texts: Exact nuance between 方が、たら、えば and テ形 in this sentence

texts:
I would like to know the exact nuance between all these forms in these example sentences :

そうした方がもっと可愛くなる。 : This one feels like she would become cuter if she did that (instead of something else)
そうして、もっと可愛くなる。 : This one feels like she would become cuter by doing that
そうしたら、もっと可愛くなる。 : This one is like she would become cuter if she did that
そうすれば、もっと可愛くなる。 : Same as the one above but in more formal?

I am really not sure if i am right, thanks


texts:
Dictionary translation is "I beg you will favour me with your company―I request the pleasure of your company."

御来駕被成下度奉懇願候

I can only surmise about
ご来駕 noun　懇願候 verb (ask), sourou being a polite form of suru.

The particles seem to be omitted.

What to make of the 被成下度奉 part?


texts: Can 軈{やが}て mean "one day" rather than "soon/before long"?

texts:
Consider the following sentence:

  軈{やが}て私がCEOの座を去ったとしても、此のスピリットは我がグループの最も大事な創業の精神として永続化して行かねばなりません.

I recently received a translation of the article containing the sentence above where 軈{やが}て was originally translated as "soon". Precisely:

  Soon I will be stepping down from the position of CEO. However [...]

This made sense, to the extent of my knowledge and according to my dictionaries.

However, a couple of days later I received a correction where the translator apologized saying that it should be interpreted as "One day" instead:

  One day I will be stepping down from the post of CEO. However [...]

Now, in English there is quite a considerable obvious difference between "soon" and "one day". So my question is: are there possible different nuances of  軈て or simply it was a political move to avoid rumors or hide what's going on at the "higher floors" of the company?

Note: to give more background, I'm talking of the translation of a speech from the CEO of a large Japanese holdings. The English translation was sent to the foreign employees (a large proportion of the total) of a subsidiary of such group.  It is assumed then that many of the recipients could not read the original Japanese version. Also, the original translator is a Japanese native speaker.


texts:
僕独りじゃ生きてけない

I saw this sentence, but, I actually get the meaning.
It means "I can't live alone" right?  But how do you translate it?  What is "けない" grammar?

I tried to search a lot of websites, but I couldn't find any information about it.

Also, what is this じゃ？  I've never seen a sentence like this before.  教えてください！


texts:
Skipping the how/why/etc, I have a daikyu that has earned the name 'Windcaller'. I'm familiar with kaze(風) for wind, but I'm a bit perplexed about which verb invokes the best match for the intent of caller in this context.

yobiyoseru(呼び寄せる) - to call; to summon; to send for; to call together
maneku(招く) - (1) to invite; to ask; (2) to beckon; to wave someone in; to gesture to; (3) to call in; to send for; to summon; (4) to bring on oneself; to cause; to incur; to lead to; to result in
manekiyoseru(招き寄せる) - to gesture to come closer; to beckon; to call; to summon
izanau (誘う) - (いざなう is arch) to invite; to ask; to call (for); (2) to tempt; to lure; to induce;

Or is there something better nuanced? Also not familiar with Japanese grammatical structure on how one would turn whichever verb into a noun.  Would the construction be Kaze no [Caller], Kaze(caller) as one word, or some other construction?

Doumo Arigatou gozaimasu for any help!


texts: What is the difference between 乗り場 and バス停?

texts:
I've seen them both with the meaning of 'Bus Stop.' Could someone please explain how they're different?

Thank you in advance!


texts: Does this sound natural "I want to work long in Japan and make a lot of Japanese friends"

texts:
I want to work long in Japan and make a lot of Japanese friends.

日本で長く働き、たくさんの日本人の友達を作りたい。

日本で長く働き、多くの日本人と友達になりたいです。

日本で長く働き、日本人の友達をたくさん作りたいです。


texts: に particle and passive form.... multiple meanings?

texts:
There's a sentence in my textbook.

子供の時から今までを振り返って男あるいは女に生まれて、Ａよかったと思った／思うこと、Ｂ嫌いだと思った／思うこと、を三つずつ書いてください

男あるいは女に生まれて、 This is the part in particular I don't understand... I read it as... "Born by a man, or possibly a woman..." Why would it say that? Is it supposed to be read "Born AS a man or possibly a woman?"

Don't tell me that 女に生まれる has two meanings!!! It means born by right? に is supposed to be actor of the passive action right? Like 巨人に食べられた。... Or am I somehow wrong.


texts:
Recently I heard the sentence:

  強い、より命令ぽくってその人がこうもらえると思ってるものを返してほしい

when the teacher was trying to explain difference between "要望" and "要求".

I am wondering if "ぽくって" is the informal "テ形" of "っぽい" because it looks like "っぽくて".


texts: Why is 一緒に needed when it's already clear two people will be together?

texts:
A father is talking to his kid about their plans tomorrow and says,

  けんしんくん、お父さんと一緒に買いに行きましょうか？

Why not:

  けんしんくん、お父さんと買いに行きましょうか？

(The sentence is supposed to say, "Kenshin, would you like to go to shopping with dad?" Obviously, not a one-to-one translation)

Aren't both sentences the same? I can't see the second sentence not relaying the idea of "together". So what does the 一緒に do exactly? It seems, to me, that the sentence doesn't really need it.


texts:
陸ではのらくらしとっても水の中ではそりゃあ素早い

I don't quite understand しとっても form here.

I guess the whole sentence will be

  Even though they're slow on land, they're very quick in water.

Is しとっても another form of していても or しておいても?


texts: Is there a name for kanji with the same ON and KUN readings?

texts: Is there a name for kanji with the same on and kun reading? I mean kanji like 労.


texts: What's the difference between 下りる and 降りる

texts:
My current understanding is that 下りる means to go down, for example, 階段を下りる (Go down the stairs); while 降りる means to get off some form of transport, for example, 飛行機から降りる (Get off from the aeroplane).

Is this understanding correct so far?

However, which one is used to "go down a mountain", and possibly other uses for going down?


texts:
So, I was reading a manga, and this sentence came up:

  今日予報だと暑くなるみたいだよ。

I translated it as:

  It looks like it's going to become hot with today's forecast.

There are a few questions I'd like to ask:
What's だと、in this sentence?
First I thought it meant according to, but when I searched around they said, if or when.
 Like, If you have today's forecast, it's going to be hot. But does that mean something like, If you're looking at today's forecast, it's going to be hot, or something completely different?

Did I translate the it's going to be hot well?


texts: I've noticed a certain (probably) sound change being illustrated by 雨 （あめ） and the compounds 霧雨 （きりさめ）and 小雨 (こさめ). It looks like this used to be pronounced さめ in all contexts, but the s here was lenited, and I was wondering if I could find more information on this sound change in Japanese and potential other words where it historically occurred, or where it's displayed in the descendants of those words. It would also be helpful to know whether this lenition occurs before vowels other than a.


texts: How to say "The girl who likes being photographed is my friend"?

texts:
I want to say

  The girl who likes being photographed is my friend

and my attempt is as follows,

  　写真を撮って貰うことが好きだ女性は私の友達です。

Is my attempt correct?


texts:
If I'm not wrong, そうだ is used when you hear something from someone else and you are trying to relay it forward to another person.
For example, you hear なつみさん say that 高田さん is sick. So when the teacher asks you wheres 高田さん、 you reply: "高田さんは病気で休んでいるそうです". But what about ようだ? What if you replaced it and said "高田さんは病気で休んでいるようです"? What difference does it make?

Ive also heard that ようだ is used when you notice something.
For example, you see your friend 若宮 laughing with your elder brother, and you are shocked. You silently think to yourself: "若宮さんは兄貴と仲がいいようですね..." Similarly, does it make a difference if i replace ようです here with そうです?

All in all, what are the differences and similarities between ようだ and そうだ?


texts:
I don't understand this whatsoever:

やれやれ
だから言わんこっちゃない

especially the bolded part. What real words does that come from?
Context is that the main character got a cold from staying outside all night; his friend then tells him this.


texts: An old Dover grammar-book of Japanese shows it to be to (it has no kana but I assume it's と), but Wikipedia shows to̅ (とお). Which one is correct?


texts:
What is the meaning of 添い遂げる in the following sentence?

  それがすべてを背負い覚悟してきた人の最初で最後の自由ならば俺も添い遂げたい。

Context: a man agrees with a friend's request to act freely, without worrying of anything.

The only meaning I found in dictionaries is to remain married/together for life, but this cannot be the case. I think here it has a meaning similar to follow, could it be? Here's my attempt:

  If this is the first and last time a man that had the resolution to
  carry everything on its shoulder acts freely, then I'll follow him.


texts:
Good afternoon all,

I was wondering when we chain particles, should "から" come before "だけ", or should it be the other way round?

For example, I'm expecting a mail from 健一, a mail from 健二, and a mail from 健三 (total 3 mails). However only the mail from 健二 arrived. Which sentence below should be used to describe the situation? :

健二からだけ(が)きた。
健二だけから(が)きた。


texts: How does the double が function in this sentence?

texts: I came across this sentence today 「アンタの本音が何で、嬢ちゃんが何を伝えたいかは俺にはハッキリ分かったがなぁ……」and was thrown off by the double が. I think I understand it but it still kinda puzzled me for a bit. Can some clarify this?


texts:
What does the character say in this video? It's translated as "what's that?" . I would expect him to say, nanda kore, nani kore,nanda kore wa, sore wa nan desu ka, , kore wa nan desu ka or something like that but what I hear is

"nanda (unintelligible word) wa"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_vqJGKvn5k#t=5m57s


texts:
逮捕しといてくれ。

I know the sentence is a command/plea, and that's why くれ, but I don't understand the しといて. Why is that or what does it mean?


texts: What is the Japanese word or phrase for "to post on the internet"?

texts:
How do you say "to post something on the internet"?  Are there different words for different kinds of posts, for example:

a blog entry
a comment
a piece of information, like a translation or a recipe
a video or photo
etc.


texts:
I have some difficulties to understand the meaning of 詰む in the context

  あなたとは違{ちが}ってね」
  冷静{れいせい}に返{かえ}されオレは言葉{ことば}を詰{つ}まらせた。

  I am different from you. She returned my words calmly and "I was
  checkmated / I was at loss" ??

the dictionary gives for

  詰む (shogi) to be checkmated;  to be hard pressed; to be at a loss; to
  reach the limits;

but I cannot figure the meaning of 詰む in the context and its association with 言葉

By the way, I am aware the Causative-Passive form (to force something on somebody) is used.
Does it alter significantly the use of 詰む ?


texts: localizing historical allusions (Waterloo; Honnoji)

texts:
English occasionally uses "Waterloo" idiomatically to refer to a situation where someone meets their (ultimate) defeat. (historical allusion to Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo)

"That playboy fell hard for Susan. He finally met his Waterloo"
"This is your Waterloo. Soon, you'll be Napoleon Blown-apart." (Sideshow Bob)

My question: would a nativized version work in Japanese? I've toyed with the idea of using Honnoji, in reference to Oda Nobunaga's defeat.

(1) ?「裁判で勝ちつつあってから、田中対鈴木事件は先生の本能寺だった」
　　("After a string of victories in court, the lawyer met his Waterloo in the case of Tanaka v. Suzuki.")
(2) ?「俺は世界一の魔導師！この決闘はお前の本能寺だ！」
　　("I am the world's best wizard! This duel will be your Waterloo!")


texts:
Was browsing through japanes IG pages and saw this post https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp61vFtAdFo/?hl=ja

Someone left this comment.

  ボヘミアンラプソディ！！
  腰抜けるぐらいよかった！！

Haven't found what it means on any online dictionary but I did find other uses. There's a whole hashtag of it in twitter, it looks like.

For example, there's this one.

  まずい聞こえたか。
  恥ずかしい。
  腰抜ける

To my knowledge, the first 2 would translate as "Did it sound bad? This is embarassing." No idea about the last one, though. 腰 and 抜ける seems to have a lot of possible meanings in the dictionary.


texts: The usage of な to make an entire clause modify a noun, and "Alice is a desirable person" versus "Person that likes Alice"

texts:
In the very beginning of Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese, namely here, there is this example:

魚が好きな人。
Person that likes fish.

When I read that for the first time, still as a very beginner in japanese,  I just said "ok interesting, let's move on". But now, having completed the whole "Basic Grammar" and "Essential Grammar" sections of Tae Kim's guide, and drastically improved my vocabulary, I decided to reread everything and stumbled at this example.
It sounded unnatural, strange. As if the phrase was saying "fish is desirable person". (Note: of course I am far from fluent, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's correct, although sounding strange).
So I see two ways of parsing that phrase:

(魚が好き)な人
魚が(好きな人)

Question 1: As far as I know (and here is where I'm probably wrong), we should use な to connect na-adjectives to nouns, but the first way of parsing is using な to connect a whole clause to a noun, is this grammar really correct? Does the whole clause accept a な simply because it ends in a na-adjective? What is going on here?
Question 2: Clearly the second option ("fish is desirable person") does not make sense, but I think we can create a similar example in which both interpretations would fit:

"person that likes Alice": (Aliceが好き)な人
"Alice is (a) desirable person": Aliceが(好きな人)

If this is correct, then is guessing by context the only way to decide between the two interpretations?

Note: I didn't post these as separate questions because they are extremely related and there is a chance that a single explanation might help me with both questions.


texts:
This question about colours got me thinking:

Why, and how, did オレンジ come to replace 橙【だいだい】 to refer to the colour orange?

It seems weird to me that a word taken from a foreign language became adopted as the norm when there seem to already have been a perfectly good local word for the same thing.

I've seen 橙 used very occasionally, but it seems to be reserved for deliberately attaching a Japanese style, or 和風【わふう】, context beyond just describing the colour.


texts:
I started reading something my friend got for me from Japan and came across や with tenten and am not quite sure how to pronounce it. I've never come across it before and I've been trying to find a possible answer anywhere online but haven't had any luck.

Thanks in advance.


texts:
「昨年来、日傘を使ってる。えぇ、おっさんが恥ずかしくない。皆で日傘をさそう。そうすれば恥ずかしがらずにすむ、私が」(source)

Also, I'm not sure about the meaning of すむ (since it's in kana, I'm not even sure which verb it is, I found two verbs with similar meanings that could fit according to the J-E dictionary :済む and 澄む) ...?


texts: What is this 連用形+ゆる grammar? How is it different from the potential form?

texts:
I have come across this grammar a lot lately:

  連用形+ゆる

For example, in this comment,

  文語と現代語を交じたる文はインターネットで見ゆるなあ

I've also heard しゆる. Judging from the context I think that this grammar is similar to the potential form. So 見ゆる is basically 見える and しゆる is できる.

Am I right? How do the two grammars differ?


texts: When expressing a superlative meaning ("the most ..."), what is the difference between the usage of もっとも and 一番？ (e.g. もっとも大きい vs. 一番大きい)


texts:
How can I always use "one" to replace a noun? For example:

 - How many items do you have?
 - Fives *ones*.

Or

 - Are there many chinese there?

 - Yes, there're many *of them*
 or - Yes, I see many *of them* everyday
 or - Yes, I see *ones* everyday

Can I always use "no" in this cases?

I know that in some cases "one(s)" can be omitted, but not always.

Are these correct?

 - Are there many chinese there?
 - Hai, mainichi takusan NO ga iru
 - Hai, mainichi takusan NO wo miru


texts: What are differences between 帰ってなかった and 帰らなかった

texts: I'm new to Japanese. I have learned that 帰らなかった is the past negative of 帰る. Later, I found 帰ってなかった which I don't know what is it.


texts:
Studying for the N1 with sample questions I stumbled across this grammar construct ~よし.　However I am unable to find any explanation online or in any of my grammar books - probably I am searching for the wrong expression, but maybe anyone here can help.

Here are a few sample questions, that I could not answer so far:

  「この夏、定年退職なさった（と・の・との）よし。長い間、お疲れ様でございました。」
  This summer, I will reach the age for retirement (?). Thanks for taking care of me for so long.

  「来月、日本にいらっしゃる（よし・べし）。ぜひ、お会いしたいですね。」
  Next month I will be in Japan (?). I definitely want to meet you.


texts: How to make sense of this construct - "、それは"

texts:
First, some real-world examples of "<名詞>、それは<名詞句>。" :

  イノセンス、それはいのち (catchphrase for the movie イノセンス)
  リゾートホテル、それは[極上]{ごくじょう}のサービスに[心]{こころ}[満]{み}たされる[空間]{くうかん} (catchphrase used by a certain resort hotel)
  歓{よろこ}び。それはBMW。 (catchphrase for the Japanese market used by BMW)

Is it correct to say that these are formed by "left dislocation" and "体言止{たいげんど}め"?

For instance, the underlying sentence of the first example, I think, is

  イノセンスはいのちだ

"Dislocation" is a grammatical term describing a sentence structure in which one constituent is taken out of its normal place of occurrence, either to the left side or the right side. The dislocated element's original place is often occupied by a pronoun. (Heavily drawn from Wikipedia.) For example, "These things, they take time."

Applying left dislocation turns the sentence into:

  イノセンス、それはいのちだ

"体言止め" is a figure of speech in which a sentence is terminated by a noun or a noun phrase.

  イノセンス、それはいのち

All seem nice and well, but I'm not sure because I couldn't find any source talking about this construct in any way. Is the hypothesis correct, or am I missing something? Are there other possibilities?

Edit:

I did find this chiebukuro Q&A which states the English equivalent of the construct is "extraposition." It lists examples like "The demands, restrictions, pressure, fatigue, ― they spoiled the fun." Inferring from this comment to a Language Log entry, this type of extraposition is now classified as left dislocation.

So...whatever the grammatical term is, there's one supporting view that a transformation is in the work here which extracts the topic and places it outside the normal sentence structure.


texts: Differentiating between "search in" and "search for" in Japanese

texts:
"To search" is 検索する of course, but how do you differentiate between searching "in" or "through" something and searching "for" something?
From what I have seen, it seems like there is no differentiation in the grammar, but that seems hard to believe.

Search for a file => ファイルを検索する
Search the Internet => インターネットを検索する

There is no situation where you would talk about searching for the Internet, right? So the content clarifies the meaning, but we have the same grammar for two different meanings.

Search a file => ファイルを検索する（？）

As in, search through or in a file to find specific data.
If the same grammar is used in Japanese, then the exact same sentence has two very different meanings.

検索対象文書

Does this mean the document that is being searched for, the documents that are being searched through to find a certain document, or the document(s) that is/are being searched through to find certain words?
Is there no way to differentiate what 検索 is referring to other than reading potentially paragraphs of otherwise unnecessary information just to identify this simple, but important difference?


texts: Question about 金欠で久しく in the sentence 金欠で久しくスタバに行けてないけど・・・

texts:
May I ask about the construction of this sentence?

  金欠で久しくスタバに行けてないけど・・・

I know the meaning is along the lines of ...but I don't have any money and can't go to Starbucks."

I understand スタバにいけてないけど.

What I'm not sure I understand is the construction of 久しくスタバ. Is the adverbial form of 久しい used in the same way as the て form when multiple verbs are listed? In other words, is 久しく essentially "for a long time, and..."?

Thank you for your help!


texts: A particle for place of action for V-2+に行く

texts:
What particle should be used for a place of action (or a place to go?) in case of using V-2+に行く construction? E.g.

  食堂 ＿ 食べに行きます。

At one hand, 食堂 is a place of action (eating) and で-particle should be used.
At the other hand, it's a place to go, so に-particle should be used.
However, the last case seems a bit strange to me, because a verb 行きます already has an object with に-particle - 食べに.

So what's the correct particle to be used in such cases? Maybe both particles are acceptable? - In this case does a choice of particle carry any meaning?


texts:
The sentence is as follows:

これが兄様がすべてを託したわけなのですか？

From the structure of the sentence this わけ doesn't appear to be a sentence ending particle, and I'm struggling to interpret it. I find that dictionaries unfortunately do not actually explain this word in a way that is meaningful for those who don't already understand how it is used.

To provide some context, the person currently speaking is watching the person that their 兄様 entrusted something to before their death, where they were also present at this time. The current time of the statement is as they are watching the person commit, for lack of a better word, war atrocities in order to do what they were asked.


texts: 叱られる時に「うるさい！」と「やかましい！」のどちらがきついですか？

texts:
辞書では意味がとても近いので、聞きたいのですが、例えば、ビニール袋などで音を立てている時に、知らないおっさんに急に「うるさい！」または、「やかましい！」って言われたら、その言葉のチョイスで叱られた感は違いますか？

また、そのキツさは「あほ」と「ばか」のように地域・方言によって変わりますか？


texts: Is using 笑 to mean "lol" feminine or gender-neutral?

texts:
On Facebook, you see 笑 getting used a decent amount to mean "lol".  To my American eyes, using something that literally means "smile" - and even looks semi-subconsciously kind of like an advanced emoticon of somebody winking their eye - comes across as being more feminine than the clearly gender-neutral "lol".  But that may not be the common consensus, and it is apparently the only real equivalent to "lol" in Japanese.

Are guys generally supposed to use this?  Are there any restrictions like that on this character?


texts:
I was watching this anime events clip -> https://youtu.be/5y15wDpcwuI?t=6m12s
and could not understand this particular part.
at 6:12 I think the seiyuu said

そうなろうと思えば、
この世界はどこまでも残酷になれるのだということ

I could not find this word in the online dictionary, so maybe I heard something wrong or is it possible that it simply mean "that".

At 6:23 I could not understand clearly what the other seiyuu said?
I believe it is

遠い昔に書かれたあるXXX
XXX節がある


texts:
Whats the difference between 見つからない　and 見当たらない？
Is 見つけない　used for physical objects? Like I can’t find the book etc...
and 見当たらない eg -> I can't find that line on this page?
In the middle of all this where does 見出す fit in?
I want to know the difference in nuanaces please


texts: What's the difference between all these words for "foundation/basis"?

texts:
I've come across four words in my studies that all seem to have similar meanings:

根底{こんてい}
基礎{きそ}
基盤{きばん}
基本{きほん}

They all seem to be some variation of the concepts of a "foundation" or "basis", but an in-depth differentiation has eluded me. Can anybody help?


texts:
Note: I know they might not strictly be interchangeable, but I might end up using "Furigana" and "Ruby text" in an interchangeable manner in this question.

Hi all,

I'm in the process of writing a short essay in Japanese. I'm going to be preparing two versions: one with Ruby text on all Kanji that are new to me (for further self-study purposes), and one with Ruby text on a subset of the more complex Kanji used.

When I craft a Japanese sentence and decide to place Furigana by a specific Kanji, do I need to use Hiragana each time?

I've noticed, in the dictionaries I use at the very least, that Onyomi readings are listed in Katakana and Kunyomi readings in Hiragana. Does this style carry across to essays and similar types of documents?

For instance, if I want t to use the kanji 上 in a sentence and explicitly mark the reading as うえ I would use Hiragana in my ruby text. But what if I wanted to use 日 in a sentence and explicitly mark the reading as ニチ? Would I still use Hiragana then?

I know that these are stupid examples, but I think that they still illustrate my question enough.


texts:
Taken from the first book of 「働く魔王さま」
Context: A girl is having a talk with her friend about having a buzzing in her ear and lately hearing voices mingled with this buzzing. These voices are warning her about catastrophes that might happen in the future. At the conclusion of their conversation her friend says:

「幸いその耳鳴りの主も悪意で接触してきてるわけではないみたいだし、いざというとき自分の周りの人に注意を促せるだけで大分違うと思うよ」

I already checked out this question about the differences of 「だけで」 and 「でだけ」 (Difference between だけで and でだけ?. On jisho 促せる is listed as potential and I used this definition of 大分: https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%86.
What I am really struggling with here is the last part of 「大分違う」.  I first interpreted this statement with some kind of "positive" intend of the speaker in the sense of: "When it gets dangerous you are able to warn the people around you, what will make a big difference"; however I feel something is wrong here and after checking several definitions of 「違う」 I figured that these "positive" aspects are not necessarily mentioned there. In accordance with that I think this sentence rather means: "Being able to warn the people around you when it gets dangerous is unusual enough". However, I feel like this interpretation is missing something.
Therefore, my question is whether you can interpret inherent "positivity" into this sentence or not.
Can 「違う」 have this meaning of changing a certain siuation? (I found a defintion of 「違う」saying it was equal to　「たがう」)
Please let me know if I am completely off with both interpretations.


texts:
I was watching a movie where a guy was texting his friend. One of the text messages he sent was 「友達出来た？」 The subtitles translated it to be "Made any new friends?"

From the context of the movie the translation made sense, but I thought 作る｛つくる｝ was used when referring to making friends, isn't it?

Also checking jisho.org for 出来｛でき｝ doesn't yield anything similar to making friends. So right now I'm confused, it seems like both are valid ways of asking if someone made friends. Is one more formal than the other? Or what's the difference?


texts: Is “僕はですね” making fun of a girl who just said “そうですねー”?

texts:
In a visual novel a girl just said そうですねー and the guy replied

  「僕はですね、伯母の紹介だったからこそ、ここでバイトしてる訳ですが。」

I feel like he's making fun of her for saying desu ne.... and that she sounds like his aunt?

Edit. バイト means "work" in this context.


texts: Can anyone explain the difference between the words 創{そう}立{りつ}, 設{せつ}立{りつ} and 樹{じゅ}立{りつ}?  They all basically mean "to set up / to found", and from what I've researched, it's all very 微{び}妙{みょう} to me.


texts: How to parse 親も辞書を買ってやったかいがあるってもんだ

texts:
親も辞書を買ってやったかいがあるってもんだよ

The context is that speaker (a child) is trying to find the meaning of a word and asks her friend if she can borrow a dictionary. The friend ridicules her. She brushes aside the insults, saying that "dictionary owners know complicated things" followed by the above sentence.

My previous attempt to translate this sentence was a disaster, so I'm going to try again. Please help me to understand my errors.

買ってやった is "bought for me"

verbかいがある is "There is value in doing verb"

I think って must be a short hand for と and I'm going to guess that there's an implicit おもう.

ものだ is one that always confuses me. It seems to be context dependent and since I'm struggling with the rest of the sentence I'm not in a position to figure out which one it means.

So here's my new attempt:

  I think it would be worthwhile if my parents had bought me a dictionary too.

I don't like my placement of "too". I don't understand what も is doing attached to 親.

Maybe:

  My parents also think it would be worthwhile if they bought me a dictionary.

is better. At least も is on the right place for that.


texts: What are the differences between 金、料、代、and 費？

texts:
For example, 入学金 is correct; we can't use 入学費・代・料; that's not 日本語.

But all of them mean costs for something. Could someone please explain this?


texts: Japanese equivalent of "I identify as X"

texts:
I'm looking for a way to express the feeling that sometimes comes up when the way you feel about yourself contrasts with surface-level observations about you. In English we have the "identify as" construct e.g.

"I was born in France, but I identify as American."

You can replace "I identify as X" above with "In my heart, I am X". The closest thing I could find in Jisho was:

「自分が別人になった感じだ。」

Using that I did my best to translate the sentence above as:

「私はフランスで生まれだけど、自分がアメリカ人感じだ。」

"I was born in France, but I myself feel like an American."

Is this accurate, and if not, what would be the best way to express this type of sentence in Japanese?


texts: Difference in nuance between 頂ければと思います, 頂けませんか, and 頂きたいんですけども

texts:
I've recently started using the expression 頂ければと思います, but I'm not 100% sure about its precise nuance.

Is there any difference in nuance between

頂ければと思います
頂けませんか
頂きたいんですけども?

To my non-native ear, the first feels formal, the second very standard and the third a tad more casual. Apart for the difference in usage that would ensue, is there any difference in directness (in the sense that ~を頂戴 is more direct than ~を下さい)?


texts:
あなたも　なかなか　やるやないの〜

Um... is this supposed to be a form of [positive verb] [negative verb] chaining together? What does it mean?


texts: Appropriateness of using ～たい in a polite setting: "Have you always wanted to be a teacher" in Japanese

texts:
I wanted to ask this question to my Japanese instructor, but I understand that in Japanese, it is inappropriate to use 〜たい to 目上の人

So how would I phrase this question in a polite way? よろしくお願いいたします。


texts: Can particle で be used for means be used with people?

texts:
I'm attempting to make a sentence saying

ぼくは ともだち で はなしています
I am speaking with a friend

While making it I was just wondering if using で would be correct since I kind of felt like ともだち would be the means for which I do the verb はなしています. Maybe I would just use を here? Not sure, any help/ explanation here is appreciated


texts:
Based on the dictionary definitions listed on WWWJDIC (which I cannot link due to the design of the website), the two terms have similar definitions.

I am wondering if there is any difference between the two.

Is one more technical than the other, and / or is one more formal than the other?

Are there any other differences?


texts: Mnemonic phrases for memorizing a word or number sequence

texts: What generally accepted mnemonic phrases are there in Japanese that are used for memorizing a sequence of numbers or words?


texts: Is there a difference between 突然に and 突然のことで?

texts: Are 突然に and 突然のことで just different ways to say the same thing?


texts:
In a visual novel I ran into this sentence

嘉音くんの死亡は赤で宣言済みならば、生きているわけがない。よって、襲われた彼らが、嘉音くんと誤認するような何者かの変装の可能性がある！」

Which according to an official translation it means

"If Kanon's death was proclaimed with the red there's no way he was alive. Therefore there is a chance that the one who attacked the group was in a disguise to make the group mistake them for Kanon"

Is the が in 襲われた彼らが used as replacement for を

If so then why

I saw cases like 君は私が守る (Ill protect you) where the は seems to act as a replacement to を.

Based on what and why do you  use は or が instead of を. Is this mainly used when referring to organic things.

However I also saw cases like this

瞬発力が要求される無酸素運動に関しては定評があり (There is a established opinion in aerobic exercises where instantaneous force is required)
where the が is used instead of を. (and in this case が isn't used for an organic thing)

Can someone help me ?


texts: Why is １年 written after 去年１年 in this sentence?

texts:
I was reading an article on NHK easy news about whooping cough and I came across this sentence, 去年１年でこの病気になった人と同じぐらいです。I've seen this usage of "time duration" before but I never understood why just saying 去年で wouldn't be sufficient/proper (or perhaps it is. I'm not sure).

My question is what purpose is this for? If 去年 is already there, wouldn't the reader know that the writer was referring to the people who got sick last year?

Somewhat of a side question too, but is と's usage here used for comparing and contrasting? This year vs last year. I don't believe its usage is for a conditional and it isn't for connecting two nouns.

As always, thanks for any help that comes my way. I'm truly grateful.


texts:
甘い蜜 literally means "sweet honey". But in some sentences it seems to mean something different. For example,

  1) たまに甘い蜜を与えて、また暗闇に落として……。

From time to time giving a sweet honey, but also dropping into darkness.

  2) 結局、甘い蜜を吸うのはいつだって上の連中だけ。

After all, only they always suck a sweet honey.

  3) お前をそそのかし、甘い蜜を与え、そして最後には堕落させてやる。

I instigate you, give you sweet honey, and in the end corrupt you.

Well, in the last sentence it must be "give you a pleasure". Anyway, I think that 甘い蜜 must mean something pleasurable, something that makes people happy.

My question is: what is the meaning of 甘い密 in sentences like these?


texts:
I don't have much context for it because I found it while looking for examples sentence containing 起伏 on yourei.jp

  氷のように冷たいのではなく、濾るま湯のように感情の起伏がない声で。

According to what I found 這濾る may be read as はいる. So I surmise that here 濾る is read as いる but I can't have any idea about what would be 濾るま湯.


texts:
I started to read this artcle and I noticed there are 2 が particles in the title

  ２０００人以上の子どもがインターネットが原因で犯罪の被害

If the first が marks the 2000+ children as the subject, what is the purpose of the second が?


texts: Is there an オノマトペ for when you're absolutely clueless or expected to do something, but cannot?


texts: Why does native speakers rather say 言う通り not 言った通り?

texts:
I was watching a drama (無痛 ep.3) when a short sentence baffled me. The main actor's wife was taking her last breaths, thanking her husband, who himself a doctor, told her, that it would be best to die at home in his care rather than in a hospital for a number of reasons. She says:

  英介さんの言うとおりにしてよかった。

It's translated as: I am glad that I listened to you. Thank you.
If I would have said something like that, I would have said

  言ったとおりにしてよかった。

I asked a native speaker about it but all she could tell me was, that she doesn't think 言ったとおり would be wrong. However she herself would say it like in the drama...
But why is that?


texts: "魅力ある人" vs "魅力がある人" vs "魅力のある人"

texts:
I saw all occurrences. To me '魅力(noun)+が+ある'(simplified clause) + 人(noun) sounds more correct.

Can someone help on the differences:
魅力ある人
魅力がある人
魅力のある人


texts: Why are there many kanji that are read and mean the same?

texts:
My question comes from this case:

会う
逢う
遭う
遇う

I see they all are read あう, and mean "to meet". So, why are there these many cases? And more important, which one should I use? I knew 会う, and when I read 逢う I thought it was a completely different verb.


texts:
I have seen two example of this.

The first example come from "恋する星座" part 9 where the girl said a sentences with words "行かなきゃ"

The second example come from the song "Catch A Break" sung by Eguchi Takuya. The lyrics goes "買いに行かなきゃ"

Why does they use "-なきゃ" in said examples? Is it used only in daily conversation? What are the other example of words using "-なきゃ"?

[Sorry if I ask too much I'm really curious]


texts: What's the difference between にかけてand にわたって?

texts: It looks like にわたって has just one meaning, "over (a period of time)" whereas にかけて means "over (a period of time)" and also "until". Is that correct? Can they be used almost interchangeably?


texts:
The kanji version 付き合う contains only elementary characters with their usual readings. Is there a reason why it's still usually written in kana? Is there a difference in nuance when written in kanji?

EDIT As to why I think that it's typically written in kana, I just observed the following:

My textbook (イラストでわかる日本語表現) writes it in kana.
My dictionary (ウィズダム英和・和英辞典) writes it in kana in all example sentences.
ことえり (Apple's OS X input method) suggests to use kana when I write it.

Of course that's not necessarily representative of contemporary use by native speakers, but it appears that there are some writers who strongly prefer kana.


texts:
In episode 76 of Fairy Tail, Gildarts said this to Natsu:

  本気でそう思ったら、止めやしないよ。 (honki de sou omottara, tomeyashinai yo)

Which was translated in the subtitle as:

  If that's what you honestly believe, I won't stop you.

I thought "I won't stop you" would simply be "tomenai yo", so I'm kind of lost about what nuance the extra "+yashinai" conjugation carries. What kind of negative conjugation is it?


texts:
I noticed that ってなわけで is commonly used as a substitute for というわけで in colloquial speeches, but what exactly is the purpose of the な-particle in that phrase? Does it make the context that the phrase refers to adjective-ish, like suggested in this answer?

Or is it actually the な-particle that is similar in usage to the one in それなのに? How does the construction work though?


texts: Use of 時 with different verb conjugations

texts:
Im learning the use of 時 and it's a wee bit confusing.

I get the difference between

食べる時、お酒を飲む
食べた時、お酒を飲む

But the difference between

食べる時、お酒を飲む
食べている時、お酒を飲む

eludes me.  Are they the different ways of saying the same thing? I drink alcohol when eating/when I eat?


texts: Rosetta Stone's usage of kana for words instead of kanji

texts:
As I use Rosetta Stone to learn Japanese, I only use the Kanji mode (except when I forget the reading for a kanji and then flip it briefly to furigana mode).  However, I've found that for some reason there are many words that Rosetta Stone seems to arbitrarily choose to use hiragana instead of kanji.

Examples:

ぼく instead of 僕
こわれる instead of 壊れる
かさ instead of 傘
はしご instead of 梯子

and many more.

Is this due to the kanji being to complex accoring to Rosetta Stone or is this a situation where hiragana is typically used instead of kanji?  From what I've been able to find in online dictionaries, these aren't flagged as "typically written as hiragana".  Since we're reading these words and not writing these words, I would have expected them to favor the kanji forms.

What further seems to confuse me is when reading manga, I've seen 僕, ぼく, and ボク used.


texts: What is the order of the full list of kana?

texts:
My question would be, if I were to pick up a Japanese dictionary, or had a project in which I needed to put several Japanese words (including hiragana, katakana, and kanji, with gojūon, dakuon, yōon, sakuon and the digraphs) in order, what would be the correct "alphabetical" order?
I understand some of it, such as the fact that they all need to be read according to the gojūon order (a ka sa ta...) in hiragana form, and the smaller forms of kana come after the original forms.

I looked everywhere online and was unable to find a full list or explanation to this, I only found the separate tables for kana, which only confused me more.

I am only a beginner to learning the language, and every little helps me to understand it and the culture better!


texts: My name is Hiro, but I have no idea how to write it in japanese. If you could help me with that, it would be great since most online websites aren't very helpful.


texts: 一度やると言った◯◯、何があってもやりますよ。What should be included in 〇〇?

texts:
This is one of the JLPT questions that I am not sure about (again...).

一度{いちど}やると言った◯◯、何があってもやりますよ。
A. からといって　　B. からで　　C. からでないと　　D. からには

For A. からといって, I understand that it can mean "just because" to show that the latter sentence may be differ from what one might expect based on the first sentence, so it is unlikely to be this choice. Though I am curious, if this choice will make sense if the latter sentence become a somewhat negative sentence instead such as

一度{いちど}やると言ったからといって、何があってもやるわけじゃない。

For C. からでないと, I understand that it should follow the pattern ～て form + からでないと + negative sentence, so it is also unlikely to be this choice.
For D. からには, I understand that it implies "now that; because". For  example,

約束{やくそく}したからにはその約束{やくそく}を守{まも}らなければならない。

is quite similar to this question, so I believe this should be an appropriate choice (which was correct btw).
However, I am not quite sure why B. からで cannot be used in this case? I know it is simply a continuative form of からだ also implying the cause of something.
Is this because it will only explain the cause of the prior sentence?
In order to use B. からで, if I change the sentence into

何があってもやるのは、一度{いちど}やると言ったからだ。

, will this be better?


texts:
I am trying to make the following sentence:

"I need to eat something" , but I don't know which particle I should use, I've come up with these 2 sentences, which one is right?

1 何かを食べるのが必要

2 何かを食べるを必要

Should I use が or を?

Also I don't get if 必要 is a verb or not so I'm not sure if I should use です at the end of both.

Edit: in the second sentence I have two を particles, is it allowed or the sentence should be:

何かに食べるを必要


texts: Why are some terms for relative time irregular?

texts:
For current time the Kanji 今{いま} for "now" can always used. Why is it that Kanji for previous (去 / 昨 / 先) and next (来 / 明) times are different and have irregular readings? In some cases it is incorrect to use the other Kanji. Is there a historical or linguistic reason for this?

.　　year　　　　　　month　week　day　　　　night
last　去年{きょねん} ／ 昨年{さくねん}　　先月{せんげつ}　先週{せんしゅう}　昨日{きのう}　　　　昨晩{さくばん} / 前夜{ぜんや}
this　今年{ことし}　　　　　 今月{こんげつ}　今週{こんしゅう}　今日{きょう} / 本日{ほんじつ} 　 今晩{こんばん}
next　来年{らいねん} ／ 明年{みょうねん}　来月{らいげつ}　来週{らいしゅう}　明日{あした} / 明日{あす}　　明夜{みょうや}


texts: What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ?

texts:
There were a lot of great answers here. I gave the checkmark to ento's answer because I felt it most completely explained all aspects of this use of こと. But many of the other answers are excellent, so if you're visiting this question for the first time, please take a few moments to read through all answers. Thanks to everyone for your help with this question.

When learning the phrase "I like X", everyone learns "Xが好きだ". But if X is a pronoun, you sometimes see こと:

あなたが好きだ。　→　あなたのことが好きだ。

What purpose does こと serve here? I know that in subordinate clauses, こと can eliminate ambiguity:

彼が好きな人 "a person he likes" or "a person who likes him"
彼のことが好きな人 "a person who likes him"

But in a simple statement such as the first example above, it doesn't seem to change the meaning at all.
My own searches on this problem have yielded the following two theories (neither with anything to back them up):

こと adds a layer of indirectness, and is therefore preferred from a Japanese standpoint.
こと encompasses more of the object ("you" versus "all the things about you")

Is either of these correct?
こと also shows up in many other situations, seemingly without any effect on the meaning:

事件を覚えている。　→　事件のことを覚えている。 I remember the incident.
地球を考えて行動する　→　地球のことを考えて行動する take action while considering the Earth planet (edited to "the planet" to fulfill the requirement for 考える to be paired with something abstract)

What's going on here?


texts:
How should I read the "~" mark that stands for range, as described in the title?

I saw this in the following sentence:

  3~4行ごとに1行あけると読みやすい。


texts: もしドラ translation, baseball terminology 野手の要

texts:
I am currently translating a novel called もしドラ by 岩崎夏海, upon checking through again, I've come across this baseball related term　野手の要 that initially I thought meant 'the fielder, Yoshi':

野手の要、キャッチャーの柏木次郎はこう言った：

??, the catcher, Kashiwagi Jiro, said this:

I can see now that this is a specific baseball term, but after researching at length, I can't find a satisfactory translation.

Many thanks in advance!


texts:
Same sentence, different question:

  「ではみなさんは、そういうふうに川だといわれたり、乳の流れたあとだといわれたりしていたこのぼんやりと白いものがほんとうはなにかご承知ですか。」
  Well everyone, this vague white thing which has been called a river and has been called a trail of flowing milk, do you know what it really is ?

Literally I translate:

  xがなにかご承知ですか as
  "is there some knowledge of x" ->
  "Does anyone know about x".

Is this correct? Is it a common way to ask a question? What other ways could you ask "does anyone know about x?"?


texts: Is the pattern V + に行く used with -する verbs?

texts:
Is it natural to say, for example 散歩しに行く? Or would you rather say 散歩に行く? If both are acceptable, is there any difference in meaning or usage?

よろしくお願いします。


texts:
Can't translate this sentence:

しんネタ どらにゃんこを マスター！

Can be also たね (kana reversed).
Context:


texts: Negative questions : Normal Vs Explanation seeking

texts:
I'm pretty sure this question is basic and may be a duplicate to any existing ones.

授業があるんじゃない?
授業がない?

Isn't there a class?
There is no class?

Seems similar to me.


texts: Intuitive way to justify this usage of「に」

texts:
An earlier question on JP.SE asked about the usage of the particle「に」for what seemed to be attribution or possession, but I wasn't sure if those were 'official' uses of「に」and I decided to do some digging. I found an explanation on the sentence structure NにNがあります／います where「に」links back to a location where something or someone exists. Scrolling down for alternative uses, I found the following explanation for「Nがあります／Nがいます」in particular:

余裕があれば
「Nがあります」「Nがいます」の形で、所有の意味を表わします。
「太郎さんには子どもがいます。」

I interpreted this as "Using「Nがあります」or「Nがいます」indicates a notion of possession." However, I'm not quite sure as to what「余裕があれば」means in this context. Maybe something like for those who want to learn more or something?
If this is indeed the right interpretation, are these cases inherently implied to follow the「NにNがあります／います」pattern, i.e. is it just a fixed pattern such as 「～は～が～」or is there a more explicit motivation for the usage of「に」in this sense? Or, alternatively, is it unrelated to the initial「に」but more of a use case particular to「が」(this seems unlikely)?


texts: What is the difference between [為替]{かわせ} and 両｛りょう｝替｛がえ｝?

texts: What is the difference between 為替 and 両替? Both mean "exchange". When each of them should be used?


texts: 規則に違反してはいけない。に or を？

texts: I'm confused if I should use に or を in this sentence. (Also if は/が could fit here).


texts: Reason for 「のか」 and 「かもしれません」 in 「何を言っているのかわからないかもしれませんけど」

texts:
One time I was formulating sentences on a website, to practice my Japanese and get natives to correct them.  I had written  「何が言ってわかりませんけど」 which I now understand was wrong, but when they corrected my sentence with this 「何を言っているのかわからないかもしれませんけど」 I was shocked.

Most of the sentence I understand, like changing 「が」 to 「を」 but when I got to 「のか」 and 「かもしれません」 I was deeply confused and to be honest, never seen 「のか」 used in a sentence.
If it’s not too much trouble, could someone explain the use of these two parts in the sentence and why they are needed to make this sentence?

Thank you.

Edit: Because I forgot to put the whole sentence to clarify who the speaker/ topic is, here it is:「私は何を言っているのかわからないかもしれませんけど、今は日本語を練習をしてます。」


texts:
My teacher told me years ago about またね, but recently I've heard じゃあね used similarly. What's the difference between じゃあね and またね?  Which one is preferable?
Is there other phrases, that can be used to say "goodbye / see you later"? Maybe from dialects?


texts:
This sentence is found in the author's introduction to a Japanese listening study book.
本書「中～上級編」は、こうした学習者の会話能力の底上げのために日本語教室で５年以上にわたり、１０００人以上の学習者に使われてきたものを修正し改良を加えたものです。
My translation: "To help raise the conversational skills of these students, this intermediate~advanced edition is the result of correcting and improving more than 1000 students' _________ over more than 5 years in classrooms."
Is もの supposed to be referring to the classroom teaching materials? The homework? I'm not clear what it's referring to or how it became the origin of this book.


texts: What is the more common pronunciation for the rōmaji letter Z in Japanese?

texts:
I was on the phone with NTT the other day and things were going well (or as good as they could), until I had to spell some email address for the customer rep, and fell upon the letter 'Z'.

Instinctively, I went with 'zed' as a pronunciation, which seemed to stumble the NTT lady, so I tried a 'zee', which did not seem to elicit more comprehension...

Eventually, after trying a few more variations, I had to give up and was told to send that piece of info by email (a rather silly situation, considering I had just been giving and receiving bits of information in Japanese for 15 minutes until that point).

According to Wikipedia, pretty much any pronunciation goes:

  Z; Zetto, zeddo, or zī (ゼット, ゼッド, or ズィー, though sometimes pronounced jī, ジー)

It is very possible that, while trying to figure which of the two common native pronunciations to use, I omitted to stress the second mora enough (saying 'zed' instead of a frank 'zeddo' or 'zetto'). But I'm still a bit surprised that she would stumble on this particular instance.

In your experience, is there a more common/natural pronunciation of the letter 'Z' in Japanese? Any circumstances that might dictate the choice of either?


texts: Meaning of 言葉は殴り返せない

texts:
In the below how is 言葉は殴り返せない meant to be understood. Is it similar to 言い返せない, or is there a meaning I am missing?
To provide some context, the character is talking to her friends 咲希 and 桃 about the problems she is having with her boyfriend.
「ビッチの正論なんて聞きたくないの」
「じゃあなんで咲希のこと呼んだの！？　帰っていい？」
「帰らないで！　桃ちゃんだけだともっと正論パンチが飛んできそうで怖いから。言葉は殴り返せないから。」


texts: How do i know the difference between ni or wo while using verbs with people

texts:
For example:

Naguru - to strike
Sasou - to invite
Kisu suru - to kiss

How do i know which one between wo and ni is the correct one?

Kanoji ni sasou or kanojo wo sasou?
Kanojo ni kisu suru or kanojo wo kisu suru?

Its very hard to me because it looks like i have to guess the particle when im using a verb with a person


texts: Two particles の at the same time in 「ってのの一斉調査」

texts:
Context:
https://streamable.com/6n4lv5
This is the sentence: 小学校とかの体育の時間に二人一組になってする準備運動。ｸﾘｽﾏｽってあんな感じなんだよ。｢この中で 誰が一人ですか？｣ ってのの 一斉調査
why has two particles の?
Does the second particle omit a word? Which?


texts: 暴力に正当な理由があるとすれば、自分や誰かを危険から守るためだけだ。  in this sentence why did we use に particle after 暴力. how does it come here, explain the grammar


texts: From an English perspective--including mine since I'm learning Japanese using English, I felt that 違う sounded strong, this may be from the tendency to respect others' opinions on English, that implying others to be wrong may be seen as rude. But from the situation that I've seen it was used, and based on a native I asked; 違う was used freely like a 'no' in English when you disagree with the information being said. For example, if we were asked ”大学生ですか” the native Japanese that I asked said it's fine to reply with ”違います” if we aren't, and that it can be used in other formal situations. But another non-native yet advanced Japanese speaker claimed the word to be strong and can be rude. I know since I already got confirmation from a native speaker, it should be done, but I'm seeking more info, when is it fine to use 違う and can it be rude?


texts: How to say "unless...?" in the context of "but what if"

texts: In the context of the phrase "Just kidding... unless...?", how would the word "unless" be translated? Here, "unless" has sort of a connotation of "what if...?" as well as "unless you want to?"


texts:
Usually the basics only cover いくら so most basic lessons I know of don't even cover the word price in basic contexts.

I know 物価 and my understanding is that it is used in the general economic sense?

I'm trying to find out how to mention price in your general day-to-day product/services. Do services even have a different word compared to goods(e.g. hotel stay/massage as to food prices)? Would 価格 be correct? What about 値（あたい)?

What about "Well, depending on the price... I might be willing to do it." Would this "price" be the same as the commercial product/services sense?

What about a non-commercial sense of cost like "price/cost of living"? Same general economic sense but 物価 seems off since living isn't a product?


texts: Can そばかす be used to describe a pattern on dog face?

texts:
Are these 斑{ぶち} or そばかす?

Are freckles (そばかす) in Japanese limited to human? Would it be a mistake to describe a pattern on dog's face as そばかす?


texts: Looking for Japanese common speech phrases list

texts:
I'm looking for a large comprehensive list of phrases that are commonly used by the Japanese, anyone know of some resources for that?

I've seen the list on here but most of them aren't exactly what I need, are there any other sources?


texts: I'm a little lost on which one to use for monster. Is there a different meaning between the two? Which one is better to use for monster; [怪物]{かいぶつ} or [化]{ば}け[物]{もの}? Thank you in advance! :)


texts:
From this post I learned that I can change subject marker が with を (Aの方がB・・・） and it will be completely fine, but can I do so with 「AはBと同じくらいC」 construction?

For example, I need to say "He is as good at English, as at Russian". How should I deal with it?

  あの人は英語がロシア語と同じくらい良く話します

What I wanted to say by this sentence is that "Regarding him, it is English that he speaks as well, as Russian.", but I'm afraid that cannot do so because, I belive, が denotes the subject that is doing the speaking.

But I believe that this sentence would be fine:

  あの人は英語がロシア語と同じくらい上手です。

Also, I tried an option with で to indicate the means of speaking.

  あの人は英語でもロシア語でも同じくらい良く話します。

Even if the 2nd one is perfectly fine, I'd like to know how to say the same thing by using the same pattern but with verb 話す


texts:
The Japan Times has released the list of Japan’s top buzzword candidates in 2016.

Among the candidates was phrase 「びっくりぽん」(I'm surprised).
Now I am familiar with びっくりする, but I can't make sense of the ぽん part. I could blame it on Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and her ponponpon song (which I also can't make sense of at this point), but I'm just baffled. Where did ぽん come from, what does it mean, and how can I make it work for me?


texts: Why is it said 「サークルで使う」 and not 「サークルに使う」

texts: As far as I know, 「サークルで使う」 means "To spend (money) on a circle club". However I don't figure out why the particle で is used instead of に, since I have seen so many examples of "to spend on sth" and I would say that all or at least most of them the particle 「に」 is used instead.


texts: Use of particles in counter grammar and a confusing sentence

texts:
I often get really confused with grammar involving counters. I'm having trouble parsing the bold part of this sentence:

  夕食としてテーブルにのるのが一品であることの、むなしさ、さびしさ、...彼らには通用しない。

I think it should translate as "There is one dish placed on the table". This being the case I would expect the verb ある for "there is". But instead I see である the formal version of the copula.

So literally I translate the bold to "that which is placed on the table is one meal". In English that sounds really formal. How does it sound in Japanese?

Could I have just replaced the bold with:

  テーブルに一品をのる
  テーブルに一品がある

I know from a previous question that number+counter can act like a normal noun but I'm very suspicious of the が I've added in the latter sentence -- the original sentence had no particle. In general I'm not sure when number+counter should take a particle.


texts: How to construct a name for fictional Kami?

texts:
I'm trying to create a name for a fictional 'kami' or spirit for a story and I am struggling with developing it's name. I don't want to create a name for it and then have it mean something totally ridiculous or just not make any sense. I originally posted this in the world building stack exchange, but they told me to post here.

The world is vaguely based on Japan, but it's a fantasy world not a literal representation of Japan, but all the characters have Japanese names. For the other characters I've stuck to traditional names, but for my spirit characters I wanted something a bit more unique.

(Obviously a god can't just be named the Japanese equivalent of 'bob' or something.$

I have several of these characters, so I will need to really understand how to create names for them in the future, not just this one. However, to start with: the first is a Kami that is the manifestation of 'Truth.' I'm trying to create a name for it that has a meaning like 'Truth Seeing Deity' or maybe 'One Who Sees Truth' or something similar.

The 'idea' for the name is based off the name of the shinto kami Omoikane,(思兼 or 思金) whose name I believe means 'Thought Combining Deity.' Omoi meaning 'thought' and Kane coming from the verb 'to combine?' I would like something like this, so maybe using the verb 'to see' and the noun for truth?

Something like Mi (見) and Shin (真)? So Mishin? Would that be right or does that make no sense?

I have very little knowledge of the language, and unfortunately all the research I've done has just confused me further. I'd really appreciate any help I can get, thanks!


texts:
Here is a sentence from Dragon Ball :

  一気にこれ以上修業したって意味はないって。限界までやったんだ。

悟空 says this to his son who's worried because they just chill out before a battle instead of training until the last minute.

As far as I know, the second って means と言っている and is used to insist on what precedes it, like : "And I'm telling you that..." in english. Am I right here?

As for the first って, I don't know if it means という, or even というのは :

  I'm telling you that it wouldn't have made sense to train more than that without pausing.

Or if, as I think, it's part of たって meaning ても :

  I'm telling you that even if we trained more than that without pausing, it wouldn't make sense.

Is there a way to tell one from the other when a word like 意味 comes after?


texts: Can a man address a woman with sama 様【さま】?

texts: I've seen Japanese women address their husbands with the -sama suffix.  Would it be appropriate for a man do the same in some cases? In which context can this be used?


texts:
it happens a lot that I'm not sure which of the two is the more correct one.
を marks the object and が the subject, I know that. still I get them wrong because it's not that simple, maybe there some specific grammar rules that could help to understand better their usage?


texts: What's that accordion style book you can get at shrines called?

texts: When visiting shrines or temples, one can get an accordion style book and for a couple hundred yen have a shrine's seal stamped inside. What is this book called?


texts:
One currently-airing anime series has the title 「小林さんちのメイドラゴン」, with the official English translation of "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid." It's not hard to see how the English comes fairly directly from the Japanese (though losing the mild wordplay in「メイドラゴン」), but I'm not sure what the ち is doing. It seems like removing it would have no effect on the English translation of the phrase.

My best guess is that this ち is related to [家]{うち}, perhaps indicating that the dragon maid in question belongs to the Kobayashi household, rather than the person. Is this correct?

This question is not a duplicate of this question about ん家, which explains the 〜んち construction, but does not directly mention ~さんちの and how it may be equivalent or distinct.


texts:
How should I read 花弁? I came across it in this sentence from ねじまき鳥と火曜日の女たち by 村上春樹.

  テーブルの上には紫色の木蓮の花弁が雨に打たれてはりついていた

大辞泉 has these two entries, which leads me to believe 花弁 is more officially correct as a way of writing かべん than of はなびら.

  か‐べん【花弁・花×瓣】
  はな‐びら【花△弁・花△片・×瓣】

On the other hand, I feel like I've heard the word はなびら more often in speech.


texts: What is the difference between できる and 能う?

texts: 能う is translated as being able to do something or having capability to do something. How is its meaning and usage different from できる　and potential form of a verb?


texts: Is there an opposite of gairaigo, covering both kango and wago?

texts:
Is there a term that means that something isn't gairaigo, words recently derived from (predominantly European) foreign languages?

For example, I'd like to say that 踊り is a non-gairaigo word, which could be kango or wago (also known as yamato kotoba), as opposed to the gairaigo word ダンス.


texts: か細く暗い (Usage of く to describe adjective?)

texts:
みんなの声は、か細く暗い。

When linking two adjectives, why does this sentence use an adverb (か細く) to describe another adjective (暗い) ? Shouldn't it be the te-form instead to represent "and"?

From what I can understand from か細く暗い, it basically means "Fragile Darkness"? "Everyone's voice is fragile darkness" which does not make sense. Everyone's voice is fragile and dark seems to fit more.

Could anyone clarify this? Thank you!


texts:
I recently came across this expression, for which you can find the meaning rather quickly just by looking it up on google (for example: http://www.imabi.net/considering.htm)

An example (from the link above):
りんごは、安いわりには美味しい。
Apples are delicious, considering how cheap they are.

What I don't understand is why?

The dictionary entry for わり brings up the following definitions (thanks jisho.org):

  rate; ratio; proportion; percentage
  profit
  assignment
  10%; unit of ten percent
  match; schedule of matches
  diluted with (of drinks); mixed with
  Wari (place)

In the example above, わり modifies 安い, and I just can't understand how to translate it literally?

One interesting thing is that I found this definition in a J-J dictionary:

  ５ （「…わりに」の形で）ある事から予想・推測される程度。…に応じた程度よりは。「値段の割りに品物がよい」「若い割りには礼儀正しい」

Which loosely translates to:

  (In the form of わりに): More than expected/guessed.

So I'm wondering whether this is just an additional definition to わり (kinda like an exception the applies in this specific form), or there is some historical reason, or perhaps a literal translation that makes sense.


texts: Help interpreting/parsing a tsukkomi retort

texts:
I am having trouble interpreting/parsing a portion of a certain extract from an action themed comic :-
Just to give you some context, two enemy factions are battling. Two people from one faction were sent on a mission to 捕獲 the enemy side, they argue a bit at first (let's call them A and B) A was attacking the enemy side with full force but B told A not to kill because their task is to 捕獲, nonetheless B is just as reckless and proceeds to use her full force too. A guy from the other faction displays his power and strength and begins to boast about his abilities excitedly. Then in classic tsukkomi fashion A and B have a little back and forth before B attacks the enemy side again:

A (to the enemy side): ハッタリはそこまでにしておきな！どのみち手前らは死刑決定してんだからよ！
B (to A): だから、捕獲任務なのに殺しちゃ駄目だと思うの……

But what I don't understand is B's line, it doesn't seem to make an awful lot of sense to me in the context, at least in the way I would parse it:

”So, even though the mission is to capture, they can't be killed I think…”

perhaps there is some sarcastic meaning that I'm failing to see because the next line says Aにツッコミの言葉を入[…], so my speculation is there's some hint of sarcasm in B's line to 'correct' A since it's a "tsukkomi retort."
I would love for someone to help me interpret B's line, thanks!


texts: Meaning of もはや本気すぎて逆にカワイイって言えなくなるアレだ

texts:
I'm looking for some help understanding the second line in the below. The context is that Person 1 is showing pictures of girls to his friend, Person 2, who has just transferred to the school.

Person 1「あぁ、東条さんな。この子はあれだ。ガチで好きな人ランキング圧倒的１位だ」
Person 2「もはや本気すぎて逆にカワイイって言えなくなるアレだな」
Person 1「あぁ。……いいんだな。お前、刺されるかもしれないぞ」

In the first line, Person 1 says that she is 「ガチで好きな人ランキング圧倒的１位だ」- she is overwhelmingly #1 in the ranking of favourite / most liked people.
The third line implies that if he (Person 2) approaches this girl he's going to get a hard time from other boys (get stabbed) since she is the most popular.
Line 2 however is a bit unclear. Does 本気すぎて refer to the people who voted for her, and カワイイって言えなくなる refer to those same people?


texts: は or が in the example "朝起きるとき、鳥 ( ) いつも歌います"?

texts:
Following up on my earlier question, I want to check if I've got a feel for this subordinate clause particle use correct. This is probably a duplicate, but it really helps me understand things better if I'm posing the question myself. If this infringes any rules, though, I'll happily remove it.

In the sentence

  私 (が?は?) 朝起きるとき、鳥 (が?は?) いつも歌います。

which instance uses が, and which は? I get the feeling the first instance is が, and the second, は, but I could be wrong.

Any help is much appreciated.


texts: Is there a relationship between 呟く and 粒?

texts:
Is there a relationship between the verb 呟く (つぶやく, "murmur", also used to mean "to tweet" on Twitter) and 粒 (つぶ, used in 粒あん, chunky red bean paste), or is the sound a coincidence?

(I heard "tsubuyaku" a few times in shows before actually seeing it written, and what made sense to my mind was that it was like sending "chunks of thought". I recently saw it written, and discovered that it was an actual verb with an actual meaning, and probably not a cleverly coined neologism as I thought.)


texts:
「まあ、あくまでこれは妨害。今までサクサク動いてた検索エンジンがめっっっっっちゃ重くなる、ってくらいに考えておいて」

Does the に work in the same way as in 残念に思う? Namely, the に marks the content of one’s thoughts?


texts: How else can you use 「だい」as in 大好き or 大嫌い?

texts:
I understand that you can use だい in the sense of "very", to emphasise すき and きらい. So だいすき is "very loved" and だいきらい is "very hated". Can だい be used for the same meaning in any other words? Can you use it to modify all adjectives?

Please reply using kana (kanji with furigana is fine.)


texts: Need help in understanding a censored word

texts:
I've ran into a word that I can't seem to find/translate anywhere on the website and would appreciate if somebody can help me.
the word is: モ〇マス, and it was in the following sentence: モ〇マスをよろしく。
Thank you in advance!


texts: How should the proverb "能ある鷹は爪を隠す" be understood?

texts:
The literal translation of "能ある鷹は爪を隠す" is “The wise hawk hides its talons.”

But what should I understand the proverb as meaning? Is it just about humbleness, or about not letting your adversaries know what you're capable of?


texts: Earnest and serious: when should each be used?

texts:
I've noticed there's a lot of overlap between the following words meaning "earnest" or "serious" when talking about a person:

まじ
真面目{まじめ}
真剣{しんけん}
本気{ほんき}
正気{しょうき}: (This word really means "sane" I believe, but I'm including it as I think 「正気か？」 can translate to "are you serious?")
素直{すなお}: (I'm not sure whether this word meaning "honest" belongs here I but keep wondering what it's relationship to 真面目{まじめ} is when it means "obedient". I thought there might be some overlap in it's usage, e.g. 「素直な顔」 "obedient face" and 「真面目な顔」 "serious face". It could well be unrelated though.)

Would I be allowed to ask what the differences between these words are and when they're used?


texts: How do I say "the reason why" or "the purpose of" in Japanese?

texts:
While studying this morning, I became interested in how to say "When you were a child, did you read books for fun?" in Japanese.

In this case, would I use ため?

Or would it be something like this:
スパに行く食べ物を買う…。

I guess I'm wondering how to state the purpose of doing something, how to use
ため, and also what are the differences in form are.


texts: How can I express "a particular/a certain" thing?

texts:
I am studying vocabulary and I came across the word 然る, either read as さる or しかる (usually written in Kana) and means "A Particular/A Certain" noun. However, there was only one example sentence on there and it wasn't marked as a Common Word, which seems to be a red flag for me in terms of learning the correct vocabulary.

How can I use さる／しかる to express "a particular/a certain" thing? Secondly, is there a better or more natural way to express this phrase?

Example idea:

  卒業するように、さる授業を取らなければいけません。
  In order to graduate, you must take a certain class.


texts: I want to know the difference between ざじずぜぞ And だぢづでど

texts: They all sound so similar to me, I want to know how I can tell the difference these since they make the same sound. (Please excuse me if I’m wrong I’m very new to Japanese and currently learning hiragana)


texts:
だが、主であるそなたの許可なくばそれも許されぬ…！

I understand it pretty much means "However, being our master, we can't even do that without your permission." but I don't get why なく and ば are both together. I would have said : "なく" or "なければ" but never "なくば". What could the explanation behind this be ?


texts:
The sentence, from chapter 7 of the Tobira textbook, is 日本の[漫画]{まんが}は[欧米人]{おうべいじん}の本の読み方さえ変えようとしている, which I think from context should mean something like "Japanese manga even changed the way that Americans & Europeans read books," except that ようとしている is in the present tense.

The rest of the paragraph goes on to explain, in the past tense, that the manga fans in Europe and the US wanted the manga books to be published from right to left like the books in Japan, and so it ended up being like that. The "changing how Westerners read books" is clearly a thing that already happened.

I am used to that grammar construction meaning either "about to do something" or "try to do something," neither of which work in this context. I'm completely mystified. What are the nuances I'm missing?

Note: my question had to do mostly with the reason it is in the ongoing present tense, not the actual meaning of ようとしている in the general case.


texts: I am reading a book and I saw that the word 寂しい can also be pronounced as さみしい instead of the usual さばいしい. Are there any differences when pronounced as さみしい?


texts: Both 当たり前 and 相変わらず seem to mean "usual" or "ordinary". What's the difference between them?

texts:
What is the difference between [当たり前]【あたりまえ】 and [相変わらず]【あいかわらず】?
They both seem to mean “the usual” or “ordinary”.


texts: Please explain use of 入る in this context

texts:
This is an excerpt from SAO - the context is that a character has suggested Kirito may be a spy. Leafa responds by saying:

スパイにしてはちょっと天然ボケ入りすぎてるし

Not asking for a translation, as I already understand the meaning. But my feeling is that it is referring to Kirito as the subject and is saying he "contains" too much airheadedness? (I.e. he's too much of a dimwit) I basically just don't understand the use of 入る in this context


texts: 連用形 of 「だ」 - difference between 「だっ」「で」「に」

texts:
Out of the conjugations of だ, the 連用形 is what is confusing me.

I understand だ、だろ、な、なら fine, but I'm confused about だっ、で、に.

I think my question might be a bit too broad and that's because I really have no clue what I'm supposed to figure out. I might have some understanding of those uses when I see them in a sentence, but grouped in isolation like that, I'm perplexed.

Could someone explain how they're used or what they mean?


texts:
西尾自身は、『暦物語』のころからミステリーを書きたくなってきたと振り返っている[1]。
  レトリックやダイアローグに凝った作品が多くなってきていたため、本シリーズはその辺りを抑えて書いているという[1]。
  デビュー作『クビキリサイクル 青色サヴァンと戯言遣い』とは共通項が多いとも述べており、今日子が同作品の舞台となる島に呼ばれてもおかしくない人物であることに触れ、そういう意味でも原点回帰かもしれないと語っている[1]。

  Nishio Himself reflected that he wanted to write a mistery since the time of Koyomi Monogatari.
  Since the stories full of rhetoric and dialogs became a lot, with this series he restrained himself on that aspect and started writing.
  He said that it has many common aspect with his debut work [Neck cutting cycle Blue Savin and the nonsense user] and ....
  With the debut work [Neck cutting cycle Blue Savin and the nonsense user] it has many common points he said, touching the fact that even if Kyouko were to be called to the island which was the common setting of the novels it would not be a weird character, even that could be a return to  the past he said.

I am really not sure at all I understand this sentence.

How should I parse the bold sentence?


texts:
I'm trying to figure out where the term イギリス for the United Kingdom came from.

I suspect 英国【えいこく】 because they sound similar, but that seems a bit odd as Katakana words are usually loan words.


texts:
tl;dr: Should へ be replaced with に here?

I was reading Imabi and found the following example:

  小屋は山へ面している。

As far as I know, へ is used with motion verbs especially when transition from one (current) location to the destination (marked by へ) occurs:

  A particle that indicates the direction toward which some directional movement or action proceeds.
  (A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar)

Why do the author of Imabi use this particle in this particular situation if the word [面]{めん}する means to front/to face smth?

I know another particle that can be translated as "towards" — を, but according to Imabi it requires an action verb, what (in my opinion) the [面]{めん}する is not.

Another particle which can mark direction is に, which can replace へ in most cases. に can also mark indirect objects, so I believe it is the best candidate to replace へ.

FYI: This example is Ex. 18 in 第36課: ～ている


texts: Thinking about the events concerning everyone's "favorite" airline United, I started to wonder what the Japanese word for "re-accommodate" was and 'oogle Translate wasn't much help.


texts: How to make a new sentence from 「母が私に卵を食べさせた。」where 卵 must be the subject?

texts:
A: 母が私に卵を食べさせた。My mother forced me to eat eggs.
B: 私が母に卵を食べさせられた。I have been forced to eat eggs by my mother.

Now I want to make the eggs as the subject. How to make this sentence in Japanese?
My attempt is as follows, but I am not sure whether it is correct grammatically.

C1: 卵が母に私を食べさせられた。

Edit:
My second attempt is as follows.

C2: 卵は母に食べさせられた私に食べられた。


texts: Why don't the characters used for Japanese Kanji have the same meaning as those used in Chinese? (Chinese-Japanese false friends)

texts:
There are many words in French that are spelled identically to or very similarly to English words but the meanings are not the same. These words are called faux-amis (false friends) because they trick you into assuming the meaning and then you discover the meaning is sometimes quite different.

For example:

''rester'' means ''to stay'', not ''to rest''.

''quitter'' means ''to leave'', not ''to quit''.

''monnaie'' means ''loose change'', not ''money''.

''librairie'' means ''bookstore'', not ''library''.

Anyway I have discovered a similar phenomenon between Japanese and Chinese.

''人参'' means carrot in Japanese but Ginseng in Chinese.

''棚'' means shelf in Japanese but shed in Chinese.

''麒麟'' means giraffe in Japanese but it is a kind of mythical creature in Chinese.

I feel these are kind of faux-amis between the Japanese and Chinese language.

My question is: Why don't the characters used for Japanese Kanji have the same meaning as those used in Chinese ?


texts: How to use あげます、もらいます、and くれます

texts:
I have yet to find a good source that covers this in full. But I've seen them being used in places where no giving or receiving is taking place. For example,

  "写真をとってもらえませんか？"

and another one I saw just now on this stack exchange:

  "私が子供の時、母がこの本を読んでくれました。"

From what I can see, nothing physical is given or received, and in the case of the second book, what was given/received?


texts: What is the origin of the foreign word サクランボ?

texts:
サクランボ means cherry in English.

However, it is different from the direct conversion of cherry, チェリー.

What is the origin of this word?

Which language does it originate?


texts:
In this exercise im supposed to choose proper form. I've choosen a b a, and the answers say the same thing - but I do not really understand it. I just feel it. I am not sure if my Institution is good, or I simply was lucky. Is there an explanation?

From what I think, it would become に反する；に反した just before words like thing/effect/result.


texts:
I seem to recall hearing it being used in an "That's crazy/insane/amazing","WOW" kind of way.

But looking it up, it seems to have more of a negative "That's stupid" kind of connotation to it.

In what context can it be used? Is it really just a negative phrase denoting something stupid/idiotic?


texts: Can't understand what this passage is trying to say

texts:
I'm trying to understand the meaning of a beginning passage in a fashion magazine on a page about make-up.

  ”トレンドくすみカラーでこびないワタシ”

  くすんだピンクやラベンダー、ダスティーなピンクなど今まで手を出しにくかったちょっとくすんだ”オトナ色”で、ゴーイングマイウェイなこびないフェイス。

This what my interpretation of the passage is as far, I don't think it's correct in any way really.

  "I don't suit the muted colours trend."

  Using muted pink, lavender, dusty pink, etc hasn't suited me until now, slightly muted "adult colours" suits my face/doesn't suit my face.

I'm very confused as to what this means. I can't tell if it's talking about muted colours in a positive or negative way. I also cannot figure out the meaning of 手を出す and ゴーイングマイウェイ. I understand that it says "going my way" but I don't know what it actually means. I'm also not sure if I've properly understood the meaning of こびる either. I think in this context it's supposed to mean to flatter/to suit.


texts:
「二人とも、またこんなところで練習をしていたのかい？」
「仕方ないだろ。エレンの奴、一向に成功しねえんだから。カレンの方は優秀だってのに、なんで姉妹でここまで差が出るもんかね」

What would be the usage or nuance of the bold もんかね? How is it different from just のか?
I know ものか can mean “definitely not” or “impossible”, but this example seems to have a different nuance.


texts: In what type of social settings could one say "百姓{ひゃくしょう}"?

texts:
My understanding is that " 百姓 " is a very impolite way to refer to modern-day traditional Japanese farmers. A good translation might be " country bumpkin ".

As best I can remember:
I learned that word while relaxing with friends at an 居酒屋{いざかや} in Tokyo. Subsequent to that, I tried using it in daily conversations with not very close friends. Each time, I was cautioned about saying " 百姓 ". Those who refer to farmers as " 百姓 " imply that they, themselves, are cultured and refined, while the " 百姓 " lead uneducated, unrefined, bumpkin-ish lifestyles.

Is my recollection of meaning and usage correct?
In what type of settings would a non-native Japanese speaker be able to say " 百姓 " and not be judged as an elitist jerk? In fact, I'd hope to be judged as being someone who knows clever slang.


texts:
I was checking the example sentences of 判明する on the Weblio EN-JA dictionary and it seems that, when it means "to turn out (that)", 判明する is written in the dictionary form (it turns out) or in the past tense (it turned out).

I don't understand why is it not 判明している, like when that same verb means "it is known".

I understand why it appears as 判明した, because that could mean "it became known". But I don't understand why 判明する. I'd think that meant "it will become clear (later on)".

I know the English verb is actually in the same tense, but I still don't get it. Can some Japanese verbs in dictionary form express a current situation even if they're not stative?

The sentences I saw were:

  彼が正しかったことが判明する

  It turns out that he was right

and

  この証拠によって多くの連累者のあることが判明する

  The evidence implicates many people in the affair

I'd write the first one as

  彼が正しかったことが判明している

and the second one as

  この証拠によって多くの連累者のあることが判明している

to mean essentially the same thing.

By the way, in the case of this sentence:

  しかし、のちに偽書であることが判明している

  Later on it came to light that the document was a forgery

Shouldn't it be 判明していた? Why not? Because it is still known that those documents are false? Wouldn't 判明していた imply that as well?


texts: "国籍" refers to nationality or the country of citizenship?

texts: As I pointed in the title. What is the correct answer to 国籍. Is it, for example, Japanese or Japan. I am confused because I found contradictory translations when I tried to look on the internet. Thank you.


texts:
The other day I was playing sports, and I yelled at a guy for what I thought was a cheap play. However, later, after the game ended and I had chilled out, I realized that I had over reacted. It's sports, that happens.

So I went up to the guy and apologized, and amongst other things I said, I said something like:

  ごめん、俺{おれ}は、かっこよくなかった

My intended meaning was along the lines of, "[that] was uncool of me [to have acted like that]."

He seemed to get what I was saying, but we were doing a lot of back and forth, with him saying 「大丈夫{だいじょうぶ}、とんでもない」 and me saying 「いいえ、本当{ほんとう}に悪{わる}かった...」, and so on. You know how it goes. So my use of かっこよくなかった might have simply got lost among everything else said.

What I was wondering afterwards was if that was the right application of the word かっこいい. I was using it as a direct equivelant of how we use "cool" in English, which is pretty expansive.

While I'm confident かっこいい applies to style and ambience, I'm less sure about how かっこいい applies to attitude and action.

So, did I use it right? Is it correct usage to describe my past uncool actions as かっこよくない?

Can かっこいい be used in all the ways "cool" is used in English, or are there limitations and differences?


texts:
In the the below the person was asking whether there are many ghosts/spirits at the place (in this case the theme park)

「霊は？多いかな？多くても、しつこくなければまだいいんだけど」
「それはわからない、かな……。」
霊の多寡に言及しているレポートは、さすがにどこを探してもない

The sentence in question has her questioning whether there are many ghosts/spirits, and then she says even if there are many, as long as ..... then that is not as bad / is better.
However the meaning of しつこい in this context isn't clear to me. I am generally familiar with しつこい when used in the sense of "persistant" but I'm not quite sure how to understand it in this context.


texts:
In a shop I want to ask "Are there any books by Haruki Murakami?" I don't know the natural way to express by in this context.

I thought maybe I could use the passive form like this:

  村上に書かれる本がありますか。

But having to explicitly use the verb 書く seems unnecessary. I assume that

  *村上に本がありますか。

is just incorrect grammar.

I thought maybe

  村上作がありますか。

might be correct, but a google search for 村上作が returned no results. What is the natural way to ask this question?


texts: What does the letter 'P' at the end of an author's pseudonym mean?

texts: There are many authors on YouTube and NicoNico whose names end with the letter 'P', for example: 鼻そうめんP, 無力P, etc. What does this 'P' stand for? Why do they all use it?


texts: Translate Mark under Japanese satsuma vase

texts: May I know the meaning of this mark which is found under a vase.


texts: What is the difference between [plain form of verb]～そう and [root of verb]～そう?

texts:
I heard both forms of [plain form of verb]～そう and [root of verb]～そう in an anime I watched, reproduced below, so I'm wondering how are they different and how to choose to use one over the other?

  行けるそう
  行けそう

What are these conjugations called? And how do their negative forms look like?


texts:
Some of you may be familiar with the San-X line of characters called すみっコぐらし. The shtick is that they're timid and like "living (ぐらし) in the corner (すみっこ)"

I know katakana is frequently used for emphasis, but what is the wordplay intended by writing just the single syllable コ in すみっこ in katakana?


texts: Can 一杯 be used to express the fullness of things without physical volumes?

texts:
According to an answer to this question, the word [一杯]{いっぱい} can be used to expess fullness; especially in relation to the capacity of whatever is containing the quantity. This, however, tends to sound like whatever is being held must be physical (e.g. have matter and volume), and be countable.

Can [一杯]{いっぱい} be used to express the fullness of quantities of things that don't necessarily have direct physical counterparts, or are singular? For example:

  emotions

  He was full of anger.
  The knight was filled with courage.

  actions

  A room full of applause.
  The party was filled with laughter.

  attributes

  Her garden is full of beauty.

What are the most natural ways to express the fullness of these types of quantities?


texts: Difference between ないからこそ and もいないんだから in practice question

texts:
I haven't made sense of the answer to the following question.

試験の点が悪かったことを母に伝えると、「ちゃんと勉強( ) 、良い点をとろうなんて無理でしょう」と言われてしまった。
a) してはいけないのに
b) していないからこそ
c) してもいないんだから
d) しようとしていながら

The correct answer according to the book is c) however I can't figure out why it shouldn't be b) as both sound identical to me in English (Every time I tell my mom about bad grades on an exam, she says: "If you don't even study, of course, getting good grades is impossible!")
What would be the difference between b) and c)? The book only explains why c) is the answer without any context on the rest.


texts: Are there trends in Japanese similar to Pig Latin or Martian Chinese?

texts: There are of course multiple individual slang expressions where you use Latin alphabet and numbers such as ww, W, ggrks, wktk, kwsk, etc. However, is there any specific system or argot made just for excluding foreigners or outsiders?


texts: What should I look for in a dictionary to help me study?

texts:
As per the title, what should I look for in a dictionary to help me study Japanese? Are there certain things that I should look for in the dictionary or are they all pretty much the same?

To elaborate a bit, what should one be looking for when they are at the following stages?

Casual traveler who is visiting Japan and wants to be able to communicate but does not wish to learn the language.
Student who is just starting to learn the language.
Student who is looking to move to being fluent in the language.
Individual who is already fluent in conversational Japanese but is looking for more specialized knowledge (e.g. computers, engineering, medical, etc).


texts: What is the difference between そして and そしたら

texts: Both そして and そしたら translated by most dictionaries as THEN. Is there any difference in usage between these conjunctions?


texts:
I recently came across this sentence:

  たかしは7時ごろうちに帰りました。

I do understand that it probably means たかし came home at around 7, but from what I learnt to say "around 7" it's:

  ７時ごろ.

So it has no うち.  In other words, the うち is throwing me off.

Can someone explain this to me?


texts: Why does あらぬ方向 mean "a different direction"?

texts:
「いつになく母親は、 「もう、晩ごはんはないですからね」 と父親に強くいった。そういわれて父親は、黙ってあらぬ方向をみていた。それから一週間というものは、ずーっと暗かった。」(無印良女 by 群ようこ)

"Unlike her usual self, my mother said strongly to my father, "There won't be any more dinner." My father, upon hearing that, went silent, and looked the other way. He was gloomy for the entire following week."

Why does あらぬ方向 mean "a different or unexpected direction" / "the other way"? From what I understand, あらぬ is a negative form of ある made with the ぬ auxiliary. So it's like ない方向。 But if I were to translate that into English, I would expect it to mean something like "a direction that doesn't exist". I can kind of see a murky connection, but it isn't intuitive. Is there any reason あらぬ方向 means what it does?


texts: When to use 種別 and when to use 区分 when programming

texts:
I am having trouble when naming a variable, deciding if I should use ABC種別 or ABC区分. I have been reading a lot of software specifications and the Japanese description usually uses 種別 and 区分 to specify a type or a class.

When do you use 種別 and when do you use 区分? For example, for a device, would you use 種別 or 区分 to differentiate the type here? Is this just a preference?

Added based on the context comments (2011/12/12):
I was referring to customer types. I do ask my colleague, why they use 区分、種別 or even 種類 pertaining to the same variable but they just say they are the same. Example of usage that I see, for example column names of database tables (Customer=>TOKUI_KUBUN,TOKUI_SHUBETSU) or (User=>USER_KUBUN,USER_SHUBETSU). I do think they are essentially the same with subtle difference. It just is annoying which one is the more appropriate one especially if you want to make a naming convention.


texts:
I see the character 叉 in a lot of words that do not seem to have anything in common:

  [夜叉]{やしゃ}

  [三叉路]{さんさろ}

  [叉焼]{チャーシュー}

  [音叉]{おんさ}

Is there any commonality here? What does 叉 represent? (Is the Chinese meaning different than the Japanese meaning?)


texts: In Chinese, usage of 四字熟語 a lot usually demonstrates sophistication and things like political announcements etc that want to sounds powerful and sophisticated use a big load of them. What does using them convey in Japanese? They seem a lot less common. Are they considered "clichés" as English expressions such that "it is raining buckets" or "... is in hot water"? Chinese seems peculiar for treating unoriginal clichés (used appropriately of course) as good style; did this carry over into Japanese?


texts: Understanding this sentence: あなたのこれと僕のこれをぱくってください。

texts:
あなたのこれと僕のこれをぱくってください。

This was included as an example sentence in this my [北海道弁辞典]{ほっかいどうべんじてん}. To help clear up any confusion, the term in question, ぱくる, is equivalent to [交換]{こうかん}する, according to the dictionary's 意味{いみ} section. Now, I understand the words, but I'm not sure why これ is used like this. It'd be something like, "Please exchange my this with your this." I'm confused on why it's phrased like this and why a different phrasing wasn't used.

Update: l'électeur pointed out that this expression would make more sense if there was more than one object on each side. For example, if I had three types of candy and you had three crackers, and I proposed lets exchange one of your crackers or one of my candies.


texts:
Japanese is the only language that I know in which "different" is not an adjective but a verb (違う). I know some young Japanese are using 違く as the adverb, as if 違い were an adjective, but I am not sure if that is grammatically accepted one or not, and I would like to avoid it.
So, I wanted to say "sang differently" in Japanese, and what I could think of was "違って歌った", but is it correct? I know there is an expression like "違って見えた" (looked differently), but in that case, it could be interpreted as "違っているように見えた", and I cannot explain exactly but that seems different from the verb sang.
In short, is "違って歌った" correct? If not, what is the correct way to modify the verb 歌う with a word for "differently"? Or do I have to work around it like "違う方法で歌った"?


texts: What does this mean? It's the opposite of 通行止 as far as I know

texts: I'm doing some research on this, what I've been able to figure out is that typical Japanese road signs like "closed to traffic" and stop are reversed but I'm trying to figure out the meaning of the reversed signs.


texts:
I think, the word "何となく" means as below

  somehow or other; for some reason or another;

However, how it has been formed so that it means like above?


texts: It is said by a guy who is bullying another one by twisting his hand. Is it related to Kansai dialect?


texts: て-form + く - what does adding ku to a te-formed verb mean?

texts:
In:
よし じゃあ 出席取ってくぞ
what does adding "く" mean for the verb?


texts: Four different verbs meaning "to release": 放す, 放つ, 解き放す, 解き放つ

texts:
Consider the following four verbs:

放{はな}す - hanasu (view in jisho.org)
放{はな}つ - hanatsu (view in jisho.org)
解{と}き放{はな}す - tokihanasu (view in jisho.org)
解{と}き放{はな}つ - tokihanatsu (view in jisho.org)

Apparently, they all can mean "release, set free". What are their differences, if any?


texts: 「来米する」exact meaning and use in conversation?

texts:
I think「来日する」means to be in a foreign location and return to Japan. Only Japanese can say this?「米国」means the USA. So....
Does 「らいベイ(する)」 imply the following?

Before living in Japan, the subject of the sentence must have lived in the USA for a "long time."
The subject of the sentence will stop living in Japan and start living in the USA on a permanent basis.

Also, are there reasons not to say 「来米する」 in conversations?


texts: While watching a Japanese TV drama I came across this sentence "私こちらのお店を見せていただいてて。。。" as shown in the image below. I can't understand the "見せていただいてて" part. Can anyone please break this part down and explain what does it mean?


texts: What's the difference 随分{ずいぶん}, 大分{だいぶ} vs 非常{ひじょう}に?

texts: Are there any differences between these three words, or are they synonyms? I've tried asking on HiNative and searching for it on that site, as well as here, but couldn't find any answers.


texts:
For example, how can you translate the sentence:

前項の決定に加わる外、その他の業務を行う。


texts: What exactly is the function of と in this sentence?

texts:
彼の車は私と同じです。

Does it have something to do with comparing nouns?

If so, why would と follow 私?


texts:
I came across this sentence while reading a character's lines, it is as follows:

そんなの吹っ飛ばされるレンが悪いんだろうが！

My understanding of だろうが is that it means something like, "no matter what/how...", and that it's used in the middle of sentences. Is the phrase used in this sentence perhaps supposed to mean something else?
For further context, the character is saying this in response to some people badmouthing his friend.


texts: What does いや、これで見つからないと俺としましては逆に大変なことになるのですmean?

texts:
Could someone help with the gramatical construction of this phrase?

  いや、これで見つからないと俺としましては逆に大変なことになるのです

What I don't get is the としまして part
Could someone help?


texts:
Came across this.

  いい年して屁理屈をこねないように

I found out that 屁理屈 and こねる means "to argue for argument's sake" (while one is noun and the latter is verb.)

My question here is can 屁理屈 be dropped entirely and still have the same meaning?

Oh and just in case, am I correct in assuming the meaning is something along the lines of
"I'm old enough not to argue for argument's sake."


texts:
ちょうどそこに誕生寺という寺がありました。日蓮の生れた村だから誕生寺とでも名を付けたものでしょう、立派な伽藍でした。

How do you parse the second sentence? I asked this question a while back, but I think it might be different this time.

I think it says "Right over there, there was a temple called the birth temple. They probably called it that because Nichiren was born in this village, and it's an elegant temple."

Or does the "deshou" clause actually modify 伽藍? Maybe it's like "It's an elegant temple that they probably named that way because Nichiren was born in this village."

Also what does もの refer to?


texts: Are the grammatical forms きっかけに and 契機に interchangeable?

texts:
One of my grammar books 日本語総まとめN2 文法 lists both of the grammar forms 「きっかけに」 and 「契機に」 in the same definition.

However, in the example question a choice is given between them:

  その事件（a. の契機に b. をきっかけに)、商品の検査体制が見直された。

The book lists "b" as the correct answer, yet I'm still puzzled as to why either of them would be more appropriate than the other.

Is it the case that 「契機に」 has a much more limited/specific use compared to the other?


texts:
If the talk is about appointing the representative of Internal Management System (IMS) (in some company), which one will be suitable in this situation? :

Letter of appointment (to a position):
委嘱状 【いしょくじょう】・任命状【にんめいじょう】・任命証 【にんめいしょう】・辞令【じれい】


texts: Does the name Yoshi from Super Mario mean anything?

texts:
The Japanese spelling of Yoshi is Yosshii ヨッシー
I couldn't find any information regarding the origin of this name.
Is it a Japanese name ? Does it mean anything ?
It's written in katakana which suggests to me that it is not a Japanese name and has no meaning.


texts: How to express the reason for scolding someone

texts:
Edit: added previous context

Maruko has just asked grandad if he would save her from a wild dog. Grandad is scared but doesn't want to say 'no' to Maruko.

I thought my problem was only with the last sentence, but now I'm confused about who said the penultimate sentence too.

  「まる子、おじいちゃんを混乱させるのはおよしなさい」
  Mum: Maruko, please stop confusing grandad
  「でもおじいちゃんの意見をききたいんだもん」
  Maruko: But I want to hear grandad's opinions
  見ると、友蔵(grandad)は「わしは...わしは...」とうなだれた姿で、さらに深みに入りこんでいた。
  Narrator: When she saw the figure of grandad hanging his head and saying "I..I..." she probed more deeply. (who is she?)
  「こらっ、もういいの。おじいちゃん、もう考え込まないでくださいよ」
  ??: Hey! Enough of this! Think harder.
  質問をしただけなのに、おかあさんに「こらっ」なんて怒られる筋合いはないとまる子が思った瞬間、おばあさんがとりなすように言った。
  Narrator: Even though it was just a question, the moment Maruko thought that there was no reason to get scolded by mum for saying a thing like こらっ, grandma intervened.

This is my translation attempt. I have two problems:

1) The なんて particle seems to cover a multitude of confusion here. For starters I guess it's replacing the quote particle と and there's an implied 言う. But secondly, it must be replacing something that gives the meaning of 'for'. I can't fill in the blanks here because I don't know how to say 'get scolded for a given reason'.

2) It isn't logically consistent. If Maruko didn't see a reason to be scolded why did grandma need to intervene?


texts: Need help reading hand-written character from comic

texts:
Yeah, I know; everyone's favorite type of question.  I just need help with making the character out.

  はははっ…[sweatdrop] [？]コミにはしったぞえ。

I can't read the character before コミ.


texts: What is the conjugation form, grammar of もうすぐ込んできそう ？

texts:
アナウンス：皆様、本日はご来場ありがとうございます。午前十時現在の各館の
  混雑状況と催しものの お知らせをいたします。まず、ロボット館はただいま、
  一時間待ちとなっております。ロボット館のレ ストランではロボットがランチ
  をお席までお運びをするサービスをしております。お昼近くになります と、さ
  らに混雑が見込まれます。次に、未来館は現在すぐにお入りいただけます。なお、
  未来館では一 時と三時に映画上映がございます。それから、化石館は現在 5 分
  程度の待ち時間でお入りになれますが、 11 時から恐竜ショウがございますので、
  そろそろ混雑が始まることが予想されます。また、歴史館の待 ち時間は 30 分程
  度となっております。歴史館は会場が広いため、見学にお時間がかかります。余
  裕を 持っておいでください。

  男：結構込んでるね。効率的に見ないと、全館回れないよ。どこからみる？

  女：映画は絶対に見逃せないから、時間に遅れないようにしようね。

  男：ふん、分かった、分かった。じゃあ、それまで、どうする？レストランに行
  く？面白そうだし。

  女：並んでる時間がもったいないよ。きっと、お昼すぎたら、空くんじゃない？
  食べるのは遅くなって もいいよ。ええっと、恐竜ショウも今から一時間後か。

  男：でも、今ならあまり待たないで入れるし、ショウ以外に見るものもあるんだ
  から。もうすぐ込んできそうだし、その前に行って見ちゃおうよ。ショウは無
  理して見なくてもいいし。

  女：そうだね。じゃ、その後は映画ね。

source: http://japanesetest4you.com/pdf/n1-listening-7.pdf

Question

From this conversation, I understand that 込んできそうだし means something like, it seems like it's going to be crowded soon.

But what is the grammar structure of  込んでき? What is the conjugation form being used here?


texts:
I am still in a very early stage in learning Japanese, and just I have just learnt some numbers and my first counter words, such as the ones for telling time and まい.

Do you ever use "regular" numbers (いち, に, さん, etc.) for anything or are they always modified (ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ, etc.) or followed by some counter?

I still don't know any kanji; that is why I use kana, and I hope you can provide kana in your replies as well.


texts:
I was searching for the definition of this phrase

  駆虎呑狼の計

and from what I could research this phrase comes from the novel Romance of The Three Kingdoms (三国演義).

From my understanding a leopard is being chased by a tiger, and in doing so the tiger is leaving his hideout exposed, so somebody is making the wolf attack the tiger's place.

The problem is this paragraph i found were there's a direct translation that I can't understand:

  「駆虎呑狼」とは直訳すれば「虎を駆って狼を呑ませる」という意味。

I'm trying to interpret this as: Make a wolf infiltrate (a tiger's hideout) by impelling a tiger.

I'm using the 3th definition of 呑む from here: https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E5%91%91%E3%82%80

  ③
  比喩的に，門や入り口が人などを入れる。 「五万の観衆を－・んだ国立競技場」

I'm having troubles understanding this because most of the examples I found using 呑む in causative form mean "to make someone cry/feel bad" which wouldn't make sense according to what the phrase wants to express. Also is it normal to use two を in one sentence? I think there's a rule against it.