Hello!
In the 返す vocab item (which means “to return (something), to restore, to put back”) there is the following example sentence:「田んぼを返す。」
With the translation being: “I plow the rice paddy. (Return)”.
Could somebody explain why is it used like that?
Hi!
Strange indeed. I’ve been looking around and found this verb 鋤き返す. So maybe this example was meant to be 田んぼを鋤き返す?
If that is so, it would be used as an auxiliary verb (use No. 6).
HTH!
I gathered it was just a way to express returning the field to it’s original state, of just dirt or whatever. Making it flat again
Well, plowing a field means turning the soil upside down, this is also one of the translations of 返す, “to turn upside down”. So “田んぼを返す” literary means “To turn the rice paddy upside down”, aka plowing it.
Okay. That explains it then. Thanks!
The English verb “turn” is also used to mean plough (definition six below).
You’ll also find the “plough” definition in Japanese dictionaries for 返す (definition two below).
The Japanese word for the verb “plough” is 耕す(たがやす) which comes from 田返す(たかえす). I.e., it literally comes from the phrase “to turn a field”, which is not dissimilar to English.
