Monday, October 31, 2022

you na ような - Meaning in Japanese

What does you na ような mean in Japanese?

Most likely, it means to be similar, as in "an X that is like an Y," or "an X that is like of an Y;" or it being "like," "as if," something had happened; or to say someone or something is "the sort" of person/thing that would do something. Sometimes it's found at the end of an incomplete sentence where ki ga suru 気がする is omitted, in which case it would mean "[I] have the impression that." Syntactically, this is you followed by the na な copula. It could also be the end of the volitional form followed by a na な particle, in which case it means "let's do X, shall we?"

  • {taiyou no you na} hito da
    太陽のような人だ
    [He] is a person [that] {is like the sun}.
    [He] is a sun-like person.
  • {neko no you na} mimi
    猫のような
    ?Ears [that] {are like cats}. (unlikely.)
    Ears [that] {are like of cats}. (likely.)
    Cat-like ears.
  • {omise no you na} ryouri wa tsukurenai
    お店のような料理は作れない
    [I] can't make food {like of the store}.
    I can't make food like the food a restaurant makes.
  • {{yuurei demo mita ka no} you na} kao
    幽霊でも見たかのような
    A face {like {[he] saw a ghost [or something like that]}}.
    [He was making] a face like he had seen a ghost.
  • {{uso wo tsuku} you na} hito janai
    嘘をつくような人じゃない
    [He] isn't a person {the sort [that] {spews lies}}.
    He isn't the sort of person that lies.
  • {{doko ka de mita} you na}...
    どこかで見たような・・・
    (incomplete sentence.)
    • {{doko ka de mita} you na} ki ga suru
      どこかで見たような気がする
      ?[I] got a feeling {as if {[I] saw [it] somewhere}}. (literally.)
      [I] have the impression that {{[I] saw [it] somewhere [before}}.
      I feel like I have seen it before somewhere. (in the sense of "I'm not sure but that's the feeling that I got.")
  • benkyou shiyou na
    勉強しような
    Let's study, shall we?
    Let's study, alright?
Examples of you na ような in Japanese.
Manga: Sousou no Frieren, 葬送のフリーレン
Manga: Nichijou 日常
Manga: Kimetsu no Yaiba 鬼滅の刃

Grammar

See the article about you for details about the grammar. This article is only to list examples.

The phrase you da ようだ is the predicative form of you na (you desu ようです is the polite form of you da), while you ni ように is the adverbial form.

Examples

私とは違ってひたすらにまっすぐで、困っている人を決して見捨てないような人間でした。 私ではなく彼が生き残っていれば、多くのものを救えたはずです。
Manga: Sousou no Frieren, 葬送のフリーレン (Chapter 2, 僧侶の嘘)
  • Context: in a traditional JRPG setting, a hero had a party which included an elf. The elf outlived the hero, as elves live longer than human. She tells about what sort of person he was.
  • {watashi to wa chigatte} {{hitasura ni} massugu de}, {{{komatte-iru} hito wo kesshite mi-sutenai} you na} ningen deshita.
    私とは違ってひたすらにまっすぐで、困っている人を決して見捨てないような人間でした。
    {Different from me}, {[he] was [{always} frank] and}, was a human {the sort [that] {wouldn't [abandon] someone {being troubled [by something]}}}.
    Unlike me, he was the sort of person that would always help people in trouble.
    • hitasura - having only one thing in mind.
    • massugu - "completely direct," "completely straight (because a direct line is a straight one)," in the sense not masquerading their intentions or being roundabout about things, just straight going and helping people in this case and it being simply that and nothing more. Also used in the sense of being "honest" as not being "twisted," e.g. not living a criminal life, living a honest one.
    • chigatte - te-form of chigau 違う.
  • {{watashi dewanaku} kare ga iki-nokotte-ireba}, {ooku no mono wo sukueta} hazu desu.
    私ではなく彼が生き残っていれば、多くのものを救えたはずです。
    {If {not me but} he had survived}, [he] would have {been able to save many people}.
    If he was alive instead of me, he would be able to save many people. (which I didn't saved because I'm not like him).
    • iki-nokoru - literally "to live and remain," to remain living after an event, to survive. May mean they survived a mortal danger or simply that they're still alive while others are not.
    • sukueta - past form of potential form of sukuu 救う, "to save [people]."
    • hazu - used to say what one concurs would be true, regardless of whether it's true or not. In this case, she concludes: "[he] could save a lot of people," ooku no mono wo sukueta. This is past-tensed because it's a counterfactual conditional: if he were alive, he could save people, but the facts are he isn't alive, therefore those people weren't saved.
何なんだよその顔!! やめろーーーーっ! 何でそんな別の生き物見るような目で俺を見てんだ
Manga: Kimetsu no Yaiba 鬼滅の刃 (Chapter 20, 我妻善逸)
  • nan'nanda yo sono kao!!
    何なんだよその顔!!
    What's up with that face!!
    (emotive right-dislocation)
  • yamero--------'!!
    やめろーーーーっ!
    Stop!!
  • nande sonna {{betsu no ikimono miru} you na} me de ore wo mite-n-da
    何でそんな別の生き物見るような俺を見てんだ
    Why are [you] looking at me with such eyes [that] {look like {[they] see a different species}}.
    Why are you looking at me as if I'm a different creature. As if I'm not a human being like you.
はーい、こいつアクア 俺カズマ こっちめぐみん これダクネスね 私を「これ」呼ばわり これ まるで物のような扱い
Anime: Isekai Quartet, 異世界かるてっと (Episode 2, Collage)
  • Context: Satou Kazuma 佐藤和真 introduces his harem party.
  • haai, koitsu φ Akua
    はーい、こいつアクア
    Ookay, this [is] Aqua.
  • ore φ Kazuma
    俺カズマ
    Me, Kazuma.
  • kocchi φ Megumin
    こっちめぐみん
    Here, Megumin.
  • kore φ Dakunesu ne
    これダクネスね
    This thing [is] Darkness, okay.
  • Darkness ダクネス, who is a "masochist," do-M ドM, becomes overjoyed by the inhuman treatment.
  • watashi wo "kore" yobawari
    私を「これ」呼ばわり
    [He] called me "this thing."
  • kore
    これ
    "This thing."
  • {marude mono no you na} atsukai
    まるで物のような扱い
    A treatment {like a thing}.
    It's as if I was treated like a thing.
なにこのハイペースなボケ・・・ まるで私のツッコミを待ってるかのような・・・・・・ ダメ!ツッコんだらだめよ!! なんだよ水上 2コもメガネしてんじゃん ハハハ 田中のヤロー!!! 私のツッコミを・・・・・・ 私だけに許された最高のツッコミを!!! ボクッ はっ いやちがうちがう 私んじゃない それは私のツッコミじゃないから!!
Manga: Nichijou 日常 (Chapter 28)
  • Context: Aioi Yuuko 相生祐子 always does a tsukkomi (retort) when Minakami Mai 水上麻衣 does a boke (acts silly), however, feeling this isn't a proper relationship for two high school girls to have, Yuuko decides she won't do a tsukkomi anymore, no matter what happens, prompting Mai to do even stupider boke's, like coming to school wearing two glasses, and looking for her glasses on the floor as if she had lost them while still wearing both of them.
  • nani kono {hai-peesu na} boke...
    なにこのハイペースなボケ・・・
    What is this {high-paced} boke...
  • marude {watashi no tsukkomi wo matteru} ka no you na......
    まるで私のツッコミを待ってるかのような・・・・・・
    It's as if {[she] is waiting for my tsukkomi}......
  • dame! {tsukkondara} dame yo!!
    ダメ!ツッコんだらだめよ!!
    [Don't do it]! {If [you] make a retort} [you lose]!!
  • nanda yo, Minakami
    なんだよ水上
    [What's wrong], Minakami.
  • ni-ko mo megane shite-n-jan
    2コもメガネしてんじゃん
    You're wearing two glasses.
    • shite-n-jan - contraction of shite-iru no dewanai しているのではない.
  • hahaha
    ハハハ
    *laughs*
  • Tanaka no yaroo!!!
    田中のヤロー!!!
    Tanaka, [you bastard]!!!
  • watashi no tsukkomi wo......
    私のツッコミを・・・・・・
    My tsukkomi......
    (incomplete sentence: "[you] [stole] my tsukkomi.")
  • {watashi dake ni yurusareta} saikou no tsukkomi wo!!!
    私だけに許された最高のツッコミを!!!
    The greatest tsukkomi [that] {was only allowed to me}!!! (literally.)
    (incomplete sentence.)
    • In the sense of "only I, and not anyone else, was allowed to make a retort, how dare you take that from me!"
  • boku'
    ボクッ
    *pencil snapping.*
  • ha'
    はっ
    Hah! (her snapping back from a moment of utter jealously.)
  • iya chigau chigau
    いやちがうちがう
    No, [that's wrong, that's wrong].
  • watashi-n-janai
    じゃない
    [It] isn't mine.
    • Contraction of watashi no janai.
  • sore wa watashi no tsukkomi janai kara!!
    それは私のツッコミじゃないから!!
    That's not my tsukkomi!!
    • In this scene, Yuuko resisted the urge to do an epic tsukkomi on Mai's boke, allowing Tanaka to do a pretty weak tsukkomi on it before her: "you're wearing two glasses, hahaha."

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