I translated じょうぶ as “durable/strong” rather than “healthy”.
So how about: “Apart from being durable, the heart of totora can also be eaten.”
6 Likes
Yea, your translation makes a lot more sense than mine especially the first section. But I think I would still translate しん as core or pith. Anyway, great work!
Page 116
また, りょうりの ときに, ねんりょうがわりにも つかえる, とても べんりな草です
また, - also
りょうり - 料理, cooking
の - possessive particle
ときに - time + に
ねんりょう - 燃料, fuel
がわり - 代わり, substitute for …
に - に-particle
も - also / even
つかえる, - 使える, to be usable; to be serviceable; to be useful
とても - very
べんりな - 便利 (な-adjective), convenient; handy; useful
草 - grass
です - copula
Also, it is a very useful grass that can even be used as a substitute for fuel when it is time to cook
5 Likes
Ah, yeah, I got confused on this one. So 代わり is used here as a suffix and pronounced (rendaku-ed?) が わり instead of かわり and attached directly to the noun.
2 Likes
2 Likes
I think now that I’m wrong but I’d gone for わりに - unexpectedly - unexpectedly be used as fuel.
1 Like
Page 117 - continuing. Relatively straightforward end apart from a couple of vocab words, one of which would be much easier with kanji!
島には、かん光きゃくも おおぜい やってきます。
Tourists come to the islands in great numbers.
トトラを つかった みんげいひんなどは、こどもたちも てつだって、作ります。
They make things like traditionally crafted items from totora, with even the children lending a hand.
Caption
トトラで できた ウロスとうの 家。
Uros islands’ house made of totora.
3 Likes
Just a quick thought here. Something tells me that if you were to translate わりに (割に) as unexpectedly, then the が after ねんりょう should be を because つかえる (potential form of つかう) is transitive. Might be wrong about this though.
1 Like
You can use が for potential verbs. The same way you use が with できる. Some stickler old people might even tell you を is wrong. Similarly with the たい form of verbs, because technically they’ve become adjectives. But you do still hear and see を regularly, so I would say most natives find を in those situations acceptable.
3 Likes
また, りょうりの ときに, ねんりょうがわりにも つかえる, とても べんりな草です.
Thanks, @Leebo.
So would you translate it as がわり being a suffix added on to ねんりょう or が as a particle plus わりに meaning “unexpectedly”?
わりに wouldn’t really make much sense to me here. But it’s 5:22AM and I haven’t gone to bed yet.
1 Like
OK, thanks and sleep well!
I had gone for that (“surprisingly/unexpectedly”) as well, but after searching for sample sentences I found that almost all of them had a の before the 割に.
Example:
彼は年の割にはよく走る。
He runs well for his age.
Before that I also went for わり as “proportion/percentage” (meaning 1 in Jisho), as in “a proportion [of the grass] is used as fuel”, or even "diluted/mixed with [fuel] (meaning 6 in Jisho) but I think @marcusp’s translation makes more sense.
3 Likes
Thanks to everyone for the great translations and explanations!
regarding page 116
When I looked up うえに in DOJG
I guess you’re talking about the Dictionary of ___ Japanese Grammar, right? Can you tell me if you looked it up in the basic, intermediate or advanced one? I only own the basic one and wasn’t able to find it there (but maybe I just missed it).
Also something interesting here is つくってある which I think is used here instead of つくっている. Maybe ～てある is used here to denote a resultant state.
DOBJG says that te-verbs + aru = something has been done to something and the resultant state of that action remains. So I guess you’re right about that. 
3 Likes
Sorry, I should have specified which dictionary to avoid confusion. It was in the Intermediate dictionary.
Most of the grammar in the book we’re reading is covered in the Basic one, but I guess if you can afford it, it’d be good to have the Intermediate one as well. Personally speaking, I haven’t reached the level where I’m using the Intermediate one that much but I could see using it more in the future.
1 Like
Page 118
「せかい一 うつくしい 広場」って どんあ 広場？
Which plaza is the world’s most beautiful plaza?
花は さまざまに 楽しむ ことが できますね。
We are able to enjoy various flowers aren’t we?
そだてたり、花たばに して おくったりするほか、いろいろな 行事に 合わせて フラワーアレンジを 考えるのも 楽しい ものです。
Tricky! My attempt below - ready to be corrected!
そだてたり - 育てろ (to raise/nurture) in たり form - “things like raising…”
花たばに - bouquet of flowers plus に
して - する in て form (doing and)
おくったり - 送る (to send) in たり form “… and things like sending”
する - to do
ほか - nothing except, nothing but
いろいろな 行事に - various events + に (at)
合わせて - joining together (てform)
フラワーアレンジを 考えるの to consider/intend to do flower arranging
も - adding emphasis
楽しい - fun
もの - thing
です- polite ender
Doing nothing but things like nurturing (flowers) and making and sending bunches of flowers, joining together at various events to do flower arranging is a really fun thing.
4 Likes
花は さまざまに 楽しむ ことが できますね。
I had trouble understanding 楽しむ こと in this context but DBJG helped me out again: V(inf) + ことが できる = doing something is possible (lit.) which can be translated as “can / be able to do something”.
I ordered DBJG together with the なぜ book and it was the best decision ever. I love it!
そだてたり、花たばに して おくったりするほか、いろいろな 行事に 合わせて フラワーアレンジを 考えるのも 楽しい ものです。
ほか is translated as “besides” as well. I also thinkする refers to both そだてたり and 花たばに して おくったり. So maybe “Besides doing things like nurturing (flowers) and sending flower bouquets…”? I’m also wondering if 送る can mean “to spend (time)” in this context? (So something along the lines of “spending [time] on [making/doing] flower bouquets”? But that’s really just a wild guess.)
I think も can maybe be translated as also.
So maybe: Besides doing things like nurturing (flowers) and sending flower bouquets [or spending time making flower bouquets?], considering to join and do flower arrangement at various events is also a fun thing.
4 Likes
花は さまざまに 楽しむ ことが できますね。
Something else about this sentence. Although さまざま according to Jisho means varied or various, when に is added to a な-adjective, it becomes an adverb. So one of the ways ALC translates さまざまに is “in many ways”.
Also the topic seems to be a direct object.
So I think it can be translated as
We can enjoy flowers in many ways, agree?
7 Likes
Your translation makes sense when you read it together with the next sentence naming some of the ways flowers can be enjoyed!
2 Likes
Page 119
せかいでは, いろいろな 花が 見られる 花の はくらん会や, 花に ちなんだ まつりなどが さかんに 行われています
せかいでは, - 世界, the world + で, in + は, topic marking particle
いろいろな - 色々, various, な-adjective
花が - flowers + が
見られる - to be able to see (potential form of 見る)
花の - flower’s
はくらん会 - 博覧会, fair; exhibition; exposition
や, - and
花に - flowers + に, to
ちなんだ - plain past form of 因む, to be associated (with); to be connected (with)
まつり - festival
などが - etc + が
さかんに - 盛ん, popular + に
行われています - 行う, to carry out, in ている form with polite ます ending
It is possible to see many kinds of flowers in flower shows, flower festivals, and so on, which are held all over the world.
Flower shows, flower festivals, and so on, where it is possible to see all kinds of flowers, are held all around the world.
All over the world flower shows, flower festivals, and so on, are held, in which it it possible to see many kinds of flowers.
3 Likes