I've found this example sentence at the tangorin.com dictionary:

> 彼は大政治家になりたいという大望を忘れたことはなかった。

It is translated as "He never forgot his ambition to become a major
politician."

There is two aspects of this sentence I don't quite follow. The first is what
does という mean?

The second point is the understanding of 忘れたことはなかった. I know the verb 忘れる (to
forget) but what about なかった?

Thank you very much.
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2016-02-10T02:41:25.813
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2016-02-10T04:42:25.347
2016-02-10T02:48:07.673
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question
translation conjugations
Breaking down a translation: 彼は大政治家になりたいという大望を忘れたことはなかった。
There are actually three different clauses at work here:

大政治家になりたい = "I want to become a great politician"

大望を忘れた = "He forgot the ambition"

・・・ことはなかった。= "It was never the case that [...]"

The first word you have highlighted, という, serves to show the relationship
between the first two clauses. It is literally と "with" plus いう "X says". His
ambition can be stated to be, "I want to become a politician."

The second word you highlighted, なかった, is the end of the operating clause of
the sentence. It's the past tense of ない. Something did not exist. What does
not exist? An instance, こと。 What instance did not exist? The instance of
forgetting ambition.

So, as for him, there was not an instance where he forgot the ambition which
could be stated as, "I want to become a great politician." The translation you
have given phrases this more clearly.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-10T04:42:25.347
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2016-02-10T04:42:25.347
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answer