I came upon this on Twitter/X, and I couldn't make heads or tails of it: 病院で診察待ちしてたら車当てられてさ 就活中の大学生と思われるカップルで2人ともスーツ着てて初心者マークだったから
ちゃんと申告したのえらいなぁ
事故したのショックだろうなぁ
トラウマにならなきゃいいけどなぁ
彼氏あとでフォローしてあげなよー
って心の中で思ってた
I gave this to ChatGPT with a minimal prompt, and it seems to have pretty much nailed this. Or at least the translation makes perfect sense.
Can you translate the following Tweet to English? I see it's got something to do with two people involved in a car accident: {tweet}
The tweet translates to English as:
"I was waiting for my turn at the hospital when someone bumped into my car. It was a couple who seemed to be college students on job-hunting, both wearing suits and with a beginner driver's mark.
I thought it was admirable how they properly reported the accident. Must have been a shock to have an accident. I hope it doesn't become a trauma. I was thinking in my mind that the boyfriend should give her support later on."
I then tried DeepL, but it suggested the narrator was hit by the car, which seems unlikely if someone's inside waiting for a doctor's appointment.
Translation: "I was waiting for a doctor's appointment at the hospital when I was hit by a car. They were a couple of college students, probably job-hunting, both in suits, with beginner's marks.
They were both wearing suits and beginner's markings. They must be devastated by the accident. I hope it wasn't too traumatic. I hope they don't get traumatized.
I thought to myself."
Google Translate also assumes the speaker was hit by the car, and then it gets weird:
"While I was waiting to be seen at the hospital, I got hit by a car. The couple appeared to be college students looking for work, and they were both wearing suits and looked like beginners.
It's great that you reported it properly. The accident must have been a shock. I hope it doesn't become traumatic. My boyfriend, please follow me later.
I thought in my heart"
I then asked GPT some questions clarifying how it arrived at the translation, and although they might be "confabulations" (i.e. the model didn't actually do this to arrive at the translations, as we don't understand how GPT actually works), it's still useful information.
Of course, it now makes perfect sense. I guess I was confused as to who was waiting for the medical examination, to where this car fit in next to this couple wearing suits and apparently looking for a job.
The problem here is that there's no pronouns, unlike in the English version where it is "I waiting for a turn", "bumped into MY car" , "It was", "THEY properly reported the accident", and so on.
Can you explain how you pieced together the correct pronouns for each segment or sub clause?
Also, "トラウマにならなきゃいいけどなぁ" is using a contraction, right? ならなきゃ = ならなければ ?
Japanese often omits subjects when they are understood from context, which can make it a bit tricky for translation without the surrounding situation or dialogue. In the tweet you provided, context clues within the text and the general knowledge of social situations help identify the implied subjects and objects.
Here's how I pieced together the translation:
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"病院で診察待ちしてたら" (While waiting for my turn at the hospital) - The verb "待ちしてたら" (was waiting) implies that the speaker is the one waiting, which is a common situation where someone would be at a hospital.
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"車当てられてさ" (someone bumped into my car) - The passive form "当てられて" (was bumped into) suggests that the speaker's car was the one that was hit, as they were the one affected by the action.
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"就活中の大学生と思われるカップルで" (a couple who seemed to be college students on job-hunting) - The phrase "と思われる" (seemed to be) indicates an observation made by the speaker, leading to the use of "it was" to introduce the couple in English.
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"ちゃんと申告したのえらいなぁ" (how they properly reported the accident) - The speaker is commenting on the couple's action, so "they" is used to refer back to the couple mentioned earlier.
For the phrase "トラウマにならなきゃいいけどなぁ," you are correct that "ならなきゃ" is a contraction of "ならなければ," which means "if it doesn't become" or "I hope it doesn't become." The full phrase would translate to "I hope it doesn't become a trauma," where "なきゃ" is a more colloquial and casual way of saying "なければ," often used in spoken Japanese. The entire sentence reflects the speaker's concern and hope that the couple will not be traumatized by the accident. This contraction is a common feature in conversational Japanese, which often shortens phrases for ease of use and to convey a more casual tone.
When I paste this into Google or DeepL, the translators often say the speaker was hit by a car, presumably because "車当てられてさ" doesn't contain any particles and it could be either "車に当てられてさ" or "車が当てられてさ".
Can you explain why you went with her car being hit, rather than she being hit by a car in this situation?
The choice between "her car being hit" and "she being hit by a car" when translating "車当てられてさ" is indeed ambiguous without context since Japanese often leaves out the particles that would clarify the subject or object. However, the context provided by the rest of the tweet guides the interpretation.
Here's why I chose "her car being hit" in the translation:
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Contextual Clue from the Setting: The phrase begins with the speaker at the hospital waiting for a medical examination. If the speaker had been hit by a car, the context would likely be an emergency rather than a casual mention while waiting for a different, presumably scheduled, examination.
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Subsequent Information: The continuation of the tweet talks about a couple who reported an accident. If the speaker were hit by a car, the natural focus would be on their own condition rather than observing and commenting on the actions and emotional state of another couple.
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Social Context: In the given social context, discussing one's own vehicular accident in a casual tone ("えらいなぁ," translating to "admirable, isn't it?") is more consistent with minor vehicle damage rather than personal injury, which would generally be discussed more seriously.
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Logical Progression of Events: The tweet ends with the speaker's internal monologue wishing that the couple doesn't get traumatized and advising emotional support. This shows a detachment from the incident, as the speaker is not directly involved in the accident as a victim but as an observer.
These cues together suggest that the tweet is about an incident involving the speaker's car rather than a personal injury. The casual tone and the flow of information are more aligned with witnessing an accident and commenting on it rather than being directly involved as the party hit by a vehicle.
- GPT-4 was accessed on 2023-11-11, so it's likely running GPT-4-1106 turbo.