2010/03/04

「で」をどう翻訳するか?

Last week, I was at Tamagawa University for a meeting. I had to walk across the campus to get to the building where the meeting was being held. That's when I saw this nice tree in bloom.
  • 花咲く (はなさく) (v5) to bloom; (definition from Edict)
  • in bloom 真っ盛りで、咲いて (definition from Eijiro on the Web)
× By the flowers on this tree, I know spring is near.
By seeing the flowers on this tree, I know spring is near.
Because of the flowers on this tree, I know spring is near.
You know, I think many Japanese learn early on to say things like "I went there by train".
× By that, they want to translate で as "by" in many cases.
Because of that, they want to translate で as "by" in many cases.
However, many of those cases should be "because of", not "by". If you want to use "by", you probably should follow it with a verb+ing, not a noun.

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