Start Learning Japanese in the next 30 Seconds with
a Free Lifetime Account

Or sign up using Facebook

許す yurusu

Moderators: Moderator Team, Admin Team

d_albrodt_513924
New in Town
Posts: 9
Joined: October 8th, 2016 12:51 pm

許す yurusu

Postby d_albrodt_513924 » February 10th, 2017 1:50 pm

Hi,
I am not sure about the meaning of yurusu. The flashcard says: to permit, to allow - however the example sentence is: Zettai ni yurusanai. = I'm absolutely not going to forgive that. Which is quite the opposite. What is it now: allow or forgive?
Thank for helping!
Best wishes
Dirk

thegooseking
Expert on Something
Posts: 216
Joined: October 17th, 2008 8:24 pm

Re: 許す yurusu

Postby thegooseking » February 10th, 2017 3:26 pm

Dirk-san,

許す can mean either 'permit' or 'forgive', and choosing the right one is really down to context. I think a lot of the time it'll be down to the tense of the verb that is being forgiven/permitted. You can't, after all, forgive something that someone hasn't done yet, nor can you permit them to do something they've already done (at least, unless you're a judge or similar, who might say "I'll allow it" in response to something someone's already said).

Here are a couple example sentences I've taken from jisho.org:-

約束を破った事を許してください。- yakusoku wo yabutta koto wo yurushite kudasai - "Please forgive me for breaking my promise."
Notice that 破った is in the past tense, so 許す must mean 'forgive'.

母は私が海外に行くのを許した。- haha wa watashi ga kaigai ni iku no wo yurushita - "My mother allowed me to go abroad."
Here, we think that 許す means 'allow' because 行く is in the present tense.

That's okay if you're allowing or forgiving verbs, but what about nouns? It's not quite so straightforward, but again, it's down to context, and I think the difference between forgiving and allowing nouns is probably less strong than the difference between forgiving and allowing verbs anyway, isn't it?

小狼

Get 55% OFF + 2 FREE Months
community.japanese
Expert on Something
Posts: 2704
Joined: November 16th, 2012 8:54 am

Re: 許す yurusu

Postby community.japanese » February 23rd, 2017 2:09 am

小狼さん、
こんにちは。
Dirkさんへの回答をどうもありがとうございます。

Dirkさん
こんにちは。
I think the example sentences 小狼さんgave you are good.
:)
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

d_albrodt_513924
New in Town
Posts: 9
Joined: October 8th, 2016 12:51 pm

Re: 許す yurusu

Postby d_albrodt_513924 » February 23rd, 2017 5:24 pm

Thank you both very much!

Return to “Learn All About Japanese”