Okay, so I fixed my first problem. Now, I have to find the proper form of "in the beginning." Should it be はじめに、すなおだった (hajime ni, sunaodatta,) or はじめは、すなおだった (hajime wa, sunaodatta?)
1 Answer
In your sentence はじめは ("at first", "in the beginning") is correct. This は is contrastive, and can be used with another subject marked with は (e.g., はじめは彼は素直だった). はじめに means "first (of all)", "at the beginning (of a month, etc)", "Introduction/Preface (chapter title)" and so on.
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Thank you. And one more thing. Does the sentence translate to, "In the beginning, I was upfront?" I have a feeling that sunaodatta changes with context. Commented Jan 28, 2020 at 4:57
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1@JeremiahTDK Without proper context, it's impossible to say yes or no. There are many similar words such as 素直, 正直, 率直, docile, honest, obedient, straightforward and so on. I don't know in which context you want to use this sentence.– narutoCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 5:08
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1@JeremiahTDK I know. And I said without proper context, it's impossible to say yes or no. Upfront has many possible translations and no one knows in what kind of context you want to say upfront.– narutoCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 5:50
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