Small Words. Big Trouble.

Sometimes it’s simpler for me to point something out in anime and, in so doing, give it context. Today’s subjects are the words “kata” (型) and “kei” (系). When playing second fiddle in a compound word, “kata” -> “gata”, but “kei” remains the same. (That’s because “H Dei” would be really, really awkward to say.)

The anime this is from is a quirky semi-romantic comedy with a lot of sex jokes. A quick viewing of the opening theme (which all but anime newbies will know as “the OP“) explains the context of the kata/gata part: various girls are being rated according to their breast sizes. (^^;) I expect this would be A-cup, B-cup, C-cup, etc. So, our heroine is a B.

The “H Kei” part is from the girl having a revved-up sex drive and is on a personal mission to lose her virginity. Her problem is that she’s squeamish about actual physical contact and relationships, which is where most of the humor comes in. Her lust is willing, but her inner maiden is not. Quite a quandary, isn’t it?

So how do we actually translate these words? As it often is, we first need to understand what the words do in their own language before mastering what they do in ours.

Things vs. People

At its most basic, “kata” covers things and “kei” covers people. 

A “kata” fundamentally represents the physical shape of something. That is why, in the industrial world, such-and-such kata generally represents a model or pattern. A “kataban” (型番) , or kata + number, usually reaches English as a pattern number. Similarly, “katagami” (型紙) – the same “gami” as in “origami”, so kata + paper = pattern paper for making dresses.

“Kei”, on the other hand, addresses groups, systems, and lineage. Have you ever heard the term nikkei? The kanji is 日系, with “sun/ Japan” and “kei”. This means of Japanese descent. Keizu (系図) is kei + map, meaning a genealogy. A direct descendant is a chokkei (直系), straight/ direct + kei.

What we’re really learning here is that the exact English words used may vary, but there is a much bigger difference between how the words are used in the Japanese language. There is no reason for confusion. A “kata” refers to a physical characteristic (in this case, breast size); a “kei” refers to the group that the heroine belongs to, namely “H” – for hentai, pervert, deviant, and so forth. (^^;)

I didn’t watch the whole show myself but it did have its silly laughs. For a mature audience, of course.

At some point animators got lazy and made the kanji on the shoulder "hyaku hyaku" instead - during the actual show.

Bonus: The Hyaku Shiki

Another word similar to those two is shiki (式). This one gave me some trouble before I was even working professionally because fictional robots using such a name don’t seem to correspond to American naming conventions. That’s right! They don’t! This actually sounds more like it’s British. After all, Japanese civilization has been in touch with lots of British naval culture for a long time.

So, we could call the “Hyaku Shiki” from Zeta Gundam, back in 1985 and a video game classic, the “Type 100” because it isn’t using “kata” for “model” in the name. Even so, there’s no way a translator would get a free hand in real life. You translate names as you’re told to and that’s the end of it.

Incidentally, the “shikigami” uses the same “shiki” as above. Actually, the term “shiki” usually relates to equation, formula, and ceremony; I view this as being all related to procedure. Put another way, a mathematical formula is a ceremonial rite of a very different kind. These are methods used to get from point A to point B, but since they’re not models or systems, they’re another kind of classification, whatever that turns out to be. – J

For someone not intending to mess with the written  Japanese language, verbs,  or doushi (動詞), are one of the largest hurdles to forming one’s own sentences in Japanese.  Forming sentences is a major positive step for the early learner.

It had been a while since I’ve been teaching another early Japanese learner, and this time, it’s a bright girl who has prior language learning experience, but whose focus is on understanding and speaking the language rather than complex reading or writing (at this stage in time). Yesterday was her first bite at the apple for learning verbs, so I considered this a critical stage.

Pleasantly, the lesson went extremely well. Her being bright helps immensely,  but success was not an  accident on  my part; I know I helped greatly through these principles:

1.  Logical progression, covering aru and iru first along with desu before starting anything else.

2. Use of taberu (“To Eat”) as a simple, easy to use verb to demonstrate present, past and progressive tenses (eats, was eating, is eating)

3.Teaching both plain and polite levels for all verbs covered

4. Avoiding negative forms (except for aru and iru, to show the negative forms of desu) to cut out fully half of the mental burden

5. Use of examples, student reading of phrases, variations in sentences, etc.,  to increase familiarity with new concepts.

For more on aru, iru, and desu, see this post.

Of course, I’l be covering the negative forms with her soon enough. It’s just futile to do so when the concept is still fresh; I would have only harmed retention for the time being. A student can only juggle so many new balls at once.

Actually, this is a key point for me. Finding a way to deliberately restrain the lesson made it far more effective. This done, I could focus attention on the matters at hand, answer good questions by the student (always a joy), and all in all, it went extremely well.

I wanted to write about this because, well, I think it’s a very positive thing, and I think I will be using this as a template for any other verb teaching (in Japanese or English) that I find myself doing in the future. Soon enough, I should be working as a webmaster too, but I’ll probably still tutor part-time.

Here’s a few thoughts, posed in a question and order format.

Q. Why teach the plain and the polite together? Classrooms only use the polite.

A. Well that’s the problem.As soon as you step out of the classroom into the real world, the “polite” level (ex.: “hito ga imasu”) isn’t the only one you encounter. You can easily encounter the “plain,” but not rude, level of speech (ex.: “hito ga iru”). If your Japanese is only valid inside a classroom, you’ll be tripped up as soon as real life departs from the script.

Q. Why all the variation in examples? Doesn’t that confuse the student?

A. The student needs to learn that there is a pattern to verbs. The most basic present tense of the verb is always its “root” form, also called the dictionary form. When you look verbs up in the dictionary, they’re under things like iru, taberu, and so on and so forth. That’s your starting point, and conjugations flow from this root. Once you learn the patterns, your familiarity level rises immensely.

Having said this, it’s variation within a range. Too much will bury a student, so familiarity with a restrained number of variables is needed first. You can add more later.

Q. Why teach the progressive tense at such an early stage?

A. Because “John eats an apple” isn’t especially natural sounding for normal speech, neither in English nor in Japanese. “John is eating an apple” is far more natural. That present is very useful for general statements, such as “Dolphins eat fish,” but for individual people and individual acts, the “progressive” tense (which I informally call “the continuing present” to describe it to people) is far more natural. Natural is good.

Q. Why is logical progression important?

A. Because learning a language is a different process than memorizing it. If you memorize, you will forget; if you learn,  you more or less won’t. At worst, you’ll get rusty and need to be reminded of something.

To learn a language, it needs to start making sense to you as a learner. That’s why logical progression is very important.

Also, there are certain irregular features in all the languages I know of that simply can’t be avoided; you just need to learn them the hard way. Example: the fact that nai is the simple present negative form of aru, but that it’s also used as the negative form of the copula desu. It’s also the trend-setter for all negatives in Japanese verbs.

In addition, teaching iru serves two functions: letting me preach the iron clad difference between aru and iru (the former is for inanimate objects; the latter for animate objects, i.e. people and animals and nothing else), and to show how iru is the second verb in the progressive form of taberu. That is, tabeteiru uses “iru” at the end. This means, “is eating” (as in, John is eating an apple; John ga ringo o tabeteiru.)

My Conclusions

This was a highly successful experiment. While my task was made easier by the brightness of this student, my lesson organization and complete command of the material was a big factor in her picking things up to the extent she did. Future lessons will capitalize on this, with extra grammar curtailed (in the short term) to add new vocabulary and keep raising that familiarity factor.

The key is limiting what the student has to juggle at any one time. Obviously,  a more advanced student can juggle more advanced things, but the total number of new variables has to stay at some kind of reasonable level.  Rushing would not have increased the pace of progress. The lesson was not slow, but everything was paced to give each element the student’s full attention, as well as mine.

Also, my policy of always being open to questions that interrupt my lesson (in one on one, mind you) has never been more vindicated. When a student asks a question, that student is concentrating on that issue. It increases the likelihood of what you say being remembered. Being ready to teach outside the script can make that teaching a lot more effective.

I think that you still need a script… when handling fundamentals. This girl is dedicated enough to re-read my PDF format lesson at a later date, so I designed the lesson with that in mind. A script disciplines me and prevents me from going too far, too fast.

The Goal

The real goal of all this is to empower the student to create her own Japanese sentences as soon as humanly possible. This is very important for student morale, a sense of progress, keeping attention focused, and most of all, seeing new vocabulary etc. from many different angles, which helps  immensely in learning for the long term.

In other words, rather than teaching a mountain of vocabulary and then expecting someone to learn grammar by happenstance, vocabulary and grammar are used to reinforce each other. By the same token, drowning in grammar without enough vocabulary only leads to frustration; vocabulary and grammar are instead used to reinforce each other.

The result is a student who can learn  a new word and instantly try to plug it into her existing knowledge. She’s not always going to succeed the first time, but that thought process alone is extremely valuable in strengthening long-term learning.

It’s way better than trying to memorize a foreign language.  It’s only when you feel empowered that you feel like it’s a second language. That is a goal worth aiming for. – J

Hi, I haven’t been able to blog enough lately due to personal scheduling. A busy stretch has now ended, so I wanted to cover some important Japanese basics for early learners.

Desu

This could be considered the most basic word in the whole language. Technically, such things are known as copulas. Ending a sentence with “desu” affirms the existence of the preceding.

So, if we have:

“Hito desu.” (Hito = a person)

= “That is a person.”

Similarly:

“Kuruma desu.” (Kuruma = car)

= “That is a car.”

Although copulas can be conjugated like verbs, they are in a league all of their own and should be kept separate from “verbs”.

Variations

“Desu” is the standard, “polite” form. Speech is usually divided into “polite” and “plain” forms for most verb tenses.

Most standard courses and classrooms teach only the polite versions, because they are considered universally applicable and because “polite” is the classroom standard at any rate. However, to use Japanese in the real world, you really do need to know plain forms.

The plain form for “desu” is “da”. Therefore:

“Hito da.”

“Kuruma da.”

Aside from the tone and implied speaking style, the meaning is absolutely 100% identical.

Past form of “desu” is “deshita”. Past form of “da” is “datta”.

Let’s say a car has been in an accident and is now a piece of scrap.

“Kuruma deshita.” Or, “Kuruma datta.”

It was a car, but is no longer. Poor car.

Aru and Iru

Aru and Iru are fundamental verbs that are considered existence verbs, but that can create mental confusion. More on that in a minute.

The key difference between the two is that aru is for inanimate objects, and iru is for animate objects (i.e. people and animals.)

So naturally, you may wonder, why have existence verbs when you have “desu”? Well, that’s because aru and iru may flag something as existing, but that’s by implication.

What they really indicate is presence.

Example: “Seigi ga koko ni aru!” (正義がここにある!)

“Seigi” is Japanese for justice, and koko is for “here, a place close to me/ us.” So what this is really saying is:

“Justice is with us!”

It’s not just saying that Justice exists, it’s saying Justice is here, with us.

Example 2: “Hito ga iru yo!”

The “yo” is a particle used for emphasis. Let’s say a small group of young people… oh, imagine it’s a Scooby Doo cartoon or something… and they are searching a run-down house. Suddenly, there is the sound of footsteps from a nearby corridor.

“There’s somebody here!”

It’s not just the existence, it’s the presence.

As I like to keep saying, Japanese isn’t some strange, alien language. It just needs to be explained in an intelligent way and understood on its own terms, not our skewed Western expectations.

Incidentally, “desu” is not generally placed after “iru” or “aru,” not because of grammatical reasons per se, but because Japanese, culturally, is a need-to-know language. Because both “iru” and “aru” require existence to be, if you will, priced into the market, since nothing can be present without first existing, there’s no need to affirm the existence; it’s implicitly affirmed. So “desu” (or “da” or any other variety) would be redundant. – J

This is the audio for a Japanese lesson I put together as a free sample for someone. It’s meant to show off what I can do while providing some basic assistance that will benefit most Japanese language learners for literally years. Audio below; slides after the break.

I set the rotate time to 60 seconds to put you in firmer control. Since you also control the audio, you should be in the driver’s seat. – J

This reads like “soo yuu koto.” This is Tokyo dialect, under-pronouncing the first part. One might see the “koto” part either in kana or as kanji, but what we’re really seeing is actually:

そういう事

The “sou” part indicates something “over there,” like sono and sore do. The “iu” part is for, well, 言う (to say). This doesn’t make much sense until you read it in a context, like this:

“You mean that unless we hit the monster it in three places at once, we can’t beat it?”

(nod) “Sou iu koto.”

In other words, it’s a reference to what the previous speaker just said.

Now, koto (事) here is a thing, but it is not in the English sense in this respect: in Japanese, a “koto” is an intangible thing only.

A mono (物) is, in contrast, a tangible thing.

Love is a koto. Ice cream is a mono. Idealism is a koto. An airplane is a mono.

This pattern never changes.

Words, too, are a koto rather than a mono, for words are not tangible; they are ideas.

So, to revisit the earlier example, with proper localization:

“You mean that unless we hit the monster it in three places at once, we can’t beat it?”

(nod) “That’s how it is.”

Or put in an overly literal way, it is as you (just) said.

So that’s how it is.

This is a little video on Japanese sentence structure, narrated by yours truly, Jeremiah Bourque, as used in my private Japanese tutoring lessons. Thank you very much.

Line Ten

trust me おろしてみればいい そう                       君のために 僕がいるんだ

Translation

trust me /  just put it down and see                yes, I’m right here for you

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Oroshitemireba

OK, now we’re getting into the heavy stuff. Good, good.

Keep in mind that the subject is the “baggage” that the listener has been “carrying” (from Line Eight).

“Orosu” means “To Put Down.” Japanese: おろす、下ろす。 “Miru” means “To See.” Japanese: みる、見る。

This is a compound verb combining the two.

To begin with, “oroshite” is the -te form (continuative form) of “orosu.”

Second, “mireba” is the conditional form of “miru.” That is, “See this, and X will happen.”

Put it all together, and you get “oroshitemireba,” or, “if you put down (the baggage you’re carrying) and see, X will happen.”

Ii (ii)

This is a plain, colloquial version of “yoi,” which uses the same kanji. Japanese: いい、良い.

Let’s get past the strict definitions and focus on what this really is, when used as a suffix like this: A Stamp of Goodness. It identifies what immediately precedes it as a Good Thing that should be thought of as such.

Putting It All Together

So, with the “baggage you’re carrying” from Line 8 as the subject:

(You can) trust me / just put it down and see

Now, we could leave the “yes” at the end of the phrase, but I’ll leave that for singers to decide. I think this works better as English: intensifier first, key phrase second.

Sou

Used in this way, “sou” (Japanese: そう) is an affirmative intensifier. You know when singers go “Yes!” at the end of a line? It’s like that.

Technically it’s used for things like “sou ka,” which reads like “Is that so?” but… not really here. It’s part of a statement, not a question. (No “ka” particle to be found.)

Kimi no Tame

The “kimi” is a 2nd person pronoun. We’ve covered this in previous parts.

The particle “no” establishes a relationship between the preceding and the following parts. (“kimi” and “tame”)

“Tame” means, in essence, sake/ benefit. Thus, this is “for your sake” (for the sake of “kimi”). There. It’s simple, so let’s not make it more complicated in a case where it’s really plain and obvious. Japanese: ため、為 (kanji would be used in formal high level writing, not for anything meant for teen consumption)

Ni

Just the particle identifying the “kimi no tame” part as modifying what follows.

Boku

Introvert 1st person (“I”) pronoun, usually used by men. We’ve gone over this one, too. Japanese: ぼく、ボク、僕

Ga

This is the “subject” particle. Remember, in Japanese, the topic and the subject can be different. “Ga” is used, when necessary, to mark a noun as the subject of the verb that follows. In this case, the subject is “boku,” above. Japanese: が

Iru

This is the existence/ presence verb for animate objects, which we covered two Parts ago in Part 8. This completes the phrase, “boku ga iru” (“I am here”). Japanese: いる、居る

Nda

Another copula, an affirmative existence sentence ender. In other words, “iru” may affirm that “boku” is present, but “nda” affirms that this is indeed so and not just your imagination. Japanese: んだ

Now, let’s go over a few of these:

Polite non-past affirmative: desu

Plain non-past affirmative: da

Old polite non-past affirmative: no da

Old plain non-past affirmative: nda

Now, I’m characterizing this as “old,” but at any rate, “no da” sounds like antiquated Japanese. As a consequence, “nda” sounds more adult and mature than “da” and is frequently used as a mature-sounding copula in Japanese, particularly by adult men.

So, in this case, the speaker is sounding older than a 12 year old, but still using “boku.” This is why Japanese has a lot of nuance to it.

Putting It All Together

The thing is, “for your sake” may be technically correct, but in English colloquial speech, “for you” carries the same meaning and sounds much more vivid. So:

Yes, I’m right here for you

That’s all we need.

Stay tuned for more.

Line Eight

I’m here どこにいたって                     call me ひとつになれる

Translation

I’m here / no matter where you are          call me / we’ll become one

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Doko ni

Once again, “ni” shows that the word preceding it modifies the verb after it. “Doko” is Japanese for “where.” Japanese: どこ, 何処 (not often seen as kanji in regular writing)

Itatte

Here, this is a form of the verb “iru” (Japanese: いる、居る), which is the “existence/ presence” verb for animate objects, i.e. people or animal.

Rather than dwell on verb details, here’s the bottom line: using -tte here is using it as an intensifier, to make the verb stronger in a colloquial manner. This is a common enough feature of informal speech.

That is why I have rendered it as “no matter where you are.” After all, the sentence doesn’t define the listener as being anywhere in particular; she could be anywhere, but no matter where that person is, the singer’s “I’m here” will remain true. It’s simple extrapolation.

Hitotsu ni Nareru

Let’s cover this as one phrase.

Here, “hitotsu” means one, as in, becoming one. “Ni” fulfills the same role as before.

“Naru” is “To Become,” and the kanji for it is identified with growth. Thus, something “grows into” something else rather than presto, wave of a magic wand, it has transformed into something else. That’s a different word. Japanese: なる、成る

So, “nareru” is a potential form of “naru.” This is different from conditional forms in this way:

Conditional: If we become one, X will happen

Potential: If X happens, we will become one

Clearly, this phrase is written in the latter manner. Thus: Call me -> as a result, we will become one.

We’re already up to part #7! Yes, it’s a long work in progress, but explaining things the right way takes time.

Line Seven

変わることのない       愛はきっとここにある

Translation

That’s not something that’ll change          surely there is love here

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Kawaru

Once again, a non-standard kanji is being used ( but in this case, it’s still in my first resort electronic dictionary). This is “kawaru,” the verb “To Be Changed.” It is very important to understand exactly how I wrote that definition: “To Be Changed.” Grammatically speaking, this isn’t like changing your hairstyle; it is to be fundamentally different. As in the cliche, to “be a new man” would apply. Japanese: かわる、変わる

Koto

Let’s get this out of the way.

Both koto and mono refer to what we call, in English, things. However, there is a fundamental difference.

Koto refers to intangible things.

Mono refers to tangible, physical things.

In other words, love is a koto and an apple is a mono. This is a very, very important distinction to make. Japanese: こと、事

Here, I added “That” to the sentence because this is a reference to the end of Line 6: the fact that “you’re not alone.”

No Nai

This is simply a more profound-sounding version of ja nai, covered previously. Unless you’re writing poetry, best to lay off this one. Japanese: のない

Ai

“Ai” is the Japanese word for the koto (intangible thing) we call love. Though, to be really technical, it’s affection. There is a more specific word for romantic affection, but we won’t get into that right now. This kind of love can apply to parents and children (between each other), to family pets, and so on. It is stronger than the idiomatic suki (Like) and its emphatic cousin daisuki (Like A Lot), which are used as “love” while trying not to sound too corny. Japanese: あい、愛

Wa

Topic particle again. Refer to past articles.

Kitto

OK, this is a new one. “Kitto” means surely, undoubtedly, etc. In other words, it says colloquially that there is certainty in something. It is not “absolute” certainty – there’s another word for that – but it’s very high probability, and is usually used idiomatically to imply complete certainty, even if “literally” it is not. Japanese: きっと

Koko

This stands for “here, which is near to me.” Japanese: ここ (I won’t list the kanji, it’s too rare and for advanced students, and tests, only)

Ni

This particle, once again, indicates that what preceded it (in this case, “koko”) modifies what follows. Japanese: に

Aru

This is the Japanese existence verb for inanimate objects (i.e. not people, not animals). Here, the subject of the verb is “ai” (love). Japanese: ある、有る

Putting It Together

So, this is telling us that the fact the listener isn’t alone isn’t something that will change. In addition, the speaker is very certain that there is love here.

The fact we’re talking about the same speaker isn’t explicit in the grammar, but it doesn’t have to be. So, we can do something like this:

That’s not something that’ll change            I’m sure there’s love, right here

This is more localization, but hey, it’s not that bad, is it?

Stay tuned for more.

Line Five

小さな不安さえ          僕が摘み取ってあげる

Translation

If you feel a little unease      I’ll snatch it away

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Chiisa na

“Chiisa” is the root of this irregular adjective. Usually, we read this as “chiisai” for small. However, it is irregular because it becomes “chiisa na” when it is the last adjective (or the only adjective) directly in front of the noun. Japanese: ちいさな、小さな

When we see “chiisai,” it is actually fulfilling the role of a noun itself.

Here’s an example from my anime history: the character from Martian Successor Nadesico self-styled as “Daigouji Gai” (let’s call him just “Gai” hereafter) who berated the main character, Tenkawa Akito (“Akito” hereafter) for not saying a very mecha anime-ish line at the top of his lungs the first time. The rebuke read as follows:

“Koe ga chiisai!!!” (Japanese: 「声が小さい！！」)

Your voice is small. Or too small, rather.  It’s like when a drill sergeant says to your face at maximum volume, “I can’t hear you!!” It’s the same message, just with different grammar.

So, here, “chiisai” is actually treated as a noun. What is your voice? Your voice is small. If the sentence was, “You have a small voice,” then “small” would be acting as a proper adjective. That is not the case here.

So, when “chiisai” acts as a proper adjective directly in front of a noun, as in the last example, it becomes “chiisa na”: “Chiisa na koe da.” (Japanese:　「小さな声だ。」)

That’s why it’s “chiisa na” in these lyrics.

Fuan

As we can see from the adjective preceding it – and that’s an important clue – “fuan” is a noun here. This is a compound kanji word (two kanji). Japanese: ふあん、不安)

The character 不 is a lot like “un-” in English. 安 is like “ease.” Thus, unease, as a noun.

No need to make this any more complicated.

Sae

Normally, this is a more advanced trick I wouldn’t teach to early intermediate learners (and certainly not to beginners), but here we are. Japanese: さえ

A dictionary might tell you that this means “even.” Rather, in a sentence like this, we must read it like “even if.”

To wit:

Even if (you have) a little unease,

The (you have) is unstated, but I would feel uncomfortable leaving it like “Even if there is a little unease,” because that’s impersonal and against the grain of the rest of the lyrics here.

Boku

We’ve covered this before: the introvert male’s 1st person pronoun. Japanese: ぼく、ボク、僕

Ga

Once again, this is a subject marker, as distinct from a topic. This makes the “boku” above the direct subject of the verb that follows. Japanese: が (never katakana or kanji when as a particle)

Tsukamitotte Ageru

This is a doozy: a compound verb with a continuative (-te) form followed by another verb. Japanese: つかみとってあげる、掴み取って上げる

To “tsukamu” (the first verb) is, put bluntly, to grab. It is also used for “grappling” and “capturing” (in a grapple). You would see this verb used plenty in regards to judo, professional wrestling, Olympic wrestling, and so forth. “Grasping” may also apply depending on the specific context used.

To “toru” (the second verb) is to take. Nothing complicated here.

Put “grab” and “take” together, and you get snatching, plucking or ripping off. In other words, a) grabbing on, b) pulling/ taking.

All I have done is use the most idiomatic translation possible.

To “ageru” (the third verb) is to offer up. The kanji means “up.” This is used in the sense of giving to someone else in a humble manner (i.e. you as the lower social status person in the exchange). This is the opposite of “kudasaru,” くださる・下さる, which uses the “down” kanji and is used for making humble requests to someone else so that the other person may provide you with something out of the goodness of his or her own heart.

No, really, that’s how it works. You raise others and lower yourself if you want to be polite in Japan. “Up” and “down” serve this purpose in writing the verbs down. Don’t make it complicated if you don’t have to.

So, what does it all mean here?

Here, the ageru part is essentially broadcasting that the “tsukamitoru” part (I’m showing you this without the -te, FYI) is doing the listener a favor, something given as a gift. It’s once again closing the emotional distance between the speaker and the listener. In other words, it’s written “polite” but idiomatically, it’s an intensifier that indicates closeness.

My translation added the word “away” to form the phrasal verb, “snatch away.” To me, this provides the emphasis that the original writer intended without in any way altering the full meaning: if you have a little unease, I will snatch it away.

Musings

Of course, we could substitute “if you have” for “if you feel.” It’d work. The point in not explicitly writing the verb there, aside from reducing clutter (always a big priority in Japanese), is to let the reader/ listener decide for himself or herself, and generally, to not worry too much about the words, but to feel the emotions at work.

That’s why translation/ localization needs to honor the original intent, not the wording, when push comes to shove.