Wednesday, December 11, 2019

words - "to offer" in Japanese?


Using a dictionary to learn Japanese turned out to be more difficult than expected.


I wanted to say "I offered him a haircut but he refused." and "I offered him a beer." and "I offered him a ride."


Since I didn't know "to offer" in Japanese I tried to look it up but there seem to be many different ways of saying it.




Please could someone help me understand the correct usage of the following words and also tell me which to use in the above sentences?



So I got the following words which all seem to mean "to offer":


(1) オファーする


(2) 申し入れする


(3) 提供する


Personally, at a first attempt, I'd go for 提供する but I have a feeling the correct translation might turn out to be something that's not even on the list above.



Answer



I would say



「彼に散髪{さんぱつ}しようと提案{ていあん}したが断{ことわ}られた」for "I offered him a haircut but he refused."


「彼にビールを一杯{いっぱい}勧{すす}めた」for "I offered him a beer."


「車に同乗{どうじょう}するよう彼を誘{さそ}った」for "I offered him a ride."


Note that the above is just one of many possibilities.



the correct usage of the following



I am not sure if I can offer (no pun intended) you "correct usage" of the words. My impression is:


(1) オファーする sounds stilted, as "オファー" is a transliteration of "offer".


(2) 申し入れする sounds more of "claiming" and "requesting" than "offering".



(3) 提供する  is a possible translation of "to offer". Usage examples coming into my mind include


"情報を提供する" to offer (relevant) information


and


"資金を提供する"  to offer a budgetary contribution


BTW



Using a dictionary to learn Japanese turned out to be more difficult than expected.



is true, but I suspect that can be said for any languages.


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