noun..kinda like 覚えること here)
にいい方法を教えてください

The に is kind of like "for" in the sense of 体にいい "good for the body."
タバコは健康に悪い - Tobacco is bad for health

In this case, we're dealing with
漢字を覚えるのにいい方法 - "A good mehod" for "learning kanji"

ジパングは　周囲を海に囲まれ
春夏秋冬　季節を問わず花が咲き乱れる
平和で美しい国であった

This is from an old rpg game called Tengai Makyou (天外魔境).
I just would like some literal understanding of this part of the opening.
My translation of it is:

Jipang's region surrounded by sea
spring, summer, fall, winter regardless of the seasons flowers bloomed and (not sure about that here) disordered
peaceful and beautiful was the land.

First I know the translation is bad, the point is to UNDERSTAND exactly whats written not how to translate it.
I am looking for a much literal translation or explanations of the exact meaning of these lines.

I've put a literal 'translation' and then a natural sounding translation

ジパングは周囲を海に囲まれ
Jiapang surroundings by the sea encircled
Jiapang, encircled by the sea

春夏秋冬　季節を問わず花が咲き乱れる
Spring, summer, autumn, winter, regardless of seasons flowers bloom profusely
In all seasons, flowers bloom profusely

平和で美しい国であった
peaceful and beautiful country it was
It was a peaceful, beautiful country.

You've pretty much got the meaning; 咲き乱れる is in EDICT:
咲き乱れる 【さきみだれる】 (v1) to bloom in profusion, (P)

You may not have fully understood the grammar, though. This is all one sentence whose basic structure is XはYであった, that is, "X was Y." Everything else in the sentence is a long series of modifiers for 国. There are two modifiers:
周囲を海に囲まれ春夏秋冬季節を問わず花が咲き乱れる and 平和で美しい (which is actually 4 things total). These kinds of long modifying clauses are common in introductory prose that you see in video games and the like.

You guys are amazing!!!
Here is the next line:

何千年もの昔から
今に至るまで...

My translation:
Thousands of years since then
until we arrive to now.

This is very difficult to understand.

至る doesn't literally mean "arrive" as in physical arrival here -- it's basically just saying "From many thousands of years in the past, up until now..."

@loverkanji

Are you using cb4960's Rikaichan mod? The definition you get in the popup is:

至る いたる
(v5r,vi,arch) to arrive at (e.g. a decision); to reach (a stage); to attain; to lead to (a place); to get to; to come; to arrive; to result in; (P)

It can be annoying to try and parse all those meanings at a time, but glancing through them all even with a simple English definition like that can help give you a good sense of usage. Example sentences aside, with exposure you'll develop instincts you can trust.

for every word i am searching for as many sentences as I can but it's just not always possible to find, in that case I try to pick the right meaning from a dictionary like rikichan or denshi jisho

nest0r Wrote:@loverkanji

Are you using cb4960's Rikaichan mod? The definition you get in the popup is:

至る いたる
(v5r,vi,arch) to arrive at (e.g. a decision); to reach (a stage); to attain; to lead to (a place); to get to; to come; to arrive; to result in; (P)

Sounds like that should really have an additional definition of "to extend to (a time or time period)"; the use of 今に至るまで or the like is pretty common. It doesn't really mean "arrive" or "come to" because it has the connotation of something extending across the entire time period mentioned.

yudantaiteki Wrote:

nest0r Wrote:@loverkanji

Are you using cb4960's Rikaichan mod? The definition you get in the popup is:

至る いたる
(v5r,vi,arch) to arrive at (e.g. a decision); to reach (a stage); to attain; to lead to (a place); to get to; to come; to arrive; to result in; (P)

Sounds like that should really have an additional definition of "to extend to (a time or time period)"; the use of 今に至るまで or the like is pretty common. It doesn't really mean "arrive" or "come to" because it has the connotation of something extending across the entire time period mentioned.

Switching to EPWING mode, I get: 今に至るまで until now; to this day; up to the present (time)

That would be via Kenkyusha, if I had that EPWING dictionary, which I don't.

一志の葬儀に行って顔見てきたよ。安らかに眠ってたよ。
涙が止まらなくてさ、声を掛けても返事を返してくれなくて、あぁこれが現実なんだって受け止めたよ。
みなサカでも綴ったんだけど、この悲しみを乗り越えなきゃね、凄く苦しくて悔しくて、でも前を見て進まないとね…
一志も俺が下を向いてる事を望んでないと思うし、俺もプロとして強くならなきゃね。
blogも休んでたけど、いつも通りな感じで更新していけたらいいな。
一志、空から見守ってくれな。皆を空から見守ってくれな。

Any clue about what the bolded phrase (みなサカでも綴ったんだけど) means? I posted the rest of the entry so you guys can have some context to understand it.

みなサカでも綴ったんだけど
I also wrote it on Minasaka but

He's a columnist on football keitai site minasaka.net

This sentence does not make sense to me/troubles me, or rather, the 自由には part.

(from Kanzen Master JLPT2)
自由には、それに伴う責任がある。 Independant (of that), there is (also/still) a responsibility (accompanying/at the same time ~と同じ時に) ???

With freedom, there is an accompanying responsibility.

yudantaiteki Wrote:With freedom, there is an accompanying responsibility.

Thanks for the clarification. Though, it does not make quite sense for me. Does it mean something along the lines "although there is freedom, it is accompanied by (some kind of) responsibility"?

The expression ～を中心（して）／として is difficult to translate for me.
駅を中心にたくさん商店が集まっています。 There are a lot of shops (gathered) around the centre of the railway station. <- It's in the middle of the 駅, isn't it? Or what does this sentence wants to tell me precisely?

I don't know where you're getting "although there is..."
自由 is just the noun for "freedom."

The には is kind of hard for me to explain. I think of it as "to" as in "attached to."
僕には、友達がたくさんいる - To me, there are a lot of friends -> I have a lot of friends
田中さんには、娘が３人いる - To Tanaka, there are 3 daughters
卒業するには努力が必要です -> To graduate, hard work is necessary
This last one is not "to" in the sense of "in order to," but rather "attached to the act of graduating"

So in our case it's like 自由には、それに伴う責任がある -> To freedom, there is responsibility that comes alongside it

駅を中心にたくさん商店が集まっています
If it was 駅の中心に, then it would mean what you said. But, Xを中心に with X as the center. So there's a lot of stores gathered around the station. (With the station as the center, there are a lot of shops gathered)