I've been trying to self-translate the lyrics for Secret Base, and this line
somehow confuses me.

> 突然の 転校で どうしようもなく

What exactly is the use of the で here? And what is its translation?
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2020-09-17T15:17:34.810
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question
translation particles particle-で
Function of で in these lyrics
で here functions like "due to".
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2020-09-17T17:02:27.570
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answer
Let's try to break the sentence into parts.

突然 can be called a の-adjective (more on that
[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/2770/so-called-%E3%81%AE-
adjectives-how-does-%E3%81%AE-really-
work#:%7E:text=1%20Answer&text=As%20I%20understand%20it%2C%20the,of%2Dspeech%20is%20completely%20artificial.)).
There are myriad connections that の can perform (not just the usual possessive
one). If you're interested in all the possible meanings of の, I recommend
checking the book **A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar**.

転校 is a name, which is being qualified by 突然. All in all, the group 突然の転校 is a
name, meaning "sudden change of school".

どうしようもなく comes from どうしようもない, which means "there's nothing that can be done
about it". ない is an adjective, and although the く form normally changes the
adjective into an adverb, it can also be used to connect sentences (more on
this
[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/13614/%E7%84%A1%E3%81%84-and-%E7%84%A1%E3%81%8F-difference)),
similar to the て form.  
As a side note, the stem of a verb can also be used to connect sentences.

From here, it's easier to grasp the meaning of で: it's connecting the two
sentences. For nouns and な adjectives, you used で for connections such as
賑やかで大きな町 (a lively and big town).

Summarising, the sentence means

> There's nothing I can do about the sudden change of schools. (lit. there's a
> sudden change of schools and there is nothing to be done about it)

Edit:

The previous example connected two な adjectives, but it can be equally used to
connect sentences/ideas (as is the case in the OP sentence). Here's a better
example, taken from a [college
website](https://selftaughtjapanese.com/2014/05/14/connecting-ideas-in-
japanese/):

やましたせんせいはにほんじんで、よんじゅっさいぐらいです。
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answer