Sunday, February 11, 2007
JLPT3: Doing things for others with ーてあげる
| 日本語： | [subject] は [recipient] に [verb (base 6)] あげる |
| English: | To do something for someone... |
Last time we looked at the use of あげる to convey the act of giving an item to someone. We also made the point that あげる is used when the giving is performed by the subject of the sentence and the sentence is written from the subject point-of-view. Essentially, the direction of giving was away from the subject. Well, today we'll look at how the ーて form can be used to convey the act performing some action for someone else. In other words, today is all about doing a favour for someone!
If you've read the blog entry for あげる, there isn't really much to add here, other than あげる follows the action verb conjugated to base 6. The polite version is ーてさしあげる and as with さしあげる it's used when talking about superiors.
| English: | I wanted to buy some chocolate for my friend. |
| Jenglish: | [friend][for][chocolate][buy + want + favour] |
| 日本語： | 友達にはチョコレートを買いたくてあげた。 |
| English: | I explained to the customer how to upgrade the software. |
| Jenglish: | [customer][to][software][upgrade + how to][explain + favour] |
| 日本語： | 取引先にソフトウェアをアップグレードし方のを説明してあげた。 |
OK. Let's scour the net for real-world examples!
Example 1:
This first example is taken from http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail.php?qid=1210310692
| 日本語： | とりあえず相手を見て、返ってこない覚悟で1,000円貸してあげるかな。 |
| Jenglish: | [first of all][other party][see],[not return][resolution][because][1000 yen][lend + favour][I wonder] |
This looked such a simple sentence before I tried to translate it, but the 返ってこない覚悟で completely threw me. So after a couple of hours (honestly!) I'm translating it as First of all I would look at the other person and wonder should I lend them 1000 yen, will the favour not be returned.
Example 2:
This example was taken from http://japan.alibaba.com/manufacture/5048345.html
| 日本語： | 必要なパソコン言語でソフトウェアを開発してあげます。 |
| Jenglish: | [necessary][PC][language][because][software][to develop + favour] |
Well, I would translate this as Because of essential PC terminology, we have developed this software.
またね・・・
Comments:
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English:I wanted to buy some chocolate for my friend.
私は友達にチョコレートを買ってあげたかった。
私は友達にチョコレートを買ってあげたいと思った。
I think both can be ok.
'want to do something' can be translated '～したい' or '～したいと思う'.
English:I explained to the customer how to upgrade the software.
取引先にソフトウェアのアップグレードの仕方を説明してあげた。
'…の仕方を説明して差し上げた。' is also ok. Sounds more polite.
日本語：とりあえず相手を見て、返ってこない覚悟で1,000円貸してあげるかな。
Dave, you seem to try to pick up very hard work! This Japanese sentence is too simple and casual to use learning translation and your English translation is also difficult for me. (^.^;
Ok, I'll try. (^_^)
とりあえず相手を見て
after a glance over the person
返ってこない覚悟で
at the risk of losing my money
1,000円貸してあげるかな。
I would lend him/her 1,000 yen
At the risk of losing my money, I would lend him/her 1,000 yen after a glance over the person.
日本語：必要なパソコン言語でソフトウェアを開発してあげます。
We can develop the software using the neccessary (needed, required)PC terminology.
...What do you think about my translations?
私は友達にチョコレートを買ってあげたかった。
私は友達にチョコレートを買ってあげたいと思った。
I think both can be ok.
'want to do something' can be translated '～したい' or '～したいと思う'.
English:I explained to the customer how to upgrade the software.
取引先にソフトウェアのアップグレードの仕方を説明してあげた。
'…の仕方を説明して差し上げた。' is also ok. Sounds more polite.
日本語：とりあえず相手を見て、返ってこない覚悟で1,000円貸してあげるかな。
Dave, you seem to try to pick up very hard work! This Japanese sentence is too simple and casual to use learning translation and your English translation is also difficult for me. (^.^;
Ok, I'll try. (^_^)
とりあえず相手を見て
after a glance over the person
返ってこない覚悟で
at the risk of losing my money
1,000円貸してあげるかな。
I would lend him/her 1,000 yen
At the risk of losing my money, I would lend him/her 1,000 yen after a glance over the person.
日本語：必要なパソコン言語でソフトウェアを開発してあげます。
We can develop the software using the neccessary (needed, required)PC terminology.
...What do you think about my translations?
# posted by 
: 8:55 am
: 8:55 am
free...
Thanks as always for the comments and sorry for my delay!
I didn't do too well in my translation! But I did learn something. It's not:
買いたくてあげた
it's
買ってあげたかった
So, I do not add the conjugation to the main verb, but I add it to あげる? I will try and remember :-)
Also, ～したいと思う means 'want' too? Can I use ～したいと思う and ～したい equally, or is one better?
I think your translations are good - they are certainly much better than mine. But
At the risk of losing my money, I would lend him/her 1,000 yen after a glance over the person.
doesn't feel natural.
After a glance at the person,
I would lend him/her 1,000 yen at the risk of losing my money.
またね・・・
Post a Comment
Thanks as always for the comments and sorry for my delay!
I didn't do too well in my translation! But I did learn something. It's not:
買いたくてあげた
it's
買ってあげたかった
So, I do not add the conjugation to the main verb, but I add it to あげる? I will try and remember :-)
Also, ～したいと思う means 'want' too? Can I use ～したいと思う and ～したい equally, or is one better?
I think your translations are good - they are certainly much better than mine. But
At the risk of losing my money, I would lend him/her 1,000 yen after a glance over the person.
doesn't feel natural.
After a glance at the person,
I would lend him/her 1,000 yen at the risk of losing my money.
またね・・・
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