Questions tagged [interpretation]
The interpretation tag has no usage guidance.
79
questions
1
vote
3
answers
173
views
Confusion with interpreting NHK title and subject scope when using て form
I read this article on NHK about Christmas cakes and it has this title:
クリスマスのケーキ 卵の値段が上がって高くなりそう
But I'm somewhat confused on how to properly interpret the title. I'm not sure what 高くなりそう (seems to ...
- 2,042
1
vote
1
answer
69
views
This fantasy world description: 時の異次元世界
Excuse me, I'd like to know if "world with a different time dimension" is an accurate/sufficient translation of 時の異次元世界. Thank you.
- 21
1
vote
2
answers
139
views
What does 亜字形図象 mean?
In particular I was not able to find 図象 in any dictionary; I wonder if it is perhaps a typo and the author meant 図像.
In the case that the author meant 図像, would it then simply mean "icon made up ...
- 33
0
votes
1
answer
91
views
"魂 燃え立つ 天の降るとも" having "魂" read as "こころ" and "天" read as ”雨"? (Bleach)
In Bleach Sennen Kessen-hen, at the end of each episode, an old poetic-style line or two is read to invoke the next episode. But I wonder whether it's actually some old poetic style of speech, or if ...
- 1,382
1
vote
1
answer
125
views
Understanding かっ飛ばすin this context
According to Jisho, かっ飛ばす means something like sending a ball flying among other things.
My issue is interpreting the verb when it directly affects people, like the following example:
私と君とでかっ飛ばそう
...
- 95
1
vote
2
answers
135
views
What are these words referring to in this sentence: 「咲く場所を厭わない私の体は...」
In One Piece, when Robin reveals her Hana Hana no Mi ability to Pell, she says 咲く場所を厭わない私の体は...あなたを決して逃がさない.
On one hand, I have an idea of what she is saying. I imagine it would be along the lines of ...
- 61
3
votes
1
answer
340
views
Help with understanding this "quote": 「現身に飢獣を降ろす 月下の能力者」
I'm currently watching an anime called 文豪ストレイドッグス and I'm having some trouble with this sentence:
現身{うつしみ}に飢獣{きじゅう}を降ろす 月下の能力者
In the scene there's a character who's transforming into something like ...
- 197
2
votes
1
answer
154
views
Help with understanding the following sentence: 考えても見るがいい
So, again, the sentence is
考えても見るがいい
and the provided English is
Just think about it.
(context)
I don't understand quite anything about the sentence. I know of the てみる structure but I don't really ...
- 197
0
votes
2
answers
58
views
Role of の and meaning in the sentence "その瞬間の自分の手に〇〇がにぎられている"
The complete sentence, although I don't think it is necessary, is the following:
その瞬間の自分の手に、人類すべての運命を決定付けるような、重大なターニングポイントがにぎられているなんていうことは、分かるはずがないんた
So, if the intended role of その瞬間 was to be "...
- 197
0
votes
1
answer
86
views
Trouble with the meaning of きっかけ in a sentence
The sentence is the following.
きっかけはほんの些細なことだとしても。それが、未来の大きな流れを決定づけてしまうこともある。
(I'm not really sure if the first period is supposed to be there, but the narrator took a relatively long pause after ...
- 197
0
votes
2
answers
84
views
Help with understanding roles and meaning of this phrase: 脳が処理をしないかのどちらかなんだ
The phrase is part of this following line:
普段の生活の中に埋もれている何気ないことなど気にも留めないし、知覚したとしてもすぐに忘れるか、脳が処理をしないかのどちらかなんだ。
Actually I'm also unsure about the role and meaning of the か in the second to last clause ...
- 197
1
vote
1
answer
70
views
What function does ことをする serve here?
In ran into this sentence
「ベレト君は気に食わないこと全部に悪いことをしてました」
but I'm having a hard time making sense of it. I get that the first part means that "the stuff Beret finds distasteful".
But I'm not ...
- 89
4
votes
1
answer
122
views
Interpretation of 人間を食うほど強くなれる
So
人間を食うほど強くなれる
does this mean "the more humans you eat, the more stronger you can become" or "can become stronger to the extent of eating humans"?
The second one seems best if I ...
- 575
2
votes
2
answers
172
views
what does it mean when there is Verb+Adverb+Verb
おかげで僕は、辛うじてこいつらへの不信感を誤魔化せるギリギリに留まっていられた。
In English, would we use a comma here? I heard somewhere that Japanese doesn't use commas in those situations. I feel like the same scenario would be:
...
- 575
0
votes
1
answer
44
views
does もの mean thing here?
しかし禰豆子さんのかかっている暗示は人間が家族に見えるものでは?
Does this mean thing? It feels like the もの substitutes 暗示, is my understanding correct?
- 575
1
vote
1
answer
254
views
Is my understanding correct on this sentence? Particularly, use of だけでも
話だけでも聞いてから結論を述べれば良いだろう
Even if its just a story, you should probably state your conclusion after hearing it.
The main thing I'm sceptical about is that だけでも, does it mean "even if it's..." ...
- 575
1
vote
1
answer
124
views
What does 前かmean?
痛恨のミス。本来なら家を出る前かホームルーム前に回しておくのだが、今朝は眠過ぎてそこまで頭が回っていなかったのだ。
It's from a light novel 時々ボソッとロシア語でデレる隣のアーリャさん1
The first question is: what does 前+か mean here?
The second one is:
家を出る前かホームルーム前に回しておく
...
- 237
3
votes
1
answer
117
views
What does ふらふら mean? And can お花 mean 花嫁?
I'm reading 魔女の宅急便 その５ 魔法のとまり木, and there's a sentence I don't understand.
Kiki, the main character of this story who is a witch living with a speaking cat, does a delivery service, and gets something ...
- 221
3
votes
2
answers
203
views
What does とびっことりっこ mean?
I’m translating a Japanese novel into my language. The novel I’m working with is a fantasy story about a teen witch and children. But I’m not sure about the meaning of とびっことりっこ which appears several ...
- 221
3
votes
1
answer
72
views
What does こんな青い空のなか きっとわたしは 空いろで 風のかたちで はこばれる mean?
I'm translating Japanese novel into my language.
The novel I'm working with now is a fantasy novel about a witch, written for young adult.
There's a song that the witch sings during she's flying in ...
- 221
4
votes
1
answer
109
views
What does 人が重なるように働いている mean?
I'm translating a Japanese novel.
Here's a part of the novel I'm working with:
Aさんの指図をうけてお魚をつぎつぎ焼く人、ならんだおなべのスープをかき回す人、野菜を洗う人、きざむ人、できた料理を大皿に盛る人、人がかさなるようにはたらいています。 つくっても、つくっても、まだまだたりません。
I'm not sure ...
- 221
0
votes
1
answer
103
views
「手があれてひっかかっちゃう」とは何ですか？
日本の小説を外国語に翻訳している外国人です。
今、手がけている小説にこんな文章があります。
（Aは主人公、Bは別の登場人物）
Bさんは布を包もうとして、Aをちらっと見ました。
「これはわたしの自慢のべールなのよ。あなた、ちょっと見たくない？」
「ええ、とても」
Aはこたえました。
Bさんは「手があれてひっかかっちゃうから・・・」とつぶやきながら、手のひらを合わせて何回もこすると、...
- 221
4
votes
1
answer
143
views
「ぬれているようにまっくらです」は一般的なたとえですか？
Japanese
日本の小説を外国語に翻訳している外国人です。
今手がけている小説に、
二人は森の中にそろそろと入っていきました。空に残った明かりが少しは木の間からさしていると思ったのに、森の中に入ったとたんだれかが戸でも閉めてしまったように急に暗くなりました。冷たい空気が流れてきて、まわりはぬれているようにまっくらです。
という一節があります。
最後の「ぬれているようにまっくらです」...
- 221
1
vote
1
answer
134
views
Can we use ~た form to make a verb an adverb?
I've got this phrase:
コンタクトすると目が乾いた感じになって、目が赤くなります。
Which means:
When I use contacts, my eyes feel dry and become red.
Pretty easy, but there's a little thing with the usage of the ~た form which I ...
- 137
2
votes
1
answer
106
views
How do I interpret and relate the elements in bold in the following sentence?
I am having difficulty parsing the sentence below and understanding its meaning. Is the narrator saying that he doesn’t understand “practical pain” like hunger, or the more extreme pains like his own ...
- 151
1
vote
2
answers
205
views
What is this な? 「変態」ってな
（ナオト） お前のパンツ買うの忘れた。
（真由） それぐらい ちゃんと持ってきてます。 変態。
（ナオト） お前 「変態」ってな…。(source)
（桐乃） あんたが沙織とこそこそ仲よくなったりしたから、ややこしいことになったんじゃない
（京介） っていうか、興味津々じゃねえか！
（桐乃） うるさい！あんたこそ、何よ、あやせ見て デレーっとして。人の親友をあんな目で見んな！変態！
（京介） ...
- 11.4k
2
votes
2
answers
341
views
What is ７つ referring to in this sentence?
The following is text from the opening of the game Fire Emblem Monshou no Nazo:
おお！ 我らが母なる大地
７つを１０００も重ねた間
絶望という時代あり
我らが 天に救いを求める事
７年と７月と７日の間
If I understand correctly, the highlighted phrase says ...
- 291
1
vote
1
answer
101
views
私は母さんを助けたかったんじゃない (Negative or not?)
Can you help me with this line?
私は母さんを助けたかったんじゃない
I know that （ん）じゃない doesn't necessarily make the sentence to be negative and when it comes to じゃない, intonation matters, so it's difficult sometimes ...
- 1,243
1
vote
1
answer
514
views
What does ご本家様 means?
I was scrolling twitter and saw this word that I've never seen before. These kanji together do not compose a word that makes sense to me, at least.
2
votes
1
answer
168
views
I don't know how to interpret this line 死んだと知らさせるより受け入れがたいから
I don't understand very well what a character wants to say...For context, this character is on the verge of dying, he was cursed and had only a day to live and tries to find the one who cursed him....
- 1,243
1
vote
1
answer
157
views
Is this topical tangent really as abrupt/unconnected as it feels to me?
Okay, so I'm attempting to translate the text from an obscure Japanese Super Famicom game (for fun/general posterity). (This is not a translation or proof-read request of course - those are against ...
- 636
3
votes
2
answers
134
views
A dialogue from 『狼と香辛料』
ロレンス： 俺、いや、俺達は商人だ。儲かれば何でもいい、笑うのは金が入ってから、泣くのは破産してからだ。そして俺達は笑うんだ。
ホロ： ああ すっとした。ま、ここ数百年まともに会話しとらんのじゃ喜怒哀楽に脆くなっとる。これでぬしの前で二度泣いたがな、ぬしの前でなくても泣いたじゃろう、何か言いたいか分かるかや？
ロレンス： 勘違いするなと
ホロ： うむ
ロレンス： ...
- 11.4k
2
votes
1
answer
87
views
How to interpret whose じいちゃん is being talked about
Context: A mom talking to her son disapprovingly about him turning the family liquor store into a convenience store.
死んだ親父がじいちゃんの代から受け継いだ酒屋を潰すなんて許さない
How do we know whose じいちゃん is being talked about ...
- 291
0
votes
2
answers
71
views
interpretation of a sentence -"だから別れ話しも できなくって"
I am trying to understand the following short conversation. But I have some trouble understanding the last sentence.
female 1: まだまだ 忙しそうだな…
female 2 looking at phone sad: うん… だから別れ話も できなくって…
My ...
3
votes
1
answer
228
views
Can "ケンカになったのよ" be talking about a hypothetical?
In the latest chapter of One Piece this exchange happens between おでん, a skilled swordsman wondering why his disciples won't learn his style and his wife, トキ:
おでん: "おでん二刀流"最強だぞ?なぜ受けつがない!!
...
- 291
0
votes
2
answers
211
views
Why can't まちがいなく失敗 mean 'a zero-mistakes失敗'?
失敗するのを気にしたら、まちがいなく失敗してしまう。
=If we think of failure, we will certainly fail.
When I read the example the first time, thinking it's a proverb, I interpreted it like:
If you mind failure, you will fall ...
- 371
1
vote
1
answer
161
views
How did this girl interpret this sentence?
Unsure of how Girl 2 (bold line) interpreted what was said by Girl 1. The reader learns shortly after that 鈴木 and 高橋 were both part of the same group, and in similar positions(いじられキャラ）.
Looking at the ...
- 331
3
votes
2
answers
277
views
Can this sentence be interpreted in more than one way?
I read a sentence
彼女はわかっていた。あるいは、わかっていると思っていた。
It was translated as "She knew, or she thought she knew/knows."
Prior to seeing this translation, in my head, I interpreted it as "I knew her, or ...
- 2,382
1
vote
2
answers
87
views
目が小さいですか Interpretation
目が小さいですか
This is found in the Genki 1 textbook (page 144).
When I read it I thought it meant "Do you have short eyesight?", but when I use two translator apps they both say it means "Do you have ...
- 333
0
votes
1
answer
115
views
Is my translation accurate? 自分の思ってる事『を』人『に』伝えられないだけじゃないんですか…？
自分{じぶん}の思{おも}ってる事{こと}『を』人{ひと}『に』伝えられないだけじゃないんですか…？
So in this sentence ↑ : 自分{じぶん}の思{おも}ってる is attributive to 事{こと} to create:
"A thing I've been thinking about myself"
Since there's no word order ...
- 293
1
vote
1
answer
112
views
Interpretation of この人の家族『は』一体どんな気持ち『で』100万円出したんだ...?
I would like to know if my analysis and interpretation is accurate or not.
この人の家族『は』一体どんな気持ち『で』100万円出したんだ...?
Source
Interpretation
この this → 人(person)の(possessive marker)家族(family)『は』(topic marker)...
- 293
1
vote
2
answers
249
views
How should I understand 「よくね」in this comic?
In the final comic of the web series 百日後に死ぬワニ ("The Crocodile Who Dies After 100 Days"), which you can access here if you don't mind the spoiler, the crocodile receives this final message:
How should ...
- 6,688
6
votes
2
answers
595
views
What's the actual implication of 中止だ中止?
The following image has been going around Japanese twitter recently with the hashtag #中止だ中止, for two reasons:
Feb 28, 2020 would have marked 147 days until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
There is ...
- 6,688
0
votes
0
answers
120
views
「来たるべきバカのために」 in a book title
The title of this book is 「勉強の哲学 来たるべきバカのために」.
What's the intended meaning of 来たるべきバカのために? I would venture "For the fool who is to come" (i.e. 'the fool who will be with us in the future'), but why?
- 6,688
1
vote
2
answers
229
views
Possible interpretation? The use of 脅かされる in this sentence
So, I came across a line in a manga that I'm interpreting in two ways. There's the main character who gets cornered by a monster, and the MC is vexed because he was weakened from a previous fight and ...
- 1,243
1
vote
1
answer
89
views
How to interpret 同情 in the following sentence
Context: in the manga リクドウ, the boxer that will win the Level A Tournament will get the chance to challenge the Japanese champion. Some journalists are interviewing the champion about this and one ...
- 4,473
2
votes
1
answer
192
views
Meaning of 名前が名前だし, 受けでも狙え and ツッコミ
名前は南空ナオミ。元FBI捜査官だそうです。名前が名前だし両親が日本にいるのだから日本人なのでしょう。
南空ナオミ is the name of a Japanese detective in death note. I think the author is saying that because of her name and both her parents being in ...
- 1,410
2
votes
1
answer
168
views
Meaning of 身, 末 and 仮に
Context: From a blog about Death Note, the author is talking about Light not wanting to trade his eyes for half his lifespan. Then he says something like Light is the only death note holder to not ...
- 1,410
0
votes
1
answer
95
views
What does 通常進行 mean in the context of a two week serialized mangaka job?
I can understand both words separately, and even together in some specific contexts. I can't understand the meaning of these two together in the following phrase and context:
「締切りを３日早めてほしいの。...
- 25
0
votes
1
answer
505
views
Help interpreting a chain of Kanji from manga
me and my buddies are reading a novel based on the manga series "Bleach." We are trying to interpret the name of a character's power-up
逆様邪八宝塞 (sakashima, yokoshima, Hatsubou, fusagari)
The ...
