戸を押さえてくれ。

Sentence Discussions Japanese
#1
English Translation

Hold the door.

Would 押して or 抑えて also mean the same thing in place of 押さえて？

#2

@ericaw
No.

  • 抑える (pron. おさえる) = to regulate/control/contain (feelings)/constrain/avoid (attacks or risks)/reduce (sweetness) ==> It’s not a physical movement of pushing.
  • 押す = to physically push (buttons/someone’s back)
  • 押さえる = to hold something (with a hand or stopper)/block/restrain/catch a scene/understand the point/seize someone’s assets as a collateral/confiscate

For example,

FRBは物価上昇を抑えるため、金利を引き上げた。= FRB of the US raised the interest rate in order to control the inflation.

FRBは物価上昇を押さえるため、金利を引き上げた。= FRB of the US raised the interest rate in order to understand what the inflation means. (Note: the Japanese sentence sounds unnatural and doesn’t make sense.)

トムはエレベーターのボタンを押した。= Tom pressed the button of the elevator.

トムはエレベーターのボタンを押さえた。= Tom blocked the button of the elevator in order not to let other people push it.; OR Tom confiscated/seized the button of the elevator from the owner. (Note: the Japanese sentence sounds unnatural and doesn’t make sense.)

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#3

Thanks MsFixer for the examples. Can I confirm: トムはエレベーターのボタンを押さえた 。 Can this sentence also mean, “Tom held down the elevator button”? Would the Japanese sentence still be unnatural / not make sense given this translation?

#4

We say ボタンを押し続けた (pron. おしつづけた) or 長押しした (pron. ながおしした) in the context, but we don’t use 押さえる.

The connotation of 押さえる is “to counteract unwanted forces” or “to tame something restive/uncontrollable by a chokehold.” There is an unwanted backfire behind 押さえる. But an elevator button isn’t off by itself against your will in order to make trouble to you.

風に飛ばされないよう、メアリーは帽子を押さえた。= Mary held her hat not to be blown off by the wind.

Unlike the elevator button, the wind is an unwanted force. Her hat is uncontrollable unless Mary holds it with her hand.

ドアマンはエレベーターのドアを手で押さえた。= The doorman held the elevator door by his hand to keep it open.

Unlike the elevator button case, an elevator door is automatically closing itself. That’s an unwanted force for a passenger who is rushing aboard.

警察は大量の偽造品を押さえた。= The police confiscated a massive number of anti-piracy copies.

The criminal was trying to distribute the illegal products (i.e. influx of illegal ones into the black market.) It’s the same as the unwanted wind blowing off Mary’s hat. As a counter-piracy procedure, the police seized them.

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#5

[details=“Portuguese Translation”]Segure a porta.[/details]There’s something fishy going on here. I am doing Portuguese > English course and the Japanese forum showed itself to me…