It's basically saying something like:
Kawasaki. Don't even bother (dealing/speaking) with him.

相手にする literally means to make someone a partner or opponant or the other party (as in a conversation, sports match, or someone you deal with)

彼を(the object) is omitted in this sentence.

asriel Wrote: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)

I'm pretty sure the omitted subject of あなたにとって大事な人ほど is　わたし, so it's really saying some like:
As long as (I) am important to you, I'll be beside (you).
I'll be there for you as long as need me.

aw how かわいい!

Maybe it's because it's 5.30 am, but for some reason, i can't seem to get my mind around that one. I understand how it could mean that, but I'm missing how the sentence/words fit together to do that.

Like how's the ほど influencing that? If it's like マンションは、駅に近いほど高い, kind of thing, then it'd be like 'the more important i am to you, the closer i am'
which is close, i guess...but it still kind of seems weird to me.

edit: there may be a bias on my part, because of my subconscious desire for it to be a one-sided love thing, and the other person doesn't reciprocate.

Asriel Wrote:ほら あなたにとって 大事な人ほど すぐそばにいるの

Not sure, but I think it can also mean:

The more important someone is to you, the closer he/she is.
(The people important to you are right under your nose)

＠asriel
Yeah, I can see what you mean. Maybe it translates better to "as much as I'm a person of value to you, I'll be there for you", but this is pretty much equals "I'll be there as long as you need me"って感じ anyway. So I wouldn't get too hung up on translating the ほど too literally and worry about it conflicting with the nuance it may carry in other sentences. I may be wrong of course, but that's just how I understood it after reading it the first time. Confirm with a 日本人？

On second glance, Isoron's interpretation may be better. I'd have to see the context to know for sure though.

@nadiatims I understand not getting hung up on how ほど works in other sentences, but I felt like it needed to have some semblance to how the word/grammar actually works. Now, don't get me wrong, "I'll be there as long as you need me" is a nice sounding translation, and I like it, but it's "too translated," if you know what I mean. I was looking for a more "technical" and "textbooky" translation that kind of parses the sentences down.

The first time I read it, I'm like "i am close to you to the extent of an important person to you" and I was like...hrmmm

But yeah, after reading what iSoron put, it seems to make sense. Pretty clear, pretty technical, and yet still translates well.

As for context,
Mongol 800:

大山百合香:

Hearts Grow:

新垣結衣:

Take your pick.

IMO the ほど there means "as close as", so "I will be as close to you as someone important to you", but I could be wrong.

From the last page:

Quote:いまのところ悪かあない

悪くはない -- it's either a typo or a representation of spoken pronunciation.

I just asked a Japanese person, and apparantly iSoron's translation is the correct one, so it seems I was completely wrong in assuming わたし as the hidden subject woops...
It's like
ほらlook
あなたにとって大事な人ほどすぐそばにいるの
the best person for you is right beside you (not necessarily literally) (why can't you notice).

Apparently its a great song to sing at karaoke when your crush (to whom you're yet to confess) is present.

へたれ兄貴と笑わば笑え。

Could someone please explain what 笑わば笑え means?

nadiatims Wrote:It's basically saying something like:
Kawasaki. Don't even bother (dealing/speaking) with him.

相手にする literally means to make someone a partner or opponant or the other party (as in a conversation, sports match, or someone you deal with)

彼を(the object) is omitted in this sentence.

Ahh! That makes sense, thanks a lot!

Manske Wrote:Could someone please explain what 笑わば笑え means?

「へたれだな！」と笑いたければ笑ってください。

iSoron Wrote:

Manske Wrote:Could someone please explain what 笑わば笑え means?

「へたれだな！」と笑いたければ笑ってください。

thanks!

Couple of questions

In this sentence 可能な限り means "the only possible" right? So the sentence is "Arrived at the only possible, harmless and inoffensive [answer]?
可能な限り、当たり障りのないところへ着地。

Is ごと being used here instead of こと or something like that? I've never seen ごと used outside of ごとに, so I'm not sure what's going on here.
大河は帰り支度をしようとして、いちご牛乳をちゅうちゅう吸いつつロッカーに向かった。そして戸を開き、必要のない教科書を置き勉して帰ろうとし――コケた。いちご牛乳ごと、自分のロッカーに頭から突っ込んだのだ。

One last thing, in this sentence, the last bit is kind of interesting, does anyone know how to break that up?
げぇー、と思いっきり顔をしかめる大河の手に弁当箱を無理やり戻し、さあ立てやれ立てとはやし立てる。

Another question

このときの俺の表情は、さぞやいぶかしげだったことだろうよ。

Could someone please explain what さぞやいぶかしげだった means?

Many thanks, I really appreciate everyone's help.

@manske:

I think that 「さぞやいぶかしげだった」 = "Surely seemed suspicious/doubtful"

いぶかしい (suspicious/doubtful) is the adjective being conjugated to いぶかしげ to become "seemingly suspicious/doubtful"

Quote:気 げ (suf,uk) seeming; giving the appearance of; giving one the feeling of

FooSoft Wrote:Couple of questions

In this sentence 可能な限り means "the only possible" right? So the sentence is "Arrived at the only possible, harmless and inoffensive [answer]?
可能な限り、当たり障りのないところへ着地。

It may mean instead "as much as possible" or "to the extent possible", not necessarily the only possible.

Quote:Is ごと being used here instead of こと or something like that? I've never seen ごと used outside of ごとに, so I'm not sure what's going on here.
大河は帰り支度をしようとして、いちご牛乳をちゅうちゅう吸いつつロッカーに向かった。そして戸を開き、必要のない教科書を置き勉して帰ろうとし――コケた。いちご牛乳ごと、自分のロッカーに頭から突っ込んだのだ。

It means "along with"; i.e. リンゴは皮ごと食べる

Quote:One last thing, in this sentence, the last bit is kind of interesting, does anyone know how to break that up?
げぇー、と思いっきり顔をしかめる大河の手に弁当箱を無理やり戻し、さあ立てやれ立てとはやし立てる。

はやす is a verb meaning to make cheering noises or accompaniment or other things; in this case he's saying さあ立てやれ、立て while standing up.

Thanks yudantaiteki!

I'm confused by the use of passive in this sentence:
私はいつも子どもたちに助けられている。

I was almost 100% sure that it meant "I'm always helped by children" but I've seen several examples of the passive form of this verb being applied as in this case as "I have always helped children".

It's the first option right? I mean this is a passive verb, and に points to the agent (子どもたち) so I can't see why it would be anything else (but I've seen translations to the contrary, and I don't know who's wrong) :\

Another similar example:

だって、おまえ、俺に命を助けられてからというもの、俺の役に立ちたくて、仕方がなかったんだろ？
Because you had your life saved by me you can't do anything about wanting to help me out, right?

Both your readings look right, although be careful -- てから means "after X" not "because of X".

FooSoft Wrote:私はいつも子どもたちに助けられている。

I think it could be either simple or affective passive:
I'm always helped by children.
The children always help [which affects me positively].

I don't see how a similar sentence could be "I have always helped children" unless it's polite passive and sentence was something like: 先生はいつも子供たちを助けられている (に would become を).

Quote:だって、おまえ、俺に命を助けられてからというもの、俺の役に立ちたくて、仕方がなかったんだろ？ Because you had your life saved by me you can't do anything about wanting to help me out, right?

Your literal translation sounds like you're already treating this as affective passive, but I thought I'd mention it in just case you were thinking of it as 命 as the subject.

yudantaiteki Wrote:Both your readings look right, although be careful -- てから means "after X" not "because of X".

according to Kanzen Master 1Q Grammar, "てからというもの" is a construct that means :

Quote:〜てから後はずっと
（「AてからというものB」はAがあってその後、それが原因でずっとBのようになっていることを表す。）

And I'd say that Aが原因で could probably be translated as "because"
So it's like "ever since this happened, it's like this because of what happened"




I think

Thanks for helping me clear this up! On a hunch, I just tried entering the first sentence into Google Translate (seems like simple enough grammar), and it ends up being "I have always helped children". Maybe this is the source of the translation

FooSoft Wrote:I can't see why it would be anything else (but I've seen translations to the contrary, and I don't know who's wrong) :\

Just to add to what Thora said, this kind of comment would be more useful if it came attached to a pointer to the context and translation; otherwise it's kind of hard to say 'no, that's wrong' or 'not a literal translation but I can see why they said that' or whatever (especially for more complicated sentences).

Quote:だって、おまえ、俺に命を助けられてからというもの、俺の役に立ちたくて、仕方がなかったんだろ？
Because you had your life saved by me you can't do anything about wanting to help me out, right?

I would have said "couldn't help wanting to be useful to me", incidentally, because I think this is the "can't help, can't bear" て仕方がない.

Hi, I'm taking the japanese SAT II tomorrow.
It's really basic, but what does this sentence mean?
ちょっと安くして下さい。

ちょっと安くして下さい
Please give me a bit of a discount. (please make it a bit cheaper/lower the price)

安い　 やすい　(adj) inexpensive, cheap
安く　　やすく　(adverb) cheaply eg 安く売る　sell cheaply / at a low price
安く+する　make it cheap
する＋ください →　してください

I wasn't sure which part was unfamiliar. If you use Firefox, Rikaichan is useful to help identify parts of speech. Good luck on your exam.