2024 is almost upon us, but would you like one more Japanese Phrase of the Month before the new year?

You would? Perfect! Here we go…

「それにしても」and Friends

Have you been translating them correctly?

One of the most common sources of translation awkwardness in Japanese media is the group of words that are “supposed” to mean but or however.

For example, have you ever seen dialogue like this an English localization?

Kondo: I went to that new restaurant yesterday, but it was pretty good.
Matsumoto: Then maybe I’ll go check it out sometime soon, too.

Super weird-looking, right? That “but” shouldn’t be there–no native English speaker would ever use “but” in that sentence.

The awkwardness springs from someone translating が or けど in an overly literal way. For a refresher on these conjunction-type “buts” and how to handle them, check out my post Japanese Language Corner: When “But” Doesn’t Really Mean “But.”

Now, what about when you come across a “but” that isn’t a conjunction at all? What about when it’s beginning a sentence… but it seems totally random?

Nakamura: I’m happy that our friend Kondo is more confident these days.
Tanaka: Absolutely.
Tanaka: But he makes really good curry, doesn’t he?

He’s more confident, but he makes really good curry? Now we’re just in nonsense land. People don’t talk like this.

And yet, I see this specific type of “but” awkwardness in both amateur and professional translations. I’ve seen it multiple times this week, in fact, which is why I think it’s worth talking about.

It comes from a misunderstanding of our Phrase of the Month: それにしても。

Sentence-Beginning “Buts” in Japanese

Back in grade school, your English teacher may have told you never to begin a sentence with “but”… so why does it seem to happen in Japanese all the time?

Well, we know something totally unrelated to our grammar class trauma is going on, because changing “but” to “however” only makes things worse:

Tanaka: However, he makes really good curry, doesn’t he?

It’s time to vanquish this “translation-y” English by diving deeper into the sentence-beginners「しかし」and 「それにしても」.

These seem pretty straightforward at first glance. However, they are just as meaning-flexible as「が」and「けど」. In fact, they often kick off sentences that aren’t closely related to what came before them:

鈴木：では、またな。
松本：またな！
近藤：気を付けて帰ってください。

（鈴木は駅に入っていく。）

松本：しかし、鈴木さんはいつもカツ丼だな。よく飽きないものだ。

What the heck? That しかし just came out of nowhere! 😵

Suzuki: Well, see you later.
Matsumoto: See you!
Kondo: Get home safely.

[Suzuki vanishes into the train station.]

Matsumoto: Man, Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out. I’m amazed he doesn’t get sick of it.

We often see this しかし translated as “But” in subtitles or video game text, but what’s really happening is that the speaker is just signaling a tangent or a new topic. (See how this is tying back to those topic-introducing versions of が and けど?)

We wouldn’t say “However, Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out” in English because we’re not signaling a contrast. We’re only signaling a transition. So what we really need here is an interjection or transition word (“Man, Suzuki…”).

Now let’s take a look at the entry for しかし in the 新和英大辞典第５版:

Here you can see that the sentence-beginner version gets its own definition! Definition #3 is all about sentence-openers, and you’ll see that it doesn’t mention “but” type meanings at all. It expresses emotion or means それにしても.

But wait… doesn’t それにしても mean “but,” too? Yes, it does, but this dictionary entry is hinting to us that それにしても is even more associated with sentence-beginners than its literal “but” meaning!

Let’s start exploring how それにしても works with sample entries from three different dictionaries:

新和英大辞典第５版

新和英中辞典

ルミナス和英辞典

All three definitions are correct, but the fact that they look so different just goes to show how differently Japanese “buts” work.

I think one of the reasons that I see translations of それにしても get overly literal and awkward is because when we’re learning Japanese for the first time, we don’t always get exposed to all the definitions and example sentences we need to get the whole picture. If you were looking at 新和英中辞典 alone, you wouldn’t see any examples of sentence-beginners, even though sentence-beginning usage is the one that a non-native Japanese speaker needs the most information about.

Looking at all three together, though, we can see that in mid-sentence, それにしても usually does mean “but.” We can also see that as a sentence opener, it’s often doing something more like “anyway.”

*I got all of these definitions from KOD, my favorite online dictionary service.
The ability to see multiple dictionaries at a time is one of its best features.

Hopefully this post gives you enough information on the “buts” themselves. Now to put a bow on it, let’s look at some possible ways to translate them.

Translating それにしても and Friends

Let’s go back to that first curry example and look at the Japanese:

中村：近藤君がもっと自信を持てるようになったのは嬉しいね。
田中：本当にね。
田中：それにしても、あいつのカレーってすごく美味しいなあ。

Here are some possibilities for that last line:

• Man, he makes really good curry, doesn’t he?
• I gotta say, he makes really good curry, doesn’t he?
• You know, he makes seriously good curry.
• He makes some seriously good curry, doesn’t he?
  • Dropping the sentence-opener entirely is a valid option! In English, this kind of line will often sound better without one. If you put yourself into the mind of the person or character you’re translating and this feels right in English, go for it.

And now the katsudon:

松本：しかし、鈴木さんはいつもカツ丼だな。よく飽きないものだ。

Here are some possible translations you might consider:

• Man, Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out.
• I gotta say, Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out.
• Anyway, Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out.
• You know, Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out.
• Come to think of it, Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out.
• Sheesh, Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out.
• Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out.
  • Don’t forget: you can always drop it! Especially if you have limited space.

But I don’t know which それにしても this is… I think there might be a “but” in it, and even if not, “but” doesn’t seem that weird here. What should I do?

How about something like “Seriously, though”?

• Seriously, though, Suzuki-san orders katsudon every time we go out.

This character speaks super colloquially, so I’m wondering if I can get away with…

• No but seriously, though, he makes really good curry, doesn’t he?

American slang is kind of turning into Japanese, isn’t it? Personally, I say go for it. If you put yourself into the mind of the person or character and it feels like their English version would sound like this, then why not? My BFF and I talk about food this way all the time.

My only caveat with “no but seriously” is that I think this comes across better in a screenplay or dub localization than it would in subtitles.

 

I hope this was helpful. If you have a word/phrase you want a deep dive into, feel free to leave a comment or DM one of my accounts!

As always, you can check out past phrases either on this blog or on my Pinterest board here: https://pin.it/2YxMlgG

Happy New Year!