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Consider this sentence:

> **いつもと** 変えてたまに外で食事しよう。

This was translated as:

"Let's occasionally change where we go to eat out."

I have two questions:

  1. If いつも means always/usually, I don't understand how that fits into the translation because たまに expresses "occasionally".
  2. If いつも is an adverb/noun, how is the と particle used in this sentence?

An explanation of how the grammar works would be appreciated.
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2018-03-03T12:25:14.817
57022
2018-03-03T14:22:32.043
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question
grammar usage particle-と
Why is いつも used in this sentence?
First of all, when I read that sentence I think it means something more like:

Instead of always [eating here], let's go out to eat once in a while.

or perhaps,

Changing from usual, let's eat elsewhere occasionally.

いつも here is kind of being used as a nominal, yes, but really the nominal you
are dealing with is in fact いつ itself, followed by two particles (も and と）. と
is being used in its coordinating sense, the same way it is used in これと違います
("it's different from this").

You can think of いつも as what is being changed by 変える. と can link a nominal to
a predicate (see chapter 10B-3 of Japanese: The Spoken Language) carrying a
sense of "accompaniment." This meaning is so broad that it allows us to
construct sentences like いつもと変える ("different/changing _from_ usual") and
課長と相談する ("consult _with_ the section leader").
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2018-03-03T13:01:12.813
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2018-03-03T13:11:38.397
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answer
> 「いつもと変{か}えてたまに外{そと}で食事{しょくじ}しよう。」

And someone translated that to:

> "Let's occasionally change where we go to eat out."

Now, I have to say that the **_original and the translation do not match at
all_**. Frankly, the translator does not seem to be very proficient in
Japanese.

The speaker of the original sentence (and his/her group/family) usually eat at
home. (いつも = usually) On this particular day, however, s/he is suggesting to
make a change in that habit and go out to eat instead. Are you following?

The problem is that that is **not** what the translated English sentence says
at all.

>   1. If いつも means always/usually, I don't understand how that fits into the
> translation because たまに expresses "occasionally".
>

As I stated, that translation is a complete flop. It would not be very
productive to discuss which word went where.

>   2. If いつも is an adverb/noun, how is the と particle used in this sentence?
>

Here, 「いつも」 is a noun, so no problem with the 「と」. This 「と」 indicates the
"standard" when talking about making a change. 「いつも」 is the standard and they
want a change from that and go eat out.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-03T13:16:33.880
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2018-03-03T14:22:32.043
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answer