なぜ？どうして？科学のお話 - Section 1 Discussion Thread, Completed!

Japanese Language Book Clubs
41

The first page was good, and I now have a much firmer grasp on what my eyebrows do. There was one bit of grammar I had left a note about though, and I’m putting it here in case anyone else has the same question: へと.

でも、まゆ毛が ある ことで、 おでこから ながれおちてくる あせは、まゆ毛をつたわって 顔の りょうがわへと ながれていきます。

I think this would be rendered in Kanji as follows:
でも、眉毛がある事で、おでこから流れ落ちて来る汗は、眉毛を伝わって顔の両側へと流れて行きます。
And then very loosely in English: However, if you have eyebrows, the sweat that would run down off your forehead is transmitted by your eyebrows to run down the sides of your face.

I couldn’t spot anything in the DBJG, but this link offers two perspectives on the use of へと, with one approach saying that it draws the audience’s focus more strongly to what comes after, and the other saying (among other things) that it adds a literary tone. Would be interested to hear what others think.

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42

ページ番号一を全然分かりない。:disappointed:
I feel like I don’t understand anything.

Page 16 and the first sentence of page 17:

まゆの形や太さは、人によっていろいろですね。

Eyebrows come in different shapes and sizes.

おとなには、まゆの形をととのえたり、かいたりしている人もいます。

Something about the shape of eyebrows of adults?

まゆ毛は、右と左を合わせて、やく千三百本あると言われています。

Some say, the right and the left eyebrows together consist of about 1300 hairs?

ほかの毛と同じように、少しずつのびているのですが、三、四か月で生えかわるので、まゆ毛はいつもみじかいままです。

It takes 3 to 4 months to grow, the always stay this short.

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43

I tried to translate this sentence and my version looks like this:
Similar to other type of hair it can be expected that is grows little by little but Eyebrows always stay short because in 3 or 4 months these are replaced by new.

What do you think of this version? It is really a long sentence and hard to put it together.

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44

Hi all,

Here’s what I came up with for pg 16. Some of what I read I knew from what I learned before getting this book like Genki and WaniKani lessons. I only took Vocab/Grammar notes of what I didn’t know for each sentence to help me understand it. The 3rd and 5th sentences took me awhile. Hopefully, I got them right.

まゆげは何のためにあるの？
What are eyebrows for?

	Vocab/Grammar
		まゆ	Eyebrows

まゆの形や太さは人にいろいろですね。
The shape and thickness of the eyebrows vary from person to person.

おとなには、まゆのかたちをととのえたり、かいたりしている人もいます。
Some adults arrange or draw the shape of eyebrows.

	Vocab/Grammar
		ととのえ    Arrange

まゆ毛は、右と左を合わせて、やく千三百本あるといわれています
It is said there are 1300 eyebrows for the right and left sides combined.

	Vocab/Grammar
		合わせて 	Together
		いわれて 	Said
        本          Counter for long, thin objects, like pens, chopsticks, or bottles. But, not used to count books.
		千三百本	    1300 + the counter (本) = 1300 hairs
		  \- pronounced (せんさんびゃっぽん)

<This sentence starts at pg. 16 then ends on pg. 17>
ほかの、毛と同じように、少しずつのびているのですが、三、四か月ではえかわるので、まゆ毛はいつもみじかいままです。
Like other hair, they grow little by little in 3 or 4 months, but eyebrows remain short.

	Vocab/Grammar
		毛と同じように 			    Just like other hair
		少しずつのびているのですが	It is growing little by little
		ずつ						Each
		のびている					Extending					
		いつも				        Always
		みじかい					    Short
45

My interpretation of the 「まゆ毛何のためにあるの」chapter (pages 16 - 18)

I didn’t know what to expect going into this book really but I learnt a lot about eyebrows today.

Format:
How’s it written in the book.
Sentence with kanji and links to bunpro grammar.
English covered by spoiler tags.
Any notes.

Title
まゆ毛は何のためにあるの？

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

眉毛は何のために ある の？

For what reason are eyebrows there?

まゆの形や太さは、人によっていろいろですね。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

眉毛の形や太さは、人によって色々ですね。

Eyebrows shape and thickness vary depending on the person.

おとなには、まゆの形をととのえたり、かいたりしている人もいます。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

大人には、眉の形を整えたり、書いたりしている人もいます。

As for adults, there are even people who adjust the shape and draw on their eyebrows.

まゆ毛は右と左と合わせて、やく千三百本あるといわれています。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

眉毛は右と左と合わせて、約千三百本あると言われています。

It’s said that in total the right and left eyebrows have approximately 1300 hairs.

ほかの毛と同じように、少しずつのびているのですが、三、四ヶ月で生えかわるので、まゆ毛はいつもみじかいままです。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

他の毛と同じように、少しずつ伸びているのですが、三、四ヶ月で生え変わるので、眉毛はいつも短いままです。

Other hairs grow little by little in the same way but they are replaced with new hairs every 3-4 months. Because of this eyebrows are always short.

ところで、まゆ毛は、いったい何のためにあるのでしょうか？

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

ところで、眉毛は、一体何のためにあるのでしょうか？

By the way, why the hell do we have eyebrows?

うんどうをすると、おでこにたくさんあせをかきます。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

運動をすると、おでこにたくさん汗をかきます。

When doing exercise lots of sweat appears on the forehead.

あせが目に入るとこまりますね。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

汗が目に入ると困りますね。

When sweat goes in your eyes its annoying right?

でも、まゆ毛があることで、おでこからながれおちてくる

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

でも、眉毛があることで、おでこから流れ落ちてくる

But, having eyebrows the sweat from the forehead runs off.

あせは、まゆ毛をつたわって顔のりょうがわへとながれていきます。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

汗は眉毛を伝わって顔の両側へと流れていきます。

Sweat goes along the eyebrows and continues to flow down both sides of the face

まゆ毛はあせが目に入るまた、日ざしがまぶしいときなどに、

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

眉毛は汗が目に入るまた、日差しが眩しい時などに、

In addition to getting sweat in your eyes, sunlight rays can also dazzle your eyes.

わたしたちは、しぜんと顔をしかめて、まゆをよせて、さらにつきだしますね。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

私たちは、自然と顔をしかめて、眉を寄せてさらに突き出しますね。

We naturally frown and…

I didn’t really understand what this sentence meant.
しかめる - to frown
さらに - furthermore; again
突き出す - to push out; to stick out

まゆ毛は、目の上にある小さな日がさのように、日の光をさえぎって、強いひざしから目をまもってくれています。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

眉毛は目の上にある小さな日暈のように、日の光を遮って、強い日差しから目を守ってくれています。

Eyebrows are above the eyes like little parasols, blocking sunlight and protecting the eyes from strong sunlight.

このように、まゆ毛は、あせや日ざしから目をまもるやくわりをしているのです。

Kanji, Grammar, English & Notes

このように、眉毛は、汗や日差しから目を守る役割をしているのです。

[spoiler]In this way, eyebrows carry out the role of protecting the eyes from sweat and sunlight.[/spoiler

Hope this helps, corrections much appreciated.

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46

This may be grammar confusion. The main point here is ～たり～たりする (or in this case, して), which means “doing things such as ~ and ~”. It’s basically the verb version of the nonexhaustive and.

Among adults, there are even people who adjust the shape or draw on their eyebrows.

The English could be a bit smoother, but yeah, that’s basically the gist.

しかめる is more “screw one’s face up” - think angry eyebrows rather than angry mouth.

We spontaneously screw our faces up, which pulls our eyebrows together, and also pushes them out.

Which is to say, it draws them closer together, and also moves them away from your skull. If it’s still not too clear what’s happening here, try seeing what your eyebrows do when you make angry faces. :slightly_smiling_face:

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47

Thank you for your help!

48

Sorry for the late reply, I was moving this weekend (in canadian winter, yay). So basically kindle locations are arbitrary segments based on how you decided to display the content (font size, page width, etc.). So when I said “this sentence is on location 95”, that was probably only true for me.

49

If it helps, I would put my level at lower intermediate and this “absolute beginner” book still makes me sweat. Real native material and learning tools aren’t the same deal :smiley:

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50

You did incredible work! I think you’ve answered most of my grammar questions with detailed bunpro links. I was missing some since there are contractions (for example we do not have のです, just shortened ’の’ at the end of the sentences).

One small comment with regard to quoting particle と

For this case I found more specific point といわれている it is said that; is known as Of course it is the same meaning, just particular case and separate grammar point :slight_smile:

ありがとうございます！

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51

Ah okay thanks for pointing it out !

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52

My favorite grammar point on page 17: が which means but and not subject marker, discovered thanks to massive post by @Ollie2304

Details

Full sentence (pp.16-17):
ほかの 毛と 同じように、少しずつ のびているのですが、三、四か月で 生えかわるので、まゆ毛は いつも みじかいままです。
Translation:

Just like other hairs, they (eyebrow hairs) grow little by little, but eyebrow hairs are replaced every 3-4 months, and because of that they are always short.

Grammar point is a bit complicated, but at least when がwont make sense as subject marker, I’ll be trying out “but”. To my chagrin, Genki does not cover it :frowning:

P.S. I did my bunpro reviews today, and very appropriate example sentence came up:
難むずかしいです が 、頑張がんばります。
It is difficult, but I will do my best.

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53

Thanks for the encouragement :smiley:

I already feel a bit better about today’s page!

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54

Page 17.

I feel like I still didn’t understand much, but for some reason felt better about this page. Just knowing we were talking about eyebrows (まゆげ) helped. :laughing:

This was the first sentence I believe to have grasped on my own:
まゆげはいつもみじかいままです → Eyebrows are mostly always short?

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55

I’ve translated the whole moster as:

Just like other hairs, they (eyebrow hairs) grow little by litlle, but eyebrow hairs are replaced every 3-4 months, and because of that they are always short.

My approach is not to go for full understanding, but to add to my (very little) knowledge. If today I learned something on the topic, it’s good enough :slight_smile:

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56

By the way, have you been using the vocabulary speadsheet? I also use Google Translate and Jisho.org .

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57

:smile_cat:

Good to know I’m not the only one! I also had my wife read it who is better at “applying” her learning and she was also stumped on most. Just lots more practice, which is what we’re here for! :stuck_out_tongue:

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58

No, I hadn’t used the sheet but I will now! I feel like this book is going to teach me some words I wouldn’t have otherwise learned for a while. Now I just need an Anki deck so I don’t forget them :stuck_out_tongue:

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59

I’ve got my book. Now I can actually start reading. :smiley:

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60

I really struggled with the first page, the second one I got a translation that looks roughly like those above, though with some creativity due to not understanding all the grammar.