[sarvodaya]

...
Equally I know nothing of this issue or whether this even is an issue in Japan, but given what you say I see there must be no such prejudice. The trouble in the West is that these prejudices have such historical resonance and are so visible that they can cause tensions. Having said that, the majority of developed nations have now overcome such prejudices for the most part.

Now you see what I mean. Thank you.
We need to get out of this pitiful situation.


Thank you for understanding.

どういたしまして。

However, at least you have something to show for your deficit. We have bailed out banks that were collapsing due to their own irresponsible and greedy conduct. To add insult to injury, those same banks now refuse to lend that money back to us and yet continue to pay themselves ridiculous bonuses. This is very demoralising.

Bear in mind also that Japan has a solid export market to rely upon. In the list of sovereign states by current account balance, Japan is 2nd while the U.K. is 175th! I think this is related to Japan's magnificently strong skill-base.

I have thought that Tony Blair is a strong leader. Now I know why your country was flourishingly while the Thatcher Administration, and after that, the economy has turned downward.

Yes, but it is a bit more complicated than that. You see, the war took a lot out of our country. To put it bluntly, in economic terms we paid for the war and the U.S. profited from it. To make things worse the economy was subsequently mismanaged and all the while the U.S. showed no mercy. The Thatcher administration made some huge gains and put the economy back on its feet, but in the long-term we are left with a swathe of poorly privatised industries and an economy over-reliant on financial services. The recovery during Thatcher's administration was less a result of her particular brand of Reaganomics and more to do with simple competency.

A major problem of Blair's government was figure-fiddling, both amongst large businesses and within the government itself. Now you have some insight into our current economic state.

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Really!?
I know that Vancouver is the best place to live.

ゆりさん! You read my mind!

Yes! They have delicious Japanese rice in their stores. Try it if you move to Canada. However, I hope you won’t need to emigrate there.

Well, at least if I go on holiday there now I know to try the Japanese rice!

You mean these three above give the impression of an incomplete?
What are the complete sentences?

They are not incomplete sentences. They are grammatically correct. They represent incomplete thoughts. What they do is give the impression of an incomplete thought. This is because the copula, as the name implies, is used to link things. Most commonly it links a subject and a predicate, as follows:

"Grass is green."

"I'll be alright."

"You seem happy"

However, in these cases...

"Do you know what the time is?"

"Do you know what time it is?"

"I want to know what morally correct behaviour is."

...the verb "to be" appears in an apparent copular role, but the second part of the link is missing. Thus time and behaviour are not linked to anything. This is because the speaker expects the listener to give the missing partner in his/her answer. Do you see how the unpaired part of the copular expression creates the expectation of more information to complete the pair?

Thus the completed thoughts are:

"The time is six o'clock."

"Morally correct behaviour is most easily characterised by mindfulness of the consequences of one's actions."

Yes. I have published.

Ok, I'll write my response! Expect it soon.

I start a short story here!

I like a good story.

1
イギリス人の覚は、日本に引っ越してきました。

<Englishman> <Kaku>, <Japan(to)> <to move house> <he came>
Kaku the Englishman came to move house to Japan.

隣の家に住む刺氏さん（Sashmister）に挨拶に行きました� �

<next door(of)> <house(in)> <lives> <Sashimister(to)> <to say hello> <he went to>
He went to say hello to Sashimister who lives in the house next door.

「はじめまして。隣に引っ越してきました覚です。どう ぞよろしく」

"<How do you do?> <next door(in)> <to move house> <I came> <Kaku> <I am>. <pleased to meet you>"
"How do you do? I'm Kaku; I've just moved in next door. I'm pleased to meet you.

「はじめまして。刺氏です。助(すけ)と呼んでください� ��こちらこそ、よろしく」

"<pleased to meet you> <Sashimister> <I am> <assistance> <if> <call> <please> <it is I who should say so> <nice to meet you>"
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Sashimister. If you need assistance please call. It's nice meeting you too."

To be continued.

How is my translation? I have tried to put the literal meanings (with postpositions in brackets) on the first line, and then a more natural rendition in English below that. Is it correct?

Today, I just want you to know that the English tense sense and the Japanese’s are very different. The sequence of tenses is completely different.
You don’t need to memorize all the sentences above as for now.

My head hurts...
but I think I understand...

My explanation must be complicated.
If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask, please!

I don't understand this bit:
覚はイギリス人だった人で
What is だった?

Is the point that you need to use auxiliary verbs or something?

I’m sorry, I have written too long.

Not at all, ゆりさん! I enjoyed it very much. You are very thorough and you are teaching me a lot. I just need to fit it all together in my head!

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

人生　楽ありゃ　苦もあるさ　（じんせい　らくありゃ 　くもあるさ）
涙のあとには　虹も出る　　（なみだのあとには　にじ もでる）
歩いてゆくんだ　しっかりと　　（あるいてゆくんだ　 しっかりと）
自分の道を　ふみしめて　　（じぶんのみちを　ふみし めて）

人生　勇気が必要だ　　（じんせい　ゆうきがひつよう だ）
くじけりゃ　誰かが先に行く　（くじけりゃ　だれかが さきにゆく）
あとから来たのに　追い越され　　（あとからきたのに 　おいこされ）
泣くのが嫌なら　さあ歩け　　（なくのがいやなら　さ ああるけ）

人生　涙と笑顔あり （じんせい　なみだとえがおあり）
そんなに悪くは　ないもんだ　（そんなにわるくは　な いもんんだ）
なんにもしないで　生きるより　（なんにもしないで　 いきるより）
何かを求めて　生きようよ　（なにかをもとめて　いき ようよ）

There are only two parts.

When you have lost something dear and feel like giving up,
くじけりゃ　誰かが先に行く　（くじけりゃ　だれかが さきにゆく）
You have lost the part誰かが先に行く. It means like “someone would overtake you”

Oh, I'm confused.
I thought that あとからきたのに おいこされ meant "a person who came from behind overtakes you"
I also thought that was governed by なら on the line below, so I translated it as:
"If it is unpleasant to be surpassed by your successors,"

But you're saying 誰かが先に行く means "someone would overtake you".
I thought that くじけりゃ　だれかが さきにゆく as a whole somehow translated to "When you have lost something dear and feel like giving up,"

Where did I go wrong?

When I look up くじけりゃ I find something about being crushed or broken. Is that correct?
だれかが means someone. Is that correct?
さきに means before. Is that correct?
ゆく means to go. Is that correct?

Oh, I think I see now. さきに is more like ahead. So だれかがさきにゆく means someone goes ahead [of you]. Is that correct?

Ah, of course, you were worried about "while" and now I see why...

Ok, so it's something like "When you've lost something dear and feel broken, others may pass you by."
or "When you've lost something dear and feel broken, others may take advantage."
Is that correct?

From living, great things can come,
Set a goal and live!
なんにもしないで　生きるより
何かを求めて　生きようよ
I have written about this part in my previous post.

Good luck!

So then, it should be:

In life there is comfort; there is hardship too.
After tears a rainbow appears.
Carry on steadily,
Keeping your foot firmly upon your chosen path.

In life courage is essential,
When you've lost something dear and feel broken, others may take advantage.
If it is unpleasant to be surpassed by those around you,
If it is unpleasant to weep, come now and walk!

In life there are both tears and smiles.
Life is not so bad.
Rather than wandering aimlessly through life achieving nothing,
Let's set a direction in life, and go forth!

How is that?

覚