A Jaapanese word "いろいろ" in English
いろいろ is very convenient to use in Japanese conversation.
e.g) 私は先週末、いろいろな場所へ行きました( I went to many places last week. )
この道具は、いろいろな用途に使えます( This tool can use in various way.)
最近いろいろと悩んでしまいます( I'm worried about some thing recently.)
What kind of words or phrases can I substitute for いろいろ？
Please tell me if my e.g. sentences are not natural.
Thank you.
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A Japanese word "いろいろ" in English
いろいろ is very convenient to use in Japanese conversation.e.g) 私は先週末、いろいろな場所へ行きました( I went to many places last weekend. )
この道具は、いろいろな用途に使えます( This tool can be used in various ways.)
最近いろいろと悩んでしまいます( I'm I have been worried about some things recently.)
What kind of words or phrases can I substitute for いろいろ？
Please tell me if my e.g. sentences are not natural.
Thank you.
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Hello Saki,
Your sentences are fine, good job!
Because you used "recently" for the last sentence, "I have been" indicates that this sense of worry has been going on for some time and would thus be more suitable.
If you want to use "I'm", then the sentence, "I'm worried about some things." would be better. Although this second sentence could also show that you've been worried for some time, it emphasizes more on the present – that you are worried now/at this point in time.
And because using いろいろ indicates many/diverse/various things, we would use the plural forms instead of the singular forms. As seen above, the plural forms: "places", "ways", "things" would then be used.
Depending on the context of your sentence, there are quite a number of English words that can be used to substitute いろいろ. You've used some yourself in the examples above – many and various.
Other similar words include: assorted, several, numerous, various, diverse etc.
E.g.
1. 部屋にはいろいろなものがあった。
There were various/a number of things/articles in the room.
Also, instead of using one word to substitute いろいろ, you could make use of the sentence structure instead.
2. 彼は私にいろいろと親切にしてくれた。
He has shown me much kindness. (OR: I have been on the receiving end of his many acts of kindness.)
3. 彼女の話はいろいろなところへ飛ぶ。
She frequently jumps from one topic to another when she is talking.
I hope this make things a little clearer. I'm a beginner in Japanese so I'm not 100% sure that the examples are grammatically correct in Japanese. Do tell me if they're wrong! Thank you very much.
Update 2:
"Recently" (or "lately") and "最近" are exactly the same meaning wise. "Recently" does not exactly indicate just the past but more like a period of time from the past until now.
E.g.
Past----------------Present----------------Future
<---Recently--->
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Thank you Mr. Steve.
Yes, exactly いろいろ's kanji is 色々. I also use いろいろ together with ありがとう in Japanese. It is very common and natural phrase, you know.
By the way, I dreamt a dream that I spoke to a foreigner in English yesterday. However I couldn't communicate with her well, I was so sad...haha.
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I agree with you that いろいろ is a convenient expression. (I always think of it a a colorful expression because the Kanji is 色, right?).
For most cases, "various" or "variously" are good translations. (You could use "various" in all your examples, and it would sound very natural).
But my favorite use of いろいろ is when I say 「ありがとう」。In English we would say, "Thank you for everything" or "Thank you for all that you did for me."
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