彼は、言わば、陸に上がった魚のようなものだ。

he; him; his; boyfriend

topic marker particle; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis

so to speak; so to call it; as it were

land; shore

at (place, time); in; on; during; to (direction, state); toward; into; for (purpose); because of (reason); for; with; by; from; as (i.e. in the role of); per; in; for; a (e.g. "once a month"); and; in addition to; if; although

to rise; to go up; to come up; to ascend; to be raised; to enter (esp. from outdoors); to come in; to go in; to enter (a school); to advance to the next grade; to get out (of water); to come ashore; to increase; to improve; to make progress; to be promoted; to advance; to be made (of profit, etc.); to occur (esp. of a favourable result); to be adequate (to cover expenses, etc.); to be finished; to be done; to be over; (of rain) to stop; to lift; to stop (working properly); to cut out; to give out; to die; to win (in a card game, etc.); to be arrested; to turn up (of evidence, etc.); to be deep fried; to be spoken loudly; to get stage fright; to be offered (to the gods, etc.); to go; to visit; to eat; to drink; to be listed (as a candidate); to serve (in one's master's home); to go north; indicates completion

fish

indicates possessive; nominalizes verbs and adjectives; substitutes for "ga" in subordinate phrases; (at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusion; (at sentence-end) indicates emotional emphasis; (at sentence-end, rising tone) indicates question

(usu. at sentence-end) seeming to be; appearing to be; like; similar to; in order to (e.g. meet goal); so that; indicates hope, wish, request or mild command

person

be; is; indicates past or completed action; indicates light imperative