This is a discussion topic for the N5 Lesson 9 reading passages.
Thanks for making these! They were automatically hidden for me when I went into the forums, refreshed the readings today to see they were up! Here’s a couple of potential errors I noted the other day:
- [first passage] より~ほうが looks like it should be the highlighted grammar point instead of より
- [first passage] 弟の健は Based on the translation I assume this is a slight error
- [first passage] Mom’s english translation is missing after 太郎 says 起こしましょうか
- [third passage] highlighted grammar points link to wrong items
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Yes, came here to point out that there’s a missing line of translated dialogue on the first passage.
I think the mum says it would be better to wake him than not as he has to clean his room today.
I am having a bit of trouble breaking down and understanding the following sentence in the third passage:
「私もコーヒーを飲みすぎくらい好きですよ。」
How does this translate to “I also like coffee to the point that I overdrink it”? How does 「くらい」in this case modify the sentence?
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私も - I also
コーヒーを - coffee
飲みすぎ - drink too much
くらい - to the extent (look at the second reading on jisho)
好き - like
です - polite form it is
よ - emphasis !
working backwards to form the yoda style sentence
it is like to the extent drink too much coffee I also !
now, this is where I just try to get the feel of the sentence and englishify it, you have to engage translator superpowers here…
I also like coffee to the extent that I drink too much
hth
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I see! Thanks for the explanation.
I have only gone through the whole of N5 (using bunpro’s lesson order), so I wasn’t familiar with the 2nd meaning of 「くらい」.
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I’m halfway through N4 and it’s not updated, just need to reference a dictionary.
Could someone help explain this usage of で in the title of the second passage 《夫婦で旅行》? It’s translated as “A Couple’s Holiday”. I would’ve translated 夫婦で旅行 as “Travel/Traveling with a couple”, and I would’ve translated “A Couple’s Holiday” as 夫婦の旅行.
Does 夫婦で旅行 imply that there’s someone else traveling with them (私は夫婦で旅行する)?
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There’s no implication! It’s just another use of で。
Another example of this would be 二人で行こう！
Hope this helps.
Could I translate it kinda like “as a unit”?
二人で行こう— let’s go as a unit of two
夫婦で旅行— traveling as a unit of a couple
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I feel as if the “as a unit” meaning is already kind of obviated by saying the single noun “二人” or “夫婦”, so it’s not necessary to clarify the “as a unit” sense. For example, if you were saying 飛行機で行く, you’re just going with a plane or by plane.
So, in a literal sense it would translate as “Trip with [husband and wife]”. Also remember that none of our translations are literal but nuanced, to help you think and internalize directly in Japanese.
Right, when you look at 飛行機で行くand translate で as “with”, the airplane and you are separate entities and it’s “I go with airplane”. “I” and “airplane” are separate, and “with” joins the two.
If you make a parallel for 夫婦で旅行, you would translate it as “I travel with a couple”, where “I” and “couple” are separate entities joined by “with”, and there’s an assumed “I” and an assumed translation using the verb form of 旅行, but that’s not correct as you are trying to explain.
In English, the first image that comes to mind of “with a couple” is “someone with a couple”, as was indicated in my original question, and why I translated it as such. With that image in mind, it becomes necessary to add alternate words to clarify “with”, which is why I was saying that it is kinda like saying “as a unit”.
It is for exactly this kind of confusion that an explanation of で needs other words besides “with” to fully convey the meaning of で as used in Japanese.
飛行機で行く-- with, by, by means of
公園で歩く-- with [the place of action], at, within
みんなでしよう-- with [as essential to the action]
木で建てる-- with, out of [material]
一時間で着く-- with, within [duration of time]
夫婦で旅行-- with, as [a state] ← I was missing this understanding
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Could someone help me out with this sentence here? In the “Room Cleaning” passage, I am having a hard time understanding why it is noted “掃除をやらなくちゃ” instead of something such as “掃除をしなきゃ”.
I am confused on where the やら comes from and what it means.
Thanks
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Comes from the verb やる to do. It’s the same as する in this instance but maybe slightly less polite
やる
やります
やらない
やらなくちゃ
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Thank you! I appreciate it!
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