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I was browsing a language exchange site and came across:

私のように明るく、前向きな方がいいです。

And the text under it (translation from the user who posted the entry) was:

I'm hoping that you are cheerful and positive as me.

To me, translated semi-literally, that looks like "My hope (is you are a) bright, positive person". Where is the equivalent of "as me" in that sentence? Does "私の" act as both "My wish" and "As I am" in this context?

Or is the translation just not the same as the Japanese text?

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This person is getting the "as me" from 私のように, but if we were to translate it directly we would probably say like me. My guess is that because this person didn't say "as ~ as me" they probably just put 私のように and got "as me" with the "like me" meaning in translation software.

So the Japanese is a little different from the English, and the English isn't perfect. But the comparison is in the phrase 私のように, or "like me."

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  • But then where is the "(I) hope" coming from? I was under the impression that ように is used to signify that the person is wishing for something. Hence, "I am hoping...", then does that have double meaning in this case as "I hope" and "like me"? – user3043 Jan 4 '13 at 10:05
  • Look up the phrase ～のように, which means "like/in the same way as ~". I think you're confusing it with the polite way of expressing desire, like 病気が治りますように. In fact they are different. – ssb Jan 4 '13 at 10:08
  • So, the real direct translation is more "A person who is bright and positive as me would be good"? Which somehow got turned into "I hope"? Thanks for the clarification on the similarity vs desire. – user3043 Jan 4 '13 at 10:10
  • Well, the 'hope' comes from ～な方がいいです, which has a kind of hopeful nuance to it. You could say it as "would be preferable" or even literally as "is good" or "would be good." – ssb Jan 4 '13 at 10:12

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