siiky
2024/07/21
2024/07/21
en,jp
I couldn't fall asleep the other day because my brain kept wandering and wondering. One of these was the expressions 実は and 実に.
You may have noticed that they're similar, they have one word in common, 実（じつ）, meaning "truth". As the dictionary says, 実は means something like "in truth", and 実に means something like "truly". In PT, the equivalent expressions using the word for truth would be "na verdade" (lit. "in [the] truth"), and "de verdade" (lit. "of truth").
Why is this so interesting to write about? JP and EN/PT are swapped!
The JP expressions could be translated literally into EN as "the truth [is]", and "in/towards truth", respectively: the particle は indicates the noun preceding it is the subject of the sentence; and the particle に indicates where or where to (wo & wohin, in DE) something happens, depending on the verb (e.g., with the verb to be, where; with the verb to throw, where to). に is actually a little more versatile than that, partly why it's a difficult particle to learn how to use correctly.
Example:
＜シン＞ おい！今見た？
＜サラ＞ うん、見たけど、何？
＜シン＞ 実にかっこいいよな？！
＜サラ＞ まあね｡｡｡
＜シン＞ 何だ、まあって？
＜サラ＞ ただ｡｡｡ 実はスケートが気に入らないね。
In EN:
<Shin> Oi! Just now, did you see?
<Sara> Ye, I saw, so?
<Shin> Really cool, huh?!
<Sara> Sure...
<Shin> Whaddya mean, "sure"?
<Sara> It's just that... Actually I don't care for skating.
Sad times for Shin.