these days and nights blend into one

[criminalize]

hey hey those of you who're fluent in chinese, can you help me out? i'm trying to translate an article so i can memorize it in preparation for a mid-semester exam, and there's a little bit of a sentence that i'm stuck on. the original chinese, and my translation:

他们的兴趣是以自己的价值观去改造他国、羞辱其他民族，对于他们来说，为了达到政治目的，完全可以不顾忌自己的行为是在践踏人权、支持恐怖主义

Comments

[puzzley]

FML, my chinese pretty much sucks

--but isn't 对于 exactly the same? i mean i've heard it used by teachers/relatives, and it seems to be the same haha

[criminalize]

i get so confused because of all the fucking COMMAS all over the place. D: i can't figure out if "他" in that clause is referring to the people with interests, or to the nationalities that are being humiliated; either it's "... nationalities, saying to them that blahblahblah", or "... nationalities. according to them, blahblahblah".

[puzzley]

if it's 他, it would refer to the people. if it's 它, then it's referring to things or animals. they both sound the same and mean the same but refer to different things

[puzzley]

wait :|

nationalities are people too or something right

[phloxic]

对于他们来说... it just means 'to them'. Or 'in their opinion'.

Example: 对于这些事情，我觉得不太满意。 Toward this situation, I am not too happy. Or... my feelings toward this situation are not very good.

[criminalize]

so what's the difference between 对于他们来说 and 对他们来说 (where the 于 is taken out)? is there a difference?

[phloxic]

Hmmm... the idea is the same, but it is grammatically correct to have the 于 in there. 对于 is a preposition, the 于 kinda comes along with the 对.

As for the commas,

他们的兴趣是以自己的价值观去改造他国、羞辱其他民族，(one phrase) 对于他们来说，为了达到政治目的，完全可以不顾忌自己的行为是在践踏人权、支持恐怖主义。 (another phrase)

I'm still trying to figure out how I understand the punctuation... I guess it comes with practice? :P But I definitely can't construct such a long sentence!

[criminalize]

i've rewritten the translation as

Their interests lie in using their own values to change other countries and humiliating other ethnic groups. In their opinion, it is completely permissible to ignore that their own behavior is to trample on human rights and support terrorism in order to reach their political goals.

the part "it is completely permissible to ignore that their own behavior" is so dodgy, though; it's really bad english, and yet i can't really write the sentence as "it is completely permissible to ignore the fact that their own behavior..." since the words 'the fact' aren't in the original sentence. any suggestions? D:

(i super appreciate you helping me like this by the way, i'm usually so-so on translations but sometimes i get some that seriously killllll me. D: )

[gummedingly]

orz my japanese is better than my chinese. I'M OF NO HELP WHATSOEVER.

[criminalize]

USELESS. :|

jaykayjaykay if i asked for help with japanese i'd probably be making you translate entire doujinshis. D: minor question again: what does "da" mean when it's at the end of a sentence. is it just... like... stressing the word? like when rena yells USO DA

[gummedingly]

SHUT UP BITCH

kinda? it's an manly exclamation that both girls and guys use to emphasis the previous word.

oh my god, ginpachi sensei :D

[criminalize]

USELESS USELESS USELESS

... what about 'da yo'. >.> even stronger emphasis?

[ich_faultier]

I IS HERE. Do you still need me?

[criminalize]

MY HERO

phloxic gave me a better translation, but i guess i can cross-reference hers with yours; new translation = "In their opinion, it is completely permissible to ignore the fact that their own behaviour is trampling on human rights and supporting terrorism in order to reach their political goals." is that right?

[ich_faultier]

Yesh, it is spiffy. Occasionally I wonder why I don't want to go into translating even if it seems like such an interesting job, the this sort of thing pops up and my brain it is boggled.

[criminalize]

lmfao i would shoot myself by the end of one week from despair. :D i reckon you could do odd-job translations, though? like, freelance for companies and stuff. i'm sure there are heaps that needs ENG <--> CHI translators for documents and stuff.