> まるで腹を空かせた野良犬が飛び掛るかのように、性急で品性に欠けた仕草が目立った。

All I can translate is: "Just like a hungry dog she jumped about...." and
maybe "a gesture that stands out" at the end.

As for the questions: 1) why is 腹を空かす used with the potential form? 2) I don't
understand this part "性急で品性に欠けた". A character that lacks impatience? It should
be the other way around, so I must get it wrong.
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2018-03-26T14:25:50.980
57546
2018-03-27T08:35:23.863
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question
translation meaning
Trying to understand this sentence
Um, looks like you have almost forgotten that が is a subject marker... 野良犬
**が** 飛びかかる means "a stray dog leaps", not "she leaps". 仕草 **が** 目立った is "the
motion stood out", not "the motion that stood out."

  1. 空かせる is the causative form of 空く ("to become empty; to become less crowded"). 腹を空かせた犬 is literally "a dog that have made its stomach empty", thus simply "a hungry dog". You can also say 腹が空いた犬.
  2. 性急で and 品性に欠けた both modify 仕草. Keep in mind that 性急 is a na-adjective, and that で connects two verbs/na-adjectives but not two nouns. This cannot be interpreted as "lack impatience".

> まるで腹を空かせた野良犬が飛び掛るかのように、性急で品性に欠けた仕草が目立った。  
>  (Literally) Like a stray dog that made its stomach empty leaps (on
> something), (her?) hasty and dignity-less motions stood out.
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2018-03-26T15:49:22.023
57547
2018-03-27T08:35:23.863
2018-03-27T08:35:23.863
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answer
In regards to your first question, in this context 空{す}かせる is the _causative_
form of 空｛す｝く.

As for your second question, it is important to realize that the word 仕草{しぐさ}
is the subject of the sentence, and is modified by everything that came before
it.

So, let's start with

> 仕草{しぐさ}が目立｛めだ｝った

It means, "the gestures stood out/were conspicuous." What kind of gestures?

> **性急｛せいきゅう｝で品性{ひんせい}に欠{か}けた** 仕草が目立った

The gestures are impatient (性急) and (で) lacked dignity (品性にかけた). The sentence
is made even more vivid with a simile:

> **まるで腹を空かせた野良犬が飛び掛るかのように** 、性急で品性に欠けた仕草が目立った。
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-26T15:50:15.773
57548
2018-03-26T15:50:15.773
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answer