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Help with this Japanese sentence 2013/7/22 13:17
I was looking around some videos and I came across this sentence that looked rather odd to me.

生まれる時と死ぬ時はみんな一人。けどみんな一人では生きていけないものさ。

First, is it correct grammar? I'm confused as to why the subject is at the end.

Second, what does it mean?

Thanks for the help.
by Gold Medallion (guest)  

Re: Help with this Japanese sentence 2013/7/22 14:57
Yes, it's correct.
It's a technique called taigen-dome(substantive stop) to emphasize.
You can add the end to understand easier like 一人だ, 一人です.

生まれる時と死ぬ時はみんな一人。
When the man is born and dies, all is alone.
けどみんな一人では生きていけないものさ。
But all can't live alone.
by ajapaneseboy rate this post as useful

Re: Help with this Japanese sentence 2013/7/23 03:55
I didn't know about the taigen-dome. You learn something new everyday!

Is that the word-for-word translation? What's the translation of the entire sentence as a whole?
by Gold Medallion (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Help with this Japanese sentence 2013/7/23 22:05
Hello.

Translation are listed in the previous answer.

生まれる時と死ぬ時はみんな一人。けどみんな一人では生きていけないものさ。
This is a affectation and histrionic sentence.That isn't a colloquial expression.

For exanple,Text more general.
生まれる時と死ぬ時はみんな一人です。だけどみんな一人では生きられません。

I tried to translate XD

Everyone was born alone.
Everyone was die alone.
But everyone can not living alone.

If there are some mistakes in English, I'd like to apologize.
by mane3 rate this post as useful

Re: Just to add... 2013/7/23 22:41
Actually it's not that the subject is at the end of the sentence. "生まれるときと死ぬ時" is the topic of the sentence, which is marked by は.

生まれる時と死ぬ時は みんな一人(だ)。
When it comes to time when you are born and when you die, everyone is alone/by him/herself.

けどみんな一人では生きていけないものさ。
But noone can live by themselves.
by AK rate this post as useful

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