I've been going through a Japanese script of the popular anime "Fairy Tail"
and trying to make sense of the translations in the English subtitles to
become familiar with the language.

I came across a part (3:40 into the first episode), where a shopkeeper, trying
to sell one of the main characters something, says:

> 女の子に人気なのは このカラーズの魔法 **かな**.

This is translated in the English subtitles as:

> This colour magic is **probably the most** popular one among girls!

I understand most of this, but I don't understand why he ends it with かな,
since from what I've been told this means "I wonder" in most circumstances
(unless it's used with a negative verb, in which case it seems that it could
mean a few other things) but he's obviously not trying to sound uncertain as
to whether what he's saying is true or not, so I don't understand why he would
say it this way.

Also, I'm not sure why they added the "probably the most" in the English
translation. Is there something that I missed in the Japanese that implies
that it's "most" popular as opposed to just popular? thanks for any help.
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2014-12-01T22:13:19.607
19736
2016-03-10T19:54:16.380
2015-12-14T00:22:28.237
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question
translation sentence-final-particles modality particle-か particle-な
かな ending in a sentence where the speaker is not uncertain of something
I haven't seen the show, so I'm uncertain of the context, but かな refers to
"probably" in the translation. Ending a sentence with かな is a very casual way
of expressing uncertainty. For example:

> あの人はアメリカ人 **かな** 。
>
> I wonder if that person is an American.

It's subtle, but "probably" might be a slightly too "certain" translation in
this case (but again, context matters so I'm not too sure.) Another
translation could be "I wonder if this color magic is the most popular one
among girls."
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2014-12-07T22:17:31.943
19802
2014-12-07T22:17:31.943
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answer
かな can state any degree of probability, from nearly zero to all but certain.
Another important feature is that かな conveys intent of communication, thus it
could imply request or desire so much as English "I wonder". This word is
usually only used in non-polite sentences (in most cases, the polite
counterpart is でしょうか).

Down to your particular case, the shopkeeper's かな could have two ways of
interpretation, as far as I can see in the clip (yes I did go watch it).

  * expressing lack of objective evidence: "It must be (though I haven't tallied it up, etc.)"
  * expressing subjective assertion: "If you ask me", "I bet", etc.

When it comes to "the most", I don't see any necessity here to use
superlative, but nor that it's wrong. Maybe the translator wanted it to sound
a bit more sales talk-ish, or whatever.
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2014-12-08T14:47:39.003
19809
2014-12-08T14:47:39.003
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answer
**Ka (か)**

  * generally used as a question mark, it can change a statement into a question without any grammatical change.

**Na (な)**

  * used as a casual way of saying Ne [ね]. Both words are a way of seeking confirmation.

**Ne [ね]**

  * used mainly by girls, it'd translate as "right?" or "yaknow?" at the end of a statement.

> "This color magic is the best, yaknow?"

**Na [な]**

  * used mainly by boys. I'd translate it as "I think" or "I'm sure"

> Im sure all girls love this color magic

* * *

Without Ka [か] the sentence reads as

> 女の子に人気なのは このカラーズの魔法かな  
>  This Color magic is the most popular one among girls!

Without Na [な] it reads as

> 女の子に人気なのは このカラーズの魔法かな  
>  Is this Color magic the most popular one among girls?

Together かな means something along the line of "I bet" or "Probably". Because
it both represents the convincing Na [な], while retaining the questioning tone
of Ka [か].

Particles like these can be confusing to English speakers at first, so just
listen to more conversations that use these particles together, it'll teach
you how to casually use and interpret them.
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2016-03-10T17:16:09.267
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2016-03-10T19:54:16.380
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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