texts: masu/masho, desu/desho, and -tai forms of verbs

texts:
Let's take some rather trivial and also rather casual sentences such as:

(1) Want to meet up at X o'clock?
(2) Let us meet up at X o'clock.
(3) Want to grab (something to eat / dinner) later? / Want to get dinner later?

I tried to translate these sentences, however I'm not sure what the different verb forms that could be used would imply. Let's start with (1).

X ji ni aitai desu ka (= To express the "want" part?)
X ji ni aimashou ka (= More affirmative?)
X ji ni aimasu ka (= Is this allowed?)

(2)

X ji ni aimashou. (= The way I saw it online)
X ji ni aimasu. (= Is this allowed?)
X ji ni aitai desu. (= Expressing the want part, is this allowed?)

(3)

Atode (yuushoku o) tabetai desu ka (= I believe this is correct?)
Atode (yuushoku o) tabetai masu ka (= Why is this wrong)
Atode (yuushoku o) tabe(masu/desu) ka (= Is this very impolite?)

Which of the translation tries above are correct, which ones are wrong, why, and what do they each imply? I also still don't quite get the different between masu and desu, for now desu seemed to me as something similar to "to be", whereas "masu" was simply added to every verb, however the first translation try of (3) was a sentence I saw online, and it is using desu instead of masu so I'm not sure anymore.

What other different forms could there be to express these quite trivial sentences? How would they change in what contexts (Let's use the following contexts, for example: 1. Work (Asking a colleague or superior), 2. Family, 3. Friend, 4. Acquaintance, 5. Significant other, 6. Between 3 and 5). I do believe that English also has slight differences for all of these situations, although they might lie more in the "way" that the sentence was said rather than in the sentence itself.

Help greatly appreciated!


texts:
From an article about self-driving cars:

  日本のトヨタ自動車は、人が運転しなくても走る自動運転の車を紹介しています。

I'm unsure on the translation of part of the above sentence. Does this mean that:

Even people who don't drive can travel in these self-driving cars
The car can travel without anybody driving it

2 was my initial thought reading this, but it seems an odd thing to state. It wouldn't be self-driving if someone was driving it. But 1 also seems odd to me, since this doesn't seem like something that could possibly be legal.

Which is the correct translation?


texts:
それは横恋慕と

横恋慕 means falling in love with someone who is already in a romantic relationship with someone else.

However, according to the dictionary the translation would be illicit love.
Can someone explain it to me? Why would it be illicit?


texts:
I have two questions concerning the first clause in the following sentence:

ＮＨＫが熊本市などにある７３の避難所で聞くと、多くの避難所で食べ物が足りないと言っていました。
When the NHK asked at 73 of the shelters in Kumamoto-shi, they (the sheltered people) said that there isn't enough food or water at many shelters.

The first question is regarding で. In this case, で indicates where the action occurred, right? That is, as opposed to "whom/what was asked" or "about what was asked". If so, how could the clause be changed to indicate the NHK specifically asked people in the shelter (避難に perhaps) or about people in the shelter (避難のことを maybe)?
Second, why does ７３の避難所 not require a counter?
The full context and link to the article is below.

熊本県では大きな地震が続いていて、１８日の午後１時半には約９万４０００人が６３２の避難所（＝逃げてきた人が集まる場所）に避難していました。ＮＨＫが熊本市などにある７３の避難所で聞くと、多くの避難所で食べ物が足りないと言っていました。みんなに食べ物を渡すため、食事を１日に２回だけにしている所もあります。

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10010487241000/k10010487241000.html


texts: The role/meaning of なる in 邪魔をするOrganisationなる”羽虫”

texts:
Big boss leader with his cronies is looking for something and says:

先程の赤いおさげが渡してきたデータによるとあの海岸沿いの何処からしい
邪魔をするOrganisationなる”羽虫”もいるようだがすべて轢き潰して虱潰しにすれば見つかるであろう

Now IMO this basically boils down to:

according to the data we got from the pig tailed one, it (what they are searching for) is somewhere along this coast.
Then there is also those gnats from the meddlesome Organisation, but if we smush them one by one, we will be discovered.

The weird bit is the 邪魔をするOrganisationなる”羽虫” specifically "Organisationなる". Why would you mate a noun and なる without the particle. And I don't really see に fitting in there. Unless she is trying to say something like "Insects who'll turn out to be the troublesome organization" or something.
So what's up with that なる?
Also I'm not 100% on who 見つかる refers to (the thing they are looking or them) buuut I can save that for later.


texts: Why is hiragana used in the middle of this compound word? (障害者 vs 障がい者)

texts:
I saw this article on Gizmodo Japan:

  だれもがスマホの便利さを享受できる第一歩。視覚障がい者がiPhone操作を学べるアプリ

Obviously, this is 視覚障害者 (or possibly, 視覚障碍者).  It is in the title of the article, as well as several places within the body of the article.

Why is the 害 written in hiragana?  Is there some kind of stigma, or political incorrectness behind using 障害者?


texts: What's the difference between 一番星 and 最初の星?

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What's the difference between [一番星]{いちばんぼし} and [最初]{さいしょ}の[星]{ほし} ?

Do they both mean the first star in the same context?


texts: Why the name 海未 has the 未 and not just 海?

texts: I've seen Love Live recently and I liked the name UMI. I learned that Ocean was 海 only but when I watch her name closely she had a 海未... I just want to understand what does the 未 mean


texts:
This may be a bad question, since it's not very specific and I am very long winded.

I've studied Japanese on and off 7 years, though my level is very low and I never had much immersion besides a year of language exchange once a week and 2 weeks of travel.

I find I have a lot of trouble getting a true sense of the meaning of words
which become the elements of enormous numbers of grammatical phrases. Even if I believe I know at least some meaning of the words and particles in a phrase, I can't intuit the complete meaning. To me it always ends up seeming like these grammatical phrases are more than the sum of their parts.

In my head the word ところ means place. Because some Pimsleur audiobook drilled it into me that I should say わたしのところ、あなたのところ 7 years ago.

But I know another meaning of ところ。ところで - By the way. I have it memorized, I'm not confused when I hear it.

And there's ところから - because of...

にしたところで　- even for, also.

Is this a different ところ which is just a homophone? What's the connection? It starts to have a meaning like こと and の.

ように can mean like, as, or in order to. Is it the same word, or is it a homophone?

How can I determine the essential meanings of these important words? I have the Japan Times series of Grammar books, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Certain particles and words appear again and again, but I don't have a sense for why in composite they form the meanings that they do. So I find myself lost when I come across one I don't know, and surprised when I learn the real meaning of it, and rather than happy I found it, feel very lost. I'm also vulnerable to the trap of trying to assign an English word to a Japanese word. いつのまにか - before I knew it. None of the parts match the English, but I can't understand the meaning and context otherwise. I don't know why いつのまにか means what it does, even though of course I know 何時、間、の、に、か individually in one or more meanings.

To make this question answerable, I guess I want to know A: are these basic elements of Japanese grammar homophones that have nothing to do with each other and B: If not is there a good guide for me to not just find an individual meaning of these words in terms of their usage in grammatical structures, but a more holistic approach which tries to explain why and how they combine into this wide set of usages. I was sold on the Japan Times Grammar books as a bible of Japanese grammar for learners, and they are good, but I end up with a long list of specific examples and their english counterparts, rather than an explanation that would help me intuit their usage, let alone build up those more nuanced and complex meanings myself.


texts:
I've always thought of 姿 as a physical form or shape, but I came across this passage from my book:

  彼らの話から浮かびあがってきたのは、・・・・・{この人}の姿だった。

(I took just took out some descriptions of the woman they're talking about that aren't really relevant [that I can tell, anyway].)

I imagine that I've got the meaning of the sentence--that these guys are talking about this person--but what exactly does 姿 here represent? In the story, these guys are trying to track down a woman, but at this point they haven't seen actually seen her, only heard about her from rumors, etc.. Is 姿　this sort of image they have of her? Is it sort of a representation of who she is, and not her physical person?

More importantly, is this a common usage of 姿　or more literary?


texts: What is the difference between mannenhitsu and pen?

texts: I was studying on another website and ran across a blurb that said that a pen is also called mannenhitsu in Japan. Is there a difference between the two? If not, is mannenhitsu said sometimes, just as often, or more often as pen in Japanese?


texts: Can と AND や be used in a sentence for a list of things

texts:
I have been reading about using と and や.

Now, I understand the basic idea that や is for a list where the list is not all-inclusive. と on the other hand essentially informs the listener that "only these things are what I mean."

Are there any times where the "and" や and と would both be used in a sentence? Specifically for a list of things?

  趣味がスキーやゴルフや英語と日本語の勉強やカラオケです。

as a possible (and poor?) example. If I wanted to say in the example above "My hobbies are skiing, golf, studying English and Japanese, and karaoke."


texts:
Got transferred to Tokyo by my company, and the trains are late almost everyday. When trains are late in the morning we send an email stating that we'll be late.

Customarily we end the mail with "ご迷惑おかけしますが、よろしくお願い致します。"

Writing it like this feels like I'm taking the blame for something totally out of my control.

Can I place the blame where it actually belongs, ending with something like "JR東がご迷惑おかけしてますが、よろしくお願い致します。"?


texts: What does にゃ mean at the end of a sentence or as a particle?

texts:
From the title of a YouTube video:

  だるまさんが転んにゃ

From the song じょんから女節:

  春は私にゃ 遠すぎる

I suspect the second usage might be a contraction of に and the 関西弁 copula や, but I'm not sure. Did the first one come from んにゃ <= んや <= んである?


texts: How to say "no thank you, I don't want / need it"?

texts:
Sometimes I am offered something but because I'm just a beginner I don't know what verb they used.

I know the proper way to say "no" is to answer with the negative form of the verb the other person used, that いいえ alone is too abrupt.

Also from experience I know that the words in some languages meaning "want" or "need" might have nuances that make them inappropriate.

Usually I want to say "I don't need it" or "I don't want one" in a shop that offers me a bag or a drinking straw or disposable chopsticks. But this evening while exploring Naha I discovered I had wandered into the red light district and was offered a "nice girl"!

How should I correctly express "no thanks, I don't want one" when I didn't hear the verb used?


texts: Can someone explain the usage of Verb+り in these sentences please

texts:
I previously practice reading beginner’s japanese book and was surprised by this verb form, the verb+り. Can someone please help explain about its usage or where I can study more about this form of verb. Thanks so much!!

  「ロバートは何枚かのＣＤを手にとり、ポールの部屋へ向かいます。」
  「ロバートは彼のお気に入りの歌手の名前を挙げます。」


texts: Similar 音・訓読み: Coincidence, or something more?

texts:
Occasionally, some 漢字 will have quite similar 音読み and 訓読み; such as, for instance 困; with 困{コン} and 困{こま}る; or 灰 with 灰{はい} and 灰{カイ}.

Are these cases exclusively coincidence, or are there situations in which Chinese words have been fully internalised as Japanese words rather than Sino-Japanese loanwords? (Or even; Japanese words exported to Chinese as fully internalised loanwords?)

Edit:

Thanks to naruto's comment; I remembered the one I really wanted to ask about (it was nagging at me as I wrote the question): 死, with 死{し}ぬ and 死{シ}.


texts: How to say "cheap and easy" for food/recipes?

texts:
I am looking for recipes online in Japanese but I am not sure about some of the terminology. In particular, I'd like to search for "cheap and easy recipes" - are 簡単【かんたん】 and 安い【やすい】appropriate words for this purpose?

Thank you :)


texts:
The following are commonly-used patterns that I find in some resources.

A: 彼は私ほどハンサムじゃない。He is not as handsome as I.
B: 私ほどハンサムな男の人はいない。There is no man who is as handsome as I.

Question

Is it possible to rearrange B so that it looks like A as follows.

  ハンサムな男の人は私ほどいない。


texts: How would one emulate capitalized letters in Japanese?

texts:
Capitalized letters look like I'M SHOUTING AT YOU.

How would you reproduce this effect in Japanese?

I don't think any of the obvious choices,

using カタカナ instead of 漢字 or ひらがな,
using punctuation, e.g. brackets 「」『』etc.
using bold face

quite make the mark.

Does that mean I CAN'T SHOUT AT YOU IN JAPANESE ??!!?!


texts:
(1) ご迷惑{めいわく}をおかけして、申し訳ありません。
  (2) 毎日{まいにち}、大変{たいへん}お手数{てすう}をおかけして、申し訳ありません。

both basically mean the same thing?
the time period for #1 is from 1 afternoon to several years?
this time period for #2 is from 1 week to several years?
#2 is rarely used?


texts: V(さ)せる when it doesn't indicate permission/compulsion

texts:
さくら は あたたかく なって きた ことを しらせる ように さきます

あき の おわり から はな を さかせ はじめ......

The above sentences use the V(さ)せる forms - though they do not indicate permission/compulsion.
Could someone help understand this form please?


texts: What are the origins of the て-form? Was its meaning when it initially appeared different from what it is now?


texts:
Found this quote in Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!:

  余計なこと教えるんじゃなかった

How my brain tried to process it:

  I did not teach unnecessary things

English readability aside, it doesn't make any sense anyways, to which I found the subtitles to be

  I shouldn't have taught her all that

which in turn completely baffled me. How does the grammar work out here?

Many thanks.


texts: What is the meaning of "Tabako-wa goenryo kudasai"

texts:
From what I understand, this means "Please refrain from smoking". However, I cannot find what "goenryo" means by looking it up in the dictionary.

Can someone help me by explaining what it means?


texts: What is the logic of the expression "冗談じゃない"?

texts:
Literally, 冗談じゃない means "it is not a joke" but actually it seems that the meaning of this is "something unthinkable even for a joke"( japanese definition:冗談にもそんなことを言ったりするな。).

「道楽に働いているんだろうだって? 冗談じゃない.」

"I'm working for the fun of it? Nothing of the sort!"

「冗談じゃない、この暑い中に誰かと結婚するなんて！」

"Imagine marrying anybody in this heat!"


texts: How do I ask my friend to recommend me a manga?

texts:
I know manga is 漫画 and recommend is 勧める.

Do I just... 漫画を進める？


texts:
I read that そう means it is/it so and that adding the だった, means past tense so it would only make sense that そうだった would translate into it was.

I heard someone in an anime say this and the translation was you are right.
I can understand how it is so can mean you are right/ you are correct, but shouldn't it be you were correct ?

Am I missing something ?


texts: was the plain negative of aru once or in a certain dialect aranai?

texts:
the plain negative of aru is irregular:

NOT: aru --> ara (mizenkei) --> ara+nai
BUT: aru --> nai


texts:
Someone on another website (reddit) was arguing that "から" should not be used in written Japanese (which this person then clarified to mean formal, literary written Japanese), and there are some websites that more or less seem to advocate this view.

However, my feeling was that this can't possibly be true; while formal writing will almost certainly not use "だから" to begin a sentence, it is easy to find numerous of examples of "から" (meaning specifically "because", rather than "from", etc.) used in formal writing in forms or contexts like "であるから", "...があるから...", etc., and I doubt I could find a single book (or even article of reasonable length) that doesn't use "から" at all.

Is it a commonly accepted view that "から" should never be used in formal writing? Is this an example of hypercorrection by language mavens?


texts: Is this a wrong translation of the negative?

texts:
I found this sentence from Death Note with it's translation:

  "これなら私はあなたを殺せないし、あなたからしか警察はノートを奪えない。"
  "Now I can’t kill you and the police can only recover the Death Note from you."

Why is 奪えない translated as "can recover" and not "can't recover" since it's in the negative form? Does it have something to do with これなら?


texts:
For a project for school (compulsory song research), I have chosen 緑黄色社会の『sabotage』 (time 1:48); a requirement is that I understand what is being said, so I proceeded with the translation process. I was fine until this line showed up, near the middle of the song lyrics:
数(かぞ)えりゃ1,2,3,4, and 5,6,7...
I am confused on the first part concerning 「数えりゃ」; I see how it is partly 数える, to count, but then there is りゃ, and I am unsure if this has any meaning; I know this is not an inflection (what has えりゃ as an attachment?), but I do not want to disregard what nuance it could add. What exactly does 「数えりゃ」 mean, or does it not have any meaning? If beneficial, the previous line was talking on how the partner in a relationship keeps making mistakes, and I assume the line in question is a continuation of the number of mistakes.


texts: How/when is くる used to mean difficult/unpleasant?

texts:
In this video, a Japanese YouTuber says the following:

  美味しいですけど、ご飯の同じ量と卵の同じ量って、ちょっと卵のほうがきますね。でも美味しいです。

It seems like きます means むずかしい here.

Some other examples:

  (辛い食べ物を食べた後に)これは後からくる！

Apparently this implies that the effects of the spicy food kicked in only after eating it (it seemed okay at the time).

  朝からAC/DCはきますね。

The speaker here doesn't like listening to loud rock music in the morning.

Are these common usages of くる? I haven't found anything in my usual dictionaries about it. Does anyone know how the usage arose?


texts:
I've been trying to learn Japanese for a little over a month now which let me finally read this little tag line on a My Hero Academia poster I have 「最高のヒーローに」
Once I looked up the meaning of each Kanji I gathered that is meant something along the lines of "the best of heroes" or just "the best hero." When I checked, I found out it translates to "be the best hero" so I was close. Awesome.
However that に at the end started messing me up when I thought about it. Thanks to my lessons, Google and other questions on here, I've seen that the particle に is used for stuff like destination and time, being translated to "to" or "at" but I don't get it here. Can it be used for stuff like "I'm going/want to be" or to mark goals too?


texts: A phrase similar to "...is the mother of all f##k ups!"

texts:
So I was fixing some code (because someone thought they were smart enough to start using multiple inheritance and I guess "Kernighan's lever" came into effect) and I want to add a comment "Remember kids multiple inheritance is the mother of all f##k ups!" (I know it's usually "Assumption is the mother of all f##k ups!")

Is there a similar phrase in Japanese? If not; how would I write this to convey the same connotation?


texts: How is bad hand writing treated in the Japanese culture

texts: How bad can your hiragana, katakana and kanji characters be before people start to complain about it. I know a fair bit of Arabic, Spanish, and English, and in all of those languages and their respective cultures, it is fairly normal for people to have very bad had writing.


texts: How to say "I will just let future me deal with it" in Japanese?

texts:
「I will just let future me deal with it」は日本語で何と言いますか。

It's a part of my sakubun I'm currently writing and I just don't know how to say this sentence in Japanese? I'm thinking maybe:

  未来の私それを対応するだろう。

but not so sure.


texts: aru vs iru : Why is aru in "Watakushi-wa untenshu-ga aru" (私は運転手がある) unacceptable?

texts:
There is a generally expressed rule in Japanese that, when declaring existence, いる is used for animate subjects, and ある is used for inanimate subjects. There are some interesting variations in what is considered to be animate, but there's one very well known exception to these rules.

  私は子どもがXある - I have X children/As for me, there are X children.

いる is preferred in this sentence, but ある is permissible. I have heard the acceptability of ある in the above explained in two ways.

Children are "de-personified" in this structure, either because of linguistic humility or some other reason. In this case, intransitive ある maintains the usual distinction of working only with inanimate/non-moving subjects.
This is actually a different ある verb from the existence variant. In this case, ある is a transitive possessive verb meaning "to have, to own".

Either of these explanations will work, but moving outside of this specific sentence presents me with a problem.

I have recently read that

  ×私は運転手がある

is not acceptable, even if 運転手 refers to a permanent servant working for the 私 in the above sentence. Why is this?

I would think it would be at least as acceptable to de-personify one's own servants as one's children. Rather obviously explanation 2 (possession) should allow this construction as well. What distinguishes these two uses of aru?


texts: What does 「中」 mean in 「そう危険なものではなかった中、彼の姿は。。。」

texts:
The following excerpt comes from this news article: http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/11944976/

  隣のビルとの隙間はそう危険なものではなかった中、彼の姿は一瞬にしてビルの谷間に消え、しかも地面を強打する衝撃音が発生することはなかったのだ。

What is 中 doing here? Looks like it might mean "although" or something?


texts: Relative clause ending with a noun should be followed by の or である? What is the difference?

texts:
According to the book I am reading now, a relative clause ending with noun must be followed by の. But sometimes I also find a relative clause ending with noun that is followed by である.
Consider the following examples:

A: 両親が日本人の学生はクラスの２０％をしめている。
B: 両親が日本人である学生はクラスの２０％をしめている。

Literally it means

The students whose parents are Japanese constitute 20% of the students in the class.

Questions

When do we have to use の and である for a relative clause ending with a noun?

Is there any difference in nuance?


texts: The meaning of a て-form verb at the end of this sentence

texts:
There are many explanations of t-form at the end of the sentence on internet like:

1) Connecting to other clauses, or  if there is no continuation, expressing that you want to continue.て form at end of phrase but not being used for requests

2) Expressing  "while" "when" or "although" What is the use of て-form at the end of this sentence?

3) Short way to say ...てください Using て form at the end of sentences

4) Giving a reason Why is there て form at the end of the sentence?

However, I can't understand this dialogue:

  Bulma: あんた女の人みたことないの?

Haven't you ever seen a women?

  Goku: 人間みたのもはじめてだ

It's the first time I see a human too.

  死んだじいちゃんがいってたぞ

My dead grandfather said/needed

  もしもおまえが女とであうことがあったらやさしくしてやれって

If you, meeting a women, unite/live, while been able to treat her kindly /be able to treat her kindly!...

What is the meaning of the t-form on this one?

Thanks.


texts: Is "またまた" actually used by anyone in Japan to mean "bye" or "see you later"?

texts:
For years I have been saying "またまた" for "see you" to Japanese people I meet. Well at least half the time, since I also often say "またね".

But only tonight for the first time did anybody pick me up on it and tell me it's not right! I arrived yesterday in Okinawa for the first time.

So I know a more "proper" way to say it is "じゃあまた" and considered "またね" as a bit more informal. I had always thought I picked up "またまた" from a backpacker I met either at home in Australia or in a hostel in some third country. Possibly even from staff in a hostel in Japan.

So is it something I just imagined or made up myself? Or is it actually used as slang by young people in some part of Japan?


texts: Breaking up "年収だってこんなにあんのよ"

texts:
I'm having a hard time understanding "年収だってこんなにあんのよ" so please help me fill in the holes!
年収: annual income
だって: as for (?)
こんなに: like this
あんの: ??


texts: Is there a name for the ending year of an era?

texts: [元]{がん}[年]{ねん} is a term for the first year of an era, i. e. 平成元年=1989 starting with 8 January. But what is the term of the ending one, i. e. 2019 for Heisei?


texts: Why is the space so big/wide in the Japanese IME compared to the English IME?

texts: And is there a way to type a narrower, English style space while in the Japanese IME?  (Like a key combination?)


texts: Why does the katakana ラ look similar to the hiragana う?

texts: More specifically, is there a historical reason why some katakana characters look similar to the hiragana ones, as the question suggests?


texts:
I was reading the Japanese wikipedia article on Pablo Escobar and came across the word 電波調査斑. What does it mean exactly? And how do you pronounce it? I take it 電波 means electronic wave, and  調査 search. But what about 斑? How does this fit in, and what is the resulting word?

The whole sentence from which this word was taken reads.

その後政府はエスコバルの一部の家族の身柄を確保し、さらに1993年12月2日、コロンビア国家警察直下のコロンビア治安部隊の電波調査斑が、メデジンの中産階級住宅街の隠れ家から息子と携帯電話で通話するエスコバルの居場所を突き止め、治安部隊の特捜チームが突入して屋根の上に逃れたエスコバルに一斉射撃を加えて殺害した.


texts:
I have a quick question about how one would parse the following:

  だが、別段そこに『キングダム』の要となる物が置かれているというわけではない。

I'm a little confused by what "置かれている" is supposed to mean here and how one would parse it into a sentence.

The best I can come up with is  "However, it's not like the 'kingdom' was something essential to that place." I haven't included "置かれている" in that attempt though, I can't see how this word fits in?

For context this line comes from an introduction in a story, it's describing a mysterious place hidden in the shadows of   『キングダム』where powerful men secretly gather.


texts:
I want to say "I want to watch a movie with you"..

Can I say this?

あなたと映画を見るつもりです


texts: 貸してあげる、貸してもらう　USAGES

texts:
Today, I've seen a question about 貸してあげる、貸してもらう

Here's the context:

  りえ : きれいなカメラですね。
  あや : これですか。山田さん_____ _____。

These are the choices:

  が、貸してあげました
  に、貸してもらいました
  が、貸していただきました。
  に、貸してくださいました。

I think 3 and 4 are incorrect but I don't understand the differences between 1 and 2.

山田さんが貸してあげました means Yamada gave lending a camera to me.
山田さんに貸してもらいました  means I received lending a camera from Yamada.

I honestly think that 1 and 2 are correct but the answer has to be only one.
Can anyone explain the differences please ?


texts:
I'm trying to translate some of the signs in the anime FLCL, and I came across this sign on the side of a train in the first episode:

ワソマソ
出入口

The second part means "doorway", correct? But what about ワソマソ ? What does 'Wasomaso' mean? Or am I reading it wrong? Thanks for your help!


texts: What is the difference between 「変更」 and 「変化」?

texts:
I came across the word 「変化」 meaning "change, alteration". I already know the word 「変更」 that means "change" as well. What is the difference between both terms?

I found a related question where they discuss 変わる vs 変化, but they say nothing on 変更。

よろしくお願いします！


texts:
What's the difference between 話 and 話し?
Find it hard to differentiate. Anyone can answer?
Thanks.


texts: Meaning of する verb in 「その少女は小さい口元をしている」

texts:
I was looking up in the dictionary, and came across a sentence like this:

  その少女は小さい口元をしている。

From what I understand, している means "is doing" or "does". So the girl "does" her little mouth?

Then I rechecked the meaning of する, and the only closer meaning I found is "to wear". One "wears" a mouth? Though it makes a bit sense, for me the most appropriate word would be "to have". One can't take off the mouth then "wear" it back.

Is this sentence correct? Is there another meaning that makes sense that I don't know? Or "to wear" totally makes sense but I didn't understood it right?


texts: What is the difference between 思【おも】い付【つ】く and 思【おも】い浮【う】かぶ?

texts:
The words 思い付く and 思い浮かぶ both mean something along the lines of "to come to mind". But I'm not actually sure about the details of when to use one versus the other. Yet, at the same time, they don't feel interchangeable, either.

I get the feeling that the difference has something to do with volition... like, 思い付く is when you are trying to think of something, and 思い浮かぶ is when something just naturally occurs to you. On the other hand, 浮かぶ is often used when referring to trying to think of ideas (e.g. いいアイデアが思い浮かばない).

So, what is the actual difference between these words? When should I use 思い付く and when should I use 思い浮かぶ?


texts: What does 不変的なもの mean in the context of music?

texts:
I'm trying to read an interview with a musician who is also a songwriter. In this context, what is the meaning of 不変的なもの? Does it mean that lyrics contain nothing to indicate a time period?

不変的なものを作り続けていくのが尾崎さんの命題だとばかり思っていました。
今の僕は既に不変的なものに魅力や効力は見出してません, etc.


texts:
What does してた in 元気してた means? How it came to being してた? I know that the original form of し is する, then what does 元気する means? It's really confusing. For context please see the images below:

These screenshots contain Chinese and Japanese subtitles. You can see the Japanese subtitles.


texts:
According to jmdict 曲がる is intransitive, therefore it should be used with が or は. However it always seems to be used with を - for example:
この道を行って二つ目の角を右に曲がります。


texts:
I'm struggling to understand what Amane means when she says そういうこと in
「そういうことよ。まったく、メル友の十人や二十人くらい、いるでしょ？」. I'm assuming failing to understand this is what is also causing me confusion in understanding how that follows on to the second part of what she says "まったく、メル友の十人や二十人くらい、いるでしょ？" in the following exchange:

Context: Tomoyuki has been living in Tokyo for a while but he has come back to town, whilst he was in Tokyo he was in regular contact with Amane, however Megumi did not know this. Amane, realizing that she has screwed up by mentioning this (she knows that Both Tomoyuki and Megumi like each other) she quickly tries to remedy the situation before Megumi gets the wrong idea.

  天音「ええ。智之とメールしてた時の印象と、恵に聞いてた話にズレがあって」

  恵「メール？　ねえ、智之くん。天音ちゃんとメールしてたの？」

  智之「あれ？　言ってなかったっけ？」

  恵「う、うん……」

  智之「天音とは、たまにメールでやり取りしてたんだよ」

  恵「え、そうなの？」

  天音「あっちゃあ……」

  智之「うごっ！？」

  天音「友達として、よ。東京のことも気になってたしね」

  天音「そうよね、智之」

  智之「あ、ああ。俺もこっちのこと知りたかったしな」

  恵「そ、そうなんだ……天音ちゃんと……」

  智之「仕方ないだろ。おまえ、そういうの苦手なんだし」

  恵「うう……それは、そうだけど……」

  天音「気になるなら、やりとりしたメール、後で見せてあげるから」

  恵「ええっ！？　で、でも……」

  天音「そういうことよ。まったく、メル友の十人や二十人くらい、いるでしょ？」

  智之「俺はいない……あがっ！？」

  足の甲に鋭い痛みが走る。

  天音「気にしないの。それに、恵がしたいなら私が教えてあげるから、毎日でもすればいいでしょ？」

  恵「う、うん。そうだね」


texts:
How do you express in Japanese that something is generally claimed to have a certain property without positioning yourself to clearly as to the veracity of the claim?

For example, how would you express the following sentence in Japanese:

  Reliquaries are the supposed bones of saints.


texts: Could someone explain to me what it roughly means when a sentence is composed of "somethingに何かを感じていたようだ", such as "世界大戦に何かを感じていたようだ.


texts:
In Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo's opening, there is this part:

1回めまぐれで
2回めってどうだろう
偶然じゃないよね？3回目が合うのは

I understand it, but one part: the translations I found say "The third time our eyes meet", and I noticed that at least in some written version "1回め" and "2回め" use め, while "3回目" uses 目.
I tried to understand if the 目 in 3回目 is ordinal ("The third time") or "eye" ("The third [time our] eyes"), but I didn't really find anything useful: if it's ordinal, I can't understand the subject of 合う: is it left unsaid, like "The third time [our eyes] met"?
If it's "eye", I'm not sure why 1回め and 2回め has an ordinal marker, while 3回目 doesn't, since they all mean "The nth time".
I'm wondering if it's meant to be a word play, like using 目 as ordinal, but impliying "eyes" since it means that too; no luck in finding info about that, though.
Edit: Without ordinal marker it should be cardinal, but I'm not sure if, maybe as poetic license it being in a song, it could be left out while still having an ordinal meaning.


texts: Since Japanese already had several words for rice why was "ライス" (raisu) borrowed from English?

texts: Last night I had dinner in a ramen restaurant in northern Japan and was surprised to read the katakana "ライス" (raisu) on the menu. This is obviously the English word "rice" borrowed. But what kind of rice or method of preparation might it refer to given that Japanese already has "kome", "gohan", and "meshi"?


texts:
なんて is the て form of なの. What is the difference when using なんて and without. For example:

こんなにつまんないような大人になるなんて思いもしなかった

こんなにつまんないような大人になって思いもしなかった

こんなにつまんないような大人になるって思いもしなかった


texts: I want to say, "I like history in general." How would I word that in Japanese? I can say, (Watashi wa) rekishi ga sukidesu, but I'm not sure how to say "in general."


texts: What is the function of か between these two verbs?

texts: 文章を読んで、何について書いているか考えてください. I think it means, read the sentence(s), and think about something to write. I don't understand why か is between 書いている instead of て-form.


texts: -chan, -kun, what is used currently for a friend?

texts: I have developed a series of college mascots that are Japanese based. What would I call them if they are in a comic strip talking to each other; so if the name is chip would he be called chip-chan, or chip-kun, or something else?  Need help on this asap. Thanks.


texts:
英語学を続けることのため、アメリカを洋行したは俺が１７歳のときに。

I'm more or less a grammar mess, I started to learn japanese short ago and I ended up getting really confused about the whole sentence. I wanted to say something like:

  When I was 17 I traveled to America in order to complete my english studies.

Could you guys help me pretty please?


texts:
It has been awhile since I studied/ used my Japanese, so I bought a dictionary.  While looking around in it I found the word つむ{tsumu} - to pick , to pluck.

The example sentence used for the word is:

  'かそく{kazoku} で{de} はたけ{hatake} で{de} いちご{ichigo} を{o} つみました{tsumimasita}.' - They picked strawberries in the field as a family.

I am a bit confused by this.

The first で - I normally use Xで as a way to say by means of X. For example: I came by bus, an inanimate object, but in this case the family, an animate object,  is being referenced. Why is と not being used?
The second で - Why is this not a (target) に instead of a で?

I looked in my grammar books for an explanation but could not find anything that addressed these usages.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave


texts: How do you say pork loin in Japanese? Jisho.org says it should be ロース, but it seems too vague since I want to use it in a recipe. What about 豚ロース肉?


texts:
In this paragraph:

  今から約20年前、携帯電話は日本ではほとんど普及していなかった。当時小学生だった私が、憧れていたもの、それは携帯電話ではなく、ポケットベルだった。

Does this paragraph look natural for a native to write?
What does もの mean in 憧れていたもの? Is it talking about a physical thing?
In それは携帯電話ではなく, why is ではなく an adverb, why not ではない(verb)?
Does the bold part translate to: "At that time I was a student but, there was a thing I wanted, that thing wasn't a cellphone, it was a pocket bell."


texts:
I came across this sentence:

  　森井靖子も詫田の影響で身体を細くしたくちらしいな、と加賀は思った。

I get the meaning as a whole but I am not sure about the ち after したく. Is it just a colloquial version of したくて?


texts: correct usage of 'There be ...' construction and 'somebody has something'

texts:
How do I express the meaning of "somebody has something" in Japanese?

In English the 'there be...' construction means something exists somewhere,  which equals the Japanese 〜〜があります or 〜〜がいます.

For example, "There are three people/chairs in my house."  Its related translations are:

  家で三人がいます。
  家で三個の椅子があります。

My question is how to express the meaning 'somebody has something'.  May I use 私は〜〜を持っている?  For example, "I have three books/sons" would be:

  私は三個本をもっている。
  私は三人の男の子をもっている。

Is that right?  Besides that, how do I translate the meaning of 'something has something'?  For instance, "The house has a window". Can I say:

  部屋は窓をもっている。

Is that right?


texts: Are けもの and けだもの different types of beasts, or simply two variants of the same word?

texts: Both けもの and けだもの are written in kanji as 獣, but is the beast with 'だ' inside more brutal than the one without 'だ'? Or are they simply two variants of the same noun, thus they refer to exactly the same type of beasts? If they are the same word, why is 獣道 only read as けものみち but not けだものみち?


texts:
In one of n3 jlpt questions I saw a question with a strange usage of noun + 上にて.

  ただいまホームページ（　）、アルバイトを募集しています。

  3) 上にて

I understand にて has similar meaning and usage as で。
However, why in this case do we say ホームページ上にて instead of ホームページにて？


texts:
A question from my N5 mock test book reads:

A 「何{なん}時{じ}に　うちへ　帰{かえ}りますか。」
B 「７時{じ}　(　　　　)　帰{かえ}ります。」

１　ごろ　　２　じゅう　　３　まで　　４　ぐらい
The answer was 1, but I've been taught that both ごろ and ぐらい are interchangeable when talking about points in time (時刻), like 7時 or ４月.
Is ぐらい really acceptable when ごろ should be used?
(Note: I am of the impression that ぐらい and くらい mean the same, and so do ごろ and ころ.)


texts: Which order sounds the more natural between「私は最近…」 and 「最近私は…」?

texts:
When giving news to Japanese friends, I always wonder if I should write「私は[最近]{さいきん}こういう仕事をしています」 or 「[最近]{さいきん}、私はこういう仕事をしています」.

Is there a recommended order for temporal markers like [現在]{げんざい} or [最近]{さいきん}? If both of them work, is there a different nuance to each?


texts: These have the same reading as ひろげる, but a different kanji. Is there any variation in connotation between these, or is it just variant spelling? Is 広げる then, as I believe it is, the more commonly used of the two?


texts:
What's the difference between 実際 and 実態? apparently these are two different words, but looking at the entry for 実態 and 実際 i can't understand the difference.

  実態: 実際の状態, 本当のありさま

isn't it the same as

  実際: 物事のあるがままの状態

?

What is the difference between these two words and it's usage and nuances?


texts: How to describe screaming in a happy/excited sense?

texts:
I am trying to describe the action of screaming in excitement, kind of like a stereotypical fan-girl. But I'm concerned that the translations I'm finding are more along the lines of screaming in terror or pain, which is not at all the connotation I want to convey.

Some of the words I've found are:

泣【な】き叫ぶ【さけぶ】：to cry and shout; to scream
叫ぶ【さけぶ】：to shout; to cry; to scream; to shriek; to clamor
喚く【わめく】：to shout; to cry; to scream; to shriek; to yell; to exclaim

Although these don't seem like happy or excited emotions. The closest I have been able to find is ブヒる which is apparently manga slang for fan-girl squealing but that sounds more offensive and lesser known than what I'm aiming for. Especially since it's derived from the Japanese "oink" sound.

Can the above words be used for excited screaming or am I right in that I should be using different words?

For clarity, I am trying to describe a person as screaming in excitement.


texts: please help me understand the meaning and structure of this sentence

texts:
流行りものとは突き放すことはしないまでもある程度距離を置く

The most confusing part for me is understanding the しないまでもある程度 part. Another thing I’m not so sure about is the first と particle.
Is it in this case modifying (?) the verb 突き放す (as in pushing away something from yourself?) with  the topic particle? or maybe not? ; I’m not sure anymore...  thank you for helping in advance.


texts:
俺の夢はーー
遊「公務員かホワイト企業の正社員だ」
理々「それは夢ではなくて、安定なのではないでしょうか？」
遊「なら、安定が夢ってことで」

How should I understand the phenomenon of using ってことで to end a sentence? How is it different from just だ?


texts: をも.... what on earth is this particle combination?

texts:
In my book I found this sentence...

  Ａさんの健康に関して、特にその食事に関しての心配が、Ａさんの心も家族の心をも蝕んでいるのだ。

I understand the sentence, but I had no idea such a particle combination was possible... could someone please explain it to me? Is this common?


texts:
need some slight help with Genki 1. On the listening comprehension, it asks what the person was doing. I interpreted the sentence as へやでけんさんとおんがくをきいていました but the book lists the answer as (けんさんと) へやでおんがくをきいていました。Is my first answer considered correct with the placement of けんさんと after
へやで?


texts:
I was watching a video and I heard this word "シンメ状態".

Somehow I believe I have heard this word before, but I still could not make any sense of it from the dictionary.

シンメ = ???
状態 = current status; condition; situation; circumstances; state (from Jisho)

Was it some kind of phrase or something?


texts:
アリバイがない限り、犯人 になる 可能性がある。

アリバイがない限り、犯人 である 可能性がある。

アリバイがない限り、犯人 の 可能性がある。

Which sentences are correct / awkward / wrong? Why is there a difference, if any?


texts: What is a grammatical terminology to describe the group of the refrain of two syllable words like pera-pera, don-don, iki-iki?

texts:
Japanese language have a special group of words which repeat mostly two syllable word like pera pera, para para, jito jito, suku suku, aka aka, zuki zuki – you can name it, that are used adverbially.

They look like onomatopoeias, but they are not. They don’t reflect any sound, and they are all used adverbially, not as interjection.

I am curious to know what is a grammatical terminology in both Japanese and English to call such a group of words. Would you please teach me?


texts:
I was recently corrected from using 誰でも→誰にも in this sentence:

それは決して否定できないことであって、（誰にも〇・誰でも？）分かる自明の理。

What's the  difference between the two? This HiNative post says that 誰でも is usually used for affirmation while 誰にも can be used for either affirmation or negation. However, the above sentence does use 誰でも with an affirmative sentence. Does 誰にも simply sound more natural? If so, why?
Also, does this mean 誰でも can never be used with negation? Would a sentence like「誰でもできないこと」be wrong?


texts: Usage of に in たくさん人参を食べると、きれいになります。

texts:
Is this right:

  たくさん[人参]{にんじん}を[食]{た}べると、きれいになります。

Was に used correctly?

The example sentence I saw was:

  たくさんピザを食べると、おおきくなりますが、いつもスポーツをすることが好きです。

Thank you!


texts: Use of the "へ" particle when asking about transportation methods

texts:
I have a question relating to question 19 of the JLPT N5 'example' grammar exam. This is a question where you have four things to fit into four gaps:

A: [会社 ＿ ＿ ＿ ＿ 行って いますか]
B: [わたしは あるいて 行って います]

で  2. は  3. へ  4. 何

I guess that the translation is roughly:

A: How do you get to work?
B: I walk

However, I am having trouble arranging the particles into the correct order. I suspect that 会社 is the topic of the sentence, and thus should have は in the first free slot. I would group 何で together, as meaning 'by what method'. My attempt at the full sentence is thus:

会社 [は] [へ] [何] [で] 行って いますか

But I am confused about the presence (and location) of the へ particle. Is this necessary to indicate the motion towards the office? Could I form a 'fuller' answer like so:

会社はへ歩いて行っています


texts:
This movie title:

  劇場版ポケットモンスター幻のポケモンルギア爆誕

Is officially translated into English as:

  Pocket Monster Revelation Lugia

I'm really curious about the 爆誕 part of the title. If I break the kanji down, I think the meaning is something like 'explosive' and 'rebirth'. I've tried searching for more info about this compound, but it doesn't seem to be used often. My question is, is understanding it as 'revelation' in English accurate?


texts:
Usually といけない follows ない形 of 辞書形.
For example,

寝る前に、歯を磨かないといけない。I have to brush my teeth before sleeping.
明日までに宿題を出さないといけない。I have to hand in my homework by tomorrow.

Today, I read a new grammar 辞書形＋といけない. I really don't know what this grammar mean. For example,

風邪を引くといけないから、暖かい服を着たほうがいい。
子供が寂しがるといけないと思って、おもちゃで遊ばせておきました。
子供に言い過ぎるといけないと思うが、すぐ口を出してしまう。

The book also provides other but similar meanings for each sentence above as follows.

～引いてはから～ is equal to ～引くといけないから～
～寂しがってはと思って～ is equal to ～寂しがるといけないと思って～
～言い過ぎてはと思うが～ is equal to ～言い過ぎるといけないと思うが～

Any comments and suggestion are appreciated.


texts: What does the Japanese onomatopoeia もきゅもきゅ mean?

texts:
I heard this in a Japanese song sung by Vocaloid Hatsune Miku (YouTube)

Does anyone know what this onomatopoeia means? It's clear from the context of the lyrics that it is an onomatopoeia, but I've never heard it used before.

For context, the lyrics say:

  ホッペタを少し膨らませて
  I’ll puff out my cheeks and go

  モキュモキュにしてやるぞ
  “mokyu mokyu” just for you, OK?

  アヒルみたいな唇をして
  I’ll make duck lips and go

  モキュモキュにしてやるぞ
  “mokyu mokyu” just for you, OK！


texts: Are そういう and そんな completely interchangeable? Is there any difference in nuance or meaning, or contexts where one is more appropriate than the other?


texts: Who is performing the actions in this sentence?

texts:
I have a question about the last sentence here taken from this essay:

  やっぱり旅っていいな…としみじみ感じます。
  'Then you will know the true joy of travelling.'

  食事の後はちょっと外へ出てみましょう。
  'After your meal, go outside for a while.'

  なんと宿のすぐ裏でホタルたちが一面に乱舞。
  'You will see a myriad of fireflies dancing right behind the inn.'

  その幻想的なことといったら息をのんでしまうほどです。
  'The phenomenon will take your breath away.'

The English translation provided, though conveying the right idea, is very loose. Here is my more literal translation (which doesn't flow as nicely):

  'Just speaking of such a fantastic thing, it's enough to take one's breath away.'

I am wondering who is speaking in this sentence and whose "breath is being taken away" (yes my translation is still quite figurative). Is it (a) the speaker (I guess this is called 1st person singular)? = "Just speaking of such a fantastic thing takes my breath away"
Or is it that (b) if "one were to describe the event it would take one's breath away" = (third person singular)? Or (c) a combination of these = 'If I spoke of these things it would be enough to take your breath away" or (d) just ambiguous? If there is a clear answer, how can one ascertain who is performing these actions?

Edit: Or perhaps I should understand these as two figurative phrases?
その幻想的なことといったら = such an amazing thing
息をのんでしまうほどです。=just breath-taking!

I apologize in advance for my ignorance of grammatical terms.


texts: What does 今からしようとしてたところよ mean?

texts:
Ran into this line in something I was reading.

From my understanding, a volitional verb + とする means "to try to do something," so I suppose 今からしようとしている might mean "I'm trying to do it now" or "I'm about to do it."

Then, the dictionary says that a past tense verb + ところ means "to have just finished something."

But when I try and put the two together, I get something like "I just finished trying to do it now."

I think the tenses  are confusing me, with 今から suggesting that it's present tense but ～たところ suggested that it's past tense.

Would the correct translation simply be "I just tried to do that?" And if so, why the 今から?


texts:
I was recently watching a few videos about 橋本環奈｛はしもとかんな｝, and I came across an introduction (if it can be called that?) that I've never heard before.

Whenever she introduces herself, she finishes with, 「神様、仏様、環奈様！」(example)

I did some research, and found a blog post which mentions it's usage as a chant at Japanese baseball games, but I had trouble finding any other information.

So my question is, when you say it yourself, does it have the same meaning as when it is used as a chant? I can translate it literally, but what does it really mean in both cases? Are there some implications to it, or can I use this construction myself when I feel like being a little facetious?


texts: What does マナーもいっしょに「携帯」 mean?

texts:
What does マナーもいっしょに「携帯」 mean?

This is the title of an article in J501 that talks about how people should watch when and where they use their cellphones. I get the text but can't make sense of the title. Is there any way to say this in natural English?

I also can't make sense of the related マナーもいっしょに携帯しましょう. "Let's have our manners also cellphone together" is my best guess, but it's definitely not very usable English.


texts:
I tried to translate the sentence:

世間では俺みたいな奴の事を引き篭もりだのネトゲ廃人だのと呼んでいるらしいが

My try:

In this world, I am called a game junkie, which
is to say “hikikomori” for such people like me

Is the だの similar to　という　?
is there a relation between の事を (earlier in the sentence) and  だの ?


texts:
What does 許しを乞い mean? And especially what's the role of 乞い here?
The full phrase is: まさか、また許しを乞いに参ったのではありますまいな！？


texts: Are there differences between 一瞬{いっしゅん}, 瞬間{しゅんかん} and 一瞬間{いっしゅんかん}?

texts: The words 一瞬{いっしゅん}, 瞬間{しゅんかん} and 一瞬間{いっしゅんかん} all seem to mean "instant", "moment". Is there any difference between them?


texts:
I see that both eikyou and kouka mean effect..
Could someone please explain to me the difference and when to use both with possibly a few examples?
Thank you!


texts: Song translation with two possibilities - "One more time, one more chance" by Masayoshi Yamazaki

texts:
Translating the song "One more time, one more chance" by Masayoshi Yamazaki from the movie "5cm per Second" gave me two lines that seem unclear:

  くいちがう時はいつも　僕が先に折れたね
  わがままな性格が　なおさら愛しくさせた

In the first line both combinations make somewhat sense:
くいちがう -> cross ways or differ
折れた -> turn or give in

In the second line it is not clear (for me) who is the exact subject. Is it "me" or "you"? On the one hand speaking of his love as わがまま seems unlikely, but on the other hand the second half is unlikely if he speaks for himself.

Simplified version of story: Boy loves girl, becoming adults both lose sight of each other. Boy doesn't get over it and losing sight of what's imported and gets depressed.

Interestingly, looking up existing translations different variants came up:

a)

  Whenever we disagreed, I would always give in first
  Your selfish nature made me love you even more

(source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJmvvZk4C1A)

b)

  When our path cross each other, I am always the first to turn
  Making me indulge more in my selfish way

(source: http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/bfivecm/bfivecmonemoretime.htm)

Can anyone clear this misunderstanding?


texts: How can I research how a film quote was translated into Japanese?

texts: Are there any websites that lists Japanese-language translation quotes of English-language  films? For example, how would I find out how English, mother******, do you speak it? from "Pulp Fiction" was translated?


texts: How to say "I had a fight with" and "to be angry with each other"

texts: I want to say "I had a fight with my girlfriend. Now we are angry with each other". I know how to say "to fight with someone" but it seems to have violent connotations. What is the verb to express oral arguments? Also is there a japanese equilvalent for "being angry with each other"?


texts:
I have been searching high and low for how to express appositives in Japanese, yet the most I have come across is how to express something like "my friend John". I would like to know how to express more complex appositives in Japanese, something like:

  1.) Dogs, one of my favorite animals, are going to be featured in tonight's show.
  2.) John, the person you were talking to yesterday, will be at the party tonight.
  3.) Brian McKnight, a very popular R&B singer, has just written a book about the music industry.

More specifically, I was writing a post and trying to express the following idea:

  I had learned that Japanese people consume the greatest amounts of iodine, up to 13 mg per day!

I have expressed the first part of the sentence below, but have no clue how I would express the appositive "up to 13mg per day" without outright creating a new sentence.

  日本の人が最も大量のヨウ素を食べることを知った。

I appreciate any help you can provide.


texts: Is there something omitted after だか in this sentence?

texts:
The following paragraph is from page 20 of 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱:

  　ところで今教室に涼宮ハルヒはいない。いたらこんな話も出来ないだろうが、たとえいたとしてもまったく気にしないような気もする。その涼宮ハルヒだが、四時間目が終わるとすぐ教室を出て行って五時間目が始まる直前にならないと戻ってこないのが常だ。弁当を持ってきた様子はないから食堂を利用しているんだろう。しかし昼飯に一時間もかけないだろうし、そういや授業の合間の休み時間にも必ずと言っていいほど教室にはいない奴で、いったいどこをうろついているんだか。

My question is about the end of the last sentence, which I've put in bold.  It ends with だか, but as I understand it, the sentence-final particle か is ungrammatical after だ in standard Japanese.  Therefore, I was thinking that one of two possibilities must be true:

It is grammatical, but only in non-standard Japanese;
It's grammatical because it's not a sentence-final use of か; it's a different use of か.

For example, I know that だか appears in 何だか, and that's not ungrammatical because it's not a sentence-final use of か.  So, I thought perhaps the same thing might apply here.

But in order for it to be a non-sentence-final use of か, the sentence would have to continue, and so, I would have to conclude that the rest of the sentence here is omitted.  That's exactly what @Matt talks about in this comment:

  There are utterances like どうだか ("I wonder!" -- expressing doubt) but I suppose they are better viewed as fragments of an implied larger whole (e.g. どうだか知らないけど) where か is functioning slightly differently.

Is that how I should interpret this sentence, as well?  I'm not sure what would follow, exactly, but perhaps I could use something like the ending Matt suggests:

  いったいどこをうろついているんだか知らない。

Am I interpreting the sentence correctly?


texts:
I have a question about conditionals and assumptions. Please consider the following simple situation:

Person A: You're very good at Japanese.
Person B: If that is so, it's all thanks to my teacher.

I would like to know the most natural way (or ways) to say "If that is so." I considered several combinations. Could someone please address each or some of them and explain if any are acceptable or unacceptable. If none of these are appropriate, could someone please provide a better alternative?  I included my reasoning to demonstrate that I thought about the topic. Feel free to point out flaws in it or even ignore it completely if it's easier.

そうなら(or だったら) 先生のおかげですから。
I thought なら might work since なら can be used to create a conditional with a "given this circumstance" implication. "Given that it is so..." I think this slightly changes the meaning but perhaps it is appropriate nevertheless.

そうだとしたら...。
This was my original idea before I started questioning myself. I reasoned that "If it is so..." is actually an assumption, so a とする expression would be appropriate. But then I hesitated because nothing I could find on とする suggested it could be used this way. It seems to me, in the most abstract sense, とする restricts the universe of conversation and what follows is an implication of that restriction. Consequently, I'm not sure "it's all thanks to..." would work with this pattern since it is not an implication. Please ignore the previous 2 sentences if they don't make sense and are hindering an answer...

そうだとすれば...。
I do not expect this to be correct but it's more of an instinct I have on the use of えば when referring to things in the past rather than understanding so I'd appreciate an explanation if it's easy.

そうだとすると...。
I understand the と creates a definite conditional in the sense that, "if A happens, B will happen also as a matter of course." So I strongly suspect that this is not proper.

そういうなら...。
I think this would create an expression along the lines of "Given that it is as you say..." which I guess might be more appropriate since Person A is in claiming something.

そういうとしたら...。
Combination of 2 and 5.


texts: real meaning of 子供に話を聞かせてあげました

texts:
I've just found sentence: 子供に話を聞かせてあげました。and its translation: I read children the story.

Does this sentence seem natural to a native Japanese speaker?
To me it sounds like it has more weight to it - like a person saying it could be for example a kindergarden teacher that actually made the children listen to him/her as part of a daily schedule. Like maybe the children, if given the choice, they would pick a different activity than listening to the story.

Also, there's this thing about あげる.. when it's used, can we somehow expect the receiver of it be glad/thankful that the action has been done. Like in this case maybe being told the story will have some positive impact on the children and so the person saying it could expect the children to be grateful, or at least he/she could feel good because he/she knows that telling the story was a good thing to do.

Being influenced by my native language and also English, I would rather say something like: 子供に話を言いました。to express the English translation of the original sentence.

I guess what I would like to ask is: am I thinking correctly about the '聞かせてあげました’ sentence? Or maybe it is a typical way to express that someone told something to somebody and I'm just imaginating things.


texts: When should you use a に when talking about the time?

texts:
Over time, I've realised that certain words you use when referring to time, such as ’今日’,　’明日’　and ’毎朝’ have no need for you to attach the に particle. However, when saying '六時’, you must attach a に.

For example, ’今日、学校に行きません。’ and　’毎日午前六時におきます。’


texts:
「もう一度かかっといで」。
At the beginning, I thought it was 掛かって + ぐ ending verb turned into its imperative mood; then I've found かかってこい, it would make sense. If so, why does で appear? Is と the contraction for てこ?


texts:
I have been many times blocked in a conversation because I have no way to translate "all in all" in those general contexts:

All in all it takes 15 minutes to get there
All in all this movie was quite fun

How to translate this while staying natural and perhaps by using different idioms?


texts: まったりとしてそれでいてしつこさがなく Pop culture phrase

texts:
I'm seeking help translating a phrase that appears in a video game, which seems to be a pop culture reference. My research on this implies it may originate from Oishinbo, but I was unable to confirm this. The line appears in an old Famicom game about a SWAT team liberating hostages from terrorists. The particular line is as follows:

まったりとして　それでいて

しつこさがなく・・・うーん

いいしごとを　している

The phrase itself appears to have a meme-like quality, as seen from these images.

Your input appreciated!


texts: Transitive verbs where the direct object is a clause

texts:
I encountered the following sentence from Jisho.org when looking up the definition of 確かめる {たしかめる}:

窓｛まど｝が閉まって｛しまって｝いるか確かめとけ

As 確かめる is a transitive verb (according to Jisho.org at least), I was under the impression that it required a direct object marked with を in order to be intelligible. However, in this sentence, the direct object (at least by English standards) seems to be marked with か. I assume this has something to do with the fact that the object is a clause rather than a single noun.
My actual questions are:

Is the above form specific to 確かめる or can it be generalized to other verbs (～ているか＋transitive verb). For example, would the following be a natural/understandable sentence?

本に書いているか止めなさい。
Stop writing in the book.

Could the か have been replaced with another particle (perhaps と or maybe even ことを) and if so, would the meaning have changed?

Are there other valid particles that could mark an object of a transitive verb besides を and か?


texts: ソーラン節の「おとこどきょう。。。」と言った線

texts:
The line （線は違う？） in Soran Bushi that says 男度胸（おとこどきょ）なら　五尺（ごしゃく）のからだ
どんと乗り出せ　波の上　チョイー what does it literally mean? I think I know the words, but I can't understand what they mean from those meanings...
I thought it means Men, if you are brave, your five feet of body... Then I don't know what don to noridase means- don like the sound, and I'm lost as to the meaning of noridase, and why it's imperative.


texts: Is 来おった the 連用形{れんようけい} of くる plus おる → おった?

texts:
I came across the following dialogue, which occurs right as the hero arrives:

  「やっと来おったか。」

I'm not sure how to parse 来おった.  Is it 来{き} + 居{お}る?  If so, what exactly does this form mean?  Do other verbs have a similar form?

Searching online, I see examples like とうとう来おった and ついに来おった, so my best guess right now is that the nuance is related to とうとう・ついに・やっと.

I've tried looking this up in paper dictionaries and online, but I'm having trouble finding it anywhere, so I thought I'd ask here!


texts: What is the difference between 変わる and 変化

texts:
As usual I'm studying for the JLPT and I found a word that has the same meaning as another one.
According to the dictionary

[変]{か}わる: to change; to be transformed

[変化]{へんか} (する): (to) change

If you can explain to me what is the difference and give me some examples of each one I'll be grateful.


texts:
The sentence below is said by a Kansai-spoken character but I'm not sure if thetwo phrases are related to the dialect.

  みんながああなる気{き｝持｛も｝ちよう　わかるような気｛き｝いします感｛かん｝動｛どう｝してまんね　あいつら....


texts:
I just found out 〜たとたん, meaning "as soon as"; I already knew なり with (apparently) the same meaning:

今度は横になるなりほぼ即座に寝ついていた
As soon as I lay down, I almost immedialy fell asleep
「ミキちゃん、どこにいたの。心配したよ」と言ったとたん、ミキは泣き出した
As soon as I asked "Where were you, Miki? I was worried", Miki started crying

I tried figuring out what's different, if anything, between these forms, but I can't find なり in my grammars and the only thing comparing the two I found is this page, which says they are similar, it doesn't explain why, beside saying one asks for dictionary form and the other for short past.
Edit: Also, not sure about the differences between 〜たとたん and 〜たとたんに.


texts: In the sentence 深淵に臨むが如し why is there a particle が after the verb 臨む? Shouldn't it be 深淵に臨むよう?


texts: Rules and phenomena about reading/writing words with kanji

texts:
I'm trying to learn Japanese but I'm the kind of person who can't really learn if they don't understand some of the mechanisms. I'm stuck when learning vocabulary because I can't just be like "OK this one is strange but whatever, it must be an exception, I'll learn it that way".

What slows me down are the many ways of pronouncing kanji. I don't want to learn the whole story from the beginning but I just want to know the different cases about why sometimes the main rules about kanji aren't followed.

The point of my topic is to understand every case I can encounter when learning Japanese words, so I won't be stuck trying to figure why a word has a strange pronunciation.

So here is what I have gathered, I'd like you to correct me or to add some things, please. I'm interested in knowing the appropriate terms for the phenomenons, I've written them in italic and bold for the first use in my message.

BRIEF HISTORY

(helps understand some cases)

Japanese people had a language without writing system. They then discovered Chinese writing and used the kanji with their own Japanese pronunciation (kun'yomi) and the Chinese - simplified - pronunciation (on'yomi).

They then used the kanji for their phonetic value only (man'yôgana), which leads to creating katakana (a part of a man'yôgana to show the pronunciation of a kanji in a text, something like what furigana are nowadays) and hiragana (a simplified man'yôgana when written fast).

MAIN RULES

1) a kanji alone uses kun'yomi reading.

2) a combined word uses on'yomi readings of each kanji (with sometimes little alterations).

Ex:

  火 = ひ

  山 = やま

  火山 = カザン

Question 1: why is that so? Is it because Japanese didn't really mix words together before getting kanji? They didn't have a word for a volcano?

OTHER CASES

(breaking the main rules)

1) a kanji alone has no kun'yomi reading because the word didn't exist in pure Japanese:

  菊 = キク

Question 2: does this phenomenon has a name?

2) a combined word has a kun'yomi reading for each kanji because Japanese had already orally created combined words. They've then combined the correct kanji of each kun'yomi reading:

  名前 = なまえ

  小山 = こやま

Question 3: does this phenomenon has a name?

3) a kanji alone has a combined kun'yomi reading because a unique kanji existed in Chinese for a word made up of two words in Japanese. It doesn't break the main rules but we can see sort of a "orally combined word" on a unique kanji:

  鶏 = にわとり

Question 4: does this phenomenon has a name?

Funny: the word たまご has two writings corresponding to point 2 (玉子) and 3 (卵).

4) a combined word with two kanji, the first one in on'yomi reading and the second one in kun'yomi reading (jûbakoyomi):

  曜日 = ヨウび

5) a combined word whose reading is neither the kun'yomi readings or the on-yomi readings of the kanji, because the word existed in Japanese and the kanji are used for their meaning only (jukujikun):

  山羊 = やぎ

  大人 = おとな

Question 5: was the combined writing of a jukujikun only created by Japanese to suit the meaning of the word, or could it have existed in Chinese?

6) a katakana word combined with a on'yomi reading of a kanji to create a new word:

  フランス人

7) a word using kanji for their pronunciation only (ateji). It can be the on'yomi reading (shakuon) or the kun'yomi reading (shakkun). They tend to be written with kana only:

  誤魔化す = ごまかす

  合羽 = カッパ

8) a word using two purely Japanese readings because it's a repetition (often written with the repetition sign 々):

  時時 = ときどき

Apart from my questions, I'd be glad to read every information and correction you can offer. Thank you.


texts:
What's the difference between:

俺に行こう
俺に行って欲しい

They both mean "you want me to go". When should I use each of them?


texts:
「しかし、そうはいっても少し寂しくはありますな。やはり男たる者、空飛ぶ機動戦艦で任務をこなすという矜恃に勝るものはないわけで！<フラクシナス>には一刻も早く戦線復帰してもらいたいものでござりますな！」
I have simple question. I know the わけで is used to explain some reason. But why not use わけだ? Why is the sentence end with わけで? What is this grammar phenomenon?


texts: Did any writing systems exist before kanji was imported?

texts: Did any writing systems, or even failed attempts at them, exist for Japanese before kanji was imported from China?


texts: Contrasting っぽい、らしい、みたい

texts:
For example, the following 3:

女っぽい (おんなっぽい)
女らしい (おんならしい)
女みたい (おんなみたい)

In what situations would you use っぽい over らしい？ Does っぽい have negative connotations? Are 女らしい and 女みたい interchangeable as in 彼女は本当に女らしい／彼女は本当に女みたい?
I would love if someone could contrast these 3 terms.


texts:
Does it describe that reserved sort of smile, when you slightly raise just one corner of your mouth?
Or a smirk?

Or is it an idiom that shouldn't be taken literally?


texts: Differences between "何度も or 何度でも" and 何回も?

texts: Things like 何度も and 何回も are somehow common. In what cases would there be differences between the two? Are they the same differences between the plain 回 and 度? Thanks.


texts:
Is there any difference to how and when 類似 and ような are used? For example:

英国で同じようなことです。

英国で類似のことです。

Thanks.


texts: Is pronoun switching on the fly a thing?

texts:
There's a song called Ame no Musique for the game Symphonic Rain.
The song's sung by a character that uses 私｛わたし｝when she speaks, but in the song there's a line that uses あたし:

アタシヲアイシテ

And then the next line goes to 私...

だれも知らない私が　ここにいるのよ

Could someone help me understand why two different pronouns might be used in this song? Is あたし supposed to relatable to listeners of the song, then 私 referring to the singer herself?

Also in general, other than for politeness like switching from 俺　to 私 or switching pronouns as you get older, do people switch personal pronouns for any other reasons?


texts: Help me understand the first three lines from 松任谷由実’ｓ　「甘い予感」

texts:
あなたの耳のむこう
夕日がきれいね
息をかけたら消えそう

Source: http://j-lyric.net/artist/a000c13/l00f5ed.html
Song on the Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9Zm8sorINQ
Translating the three lines literally

The sun beyond your ears
is so beautiful
feels like my breath (out) would disappear (I might be misunderstanding or mistranslating this part. I don't know how else I would translate 息をかける)

Further down, she says

夏がゆく頃に恋も終わるって
誰が決めたそんなこと
私は信じない

Which makes think the season is summer. Further down, she also talks about Beach Boys playing on the radio. Which further strengthens the summer feeling.

ふとつけたのカーラジオ
流れてクルのは　ビーチボーイズ

If the season is summer, first three lines (third line especially) sound confusing

あなたの耳のむこう　夕日がきれいね

The setting sun beyond your ears is beautiful.
Sun beyond the ears strikes me as an odd way of putting it somehow. I wonder if it actually means something else and how does it tie up with first two lines before?
And then the third line says

　息をかけたら消えそう

Why does she say "as if my breath would disappear" here if the season is summer?


texts: What is the verbかけ- form used ? If any examples then please explain

texts:
Which sentence is correct for example,"They didn't call me/invited me for the meeting!"
I tried to making below sentences but i am not sure which one is correct(or no one):

私を会議に招待していません。/ 私を会議に呼びませんでした。

私を会議に呼びかけませんでした。
What is the verb + かけ form? in which case we can use?
Thanks in Advance.


texts: What does "de no idou" mean (in relation to flights)?

texts:
In my Japanese text book it says the following:

Rondon kara jyuuichi jikan no hikouki de no idou desu /
it's 11 hours flight from London

hikouki de no idou = flight

I understand hikouki means flight and idou means change.
But I don't follow what hikouki de no idou means. Could someone explain? Thanks!


texts: Distinction between "not everyone" and "no-one"

texts: I recently learnt that だれも means "everyone" with an affirmative verb and "no-one" with a negative verb. So, the literal translation of the Japanese "No-one is here" would be "Everyone is not here". Then how would one go about saying "Not everyone is here?"


texts: How do I determine if an indefinite pronoun requires a particle?

texts:
I've been trying to determine if there is a rule for when indefinite pronouns (何か,　だれでも、 etc.) require a particle.

It seems like if the required particle is を or が, it gets "absorbed" into the pronoun...but not always?

Perhaps the particle is acceptable, but optional and usually omitted?


texts: What is the meaning of 「でしたか」 in the sentence「あなたの職場はテプラでしたかネームランドでしたか？」?

texts: I understand the question is asking about whether the workplace uses テプラ or ネームランド cameras, but what exactly does the 「でしたか」 mean in this circumstance?


texts: What is the も in 今年も used for ? What does 雨が少なく mean here, and why isn't it followed by a て?

texts:
I have the following translation for class.

  今年も、
  トゥーソンは、
  雨が少なく、
  水が不足して、
  困るかもしれません。

So far, I have the following.

  This year also
  Tucson
  rain is little
  water has become insufficient and
  it might be a problem.

I have a few questions.

Why is there that も on 今年? Is it just signifying that the absence of rain is "also" like other years?
I am confused by the 雨が少なく. I am not sure how to relate it to Tucson. "As for Tucson, the rain is little"? Also, I would expect a て at the end (少なくて). But is it somehow an adverb instead of て form?


texts: 四角と正方形はどう違うの？~(What's the difference between 四角 and 正方形?)

texts: While going through one of my study sets I created back in December containing words only marked as N2, I came across [正方形]{せいほうけい}, which was translated as "square". However, I always was taught and remember [四角]{しかく} to mean "square", so my question is, what's the difference?


texts: Etymology of ギリシャ: what language does "girisha" come from?

texts:
I have trouble remembering that Greece is called ギリシャ.
Understanding the etymology behind would probably help me?

What is the etymology of the word ギリシャ?
What language(s) was the name inspired by?


texts: How to interpret 全然 + positive adjective + とは思わない

texts:
As explained in this question, I know that 全然 used with positive adjective means "completely, entirely", while when it is used with negative adjectives/verbs it means "not at all, absolutely not". However, I don't know how to interpret the following dialogue (note that there's a space between 全然 and 綺麗):

  A: 私は綺麗だと思う？

  B: 全然　綺麗とは思わないよ。

Which of the following translations is correct?

  1) I don't think you are entirely beautiful. [you are beautiful but you lack
  something]

  2) I think you are not beautiful at all.

I think number 1 is correct, but I am not sure. Thank you for your help!


texts: For example, when you're on a homepage, and on the bottom, you can go to the previous page with the 前 button and the next page with the 次 button.


texts:
I have a quick question about meaning of を繋げ in the following:

  『何があろうと、主の未来を繋げ』

From what I do know, "繋" means to connect/tie/fasten, but I can't make sense of it when I try to incorporate it into a translation of the above sentence. "Connect the future of the kings", "tie the future of the kings" etc. That doesn't make sense to me.

So I'm thinking either I'm misunderstanding the nuance here, or 未来を繋げ is some sort of expression or set phrase I don't know about. If someone can clear this up I would be extremely grateful!


texts: 夕立: why 立 if the word means "a sudden evening shower/rain"?

texts:
夕立 means (sudden) evening shower (rain).

夕　is for evening, but 立 means to stand, doesn't it?

What's the connection between a sudden evening shower and standing?


texts: Why 罪人＝犯罪者のこと、not just 犯罪者？

texts:
I was reading a guide to 刑事ドラマ and 時代劇場. Most of the definitions follow the format:

  真犯人：本当の犯人。
  盗人・盗賊：他人の物を盗む人。

However for one or two words such as 「罪人」 it says:

  罪人：犯罪者**のこと**。例：友人のことを罪人扱いするなんてひどい！

My 大辞泉 dictionary tells me 罪人＝罪を犯した人。つみびと。- ie a person not a "こと”

What is the nuance of こと here?　Why does it not just say:

  罪人：犯罪者 [例：友人のことを罪人扱いするなんてひどい！]


texts:
I am currently studying the usage of Verb て Verb て sentence structure which means that I have two te form verbs being used in a sentence. I just need a bit of clarification.

For example:

  I wake up at 6:00 AM, brush my teeth, and go to university on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Would the sentence be...

  げつ、すい、きんは　ごぜんろくじに　おきて、はを　みがいて、だいがくへ　いくんです。


texts:
I'm playing a video game in Japanese, and one of the characters said

  僕にもわかりそうにない。

I understand that (verb stem)そう means "it seems" or "it appears", but I've never seen (verb stem)そう used with the に particle.

My guess is that the sentence means something like:

  I don't seem to know either.

Am I translating it correctly? What is the meaning of this construction?


texts:
Context: a girl is waiting for the speaker walking around an airport.

  アレじゃ待ってんのか牽制されてるのか分からんし

I don't have a clue about what is she waiting for, neither what is she checking,

  ……しかも何度か目が合ったのにどこ吹く風で。

... even when our eyes repeatedly make contact where (?) the wind blows (so wind blows according to their glances?)

Is どこ even used without a question context?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Which is preferred, 気が遠くなるほど or 気の遠くなるほど?

texts:
Considering the expression 気が遠くなるほど to describe something of a large scale or hard to conceive, is the variant 気の遠くなるほど also correct and is there any difference in meaning or nuance? Is there any sort of preference? While the first appears in most dictionaries, I am encountering the second in written form by a native from Osaka.

https://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E6%B0%97%E3%81%8C%E9%81%A0%E3%81%8F%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B%E3%81%BB%E3%81%A9%E3%81%AE


texts:
母さんはそれから粘り強く俺の説得にかかったが、最後に折れたのは母さんのほうだった

  Mom tried tenaciously to convince me(stop my foolishness), but in the end she was the one
  who gave up.

Reading this at first, i would have read it literally as "mom got caught in my persuasion" or "she got convinced". But with this sentence structure with the ～が、最後に... construction, that wouldn't make sense with two agreeing ideas in a row. So i looked up the expression.

説得にかかる: 人がある行動を行うのを阻止すること

compared to other ～にかかる expressions i can recall:

網にかかる: 相手の意図した通りに動かされてしまうこと/ 誘惑などに簡単に引っかかるさま

or

手にかかる: その人に処理や操作をされること

Why does 説得にかかる end up interpreted in the active voice while the others are in the more intuitive passive voice?


texts: Co-occurrences of 「も」 and 「でも」 such as in 「何度も何度でもスキになる」

texts:
Sentences below are all from Japanese songs:

「何度も何度でもスキになる」

「いつもいつでもみんなが側にいる」

「いつも何度でも夢を描こう」

Questions：

What effects does this 「XもXでも」 or 「XもYでも」 pattern bring about?
Is there any difference between the meaning/nuance of 「何度もスキになる/いつもみんなが側にいる」and that of 「何度でもスキになる/いつでもみんなが側にいる」?


texts: Unknown kana in a late C19th address cartouche

texts:
Given their visual form, I am uncertain about two kana (the 5th and 6th characters) in a late C19th cartouche. It names an artist's address: Asakusa-ku [... ...]suji chō gojūhachi banchi / gakō / Nishimura Tōtarō. The characters appear to be 浅クサ区[... ...]スジ丁五十八バンチ  画工  西村藤太郎, i.e., if I'm correct... “Asakusa ward [... ...], house number 58: Painter/Artist: Nishimura Tōtarō.”

The second character 'ku' in Asakusa is consistent with the 'ku' from a kana chart found in Engelbert Kaempfer's "The History of Japan," written 1690-92, first published in London, 1727. See scans from the book below... it's interesting how the katakana were historically written, especially the 'ta' and 'ku'... and the 'ne'... and the hiragana 'to'. I can't find any good online references that show a spectrum of katakana forms in 'gyōsho', assuming you can apply that term to katakana. There is a kuzushikana.pdf file for hiragana at http://naruhodo.weebly.com/blog/introduction-to-kuzushiji, but I can't find anything comparable for variations in katakana.


texts:
As an answer to a previous question, a user stated the following:

  In Japanese this distinction is shown by referring to 自動詞 ("self-acting" verbs) and 他動詞 ("other-acting" verbs). Many J dictionaries show this after the headword: for example, 新明解国語辞典, highly recommended, gives なおる【自五】 and なおす【他五】.

I would like to understand:

How should I read 自五 and 他五?
What is their exact meaning / translation into English? I understand from the context what they express, but I would like an "official translation".
What is the meaning of 五 in this particular context?


texts: What is the difference between ないんですか and んじゃないですか?

texts:
Do they both mean "is it not/isn't it"?
e.g. Do この車は新しくないんですか and この車は新しいんじゃないですか both mean ”Isn’t this car new?”？


texts: 「ご覧ください」v.s.「ご覧をください」

texts:
It seems that 「ご覧」 is treated as a noun (with a verb origin) in phrases such as 「ご覧になる」.

One may reasonably expect that when used with 「ください / いただく」, 「ご覧」 can, or even should, be followed by 「を」.

However, 「ご覧をください / いただく」 seems much more common.

Similarly, 「お待ちをください / いただく」 sounds even wrong(?).

Is there a good explanation for the (kind of) compulsory leave-out of 「を」 here?

Or put it in another way:

ビールですか

ビールをください

お持ちですか

お持ちをください

I understand that generalization fails quite often in natural languages, but, instead of saying it's just how it works, is there any good explanation here?


texts: Counters 本 and 話 within the context of anime production (need sakuga fans' insight)

texts:
We know 話 can be used as a counter for, including but not limited to, anime franchise episodes. But if I understand it right, 話 refers to an episode as a completed, ready-for-consumption work.
That doesn't seem to be the exact same case with 本 though, which, apparently, can be also used for similar purpose.
In this interview they refer to episodes with 本 (random quotes):

中村 そうですね。『エヴァンゲリオン』でやったのは、その２本だけですね。
南　最初は、ひとりひとりが沢山カットを持って、それぞれが３ヶ月で１本作りましょうと言って始めたんですよ。
中村　多分、シリーズの最後の方だったら、３人３ヶ月で１本出来たかもしれないですけれどね。

But they also use 話 when they refer not specifically to a number of episodes that Nakamura's got to work on, but to an episode itself which is a part of a completed franchise:

小黒 もう１本参加した弐拾四話「最後のシ者」はどこを？

At the same time, we know that 本 is usually used in regards to movies, computer software, and video games. And here someone suggested an interesting theory as to why. If we were to base off of that theory, any episode is a collection of cuts, which in turn are compilations of cels with drawings (not really true these days, but whatever), and any episode also consists of lots of writing (including writing that precedes the drawings itself and sets the way they are going to be, essentially being the ソース), hence 本.
So my question is – am I right assuming that 本 is the counter that should be used specifically in the context of an episode production, but not when it's finished? If so, how come it is that way, providing the theory above is wrong.
Thank you.


texts: What's the difference between 海獣 and 怪獣? Do they both mean the same thing, or is one proper and the other one not?


texts: How do you say 'set 'or 'fixed' for this example

texts:
For example, a person's destiny is fixed/set from birth.

Don't suppose 決定 is the word?


texts:
Is it more natural/popular to use ～てしまう form in a context of "finish sth completely'' or "do sth by accident''?

I mean if I said a sentence like this:

  ケーキを食べてしまった。

What would a Japanese native speaker understand it as? I've learnt that ～てしまう can mean both in this sentence:

  I've eaten the whole cake

or

  Oops, I've eaten this cake unintentionally (I wasn't going to do that).

What usage of ～てしまう form is more natural, what is used more often? Or maybe it all depends on the context?


texts: What is the meaning of ～てきた in the following sentence?

texts:
A: その封筒を開けると、便箋一枚の手紙と一万円札２枚が出てきた。

My translation:

  A: If that envelop is opened, one sheet of letter paper and 2 sheets of 10 thousand yen bills 出てきた.

In my understanding, ～てきた represents

action done in the past and it continues up to the present, "~started to, ~has begun to, etc". For example,

雨が降ってきた。It started to rain.
人口が増えてきた。The population has begun to grow.

after doing the ～て action, the speaker return to the place where she/he says the sentence.

親を連れてきた。I brought my parents here.
弁当を買ってきた。 I bought a meal and came here with that meal.

But in the sentence A, I think the usage of ～出てきた does not make sense so ～出た should be used instead.

Question

What is the meaning of ～てきた in the sentence A?


texts: How do you say "some", "many", "a few", and "few" when referring to people?

texts:
So, of course, I know words like 多い, たくさん, 少ない, 少し, and 何+[counter]+か to express "many", "few", "a few", and "some" in most contexts. However, I have absolutely no idea what are the Japanese equivalents for these words when they're used on their own to mean people. Sure, 多い人, 少ない人, and 何人か do the job too, but I'm sure there must be some more refined way to say this as well, at least for the first two. Google isn't really a big help with this, since searches like "japanese many few" and "japanese grammar many people few people" only yield pages like "BEGINNER JAPANESE: How To Use OOI And SUKUNAI!!" etc.

For example, how would you translate these sentences into Japanese?

"Some were surprised, many were not."
"Few understand the value of health before they lose it."
"A few benefited from the loss of many."
"Many belittled the few who stood out."


texts:
I am trying to understand the following clearly:

私のこと
私のもの
私のやつ

When someone is talking about us, we can use こと.

  いいえ、それは私のことではないです

  No, that is not something related to me.

やつ is used when we talk about something physical like a bag, book, etc

  例 これはあなたの財布ですか？ いいえ、私のやつではないです。

I am not sure on how to use わたしのもの

Could someone clarify ?


texts:
For full context see here:
https://www.docdroid.net/5vuuiCe/img-20170821-0002-new.pdf

The sentence in question (line 6-7):
音の高さ速さをその人に合わせて録音してあげたら、喜んでくれた。

The main issue lies in determining wether Mr. Inoue or the customer is the subject of the verbal complex 喜んでくれた.
First, here's my attempt at translation:
"When he (Mr. Inoue) did the favor of making a record matching the pitch and speed of the man, he (???) gave the favor of being pleased much/pleasing much/accepting very gratefully."
I think considering the difference between くれる and あげる in terms of courtesy could help here. By context, Mr. Inoue must be the subject of the sentence preceding あげたら, so the text assumes that Mr. Inoue positions himself lower than the customer, which makes sense.
くれる is neutral as far as I know, so considering the pretext, this would fit the customer. Still, since all this is narrated by an external narrator, I feel pretty unsure about my interpretations.
So I think the sentence should mean:"..., the customer gave the favor of being very pleased."


texts: 黒い VS 黒 What is the difference between them?

texts: I was wondering why the translation for a black cat is 黒猫 and not 黒い猫. It has come to my understanding that 黒い is an adjictive, so that's what should be used when modifying a noun. While 黒 is just a noun.


texts: What does 何+(counter)+も+volitional mean? e.g. 何機も買おう

texts:
I found this sentence as an answer to the question: "What are some of the symbols of Japan's wealth?"

  次期主力戦闘機を何機も買おうとしていること

I'm not sure whether it means they're buying a lot of next-generation fighters, or none at all.

I think it's a bunkei I have yet to learn, and I can't find it in the textbook.


texts: Usage of plain i-adjectives or た form (悪かったｖ悪い、良かったｖいい etc）

texts:
Example:

  美人じゃなくて悪かったですね！ (sarcastic)

compared to someone who is using a room and is told あんまり広い部屋じゃなくて悪いな

Or for example the difference between 無事でよかった and I can't think of the corresponding for just いい, but I'm sure you understand my question.


texts:
彼の別荘は後ろに山を控えている

Translates into:

  There is a mountain behind his country cottage.

Understood literally: speaking of his country cottage, a mountain is located behind. 控える locates something with を, if I understood it correctly.

Does the same apply generally to verbs that can "spread" an object? E.g.:

山を背後に広がっている古い和風の住宅地

Would translate into an old Japanese-style housing district with a mountain spreading in its background?

Have I understood this correctly? Does this work with other intransitive location verbs?


texts: Why are some country names written in kanji and yet others are written in katakana?

texts: I have seen kanji characters on maps referencing Germany, China, Italy, the United States of America, and various other countries, but many are written in katakana. Is there a reason for this?


texts:
I know that na-adjectives are nouns which can also act like adjectives by affixing themselves to nouns, but can every noun do this simply by adding な or can only certain nouns have the property of being adjectival?

For 利口 can act as a noun:

利口 n. intelligence

but can also be an adjective:

利口 an. intelligent, smart, clever, etc.


texts:
I encountered this sentence in an article from NHK News web easy:
今まで国からお金をもらうためには、旅行した人が本当に利用したことがわかる書類などを「Go Toトラベル」の事務所に出さなければなりませんでした。
I cannot understand what 「本当に利用したことがわかる書類」means in this case.
Ignoring that part the remaining part of the sentence can be translated as: "Up until now in order to get money from the government, people who have travelled, have to send [missing part here] to the 「Go Toトラベル」office".
Now, I know that 利用する means "To use", and by inferring things, maybe, that part can be roughly translated as "the documents that do really certify that they were on a trip", but I'm not sure and I cannot see how「本当に利用したことがわかる書類」carries that meaning.


texts:
How do you say "to ask for" in Japanese?.  For example:

He asked his boss for a raise.
We ask for great revival.

Is "仰{あお}ぐ" fine?  In particular, I want to use something that's natural and normal, but that's not disrespectful to superiors.  Some of the usual sources, like jisho.org, don't seem to be very definitive about this.


texts: 非ぼく, 非かえるくん - how to translate 非 in this context?

texts:
I'm reading a short story 「かえるくん、東京を救う」 by Haruki Murakami. I found a passage where 非 is attached to two nouns, I guess to give them the meaning of opposition.

ぼくは純粋なかえるくんですが、それと同時にぼくは非かえるくんの世界を表象するものでもあるんです。
ぼく自身の中には非ぼくがいます。

I know I'm reading a literary work so words can be made up but is it a normal practice to attach 非 to words this way? How to translate that best into English? Is "anti-" appropriate?

I am a genuine Frog but at the same time I'm the symbol of the anti-Frog world.
There's anti-me inside of me.


texts: How is 「と」used in the sentence: 「地震で家がぐらぐらと揺れた。」

texts:
The translation I was given for this sentence was: "The house trembled in the earthquake," but I'm at a loss for how 「ぐらぐら」and 「揺れる」are connected by 「と」.

My best guess would be that 「と」functions similarly to "with" to connect the adverb to the verb? In other words, "The house shook uneasily," or something to that effect?

Thank you for your insight!


texts:
I made sure to check if this had already been answered but I could not find one.
So my question is: is なんだから related to のだ?
Looking at some example sentences it seems to imply something like that but I'm not sure. I can't see to find a definitive answer.


texts: Can a two Kanji character word ever have the same meaning if written in reverse order?

texts: I am asking this question because it might be possible for two Kanji characters, if written in reverse order, could have the same meaning. Thank you very much.


texts: Usage of the Particle で alone and with は

texts:
I understand what the particle で does as far as describing how or where an action took place.  But I notice that I run into で many other times where it seems to have a different function.

Could someone help clarify the uses of で?  Specifically its uses other than describing how/where an action occurred.

An example would be something like this:

  必ず届くこのいっしゅんのひかりで

Or as used in では, or じゃ.  I know what it means in conjugations for adjectives and such, but I often see just では following other words like nouns with no verb after it or any thing.  In the case where it's alone like that, what does it mean?


texts:
Here is a sentence from the children's story ももたろう, describing when the child appears from within the giant peach.

桃の中から赤ちゃんが出てきました。

My dictionary lists 出て来る as meaning "to come out" with a note that it is a "special class, kuru verb."  It also separately lists 出る as capable of meaning "to come forth."
What does using 出て来る accomplish over just using 出る?
I originally read 出て来る as two separate words: the て form of 出る + 来る, translating it as "exited and came." Is that essentially the etymology of 出て来る?  Is 出て来る merely an idiom that my dictionary happens to list as a separate word?


texts:
I've seen a lot of posts with conditionals "if you don't mind... then" and such. But I was wondering how you would make a sentence with 'mind + gerundio'. I've seen the verb 'かまう' and 'きにする' but I wouldn't know how to structure the sentence. For example:

'I don't mind paying' (when someone offers you a service for free)
'I don't mind watching this film' (when some suggests a film that is unpopular with the groups decision'

I'll try anyway:

はらってかまわないよ。
この映画をみてきにしない。

Or if this structure is too literal in Japanese, I'd appreciate an alternate structure.
Thanks in advance guys!


texts:
I'm reading an interview with a manga artist and having trouble making sense out of this part:

  漫画家が集まって酒飲んだりすると、アシスタントの愚痴ばっかりですよ。ぶつぶつぶつぶつ。おなじ部屋でアシスタントをおだてて、なだめすかして、いま俺、言い過ぎたかなあなんて思いながら二時間ぐらい過ぎたりしてます。いまのは俺が悪い、いや、あいつのほうが悪いだろう、とか。

I get the first part just fine, but after the ぶつぶつ part I can't quite work out what he's saying. A little help, anyone?


texts: Using つける for wearing undies? (Clothes question)

texts:
I know it's for accessories that don't fall under head,torso and legs portion of the body. Shouldn't underwear (パンツ) be used with はく？

I saw it in a J-drama where a girl says パンツがつけてない to make the guy get a nosebleed.


texts:
I am reading a selection from A Japanese Reader and am trying to figure out the meaning of this passage, especially the usage of 「これに変わって」:

  古い行事のすべてをそのままに行うことは生活様式が異なってきた今日{こんにち}、無理であろうし、そのまま行う必要もない。新しい生活に即した行事がこれに変わって生じてくることも意義があろう。

In the notes, it says that 「これ」 refers to 「古い行事のすべて」 but what trips me up is the use of 「に変わって」— does this mean “change into” as in 「新しい生活に即した行事」changes into 「古い行事のすべて」(which does not make much sense to me), or does 「に変わって」actually mean something like “instead” in this case? If so, is 「に変わって」a typo, or an acceptable replacement for 「に代わって・に替わって」(I admit that I am not 100% sure about which character is better here).


texts: Can もはや also mean "or rather" or "actually"?

texts:
I heard this sentence pattern watching an anime
(where A and B have similar meanings, but B is much stronger):

  ．．．．[description A] いや、もはや [description B]と言っていい。

I looked up もはや expecting a definition like "rather", as in "it was [A], or rather, it was [B]". Instead I found "already, now", as in "He is no longer a child" もはや子供ではない。

I looked around and that's the only definition I've found...however, I did see that on goo it did say まさに was a word for it, which means "exactly". I'm guessing that would make this mean "[A], or more exactly [B]". Can someone confirm this? This wasn't a secondary entry in the definition, just a line in the first, "already" definition, but it seems to me a very different usage. Can someone clarify this for me?


texts: What are the musical sounds that are heard from garbage trucks called?

texts: Garbage trucks have devices that make musical sounds attached to them and I am unable to locate the term. Thank you.


texts:
In English you can use conjunction to express two simultaneous actions:

  I was standing in front of an audience and presenting a new technology.

Or simply juxtapose two participles where one modifies the other:

  I was standing in front of an audience, presenting a new technology.

Am I correct to suppose that in Japanese you would use something like 立って、出していました (i.e. juxtaposed -te form verbs) for both variants?


texts:
I'm so confused. Every book teaches that ます is used for the future, but also for the present.

e.g. 肉を食べません
1. I don't eat meat
2. I'm not going to eat meat.

But now I think that it has to be always 肉を食べていません for the present and 肉を食べません only for the future.

肉を食べていません
1. Right now I'm not eating meat (because right now I'm eating salad)
2. I'm generally not eating meat (because I'm a vegetarian)

--> So ます is never used except for the future? If not in what kind of sentences is it used to express the present?


texts:
sentence : あなただけの私には...今の私はなりたくない

I think it's something like "I don't want to be... only yours now", but the に there, would mean something like "for me" , "in" , "to me", etc but I can't see any possible translation where the particle fits. could you please tell what it is its function here?


texts:
From Line 11: https://www.docdroid.net/847v2dg/img-20170413-0001-new.pdf.html

地図Bは南北を上下ではなく、左右に置いて、作ったものである。

I understand the sentence as follows:
"Concerning map B, it is the card he made north and south not being top and bottom and put it left and right."

My main issue so far is that 上下ではなく has no connector to it like て form.
The fact that 左右に置いて is て form doesn't make things easier.
I could imagine that 南北を上下ではなく...作った form one attribute for もの.
左右に置いて could be, well, another addition, an adverbial phrase maybe, I struggle determining the syntactical function.
"He made north and south not being top and bottom and put it left and right"
I also have problems with the semantics of て form in this context. simply chaining it kind of still works, but I feel like it should have an adversative meaning:
"He made north and south not being top and bottom, but put it left and right."
But I haven't learned so far that て form would be allowed to use this meaning.


texts: Is there a term for whether kanji or kana is used?

texts: Are there any terms (preferably used in English, but Japanese is also ok) about whether a word is written in kanji or in kana?


texts: How do people Japan learn about onomatopoeic words and why does everyone agree on most of them?

texts:
Japanese has a great number of onomatopoeic words, which are essentially sound-like expressions for describing different things for weather conditions (べたべた, hot very humid sweat weather), over animals sounds (わんわん, Dog sound, actually a valid word for "dog" for children), to some word which describe more abstract things, such as うろうろ (wandering aimlessly)

There is a great list of examples here on Japanese onomatopoeia.

I find this part of the language specifically hard to get since there seems to be no pattern to how the words are formed? Also, always when i ask native speakers of Japanese seem to quite agree on these word and i was wondering where people actually learn them? I was theorizing about Manga being the prime source of distribution, but would appreciate any insights on this.


texts:
I consider myself "introverted". So, in Japanese I've always said:

  私の人柄は引っ込み思案、というか保守的です。

In my opinion, the nuance of "introverted" is neutral (while "shy" is a negative). So, I don't want any negative connotation in my Japanese.

So, how does that sound?
Are "引っ込み思案" and "保守的" even comparable?

Also, are "人柄" and "性格" comparable? Both mean "personality"? Should I have said "性格"?


texts:
琴里がいるのは、士道たちのいる天宮アリーナから縦方向に距離を隔てること一万五〇〇〇メートル、夜闇の中に浮遊する空中艦<フラクシナス>の艦橋だった。
Hi. What is the function of the こと here? I have never seen the construction “verb+こと+数量”. Is it a fixed pattern?
Thank you.


texts:
I'm currently going through a review-all Japanese Linguistics reading. Now I've got to the part where verb types are described and it's been bothering me how this particular topic has been addressed. Not just in one particular grammar book, but in all of them.

The issue here is as follows:

Do stative (versus eventive) predicates have an object which is marked by が?

I'm just curious to see what other people actually think, and to hear of any source where this may be analysed differently.

For me

  その質問が分からない

is not to be thought as it'd be in English language, that is, to think as the subject being an actor (and therefore the verb "to understand" wouldn't be considered as stative). Isn't the point of stative predicates to describe a state and therefore "that problem IS not understood" (~I don't understand that problem)? This troubles me a lot. Why isn't the verb 分かる treated as "to be understood", a property of the SUBJECT (thus が) instead of an action (where を would mark the accusative case/ the object)?

Some more examples

  いつも笑っている人があまり好きじゃない
  家が見えるね！

Furthermore, is it possible to use the particle は in these cases? It seems too emphatic to use the が particle when further context is provided

  彼女がいつも笑っている人だね。でもいつも笑っている人は あまり好きじゃないんだからパーティーに行きたくないんだよ

Thank you in advance.


texts:
The following lines of dialogue is spoken by a girl to the narrative character in a book I'm translating.

  「普通の人なら、あの状況{じょうきょう}ではまず間違いなくパニックになるわ。

  自分の置かれた状況を把握{はあく}しようとして、混乱しているうちに殺されていたはずよ。
  でもあなたは違った。状況を把握するより先に状況に対処した。
  それがあなたの才能なの」

I know まず generally means 'first', but I am unable to parse out what 'first' is denoting in the above line.

Does まず denote a aspect of time, as in 'first (time) in that situation...'. Does it denote a action done by 普通の人 such as 'first they would have panicked...'/'they certainly first would have panicked', etc? Does it denote something else? Or does まず not mean 'first' in the above sentence, and instead mean something along the lines of 'about', 'almost' or 'anyway', as defined on Jisho?

Roughly Translated Context


texts:
I've come across a sentence in Minna no Nihongo I can't explain myself:

  はさみを使ったら、元の所に戻しておいてください。

In the book, its translation in French is, in English: "After you have used the scissors, put them at their original place".

The bit I'm not understanding is the usage of -tara to translate "after you have used", like はさみを使ったあとで. I can't find an explanation of this pattern, so I'm actually unsure if this is maybe the French translation (likely translated from the English translation :p) that is wrong, or if I misunderstood it.