1

I cannot grasp the meaning of と in the following sentence.

俺はここ２年近く一人暮らしをしていたけど、料理が上手くなる事は無かったし、咲も必要が無い上に興味が向かないと料理はしなかった。

Some sort of translation: "I've been living alone these 2 years, however I didn't become skilled in cooking, and Saki not only doesn't have any need in it, when she is not interest in it she does not cooking."

Thank you very much for help.

Improve this question
2
  • This a use of と that despite several related questions, we've never really pinned down on this website. (Thank you Chocolate - BTW: with your new hiragana name it some how feels like I am correspondening with a super-heroine who has changed her name of her alter-ego)
    – Tim
    Commented Oct 23, 2013 at 16:28
  • @Tim 元に戻してみました。何も思いつかないので。なんとなく気分転換 ^^
    – user1016
    Commented Jan 16, 2014 at 7:54

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

It's like

咲も必要が無い上に興味が向かないと言って料理はしなかった。
咲も必要が無い上に興味が向かないという理由で料理はしなかった。

The と is the case particle as a quotative marker. The reasons 咲 didn't cook are 必要が無い and 興味が向かない.

By the way, the ここ in ここ２年 means "these (two years)", not "here (location)", and you're missing 一人 (alone) in 一人暮らしをしていたけど・・・.

Improve this answer
0
2

I would say this と is a condensed form of と思っているで but this is to quibble about specifics in terms of what the quotatitive implies rather to disagree with ちょこれーと. I would probably translate the whole as follows:

"Even though I have been living alone for two years, my cooking has not gotten any better. Saki hasn't cooked either, but more than it not being necessary, it's because she hasn't been interested [in cooking]."

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    (1) と思っているで is ungrammatical. Probably you meant と思っていて? (2) 2年近く means “for nearly two years” (that is, the period is a little shorter than two years). (3) Your translation of 上に is off. Aである上にBである means something like “not only A but also B.”
    – Tsuyoshi Ito
    Commented Nov 2, 2013 at 17:02

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .