Handling Expressions Unique to Japanese

Learn how to express Japanese forms that do not exist in English, or that have complex equivalents, in English.

Basic Rules

① “Do Something for Someone / Have Someone Do Something”: Japanese expressions that show benefit.
- “He helped me.” (The benefit expressed by the Japanese form does not need to be translated; it is understood from the context.)
- “Could you tell me ...?”
- “I taught my brother English.”
② The Difference between Japanese Topic and Subject Markers Does Not Appear in English: Both are expressed through word order without a subject marker in English.
- “I was wrong.”
- “I wasn't wrong.”
※ For emphasis: “It was I who was wrong.” (cleft sentence)
③ Auxiliary-Like Expressions such as “It Is One's Nature To,” “Should,” and “Be Expected To”:
- “It is one’s nature to do (general statement)” → One should / People usually / It is a custom to “Children should go to bed early.”
- “should do” → should “You should apologize.”
- “be expected to do” → should (expectation) / be supposed to “He should arrive soon. / He is supposed to arrive at 7.”
- “used to do (past habit)” → used to “I used to play soccer in junior high.”
④ Colloquial Expressions such as “or Something” and “-Like”: Remove or standardize them in written language.
- “Do you drink coffee or something?”
- “It looks like him. / It seems like him.”
⑤ “Although / However” Expressions: Express them with but / however / although, although they can often be omitted.
- “Could I come tomorrow?” (The Japanese phrase is a polite expression and sounds more natural when it is not translated into English.)

Points to Remember

① The relationship between the passive voice and giving-and-receiving expressions: “I was praised by my teacher.” (passive voice) / “My teacher praised me.” (active voice) ── Changing the viewpoint in Japanese changes the English construction.
② “The fact that...” is expressed with a that-clause: “I knew that he wouldn't come.”
③ “A person/thing called...” is expressed with which/who/that: “a detective called Sherlock / a detective named Sherlock.”
④ Japanese particles correspond to English prepositions or constructions: “に” → at/in/on/to, “で” → at/in/by, “と” → with/and. There is no complete one-to-one correspondence.

Practice

1. Translate “My mother makes breakfast for me every morning” (do not explicitly translate the benefit).
2. Translate “Children should listen to their parents” (express a general statement).
3. Translate “I wish I had studied harder then” (express regret).