バスや電車 / を / ほっとけ / 自由に食事に行ったり / しあって

[eeky]

Hello,


1. They are talking about how to get around Hokkaido for sightseeing. (Strange, whenever a story features a Japanese person going on holiday, they always go to 北海道!)

うん。あとは、全部バスや電車でまわるっていうこともできるんですけど。ただ、そうすると、時間をよく調べ ないといけないんで、まあ、ちょっと面倒かなぁっと思って。

a) Does あとは mean "in addition to (the suggestions already made)"?

b) Does 全部 refer to all parts of Hokkaido?

c) Does ただ here mean "However, ..."?

d) Does ちょっと面倒かなぁ imply that the trains and buses may not be very frequent?


2. 彼らは彼を自分たちの支配者だとおもっていた。

Translation given: "They regarded him as their leader."

Is thia AをBだ structure standard? I could be wrong, but I don't recall seeing it before.


3. いいから社長の言うことなどほっとけよ。

Translation given: "Don't pay any attention to the boss."

What is ほっとけ? I can't seem to find anything relevant in the dictionary.


4. 多少高くても設備がよく、いいレストランが入っていて、自由に食事に行ったり外出できるところに泊まりたい 。

I understand "Even if it's a bit expensive, I would like to stay somewhere with good facilities, a good restaurant, ...."

Then I am a bit lost. 自由に食事に行ったり looks to me like "(you can) freely go to eat", but is this referring to the hotel restaurant being open at all times? Or going somewhere outside the hotel to eat? Also, does 外出できる mean you can go on outings (i.e. there are interesting places to visit nearby)? Or is it still somehow talking about eating facilities?


5. 私達は互いに依存しあっている。

Translation given: "We are dependent on each other."

Is しあって = し合って?

[Toritoribe]

1) a)
I don't know the previous sentences, but it seems to mean "another option" or like that to me.

b) c)
Yes.

d)
In the sense that trains and buses don't run every ten minutes and therefore he has to check timetables in advance, yes, it implies so .

2)
AをBだと思う is very common.

3)
放る --> 放っておく --> 放っておけ(imperative) --> ほっとけ

4)
外出できる obviously refers to not about the hotel restaurant, but 自由に食事に行ったり is indeed ambiguous. My first impression is that it means "freely go out the hotel to eat". Could it be that they were talking about 旅館 previously, which usually serve dinner and sometimes can't go out freely?

5)
Yes.

[eeky]

4. This is part of an exercise where one is supposed to match accommodation requirements to the names of establishments like 旅館, ビジネスホテル, ユースホステル and so on. So, what you suggest seems correct.

I am still not exactly sure how to interpret 自由に食事に行ったり外出できる though. Are there two separate activities, 自由に食事に行ったり and 外出できる, or is it just one activity? If two separate activities then does 外出できる also refer to going out to eat, or could it refer to going out to do some other activity?

[Toritoribe]

Ah, that makes sense. ユースホステル ususlly can't go out freely, more strictly than even 旅館.

Those are two separate activities, and 外出できる just means to go out the hotel to do something, not only to eat. 自由に外出して食事できる is for to go out to eat.

[eeky]

自由に外出して食事できる is for to go out to eat.

Did you mean 自由に食事に行ったり?

[Toritoribe]

No. The order of the words and "-te vs -tari" is the key. Neither 食事に行ったり外出（したり）できる nor 外出したり食事に行ったりできる can be one activity.

[eeky]

I'm sorry Toritoribe, I'm getting a bit lost. The original wording was:

自由に食事に行ったり外出できる（ところに泊まりたい）

As I understood from your reply, two activities are being described here. I understood that these two activities are:

(i) 自由に食事に行ったり（できる） = (be able) to freely go somewhere (outside the hotel) to eat

(ii)（自由に）外出できる = be able to (freely) go out of the hotel to do unspecified activities.

Is that correct?

Edited: I understand that ～たり has an in-built sense of "and other things as well", but I wanted above to quote the actual words used...

[Toritoribe]

Yes, that's right.
This is out of the topic, but the original sentence 自由に食事に行ったり外出できるところ sounds a bit awkward and is considered grammatically incorrect. It's indeed perfectly understandable and might be broadly accepted, but strictly speaking it should be 自由に食事に行ったり外出したりできるところ.

[eeky]

Thanks, yes, I find the version 自由に食事に行ったり外出したりできるところ easier to understand since I am used to the 〜たり・・・〜たり repetition.