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は(wa) is a case marker which makes something the topic of the sentence. Topic isn't strictly analogous to subject in English. The verb is "not eat". If the top
by jtvjan 4y ago
は(wa) is a case marker which makes something the topic of the sentence. Topic isn't strictly analogous to subject in English.
The verb is "not eat". If the topic was "children", then the topic would be the subject when translated ('Children は not eat' -> "Children [must] not eat"). But if the topic was, say, "candy", it would instead map onto object in English ('Candy は not eat' -> "[Someone must] not eat candy").
Perhaps the translator was not aware that this flexibility does not exist in English.
- dkdbejwi383 4y agoCan you provide a better translation for the whole "not eat" example? I'm still not sure what the intended meaning is.
- wodenokoto 4y agoChildren and the elderly should refrain from eating.
- mathieuh 4y agoI think it's some kind of food that might be risky for weaker people, e.g. children and old people.
- iopq 4y agoIn the video they had jello, maybe there's a choking hazard
- systoll 4y ago"Small kids and elderly people: please don’t eat [these]." Probably in front of mochi or some other choking hazard.
- naniwaduni 4y ago"Please do not eat, children and elderly."
- samtho 4y agoLearning about は (wa) was my rabbit hole into Japanese particles and how there is not a super clear analogue in English. Apparently, sometimes western learners of Japanese think it’s some form of the verb “to be” which we use everywhere in American English (in British English, they tend to use more of “to have” than we do, which is kind of a running theme among western and southern European languages as well). This is an interesting case where systems like Google translate break down because there is no clear meaning without context. However when you learn about も (mo), another Japanese particle, it used very similarly to the word “too” or “also” in English, e.g. I (watashi) am also (mo) fine (genki desu). There is also の (no) which indicates possession in the same way we use “of” or in other European languages, “de”, “di”, “von”, “van”. I just find language endlessly fascinating.
- posterboy 4y ago> Children won't eat > The Candy won't eat Do you notice a difference? There are many verbs where this has become possible recently (the code won't build?) but eat isn't one of them.