Preventing Partial Translation Errors — Comparisons, Negation, and Quantity

We will focus on three areas in which students frequently make mistakes in Japanese-to-English translation: comparisons, negation, and quantity.

Basic Rules

① Comparison Errors:
- “I am taller than my father.” (× than father; do not forget my)
- “Mt. Fuji is higher than any other mountain in Japan.” (Do not forget other.)
- “3 times as fast as” / “3 times faster than” (colloquial)
- “much better / far better / incomparably better”
② Negation Errors:
- “Not all” (partial negation): “Not all rich people are happy.”
- “No one / Nobody” (complete negation): “No one knows the answer.”
- “not always”: “She is not always kind.”
- “not necessarily”: “This is not necessarily true.”
- “never / not ~ at all”: “I will never forget.”
- Pay attention to the position of negation in “cannot do”: “I don't think he will come.” (I do not think he will come.) ← In English, move the negation to think.
③ Quantity Errors:
- Countable vs. uncountable: “much money” (× many money) / “a lot of money” (both are possible)
- “a few” + plural countable noun / “a little” + uncountable noun: “a few books / a little water”
- “few” + countable noun / “little” + uncountable noun: “few books / little time” (without a)
- “both” (two people) / “all three” (three or more): “Both of them are smart.”
- “half of” / “half the”: “half of the students / half the class”
- “twice / three times”: “twice as many / three times the size”

Points to Remember

① Boundaries of “or more / or less”: “20歳以上” = 20 or older (including 20); “20歳より上” = over 20 / older than 20 (not including 20). The Japanese terms “以上” and “以下” include the boundary.
② “The same ~” → as ~ as: “the same size” = as big as / the same size as.
③ “Superior to” / “inferior to”: Use to, not than, in these special comparisons. “This is superior to that.”
④ Word order in multiplication expressions: “times + comparative/base form + than/as”: “3 times bigger / 3 times as big as.” “× bigger 3 times”
⑤ Answers to negative questions: “Don't you like coffee?” ← If you like it, say “Yes, I do.” English follows the content of the answer.

Practice

1. Translate “My smartphone is newer than yours” (use the correct comparative form).
2. Translate “Not all students will pass the exam” (use partial negation).
3. Translate “I have little time” (use little without a).