View topic - The very act of...
Not confident here, defer to native speakers...
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You've found good ways to translate "the very act of."
Just one small thing - "だと言えるのに十分だ" should be "だと言うのに十分だ".
This sentence won't sound natural if it is translated word-for-word into Japanese, because of two things:
1)The way something abstract or inanimate is being used as the subject.
Sentences like "His reply made me angry" sound kind of weird in Japanese, you have to rephrase it like "I got angry because of his reply."
2)The way the word "makes" is being used. It means here that he fits the definition of thief. In Japanese, you can use the word "make" to mean that it caused him to become a thief, the way you can say "Poverty made him a thief" or "His parents ordered him to steal and taught him how. They made him a thief." However, in Japanese you don't use the word "make" to mean "fit the definition of ---" (in sentences such as "You just saved somebody. That makes you a hero.")
You would have to choose a new approach to say the same thing. I would say it like:
If he has stolen something, then he already is a thief.
If he has stolen something, then it can be said that he already is a thief.
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