What does this mean in English?

Question

Hi! Can you please help me translate this into English.

もうちょっと自然な流れで手袋を買いに来たことにしたいんだけど

I want to make it flow naturally how I came to buy gloves but....

Is that correct and does it make sense in English?

Thank you.

Answer 1

A simple translation is:"I want to make it more natural that I came to buy gloves."

Or:"I want the story to flow more naturally so it makes sense that I came to buy gloves."

Your translation is understandable, but "flow naturally how I came to buy gloves" sounds a little unnatural in English. The Japanese is talking about the flow of the story/situation, not the act of coming itself.

Answer 2

So the sentences you provided are the following!

[(もうちょっと自然な流れで手袋を買いに来たことにしたいんだけど)

(I want to make it flow naturally how I came to buy gloves but....)]

However before translating this sentence, you should understand that there are some phrases that don't have direct translation!

Taking your Japanese sentence, In my opinion the best "natural" translation would have to be the following...

"I wanted to be more natural when I went to buy the gloves, but..."

Another thing to note here is in English, we do not have 文末省略 (The act of cutting of the latter end of the sentence.) So, considering this, you would also put the outcome when translating it for easier understanding!

For example,

"I wanted to be more natural when I went to buy the gloves, but because of my accent it was obvious I was a foreigner!"

I hope this helps!

Answer 3

The translation sounds awkward, stilted. and artificial.

The word-for-word sound unidiomatic like "the will and crazy Check guys." Steve Martin and his cohort, try to score a date by using a cheap word-for-word translation book on Saturday Night Live! during the 1980s.

In translations, you must render the nuances of meanings with the irony and sarcasm attached.