Yeah I guess you're right.

SendaiDan Wrote:In English you need to have a verb in there where as in Japanese you don't.

but よる is the verb....
with meaning (pasted from rikaichan):
(v5r,vi,uk) to be due to; to be caused by; to depend on; to turn on; to be based on; to come from; (P)

Sorry for having evoked such a discussion around よる and all the forms!! That wasn't my intention, to be quite honest. (SendaiDan, your explanation really helped me a lot by the way! It is sometimes indeed really difficult with finding a 'proper' and good translation.)

nadiatims Wrote:

SendaiDan Wrote:In English you need to have a verb in there where as in Japanese you don't.

but よる is the verb....
with meaning (pasted from rikaichan):
(v5r,vi,uk) to be due to; to be caused by; to depend on; to turn on; to be based on; to come from; (P)

Ahh yeah you are definitely right there. I guess what I meant to say was that you need a different verb in English because the translation of よる doesn't really sound so natural in this context. Like よる shows the relationship between the two, rather than being an action verb like you would use in English.

Tori-kun Wrote:Sorry for having evoked such a discussion around よる and all the forms!! That wasn't my intention, to be quite honest. (SendaiDan, your explanation really helped me a lot by the way! It is sometimes indeed really difficult with finding a 'proper' and good translation.)

No worries I know when I was learning this grammar sometimes all I needed was a really clear explanation to try and understand the usage and meaning. I remember when I first saw the example about the telephone (that I posted earlier) it really confused me because I kept thinking of it as "depending on" or "according too". After that, once you see it in 'real life' a few times you get a much better grasp of it.

I wrote something in complicated English to a girl, and I tried asking her "Is it too difficult? If it is, then I can make it simpler" by writing this:
難しすぎる？あったら、簡単にできる。
and she corrected it to this (to sound more natural):
難しすぎるかな？難しいところがあったら、言​ってね。簡単にできるよ。

Obviously I'm a beginner. What's hanging me up is the ~ところが. Using the grammar rule for "ところだ” from "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar" it would be "the state in which something is difficult." So, would a literal translation be:

It's too difficult, I wonder? If the state of being difficult exists, tell me, okay? I can make it simpler.

If this is the wrong interpretation of the grammar, what's the right one? If it is the right grammar interpretation, is there any difference between that and 難しかったら? Are there some other nuanced conjugations I can use (maybe 難しいのがあったら or something). Any help with the nuances would be appreciated at well, thanks!

Achromatize Wrote:難しすぎるかな？難しいところがあったら、言​ってね。簡単にできるよ。

Obviously I'm a beginner. What's hanging me up is the ~ところが. Using the grammar rule for "ところだ” from "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar" it would be "the state in which something is difficult." So, would a literal translation be:

It's too difficult, I wonder? If the state of being difficult exists, tell me, okay? I can make it simpler.

There's simply no grammar here, it just means "If there are parts (places) that are (too) difficult, tell me"

Just a question concerning the conditional used above.. Since the ば and たら conditional are almost the same (besides that the latter one isn't used in formal writing but only in common speech and that the former puts more emphasis on S1 instead of S2, as たら does), would it still make sense?
Like, "IF you have any questions, ask."

現代科学では幽霊、怪獣、 UFO等の証明はできない。

Is this sentence implying that UFOs and the like exist, and this is somehow a weak point of science? Or is it implying that since UFOs and the like cannot be proven by science they (therefore) don't exist?

tomusan Wrote:現代科学では幽霊、怪獣、 UFO等の証明はできない。

Is this sentence implying that UFOs and the like exist, and this is somehow a weak point of science? Or is it implying that since UFOs and the like cannot be proven by science they (therefore) don't exist?

I'm not sure, but I guess 証明 means verification also, i.e. something is, as the latin word 'verus' says, 'true'. If you take the whole sentence and take できる instead, does the sentence make sense then?

"UFOs and the like (ghosts..), can be proven in modern science."

So, forming this sentence into its negative version:
"UFOs and the like (ghosts..), cannot be proven in modern science."

Just guessing though :x

tomusan Wrote:Is this sentence implying that UFOs and the like exist, and this is somehow a weak point of science? Or is it implying that since UFOs and the like cannot be proven by science they (therefore) don't exist?

I wouldn't say the sentence is implying anything, it's more of a statement like Tori-kun has written.

Having a bit of trouble with the following sentence. I feel like I get the gist of it but a few things are throwing me off.

さらに県議会を含む沖縄の全４２自治体議会が同趣旨の意見書を可決したことを挙げ「県民の総意が明らかにされた重みへの配慮がなく遺憾。集団自決は日本軍による関与なしに起こりえなかったことは紛れもない事実」としている。

Rough translation:

Furthermore, a prefectural assembly including all 42 of the municipal parliaments raised (put forward?) the same points accepted in the written argument that "It's regrettable that the weight of the citizen's general opinion was clearly not (or not clearly?) considered. Without a doubt, the truth is that the mass suicides cannot have happened without the involvement of the Japanese Army".

That's some clunky English though. And though I'm sure it's embarrassingly simple... I don't understand what としている is doing here at all... Someone please help me out!

As for context: It's an article talking about the removal from high school textbooks of the accounts of the army's involvement in the mass suicides during the battle of Okinawa.

SammyB Wrote:さらに県議会を含む沖縄の全４２自治体議会が同趣旨の意見書を可決したことを挙げ「県民の総意が明らかにされた重みへの配慮がなく遺憾。集団自決は日本軍による関与なしに起こりえなかったことは紛れもない事実」としている。

It's sentences like this that make me hate Japanese sometime...

Isn't it being used to demonstrate what the written opinion of the 42 prefectures is???

SammyB Wrote:Having a bit of trouble with the following sentence. I feel like I get the gist of it but a few things are throwing me off.

さらに県議会を含む沖縄の全４２自治体議会が同趣旨の意見書を可決したことを挙げ「県民の総意が明らかにされた重みへの配慮がなく遺憾。集団自決は日本軍による関与なしに起こりえなかったことは紛れもない事実」としている。

Rough translation:

Furthermore, a prefectural assembly including all 42 of the municipal parliaments raised (put forward?) the same points accepted in the written argument that "It's regrettable that the weight of the citizen's general opinion was clearly not (or not clearly?) considered. Without a doubt, the truth is that the mass suicides cannot have happened without the involvement of the Japanese Army".

I'm not going to try for a better translation so much as to try to highlight some points where perhaps you've gone a bit astray from the meaning.

県議会を含む沖縄の全４２自治体議会 : this isn't "a prefectural assembly including...", because 県議会 is the object of 含む so it is the thing being included. "All 42 of the self-governing bodies of Okinawa including the prefectural assembly". ("self-governing bodies" is a poor translation but you get the idea: it's the city, local, etc levels as well; the prefectural assembly has been specifically noted because it's the most significant.)

意見書を可決したことを挙げ : I think this is the "citing an example" sense of 挙げる: "citing the fact that all 42 bodies ... had approved this written statement".

県民の総意が明らかにされた : this subclause modifies 重み, so the thing which has been made clear is the opinions of the citizens, not the consideration or lack thereof (which is at a "higher level" in the sentence).

And finally, としている. This is とする in the sense where it means roughly と考える、とみなす. So the unstated subject of this sentence (who is also the person doing the 挙げるing) is stating this opinion, not the author of the article.

@pm215

Thank you. Much clearer now... I still tend to get a bit lost in sentences like these, so I really appreciate the help breaking it down!

Quick question. I kinda choked on this.
ロバートのために
予定いれないようにしておくね！

So its something along the lines of I'll plan (in advance) so you don't have to?

what does というわけで mean? I have heard it so many times I have wondered this for months now. here is a example sentences i pulled from twitter. I understand everything except for というわけで

というわけで、明日は本誌最新号の発売日です。

DevvaR Wrote:Quick question. I kinda choked on this.
ロバートのために
予定いれないようにしておくね！

So its something along the lines of I'll plan (in advance) so you don't have to?

The 予定(を)いれない part is the key. So basically they are saying that they *won't* make plans for Robert's sake (I'm guessing some other plans with Robert were made, or maybe it was talked about... something like that).

Zon70 Wrote:what does というわけで mean? I have heard it so many times I have wondered this for months now. here is a example sentences i pulled from twitter. I understand everything except for というわけで

というわけで、明日は本誌最新号の発売日です。

It means "For this/that reason" basically. So whatever was in the previous sentence/s というわけで is referring to.

jessui Wrote:

DevvaR Wrote:Quick question. I kinda choked on this.
ロバートのために
予定いれないようにしておくね！

So its something along the lines of I'll plan (in advance) so you don't have to?

The 予定(を)いれない part is the key. So basically they are saying that they *won't* make plans for Robert's sake (I'm guessing some other plans with Robert were made, or maybe it was talked about... something like that).

Could it also possibly mean "I won't make any other plans for Robert's sake"(in the sense that they want to make plans/hang out with Robert, so they won't make any other plans to do other things?)

EDIT: Might as well explain the context properly. I'm going to Japan to see my Japanese friends again. When I told them when I was planning to go, that was the reply.

DevvaR Wrote:Could it also possibly mean "I won't make any other plans for Robert's sake"(in the sense that they want to make plans/hang out with Robert, so they won't make any other plans to do other things?)

This is what it means.

More questions from your friendly neighborhood newb.
まだ学校へ行くには早い時間です。
This was translated as "It's still too early to go to school."
If you changed the は to が would it then make the subject "me" and translate to:
"I still go to school at an early hour." ?

Achromatize Wrote:More questions from your friendly neighborhood newb.
まだ学校へ行くには早い時間です。
This was translated as "It's still too early to go to school."
If you changed the は to が would it then make the subject "me" and translate to:
"I still go to school at an early hour." ?

I don't think it is gramatically possible to use にが. Actually I can't remember ever seeing/hearing it.

If you want to say "I still go to school at an early hour." it would be more along the lines of 私は早い時間に学校へ行きます。 I wouldn't use まだ in there - to me it feels a little awkward and kinda unnatural. There is also more advanced grammar that would express your intention to go early 行こうとする、行くつもりです etc.

SendaiDan Wrote:I don't think it is gramatically possible to use にが. Actually I can't remember ever seeing/hearing it.

I can confirm that. It reads strange.. Just saw には and にも. Still finding をも a funny combination, talking about that

Hello! I am a newbie here, and posted this question in another section before realizing this was the appropriate place to post it...

Anyway, a new friend sent me an email, ending with the following:

"ベンーといる時間は私も楽しいよ. ベンーが、たくさん私の事を好きって思ってくれてる事が嬉しかったよ"

How would you interpret this?

Thank you for your help!

something like:
I enjoyed spending time with you too. I'm glad/happy you liked me.

In other words you can totally get another date with this girl if you want it