BUNPO strange English translations

Bunpro
#1

Hello all,
I couldn’t find a search button to see if there was a similar topic already, so I opened this one. Sorry if it is a double.

I’d like to keep adding here some of the weird translations (in English) from Japanese, especially around grammar points. I get them every now and then, so this is the collective place where we can discuss them.
(also because I can’t post feedback due to some bug that keeps shutting the window before I can type anything)

Ok, so just now I got this one, (N1- N2 grammar review):

試験を受ける以上、休むことはできない。

As long as I am taking the exam, I can’t rest.

While I am ok at seeing “ijou"以上 as " as long as” , the English doesn’t make sense.

“As long as” to my knowledge is used to state a condition that makes the bare minimum to accept something to happen. " As long as it’s in the shade, I will go to the park in summer". " As long as she is happy, this is fine with me".

But here, the clear English translation needs to be “Since”.
I know other nuances of “as long as” might exist, but in this translation, it seems the exams is going on for days, and whichever way, it sounds super unnatural English to me.
I would never be able to guess the right Japanese grammar from such English.
(but maybe it’s me).

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#2

I’m pretty sure this translation is correct. There’s more than one definition for 以上, so that might be confusing.

4 〔（…する）からには〕 since…; now that…; seeing that…; 〔（…する）限りは〕 so long as…; 〔いったん（…したからには）〕 once…; 〔いやしくも（…する）からには〕 if…at all

As long as you’re going to do that anyway…
Since you’re going to do that anyway…

as long as

conjunction

  1. During the time that.

“I’ll stay as long as you need me.”

  1. Since.

“As long as you’ve offered, I accept.”

  1. On the condition that.

“I will cooperate as long as I am notified on time.”

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

4 Likes
#3

This also sounds correct to me. A quick google search of “as long as”, it fits the definition of “during the whole time that”; and even “provided that”, as in “I can’t rest if I’m taking the exam”

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#4

" As long as I am taking the exam, I can’t rest."

In other words, as long as I am in the state where I will be taking this exam (i.e. preparing to take it), I can’t rest. But, if I don’t take the exam, I will be able to rest.
This has a different nuance to “since.”

“since I am taking the exam” = I am definitely taking the exam, it is decided
“As long as I am taking the exam” = provided that I take the exam, I can’t rest. But there is a possibility that I could change my plans and not take the exam. In the current state, you have begun preparing to take the exam, but it could change.
“If I am taking the exam (if I am to take the exam) I cannot rest” would be another way of saying it, but this doesn’t carry the implication that you have already begun preparing to do the exam.

It sounds like natural English to me :slight_smile:

4 Likes
#5

RE. the Feedback feature not working, are you able to please turn off any Adblockers / Brave Shield / any other browser plugins you have active when visiting Bunpro?

99.99% of the time it’s due to over zealous plugins.

1 Like
#6

Yeah, see, I have never seen, read or heard the second meaning before, (“As long as you’ve offered, I accept.”) so maybe that’s why it sounds odd to my ears. Not sure if it’s a way of being extra formal, or it belongs to a branch of English such as British etc, and that is why I might have never come across it.

#7

To me the issue is the fact it is paired with “taking an exam” as in right now?, and the use of the word “rest”, which again, sounds odd to pair for an exam and would make more sense for other activities. Also who can speak during the exams? that is way is odd. It’s the context I guess. (also because I read it as present continuous, not planned future…)

#8

Mind you, there are some translations that intentionally have slightly awkward English translations just to gently nudge you in the right direction, or because the most common English translation would leave a large number of possible Japanese answers while Bunpro is testing you for a particular one. And I’m pretty OK with that.

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#9

Pretty much what I came here to say haha. I like the fact that some translations seem to reflect the logic for Japanese sentence building, it helps me get a better grasp on their inner working and the mindset needed to construct my own sentences properly.

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#10

Might be good to keep in mind that a lot of English speaking countries use phrases slightly differently as well. In this particular sentence ‘as long as’ seems fine to me as an Aussie.

We are planning on slightly altering some translations in the near future though just so that their Japanese counterpart is easier to guess. Since 以上 is slightly formal sounding, I would compare it more to ‘being that’ or ‘provided that’ in English, at least in terms of register.

Edit- On closer inspection, it could also be the tense that is making it sound a bit off. ‘As long as I am going to be taking the exam ~’ sounds a bit more natural to me.

4 Likes
#11

If you’re interested, there’s a whole branch of linguistics that deals with this sort of nuance interpretation:

Garden path sentences highlight ways that trick you into incorrectly interpreting a sentence when you first read it, but have a valid meaning if you parse it in exactly the right way.

In think it’s similar to what’s happening with the sentence you’ve pointed out. And, like Asher pointed out, there’s a better way to rewrite the sentence that is less likely to invoke an unusual interpretation.

(Grammar - Wikipedia) correct sentences, and pragmatics, which investigates how people use language in communication. Semantics, together with syntactics and pragmatics, is a part of semiotics.

The horse raced past the barn fell.
The complex houses married and single soldiers and their families.

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