# 抱いて (as a gerund)



## Riccardo91

Dear Japanese forum,

I'm translating a little song, whose lyrics are here below.

抱いてRainy day そばでRainy day / すべてを流したら　明日を探そうよ /
君とRainy day / ふたりRainy day / 涙を見つけたら　一緒に拭えばいい /
Rainy day

I have two questions about it, and here's the first.

In the first verse, how would you interpet 抱いて? I know this can be an imperative ("Embrace the rainy day"), but since it doesn't seem to make much sense here, I was wondering if it could be interpreted as a gerund, meaning that the two people the song talks about are "embraced in a rainy day".

I know that would be 抱いている, and I'm not understanding if the いる part can be omissed or not.

Thank you very much!


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## frequency

..That depends, but usually 抱いて in a song would mean _Hold me_, in an imperative, apart from any sexual intentions.


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## kamot

Literally, 抱いて alone is an imperative, which means "Hold (me)" or "Embrace (me)". This is an usual interpretation and I think it most probable.
As it is lyrics and may not be a complete sentence, it may mean "(I am/was) holding (you)".

"Rainy day" is a refrain, so I think it shows circumstances, instead of a part of sentences.


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## 810senior

Riccardo91 said:


> 抱いてRainy day そばでRainy day / すべてを流したら　明日を探そうよ /
> 君とRainy day / ふたりRainy day / 涙を見つけたら　一緒に拭えばいい /
> Rainy day



I guess the total intention of the song is:
_Hold me, by your side(=僕の傍で、僕を抱きしめて _as imperative_), on rainy days; let's go in search of tomorrow, if we washed it all away
Together with you, on rainy days(=雨の日もふたり一緒に過ごそう); it's okay to wipe away our tears that we will finally find
_
Be reminded that the form followed by て may mean an imperative mood depending on some context, as in あっちに行って(go there), この手紙、渡しておいて(hand over this letter [to someone])


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## Riccardo91

Thank you for your answers, I see the interpretation is ambiguous as I thought.

To me, it seems that the other "Rainy day" verses are pretty similar:
そばでRainy day -> A rainy day by your side
君とRainy day -> A rainy day with you
ふたりRainy day -> A rainy day in two

So, I would be inclined to interpret "抱いてRainy day" as "A rainy day embraced"...


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## frequency

On a rainy day, they did those things

On a rainy day,
Hold me, Stay closer
With you, We're alone..etc.


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## 810senior

As another possibility, it may mean "embrace a rainy day(=rainy day*を*抱いて[imperative])" but it's the most natural to think it was used as an imperative mood.
(I kinda have no idea why it should be limited to rainy days, not sunny days or other)

1. Hold me(抱いて)
2. By your side(そばで)
3. With you(君と)
4. Two of us(ふたり)


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## karlalou

Riccardo91 said:


> In the first verse, how would you interpet 抱いて? I know this can be an imperative ("Embrace the rainy day"),


Yes, it's a kind of imperative. More specifically, it's a request.
Another possibility is like ～して～, with this て meaning 'and'.

We would say 働いて稼ぐ(verb and verb) or this is also possible: 一息ついて休憩 (verb and *noun*).



> but since it doesn't seem to make much sense here, I was wondering if it could be interpreted as a gerund, meaning that the two people the song talks about are "embraced in a rainy day".


No, it's not a gerund. Gerund is 抱くこと, or 読むこと or 見ること or 食べること or 聞くこと or etc.
It's a song, a poem. It doesn't need to be a clear story. Rather it should be creative and artistic.



> I know that would be 抱いている, and I'm not understanding if the いる part can be omissed or not.


No, it's not some kind of abbreviation. 抱いて is in the form of request just like 読んで or 見て or 食べて or 聞いて or ... etc. etc.
You can make it politer by adding ください. Yeah, ～して is a form of *casual *request, and/or (at the same time) it's saying "do this and something" like I've just said above, such as 寝転んで日曜日, おしゃれしてお出かけ, and especially in a form of poetry these ambiguity is just fine, why don't you enjoy all the possibilities at once from the expression like 抱いて Rainy day.


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## frequency

Riccardo91 said:


> I was wondering if it could be interpreted as a gerund,


Guess what 抱く+ください would be? And then try omitting ください. You can get what you want.

First of all, gerund refers to the _English verb form_ of verb +ing.
So in Japanese grammar we don't have the concept of gerund. A logic that any Japanese verb is or is not in gerund is impossible.

Riccardo, think like this way:
_Come here!_ is in an imperative.
_Please come here!_ is still in an imperative but it just gets politer, because of the addition of Please.

This is almost equal to these in Japanese:
抱け！
抱いてください(!)
抱け is in an imperative form now. And see the speaker's intention hasn't changed even after adding ください―in the second one, it's just got politer.

When the bare infinitive of 抱く changes into 抱いて, when it joins to ください. (katsuyou)



810senior said:


> (I kinda have no idea why it should be limited to rainy days, not sunny days or other)


lol! I guess they had nothing to do.


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## Riccardo91

So, in the end you destroyed my attempt of a different interpretation! 

I knew the structure of Japanese imperatives, but I has the feeling an imperative wouldn't work well in that situation, so I speculated there could be another possible meaning. Maybe I'm not accepting it because I can't find a way to make it "work" once translated, so I tend to think there's something else I might be missing.

However, since everyone is of the same opinion, that must be the right one.
(And I just realized that the verb in my uncorrect interpretation isn't a gerund! That's what happen when you're writing in a hurry. Sorry for being confusing.)



> especially in a form of poetry these ambiguity is just fine, why don't you enjoy all the possibilities at once from the expression like 抱いて Rainy day.


Because, sadly, I must translate it, and I have no way to be as ambiguous as the original. 
I have to choose an interpretation and translate accordingly.



> (I kinda have no idea why it should be limited to rainy days, not sunny days or other)


I suppose that's because "rainy days" are sad days where everything goes wrong, and those are the times you most need an hug. ^^

Thank you, everyone!


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## 810senior

I agree that it's quite difficult to translate it, as I've got the same issue with some English lyrics that sound so poetic or somewhat figurative. Anyway, my idea is that _rainy day_ is used just like a refrain(as Kamot already mentioned it) so I suggest you'd better put it aside and translate the rest, like hug me _rainy day_, by your side _rainy day_.



Riccardo91 said:


> I suppose that's because "rainy days" are sad days where everything goes wrong, and those are the times you most need an hug. ^^


I bet.


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