In this an OK translation? I'm not sure I'm understanding には here correctly, but I assume it has a similar meaning to ために. Also, そりゃ is just "That is"? It's not some slang abbreviation for something?

そりゃーあんたはいいよ。あんたには私がいて、あんたが好きな人に会うために協力してくれるんだもの。でもね、私には私はいないの。
That's to say you're in a good position. I exist for you, I work with you to help you meet the person you like. But I don't exist for myself.

Also, how's this translation (specifically trying to figure out if I'm getting これでも correctly here)
A:「……どんだけバイトしてるんだよ」
B:「これでもセーブしてるんだよ？　ほら、休み中も部活あるからさ。部長としては休んだりなんてできないし」

A: "How much do you work?"
B: "Is this also work (does this count as working)? Look, there are club activities even during vacation, as the club president I don't have time to rest"

Another embarrassing newbie question:

How would you say "Today, I learned the word 「趣味」." in Japanese?

という? 言葉の「趣味」? I have no idea. I checked Tae Kim's guide but I'm not sure what part of speech it would fall under.

I think both of these work.

今日、「趣味」という言葉を習った。
今日、「趣味」の言葉を習った。

I`m not sure if there are any subtle differences between these two.

FooSoft Wrote:そりゃーあんたはいいよ。あんたには私がいて、あんたが好きな人に会うために協力してくれるんだもの。でもね、私には私はいないの。

Yeah, you are.. ...You have me who work for you to.. ..But I don't have (a person like) me (to you).

FooSoft Wrote:B:「これでもセーブしてるんだよ？　ほら、休み中も部活あるからさ。部長としては休んだりなんてできないし」

It may not look it, but I'm cutting it down. You see?... ... I can't take off.

Pulse Wrote:Another embarrassing newbie question:

How would you say "Today, I learned the word 「趣味」." in Japanese?

という? 言葉の「趣味」? I have no idea. I checked Tae Kim's guide but I'm not sure what part of speech it would fall under.

今日、「趣味」って単語を習った。
今日、「趣味」という単語を習いました。

etc.

Edit:
oops, sorry, I didn't see julian already posted. I like 単語 than 言葉, in this context and the latter sentence, 今日、「趣味」の言葉を習った, sounds more like "I learned vocabulary that is related to my hobby", but I like you didn't start them with obligatory "私は". It sounds much more natural that way

Thanks masaman! Your translations make a lot more sense than mine

While reading today, I ran into something kind of interesting:

「てゆうかあの目つき、いまどきヤンキーなわけ？　よくあんなへッボいの、相手にできるよねえ〜ちょっと尊敬〜」

What's the ッボイ bit about? Appears a bunch on google search but I have no idea what this could possibly be (aside that it looks like っぽい hah).

I think it's just emphasizing へぼい
Kinda like you sometimes see おんなじ、 ほんっとう and some other stuff. It's mainly spoken, but I ink that's you would write it

Hello, I am hoping someone can help me with this sentence.

一度北側を向きその後太陽位置で｢SOL｣が停止するので、｢SOL｣本体を手で回転させ、太陽の方向に向ける。

I think the first part is saying that the SOL system will face North (automatically?). But then I get a little lost. I thought the next part says that the SOL system will then stop facing the sun, and then because of that you need to turn the SOL system so it faces the sun. Of course, that doesn't really make sense. So I was hoping someone could show me where I am going wrong.

Thanks

@osakajin:

It's a little bit difficult without knowledge of what SOL is or the context, but I think 停止 means that not that it will stop facing the sun, but that it will stop working. So you initially turn it to the North, and then when the sun as at a certain position, the SOL will stop working (or something). Then you are supposed to reposition the body of the SOL system to point towards the sun again.

That's my understanding of it anyway

@asriel:
Ah, thanks! I didn't know that word in the first place so I couldn't figure out that it was being written phonetically like that!

Maybe you guys can help me with this one...

I'm constantly running across ～するんじゃない constructions that definitely do NOT seem to be the opposite of ～するのだ. If anything, it seems like a really casual (and maybe rude?) negative imperative.

Am I totally off on this?

Yep, I've really mainly seen it from guys who think they are pretty cool, or have so e sort of authority.
They also use 〜するんだ in the saw way, but in the affirmative, of course.

I'm not sure, because it's something I picked up and never actually learned, but I think it's kind of like when my dad used to be like:
Dad: "the leaves need raking this weekend"
Me: "yeah, I know, I'll get around to it"
Dad: "yes, you WILL rake the leaves"
Because he is stating it as a fact, when really he's commanding me, if you know what I mean.
I think it's got that same type of authoritative tone to it.

Asriel;

When you explain it that way, it makes perfect sense. Thanks!

Yeah, typically the opposite of するのだ is しないのだ.

Could someone tell me if してたら in this sentence is really jut したら? I've never seen たら be used with v.te before so I'm wondering if it's some sort of new grammar pattern (nothing about it in my grammar books)

逢坂さん、お喋りしてたら突然すごく感情的になって、よくわからないことで生意気とか、調子に乗ってるとか、あれこれ言ってきて……あたし、パニックになっちゃったの。

If I'm not mistaken this is a contracted form of お喋りしていたら.

Ah! That makes total sense, thanks! This book actually does shorten ている to てる frequently, but I totally didn't catch that this was going on here.

Does this sound right?

なんとなく、尋ねてみたくなったのだ。それに始めに書いた一文だけではなんだか怒っているみたいだし、よく言うではないか。

"One way or another, [i] ended up asking. Besides you could say that if the first I write is just one sentence, it would look like I'm mad."

I'm guessing よく言う reflects over the entire sentence, and reinforces the speaker's opinion - like how I translated it. Is this close? The grammar here is all wonky

Did someone criticize what he had written?

yudantaiteki Wrote:Did someone criticize what he had written?

He is trying to clear up a misunderstanding with a person he likes. This letter which he is writing denies some accusations against him (although he is unsure of his wording and doesn't want to send the wrong message with an overly blunt response).

It's from an ad in Famitsu for 朧村正 (Oboromuramasa). It's a caption under "The Snow Woman" illustration.
雪国になじみある妖怪で、主人公たちを氷つかせる。
I heard that 氷つかせる means "to make covered in ice." Is that right and why does it mean that?

つかせる is the causative (~saseru) form of the nightmare verb つく, which can mean a million and one things, including "to be immersed".

For u-verbs, the saseru form (which basically means "to cause to be/do...") is obtained by conjugating to the negative stem (in this case つか) and adding せる, hence つかせる.

FooSoft Wrote:

yudantaiteki Wrote:Did someone criticize what he had written?

He is trying to clear up a misunderstanding with a person he likes. This letter which he is writing denies some accusations against him (although he is unsure of his wording and doesn't want to send the wrong message with an overly blunt response).

I was asking because although I feel like I just don't have enough context to give a good translation, the second part looks to me like "How could you say that, since it was only the first sentence that looked sort of like I was angry?"

Something that, for some reason, I just can't quite figure out.
ほら
あなたにとって
大事な人ほど
すぐそばにいるの

I'm a little confused about ほど in this instance. I feel like it's supposed to be like
I'm close to you (ほら、すぐそばにいるの), as much as a person important to you (あなたにとって大事な人ほど)

The ほど makes me feel like it's like "but I'm not important to you."
Which makes sense in the context of the song, (モンゴル８００、小さな恋のうた. If you've seen プロプーズ大作戦, you've heard it)

I'm a little confused about whether the person he's singing to is his lover, or just someone he's got a big crush on (*ahem* friend zone).

Sorry, but I'm really having trouble getting anywhere with this sentence. Could someone please translate?

普通っていうのは、周りと足並み揃えて、地に足つけて生きるってことで。

edit: いまのところ悪かあない - what in the world is　悪かあない?

Thanks

Manske Wrote:Sorry, but I'm really having trouble getting anywhere with this sentence. Could someone please translate?

普通っていうのは、周りと足並み揃えて、地に足つけて生きるってことで。

Thanks

I translate it as something like:

Normalcy is being in step with your surroundings, and existing with your feet planted on the ground (metaphorically speaking of course ).

Another thing that's kind of been bugging me (sorry for pestering you guys so often):

川嶋のこと。相手にするのも下らない。

So here 相手にする is something like "The thing concerning the other party/the thing raised to the capacity of the other party [Kawashima]" right? Almost like に対する? The DOJG books only point out the more obvious uses of にする like deciding on something, so I'm kind of guessing here =\