Confused about this use of より

Japanese
#1

Hi, I came across this sentence when reading:

彼女が自殺するか、しないかより自分が罪悪感に苛まれないかどうかが重要だった

It gets translated as “Whether or not she killed herself is more important than whether or not I would feel guilty.”
However, I’m confused because I thought より was attached to the thing that is “less than”. Since より is attached to 彼女が自殺するか、しないか (whether or not she kills herself), wouldn’t that mean it’s less important than “自分が罪悪感に苛まれないかどうか” (whether or not I would be tormented by feelings of guilt)?

The translation has the opposite meaning of the way I understood it. I’m still very much a beginner when it comes to reading native material, so I’d appreciate some help.

Thanks!

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#2

I think that translation is incorrect, even asking google translate it gets translated into the way you thought it was. Is it a reliable translation?
The google translation is ‘It was more important whether she didn’t feel guilty than whether she committed suicide or not.’ Again, no idea how accurate that is, but you seem to be correct about the suicide being less important from my (somewhat lacking) knowlege.

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#3

Thanks for the response!

Interesting, because when I use Google translate I get the opposite result:
“Whether or not she committed suicide was more important than whether she would not be tormented by guilt.”
How is it possible that your Google translation is different than mine? Weird haha.
And I get a similar translation if I use DeepL or other translators, which is why I thought my interpretation was wrong… but maybe I was right? I’m so confused. :sweat_smile:

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#4

That is weird :sob: I got chat gpt to break up the sentance got the same result as the other googe translate, but lets let a native speaker correct it cause idk

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#5

Seems this translation is a bit whack. I’ll change it. The correct translation is ‘Rather than her committing suicide or not, it was more important whether or not I myself be tormented by feelings of guilt.’

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#6

Thanks Asher!
I guess I interpreted it correctly then. Strange that 3 different translation apps gave the same wrong translation, really threw me off haha.

This isn’t a BunPro sentence BTW, it’s from a novel I’m reading. I use translators sometimes just to make sure I understood the sentence correctly, which might not be the best approach…
Appreciate the help! :pray:

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#7

The kind of sentence that everyday people say at least once a day…

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