- a-, kono eiga wa tsumaranai na.
- a-, tsumaranai na.
In English,
- (sigh) This movie is boring.
- (sigh) I am bored.
Isn’t it strange that
both “boring” and “bored” are “tsumaranai” in Japanese? Would the second
sentence be “I am boring”? Let’s think about sentence
2 a little more. I think that it is a shorter version of “I think the current situation
is boring.” This person feels that the current situation is boring
because of certain reasons, such as there being nothing to do nor anyone to
play with.
Let’s have a look at
some other words.
- I am surprised.
- This news surprised me.
- I was surprised by this news.
If you translate these
to Japanese,
- (watashi wa) bikkuri shita / bikkuri shiteiru.
- kono news wa watashi o bikkuri saseta.
- (watashi wa) kono news ni bikkuri shita / saserareta.
In sentence 2, “bikkuri
saseru”, the causative form of “bikkuri suru”, is used. In sentence 3, you could
use either “bikkuri shita” or “bikkuri saserareru”, which is the causative-passive
form. The causative-passive
form expresses a stronger level of surprise.
In fact, sentence 2 is
not that common. Sentence 3 is used more
often, showing that Japanese people generally prefer sentences that start
with "watashi" (I).
By the way, “You scared
me!” would be “bikkuri shita! / bikkuri sasenai de yo!” when translated to
natural Japanese.
I will now introduce
another example which has the same pattern as “bikkuri suru”.
- I am annoyed. (watashi wa iraira shiteiru.)
- He annoys me. (kare wa watashi o iraira saseru.)
- I was annoyed by that fly. (ano hae ni iraira shita / saserareta.)
There are cases in which
both an adjective and a verb can be used to express one’s feelings. For
example, “kanashii” and “kanashimu”.
- I am sad. (watashi wa kanashii.)
- I feel sad about his misfortune. (kare no fuko o kanshindeiru.)
- He made her sad. (kare wa kanojo o kanashimaseta.)
When you use the verb,
as in sentence 2, the object takes “o”. The causative-passive form,
“kanashimaserareru”, is never used. This pattern applies to “ureshii” and
“yorokobu” as well.
As we have various
feelings, there are many words to express your emotions: nervous, excited,
disappointed, upset, embarrassed, etc. Please try to remember
how to use these words and express your feelings in Japanese.
The year 2014 has ended and the year 2015 has just begun. If you are feeling satisfied without any regrets from last year and many hopes for this year, that’s
wonderful. Last year I myself have experienced enjoyable, sad, good and bad things as
usual. I hope that 2015 will be
an even better year!!