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In my work book 代表的 has a few meanings, typical and representative. So when
you say 代表的な人 does this mean a typical person or representative person? Surely
having both these meanings for this word must be very confusing?
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2020-04-28T03:55:30.760
76877
2021-09-05T01:21:06.403
2021-09-05T01:21:06.403
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question
meaning words
代表的な correct meaning
Unfortunately, there is no one-to-one correspondence between English words and
Japanese words, and we really have to live with the fact that 代表的 means both
"typical" and "representative." If you want to unambiguously mean typical, I
think 一般の〜 or 普通の〜 would be a good choice.
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2020-04-28T06:41:20.563
76883
2020-04-28T06:41:20.563
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answer
代表的 is a na-adjective that means "representative" in the sense of "most
significant and typically represents the characteristics of an idea/group".

  * 『ひまわり』はゴッホの代表的な作品です。  
_Sunflowers_ is a representative work by Gogh.

  * 古代ギリシャの哲学者として代表的な人を3人挙げてください。  
Name three representative people who are philosophers of the ancient Greek.

典型的 ("typical") is a similar word, but 代表的 takes into account the
importance/significance of the modified thing among the group. You can say
僕の妹は典型的なケチだ ("My sister is a typical miser") but not 僕の妹は代表的なケチだ unless your
sister is nationally known as a typical miser.

"Representative" as a noun that refers to a person is 代表者.

  * 私は我が社の代表者です。  
He is a representative of our company.
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2020-04-28T06:57:36.970
76885
2020-10-25T10:58:29.927
2020-10-25T10:58:29.927
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answer