texts: Could ベビーカー be derived from "Baby carriage"?

texts:
Most etymologies I've come across for "ベビーカー" assume that it's wasei eigo based on a combination of "baby" (ベビー) and "car" (the "カー" part of "マイカー"). For example, the Japanese edition of Wikipedia says this in a footnote on its article.

Could it instead be derived from a contraction of the English phrase "Baby carriage"? I suspect that "carriage" is distantly related to "car", for what it's worth.


texts: Other words for and familiarity of 桜でんぶ?

texts:
I have some questions about 桜でんぶ/おぼろ.

As I understand, 桜でんぶ is the name for the pink, fluffy stuff in sushi made from fish.

My questions are:

1) Are there any other common words for 桜でんぶ?
I read other places that おぼろ and そぼろ is used for 桜でんぶ, but are these words common?

2) Is the word 桜でんぶ widely known in Japan?
When I ask friends about 桜でんぶ, many don't seem to know what I'm talking about, but maybe this is just limited to my friends.

Thanks!

Edit: Changed question to make it more about the word rather than the object.


texts:
Sorry if this is really simple and I'm overlooking the obvious, but I'm not sure how the following sentence should be translated as I've noticed on previous occasions that the word 「心配{しんぱい}」 might be used in a vague or ambiguous way:

  各国{かくこく}で地震{じしん}が起{お}きているのでオーストラリアも心配{しんぱい}です。

I can think of three possibilities:

There are earthquakes occurring in many countries, so there are also concerns that one will occur in Australia.
There are earthquakes occurring in many countries, so Australia is also concerned that one will occur.
There are earthquakes occurring in many countries, so I'm concerned that one will also occur in Australia.

Also, when should 「心配」 by itself be used instead of 「心配しています」 etc, as I think both phrases can be translated to "(I'm) worried" and "(I'm) concerned" in English?


texts: What is the difference between 傾向がある and 傾向にある?

texts:
彼はストレスに弱い傾向にある。 He tends to be weak against stress.

  彼は他人をばかにする傾向がある。He is apt to ridicule others.


texts:
I would like to say "I work for" company X.

I have found two ways of saying that:

仕える -> company-name に仕える
勤める -> company-name に勤める

But I can't find which one is correct or where to correctly use those expressions.

Can someone please help me out and explain the difference between the two?

Many thanks.


texts: いつここに来ましたか　vs　ここに来ていつですか

texts:
I want to ask "When did you come here?". Are both of these ways of saying it correct or are they wrong? Which one would you use and are there differences in their meaning? Is there maybe a third way to say it that you would suggest?

いつここに来ましたか

ここに来ていつですか


texts:
Does anybody know of a standard term to describe Japanese and Western name orders (for example, when filling a form):

John Somelastname ← "Western name order"
Somelastname John ← "Japanese name order"

Short of an exact term for each form, what construct would you use if you had to tell somebody to use one instead of the other? or tell someone which one is which, in a document where both would be present.
To clarify: I am not asking how to say "write first name, followed by last name" or some such step-by-step instruction, but a self-contained descriptive term for the forms themselves.


texts:
Why are there two different forms of the adjective "useful"?

役に立つ
役に立ち

When I looked up on Jisho.org (here), the page would show an entry for the former even if I typed the latter in the search box.
Below are a few examples that I found (from DuoLingo.com's drills):

この本はとても役に立ちます。
この本は日本の歴史を学ぶのに役に立つ。
役に立つ文章はどこですか。
彼は役に立ちません。


texts: Can someone help me understand this? (From the terms to an insurance policy)

texts:
I am working through some terms to an insurance policy at the moment and I came across something that doesn't quite make sense to me. Under the terms for 個人賠償責任保険金 (Insurance Payment for Damages/Liability), there is a clause that continues: 保険期間中の次の偶然な事故により、他人の生命または身体を害したり、他人の物を壊したりして、法律上の損害賠償責任を負われた場合 which I understand more or less, my rough interpretation being "Insurance shall be paid in cases in which the buyer is held legally responsible for damages caused by any of the unforeseen accidents during the coverage period set forth below causing bodily harm or death to another person or damaging the property of another person."

What I don't quite follow is the next part, which says:
（1）本人の居住の用に供される住宅の所有、使用または管理に起因する偶然な事故

Looking at this sentence out of context I would imagine something like "Unforeseen accidents stemming from the possession, use, or management of a residence provided for the habitation of the insured", but this just does not make sense to me in context. The insurance is for people who have purchased a bicycle and covers them for liability in relation to accidents caused while on or riding the bicycle.

If someone could give me an interpretation that makes better sense, I would be really grateful.


texts:
Hello my question regarding transliterating foreign names in Japanese with リー, really anything with an "i" that is followed by a long vowel.   I was wondering what might be valid transliterations .  When transliterating リー, would "i", or "ii", or even "ee" be valid?  Is the "ee" valid for the way it sounds?  I fear the answer may be "it depends", but I figure I might ask for the heck of it see if there are some things to look for.

ウォンリーク.  Wonrik, Wonriik, Wonreek?


texts: What does this conversation from a novel mean?

texts:
「おまえ、よく命が続いとるなあ」
  「これが生き甲斐でござる」
  「とりあえず酒でも飲め。いや、呆れたもんだよ」店主が言った。
  「奢ってくれるかい？」
  「奢るとも」

  “You, よく命が続いとるなあ”
  “This is what I live for.”
  “Anyway, let’s have a drink.  いや、呆れたもんだよ” said the owner.
  “Is it on the house?”
  “Of course.”

I would really appreciate any help that anyone can offer!
The extract is from Morimi Tomihiko's novel, The Eccentric Family.

Thank you!


texts: I could use help with the finer nuances of 節、柄、and 様。

texts:
Why is it 節 that goes in __ in the following, not 様 or 柄？
部長は、毎日残業するのを当たり前だと思っている__がある。
This is a question in a textbook I'm using to prep for NI JLPT, and 節 is given as the answer.


texts: Meaning of 行かしてもらうから

texts:
In 火垂るの墓 there is a scene where the mother says:

  ほな、ひと足先に壕に行かしてもらうからね。

What does 行かしてもらうから mean?

I know usually もらう means to receive / get someone to do something.

I’ve never seen this conjugation of 行く before. Is it a casual form of 行かせて？ where せ—>し？


texts: Is there a contracted/casual form of でないと？

texts:
でないと as in the conditional phrase.

例：これをやれ。でないと殺す。

例えば、じゃないと？

Never heard of it though. If there is no such thing then is でないと even considered formal in the first place or just neutral if it doesn't have a casual/contracted form?


texts: What are the various ways to express 'or' and when are they appropriate?

texts:
I'd like to get an idea of when it is appropriate to use different expressions for expressing disjunction (of the inclusive AND exclusive variety).

「AとBとCの中で...」、「どちら」、and 「か」 come to mind, but I think they have situational usage (that I'm not entirely aware of). 「か」 seems somewhat awkward, 「どちら」 is limited to a decision between two things, and so forth. How would an inclusive or be expressed ('A or B' as opposed to 'either A or B')?


texts:
I'm trying to understand the 「まいとしているふうなのだ」 part in:

  さっさと言われた通りにすれば良いものを、店番の男はなぜだか渋面をして相手の要求を頑なに聞き入れまいとしているふうなのだ

As far as I can understand:

さっさと言われた通りにすれば良いものを: Although he should quickly have done as told
店番の男はなぜだか渋面をして相手の要求を頑なに: the clerk for some reason grimaced and stubbornly
聞き入れまいとしているふうなのだ: "To comply", and I'm not sure what the rest means.

I think 「まい」 means "doesn't intend to" (second meaning); maybe 「としている」 is part of the various meaning of 「とする」, but I can put my finger on which one. Here l'électeur said all of the different meanings of 「とする」 share a meaning of "making a decision of some sort", so maybe 「としている」 shows that the clerk decided to not comply with the request?

As for 「ふう」, is it the same as in 「こんなふう」, meanning "manner"?

If I'm on the right track, the sentences would mean something like "he didn't intend to comply"; still I'm not sure about the interaction between 「まい」 and 「としている」 ("he decided to not intend"? Kinda awkward and wrong-sounding), and about how 「ふう」 fits, I basically ignored it.

As per 「なのだ」, I guess it's 「だ」 > 「な」 copula +  explanatory「のだ」.


texts:
What is the difference between 常に、いつも、始終、しょっちゅう？
Is it hard to know their differences? Is there any words that also have the same meaning?


texts: Is saying "私は社会人です" self-deprecating when you meet someone? Is it too vague?

texts:
In an informal setting, imagine doing a 自己{じこ}紹介{しょうかい} and you want to deflect the conversation away from yourself. What about saying:

  私は社会人だけです。毎日、頑張っています。

Does that leave you with the feeling of:

  I am nothing special. I am just a simple member of society, and trying to make my way through life as best I can.

The listener would still have no idea what you do (but that is the point). If you did do something cool and interesting (something to have pride in), that can come-out later. Trying to establish intellectual / financial dominance at "hello" just is not cool. Just say "I'm a regular Joe." / "私は社会人です", then in a later intimate discussion you can learn more about each other.

Does that make sense? Basically, in an informal 自己紹介 could one just say:

  私は社会人です。

Or, is that just way too vague?

ps: I really do not do anything interesting! I am just trying to get a feel for Japanese and how to do 自己紹介。


texts:
傲慢{ごうまん}を語{かた}る男{おとこ}が、それを実現{じつげん}していく様{さま}を見{み}るのは心地{ここち}よいものだ。

What could it be ? I don't have the slightest idea, though I would translate the whole sentence as :

  "Seeing a proud man achieving this is quite pleasant."


texts:
In English, we have prefixes, like "pre-"; suffixes, like "-ize"; and arguably, expletives that function as infixes (one classic example is "abso-fucking-lutely").

In Japanese, we also have prefixes, like 超～, 大～; and suffixes, like ～っぽい, ～化{か}. Does Japanese have any infixes, though? I'm interested both in any modern, productive infixes that may exist that I'm not aware of, as well as any historically-productive infixes that are now fossilized.


texts: 加える/増やす and 加わる/増える or even 増加する/殖/足, various kanji for "adding things"

texts:
I'm a bit confused regarding the choice between the 加 and 増 kanji for any meaning related to "adding one thing to another".

I assume that, as usual, the suru-verb combination 増加する is somewhat more formal than either of the other options.

I was told that 増 was for adding more of the same thing, while 加 might be used for adding things of a different type, but examples that I have found don't seem to match with that idea. For example, my dictionary has the following at the start of an example sentence...

汽車がスピードをだんだん加えていき。。。

There's also 殖える, which seems to replace 増 in cases explicitly related to population (people, livestock, or grain), but it seems to be used for something like "net worth" as well.

There's also 足す, which I believe has a connotation similar to 足りる in meaning "add enough to suffice".


texts:
On a TV show, an idol was given this task to think of:

  心が晴れやかになる一言
  'A word (or phrase) to lift someone's mood'　　(My loose translation)

The idol responded:

  アナタの心の雨を[止]{や}ませてあげたいな
  'Let me try and get rid of that cloud hanging over you'.　　(Very loose translation, I know)

So, more literally translated, I guess it would be:

  'Let me stop the rain in your heart'.

I would like to know how あげたい works here. Is it working like:

  I'd like to give you my action of stopping the rain in your heart

Or is it working differently?


texts: im learning at the moment and stuck on if 精度 'Seido' is correct for 'precision' when describing a piece of measuring equipment as being precise or accurate? Would be very greatful if somebody could assist, confirm or correct me.


texts: What are the nuances between these three terms for intelligence: 知恵 [ちえ],　知能 [ちのう],　知性 [ちせい]　?

texts:
In particular which one is closer to the idea of "ability to reason over things" as a quality of someone in particular?

What I believe is that 知識 on the other hand is closer to "knowledge" and "understanding"　and 眼識　is more about "discrimination, insight", but as an intellectual operation, not a property attached to someone, like 認識.


texts: Long & complicated verb forms? ( Vstem-causitive-passive-aspect-desiderative-NEG-tense ) 行かせられ続け得たくなかった　(?)

texts:
Many  of the Jp-related posts in the [Lingustics] SE are very advanced.
For example ----

https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/2319/what-is-the-maximum-number-of-forms-a-modern-japanese-verb-can-take
(1)　Vstem-causitive-passive-aspect-desiderative-NEG-tense
All the possibilities are not, of course, exploited in each expression, but the following illustrates some of the lengthy but commonly observed forms:
• 行かせられない　'go'-CAUS-POTEN-NEG-PRES
• 行かせられたくない　'go'-CAUS-PASS-DESI-NEG-PRES
• 歩かせ続けたい　'walk'-CAUS-CONT-DESI-PRES

What are some very long & complicated verb forms?
行かせられない
行かせられ得ない
行かせられ続けたくない
行かせられ続け得たくない　(?)
行かせられ続け得たくなかった　(?)
( 得難かった )
Are there well-known examples?


texts: What is the Japanese word for a judge in a court of law?

texts:
I have looked up judge, but I am finding a number of words and am not sure how they are different. Is there a general word that is most common?

Words I found include:
saibankan    裁判官
saibannin    裁判人
hanji        判事
houkan       法官
shichoku     司直


texts:
I've been thinking about this for a few days but I still can't figure out what this means. Sorry if this is really beginner-like!

I was wondering what this particular part in a sentence means: にと思って. Example sentence is:

  ［これは私の新しいレシピだ。］君のお弁当にと思って作ってきたんだ。

(the first sentence is only there for context, the second contains what I want to ask for.)

Please help! I appreciate any answers.


texts: Difference between using て form and dictionary form when requesting/instructing

texts:
These are all of the different ways I can think of (I might have missed some) of how to request something in Japanese in no real particular order:

  しろ
   して
   してくれる
   してくれ
   してくれて
   してください
   しなさい

After some time of learning these conjugations I stumbled across various sentences, usually in video games or recipes, that would use the base dictionary form of a verb, rather than the above, to ask me to do something. I have the feeling it also applies to telling myself to do something (in an alarm for example) because saying 牛乳を買って feels a bit odd as opposed to saying 牛乳を買う, but I'm not entirely sure.

Here are a few more examples:

  －「信用して」と彼は言った。
   － できれば、数月に旅行へ出ていくときにうちのワンちゃんの面倒を見て下さい。

  － スポンジを作ります。ビターチョコレートを刻み、湯せんで溶かします。
   － ノーマルモードをクリアする

I imagine the latter doesn't really have much to do with requesting at all and is more just used for instructions, but I'd just like to have a more concrete definition of the difference/usages.


texts: Meaning of で in 敦賀から新大阪まで〈で〉２兆１０００億円かかる予定です

texts:
Regarding the construction of a new bullet train line:

  工事のお金は、[敦賀]{つるが}から新大阪までで２兆１０００億円かかる予定です。
  The construction cost from 敦賀 to 新大阪 is expected to be (some eye watering amount of money).

I can't understand the function of the で in bold. Can it be omitted? It seems to make sense to me without it.


texts:
I am translating a personal statement and when talking about his work experience, the writer has stated 私は、役所の人事としては稀な公募によって、広く民間企業からの採用を行うこととした。しかし、同時に、公募を行うと、採用実績のない民間企業から採用する可能性もあり、能力の低い職員を採用してしまう危険性もあった。

Is it saying that 'he implemented a system by which people from the wider private sector are recruited in selective public recruitment'. Does this mean the job is advertised widely?

Also I don't understand 採用実績のない民間企業. How can a company have no record of hiring people?

Please help!


texts:
I came across the following in a book I'm reading but have ever seen that kind of grammar before, and Google isn't bringing anything up at all:

固くしてみあ

I'm beginning to think it's a print error.
If anyone will know it'll be you guys on here :)

P.S. the full sentence was:
そのとき、腕の中でしどけなく溶けていた猫が急に身を固くしてみあ、と鳴いて。


texts:
The question Why are there so many カ行、サ行、ラ行五段活用 verbs? is about different verb categories. I was surprised to find a ア行-category mentioned, and when I checked on weblio, they seemed to have listed only four verbs in this category, at least for 五段 (https://www.weblio.jp/parts-of-speech/%E3%82%A2%E8%A1%8C%E4%BA%94%E6%AE%B5%E6%B4%BB%E7%94%A8_1). To top it all of, they all end in 合う, which is by itself listed as ワ行, not ア行.
This all seems rather strange to me, so I would be grateful for an explanation.
Thanks for reading!


texts:
My name is Joe Tailor. I tried to translate it to Japanese and got this: ジョーテーラー

Is this accurate? Or are there inaccuracies like it being “Joe Taylor” for example? It has to be with an “i” please. Thank you.


texts: What's the difference between "sa" and "za" with pronunciation?

texts:
Background

I am currently trying to learn Japanese and I've done really well in my opinion (IMO). I am trying to learn about voiced consonants with Hiragana.

What I need to know

I know you must have a vibration in your throat when doing these voiced consonants but is sa (さ) and za ambiguous? How do I pronounce za?


texts:
I've doubt about な.

I've to use it only when I'm talking in present tense?

Example:

  １）きれいな人だ
  ２）きれいな人だった

The second one is valid?

Thanks in advance!


texts:
Is there single word in Japanese used for '(fully) clothed' or 'decent'?  As in, 'OK, you can come in, I'm decent now' or 'At least one of the kids is (fully) clothed (or dressed).' Of course one can express this meaning with something like 服を着ている, but I just wondered if there is an actual adjective or noun which is an of opposite of 裸 or 裸体?

I tried a brief search of a couple online EJ dictionaries and looking for 対義語 of 裸・裸体 without a clear answer.  The most relevant thing I found is this EJ item for decent which lists as entries 1 and 5:

  1〈服装などが〉まともな，適正な，ふさわしい（▼「非難される点がない」という意味が濃い）；身分相応の，妥当な

  5 ((略式))人前に出られる［見苦しくない］服装をした.

Entry 1 words seem rather general to me--they are not typically used in the sense I am looking for, correct?  Entry 5 seems to be close in meaning for what I'm looking for, but is a long phrase.


texts: Meaning of 「という訳でもないのだが」

texts:
I have a question about the meaning of という訳でもないのだが in the following passage. If I'm understanding correctly

「いたからと言ってなんだ」 - 「居たからと言って何だ」

would translate to something like

"even if he/she was, then what".

However, I can't quite understand the whole sentence:
"Well, it's not that, (even if she was there, then what)." - fast translation.

・・・・・・それにしても、あの少女のことは綾奈も知らないのか。
先程はうまく説明できなかったが、目立つ、というより、不思議な感じがした。
まあ、いたからと言ってなんだ、という訳でもないのだが。
・・・・・・。
ちょっと後で後輩のやつにもメールで聞いてみるか。
・・・・・・本当に、いたからと言ってなんだ、というわけじゃ、ないんだけどな。

Context: The MC seems a strange girl. And now he's asking his friends if they have seen here before.


texts: Adverbializers of adjectives in Japanese (に, く, と)

texts: I went upon some adverbializers that turn the adjective they follow into an adverb, but don't figure out if there is any rule, such as whether one particular particle (e.g. と, に) is used with one particular type of adjectives (e.g. い adjectives, た adjectives).


texts: What are the functions of というのは, かというと and がですね in this sentence?

texts:
その場面というのはどういった場面かというと、ナチスの兵士がですね、ユダヤ人を職業別で分けていきます。

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xs-XWk_oQA
0:55

Translation from subtitles:

  There’s a scene where the Nazi’s are separating the Jewish by their occupation.


texts: Trouble describing a situation and the use of relative clauses

texts:
I am attempting to practice my writing and I'm having a difficult time when it comes to the situation I'm trying to describe.

  Original Sentence:

  I have seen coworkers fix work done by others in order to make it presentable to a boss.

  My translation to Japanese:

  僕は上司に提出を整う他人が仕事を仕上げる同僚が作を直すのを見た。

My question is not really about the translation of the sentence itself, but more about how should / how are relative clauses structured. In general I understand relative clauses, but when a sentence starts to get complex I get a be bit lost.

I would not be surprised if when my Japanese translation got translated back into English the meaning would be very different or not what I intended. Something like: I have seen coworkers fix work in order for others to make it presentable so a boss could fix problems

When working with relative clauses I always see them as being "chained"

  For example you have:

  [Phrase 1][Phrase 2][Phrase 3][Phrase N-1]...[Phrase N]

  Phrase N gives more information to Phrase N-1 and so on and so forth

Is this way of thinking correct? Also how does a added は effect this chain? I want to believe the last verb used in the [Phrase N-1]...[Phrase N] sentence is what the object marked by は is going to do/is doing, but I am not sure


texts: I have a friend who speaks Japanese and I would like to learn the language with no prior experience.  What commercial teaching approach would you consider the best?  Pimsleur, Phonics,  or something else?


texts: How to write "I am going to talk about a place that I like"

texts:
I am taking a Japanese course and I was told to write a composition about a place I like.
I have currently just finished the first book of Minna no nihongo, which is up to lesson 12.
I am thinking of:
このさくぶんの中で好きなところのことを話します。
Can anyone tell me if this is correct?


texts: I have read so many posts, asked so many times to friends and people on forum but still I don't get how to use さすがに without sounding a weirdo. I know that it doesn't have anything to do with さすが！ and it can be translated as "understandably". However, in some cases it's still wrong. Please help.


texts: What is the approximate ratio of ways to express agreement vs. disagreement?

texts:
Contrary to various urban legends, Japanese does have a word for "No", however, it appears it's extremely rare to hear it used directly, given the connotation of impoliteness of "iie". Even factual questions like "Is your sign X", are answered with "chigau" when one's sign is not X.

I'm completely new to Japanese and I'm trying to figure out how many ways there are to express nuances of "yes" vs. "no".


texts: Use of 'wo' in "umi no naka wo oyogu yo"

texts:
海の中を泳ぐよ
  umi no naka wo oyogu yo

"wo" is the direct object particle, so does this mean "swim the in the sea?" But that doesn't make much sense.

This was from a children's colouring sheet showing a character swimming through the sea. Nothing else was written.


texts:
I couldnt find any entry on jisho, and also googling and wikipedia didnt help.
From: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20180127/k10011304581000.html


texts:
私はわざとＫの室を回避するようにして、こんな風に自分を往来の真中に見出したのです。

I found a few explanations of ようにして but it seems there's multiple meanings and/or the translation is context-dependent, so I'm not sure exactly how to translate it here. Here's some of my guesses:

"Making it so that I would avoid K's room" - this seems unlikely

"As if I was intentionally avoiding K's room" - seems better

"Making it a point to avoid K's room" - plausible

"Sort of avoiding K's room" - ???


texts: Is "eventide" a correct word for the kanji 汐

texts:
Jisho dictionary refers to 汐 as the kanji for eventide, tide, salt water, opportunity. looking in Oxford dictionary, eventide means The end of the day; evening.

I don't see how 汐 has anything to do with "eventide" apart from the way they look. I am curious to know why it is so commonly referred to as one of the meanings of the kanji?


texts:
I am a 32 year old American male. I dated a Japanese female from Kobe for three years. She is now 35 years old, married with a baby. I met her in Kobe, where I lived as well. We haven't spoken in about four years.

This summer I am going to Kobe and expect I will see her. The reason is because  I would like to apologize for how I treated her. I will write her a Facebook later asking if we can meet, whereupon I will explain myself.

My question is what kind of language should I use? How formally should I write the letter and speak to her in person? Should I say "お久しぶりです" or "久しぶりやな！", for example. Or 神戸弁で、「最近何しとん？」? (When we were going out and even just friends afterwards we would always use the casual form, and often Kobe-ben 神戸弁. This was in a kind of playful way, because she is from Kobe, and I love the Kobe region.)

Since the purpose of my meeting her is to apologize for some of the things I did, there will be a tone of remorse. However, she is a very warm and kind person, not too formal either, so I expect she will still treat me kindly. Thus I do not want to be too formal if she will not be. However, I do not want to inappropriately suggest intimacy that is no longer there, if doing so crosses boundaries.


texts:
How do I form a sentence of these patterns "X does not arise from Y", "X not due to Y", "X not because of Y", "There are other reasons for X". Since obviously I cannot simply slap ない onto から or ので to form an "anti-causal" particle.

Would the below constructions work?:

Xの原因はYじゃない
Xの原因はYだけではない
Xの原因は他がある
XはYだからじゃない
XでもYはない
XとYは関係がない

Are there better options for this type of relationship between X and Y? Or do more colloquial forms or set phrases exist for stating anti/non-cause? I'm not sure if my constructions sound unnatural. The way I constructed those statements feel quite literal to me.


texts:
So I came across this phrase:

友達と４人で一つずつ弁当を買ったら。。。

So what does 友達と４人で mean? A friend plus 4 people? 4 people who happen to be friends? With the friend they are now 4 people?

I have never seen this construction, usually it´s either 友達が４人で or ４人の友達で that I encounter, hence my confusion. Any help would be appreciated.


texts:
I'm currently self-teaching myself Japanese with the aim of becoming a proficient reader so I can read Japanese liteature without the aid of a translation.
I've heard mention a few times of the language reforms that took place in 1946; some of the authors I'm interested in reading (Ichiyo and Soseki) are from about 50 years before this.
Am I going to encounter serious problems when trying to read their work once I become proficient reading post-reform literature?
Any pointers anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.


texts: For characters with hane, does all hane do the sharp upward turn to be always on the left side? Please provide an example for characters with hane turning upwards to the right if there is any.


texts: 人のことをいっときながら DB Chapter 2

texts:
This is Bulma alone complaining about Goku rudeness.
Translated as: "I can't believe he had the nerve to call me stuff like witch or fairy".

人のことを = things to people (like in saying things to people)

魔法使いだ = I'm a witch

とか = listing (incomplete)

妖怪だ = I'm a fairy/demon

と = nominalizer

いっとき = ?? (I guess some form of いい)

ながら = while


texts:
I've received something like

主様すごいです

but I don't know what it means and when I translate it, it turns out to be something like

"master is amazing"

or something like that. Either way what does 主様 mean?


texts: According to JMDict 内容, 明細 and 詳細 meaning is details. I see these 熟語 at the same time on banks websites. What are the nuances of their usage?


texts: Expressing hope: to nozomu and koto wo negau

texts:
I have a question about these two verbs for 'hope':

  と望む (to nozomu)

  ことを願う (koto wo negau)

I also write down two examples, since I have a particular question about their use:

  大学に入ろうと望んでいます。
  daigaku ni hairou to nozondeimasu.

  父がはやく元気になることを願っています。
  chichi ga hayaku genki ni naru koto wo negatteimasu.

In the first sentence we indicate the object of our hope in front of the "to" particle and we have to use the volitional form haiROU. (hairou to nozondeiru, tabeyou to nozondeiru)
My question is, could I use the upper structure with naru? for example:
chichi ga genki ni narou to nozondeimasu.

Naru as meaning "get 'into a condition'" might not have a volitional form, so I shouldn't use it as narou, right? Or is it grammatical?

So to me the final issue with these two verbs (to nozomu and (koto) wo negau) if there is a difference in their use, or I can put somehow verbs in front of to nozomu even if that verb cannot express a desire so I cant put it into a volitional form.


texts:
The title is pretty much the question. All three of these mean something like, "standard, norm, etc". I found the following example sentences that helped me get an initial sense of the words:

規範｛きはん｝：

倫理学｛りんりがく｝というのは、行動の規範の意味する。

Ethics means the rules of conduct.

それは私たちの道徳的｛どうとくてき｝規範には受け入れられない。

It is not acceptable to our moral code.

基準｛きじゅん｝：

あいての基準を受け入れるのは、そのあいての力に服従することだ。

Accepting the other's norms is submitting to the other's power.

標準｛ひょうじゅん｝：

このシャツは標準サイズだ。

This shirt is standard size.

I get the feeling that 標準 refers to a "tangible" standard -- maybe a property of something -- and 規範 has a meaning that has to do with rules, but is there a more succinct definition of each of these three that is sufficiently different that I don't essentially end up with three different flash cards that say "standard (of the x type)"?


texts:
I know it means roughly "for your reference", but I can't really grasp why it means that based on my understanding of までに (which I consider roughly as 'before' or 'by'). I can't really come to any kind of reasonable literal translation, could someone elaborate what exactly it's doing in this phrase?

My only guess is something like "before [you] consult [other materials] (look at this)".

Thanks.


texts: Difference between the usage of 準備 and 予習

texts:
日本語
この二つの言葉の意味の違いを教えていただけませんか。
「準備」と 「予習」 の意味は同じですか。違うなら、どんな時にそれぞれを使いますか。
English
Could someone tell me the difference between these two words?
Are the meanings of 準備 and 予習 the same? If they are different, when should each be used?


texts: What is the difference in usage between a plural using (a) the kanji repetition character 々, (b) a plural using -たち, and (c) the singular?

texts: I know that there are some noun that are made plural by the kanji repetition character, such as 人々 and 国々. My question is, how does this differ from using the non-plural form of the noun? And how does 人々 differ from 人たち?


texts: What does this Verb+Noun structure mean and how to use it?

texts:
So my friend told me this:

  温室で死ぬ時が来た

I understand that the translation means "It's time to die in the greenhouse", but I don't understand the 「死ぬ時」 part of the sentence.

What kind of structure is this?


texts:
あくまでその子のためを思っての愛のある行為でなくてはならず

This should mean something like: "it should be an an act of love putting the kid's interest in mind."
How does this 思っての愛のある行為 grammatically parse? Why is it ある行為 and not just 行為?


texts: Does this sentence 「彼女が美しくなりましたね。」 need 「に」?

texts:
Does this sentence:

  「彼女が美しく [...] なりましたね。」

need 「に」 in the marked spot? And why? Can it be used both ways?

I tried searching for the 「に」 usage but it seems to be the most elusive particle as it's used in literally hundreds of different contexts.


texts: What is a good translation for 不平不満を持ちながもらしょうがなく乗り切ることを言います。?

texts:
I came across a website in Japanese that explains the difference between 我慢 and 耐える. The link is https://ameblo.jp/naka-tatsuya/entry-11896324259.html

The full sentence is as follows:

  我慢というのはその時、その場しのぎで、不平不満を持ちながもらしょうがなく乗り切ることを言います。

I was able to translate the first part, which goes something like, “Saying 我慢 is a temporary or stopgap measure, and...”

I think the second part goes something like, “They are saying that they will survive without having complaints and grumbling.”

I don't know, guys. The second part has me really stumped. I would really appreciate if you could help me understand the proper way to translate it.


texts: What is the difference between ni tsuite and ni yoreba, because the meaning is seems the same, regarding and according to. If its different when or what situation I can use it. Thanks


texts: Using を/に+伴う　and meaning of 後接させる (+ 現場指示 and 文脈指示)

texts:
Here is the sentence (from the 日本語文法ハンドブック :

疑問詞が　「が」　「を」　以外の格助詞を伴う時はその格助詞の後にそのまま　「も」　を後接させます。
My guess : When the interrogatives are accompanied by a case-marking particle other than "が" and "を","も" can be added  after that particle (without changing anything else).

1 : I don't understand why 伴う has a direct object though rikaichan says it's intransitive.
From the examples I've seen, it seems to me that 伴う can either mean to accompany or to be accompanied by in the following way :

AがBに伴う。A accompanies B.
AがBを伴う。A is accompanied by B.

If that's the case is it transitive/intransitive? What does it mean exactly?
2 : I can't find any definition for 後接 (こうせつ?) in any dictionary that i have except an example sentence in the 和英大辞典 which made me guess that it meant "to be suffixed by".
But then, why is it :

疑問詞が　「。。。」　「も」　を 後接 させます。
The interrogatives let add も???

And not :

疑問詞が　「。。。」　「も」　に 後接 できます。
The interrogatives can be suffixed by も.

Or :

疑問詞が　「。。。」(自分を)　「も」　に 後接 されさせます。
The interrogatives let themselves be suffixed by も.

3 : Bonus point : Though I think I understand what they mean, I can't find any translation for 現場指示 and 文脈指示.
Is there any "official" translation for these words?


texts:
誰の言葉を信じ歩けばいいの？

信じ comes from 信じる which means "to believe" and 歩 comes from 歩く, "to walk". Finally, 歩けば is a conditional meaning "if walk" so how is all this put together? What does 信じ歩けば means? What about いいの?

Thank you very much.


texts: What is the difference between に伴って and と共に？

texts: Can somebody explain to me the difference between と共{とも}に and に伴{ともな}って？ I believe that sometimes they can be used interchangeably, but not always. Moreover, their basic meanings also seem to differ. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that に伴って is similar to に従{したが}って、while と共に is more similar to 一緒{いっしょ}に。


texts: Why does しあわせです end with です, but かなしんでいます with ます?

texts: I'm learning a bit of Japanese with Memrise. They translate しあわせです with "is happy" and かなしんでいます with "is sad". From what I understand, adjectives are ending with です and verbs with ます. I see both expressions as opposites (happy<->sad), why do they have a different ending?


texts: How to say "thank you for taking the time to read my email" in formal business Japanese

texts:
I am writing a cold-email template to engage with Japanese companies. I would like to say:

  thank you for taking the time to read my email

in formal Japanese and would appreciate if anyone could help me out.


texts:
How would one combine two or more quotes together?
In English we just do something like "He said 'Quote A', 'Quote B' and 'Quote C'".

In chat, snailboat gave these possibilities:

「Quote A」「Quote B」って言う
「Quote A」って、「Quote B」って言う
「Quote A」って（言う）、「Quote B」って言う
「Quote A」「Quote B」と言う
「Quote A」と「Quote B」と言う

Are these all valid?


texts: I was surprised to learn that 飯 has the reading いい such as in 飯{いい}田{だ}橋{ばし}, and this is also listed as an "archaicism" in my dictionary. I know this kanji has the more usual kun-yomi めし (and on-yomi はん), but what is the etymology of this alternate reading? In particular, is it originally a native Japanese word (Yamato kotoba)?


texts: Why do some transitive verbs take に instead of を?

texts:
ヘスティアはせっせと残りの「神聖文字」を付け足し、己のしてやれることに努める。

I don't really understand why に used instead を even though 努める is transitive?

Thanks!


texts:
I have some questions.

  夏の夜の[悪夢]{ゆめ}

I don't understand why 悪夢 is read as ゆめ not あくむ.


texts: What's the difference between によって、次第、and 応じて?

texts:
Can someone please help me understand What is the difference between によって、次第、and 応じて.

Thank you.


texts:
しかない/ほかない/よりない - are these forms inter-changeable

ゆうがたまでやる(しかない/ほかない/よりない)- are all the forms correct?


texts:
My difficulty comes from the last line. I realize that {{JP:かきむしる}} means something like "to scratch off" and that {{JP:おさえる}} means something like "to seize/grab hold of." I know that the first verb is modifying the {{JP:よう}} but unless the reading "I grabbed the scratched off scab on my chest" is correct (which is what I get from looking up the meaning of {{JP:よう}} ) then I'm stumped. Could anyone illuminate it for me please?

「どうなってんの？」「何だよ、これ」
まったくだ。何だよ、これ。なんでこんな場所に。なんで？ いつから？
かきむしるように胸を押さえる。


texts: For the word じき meaning "soon", what is the difference between the kanjis 直 and 時期?

texts:
As discussed in this question, one meaning for じき is "soon, momentarily". Looking it up in my (English/Japanese) dictionary, I found both the kanjis 時期 and 直 for it.

I looked them up further (online), and could only find the meaning of まっすぐであること for 直{じき}. Is my dictionary misleading me?

From just what I've seen, it seems like it's rarely written in kanji, and it makes sense in my head that the kanji for 直{す}ぐ would be used, so this question is more academic than practical, but I'd still appreciate any insight on it.


texts: What is the "one type" being "wiped away" in this sentence?

texts:
As part of a larger block of text, my JLPT textbook has this sentence:

  私{わたし}たちは、コトバに対{たい}して一種{いっしゅ}のぬぐいがたい軽視{けいし}、軽{かる}く見{み}る傾向{けいこう}が一般{いっぱん}にあるといっていいかもしれません。

I'm specifically confused about the コトバに対{たい}して一種{いっしゅ}のぬぐいがたい軽視{けいし} part.

First, I think the ぬぐい in ぬぐいがたい is from 拭{ぬぐ}う, as in, "to wipe away" or "to eliminate". So, it's something like "when facing words we eliminate one type"...?

For the whole sentence, it comes across to me as something like, "All of us, when facing words it's easy to eliminate one type with contempt, maybe you could say we generally tend to look at them lightly." Which doesn't really add up to something sensible. I went with "contempt" for 軽視{けいし}, though other definitions are "disdain" or "make light of", but no matter how I translate it, I can't see how it fits.

One type of what? One type of words? Why would we wipe them away?

What exactly does this sentence mean?


texts:
I have troubles finding the following expressions or the like in Japanese. It is in mathematical contexts:

Differential geometry
(Point-set) Topology
Submanifolds
Smooth functions

Are there places where I can find similar terms more directly? I know that jisho.org does cover some basic terms (yes, you can find stuff like Riemann curvature tensor) but sometimes I cannot find basic ones (like I can find geometry and manifold but not differential geometry).


texts: Confusion about reported speech; と言っていました seems to be quite rare

texts:
I read と言っていた and と言っていました would be the most common and neutral way to report speech. While と言っている and と言っています also sound okay, they carry a notion of the quoted speaker is still thinking this way.

Reading some NHK easy news article however I noticed that と言っています like in

  厚生労働者は「全体では新しい社員の給料は上がり続けています」と言っています。

or

  しかし世界中の研究者は、赤ちゃんの遺伝の情報を変えたことが本当だったら問題があると言っています。

seems to be the most common expression, followed by と言いました :

  「このパイロットが飛行機に乗るすぐ前まで、酒を飲み続けていたのは間違いありません。日本に着くまでの１２時間に、大きな事故が起こったかもしれません」と言いました。

  会社は、来年３月に１種類のウイスキーを売るのをやめると言いました。

と言っていました I actually read quite seldom. One of the few examples (other forms like と話していました included) I could find in the last articles was:

  利用した人は「安心して乗ることができましたが、もう少しはっきりわかる色にしてほしいです」と言っていました。(about the design of escaltors which shall prevent people from climbing the stairs)

(The normal articles of NHK seem to me to prefer the usage of と述べました,i.e. と言いました.)

I don't  think と言っていますis here supposed to carry the notion mentioned above. Is this form more common because it is considered easier japanese? But in terms of difficulty it doesn't seem to make much difference which of these three forms is used, does it? Do special rules apply to newspapers somehow? I am quite confused now. (≧д≦ヾ)


texts: What is the significance of a repeated radical in a Kanji character?

texts:
What is the significance (if any) of a repeated radical in a Kanji character?

I have been learning Kanji for almost a year now. In the early days my assumption would have been that repeating a radical would emphasise quantity/intensity/scale in an intuitive way such as with the following characters:

  木 林 森

Now I am starting to come across Kanji with repeated radicals where the meaning (at least to me) isn't as obvious. I notice they almost always appear as adjacent pairs.

  談 態 曜 歌


texts: Both 碁{ご} and 囲碁{いご} mean the game Go according to my dictionary. Is one of the terms more common than the other or used in different kinds of situations?


texts: 静かにさせてくれ to mean something like "let me have peace"

texts:
This question is about the usage of 静かにさせてくれ. At first I would have thought this to be used to ask someone to have someone else be quiet e.g. someone asking a parent to have their kid be quiet. But I also saw it in a different context where it seemed to imply something along the lines of "let me have peace and quiet". I say this because if they were just asking the person to be silent they would have said 静かにしてください which is different.
If my understanding of this usage is correct, can anyone explain I guess how this works grammatically as I'm not sure what を would be attached to if the sentence was said without dropping.


texts: The usage of だと and それなりに in this sentence

texts:
I ran into this sentence and I'm a bit confused.

  魔法の事についてだけはあいつもそれなりに真摯なのだと

I guess I'm more confused about the "da to" part. Is this supposed to mean "suppose to"? And so the sentence would be "When it comes to magic alone she's supposed to be earnest/sincere"? Or is there any other usage for it that I'm missing?

I'm also a bit unsure if それなりに has any important significance in this, like "she's supposed to be sincere in her own way"? I've read some examples of this expression being used and it never seemed to change anything meaningful so I'm a bit stumped.

I don't think the follow up sentence is important to the context but I'll leave it here anyway.

  なぜそんな買いかぶりなどをしていたのか。


texts: Are there some cases where は and が are interchangable?

texts:
I understand that は and が can be very different in meaning & emotion, and some structures require one of them. However, are there some cases where I can use either of them but the sentence remains (almost) the same in meaning & emotion?

(That is to say, given the same context, a native speaker would choose to use either of them to express the same idea.)


texts: What does 相手 mean in 「素直な自分をぶつけられる相手」?

texts:
I'm confused about how to describe 相手 here. I don't know if it's “partner who can show their true self” or “partner to whom can show your true self”. Also, is the ぶつけられる here like ぶつけることができる?

  「素直な自分をぶつけられる相手を、さなや自分が出来るなら、喜んでしてあげたかった」

Here's a screenshot for more context.


texts: みすぎって in the phrase 韓国たのしみすぎって話

texts:
I'm a complete beginner in Japanese. I was trying to analyze this sentence here, but I'm not sure at all about the correct translation.

  韓国たのしみすぎって話！

How would you translate this? "Talk that Korea is too much fun!" ?

話 is the verb, why is it not conjugated?

Should I interpret って as indirect speech particle, or colloquial topic marker?

Why たのし instead of 楽しい?

みすぎ means "too much", should I view this as a noun?


texts: A concrete example of problematic disambiguation (part 1)

texts:
Beginner here. I know that there are a few questions out there that deal with disambiguating spoken Japanese (in a gist, the existing answers suggest that you are able to disambiguate either based on context or pitch, or you avoid disambiguaties altogether, by adding explanations or using other words).

I'm interested here in 2 concrete examples in this question, which are tricky for me:

The first one is here (the other is in this question): "はし" which can mean chopstick or bridge. A native Japanese that I have spoken to says that you can disambiguate by pitch accent, but no matter how often I made him repeat "はし" two times, where it was first meant to be "chopstick" and the second time "bridge", I could not pick up auditively upon the difference; though he insists there is one. Could it be that the difference is too subtle, and that I simply need years of being exposed to the language in order to pick it up?


texts: What is the difference between Vた + つもりで and V-る + つもりで?

texts:
I understand that the construction Aつもりで means "with the intention of doing A". However, I've seen in several fonts that when A is a verb, it can be both in the た form or the dictionary (る) form. I've also asked a native Japanese person about it, but she couldn't explain the difference to me, but rather just confirm that in some example sentences I have, only one of the possibilities makes sense. So there must be a difference. The examples are:

○ 父は家を建てるつもりで、土地を買いました。

✕ 父は家を建てたつもりで、土地を買いました。

"My father bought a piece of land with the intention of building a house."

○ 旅行に行ったつもりでお金を貯めている。

○ 旅行に行くつもりでお金を貯めている。

"Saving money with the intention of going on a trip."
I think that this answer is related to my problem, but I can't make sense of "with imagination as if you had bought it", either.
Thank you in advance!


texts:
I realise that でも is only used at the start of a sentence whilst けど is only used to join 2 sentences. I have been chatting with lots of japanese and they always use けど to start a sentence after a fullstop.
Question is, is my understanding flawed? Or is it just bad habit to use けど


texts: What do you call brothers or sisters of the same age?

texts:
From what I can see people are forced to use the term of a younger or older brother/sister oneesan, oniisan, etc.

But what do you call a brother or sister if they're the same age as you?


texts:
I'm trying to translate this video -> link and I got stuck at the last bit, where the speaker mention "当然"
so this is the transcription,

まあ、演劇「ハイキュー」自体はやっぱり春も新作があるので、続くんですね。
漫画原作だから、こう、当然だろうと思う人もいると思うんですが、
僕はこの当然なことが一番素敵で本当に偉大なことだと思います。
こういう、素敵な当然の中に居させてくれて、ありがとうございました。

I search the meaning on Jishou and
I still couldn't really grasp the meaning of it in his speech.
Translation attempt; This is wrong BTW

漫画原作だから、こう、当然だろうと思う人もいると思うんですが、

= Because of the original manga, I think there are people, who are certain(?) about that.

僕はこの当然なことが一番素敵で本当に偉大なことだと思います。

= For me, this "certainty" is the most wonderful and it's truly the greatest thing.

こういう、素敵な当然の中に居させてくれて、ありがとうございました。

Thank you for letting me be in this wonderful place(?) <- like I said I'm so confused with this...


texts: Can you omit the な between な-adjectives and nouns?

texts:
書く時には書くスタイルに合った書き言葉的表現、そして、話す時には話すスタイルに合った話し言葉的表現があることを覚えておいてください。

The above quote is from the second chapter of Tobira. My question concerns 書き言葉的表現 and 話し言葉的表現. The book states that (書き/話し)言葉的 is a な-adjective, as are most nouns attached to the 的 suffix. But why has the な been omitted between 言葉的 and 表現? Shouldn't it be 書き言葉的な表現 and 話し言葉的な表現?


texts:
家で一人で勉強するよりはと通信制の高校をすすめた。

Does は like summarize the first sentence and と means "from"? Is there a different way to construct that part?


texts: Difference お疲れ様です vs お疲れ様でした while leaving from office?

texts:
Most of the time, I use to say "お疲れ様です" while someone else leaving the office. But many of my colleagues say "お疲れ様でした". Does it have any difference?

Also, I want to know, can we use "お疲れ様です" while working in the office to any super senior person like CEO of the company and etc..


texts: I wonder if there is a certain meaning of 見 that isn't immediately obvious or straight-forward. 見捨てる and 見殺し both carry this idea that, through inaction, something bad is allowed to happen. There may be more that I haven't found, but I'm assuming there is a connection etymologically. It may be simply the idea of sitting back and watching these things happen, which makes sense to me, but I'd like to know if there is more then that.


texts: How to introduce myself in relation to my wife?

texts:
I know there are a few ways to essentially say "husband" (夫、旦那、主人). Can all be used by a speaker to refer to themselves?
Examples I thought of:

（私はAの）旦那／夫／主人です。
旦那／夫／主人の○○です。

I have a feeling I can't use 主人, but I'm not sure if that's correct, nor why.
How do I introduce myself in relation to my wife?
Related: How to introduce oneself in relation to ones husband?


texts: How can I ask if they are bothered by me not being japanese?

texts:
I am playing a Japanese game and I accidentally joined a team. In the chat the other players welcomed me, but how do I answer them and how can I ask them if they are bothered by the fact that I only know a tiny bit Japanese?

I tried to write a comment myself and this is what I ended up with: 字が読めません
 初ぬまして 私はオランダ人です. But I don't know if this is correct ^^;

(I also couldn't find a translation for my question if they are bothered by the fact that I only know a tiny bit Japanese. Does anyone know how I could say that?)


texts: Parsing the pattern “[noun] を [verb]、また [noun] のため”

texts:
I am not sure how to parse these two sentences, particularly the two highlighted clauses that fall under the same pattern:

治水とは　洪水などの水害を防ぎ、また水運や農業用水の便のため、河川の改良・保全を行うこと。
雨戸とは　窓や縁側などの外側に立てる戸。風雨を防ぎ、また防犯のためのもの。

(both dictionary definitions).
My attempt is:
（（洪水などの水害を防ぎ）、また（水運や農業用水の便の）ため）　(sentence 1)
（（風雨を防ぎ）、また（防犯の）ため） (sentence 2)?
Are these correct, or have I made a mistake?


texts:
What does the NA mean in this sentence?

Sonna baka NA koto...
そんなバカなことは、普通に言わないよ
Normally, (you) don't say such a stupid thing


texts:
I wanted to tell someone to escape so they don't waste their time waiting for me to beat a boss. (When their death timer reaches 0, they don't get credit for beating the boss, and my dps is slow...)

I said 逃げてください、ボスを倒すのに間に合わない, but I wasn't sure if it actually means: "I won't arrive in time to beat the boss" or if I did it right or wrong.

What I want to say is ", Please escape, I won't be able to beat the boss in time" or "Please escape, I won't be able to beat the boss before your timer runs out."


texts:
I saw this sentence in a show 見覚えあるけど
and I got confused with the differences between 見覚えある / 見覚える / 覚える / 思い出す?

I saw this answer that explained the difference between 覚える and 思い出す but not the rest.


texts: Who is the subject in 思うがままの人生を送れたら、どんなに幸せだろう?

texts:
思うがままの人生を送れたら、どんなに幸せだろう。

If X can send man as what Y imagine, how happy it will be.

Do you know the subject X and Y in the sentence above?


texts:
In active sentences, the verbs can be transitive and intransitive.

私が消しゴムを落としました。I dropped an eraser. (transitive)
私が走ります。I run. (intransitive)

But I got surprised that 見つかる which is an intransitive but it makes the sentence has a passive meaning, for example:

財布が見つかった。The wallet was found.

Is there a better translation in English for it but with active form?

Why can an intransitive verb have a passive meaning in Japanese?


texts: Why does 不甲斐{ふがい}ない mean "worthless" while 甲斐{かい} means "worth"?

texts:
JMdict:

  不甲斐{ふがい}ない: disappointing; weak-minded; spiritless; cowardly; worthless; pusillanimous; feckless; faint-hearted; shiftless; tame; timid
  甲斐{かい}: effect; result; worth; use; avail

The word 不甲斐ない has both 不 and ない around 甲斐, and to my understanding the prefix 不- is used to negate words, just like ない. By this logic, the meaning of the word should be "not-worthless" instead of anything negative.

Of course language doesn't work that simply and there must be even bigger "illogicalities" out there that I've just gotten used to, but maybe there is a reason for this one.

Edit: there is also the word [甲斐無い]{かいない} (worthless; pointless; useless) as pointed out by @naruto in comments. Seems like this one works as I would expect.


texts: The words 頑張る and 最善を尽くす both means "do my best". What's the difference and when should I use each of them?


texts: Why is なんて the correct answer for this question?

texts:
Here's a question from N3文法スピードマスター。

  英語も中国語もスペイン語もできる*なんて*、素晴らしいですねえ。

This question is multiple-choice, so the other incorrect choices were: なんと、など、なんか just for your information.

Here's my question:

According to the book, it says that なんて is used to lighten or diminish the impact of the subject in question. Using that grammar point, my translation of the above question would be: Things like being able to do English and Chinese and Spanish is great.

However, that translation doesn't seem to fit into the grammar point of なんて being derogatory, so right now I'm quite confused. What's the purpose of なんて in this question?


texts: Meaning of ~と言われればそれまでだが、…

texts:
I have found this sentence:

  好みの問題と言われればそれまでだが、私はこの店の内装はなんとなく好きになれない。

To my poor understanding it sounds similar to:

  好みの問題と言われても、私はこの店の内装はなんとなく好きになれない。

If it is completely different and I totally misunderstand the meaning of ~と言われればそれまでだが、…, how would you translate it?
If it is similar but different, what is the difference? In which case would you use A but not B, and in which case would you use B but not A?


texts:
We have been taught a lot of uses of よう pattern like ように, Vます ように, sentence ending with ように, ようだ for comparison, etc. But everywhere in textbooks, the よう is written in hiragana. I recently found out that よう actually has a kanji 様. On checking jisho.org, I found that

  様     よう
  1: (Usually written using kana alone) (usu. after the -masu stem of a verb) appearing ...; looking ...;
  2: (usu. after the -masu stem of a verb) way to ...; method of ...ing;
  3: (usu. after a noun) form; style; design;
  4: (usu. after a noun) like; similar to; (Noun) thing (thought or spoken)

So according to them, the only time it is written in hiragana is when よう follows the ます形. However my (non-native) teacher says it is always written in hiragana when it is used as a grammar pattern. As a result, I am pretty much confused how it is written.

I have read istrasci's answer to the question When should I replace kanji with hiragana, where he mentions that when writing elementary books, kanjis are often intentionally written in hiragana, since children can't recognize them that easily. Is this a possible reason why よう is written in hiragana or is よう really written always in hiragana when using as grammar pattern? If it is at all written in kanji, how to distinguish those cases?

On a side note, many words are written specifically in hiragana when used for grammatical purposes. In such cases, what impression do I give to the reader if I write those words (unknowingly) in kanji?


texts: What does MUNU ムヌ mean please as in the phrase below

texts:
Can anyone tell me what "munu" means in this phrase, please?

  夏が来る前に秋になったような変なムヌで...


texts:
根本的なところから変えようとしっかり睡眠をとったり、食生活を見直したりといろいろ取り組んでいます

Should I interpret といろいろ取り組んでいます as "doing various activities like a and b" or "doing things like a, b, and working on various activities".

I'm not sure if と is quotative or is just an "and".

I ask this because the translation I have is:
"I've tried to make some changes on a fundamental level by trying to sleep properly, look over my eating habits, as well as making other various efforts", which goes along with "doing things like a, b, and working on various activities" instead of "doing various activities like a and b"


texts: Computing: How to say "optional parameters"

texts:
In programming, a function can have optional parameters, for instance getTemperature() could have an optional parameter "Unit" to say I want the temperature in Kelvin for instance. By default, when specifying no parameter, it would be in Celsius.

How to say optional parameters in Japanese?

ALC says オプションのパラメータ:

  Both required and optional parameters are listed.
  必須なパラメータおよびオプションのパラメータを列挙します。

But I believe they are wrong, and their translation has a different meaning.


texts: What is the difference in meaning between じゃなかった vs じゃない?

texts:
Context:

It was agreed upon that there will be a class meeting at 4.30pm later. However, someone wrote the wrong time on the blackboard. And so, one of the characters replied:

これ４時半からじゃなかったっけ？

My question is, why is じゃなかった used instead of じゃない? Could anyone provide a brief description on the nuance difference between the two?

I understand how じゃない and じゃなかった works when referring to state-of-beings, but when put in a question context, I am unable to comprehend the nuance it has.


texts:
I am setting up a Japanese language profile in LinkedIn. I am a Nuclear Engineer, but am unsure exactly how that profession is worded in japanese.
The two options that seem most appropriate are:
原発の技師
and
原子力の技師
I know I can also use katakana to mimic the English words.  Which of thise is appropriate?

To include my company would it be: "[Company] で 原発の技師"

I would appreciate help fixing up these two issues. Thank you in advance for your assistance!


texts:
こうえんをさんぽします。

Why in this sentence do we use を　and not で。


texts: Telling someone to ask/demand an action "Ask your ... to ..."

texts:
For a couple of days now I have been using the application tandem that let you speak with a native speaker of a language that your are learning. The idea is that the person will help you with X while you help him with Y.

Yesterday my Japanese teacher told me that I should ask my partner to correct all my mistakes (and not leave some for the sake of politeness).

So now I want to write to that person ：
"My teacher said [You need to ask your partner to correct all your mistakes]".

I am having issue translating the part where I quote my teacher.

  私の先生は「あなたはあなたのパートナーにあなたの間違いを訂正して欲しいが必要です」といいました。

I came up with this. I didn't found a way to say "ask him to do it" but I found people using 欲しい instead.

I also found this post here that tells to use 必要です for something really necessary when I use "need to/have to". But is　「必要です」 too strong a word ?

So that's my best guess but I'm pretty new to japanese.


texts: What is the current usage of Siddham (梵字)?

texts:
I was taught that Siddham is used in modern cultural context of Japan as a system of writing the Buddhis texts and (or) mantras.

What is the exact context of its usage? Is it applicable at all?

My apologies for bothering you with such a question, but I do lack knowledge of the topic.


texts: I understand that both mean "to be saved/receive help" but that they have slightly different connotations. I can't find any explanation of the difference, however, nor any pairs of example sentences to illustrate this difference.


texts: Did I determine the pronunciation of 人口 correctly?

texts:
On a Kanji exercise, I was told to find how 人口 is read.

Because the kanji are a word, I used the on-yomi of both and I answered "にんこう".

Is that correct?


texts: What are the differences between 〜ので and 〜から?

texts:
When I was studying this, my 先生 kind of brushed over the point, and then years later, I realize that they are different, but I don't know exactly how.

The only thing I understand is that ので is more polite.  I suppose that's because ので isn't actually "because" like から, but more a nominalized statement (の) followed by (で), making it more indirect (and we all know that indirect means more polite in Japanese).

Anyone have any more information on the pair?


texts:
How would I translate Dami Im's name into Japanese?

Im was born in South Korea (her name in Korean is 임다미), but moved to Australia when she was nine. "Dami" is her given name, and "Im" is her surname, based on her father's name being Dong Eal Im.

Is it ok to just use "ダミ･イム", like the Japanese edition of Wikipedia does? Or ought I try to work out the kanji equivalent of "Dami" and "Im", like how Ban Ki-moon is 潘基文 according to the Japanese edition of Wikipedia?

Does the fact that she's a singer (or any kind of celebrity) mean that she's more likely to have a katakana name than someone who isn't a celebrity (such as a politician or a scientist)?

I've also seen her name reversed back to surname first (イム･ダミ) here.


texts:
In the expression 山と積む (meaning 山ように積む , I think) I can't understand the grammatical function of this と.

Is there any omission after と in the phrase? Or is this a use of と that I don't recognize? Or maybe it is just a set expression, and this と doesn't convey any grammatical meaning?


texts: How can I say, "please let me give you an update "?

texts: I'm a bilingual Japanese/English speaker but I always have difficulty trying to describe "update" in Japanese. For example, when I'm visiting a company we work with regularly and want to say, "please let me give you an update (about our company)", I don't quite know how to say this. I think the closest might be something like, 「新しい方針について説明させて下さい」However, I'm not necessarily trying to inform them about a new policy but more about sharing what is new at our company. Any advice?


texts: What is the difference between 「進行」 and 「進歩」?

texts: What is the difference between 「進行」and「進歩」？ In what situations are they used ?


texts: what does と and other kanjis stand for in this sentence?

texts:
I was reading an article and learning new kanji. However, I am having hard time determining some grammatical structures and kanji from this sentence:

  有坂銃{ありさかじゅう}とは、大日本帝國のボルトアクション方式の軍制式小銃の系列であり、それまでの村田銃系列の小銃を更新する為に1897年より製造が始まり、第二次世界大戦が終結する1945年まで製造された一連の小銃をさす

What does と stand for?
方式 (Does it mean "model"? It says system, form or formula.)
軍制式小銃の系列 (Does it mean military small rifle series?)
であり (Does it mean "have the quality of being" in this sentence?)


texts: Can someone give some good context and scenarios for using these?  Not only when to use them, but when NOT to use them as well.  I know あげる is kind of the most common, but I'm just not sure of the nuances between them.


texts: I don't understand what のも means in this sentence

texts:
Here's the sentence in question:

  生まれたのも育ったのも京都なんですよ

I thought using の in a sentence signified possession (ie. 私の本 [My book]). If I interpret the sentence as such, it doesn't make any sense.

Then I came to the conclusion that I should include the も from the sentence and read it as のも, but doing that made the sentence even more confusing.

Please help!


texts: What would the Japanese equivalent of "Order!" be when gaveling?

texts: What's the Japanese equivalent of the "Order!" shouted when a judge or speaker of the house gavels their assemblies?


texts: "半日のツアーはありますか。" question

texts:
When I am learning Japanese I encounter this sentence. I think that the particle が should be always used, but は was used instead. Could it be a typo? Or something I have not learned yet?

In other words, should this sentence be :

半日のツアーがありますか。(Do you have any half-day tours?)


texts:
So I've been digging around some more and found this image from a PDF here.
Basically, it said that the Imperative form (such as 見ろ｛みろ｝ or 飛べ｛とべ｝) is usually considered ruder than the ～て form (such as 見て{みて｝ or 飛｛と｝んで). Does anyone know why?


texts:
A child is pestering her father about the things in a catalogue that she wants and the father replies:

  「そんなもん見るな見るなっ。　ほしくなっても空しいだけだぞ。」
  Such is life, don't look, don't look. Even if I don't want to it's nothing more than futile (my TL attempt)

Am I correct in thinking that this is the father talking to himself, and hoping that if he doesn't look at the catalogue the problem will go away, and then realising that resistance is hopeless? Or, have I got this translation completely wrong?


texts: How would a name be used as a non-restrictive appositive?

texts:
These other apposition-with-name variants are readily apparent to me:
Name as appositive genitive

富士の山 = the mountain of Fuji

Name modified by non-restrictive appositive

私の友人のAさん = A-san, my friend, / A-san, a friend of mine,
私の父であるB = B, my father,

(Note: I know that the above two are often translated as the below, but I'm interested in grammatical equivalence, if possible.)
Name as restrictive appositive

Aさんという私の友人 = My friend A-san

What about a name used as a non-restrictive appositive?

? = My father, B,

? Bという私の父 doesn't sound right to me, but my ear could be deceiving me.


texts:
The second line of the song Umi no Koe/海の声 says:

  風の声に　耳すませ
  (kaze no koe ni mimisumase)

In this sentence, what does it mean when すませ　is added at the end of 耳/ear.

The full verse is this:

  空の声が 聴きたくて
  風の声に 耳すませ
  海の声が 知りたくて
  君の声を 探してる

Thank you!


texts: The difference between "Okiniiri no" and "Ichiban suki na"

texts:
My text book has the following examples:

Ichiban suki na nomimono wa mizu desu.
My favorite drink is water.
Okiniiri no tabemono wa piza desu.
My favorite food is pizza.

What's the difference between  "Okiniiri no" and "Ichiban suki na"?


texts:
Does using the imperative form (i.e., よこす　→　よこせ) before と言う mean "[He] said I have/had to..."?

I saw this sentence used: シートが砂で汚れたから、クリーニング代よこせと言いました！

I think this sentence basically means: Because I dirtied the seat with sand, [the taxi driver] said I had to pay the cleaning cost!

So, can using the imperative form of a verb mean "...said I had to..."?

And, if that is true, then could I make the following sentences?

行けと言う：says I have to go
野菜を食べろと言った：said I have to eat vegetables

お世話になります！


texts: Is there a difference between ほんとう (hontō) and ほんとうに (hontō-ni) when used alone as interjection or question?

texts:
As the equivalent of Enlgish "Oh really?" / "Yes really." as lone utterances I seem to hear both "本当" (hontō) and "本当に" (hontō-ni) in Japanese - is there a difference?

It seems that hontō is a noun and -ni changes it into an adverb but that this doesn't really matter for the purpose of such simple utterances. Am I thinking along the right lines?


texts:
What would be the most natural and polite way to express a lack of preference, for instance, when being asked by a waiter if I prefer a seat at the counter or a separate table?
I've searched Google, Jisho and Midori and come up with:

　構わないんです（よ）
　気にしない

but I am very unsure of the level of politeness and I don't want it to sound stilted. In particular, 気にしない seems rude, as jisho.org lists it as "not caring; not giving a damn" and that's not really what I had in mind.


texts:
What are the Japanese constructions to express the following English formula?

noun + verb + comparative degree + than I thought

E.g.

Today is colder than I thought.

This works better than I thought.

Is it possible to say?

今日は思ったより寒いです。

これは思ったより上手く行く。


texts:
I have a really hard time understanding the connotation of the term「まじめじゃない」or「まじめな人」, I know the denotation is "a serious person".

Phrases like「まじめに仕事する人 (A person who works hard/takes their job seriously)」are easy to understand, but when it comes to the other 2 phrases they seem subjective, where the connotative meaning is in the eye of the beholder.

Like, most girls in Japan say「まじめな人がいい」but ask them what their definition of a「まじめな人」is and you'll probably get varying answers.

Just going by the denotation I "think" I would qualify as a「まじめな人」and sometimes I'm told「まじめだね」, but mentioning this to my girl and I get a reply of「お前まじめじゃねぇ」, and I want to yell "WHAT IS A「まじめな人」THEN?" lol

It seems everyone has a different notion of what they perceive to be a「まじめな人」or「まじめじゃない人」。


texts: 急いでるから isoiderukara - what's going on here?

texts:
In the context of:
今日早いね　急いでるからじゃあ後で
I gathered that it means, "you're early today" "I'm in a hurry, see you!"
Google translate split it up into isoi derukara -> hurry out-from
But isoi isn't a word? Isoide is a word. Have isoi and deru been combined into isoideru? If so, why doesn't the deru have the kanji?


texts: Is there a dialect where older men refer to themselves as あたし?

texts:
I remember reading that there is a dialect in which older men refer to themselves as あたし. It didn't have a feminine connotation, it may have even been a bit rough.

I think I read it on Wikipedia, but being as I can't find it now, I wonder if it was a prank edit. I'm also pretty sure it was a Honshu dialect.


texts: Difference between 出席【しゅっせき】する and 参加【さんか】する

texts:
Are these words interchangeable?
Just for example I have found some sentences but do not see any difference between these word in meaning or politeness:

彼女【かのじょ】はそのコンテストに参加【さんか】した。
She took part in the contest.
僕【ぼく】は会【かい】には出席【しゅっせき】します。
I will present myself at the meeting.
彼【かれ】はクラス会【かい】には必【かなら】ず出席【しゅっせき】する。
He makes a point of attending class meetings.


texts: How to convert verbs from polite form to dictionary form?

texts: Does anyone have a good rule for converting to dictionary (u)form from masu form regarding the different verb groups? Most websites start with dictionary and go to masu but I learned starting with masu.


texts: So for 一本、we know that 本 is a measure word for long cylindrical objects in class. If you were to order a glass of sake, you would use （お酒の名前）一本ください。My question is when can you use 一杯 for sake?


texts: I'm aware the two kanji are often pronounced the same, but why does one contain the other in it?


texts:
そもそも七罪は、士道に霊力を封印される前に、士道や精霊たちを巻き込んで事件を起こしてしまっていたのだ。皆、そのときのことは水に流してくれてはいたのだが……1人くらい、皆に同調したように見せかけて、七罪への恨みを残している者がいてもおかしくはなかった。
しかもそのとき七罪が化けていたのは『よしのん』……四糸乃の無二の友だちなのである。士道や他の精霊たちが学校へ行ってしまった瞬間を見計らって、仕返しをしにきたのだとしても不思議はなかった。

Context:七罪 once did something bad to 士道 and 精霊s (四糸乃 is one of the 精霊s). Now 四糸乃came to visit 七罪 and 七罪 thought 四糸乃 might seek revenge on her when 士道 and other 精霊 went to school.
Hi. What would be the difference between のだとしても and としても? I know としても can be preceded by a verb directly. And I also know のだ is usually used for explaining reasons when appearing at the end of a sentence. But I have never seen のだ used this way as in the quote. Could you shed some light on this usage?
Thank you.


texts:
After my first question was answered so beautifully, I would like to ask some more. :D

I wanted to know how to use conditionals for events in the past, like: "If I had saved my money, I would be rich now.", or: "If he hadn't eaten that many sweets, he wouldn't have become fat."

I did a google search, but somehow, all of the sites I found had different answers which contradicted each other, as each of them claimed their answer to be the only correct one.
I also found something on this site.  In an answer here: Differences among -たら、なら、-んだったら、-えば, etc, there's the example:

  あのとき右に曲がれば、どうなっただろう。
  If I had turned right back then, I wonder what would have happened.

So it seems like "-ba" is the right conditional to use in this case, but because I have read so many different answers already, I am still unsure and would like a longer explanation about which conditional(s?) can be used to build a correct sentence of the type: "If X had happened (but it didn't), then Y."


texts:
Does the phrase 恐竜ガール make sense? I reads it as Dinosaur Girl.

I also thought of 恐竜の女の子, but then I realize that it translates as dinosaur of girl, which I do not want.

If the first is wrong and makes no sense, what is the correct way to write Dinosaur Girl?


texts:
I'm not sure if it means "very long time" in this sentence.　If it means that, what does the 「っ」 do in the sentence?

ジョーのやろうは刑{けい}務{む}所{しょ}へたたっこまれるようなことになるんでしょうか？


texts:
I tried to add a definition for ギッタンギッタン to JDIC using references on the Internet.

http://www.edrdg.org/jmdictdb/cgi-bin/entr.py?e=1907714&svc=jmdict&sid=

They're slow to add it (or reject it) which is highly unusual. I'm guessing the provided references are not authoritative enough.

Would anybody have any good double checked references for this ?

the current definition I have is :

(ギッタンギッタンにする、ギッタンギッタンにやる) to obliterate, to destroy completely, to inflict tremendous pain


texts: What does 弟は友だちの大きいくるまで学校に行きます properly translate to?

texts:
I was asked to translate the following sentence:

    弟は友だちの大きいくるまで学校に行きます。

I first split it up (in my head) so it looks easier to read, whilst recognising the particles.

  弟は 友だちの 大きい くるまで 学校に 行きます。

And then this was easy... until I stumbled across a slight problem; I know that this must be one of the following sentences when translated, but I don't know which one.

  My younger brother went goes to school in my friend's big car.
  My younger brother went goes to school in his friend's big car.

How do I tell which sentence is the correct one? (I think it's the first one, but am not too sure.)


texts: ものには… in 「ものには順序というものがある」 Some hidden word or phrase?

texts:
I need some help with translating my Legend of Zelda guidebook.

ダンジョンアイテムを探せ！Search for dungeon items!
ダンジョンでの目的はもちろんボスを倒すことだが、ものには順序というものがある。
まずはマップとコンパスを手に入れたい。

I'm a bit stuck with the second line. Something like
"In a dungeon the objective is of course beating the boss, but [finding] things there really is an order"
Yeah... a bit stuck as you can see!
I assume ものには is hiding a verb, but even then I am unsure of the sentence.
Typically in the Zelda games you have to find a specific item before you can get to other chambers and then fight the boss. So it must be referring to that.


texts: I know that they both mean "finish". But I wonder if there are situations or contexts where you can use one but not the other.


texts:
I need help with the grammar of this sentence from a light novel:
短い黒髪に、高くも低くもない平均的な身長。
 1. What is the purpose of に after 黒髪? Is it a conjunction particle?
 2. Does the く after 高 and 低 make them adverbs? If so how does it affect the verb です (which I assume is the implied verb)
 3. I don't understand the use of もない in the sentence


texts: From what I see, it said "It's a match." Other place have said "what a battle", "it's a win," but there no consistency. Does anyone know?


texts: とても、とってとても、超、めちゃ、めちゃくちゃ、物凄く、すごく、本当に、まじで differences in terms of degree and usages

texts:
Pretty sure there are more(nothing formal because it's a major pain), but these are the only ones I can think of. What are the difference between these? The all mean "very". Degree wise, how would you rank them or are they all the same? Is there a word for the highest degree of "very" (casual)?

Addendum:
I get the feeling that some of them can be used for sarcasm (or only used for sarcasm). For example:

ものすごく: 俺あんぱん物凄く好き - literally" I really love red bean buns" but may feel like sarcasm. I.e: Implied meaning "I actually hate/ don't like red bean buns"

Or is whatever I said in the addendum really just jibberish rubbish?


texts:
Since おふくろ is one way to address one's own mother, I was wondering whether the 「ふく」 part is related to the word meaning 'clothes' or not.

And if not, what is the origin of おふくろ?


texts:
How do I say that a when concerned with noun1, more of a verb is done than concerned with noun2?

For example, more barbequing is done in South African cuisine than British cuisine.
Or; South African cuisine has more barbequing than British cuisine.


texts: whats the nuances of interjections え？ は？ そうか ? and 何だ？

texts:
I know that interjections  え？ は？ そうか ? and 何だ？is used when we are in doubt. and i would like to know whats the nuances between those word. here i give the examples....

1st:

  ルフィ：おれは死んでもいいんだ！
  コビー：え？

2nd:

  ヘルメッポ：おいこのガキ投げすてろ！！
  海兵：は？

3rd:

  ゾロ：おれはおれの...やりたい事を成し遂げる！！！
  ルフィ：ふーん、そうか。でも　おれなら一週間で餓死する自信あるけどね。

4th:

  ゾロ：仕方んねエからその辺の海賊船を狙って。生活費を稼いでた. . . それだけだ
  ルフィ：なんだ？お前迷子か。

Can those word being substitute to one and another?


texts:
The sentence in question:
そんな中、大阪・八尾市にある興味深い保育園を見つけました。ここでは５０年前の開園から変わらず、今でもおんぶを取り入れているというのです。

For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/web_tokushu/2018_0521.html?utm_int=news_contents_tokushu_004

My attempt at translation:
"...we found a nursery school of great interest in Osaka yaoshi.
There, without change since the opening before 50 years, they adopt piggyback rides until now."

I just translated the sentence like という wasmt there. And I guess thats basically how you do it here, but I still dont understand the function of という and therefore Id like to know what it adds to the sentence ^^

Furthermore, Ive left out そんな中 because to be honest, I have little idea what it represents here xD


texts: Is "-Nu" same as "-Zu"when attached to end of words to mean "without doing" the attached verb?


texts: This is a line from a song, and the previous one is "My reflection in a mirror so tainted I can´t see a thing"


texts:
This is an excerpt from a conversation with my language partner:

  息子は明日から冬休みです。
  絵画教室に通っているので、冬休みの間は、[写実力強化講座]{しゃじつりょくきょうかこうざ} (realistic painting workshop) に行きます。

My attempt at translation:

  "From Sunday on, my sun has winter vacation.
  Because he passes through a drawing-class (course?), during the winter vacation, he goes to a 'realistic painting workshop intensifying course'."

This is a minor issue I have here. According to jisho.org, 通る means "to pass through" and a lot more. I think to pass through fits the context best because her son seems to partake in drawinglessons which further his skills in drawing. However, I'm also a bit irritated by the use of 教室 and  強化 . I think 教室 refers to the regular lessons at obligatory school education here?
That's why I am a bit confused, because it sounds like these lessons in drawing are a temporary thing at school for which he receives extra private lessons during this winter vacation. Here in germany, we have drawing lessons from the beginning to the end of our obligatory school education (although these lessons are, to be honest, a joke^^). So there is nothing to "pass through" since these lessons/classes are there the entire time of our school education :D
Thats why I wonder wether I interpreted 教室 correctly or not.^^


texts: deciphering a phrase that sounds like "enakatasu"

texts:
I'm having trouble deciphering the phrase marked with ??? in the following sentence:

It sounds like enakatasu

In the transcript, this phrase is written as 「へなく+」
Is this correct? If so, how do you translate this phrase?

video starting @ 1:04

私今？？？ていうサークルに入っているんですけどそこでは困っている人を助けたり私がやっているような日本を教えたりっていう活動をしています。


texts: Trouble with the usage of ずつ translating my own sentences

texts:
I am trying to write the following sentences in Japanese:

  Everyday I try to have 3 non-consecutive study sessions, each taking 3 hours.
  Moreover, I'm trying to make sure that I learn at least 20 unknown words in each of those 3 hours.

Honestly, I fear that even the English ones above may have errors and/or sound unnatural. In any case, below is my attempt at expressing them in Japanese:

  僕は毎日非連続的な勉強時間を三回三時間ずつしようとしています。
  さらに、その三時間ずつにまだ知らない単語を少なくとも二十個覚えるとしています。

*I know they must be horrendously unnatural, and full of erroneous grammar. I am at a stage where I can somewhat read simple articles in Japanese with a dictionary handy, but can hardly even make a proper, simple sentence myself without dying a little inside.

My biggest problem here is where to place ずつ exactly. Moreover, I am aware that sometimes it can be omitted, thus making it even harder to use.

In English, if I were to say "I study for three hours each day," each modifies day instead of hours. However, in Japanese, it'd be something like:

  一日に三時間（ずつ）勉強する。

*Hopefully, this one is error-free.

Here ずつ modifies 時間 instead. I would've put ずつ after 一日 if I hadn't seen this sentence.

On the other hand, I have little problem using ずつ in this situation:

  一人ケーキ一個（ずつ）取って下さい。

Again, here I believe ずつ is optional. In this case, ずつ follows 一個, and I think the English equivalent can be either "everyone take one cake each," or "each one take one cake."

Please help me correct my sentences. 教えていただきたいからです、お願いいたします！

*I'm not sure if this counts as a translation request, but if folks here think it does, I apologize beforehand. I'll remove it myself then.


texts:
楽しんでいいの？

  一方で当時、皆が感じていたことがあります。

  災害のさなかに楽しんでいいのだろうかという空気です。

  ４月も半ばすぎ、避難所の脇にあった桜が満開になった頃、私（後藤）は南三陸町で取材をしていました。

  住民の中には桜を見て楽しんでいいのか、戸惑いを口にする人がいたことから、私は住民の人を誘い、満開の桜を見に行きました。(source)

I don't understand the construction and the meaning of 皆が感じていたことがあります.  Is it:

こと with a relative clause (as in 論文に書いたことを話してください), or
the 〜したことがある pattern (it seems to fit the pattern of the latter but the meaning doesn't seem to fit the context)?

What is the object of 感じる?
What does 住民の中 refer to?

Does the journalist ask himself a question or rather say the question that everyone is thinking about (住民の中には桜を見て楽しんでいいのか)?
What does 戸惑いを口にする人がいたことから mean? I think it means "because there were confused people" but it seems weird according to the context?


texts:
For example I want to say

俺は彼だったらあなたも気にしない

I know that it should be あなたを気にしない, but I couldn't find it being used this way anywhere online in the meaning "didn't care ABOUT you, too". にも yields no results whatsoever
If I say it like above, would it be correct grammatically?


texts:
I looked up both 沙 and 砂 in my 学研{がっけん} 漢和辞典{かんわじてん} today.  It appears that they share the same list of readings (サ、シャ、すな、いさご).  I also see that some words can be written with either kanji.  Here are the senses my dictionary lists for 沙:

すなはら。「[沙漠]{さばく}」
すな。いさご。
水で洗い分けて取り除く。「[沙汰]{さた}」

The dictionary goes on to say that meanings 1 and 2 are normally written with 砂.  That makes sense to me--I've never seen すな or さばく written 沙 or 沙漠.  (Of course, I'm only a student.)

So then, where the meanings overlap, is 砂 always used?  I looked for the answer online, and I found a claim that 沙 to mean sand or desert is mostly used in China, while 砂 is mostly used in Japan.  Is this true?  Is there any distinction in meaning between e.g. 沙漠 and 砂漠?  Are there times when I should write these words with 沙?

I started wondering when I saw how highly ranked 沙 was in the 文化庁 漢字出現頻度表 (Agency for Cultural Affairs kanji frequency list), but I fear I've misled myself.


texts: Is 「っしょ」possibly a colloquial sentence ending particle?

texts:
In this chapter of Chainsawman I saw this 「いいっしょ」 and am confused by what it means.

Are there any other particles like this? I don't see this on any lists online.


texts: How to say "to cause a problem" in japanese?

texts: I wonder if there usual/fixed phrase to say "to cause a problem"? I find self-made 問題を起こす to be inappropriate/unnatural in some way...


texts: I've just began learning Japanese & I saw this word in a web series. I tried to read it but I'm not really sure how to spell it. I'm finding the one left of 王 especially difficult. Can someone help me pls? Thank you so much!


texts: Congratulating someone on the new Era/Emperor

texts: As Japan moves into the Reiwa (令和) era, I was wondering if any traditional greetings exist to congratulate someone on the new Era, Emperor or Year of the Japanese calendar?


texts: What is the difference between 記憶【きおく】 and 思【おも】い出【で】?

texts:
Is there any difference between the meanings or connotations of 記憶 and 思い出?
I started thinking about this after listening to the song 「タイムマシーン」 or "Time Machine" by 少女時代, where these two lines occur near the end of the song:

儚【はかな】くて遠【とお】い記憶【きおく】になる前【まえ】に…
二人【ふたり】の思【おも】い出【で】を忘【わす】れてしまう前【まえ】に…

Is there any meaning behind using both of these instead of just being consistent and using one?


texts:
As I understand it, both of these approximately mean healthy or robust. I originally thought that 丈夫 was more appropriate for inanimate objects and 元気 for living things, but now I get the impression it's not so clear cut.

I'd like to know if there's a rule of thumb for when one or the other should be used?

I'm quite a new Japanese learner (as may be obvious) so please bear with me if the answer should be evident.


texts: Variations in polite negations: ありません, ないです, -ません

texts:
Negations that consistently take -ない in the plain form show differences in the polite version:
食べない -> 食べません
で(は)ない -> で(は)ありません
but
大きくない -> 大きくないです

Why the inconsistency? Is it due to history?


texts: おタバコお吸いになりますか の意味は何ですか?

texts: Why is になりますか used in this sentence? How is it different from おタバコを吸いますか？


texts:
I found this sentence in a short story:

  「先生の口から『どうしたらいい』なんてセリフが出るとは意外でしたよ。僕はてっきり、子供たちには好きなようにさせてやりたいから、ほかの先生どもがぎゃあぎゃあ言ったときには、以前みたいに僕が子供たちをそそのかしたことにしてくれって頼まれるもんだと思っていました」

As far as I understand, the speaker - the viceprincipal of a school - due to a teacher complaining went to a classroom to check about an issue that teacher was having with the students, and found them with cactuses on their desk, to be studied as graduation project because they have supernatural abilities (「だって、サボテンには本当に超能力があるんです」).

I found that 「short past + ことにする」 means to act as something false were true, as confirmed also by this question; as far as I can tell, this is the translation:

  It's unusual to hear a teacher say something like "What should I do?", right? Without doubt, since the kids want to people letting them [させてやりたい] do what they like, when the other teachers were complaining, I thought they were asking me to act for their sake [てくれ] as if I insigated the kids like before

but I'm not really sure, since it sounds odd, and I have some doubts:

以前みたいに means "like before", like he already did something like that before? Alternatively it could mean "previously" as in the viceprincipal did that before the students brought the cactuses, but if that's the case I don't understand why the 「みたい」.
what about もんだ? I know it's used, after the dictionary form of a verb, to state something that's expected or a social norm; does it mean the other teachers are asking that like it was something expected from the viceprincipal?
is my understanding of 「そそのかしたことにする」 right? I can only think, if my translation is right, that the other teachers want the viceprincipal to act like the cactuses were an idea he gave to the studends, like to cover the fact that it was something the students want themselves to do, but I'm not really sure about this.


texts: Understanding the construction た-form+ようになっている

texts:
琴里もかつて一度、<ファントム>に直接会った経験がある。しかしそのとき<ファントム>は、身体中をノイズのようなものに覆われ、声も変声機を通したようになっていたため、その実像をまったく掴めなかったのである。
Hi. I have some problems with the bold part. As far as I know, ようになっている is used to describe a resultative state. Whatever grammar book I have checked, however, says we can only use dictionary form before ようになっている, for example, 火事が起こった場合は、このベルは自動的に鳴るようになっています。So I’m not sure about the bold part example. Since た-form is used, the grammar explanation probably doesn’t apply to 通したようになっていた.
So how should I understand this たようになっていた?
Thank you.


texts: I wonder why all the translation engines show only the word フリー as a translation for the word "free". Why Japanese people had to borrow an english word? Wasn't there anything for free in Japanese history? Does the native Japanese word for "free" exist?


texts: Difficulty understanding とは in the sentence まさか昼からとはね。飯行こうぜ。

texts:
As the title suggests, I don't really understand what とは means in the sentence from 君の名は。

まさか昼からとはね。飯行こうぜ。


texts:
誰かに住所を言いたければどうやって郵便記号の文字を言いますか？

例えばこの郵便番号「〒153-0061」の言い方は「何々イチゴサンゼロゼロロクイチ」です。


texts: What do the words 「しとられん」, 「ちゅうて」 and 「おびえとるん」 mean?

texts:
I have found them in a manga. It is a dialogue discussing to the third person going into a Pachinko shop.

Here is the full sentence

  なんせ ここいらの商人【しょうにん】どもは あのジョーがくると おちおち商売【しょうばい】しとられん ちゅうて おびえとるん じゃから

What do the words しとられん, ちゅうて and おびえとるん mean?


texts: Parsing in this sentence, subject incongruity

texts:
我々(us angels)はアマツ様の教えを順守して行動する。でも人はちがう。アマツ様の教えを我欲がしのぎ、憎み、欺き、決して足りず争いを繰り返す。
amatsu-sama's teachings are usurped by selfishness, hatred, deceit, (??) isn't sufficient, the fighting repeats endlessly.

angels have been teaching the humans stuff, and will soon leave the humans to be independant
What is "決して足りず" in this situation? is it 様の教え?  我々の行動？ 我々? or something else?
is [憎み、欺き、] under 教えを我欲がしのぎ? ie. 教えを[憎み、欺き、我欲]がしのぎ?


texts: Are most counter words made up of two parts? What are those two parts called?

texts: When looking at counter words, there seems to be a part that has a number, and a part that stays more or less the same. For example, the counter words for hours of a day are ichi-ji, ni-ji, san-ji. What's the term for the ichi/ni/san part, and what's the term for the "ji" part?


texts: Do native speakers consciously use phonetic elements in 形声文字?

texts:
Do native speakers of Japanese use phonetic elements when reading less common kanji?  For example, does the compound 咆哮 look like ほうこう because of the elements 包 and 孝, even if you haven't learned to read 咆哮 yet?  Does seeing 癇癪 remind you of the reading かんしゃく because of 間（閒） and 積, even though the sound appears to have changed between 積 and 癪?
Do students in Japan use phonetic elements while learning kanji?  For example, I came across はず written as 筈, so I looked it up and saw the reading カツ.  Thinking of 筈 as たけかんむり and カツ helped me remember it, because I know the phonetic element 舌（カツ） from 活 and 括, so I ended up learning the 音読み even though I couldn't find any vocabulary using that reading.  Would this be normal or strange in Japan?
Are phonetic relationships obvious to native speakers without being studied explicitly?
What references would students in Japan use to look up the phonetic derivations of 形声文字?  All I have is Henshall's book (written in English), but that only covers the old set of 常用漢字.  I know if I'm forced to guess based on 音読み or visual similarity, some of my guesses will be wrong.  My 漢和辞典 doesn't cover character etymology at all, and googling for 字源 only seems to be helpful some of the time.

This is my first question on StackExchange, so please let me know if I've done it wrong.  Thank you!


texts:
I'm reading Yotsubato to learn Japanese. On page 98 of Tome 1, Asagi asks Yotsuba:

  クーラーって　知ってるかなー？

I understand she's asking if Yotsuba knows what an air conditioner is, but I'm unsure about the nuance brought by the use of か and なー here.

From Tae Kim's guide,

  The question marker 「か」 is usually not used with casual speech to make
  actual questions. It is often used to consider whether something is
  true or not. Depending on the context and intonation, it can also be
  used to make rhetorical questions or to express sarcasm. It can sound
  quite rough so you might want to be careful about using 「か」 for
  questions in the plain casual form.

So which is it here? It doesn't seem like she's trying to sound rough or sarcastic.

Also, is なー　here just a way of saying な, itself just a way of saying ね (I'm still quite confused with all the sentence-ending particles)? What would be overall an accurate translation of the question?


texts: How do you classify a word like "電子レンジ"?

texts:
This recent question introduced me to the concepts of 外来語【がいらいご】, defined as foreign words not originating from Chinese, and 和製英語【わせいえいご】, which are English constructions that were made in Japan.

According to the above links, the word レンジ is considered a 外来語 because it is derived from the English word "range", which is an old-fashioned way of talking about a stove.

What happens when a 外来語 is combined with another word to form a compound word?

For example, ガスレンジ is a gas stove, not a "gas range" in English.  Is this an example of 和製英語?

電子レンジ combines a 外来語 with a kanji-compound.  Is this still considered 外来語?  Or, is there some other classification for words like this?


texts: Why is the なら conditional being used here?

texts:
In one section of the JLPT N3 practice test the next is written

妹：「今日は友達と晩ご飯を食べてくるね。」

兄：「わかった。九時過ぎるようなら、迎えに行くから、電話しろよ。」

Why is a conditional being used here?


texts:
I learnt:

食べるところ：about to eat.
食べているところ：in the middle of eating.
食べたところ：just ate.
食べたばかり：just ate.

I would like to know if I can change ところ　for とこ in spoken language.

and if there is any difference between 食べたところ and 食べたばかり. which one is more rude, or more polite; and if I can use both in any situation.


texts: Why does "aka" become "akai" in "Kuruma wa akai desu"?

texts:
I checked the dictionary and found out that red is "aka"

Why does Google Translate turn aka to akai?

  Kuruma wa akaidesu

(By the way, why is akai joined with desu?)


texts: Can someone explain what purpose こう and こと are serving in this sentence? and whether my interpretation/translation is somewhat correct?

texts:
This sentence here (which in context of where I found it is referring to two people, as shown in the brackets):

(私たちのことが認めてもらえるまで。) それまではこうしていることは内緒です

I vaguely understand it to mean something along the lines of "until then/that time (それまでは), what we are doing/doing this is (こうしていることは) a secret (内緒です)"

I understand that こう means "like this", and according to jisho.org, paired with する it means "to do like this", and こと refers to a state of affairs, but i'm just struggling to understand how each of them fully affect this sentence, assuming that my shoddy interpretation of it is at least in the ballpark.

Additionally, I would also be curious to know how the sentence including 私たちのことが changes when こと is omitted (私たちのことが vs 私たちが), although I assume it'd be something like "until our situation is accepted" vs "until we are accepted" ?

Many thanks, apologies if this is a dumb question, I always seem to be full of them when learning something new.


texts: Why would 「行こうとしようよ」be interpreted as "let's try to try to go"?

texts:
Your translation is single-volitional, not double. 「行こうとしようよ」 means
  something like "Let's try to try going next week.", which is why it is
  an incorrect answer.(source)

It seems to be 行こうとする(to try to go) in the volitional form, so it would mean 'let's try to go' and not 'let's try to try to go'.

And since it is incorrect, how would we say "let's try" (with the nuance of ようとする and not with the one of てみる)?


texts:
I heard

  これらの話は本当のことなのか

from this  video clip about Gozo Shioda sensei.

What is the purpose of なの in これらの話は本当のことなのか?

It seems to be redundant because

  これらの話は本当なのか or これらの話は本当ですか

might be sufficient.


texts:
Can someone say:

"ここに暑いですね?"

To ask: "Its hot in here, isn't it?"
Or is the correct way to say it:

"ここで暑いですね？"


texts:
〜ない functions the same way as an adjective, and so it can be conjugated to 〜なかった, 〜なくて, and so on. As far as I can tell, this is not case for 〜ぬ. Does it function as a standalone suffix, or is it able to be conjugated? If so, how would one put it into the past tense, etc?

Also, is the negative auxiliary 〜ん in Kansai dialect a contraction of 〜ぬ? If so, does this form of the negative function in the same way as 〜ぬ?


texts: What is よ doing as a connector before a comma?

texts:
I saw this as a comment someone posted on Google+ in response to NHK announcing a show:

  本気{ほんき}なら地上波{ちじょうは}でやれよ、受信料{じゅしんりょう}返{かえ}せ

I think it's saying "If this is really what you intend to broadcast, give me back my broadcast fees!"

I'm not confident in that, though, because of that よ that comes just before the comma. My translation is more because I can't think of anything else that makes sense.

So far as I know, よ is just a for emphasis. As such, I don't know if I've ever really noticed it being used in the middle of a sentence before. If it just emphasis, then we should be able to take it out, like this:

  本気なら地上波でやれ、受信料返せ

Which to me looks incomplete. If I wanted to say in Japanese the same sentiment, I would use ば, like so:

  本気なら地上波でやれば、受信料返せ

Is よ in the original sentence serving the same purpose as my ば, or is there something completely different going on?

What exactly is the best translation of the sentence, assuming mine is off?


texts: I just learned that the て/た form of the verb たまう can be たまうて/たまうた. Is this the same for the verb のたもう? I am trying to translate a song and this て construction seems to appear in it. If this is the case, does "のたもうております" just mean "saying"?


texts: おっす！ An abbreviation for ... what exactly?

texts:
Going hiking here in Japan, you can hardly pass anyone without either saying お疲れさまです, おはようございます (I go hiking in the morning) or こんにちは.

Some people (young males in particular) greet you with either チュワッ or オッス. A great idea, since everybody's out of breath. I gather that チュワッ is a contraction of こんにちは, but オッス could be either お疲れさまです or おはようございます. Does the person greeting you with オッス actually have one of the two possible greetings in mind, or is it just used more like a universal sound, which can be used in any situation?


texts: 「おイイ？？？じた炊けてる。」と書いていますが、一つ漢字をなんかよみにくいです。


texts:
Can anyone explain me what are the differences between Nounに感じる and Nounを感じる. I currently understand Nounを感じる as "To feel Noun", but I don't know what's Nounに感じる. For an example:

  こんなにも近くに感じてる (It's from a song)


texts: Origin of the pronunciations of 観音 and 漢音

texts:
The Japanese name for the deity Guanyin, 観音, seems as far as I can tell to be almost universally pronounced かんのん Kannon, and not かんおん Kan’on.

The origin of the name, as Wikipedia correctly gives it, is an Old or Middle Chinese translation of the Sanskrit name अवलोकितस्वर Avalokitásvara (later supplanted by अवलोकितेश्वर Avalokitéśvara) ‘he who looks down upon sound’.

The first of the two characters used in the Chinese translation, 觀 is pronounced guān /kʷan˥/ in modern Mandarin and is usually reconstructed as /kʷan/ or /kʷɑn/ in Middle Chinese. The Japanese pronunciation かん kan (earlier くゎん kwan) follows directly from this pronunciation.

The second character, 音 (yīn /(j)in˥/ in Mandarin), is reconstructed as something like /ʔiəm/ or /ʔjəm/ or /ʔi(ɪ)m/ in Middle Chinese. The Japanese Go’on pronunciation, おん on, follows fairly directly from this reconstruction, representing dialects where the /ə ~ ɪ/ was rounded and remained; while the Kan’on pronunciation, いん in, represents dialects where the initial /i ~ j/ merged with the nucleus, yielding /(j)i/. Whatever the precise form of the vowel, it definitely had a vocalic/glide initial.

Putting these two together, thus, should yield 観{かん}音{おん} kan’on, and it does seem to, rarely. Most commonly, though, it yields 観{かん}音{のん} kannon, as though 音 began with a nasal, which it obviously doesn’t.

Where does this extra nasal come from? Is it just simple 連声{れんじょう} in action?

And if so, then what about the historically almost entirely identical 漢音{かんおん}? The first character there, 漢 (Mandarin hàn /xan˦˩/) is reconstructed as Middle Chinese /xan ~ xαn/ or /han ~ hɑn/, with a non-labialised spirant rather than a labialised plosive as the initial, but with the same final (and the initials merged in Japanese anyway). So if 連声 hits 観音, it would be logical to expect it to also hit 漢音, or indeed 幹音{かんおん}, where the first character is reconstructed as /kan ~ kɑn/ and thus even closer to 観. Yet none of those seem to have gathered an extra nasal.

How random was 連声 when it was productive? How come it affected 観音, but not 漢音, if 連声 is indeed what lies behind the extra nasal in 観音?


texts: How to break down the nuances of each Japanese word translating to "somehow" or "anyhow"?

texts:
There seems to be an endless supply of Japanese words and phrases that translate to "somehow" or "anyhow" in English. It's difficult, at least with J-E dictionaries, to understand the nuances of each variation. If you had to break these up into categories, how would you do it?

迚も斯くても

如何かこうか

兎や角

兎も角も

兎も角

兎もあれ

兎に角

兎にも角にも

何分にも

何分

何処やら

何処とも無く

何処かしら

何れにしろ

何れにしても

何らかの形で

何にせよ

何にしろ

何にしても

何とやら

何とはなしに

何となし

何とか

何せ

何しろ

何かの拍子

何かしら

どの道

どうやらこうやら

どうやら

どうにかして

どうにかこうにか

どうでも

どうせ

どうかした

どうか

どういう訳か

とりま

ともあれかくもあれ

とまれかくまれ

いずれ


texts: What is the subject of this following sentence:実際問題として、不倫が原因で家庭が崩壊したり、離婚に至る例も少なくないです。

texts: Can it be 不倫の原因で家庭が崩壊したり？ What's the main clause and what is a subordinate clause?


texts: Why and when do Japanese speakers switch between formal and informal language among friends?

texts:
So I’ve read and noticed that Japanese speakers regularly switch from using だ to です and using both plain and 〜ます forms very frequently throughout a conversation even with friends. Why is there such a common change in formality with people you’re close with or know well? And how do they decide which to use when?

Edit: I don’t mean transitioning permanently, I mean in everyday conversations where the switch is random. I have a friend who switches all the time while we talk and I’ve seen street interviews where the formality is completely all over the place. Why does it switch so often?