[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by sarvodaya

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?

だった　is the past tense of だ.
覚はイギリス人です/覚はイギリス人だ= Kaku is English.
覚はイギリス人でした/覚はイギリス人だった= kaku was English.

The point is sequence of tenses.

English sentence goes like this.
1. Kaku who was English moved to Japan. (Right?)
→Kaku was English. Kaku moved to Japan.

I think you would not say ;
2. Kaku who is English moved to Japan.
→Kaku is English. Kaku moved to Japan.

2 is the way the Japanese language goes.

If you write Japanese with English sequence of tenses, the sentence will be;
イギリス人だった覚は、日本に引っ越してきました。
This means that kaku isn’t English any more.
(We think you can’t quit being an English man even if you live in Japan, so this sounds crazy.)

There is something you should know!!!
When the Japanese people say “Japanese people”, we don’t mean nationality, but race, appearance, language and culture the person has.

One of my friends has married an American man, and went to the US.
Her nationality is the US now, but we think she is still Japanese.
On the other hand, if you came to Japan, married a Japanese woman, and lived here over 30 years, still you are English here.


Let's continue my story where we left off.

覚は、紙袋（かみぶくろ）を刺氏に渡しました。
覚：「これはイギリスの紅茶（こうちゃ）です。よろし かったら、どうぞ」

To be continued!

You need to bring something when you visit next door for the first time.
You are English, so I think English tea would be natural.
I bought English tea at Harrods in London. My mother said that was the best tea she had ever drunk.

“紙袋を渡しました”doesn’t mean an empty paper bag. There must be something in the bag.

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,"

あとからきたのに おいこされ
I would say “you fall behind”.

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?

くじけりゃ= 挫折したら＝when/while you suffer a setback
だれかが さきにゆく= someone would/will overtake you".

だれかが means someone. Is that correct?

Yes.

さきに means before. Is that correct?

Yes, but that also means ”in first “ “in front “ and “on ahead”.
さきに（先に）；“先に”の検索結果（525 件）：英辞郎 on the Web：スペースアルク

ゆく means to go. Is that correct?

Yes.

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?

Yes!

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

I meant that someone would go ahead of you, while you suffer a setback. Not at the moment you fail, and you can’t say when exactly.

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?[/quote]
I don’t know what "When you've lost something dear” means.
挫ける　means like “being discouraged”. Does it mean something like that?

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?

A little too formal, but excellent in whole.

No. You cannot. It would not make sense. "While" can be substituted for "during the time that".

Does all that make sense?

I think I’ve got it.

“This was a terrible time of starvation and poverty in Irish history, during which around a million people died and a similar number left the country in order to survive” means;

“This was a terrible time of starvation and poverty in Irish history. Around a million people died and a similar number left the country in order to survive during the time.”

And when you use “while”:
This was a terrible time of starvation and poverty in Irish history. While the famine was ongoing around a million people died and a similar number left the country in order to survive.

Is that right?

"One variety of" doesn't mean "various". JamboP26 is correct.
"Various" simply means "different". Thus "various crops" means "different varieties of crops", whereas "one variety of crop" means "one particular variety out of a number of various possible varieties".

I see.
My dictionary says that “a variety of” means different, and didn’t have “one variety of”, so I thought “a variety of” means the same as “one variety of”. You know, “a” can mean “one”! However, you say it’s different. OK!
To be honest, I knew that if “one variety of” was the same as “a variety of” in meaning, your comment would be broken. Yes, I thought it might be different, but still I don’t see whey “one” doesn’t mean “a”.

Yes, this means one particular strain or variety or cultivar etc.
I no longer needed to use the singular to clarify the meaning as by this point the meaning was well established. I could have said "a single variety of crop", but I naturally chose the plural because I was thinking in general terms. That is, the sentence begins by talking about the Potato Famine, but then moves on to the general case: "when one has the choice", so it just feels more natural to use the plural. However, there is no major difference in meaning, it is more of a stylistic issue, especially given that we have already eliminated any ambiguity with the earlier occurence of "one variety of crop".

“A single variety of crops” means “one particular strain”, while “a variety of crops” means “different crops”???? WHY!!!
OK. I might be crazy.
You were thinking in general terms. OK. No problem!
Now I know that to learn foreign language, you shouldn’t be too theoretical.

I understand that your explanation is professional and very kind. Thank you.

I hope that's clear, but don't hesitate to ask again if it isn't because I had to think for a moment!

May I ask one more question about English?
Why “quite a few” means “many”?

I have written my response on your blog. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Thank you.
Give me time to answer.