Thank you for your question! That sentence should be "たなかさんは せんしゅうまで つかれたって いってたけど、げんきそうだね” (Last week Tanaka told me he was really tired, but he looks well.), but Mariko reverses the normal order and says like this: "たなかさんは げんきそうだね。 (Tanaka looks well.) せんしゅうまで つかれたって いってたけど。(Last week he told me he was really tired.)" This often happens when Japanese people speak. けど in this sentence simply means "but".
Feels like it connects sentences, like you have something more to say, in English we use but to contradict a lot while けど doesn’t necessarily contradict anything or really do anything other than marking that there is more to be said. あれはほしいですけど… (My grammar is prolly wrong but it should mean something along the lines of) “I want that (thing), (insert awkward silence of an unfinished sentence)”
usually when a Japanese word has many translations, it's because its more accurate meaning sounds awkward when translated directly to English. It's not that it means multiple things, it's just the usual problem of teaching Japanese by localizing it to English grammar. It's too difficult to do this sort of calculation in realtime, so learners will either memorise expressions that use the phrases, or eventually hone in toward what it really means on their own. So if I try to think about it, we know kedo does not join situation A with unexpected situation B in all cases, it has to be a more general meaning than English "but". And we have just explained it possible to mean situation A + suggested situation B, which may be desired or offered or probably many other things. So what is its central meaning? Well, we can't just pick a conjunction from English, or we will probably have to say "and" as the most neutral. To me I'm thinking when clause B is past tense or negated, we are expressing something unexpected, and when we express it in present/future/question, we are expressing uncertainty in clause B. So it's reasonable as a starting point to say uncertainty and unexpectedness are close enough meanings that kedo is a merger of them that context and the tense will do the rest of the lifting for. In terms of the feeling of the language, it is like when we must say そう to show we can't be certain of something, there are cases in Japanese where uncertainty is both a grammatical and a respectful neccessity. Naturally I made all of this up and it could be wrong.
I enjoyed your ‘No longer lost in translation series’, it points out the common mistakes that trips learners up in a concise and understandable way. These gems of knowledge can be rare so ありがとう先生、頑張ってね！❤
Arigatou gozaimsita sensei. Your lesson are the best for understanding japanese language. Can 'ga' particle use in sentence same as like as 'desu kedo'?
More story arc! I love the lessons (perfect length and content) but my favorite episodes were when the characters showed a bit more of themselves. Don't lose the subtlety though, cause that's working really well. Maybe something like an "easter egg" per episode, keeping the audience guessing where the plot is heading as they wait for the next episode for more clues. Anyway, just an idea. Keep going regardless, really enjoy these!
I feel like it was well explained, but still not quite sure when I would use it. Actually as a westerner I probably wouldn't use it. But when I hear it, I will just ask myself does "but" make sense in the sentence? If not, then basically ignore it.
I agree with your tentative solution. First please pay attention to the situation where Japanese people use "desukedo". You'll learn how you use it over time!
The simplicity of the animation really keeps you on your tip toes, so when slight shifts pop up (like Bruce's cheeks at the end) they're so gratifying! 🤗
The second part after desukedo is ommitted most of the time, right? I mean for a basic learner it mostly appears as if it ends the sentence, but actually it has a completion that is ommitted because it is understood from the context, correct? Thanks.😃
I really like all your video lessons, so helpful for Japanese language learners especially to those doing self-study of the language. hontoni arigatou gozaimashita. motto video onegashimasu...
Fantastic video, I am also really enjoying these series because you have an easy to understand explanation with examples! Have you considered Japanese subtitles with this series, since I think that would really help learners? Though that would definitely be a lot more work unfortunately. Keep up the great work!
