6

Example from a dialog:

なにか あったら 話すし、なんでも話せる 存在だし

Approximate translation:

We'd talk whenever something happened, I could talk to you about anything

My dictionary says that 存在 means "existence; being; subsistence". The 存在だ in my example is related to this meaning, but it must carry some nuance that I don't understand. How would the meaning change if 存在だ was deleted from the sentence? Is it kinda similar to なんでも話せることがあるし?

3 Answers 3

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This 存在 is indeed "being" or "existence", but it substitutes not もの/こと but 人/人間 here. なんでも話せる存在だ is roughly the same as なんでも話せる人だ, or "[you] are someone who I can talk about anything with".

This type of 存在 commonly appears as a replacement of 人 or 物 when talking about the meaning/significance of that person/thing.

  • 彼にとって私はどういう存在なの?
    What do I mean to him? / What kind of person am I to him?
    (存在 = 人間)
  • 現代人にとってスマホは欠かせない存在だ。
    A smartphone is something indispensable for modern people.
    (存在 = もの)

なんでも話せることがある would mean something totally different ("There are many things I can talk about with you").

7

As idiomatic English, I've sometimes seen (and sometimes used myself) the translation "presence" for when 存在 is used as a noun describing a person.

Per your sample sentence:

なんでも話せる 存在だし
[You] are a presence [in my life] where we could talk about anything

This isn't a terribly smooth translation -- I'm deliberately trying to illustrate how 存在 is used here.

-1

In 大辞泉, 存在 is defined as 人間や事物が、あること。また、その人間や事物。and in oxford languages it is defined as 事物があること。人物が居ること。また、その、ある(居る)もの。so, it could express the action of existing(人間や事物が、あること。) or the object that is existing(また、その人間や事物。).

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