Questions tagged [translation]
翻訳. This site does not provide a translation service. However, questions about translation are welcome provided that they have some academic merit. For example, questions about translating uncommon words, phrases that have different meanings in different contexts, and other non-trivial topics.
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Why does someone intend to die in this JLPT question?
This is a question in my JLPT practise book:
手遅{ておく}れかもしれないが、死{し}んだ＿＿になってやれば、間{ま}に合{あ}うかもしれない。
A もの B わけ C つもり D はず
None of the answers made sense to me, so I didn't even choose one.
The ...
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Understanding a JLPT practise question with ものなら
This sentence comes from a question in my JLPT practise book that is part of an explanation of the use of ものなら:
一度{いちど}仕事{しごと}を手伝{てつだ}おうものなら、それをいいことにあの人{ひと}は何度{なんど}でも頼{たの}んでくるから、気{き}をつけたほうがいい。
My ...
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Is this a slang, and possibly derogatory term, for "lesbian"?
Warning: Potentially offensive terms.
I'm watching The Walking Dead on Hulu Japan with Japanese subtitles. I've noticed that the English dialogue and Japanese subtitles differ a lot. More than usual. ...
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Is "bless" the best translation of 祝福{しゅくふく}?
As far as I understand it, 祝福{しゅくふく} means "bless". I came across it in this sentence, and it struck me as weird:
だれもが彼の成功をうらやむと同時に、心から祝福した。
My rough translation is, "At the same time that ...
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Usage of the word 心配
Sorry if this is really simple and I'm overlooking the obvious, but I'm not sure how the following sentence should be translated as I've noticed on previous occasions that the word 「心配{しんぱい}」 might be ...
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Is this sentence making a comparison?
This sentence comes from my JLPT practise book:
宗教{しゅうきょう}とは何{なん}か、迷信{めいしん}とは何{なん}かを正確{せいかく}に定義{ていぎ}するのは困難{こんなん}だ。
I think it's basically saying:
Things like religions and supersitions are hard ...
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How do the two ideas in this sentence come together?
I have this sentence as part of a question in my JLPT practise book:
スリのグループがボスの合図{あいず}で乗客{じょうきゃく}から金{かね}を盗{ぬす}むのを目{ま}の当{あ}たりにして恐{おそ}ろしかった。
Part of the sentence means, "the pickpocket group steals ...
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How and when to use 「そうですね」？
I only know the 2 meanings of it as follow:
Use when thinking - no meaning
Use to agree with others - the meaning is like "yes, I think so"
What else and what situation can it be used?
If someone ...
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"Should" in Japanese
The word "should" in English has these uses when not used as a question:
To express the expectation of the speaker (Probabilistic reasoning).
The train should arrive in 10 minutes.
To express a ...
Flaw♦
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How to say, "try to __", "have to __"
For some reason I can't remember how to say "try to _" or "have to (must) _" in Japanese. How can I say this? Any variations you can include would be appreciated.
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How does 話{はなし}が噛{か}み合{あ}わない work?
I saw this phrase discussed on esaura.cc
話が噛み合わない
'There's a gap in their conversation.'
'They can't meet on common ground.'
'They have been at odds with each other.'
'They have not been on ...
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Heaven in Japanese
I have found that there are a number of words in Japanese that correspond to "heaven" in English. By heaven I mean the concept of a paradisiacal afterlife. The two most frequent in my limited and ...
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What is this English doing in the middle of my Japanese?
Note: I understand this question is on the edge of being off topic. I'll accept the community assessement if enough people feel that is the case.
I'm reading 脳{のう}は0.1秒{びょう}で恋{こい}をする by 茂木{もぎ}健一郎{...
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what does 可哀想{かわいそう}でならない mean?
I came across this expression in my JPLT N2 study materials.
I deciphered the parts as
可哀想{かわいそう} means pitiable, pathetic
でならない means can't help feeling
so does it mean "can't help feeling ...
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Translation of "に" into "natural" English
All of my Japanese teachers have told me that な-adjectives converted to に-ending words and い-adjectives converted to く-ending words, when followed by a verb, are 'adverbs'. However, sentences sound ...
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Is my interpretation of the grammar in 「気にしてられないと思えるようになる。」 correct?
人の目なんて。
気にしてられないと思えるようになる。
You can't concern yourself with what other people think.
I saw this on a TV show where the hosts were talking about coming out in public if you are gay. They had both come ...
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Usage of まるで with 見ているようだった.
その翼はとても滑らかに動くため、まるでコンピュータ・グラフィックスを見ているようだった。
Its wings were moving so smoothly that it almost looked like CGI.
or would a more accurate translation be:
Its wings were moving so smoothly that ...
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How is the "のです" working here?
目立つ事を恐れ、一緒でなければいけないという日本人が確実に減ってきているのです。
The strong feelings that Japanese have of being afraid of standing out and everybody having to do things together are starting to become less prominent.
To ...
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Help with adverbs with とする and としている
Taking yadokari's sentence:
彼女は表情が生き生きとしておりとてもかわいい。
The part that I need help understanding is the relation of 生き生きとして with 表情 and 居る.
Looking up the dictionary entry for 生き生き, it is "an adverb ...
Flaw♦
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Does this athlete intend to play in the street or for the street?
In a bizarre and transparently ineffective attempt to try and change the culture of Shibuya's central shopping district, the shopowners promotion association (商店街{しょうてんがい}振興{しんこう}組合{くみあい}) has changed ...
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What is the harshness of についてとやかく言う?
あなたの私生活についてとやかく言うつもりはありません。
I don't give a damn about your personal life.
I have also seen についてとやかく言う translated as "quibble over".
Could another translation of this sentence be:
...
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よかろう - What does it mean? Where does it come from?
This is another question that's come from a 昔話。
We have the following section:
大きい箱と小さい箱がありますが、どちらがいいですか。
どちらも結構じゃが、どうしてもと言うのなら、小さいほうでよかろう。
I'm having trouble with the second sentence. My ...
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人生に生き甲斐を求めてギターを習い始めた。 Can 求める mean give?
人生に生き甲斐を求めてギターを習い始めた。
I started learning guitar to give myself something to do with my life.
Is this translation a little too loose?
Can 求める mean give?
Or would another way of translating this ...
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How do you indicate a literal translation
I know that when I read sites like Wikipedia and there are foreign words they will often give the name with the original alphabet and spelling as well as a phonetic and a literal translation. So for ...
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Name/Title at the end of a sentence. Vocative case?
Consider these stanzas taken from the opening song of Aria the Animation: Undine.
Translations taken from this site
Background information:
An Undine as a mythical concept is a female water spirit ...
Flaw♦
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Blue blistering barnacles, what is Captain Haddock saying?
For those who might not be familiar with the series Tintin (soon to be in a major motion picture, by the way), there is a character named Captain Haddock who is famous for shouting out colourful ...
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Looking for the original Japanese of this haiku [closed]
I'm sure this is a translation of a haiku but I'm not able to find the original text or even the author.
As the sun
goes down the birds
land one by one.
I've been trying to Google it but can't seem ...
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What does this ad say? (Connotations of ガキ大将)
This is a frequent problem that I think many Japanese learners experience. You look at some Japanese sentences, and you understand the words, and most, if not all, the grammar, and yet still, it just ...
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What is this crazy guy shouting?
Note: I understand the risk that this question might be considered "too localized". However, my hope in asking isn't just to translate this one instance, but to use it as an exploration of how and why ...
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How can I say "make a big deal [about/out of/of] X"?
See title. I'm looking for idiomatic ways to say something like this - over-emphasizing something, worrying about it overly much, etc.
Bonus points if a literal 大 (whether read as だい or おお) is ...
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What does 公け mean?
I am wondering what the reading and meaning of 公け is in the following sentence:
彼女のことが公けになることを好まず、ひそかに離縁しようと決心した。
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「安い」って英語からきた表現？
皆さんこんにちは、
日本語で質問を聞かせていただきますので、ご協力ください。
回答やコメントなどは、日本語か英語、どちらの言語でも喜んで読みます。
では。
此間友達と喋っていて好みの話をしていた時一人が「ホラー映画やB級映画が大好き」と言うやいなや「あなた安いな〜」ともう一人が反応しました。
その「安い」は、英語に「cheap」と直訳すれば同じ意味が通じるそうなので、...
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How to say "Please direct all your future correspondence to email"?
Soon I am leaving my job and I would like to leave an e-mail for future correspondence with my colleagues. How do I write in Japanese something like "Please direct all your future correspondence ...
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Expression equivalent to "as far/long/much as I/you X"
Is there an expression in Japanese that is equivalent to "as far/long as I/you X", for example "as far as I know", "as far as I'm concerned", "as much as you want", "as long as he is still alive" etc? ...
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What Does 火信 Mean? [closed]
I saw 火信 tattooed on a gentleman's neck. I looked up the words, but couldn't make sense of their combination...
What does it mean?
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Use of になります in the context of time
While attempting to translate the sentence "It will soon be two years since I started learning Japanese", I started wondering how になります works in the context of time. Ignoring any other translation ...
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What's the meaning of すます in 耳をすませば?
What's the meaning of すます in 耳をすませば?
How would you translate this?
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Does the Japanese language only have negative terms for flirting?
I am looking for terms in the Japanese language which can describe the act of flirting in a positive light. This probably requires inventing terms to close a lexical gap, because as far as I know, all ...
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What's the literal and natural translation of たるもの?
子{こ}たる者{もの}すべからく親{おや}の命{めい}に従{したが}うべし。
Children should obey their parents
What I got from ALC is that a child isn't fit, unqualified, to be one's child if it disobeys its parents. Or is it just "...
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What does コピー mean in this context?
A: 他にもラルクコピーしてましたか？
B: じゃあ最後にもう一度聴いてくれ…虹。ってやってた
I know that ラルク is the band L'arc En Ciel. What does コピー mean here? What does the first sentence say?
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What does 懐{なつ}い mean in this context?
Saw this on twitter:
A: 懐い
B: そういえば私がマオさんの唄初めて聞いたのwinter fallでした。サンタさんでしたね（笑）あの日の衝撃は未だに忘れられないなー「歌うますぎ！この人誰！？」ってみんな言ってましたよ。懐かしい。
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What is a ダンディー? [closed]
I've encountered this word several times already but never really knew what it meant. Then I just saw this on twitter:
タモリさん、今日服装がダンディー。
What is a ダンディー? What kind of clothes does a ダンディー wear?
...
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What does MC mean in Japanese?
Saw this on twitter:
MC挟んでいいなら♪( ´▽｀)RT @miri_sid: @mao_sid マオくんは全曲連続で歌えますか？(^-^)
Can't find the Japanese definition of MC anywhere. What does that say?
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What does 二周目 mean?
I find this all over the net, but can't find it defined anywhere.
I'm trying to understand this tweet:
じゃあ二周目は是非モノマネで♪( ´▽｀)RT @mimiroll_410: @mao_sid 今友達とカラオケに入ってるシドの曲を五十音順に全部制覇しようとしてます！(笑)...
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What does 週一 mean?
Trying to understand this tweet:
日曜日は掃除の日。新しく買った掃除機が良すぎる！忙しいと週一とかになりがちな掃除機がけも、これでマメにやれそう♪( ´▽｀)ルンバと迷ったけどこっちにしてよかった！やっぱり掃除は自分でしたいしね。
I understood everything up to 週一. What does that sentence say?
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What is おもぴろかった
Saw this on twitter:
@Daigo19780408 昨日はお疲れ様でした！おもぴろかったです♪( ´▽｀)
What does おもぴろかった mean? I find words like this all over the place on the net, but I can't figure out what it means, and I can't find ...
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Meaning of ぎゃほ ?
What does the interjection ぎゃほ mean?
Context:
A: We are mentioned in (famous newspaper)
B: ぎゃほ！ かんどう＝＝＝＝３３３
Does it have the meaning of かんどう ? Or is it surprise, or something else?
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What does 染めちゃえ mean here? [closed]
Saw this on twitter:
A: マオにゃん、シドギャの彼女が出来ない僕に一言くれたら幸いです ...
B: 付き合った後に染めちゃえ
What is 染めちゃえ here?
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What is a シドギャ? ギャ doesn't mean girl, does it?
At first I thought ギャ meant girl, but after doing some googling, that doesn't appear to be what it is. What is シドギャ?
シドギャ is related to the band シド, the most popular Visual Kei rock band in Japan for ...
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What is 漕ぎに来てくれるフラグ in English?
これは漕ぎに来てくれるフラグ?
I read that on twitter. This is the tweet, if it helps to make sense of it.
自信…なくないです( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ笑RT @yamadamic: あらマオにゃん!これは漕ぎに来てくれるフラグ?（笑） RT @mao_sid: 出勤時に聴いてましたよ（＾∇＾）RT @...
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