Hi,

I finished rtk1 a few weeks ago and wanted to start mining sentences. My friend had the japanese 'death note' dvd which has japanese subtitles so I wanted to start entering sentences into my srs from there.

But, since I know basically zero japanese - even if i recognize the kanji it's difficult to figure things out.

For instance I have 誰も俺を有罪にはできない ... i'm having trouble figuring out the meaning. Trying to translate I'm not sure if its like "everyone, i'm not guilty" "no one is guilty" ...?

i found wwwjdic to be not so useful for translation because it just translates kanji, not the kana. I have rikaichan too which helps with the kana but it's difficult for me to be confident I'm getting the meaning right. I can't even figure out 'dare mo' in this context - does it mean everyone or no one?

I'm going through tae kim but I find it pretty boring so it's hard to slog through. Havent even started it on my srs, just going through it on the website.

Is a real electronic dictionary necessary? Are there websites that I can use for translation that I'm missing? Do i need to do sentences that I have english translations for in the beginning until I get a firmer grasp of sentence structure?

Thanks!

As I read this, it comes to me as "Nobody can prove I'm guilty" although there isn't the word "prove" in the sentence. 有罪＝guilt. So more literally it might be "Nobody can convict me as guilty." Before you take my assumption literally wait for further replies though. I'm pretty much using the "intution" or whatever you wanna call it, through reading a lot of Japanese.

Also, as for the 誰も...ない sentence pattern, it's always "no one/nobody." As long as you have that "nai" or "masen" at the end, the meaning of "誰も” no longer has the meaning of "everybody" or "anybody," it takes on the meaning of "nobody" or "no one."

edit:
If it helps, I think the most literal translation would be: Nobody can make me into guilt. 誰も俺を有罪にはできない
Of course, in English it doesn't make sense but it's kinda helpful in seeing how Japanese sentences are formed, I think

If simply looking up the words isn't enough to make you understand a sentence, the sentence is too hard for you. Ignore it and find other sentences instead.

Tobberoth Wrote:If simply looking up the words isn't enough to make you understand a sentence, the sentence is too hard for you. Ignore it and find other sentences instead.

That's true, staying away from sentences too difficult for one's level is a good idea. There is a possibility of adding it and suspending it right away, and then enabling the sentence months later, right? I think that'd be a good method too if one would like to check how quickly they're improving.

hey thanks --

i figured it was just an issue of being over my head. i think i'll spend a lot more time smart.fm and tae kim before attempting more complex sentences at this point.

Go through tae kims first. It might be boring but it will help a LOT.

Listen Toberoth here.

If you can't translate by yourself or can't find a trusted translation, discard the sentence. Same for readings, if you are not sure, forget the sentence.