Hey there fellow netizens!

Now I imagine you got that song well stuck in your head since our last lesson, but just in case, let's have a quick recap of the lyrics we learned so far (those of you who already know it by heart can scroll down with no remorse)

ダメだった。
だめ　だった。
It went bad.
Literally: 'No good+ was'.

うまくいかない。
うまく　いかない。
It won't go well.
Literally: 'Well + won't go'

そんなことばかりよね。
そんな　こと　ばかり　よ　ね。
Things like these (just keep happening), right?.
Literally: 'These (kind of) + things + only + right?.'

それでもね
それでも ね
But still, you know
Literally: 'that + in spite + ね (right)?'

進んでいくの
すすんで　いく　の
(I) keep going
Literally: 'moving on + go + の'

ちゃんと前を向いて
ちゃんと　まえ　を　むいて
(I) face forward earnestly.
Literally: 'earnestly/properly + forward + を + face'.

間違えることで [...]
まちがえる　こと　で [...]
By making mistakes [...]
Literally: 'To make a mistake + by [...]'

Now! I stopped mid-sentence thinking that it would be better to split it in two. I was wrong. Let's see the whole sentence:

間違えることでやっと分かることだってあるから。
まちがえる　こと　で　やっと　わかる　こと　だって　ある　から。
Because it's by making mistakes that you get to finally understand some things as well.
Literally: ' To make a mistake + by + finally + understand + things + as well + there are + because'.

Whoa... that literal translation really sounds alien. Let's take a closer look at the more difficult parts.

First things first, we'll start with the ending!
Now I imagine you are confused, but the ending of a sentence in Japanese is usually the beginning in English, so here we go:

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から
Because

The general rule is that the explanation (cause / reason) comes first and at the end you put 'から / because'.

Let's see it used in a simpler sentence:

何で飲まないの？
なんで　のまない　の？
Why don't you drink?
Literally: 'why + not drink + の?

車で来たから。
くるま　で　きた　から。
Because I drove here.
Literally: 'car + by + came + because'

Which is why, opposite from English, 'から / because' is at the end of our loooong sentence:

間違えることでやっと分かることだってあるから。
まちがえる　こと　で　やっと　わかる　こと　だって　ある　から。
Because it's by making mistakes that you get to finally understand some things as well.
Literally: ' To make a mistake + by + finally + understand + things + as well + there are + because'.

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だって
Even / as well / also

Let's simplify the sentence to focus on the word:

あたしだってできるよ。
あたし　だって　できる　よ。
I can do that too. // Even I can do that.
Literally: "I + だって + can do + よ."
Note: あたし is only used by females.

だって can have a very informal and slightly childish nuance to it; you should refrain from using it in situations that require you to be polite. You use it to imply that the listener should empathize with or understand your point of view.

Note: There is another 'だって' that is used when you want to informally quote someone, but you really should think of it as another word entirely.
Example:

(A family is getting ready to go out):

Brother 1:
あれ？姉さんは？
あれ？　ねえさん　は？
Huh? How about Sis? ←　is she not coming?
Literally: 'Huh? + Sister + は?'

Brother 2:
忙しいんだって。
いそがしい　んだって。
She said she's busy.
Literally: 'Busy + んだって

Now back to our business: in the music video, the singer Ami-ちゃん wants to cheer you up so she uses "だって" to connect on a more personal level by being informal, implying that it's good to make mistakes because you learn something from them.

間違えることでやっと分かることだってあるから。
まちがえる　こと　で　やっと　わかる　こと　だって　ある　から。
Because it's by making mistakes that you get to finally understand some thingsas well (you know?).
Literally: ' To make a mistake + by + finally + understand + things + as well + there are + because'.

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Moving on with our song, we are finally getting to the chorus part!

あきらめないでいこう
あきらめないで　いこう
Let's not give up and go (move forward)
Literally: 'not give up + let's go'

Ahhh, Japanese, that magical language in which just two verbs put together make for an acceptable sentence.

どんなことがあったとしても
どんな　こと　が　あった　としても
No matter what
Literally: 'What(ever) + things + が + are (happen) + assuming'

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Note: 'あったとしても' is just the bigger and scarier cousin of 'あっても' / even if (something happens)

Xがあっても。
X が　あっても。
Even if X happens.
Literally: 'X + が + happen + even if'

Basically means the same as:

X があったとしても。
X が　あった　としても。
Even if X happens.
Literally: 'X + が + happen + even if / assuming',
so 'even if we assume that X happens'.

Let's stop here for now and 'try everything' again tomorrow!

See you next time!

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This lesson was written by Adriana, a guest contributor.