# 家族と時間を過ごす



## sekaijuuni

家族と時間を過ごす

The meaning I was going for was "to spend time with one's family," but my teacher corrected me, saying that 過ごす implies that time is lost or wasted. Is there a better way to express this?

If you want more context, I'm talking about how many Westerners really value their free time, so they might into problems at Japanese firms when their bosses expect them to do lots of overtime, cutting down on the time they can spend with their families.  I don't need a translation for all that, though, just the one phrase.

よろしくお願いします！


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## Ocham

Nothing wrong with the phrase you've made. Your teacher is wrong.
家族と時間を過ごす is exactly translated into "to spend time with one's 
family." 過ごす never implies that time is lost or wasted. It simply 
means "to spend (time)."


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## masatom

Hi.
I agree with Ocham. I don't agree with your teacher.

By the way, 
I think 
家族と時を過ごす（kazokuto tokiwo sugosu)
is more natural Japanese,　though 家族と時間を過ごす　is completely understanbdable.
That may be why your teacher want you to correct.
時間を過ごす　is more unnatural than 時を過ごす.
So your teacher might think 時間を過ごす　has the nuance of killing time.

PS) On second thought,
I think this is best.
*家族と過ごす*
To hide 時間を　or 時を　makes it more natural as Japanese.
And your teacher would not think it has the meaning of killing time.


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## sekaijuuni

Thank you, Ocham and masatom.  I trust your judgment but unfortunately, I've got to use a different phrase on the second draft of my essay.  It may have that connotation only in my teacher's dialect but do you know any other ways I could word it?  Thanks for your help.


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## masatom

Hi. 
Another expression might be;

*家族と時間を共有する。(kyou-yuu suru)*


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## Aoyama

> my teacher corrected me, saying that 過ごす implies that time is lost or wasted.


That should lead you to question your teacher's ability to teach Japanese. Is he a native ?


> 過ごす never implies that time is lost or wasted. It simply
> means "to spend (time)."


Absolutely. Or also "to pass time".
For the record, to "waste" time, or to "lose" time would be :
時間を浪費する、時間を無駄にする、時間を失う　
cf. 失われた時を求めて... (Proust).


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## megchan

家族と時間を過ごす　
It's very simple. For instance, 昨夜家族を時間を過ごした。Last night, I stayed home with my family. Or I was (at) home with my family. That's it. 
You don't need to translate 過ごす　into English. Usually, Japanese people want to translate every single Japanese word. But in my opinion, you don't have to.


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## Aoyama

> You don't need to translate 過ごす　into English. Usually, Japanese people want to translate every single Japanese word. But in my opinion, you don't have to.


That may be the case, but here it is the other way around, sekaijuuni wanted to say _in Japanese_


> "to spend time with one's family"


. See first post.


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## sekaijuuni

I just started correcting my essay and I believe I misunderstood my teacher's original comment.  I must not have read it thoroughly the first time 

家族と時間が過ごせなくなる(このように言ってもよいのだが、｢時間｣を主語にしてtime to spend with one’s family is lost となるように言った方が自然)

So she didn't mean that *過ごす* meant wasted time; she was saying that it's more natural to say that when you're overworked, you lose the time you would otherwise spend with your family.

I'm feeling pretty stupid now but should I say something like, 家族と過ごせる時間を失う?


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## megchan

Hi sekaijuuni
I read your post. 家族と過ごせる時間を失う　means, as you mentioned, you work too hard and you don't have enough time to be with your family. If you want to say, ’家族と時間を過ごす’, you can say 'I am home with my family.'. 
But you want to say, ’家族と過ごせる時間を失う’, the connotaion is what I wrote above. 
In my opinion,　家族と過ごせる時間を失う might be used, but it's not natural. Of course, some people could say that. As you know, there are various kinds of expressions when you say 'something'. Depends on the person or depends on how he/she speaks. People have their own way of speaking.
If I were you, I would say 家族と過ごす時間が無くなる　. Who is the subject? It's YOU/I. Who is with your family? It's YOU/I. Maybe in this case, ’せる’of ’過ごせる’ is used as ’できる’. But on the other hand, せる is used when you are forced to do sth by sb. If you were forced to do sth, you could use ’過ごせる’.
And when I translate the phrase 家族と時間が過ごせなくなる　into English, I would say 'I don't have enough time to stay home with my family.'
By the way, I might misunderstand your question. Do you translate English into Japanese? Or Japanese into English?
Sorry, I'm not clear. 
If you translate English into Japanese, in this case I would say, '家族と過ごす時間が無くなる’. In this sentence, 時間　is the subject of 無い. And you can skip the real subject 'WHO'. （私は/彼は/彼女は）家族と過ごす時間が無くなる　sounds more natural to me and easier to understand for everybody.


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