texts: What are the differences between the multiple words for purses and similar bags?

texts:
I have seen multiple words that supposedly translate as "purse."  (A list of words is at the end of the question.)

Are any of these words broad, general words? Are any quite specific?

I assume that some of them might be names for different styles of purses and bags. For example, in English a "clutch purse" is a purse with no handle or strap and is only carried by females. In contrast, a "shoulder bag" is a bag with a strap that is long enough to go over a person's shoulder and could be either a woman's bag or a man's bag.

The only "purse" word that I am sure I understand is がまぐち

(I understand that a「がまぐち」 is a purse, handbag, or coin purse that has a metal clasp. The name comes from the way that it looks like a toad's mouth when it is open.)

Here are some of the other Japanese words that I have seen listed as "purses."

財布{さいふ}

ハンドバッグ

手提げ{てさげ}

懐中物{かいちゅうもの}

鞄{かばん}

パース

金入れ{かねいれ}

*edited to add:
stack reader suggested that I take a look at Google Images, so I checked each word on Google Images. Here are my impressions of what I saw, but I am not sure how accurate my impressions are.

財布 「さいふ」is a small case or wallet. It can have a zipper, a metal clasp, or simply fold shut. It is made of leather. It appears to be used by both men and women.

ハンドバッグ  appears to be a leather purse with a handle. Sometimes it has a longer strap. I am guessing from the images that it is more gendered than a さいふ and I am guessing that it is a women's item.

手提げ 「てさげ」 seems to be a large category. Most of them are made of cloth. They are somewhat boxy with a rectangular bottom that has corners. Many of them would be called canvas bags or tote bags in American English. Some appear to be large paper shopping bags. A few seem to be more rounded and more like a big purse with a handle.

懐中物 「かいちゅうもの」confuses me. I can't tell what the images have in common. There are images of watches on chains. There are small boxes. There are things that might be decorative paper envelopes. There are small, flat fabric things that close with a flap.

鞄    「かばん」 seems to be made of leather. The word seems to include satchels, briefcases, coin purses, wallets and shoulder bags. If I were to judge them by the standards of my own country, they look less feminine than the ハンドバッグ  Are these for men or are they for both genders?

パース confuses me. Maybe I copied down the wrong word?? Google images shows me the city of Perth in Australia and architectural drawings.

金入れ   かねいれ seems to include wallets for paper money. It also seems to include paper that has been folded around paper money in  a standardized series of folds. It might include money collected in a basket.


texts: The full clause goes: "徹底した対策を講じるべきだ". I'm wondering if "徹底対策" is the same as "徹底した対策" and if there are any rules that I missed?


texts: A person sent an email on a phone, and exclaimed "pya" after sending it. Thank you.


texts: What is the difference between 専門 senmon and 専攻 senkō?


texts: What's the difference between 仰ぐ vs 見上げる?

texts: I noticed that 仰ぐ and 見上げる both mean "to look up." What difference do these two have in terms of nuance and usage? I'd appreciate it if there would be sample sentences taken from corpus.


texts: 「お誕生日には何をされたんですか」Why される?

texts: 「お誕生日には何をされたんですか」While the answer to this like likely very simple, why is される being used in this case rather than する? What is it implying grammatically? The Potential Form? Is it an indication of added politeness? It's clearly not Passive as an を is being used. What prompts this use of される?


texts: Need help with the meaning of this sentence (usage of ようとしている）

texts:
あいつは自分の嫁が決まってから、この呪縛を解除して自分の子供を産ませようとしてるんだ

When this kind of construction (ようとする）is used with things like てから or simple te form before it does it then mean that this applies to all of them or only the final verb?

If we split up the above sentence.

あいつは自分の嫁が決まってから- After he has chosen his wife

この呪縛を解除して- he will remove/lift/whatever the spell and then

We end with the final part of the sentence. I know and have seen the usage of ようとする many times before but when I think about this and I see it in the progressive like this I'm unsure (because he's obviously not trying to make them give birth to his child right this second because all the other steps haven't been completed anyway)

Can anyone clarify this?

Thanks.


texts:
In the opening of Violet Evergarden there is this verse:

わたしなんで泣いているんだろう
心になんて答えたらいい？
言葉はいつでも語るでもなくて
そこにあるばかりつのるばかり
わたしはあなたに会いたくなる

I'm having trouble understanding 「言葉はいつでも語るでもなくて」: the general meaning it's "Words aren't always spoken", but I don't understand what's the meaning of 「でもなくて」.
I found this answer with different meanings for「でもない」, I was wondering if this case it's "Not worth...", so "It's not worthwhile to always speak [I guess meaning 'say aloud'] words", but I'm not sure since the translation I saw didn't have that "worth" meaning, which to me sounds quite strong with respect to a simple "Words doesn't always have to be spoken".
I tried asking a Japanese teacher, and she just said something vague about this being a form that negates the sentence, but I don't understand its grammar: would 「語らなくて」 have a different meaning?


texts:
This question appears on my homework above an empty box instead of lines as with previous questions:

  鉄道{てつどう}関係{かんけい}の言葉{ことば}を書{か}きなさい

Am I being asked to write "words about railroads?" I came into this class about a week late, and am wondering if there's something here that I'm missing, because that strikes me as a strange thing to be asked to do.

What does 関係の mean here?


texts: Breaking down a translation: 彼は大政治家になりたいという大望を忘れたことはなかった。

texts:
I've found this example sentence at the tangorin.com dictionary:

  彼は大政治家になりたいという大望を忘れたことはなかった。

It is translated as "He never forgot his ambition to become a major politician."

There is two aspects of this sentence I don't quite follow. The first is what does という mean?

The second point is the understanding of 忘れたことはなかった. I know the verb 忘れる (to forget) but what about なかった?

Thank you very much.


texts: How to say "A wants B to keep away from C."?

texts:
I want to say

  A wants B to keep away from C. (A is a third person)

My attempt is as follows,

  AはBにCを遠ざけてほしがっている。

Is it correct? Unnatural? Any comment and suggestion is really appreciated.


texts: 息がつく（つける） and 息をつく（つける） difference?

texts:
I'm used to seeing 息をつく and it's easy to understand in parallel to English, as を marks the object (to take => a breath).
However, I saw this sentence in a dictionary:

彼の情熱的な抱擁で彼女は息がつけなかった。
His passionate embrace took her breath away.
(出典：プログレッシブ和英中辞典)

Why is 息 marked here as the object (assuming が is used here as an object marker)? Would rewriting the sentence as

彼の情熱的な抱擁で彼女は息をつけなかった。
His passionate embrace took her breath away.

make any difference?


texts:
This is more of a curiosity, and I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask or meta would be better (but I didn't find any appropriate tags there), but lately while watching anime with Japanese subtitles I noticed there are a lot of words or expressions marked rare or unusual in dictionaries; I see them in one anime, maybe in just one episode, then I never see them again; I guess they are used also in other places, but it seems to me they are used far far less than others. Some examples I jotted down for this question are 飼い殺し, 気に障る, 癇に障る, 親身になって, よからぬ, 回し者 and so on.
I spoke with a friend of mine, with a degree in Japanese and enough skill to live in Japan and watch anime without subtitles, and she said that she encounters a lot of words she doesn't understand, but infers from context and sound (like hearing 「てんめい」 while a character is speaking about a store, and understanding it means "store name" from てん/店 + めい/名), enough that without being able to infer them she would find difficult to follow anime.
It's a while I'm wondering about the number of words used in Japanese (or at least in anime), and I got a feeling that Japanese (or at least anime) uses far more words than English shows and English anime translations; and in Japanese there are very specific words (like 飼い殺し), and a lot of words from the same general concept (like all the ways to say "Eat", or "Speak", or "I"), which reinforces my feeling.
This got me thinking: is this something normal also for native speakers? On one hand, they are native speakers, so they are constantly immersed in the language; on the other hand, if a word is rare enough it's not easy to remember it, despite being native. I'm pretty sure there are words in my native language I forgot just because I don't get to use them often enough, and I'm sure it happened in English (which I use every day, but it's not my native language).
I found some interesting answers on the topic of non-standard or invented workds (like this and this), but they doesn't really answer my doubt, which is more on rare but existing words and expressions.
Edit: It seems my question wasn't clear, sorry about that. In English and my native language I (almost) never have to infer words meaning from the context, while I found people with good Japanese skills saying they have to do that - and quite often. Given also that I have a feeling Japanese uses more words than other languages as English, I was wondering if this "I don't know this word, but I get it from context" is something that is normal also for native speakers. I'm not sure if this is fit for SE, if not I apologize, but I wasn't able to find an answer elsewhere so I tought about trying here.


texts:
The following is an excerpt from a dialogue between me and my language partner.
For full context, I attach the full block about the topic "Your name (anime)" we were talking about at that point:

  「君の名は」は、DVDを買って、家で観ました。海外での「ジブリアニメ」の定義はよくわかりませんが、日本で「ジブリ映画」というと、スタジオジブリが製作したアニメ映画のことで、その数はそれほど多くはありません。
  http://nendai-ryuukou.com/article/030.html

  でも「君の名は」は日本でもとても評判がよく、私もよくできていると思いました。ratwimps の歌を効果的に使い、テンポよく進んでいくのが良かったですね。
  アンドレアスさんは字幕で観たのですか。私は、この映画では日本語の特性がよく表れていると思いました。男の子の一人称は「オレ」、女の子を呼ぶときの二人称は「おまえ」ですが、女の子の一人称は「私」、男の子を呼ぶときの二人称は「あなた」です。入れ替わっているとき、もちろん声や仕草でも区別がつきますが、どの人称を使うかでもすぐにわかるのです。画面に顔が映っていないときも同じです。
  外見が女の子でも、「オレ・・・」とつぶやいたら、中身は男の子ですよね。
  人称について話すと長くなるので、ここでやめておきます。

The sentence in question (Here she responded to my personal experience with the anime "your name", because I told her that I first thought it was a ghibli anime due to the high quality of the animation.):

  「君の名は」は、DVDを買って、家で観ました。海外での「ジブリアニメ」の定義はよくわかりませんが、日本で「ジブリ映画」というと、スタジオジブリが製作したアニメ映画のことで、その数はそれほど多くはありません。
  http://nendai-ryuukou.com/article/030.html

My attempt at translation:

  "Having bought 'your name' as a DVD, I watched it at home. I don't know the defintion of 'ghibli anime' in foreign countries, but in japan, speaking of ghibli anime, out of the anime which studio ghibli has made, the amount/number isn't many to that extent."

So, I'm very confused about there being the term 'ghibli anime' and the phrase 'movie which studio ghibli has produced' in the same sentence ^^ Following the description of というと here I assumed that the sentence was built like that to introduce the term 'ghible anime' first, and then explain that the number of anime produced by studio ghibli isn't very high.

I also had problems translating のことで. I basically used the meaning of の中で but it doesnt seem to fit. Furthermore, the way I translated それほど多く is supposed to mean "(there are) not that many", but I did it in this very obstructed way to show that I'm very skeptical about this interpretation. I did not find それほど多く as an entry on jisho as a set phrase, so I put put it together from its isolated parts.


texts:
The sentence is 例えば外食時、定食屋さんでとても美味しいご飯をたべたとする。

I've looked at some other answered questions which explain how とする, when appended to a verb expresses quitting an old action and starting a new one. However I can't understand it in this case, because it seems odd that it would be used in the past tense.

Does it take on a different meaning if the verb is in the past tense?


texts: What does「電車に乗ってたらなんだっていうんだろね」mean in this context?

texts:
For context, in the light novel Hige wo Soru, Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou's chapter 12:

the main character Yoshida leaves for work and his friend Sayu is left alone at their apartment. He's thought before that she must be bored at home all day while he's gone. This chapter is from her perspective, and she explains the she feels lonely now that he's left and later she starts idly thinking to herself about Yoshida while she does dishes, thinking that Yoshida is probably at the station and should've boarded the train by now. Then there're these lines:

  そんなことを考｛かんが｝えて、すぐに可笑｛おか｝しくなった。

  「電車｛でんしゃ｝に乗｛の｝ってたらなんだっていうんだろね」

  どれだけ独｛ひと｝り言｛ごと｝を言｛い｝っても、聞｛き｝いている人｛ひと｝はいないし、返事｛へんじ｝をする人｛ひと｝はいない。

The first and third lines make sense to me.

But the second one's really confusing. I don't understand how the ってたら, the なんだって, and the いうんだろね all connect. Can someone help me please?

For further context, after these lines she starts thinking about how she talks to herself a lot when Yoshida's gone.


texts: Expressing difference between "fluent" and "native speaker" in Japanese

texts:
I want to explain the difference between the English linguistic terms "fluent" and "native speaker". I could do this in English, but I'd also like to know if it's possible to do so in Japanese. To be fair, I think it's not just native speakers of Japanese who blur the lines between the two. (Related posts: The Workplace, and English Language & Usage 1 2)

Is there a pair of terms in Japanese that correspond to the difference between the two English terms, which are likely to be understood by the average English learner or teacher?

In case context matters, I'm talking about English, rather than other languages.

Post where I asked for how to express "native speaker" by itself in Japanese: Difference between 母語話者 and ネイティブスピーカー


texts:
Is there a word for "alcohol-free event", as in a social event, like a party, where alcohol is not served?

Thank you!


texts:
This is my current understanding of gemination (促音, /Q/, small っ): in native Japanese words, only the following sounds can be geminated: /k/, /s/, /t/, /p/. Additionally, in loanwords we can geminate their voiced counterparts /g/, /z/, /d/, /b/. German loans also give us geminatable /h/. (Separately, we also have moraic /N/, which can precede /n/; and place assimilation of /N/ -> /m/ before /m/.)

This is all well and good, but today I learned that the loanword for "tagliatelle" is written タリアテッレ, with a geminated /r/.

  How do you geminate Japanese /r/, which is (at least in my idiolect) a central flap, which doesn't seem to lend itself to gemination?

By contrast, English /r/ is an approximant and Spanish /r/ is a trill, so it's clear how those geminate (just pronounce them for double the usual length), and similarly, all the other geminatable Japanese sounds are stops or fricatives, which also have an obvious way of geminating them.

Audio of a native speaker pronouncing geminated-/r/ words would be very helpful as part of an answer.


texts:
Use of Particle
で particle, among other uses, is used to indicate the termination of something, wherein it acts like; "at; on, in". E.g. 大学は10月で終わる (The College will end in October), 2nd E.g. 私のパスポートは5月できれる (My passport expires in May).
Whereas, までに is used to show the time by when one does/will do, with a nuance of a time limit, wherein it acts like "by" E.g. 私10時までに家に帰る (I will be back by 10), 2nd E.g. 私は10時までに靴を買う (I will buy shoes by 10).
Background
While reading about this use of で, I found only the usage of this those sentences wherein the verbs highlighted/showcased the termination/end in itself and not otherwise, e.g. 終わる highlighted the termination/end in itself, or the use of きれる to highlighted the expiry that also indicates a termination/end in itself (if used like in the above sentence).
So, I tried to create my own sentence with those verbs which do not show termination/end in itself (e.g. of such verb 食べる does not highlight the termination/end in itself, 作る does not highlight the termination/end in itself.). I thought that, these verbs when used in Past Form, would indicate the end, as when an act is performed in past it has already ended.
However, when I used で, the sentence, it felt like, as per me, that they were pointing out towards the commencement of the action rather than the termination/end of it. E.g. 私は10時で食べた (I ate at 10), wherein it felt like that I started the act at 10, rather than the action terminated at 10, or E.g. 2 私は10時で食べ物を作った (I cooked the food at 10), wherein it felt like that I started making the food at 10, rather than it ended/terminated at 10.
Whereas, when I used the particle までに, these sentences sounded more of termination than で. E.g. 私は10時までに作った (I cooked by 10), wherein it felt like I cooked it, i.e. terminated/ended it.
Questions

Can で be used with the past tense of the verbs, which do not show termination/end in itself, to highlight the termination/end of that action i.e. it got over at XYZ time/day/month e.g. with verb such as 食べる (Past 食べた), 読む(読んだ), 飲む (飲んだ) etc?

If 1 is in positive, did the above sentence/(s) sounded like showcasing the termination/end, i.e. 私は10時で作った (I cooked at 10) sounded more like termination i.e. like the cooking got over at 10?

If 1 is in negative, is までに, irrespective of its nuance of limitation, used to showcase the termination/end in the verbs that do not show termination/end in itself? Like in the above sentence 私は10時までに作った, felt like that the performance got over i.e. terminated/ended.

Is there another way to showcase such termination/end in those verbs that do not act like they end in itself?

P.S.
This problem has been bothering me for a while. I went through the other website(s) and a few books, but I was unable to find it. The best help that I had was Google Translator. So, 教えてください.


texts: Can somebody explain the various words and combinations thereof used for thanking?

texts:
To my knowledge there are three words which can be used in thanking and they seem to be usable together in some combinations:

どうも (dōmo)
どうもありがとう (dōmo arigatō)
ありがとう (arigatō)
ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu)
どうもありがとうございます (dōmo arigatō gozaimasu)

Are there nuances of each of these words? I know "dōmo" alone is informal and I assume the longer the combination the more formal or respectful.

Are there rules as to how they can and can't be combined? (Did I include any wrong combinations)?


texts: I know that 'ありのままで' means something like 'as I am', but how would one go about understanding the bits and pieces of the phrase, such as 'あり' and what its function in the phrase is? Thank you for your help.


texts:
The other day, I saw on a news site The Verge an image from the new Star Wars movie and it had a question without the question marker particle at the end:

The question was:

  どこから来たの? (Where are you from?)

I was expecting the particle か at the end.

Are these edge cases or are there patterns of questions that can omit the question marker ?


texts: Is 足りるだけ with a negative verb idiomatic?

texts:
I've encountered sentences like:

「皆【みんな】に足【た】りるだけの椅子【いす】がありません」and
「皆に足りるだけのコーヒーがありません」.

In English, we wouldn't say, "There aren't just enough chairs," except perhaps as, "There barely aren't enough chairs," in which case we are emphasizing that we are just short of the necessary amount. In the context I encountered the foregoing uses of 「足りるだけ」, this did not seem to be the case, which made me wonder if this is just idiomatic language.
I guess my question is why is「だけ」is being used here.


texts: 未来って変わっちゃうの, further quotation shenanigans, possibly

texts:
T and L have been thrown back to past. T has had his hometown ruined in the past (this is not brought up during the conversation explicitly) so L asks should they stop by it. T is for a moment unsure then this excahnge happens

T: でもどうかな。過去の出来事を知ったり干渉したりして、未来が変わっちゃったりしたら嫌だし。
L: そうなの…？ 過去を変えちゃうと、未来って変わっちゃうの？
T: いや、そりゃそうでしょ。俺とLが会えなくなっちゃったりとかさ。

The following is my a bit rough translation as of now.

T:But I don’t know. Because I’d hate it if future changed due to our knowing about past events or meddling in them.
L: Is that so? If you changed the past would future change?
T: No, I’m sure of it. Among other things, you and me wouldn’t have met.

I have two issues here. One is minor and other more major. First one is that I'm not sure, but I'm assuming that して in first line is probably meant to be a kind of soft if. Past events are known of and/or meddled in which then might cause changes in future. I'm not entirely sure if I'm right there.
The more major problem comes in the next line. It's the 未来って変わっちゃうの？ bit. I'm not sure what's って supposed to convey. It's usually some kind of quote or like, buuut...
Wait. An idea strikes me right now. Is that って a way to refer to the previous line, and it in turn means more that future that changed would be unpleasant. Basically it's a way to express

Would the (unpleasant) (changed) future you spoke of change?

Hmm. That's still not entirely right. I'm definitely not seeing something right.
So what do you think of this conundrum of mine?


texts: Can だ/だった be omitted before conjunctive が?

texts:
On the results of measuring the amount of plastic found in a sample of 31 fish:

  その結果、９匹の体の中から大きさが５ｍｍ以下のプラスチックが平均で１．１個見つかりました。
  The result (was that) from 9 fish the size was at least 5mm of plastic but on average they found 1.1mm.

I'm struggling with several aspects of the grammar in this sentence:

1) Is the first が in bold a subject marker and the second が the conjunctive particle? Is there a だった omitted before this が?

2) Is the counter word 個 somehow used as a substitute for repeating the unit mm?

If not, then I'm lost on how to parse this sentence.


texts:
It's probably easier to explain the situation because I know there are multiple ways in which "about" could be used.

I am speaking with a friend and I tell them I went to a meeting. The next thing I would like to say is "the meeting was about leaving Japan"

To generalize this grammar point even more I guess I'm asking how I would make I sentence that say "this is about this"

I have a super basic understanding of Japanese so I'm trying to learn as I message/slash talk to people.


texts: この vs その when referring to the previous sentence?

texts:
My textbook states that sometimes, both この and その can be used to refer to the previous sentence.
Some examples:

先週木村さんという人に会った。{この、その}人は大学の先生だ。
私は子供の頃、よく近くの広場で遊んだ。しかし、{この、その}場所はもうない。
アメリカで新しい薬が開発された。{これ、それ}はガンにきくそうだ。

Is there a meaning difference between the two?


texts: Do the Japanese speak with On and Kun in daily conversation?

texts:
I am trying to wrap my head around how the Japanese speak and how that differs from kanji.  On and Kun makes a difference when reading kanji, depending usually how the sentence is made up of kanas and kanji.  But when speaking, do they speak in On and Kun as well?  Do they pay attention how they say it compared to how they would write it out and then read that outloud?

From my understanding, you can technically write all in kana if you really wanted to, regardless how practical that would actually be, but it can be done.  So when speaking do they take into account, "well I am saying this, which if I wrote it with kanji (assuming you knew the kanji to begin with), and since this word would be next to this kanji or not next to any kanji, I would have to say it this way to make sense."?

I've read that Japanese school children in general for their age/level, learn to speak Japanese first, then learn the kanas and then the kanji.  Which I guess makes sense, especially if what I wrote above is true of you can basically write anything with the kanas.  I've taken a similar approach due to my confusion, but fact checking with dictionaries to make sure it is accurate for the sound.

What I am seeing so far is that in hira Love (I guess general love) is AI.  I search for the kanji and find it, but it has both On and Kun with the Kun being the AI sound.  Same with To Meet in hira.  The sound AU is used and again that is Kun when looking at the kanji.  The dictionaries I have show the different meanings of a kanji, but I am not sure how they represent themselves in the On or Kun, just that they exist and these are the sounds with some having a few different ones.

I probably just confused you as much as I confuse my self, but can anyone help me understand please?  Thank you for your time and patience.


texts: Can you use 好き about someone else's feelings?

texts:
I'm aware that one can't normally talk directly about others' feelings in Japanese i.e.:

  母はすしを食べたい *
  母が寒い *

should be something like

  母はすしを食べたがっています
  母が寒そうだ

Does this apply to 好き? 「母はすしが好きです。」sounds OK to me but I'm not sure.


texts:
Trying to understand a technical standard that I have to use but my skills are apparently too weak as I cannot grasp the meaning:

  固有の特徴は，機能面の特徴又は品質面の特徴として分類することができる。

In the classification of functions/features to be either functional or quality-related but I am not sure whether that would be accurate.


texts: What's the difference between 役割 and 役回り?

texts:
Weblio gives both the meaning of role or part (duty is there too as a less used meaning), so I assume the difference is on the nuances.
In addition, 役割 seems to be much more used by Japanese natives than 役回り. The few examples I could find of 役回り carried negative connotations, either regarding duties or when it came to acting, it was used to refer to playing a villainous character. Does 役回り always have a negative meaning?

https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%BD%B9%E5%9B%9E%E3%82%8A

https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%BD%B9%E5%89%B2


texts: Using 言う and ても to mean "even if you say"

texts:
I was trying to say something similar to "even if you tell me to not look, I will look", so my initial guess was something along those lines:

「見ないで」と言っても見る。

I was under the impression that Xて-form + も would yield something like "even if you x, ..."

However searching for 言っても on weblio. So the question is, would 言っても have the meaning "even if you say X, ...", if not what would would be the idiomatic way to say it?


texts: Can こんちゃbe used as a slang form of こんにちわ?

texts: It was a typed response to me after I greeted the person in an email. I am wondering if it is a slang term or if it has a different meaning. Thank you.


texts: what is the difference between [法度]{はっと} and [法律]{ほうりつ}?

texts: To add a bit more to my question, I'm wondering if the words are used interchangeably, or if 法度 has more a sense of law that is set up to ban or prohibit something?  Is 法度 a commonly used word?


texts: Help understanding the usage of "真似" in this context

texts:
Here is a piece of dialogue from the lore of a video game:

  そういや、オラクルじゃないが……昔そこそこ強かったウォーロックの連中は似たような真似してたかもな

The speaker here was just informed about the combat techniques unique to "oracles" (オラクル), in the story ウォーロック need decades of training to achieve the status of オラクル.

But I'm confused by what the speaker means by 真似. The dictionary definitions are as follows:

  imitating; copying; mimicry
  behavior; behaviour; action; conduct

I assume definition 2 is the correct usage, however is it behaviour/conduct in terms of how they carry themselves/present themselves, or could it also be referring to a specific action depending on the context? In this case the action being the combat techniques.

Based on this later assumption would I be right in translating the line like so:

  That reminds me, although they're not oracles… maybe warlocks who have been relatively strong for a long time can do something (combat techniques) that resembles this.

Thanks~


texts: How do we use に気をつける vs を気をつける？

texts:
に気をつける is a much more popular expression, from what I see, compared to を気をつける. But the latter is still not that rare.

Is there any significant difference between these two and something to be wary of upon choosing to use either?


texts:
I learn new words really easily, and I recognize words with kanji easily, but I can't seem to memorize 4 kanji 'on and kun readings' without forgetting the 1st once I learn the 5th.
This is coming from someone who went through all of highschool without even being able to memorize her timetables (but did great in her final math tests because they allowed a calculator).
I just don't think I'm someone who's good at memorizing - I'm good at learning, but not memorizing.

I know this is a topic people seem to feel really passionately about, but here we go - can I just learn kanji by learning how it's said in common words? Or just learning it's most common readings?

The reason I see most people give why you can't is 'if you see a word that you don't know, you won't know how to read it', but I've also heard that A. there's apps that if you take a picture of a word/kanji it'll tell you how to say it and B. the readings are irregular too often to be confident in it anyway.
Right now I'm literally just trying to learn the FIRST PAGE of the Grade One Kanji on Jisho (http://jisho.org/search/%23grade%3A1%20%23kanji), and I'm already stuck with:

上
above, up

Kun: うえ、 -うえ、 うわ-、 かみ、 あ.げる、 -あ.げる、 あ.がる、 -あ.がる、 あ.がり、 -あ.がり、 のぼ.る、 のぼ.り、 のぼ.せる、 のぼ.す、 たてまつ.る

On: ジョウ、 ショウ、 シャン

Okay, let's say I memorized this. And then I saw it in a word. The chances of me even guessing the right reading is super low. Look at all of that! It definitely doesn't look like a surefire way to know how to pronounce every word you run into.

I really want to pass the JLPT5 (my goal is actually to pass it this year), and I want to know – do they ask you all of the kun and on readings for the kanji on that test? Or do they just want you to understand and be able to read the words the kanji make and how they're usually read on their own?


texts: Unnecessary に in "どんなに" in this sentence?

texts:
The following sentences are from a reading passage. I'm confused on the third sentence - the previous two are just given for context.

  日本ではどこに行っても、「きまりですから」という言葉を耳にする。 これを言われてしまうと、こちらにはもう反論の余地はない。どんなに常識的で正当な理由もこの言葉にはかなわない。

I understand that the meaning is something like "No matter what kind of commonplace or appropriate reasons you give, there's nothing you can do about those words." But there's no verb ("give" in the case of "give a reason"), and it would seem どんなに would only apply if there was some kind of verb (for example, どんなに...理由を挙げても). As it stands, shouldn't it be どんな...理由(で)も? What am I missing here?


texts:
I don't think this is a duplicate . . .
So can someone tell me if there is a difference between the two? I know they both mean end, but are they interchangeable? I came across this sentence

  お遊びタイム終了。

Which I would interpret as "game time is over", but could 終わり have been used instead?
Thanks everyone :)


texts:
I would like to clarify the differences between 傷{きず} and 怪我{けが}. Are these assertions correct?

  傷 is used exclusively for minor cuts and abrasions to the skin?
  怪我 can also be used for cuts and abrasions, as well as bruising or other minor injuries. 怪我 is also used for major injuries such as broken bones, concussions, etc?

So, calling any type of injury a 怪我 is technically correct. And, using 怪我 allows you to say 怪我した。

Using 傷 allows you to be more specific as to the type of injury, but then you must say something like 傷がついた。

My strategy is to always say 怪我する because I don't need to worry about sensing the distinction between 傷 and 怪我, and I like how 怪我する sounds. Is this a good policy? Is it ever critical that I say 傷 instead of 怪我?


texts:
How do you pronounce "1–10 + some counter"? I have seen lists of common counters, but they may not contain less common counters, such as ～話 or ～膳.

How do I know how to count with rare counters?


texts: What's the difference between [歓喜]{かん・き} and [喜悦]{き・えつ}?

texts:
From the definitions and examples I've seen, it seems that 喜悦 focuses more on the emotion of joy/happiness, and 歓喜 focuses more on the experience of the joy.

Or am I looking too far into it?


texts: Transitive-intransitive pairs with different readings

texts: Transitive-intransitive pairs are common in Japanese. But in general the reading of the kanji is the same. I know of two exceptions: 出す{だす}-出る{でる} and 入れる{いれる}-入る{はいる}. Are there more?


texts: Please help me identify who does what in this sentence and check the translation

texts:
Here is the sentence:

  妹に車で駅まで迎えに行かせます。

The translation from Tatoeba is

  I will have my sister pick you up at the station.

I've been reading "Making Sense of Japanese: What the Textbooks Don't Tell You" just now, the chapter where he dives into causative's zero pronouns. Now I have doubts about the given translation.

Few things I don't get here:

Usage of まで particle - will she give a lift to someone to the station or pick up from? (why not から?)

Usage of に particle - does it mean that my little sister is the target of my causative verb? Or is it that the sister is the one who makes me or someone give someone else a ride?


texts:
For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20180617/k10011481821000.html?utm_int=news_contents_news-main_001

The sentence in question:
ＪＲ東日本によりますと、17日午後２時前、午後０時20分に東京を出発し、新函館北斗に向かっていたはやぶさ21号と秋田に向かっていたこまち21号が、宮城県の仙台と古川の間を走行中に非常ブレーキが作動し、緊急停車しました。

My attempt at translation:
"According to JR east Japan, on the seventeenth before 2p.m (??? 午後０時20分に ???), the hayabusa21 which left tokyo and headed towards shinhakodate-station and the komachi21 which headed towards Akita had an emergency break while in motion through the area of an old river and Sendai City in miyagi prefecture."

So 走行中 is listed as a の-adjective https://jisho.org/search/%E8%B5%B0%E8%A1%8C%E4%B8%AD but my textbooks never told me that に can be applied to them ^^ I guess it does the same thing as with な-adjectives? Making them an adverb? I could imagine interpreting に very fundamentally as "in" like "in motion", however then it would only reinforce the basic meaning of 走行中 and furthermore, there is a preceding を. This を reminds me of the を you can see in 橋を歩く for example, but I'm not sure wether I can put it into relation to the  非常ブレーキが作動し phrase since that one seems rather isolated to me...


texts:
What does the Japanese word 赤道 mean?
A Russian site claims that it means philosophical teaching.


texts: What is the difference between 直観 and 直感?

texts:
I'm trying to understand if there is a difference between the two words 直感 and 直観. After looking both words up in a dictionary, the entries both list "intuition / intuitive". I also tried looking up the words in a Japanese dictionary, but I was unable to see a notable difference.

What are the correct ways to use these words?

Could this sentence be replaced with 直感的？：

  情報化が進んだ社会の若者は、かつての若者以上に、希望の実現が困難であることを直観的に知っているように思います。


texts:
I'm writing instructions for how to make a request, but I'm not sure which to use?

  先ずは色を決めて下さい。

Or

  先ずは色を選んで下さい。

Are there any differences? Or am I completely off?


texts: I'd like to understand the pattern "verb+nai+to(+ne)"

texts:
In the sentence:

掟は ちゃんと教えないとね
(okite wa chanto oshienai to ne)
[You must be taught the rules properly.]

I'd like to understand this pattern of using verb-nai-to(-ne). Thanks.


texts:
Is it always possible to replace　よう with みたい?
For example in this sentence:

思うようにはいかないものだ。

Would

思うみたいにはいかないものだ 。

work as well?
I've read many times that these two can be interchangeable, but it seems that's not always the case. Are there are any rules explaining when one of them sounds better or is grammatically correct and the other doesn't or is not?


texts:
No, i'm not gonna ask you for tutorials, websites, books.

I've already started learning Japanese, i know a few words and can type them (well, the Japanese driver just puts the Japanese characters there when i type latin letters). However, i hear some different opinions about what to learn first/how to learn.

One site teaches romaji first, so Japanese words written in latin letters. However, others say, thats really bad and teach a few hiragana first before getting to some basic words. Another learning resource expects me to learn all hiragana, then all katakana, before i even start to learn some words.

So the question(s):

What do i learn first? Should i try to learn all Hiragana first? Do i need to learn Katakana right after or is it possible to write simple sentences with only Hiragana?

So, as i said, i do not ask for resources, just for some guidelines, what i definitely need to learn before i can get really into it.

(A line about romaji would be great, i've heard that there is no romaji in Japanese, thats just invented for non-japanese people for learning(?) purposes)


texts: To provide some context, the character was trying to scare away some hoodlums who had come to a abandoned mansion, by pretending to make noises that would make them think there was some sort of evil spirit there. One of the hoodlums claims to have 霊感 and is overreacting to everything that he hears. Towards the end of this exchange this hoodlum says "狐出てきた！？　絶対、呪うヤツじゃん" and the character thinks to himself "あいつは好感度高いな", and I'm struggling to understand what he means by this even after looking for word up online. It seems that it can be used to describe something or someone that makes/gives a really good impression or feeling, but this still leaves me struggling to interpret what he means in context.


texts:
I believe I understand what this piece of description is saying with regards to the subject but I'm confused by the last part and therefore not sure how to correctly parse it:

  数年前の経歴も局長の立場から調べてあるが、何しろ冤罪によって部局を追放された身である為,

Is "身である為" the same as saying "身のためである" which means "for your own benefit"? In which case the sentence would probably go something like this -  "he was evicted from the department anyway due to false accusations [for his own benefit]".


texts: Why should not put 一 before 千,百,十, but ok for 万?

texts:
I've heard that should not put 一 before 千,百,十, for example, we can say:

千円 or 百円 or 十円

but not:

一千円 or 一百円 or 一十円

But we can and must say:

一万円

So my question is: Is it correct? And why it's ok only for 万?


texts: What does 入れてください mean in 毎日、時間があろうとなかろうと、連絡だけは**入れてください**。?

texts:
What does 入れてください mean in

毎日、時間があろうとなかろうと、連絡だけは入れてください。?

Word definitions according to Jisho.org: 入れてください

to put in; to let in; to take in; to bring in; to insert; to install (e.g. software); to set (a jewel, etc.); to ink in (e.g. tattoo)
to admit; to accept; to employ; to hire
to accept; to comply; to grant; to adopt (a policy, etc.); to take (advice, etc.); to listen to; to pay attention to esp. 容れる
to include
to pay (one's rent, etc.)
to cast (a vote)
to make (tea, coffee, etc.)
to turn on (a switch, etc.)
to send (a fax); to call

I'm hesitant to choose a definition that fits the sentence above.


texts: 「私の緊張のあまり」 vs.「私は緊張のあまり」in this sentence?

texts:
sentence #1:

  自分{じぶん}の番{ばん}が近{ちか}づいてきたとき、私{わたし}は緊張{きんちょう}のあまり頭{あたま}の中{なか}が真{ま}っ白{しろ}になってしまった。

sentence #2:

  自分の番が近づいてきたとき、緊張のあまり、私は頭の中が真っ白になってしまった。

sentence #3:

  自分の番が近づいてきたとき、私の緊張のあまり頭の中が真っ白になってしまった。

sentence #4:

  自分の番が近づいてきたとき、緊張のあまり頭の中が真っ白になってしまった。

Are each grammatically correct?
Nuances aside, are there any fundamental differences in meanings?
Because the first-person is implied, there is no need to mention 私, so #4 is the most natural?


texts:
ラナ「だってIT社長って、女優と付き合ってからが本番でしょ？」

Hi. What does 本番 mean or refer to here? I know 本番 literally means “the real thing”.
Thank you.


texts:
In reading articles about survivors of Hiroshima (hibakusha), I learned that there are designated individuals, denshosha, who are tasked with learning and recording the memories of the survivors of the bombing.

Is denshosha a term specific to the "memory-keeping" of the hibakusha, or does it have a more general meaning of simply "memory-keeper", i.e. it makes sense outside of the concept of the hibakusha?

(I do not study Japanese, and I do not know the Kanji/written form of these words.)


texts: The use of particle の in positive and negative comparisons

texts:
Colour me a little confused.

1) Say I'm comparing two objects:

  Q: テレビと本と、どちらが好きですか？

  A: テレビより、本のほうが好きです。

2) Then say I'm comparing two actions:

  Q: テレビを見るのと、本を読むのと、どちらが好きですか？

  A: テレビを見るより、本を読むほうがすきです。

3) Then, suppose I'm comparing two objects negatively:

  Q: テレビと本と、どちらがおもしろくないですか？

  A: テレビは、ほんよりほどおもしろくないです。

4) Lastly, I'm comparing two actions negatively:

  Q: テレビを見るのと、本を読むのと、どちらがおもしろくないですか？

  A: テレビを見るのは、ほんを読むのほどおもしろくないです。

So, to be sure I've got this right: in positive comparisons, you only use の for the ～より～ほうが structure comparing objects, and when asking someone a question that involves comparing actions. In negative comparisons, you don't use の when comparing objects at all, but you do use の both for asking someone to compare actions and for ～は～ほど.

So if I've not made a mistake, the question is: what the heck is going on here? I'm very confused at the differences between these structures in the usage of の. Could you please try to explain to me why の is used or not used in each of the four examples?


texts: Is there a difference in (im)politeness between ～てくれ and ～て？

texts: I understand that ～てください is the polite request form, and that both ～てくれ and simply using the ～て form are both more colloquial. I'm just not sure how they compare, my guess would be that ～てくれ is more rough, but I'm not sure.


texts: Separate kanji for おそい when referring to being late and being slow

texts:
The i-adjective はやい can refer to being fast or being early, but each of the meanings has affinity towards separate kanji: 速い (fast) and 早い (early). Yet, while it's not surprising that the antonyms of both 速い and 早い have the same pronunciation おそい, both おそい that means "slow" and "late" seems to share the same kanji: 遅い. Although WWWJDIC and dictionary@goo both include 鈍い as an alternative kanji for おそい, it does not seem to have affinity towards any of the two meanings either.

Is this really the case that the same kanji form can refer to both meanings, or were there separate kanji for each (maybe abolished during the reform or something)?


texts: ドラゴン vs. ワイバーン vs. 竜

texts: I've been playing some Fire Emblem recently and I noticed that the English translation for ドラゴンナイト is Wyvern Rider. My initial guess that there wasn't a word for Wyvern in Japanese was wrong though as ワイバーン exists. So I was wondering what the nuance and difference between the two in Japanese is along with what differences there are with 竜.


texts: How would you say you "stopped wearing" something?

texts:
How would you go about saying you "stopped wearing" something? I'm trying to say "I stopped wearing uniforms at X high school." and I'm incredibly tripped up by how to put verbs into this sentence.

I know how to say I was wearing something (「...きました。」) and that I wasn't wearing something (「...きませんでした。」), but I cant quite figure out how to say "stopped wearing".

Is 「Xこうこうでユニフォームをきるのをとまりました。」 correct?


texts: 申し込みます vs 応募します (to apply)

texts:
Good day folks,

Basically been studying for 3 months already here in Tokyo. Using minna no nihongo book in our school. I am just wondering because I stumbled upon もうしこみます which means "to apply".

When I was playing with google translate, I wanted to say something like "I want to apply for your company", and the word おうぼする came up. I tried searching the net for their differences, but couldn't find any. if anyone can help, please do so. Any output is much appreciated. Thank you very much.


texts: How to distinguish between passive and potential forms of the verb?

texts: I've read that potential form of the ru-verb is formed by replacing る with られる, which is exactly the same for the passive form of ru-verbs. How can we tell the passive form and potential apart in this case?


texts: What is the connotation of calling someone "Kozaru Shichinosuke"?

texts:
What is the meaning of calling someone "Kozaru Shichinosuke". I know it's the title of a kabuki play and the name of the hero, however what's the linguistic connotation here?

Is it a phrase used in common language now? Or is it limited to people knowing the play?

The situation is: person A helped person B (brought forgotten thing) and person B responds with 小猿七之助だ.

Person B is very old fashioned, person A is not particularly happy with the response.


texts: Why do English sources for learning Japanese leave out pitch?

texts:
I always thought that besides Kanji, one of the most difficult things about Japanese was its immense amount of homophones. For example, 花 (はな), which means flower, and 鼻 (also はな) which means nose. In the sources and books I read, I am simply supposed to tell the difference by context, and this isn't always easy. Let me elaborate:

  [甘美]{うまみ}の花は赤く見える
  [Talking to Umami] Your flower looks red.

  [甘美]{うまみ}の鼻は赤く見える
  [Talking to Umami] Your nose looks red.

If I was talking to Umami before that statement and it was clear we were taking about her flower or her nose than yes, I suppose context would help. However, if this was the starting statement, it might not be completely clear.  Hypothetically, if she was sick and bringing me a red flower, she wouldn't know from the context and I would have wasted my time specifying that I was talking about the organ or the plant.

Would pitch be helpful or even necessary to differentiate the subject in this case? If so, then why do English sources leave it out? If anything, it should be one of the first things learned, seeing that I basically had to re-learn all of the words I thought I knew how to pronounce perfectly.


texts: why has 当り前 been translated as "must-be" here?

texts:
For a research project I am trying to understand a paper that originally appeared in Japanese and that also has an official English translation.

In the original, 当り前 appears. In the official translation it is rendered as "must-be", but as far as I can tell, this means "natural", "obvious" or "taken-for-granted".

Can anyone clear this up for me?

Thank you

I have included a scan of the title of the original paper.


texts: What is the difference between [上手]｛じょうず｝　and [上手い]｛うまい｝?

texts: I've read that [上手]｛じょうず｝ is formal and [上手い]｛うまい｝　is casual... nothing else?


texts:
In a text related to norms and regulations I read this phrase:

  材料メーカーにおける試験値のミルシートへの記載誤りであり、製造者の受け入れ検査不備による。

I don't understand this へ particle here. Is really necessary? I think it can be omitted, so what's the difference between への and just の?


texts: に/で and を/から - particle choice in two JLPT N5 sentences

texts:
この　かみに　電話番号を　書いてください。

Why is it wrong to use で instead? What if the sentence is like このボールペン＿＿電話番号を書いてください?

  六時に　会社を　出て、うちへ　帰ります。

Why is it wrong to use から here? Is it because it's a fixed expression?


texts: Both 守 and 護 mean "to protect" or "to safeguard", but are there any differences between them?


texts: Under what circumstance does using 普通形 of a verb imply a request?

texts:
Couple of days back, I was at Japanese class and 先生 wanted us to return the printouts he handed us earlier. 先生 used the sentence 「プリントを出します」instead of 「プリントを出して」. Some other examples I have seen are:

関係者は出社したことを確認します - Related party, please confirm attendance
出社したら、自分で「出社しました！」メールを送る - When you arrive, send a mail stating you have arrived

These examples are requests to other parties to do something. From what I understand, to make requests, one should use the て- form of verbs. The example sentences uses the ます/る form in making requests. Is this even possible? If I am not mistaken, using the ます/る forms of verbs implies (first person) will do (verb), for example: リンゴを食べます means (I) will eat the apple, and not please eat the apple. And if it possible to use ます/る to make requests, how can I differentiate (other then by context) whether it is a request or whether it is what someone will doて


texts: I've seen the phrase 言わせておけば a few times in games, and through official translations and context, I understand that it means something along the lines of "now you've said it!" or "that's the last straw," but I'm unsure of what the implied result of the conditional is--it seems like a phrase in the same vein as うわさをすれば, where usually you just say the first part and the continuation is understood, but I've never heard that for this phrase. What would the full phrase likely be, and what is its implied meaning?


texts: question on textbook activity using ～ば～ほど

texts:
We are using the textbook "Adventures in Japanese," and in class we got up to this activity:

  Begin a conversation with your partner with the comments below. Your partner agrees, then gives his/her opinion starting with でも and using the ～ば～ほど pattern.

Example as written:

  質問： 数学って、むずかしいね。
  答え：ええ。でも、勉強すればするほど、分かるようになるよ。

  １．質問：漢字って、むずかしいね。

We spent like 15-20 minutes in class trying to figure out an answer that works: our sensei says there is something wrong no matter how many times we try to answer that we aren't realizing.
How I tried to answer:

  ええ。でも、勉強すればするほど新聞が読めるようになるよ。

other questions:

  日本語って、むずかしいね。
  お茶って、苦いね。
  茶道って、つまらないね。

Any insight? Thank you.


texts: Parsing a sentence with の and に missing(?)

texts: I saw this tweet earlier today. I find it difficult to understand the underlined portion. This is the first time I saw 目指すよう without に or な following it. The same goes with 近く. It looks like an adverb, but I'm sure it's not modifying 要請する. Is it 近くの with の omitted? This is not a newspaper headline, but what's with the omission of に and の?


texts: Should I use honorifics to say (言う 'iu') for subordinate clauses?

texts:
When I use という to-iu, for example:

  これと同{おな}じ「草{くさ}」というものがここに生{は}えますか？ Kore to onaji “kusa” to-iu mono ga kokoni haemasu ka?

  Does something like this so-called “grass” grow around here?

Should I replace いう for “申す mōsu” “申し上げる mōshiageru” or “おっしゃる ossharu” if I use honorifics form?

Are these words interchangeable in all situations?  If not, when do I use each?

-Jerbot


texts: When I listen to "watashi wa", for example, sometimes I have the impression that the 'w' sounds like 'v' as in "vial" or "violence" in English (Similar to 'w' in the German Language). Nevertheless, I also have the impression of listening 'w' as in "wonderful" sometimes, so I'm confused. Do the Japanese use both sounds? How 'w' is pronounced?


texts:
湯ぶねに体を沈めると、どばーっと色つきのお湯があふれた。
  When he sank his body into the bath, the coloured hot water gushed over.

I took me a while to figure out that 色つき meant 'coloured'. It isn't in the bi-lingual dictionaries. Is it a single word or am I missing a grammar point where I can add つき to the end of a word to turn it into an "-ed" word?

For example if I wanted to talk about the "whitened paper" i.e. paper that has been made white, could I say 白つきの紙?

Basically, if つき does work as a suffix when/how should I use it?


texts:
Regarding videos made by some Taiwanese organisations about the plight of the people of 福島県:

  ビデオの中では、事故のあと、前にいた町にまた住むことができるようになった人や、津波で夫が亡くなったお年寄りの女性に話を聞いています。
  In the videos we are hearing/ have heard stories, after the accident, from a person who has again become able to live in the town she once lived in, and from an old lady whose husband died in the tsunami.

The full text may be helpful here.

I'm confused about either the meaning or the conjugation of 聞く in this sentence and who the subject of the verb is. I would expect it to translate as either "You/one will hear... " or "You/one can hear...", where the implied subject is the reader of the article, but that would be either 話を聞きます or 話を聞くことができます wouldn't it? Neither "You are hearing" nor "You have heard" really seem to fit the sentence well at all.


texts: What are the social implications of being too polite lingustically?

texts:
Reviewing some basic keigo forms, I was wondering what happens if you express yourself too polite... I heared that is not uncommon for (elder) couples to use keigo to express their uttermost respect towards their partner and this is generally perceived as "cute"/positive by Japanese people. Conversly in most Indo-European cultures beeing overly polite to people close to you would sometimes be considered cold/distant/rude.

So my questions:

  What would be the general reaction of Japanese people, if one were to
  use too polite language forms for a given situation? Are there certain
  kinds of situation in which beeing too polite would be particular
  positivly/negatively perceived by Japanese people?


texts:
Statistics seem to show that (for young males, anyway) 俺{おれ} is beginning to be used more often than 僕{ぼく} to refer to oneself. I have read that 俺 is somewhat rude.

There are certain situations, of course, where you would obviously not want to use it (e.g. when speaking with your boss), but when speaking in an informal setting, does it still have a "rude" connotation?

How would you feel if you are speaking to your friend and he's using 俺 all the time instead of 僕?


texts: The use of へ towards an abstract concept

texts:
I understand the obvious uses of へ. My understanding gets a bit fuzzy when it comes to things other than a physical direction toward a physical place.

For example; a sentence such as this: 勝ちへ向かう

Is this limited to just goals/expectations? Is there any limit to what goals/expectations can use this particle? Honestly, I wish this particle could just mean 'to' in general. :/


texts:
What are auxiliary verbs in Japanese language?
Which verbs are auxiliary and how to tell which are auxiliaries, and which are normal?

It looks like the word です is an auxiliary verb. But why? What tells us that it has this function in sentence?

Is the word ます an auxiliary?

I apologize for silly questions.


texts:
You can use this construct with verbs:

食べれば食べるほど太る

and with adjectives:

ジェットコースターは高ければ高いほど楽しい

but what about adverbs?

if, for example, I wanted to say of a windmill "the faster it turns, the more power it generates"?


texts: What are the original names of the months in Japanese?

texts: Currently, ichigatsu, nigatsu, sangatsu.....however the original names of the months were different than what is spoken today. I want to learn the original names of the months.


texts: Why do Japanese titles often start with titles/appositions?

texts:
Sort of hinted by a recent question How would one express an opinion from the perspective of an inclusive group? .

Japanese titles in books, songs, shows, etc. are accompanied with a title (status) or an apposition when there is a name. It happens so often, as if it is a rule.

  三年B組金八先生
  おじゃまんが山田くん
  機動戦士ガンダム
  超時空要塞マクロス
  宇宙戦艦ヤマト
  キャプテンハーロック
  電子戦隊デンジマン
  太陽戦隊サンバルカン
  科学忍者隊ガッチャマン
  元祖天才バカボン
  プロゴルファー猿
  オバケのQ太郎
  忍者ハットリくん
  Dr.スランプアラレちゃん
  めぞん一刻
  釣りキチ三平
  男あばれはっちゃく

Sometimes, it is accompanied with an onomatopoeia, an interjection, or some short word.

  ハローサンディーベル
  ゲゲゲの鬼太郎
  こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所

Why did it happen to be like this?


texts: I saw that is correct to use が but I can't understand the differences between を and が


texts: ぐわん: Is this a word? Drunken speech in manga

texts:
I'm reading a manga and am completely stuck on what is being said in the following line of text:

  まわる = まる = circle　ぐわんぐわん = ぐん？ 　ほわほわする = ほほする = cheeks

I've attached the page with the text highlighted in red. The scene takes place where the girl is in a circle drinking party. The girl is intoxicated so I'm guessing she's "thinking" drunkenly which means her  words are going to be slightly off, but I don't know enough Japanese to figure out what the real words are. I don't know if all the "わ" are part of the actual word or if they're placed in to show slurred speech.

Please correct me if I've misinterpreted the first and last part of the text.


texts: た ち つ て と -> だ ぢ づ で ど (ta chi tsu te to -> da dji dzu de do) - Why is it different from all the other kana that can get dakuten?

texts:
Let's take the は ひ ふ へ ほ (ha hi hu/fu he ho) kana for example. When they get dakuten, they become ば び ぶ べ ぼ (ba bi bu be bo). The た ち つ て と (ta chi tsu te to) kana become だ ぢ づ で ど (da dji dzu de do).

Why this transformation happens. And, more important, why the ち (chi) & つ (tsu) are like this? They could have been ti, not chi and tu, not tsu. The ち & つ kana could also be categorized in the わ & ん category. If they were ti and tu, they could easily become di and du with dakuten.

So why does this happen? Why aren't they ti and tu instead of chi and tsu?


texts: Is the phrase うちに上がる still compatible for non-Japanese style houses?

texts:
As Japanese houses commonly have higher floor, the verb 上がる (go up) is appropriate, I think.

How about non-Japanese houses in which the floor has the same level? Is the phrase うちに上がる still compatible?

One more question, is it ok to use うちに入る instead of うちに上がる ?


texts:
I'm taking a look by recommendation to the "remembering the kanji" book. In it appears the kanji below. I look for it in a list of joyo kanji and it doesnt appear, at least not when I look for it by its meaning. The meaning the book says it has is "fiesta". Fiesta is a spanish word, and I dont even understand what it is doing in an english book unless it means something different in another language or japanese? Anyway, I'd like to know if this is a joyo kanji, and if this is the meaning it has "fiesta" and if that meaning it's the same meaning than the word "fiesta" in spanish

By the way, I can't type the kanji in my computer, so if anyone can add it to the title it's appreciated. Same thing happened with other couple of topics I've opened, and I realize since the topic title isnt descriptive, the topic isnt helpful for others


texts: Are there any issues with sexism in the Japanese language?

texts:
The only example I can think of/that I know of at the moment that has ever been of controversy with regard to sexism in Japanese was the change from 看護婦 to 看護師. I'm sure there are probably many more cases like this. I also see a lot of words with kanji that seem more or less degrading to women, but I'm not sure that this is what I'm going for with the question. Rather I'm looking for something more ingrained, more structural that has been a source of controversy in the past. Vocabulary or kanji could fall into this category as well, but I'm not looking for an exhaustive listing of words or expressions that could be considered sexist. Rather I want to know what is and has been considered sexist in Japanese by Japanese people.

As an example in English there is notably no gender neutral third person pronoun, so words like "man" and "he" are the norm while other more equal words either don't exist or aren't used as widely in situations where gendered speech has been traditionally used.

Does Japanese have these kinds of issues, and if so what are they?


texts:
本を読む間に、彼女は泣き出しました。

"While she was reading the book, she burst into tears."

I was only taught the nagara structure, whose use is very limited. Since I needed a structure to express something that happens while another action is being performed, I had to use something else. I thought about aida ni. Is my sentence correct?


texts:
The hypothetical scenario is given as follows.

Yesterday night I played game and intentionally did not do the homework. I did not forget for sure. :-)
This morning the teacher asked me and I want to pretend to regret what I did.

From this scenario, I want to say something that makes use of ～てしまいました grammar.

  宿題を[the て form of しない]しまいました。

What is the て form of しない ?


texts: What is this 使い途? I get tsukaimichi on Google translate,  but on a jisho app, there isn't a translation.


texts: How to ask someone "Are you going to/attending X?"; 'X' being a name of an event (a concert/someone's wedding/etc)

texts:
Question in title. A bit lost on how to say this at the moment. Any help/suggestions is appreciated!

EDIT: How I went about saying this in Japanese is:「Coachellaわいくの?」 (Are you going to Coachella?)

Just wondering if there's a better way to ask this.


texts:
In 無情のスキャッツ from 人間椅子, there's the following line, around 2'41":

  私の額{ぬか}にも微笑をくれ

The furigana are from the video's subtitles, which are not automatically generated by Youtube, so this is definitely intended by the authors.

I couldn't find any reference confirming that 額 had any readings other than ひたい and がく.
Also, I thought it could be a play on word (1) of some kind, but I couldn't find any word that reads ぬか that would make any sense.

What could be the meaning of reading 額 ぬか in this context?

(1)  You know, that thing when you attach totally different furigana to a word to express the true meaning of that word in a context, like 地球{ここ}, but I forgot how it's called


texts:
When we first studied adjective conjugation in my Japanese class, I kept making the same mistake habitually; I would conjugate the past tense of い-adjectives with でした at the end instead of dropping the い and adding かったです. My teacher would correct me, and now I've more or less started doing かったです, but I still wonder about how "wrong" adjective-でした is.

○ あのテストは難しかったです。
×? あのテストは難しいでした。

Is the second sentence straight out wrong and/or extremely unnatural-sounding? Would anybody in Japan conjugate adjectives like this? Or does it possibly introduce a slightly different meaning?


texts:
could you help me with this? I'm trying to say "If we call each other, will we be able to understand each other at all?"

so far I have come with this [僕らはお互いを電話すれば、お互いをわかりますかな?]
What you guys think?

I'm not really sure if that's the proper way to say it, and also not sure about how to say "at all".

ありがとうございます！


texts: Confusion regarding writing a word in Kanji and Katakana

texts:
In the One Piece manga, it's quite common to see the names of character's attacks written in both Kanji and Katakana. Take as examples:

  Gekko Moriah's Doppelman [影法師]{ドッペルマン} Dopperuman, literally meaning "Silhouette"
  Daz Bones' Spider [斬人]{スパイダー} Supaidā, literally meaning "Beheading/Cutting Man"

My question is: can those kanji really work together to be pronounced like that, and the katakana is just there so people won't think it's pronounced some other way? Or is it that the kana actually DEFINES how the word is supposed to be pronounced, and I could in theory take any pair of kanji and katakana and say "you write it just like that other word, but this is a different word and here's how it's supposed to be pronounced"?

I used to think it was just clever wordplay, but there's some things that just sound too good to be true.


texts:
Yesterday, I read a passage from Shin Kanzen Master N1:

As I was reviewing it today, I remembered that それまでだ is an expression which means "that's the end" or something to that effect. That said, I still don't understand what the last sentence of the first paragraph means.
I would translate it as "That is just in the movies and one is sitting while watching it, so it's inconsequential and that's it, but the audience forgets himself/herself." (I'd appreciate any correction to this translation.)
At this point of utter confusion (and desperation), I used Google Translate, DeepL, and other tools to translate 何のことはない、といえばそれまでだ。which led to equally confusing translations:

DeepL: "To say it's nothing is an understatement." (it somehow makes
sense but I don't know how it relates to this explanation)
Google translate: "Until then, if nothing happens." (misses the idiomatic use of それまでだ)
Yandex translate: "It is up to that to say that there is nothing." (???)

I would really appreciate any input you have on this. Thanks in advance!


texts:
How would you say, I saw that movie for the first time? Would you use 初回 or a different word like
第一回? What are the differences between using these words to describe the "first time" doing something if there are any?


texts:
What do ほかには and ほかのは mean? How are they different from one another?

And why is に used in ほかに? Is there an explanation for it or is it just naturally said? Thanks!


texts:
I read this line in a blog today:

  料理に使えるおススメ品や、ご飯屋さんを紹介しています。

and I have two questions:

1) I know that the writer can use katakana for emphasis or for some other reason, but why is it mixed like this? Is the お honorific in this case? It seems that おすすめ and すすめ have roughly the same meaning, but I really don't know the difference.

2) Can you write the honorific prefix in katakana オ in some cases? I wonder if you cannot, then that is why it was written this way.


texts: Polite way to ask for help on a boss for a game?

texts:
There's a boss in a small Japanese mmo that I can beat if I had one more person about the same level.

I'm not sure how rude/gaijin it is to ask for help though, but would it be ok for me to say in the area chat (only people on the same map can see the chat):

  すみません、誰{だれ}か一緒{いっしょ}にこのボースと戦｛たたか｝うたすけてください？

Is this the right way to ask? Is this ok to ask?


texts: What does には do in this sentence, and which part is responsible for the "for me" nuance?

texts:
話し方がちょっと速すぎて私には分かりません。

For some reason it feels strange to me to go right from すぎて to 私.


texts:
Context:

I am currently on a quest to learn how to hand write the 2000 most commonly used Kanji. This requires lots of memorization, so efficiency is important.

I have come across Kanji that have strokes with little "extra tails", created from a slightly extra-long stroke. I found that they are often referred to as はね. Or in English, they can be called "jumps". For example:

When splitting this kanji into three separate parts:

the left part has two jumps on the bottom, with the left tail being slightly longer
the upper right part has no jumps
the lower right part has two jumps on the bottom, of equal length.

Question:

How important are the jumps?

When handwriting Kanji, does it matter if these jumps are of the correct length? Would the Kanji still be understandable without correct jumps? Would natives find it annoying, for example, if I didn't include the jumps at all?

I am asking because the less little things I have to memorize, the faster I can learn the Kanji.


texts: (Sumo cloze passage) What in tarnation was I supposed to put in this blank?

texts:
I was given the following cloze passage with 9 questions. Blanks 3, 6, 7 and 8 have [requirements in brackets] that must be followed when answering. I have filled in my own answers in bold.

While all other blanks were marked correct, I was marked as incorrect for blank 3. Is いつ a valid answer? Why or why not?

僕の名前は宇良和輝。１７歳で、仕事は (1) 日本の大切な文化を守る人の 一つとして有名な相撲。(2)上手になる ために (3) いつ [Wh-Question] も一生懸命に頑張っています。毎日 (4) 練習して ばかりで疲れてしまいますが、(5)睡眠 さえ 取れ ば、すぐ元気になります。怖い先輩もいて、(6)しかられ [Passive] たり、(7)お茶をいれさせられ
 [Causative-Passive] たりして、いやになるときもありますが、新しい友達もでき、一緒に (8)助け [to help] 合っています。大変ですが、相撲の (9)大変さ はやった人にしかわからないと思います。僕はがんばりますよ、横綱になるまでは。


texts: I've heard that when a motion verb is seen in ている form, such as 来ている, it is translated as "I came and am now here." If someone were to ask "What are you doing?" and I wanted to respond with "I'm coming to your house," how would that work? If I said あんたの家に来ている, I feel like it would give off the message of "I came to your house and now I'm here." Could I just use simply あんたの家に来る?


texts: What is the difference between these words for "audience"?

texts:
What is the difference in usage between these three words for "audience"?

  観客{かんきゃく} (audience, spectators)

  聴衆{ちょうしゅう} (audience, attendees)

  観衆{かんしゅう} (audience, onlookers)

The dictionary definitions offer variations, but, none of those variations clearly make any of the three mutually exclusive from each other. It doesn't seem wrong to choose any of those to describe a group of people at a live performance.

In other words, as far as I can tell, if one wanted to say, "The audience at yesterday's show was rowdy," all these would convey the same meaning:

  昨日{きのう}のショーの観客{かんきゃく}は[騒々]{そうぞう}しかった。

  昨日{きのう}のショーの聴衆{ちょうしゅう}は[騒々]{そうぞう}しかった。

  昨日{きのう}のショーの観衆{かんしゅう}は[騒々]{そうぞう}しかった。

Does changing the word for "audience" change the impression of what kind of show it was? Are any of them incorrect?

What are examples where one is acceptable and another not which clearly differentiate them?


texts:
I thought intransitive meant there is no actor/the thing is happening like on its own. But playing is done by a person, right? Yet the dictionary says it is intransitive...

I believe there are other examples of such verbs which would seem transitive to me but actually work as intransitive verbs. I'm confused. Do you have an explanation for these?


texts: Don't understand the use of そして + に in a sentence

texts:
I just received an answer from a Japanese friend about a video I sent her.  The video shows my dog doing stuff.  She answered with, among other things, these two sentences:

本当にかわいくて、かしこい犬です。そしてに白い足がとてもかわいい！！

I understand the meaning of そしてused at the beginning of a sentence, similar to それから but without the chronological order implication.  I don't understand why she used に after it, though.  Any ideas?


texts: Combination of causative-passive and intransive verb with a direct object?

texts:
I am struggling to understand this sentence’s structure:

  宿題を時間内に終わらせられなかった。

I think I get the idea of causative-passive as in “I was being made to finish the homework”. However, I noticed that we have the intransitive verb 終わる and not the transitive 終える. But we also have a direct object 宿題. Unless I am the object in this case? I am really confused.

Would this sentence translate to:
I couldn’t be made to finish the homework in time.
Or to:
I couldn’t be made to be finished with the homework in time.

Also, I can’t think of a way not to add the ‘potential form’ in English. Is there a potential form hidden there somewhere in Japanese?


texts: 「猫の額」, the purpose of 日本語の分かる猫

texts:
As the writer described the meaning of 猫の額ほど and how to use it, the following sentence came after it.

猫にも額の広い猫と狭い猫がいると思うので、日本語の分かる猫に聞かれたら、「失礼じゃないですか?!」と怒られてしまいそうです。

My friend told me that this phrase means something like, "If  you say 猫の額 when the owner of the house understands that saying and heard you, you'll be considered impolite (so becareful).".

Make sense, since cat can't understand Japanese. But then I wonder why it isn't 猫が分かる人に instead. Maybe cats here are a metaphor or representation of people, which would support my friend's claim.

It could also mean that using the saying in front of a cat is rude since not all cats have 狭い額, but... It's a cat, who cares? Unless the writer is trying to emphasize something.

Either way, I want to know how and why.


texts: Where to check if a word is used with kanji or not?

texts: Some words have kanji for them, but the hiragana version is used instead. I come across some words that I'm unsure if they are most commonly used with kanji or hiragana. Is there any website to check if a word should be written with kanji?


texts: Is there a difference between the dekiteru/dekita part in "Junbi wa dekiteru/dekita",and ii in "junbi wa ii"?

texts:
I would like to know if, like:

Junbi wa ii

Junbi wa dekiteru

Junbi wa dekita

Are all interchangeable? I feel like the last two mean "Plans are complete" and "Plans have been completed" respectfully, but the first one, does it just mean "Plans are good", but i'd like to be sure. Also are there any nuances? Are they all used in the same situations?

Thanks!


texts:
お館様に内密で差し入れをお届けしたいとのことで、私が鍵をお貸ししました

I don't understand this part. "To do X (without you knowing it), I lent them my key" is all I can understand. I'm not satisfied with the translations I found of 差し入れ and とのこと(で), it doesn't make sense when I try to put them together.


texts: When to use the suffix "-tachi" and when to use "-ra"?

texts: "-Tachi" and "-Ra" for the apprentice seem to have the same usage. When do you have to use the suffix "-tachi" and when do you have to use "-ra"? Is one more formal than the other? Are there pronouns where you can use one but not the other?


texts: Dates, version strings, timestamps and numbers in Japanese. How are they formatted?

texts:
I'm writing a program and need to know how dates, versions, time, and numbers are formatted in the Japanese Language

Example (in English)

Version 1.0.0 (Build 0)

How would that look in Japan?


texts: Is there a phrase/idiom similar to 'critical mass'?

texts:
I doubt the literal equivalent 臨界量 is likely to work here.

I'm speaking in the sense of a community activity, where a critical mass of people is required in order for it to survive. e.g. if a group of 10 people meet weekly to do something (e.g. playing poker, going hiking, etc.) it's likely to continue to happen, while if only 2-3 people are interested it's likely that the desire to continue will disappear and it becomes difficult to encourage new people to join.

Is there something similar I could use to refer to this concept?


texts: Meaning of 「つりたくない者が、つるわけない」 and 「よけいな心配しないで、のびのびと育ってね」

texts:
I've come upon a couple of phrases in Doraemon I quite don't understand.

The first is said by Nobita's mother, trying to calm Nobita down after finding him freaked out by his first encounter with Doraemon.

She says:

  よけいな心配しないで、のびのびと育ってね。

I don't quite get the て form at the end.  Shouldn't it be 育った (you were raised)? Also, I wonder if that is a quotation と?

The second is a bit further on, when Nobita is trying to convince himself that there's nothing to worry about after Doraemon's prediction that he would be hanged in 30 minutes time.  He says:

  つりたくない者が、つるわけない。

Would it be something like Even though I don't want to hang, there's no reason to think I will.?

Image of both pages:

First sentence
Second sentence


texts: やる in interviews and other polite contexts

texts:
日本語
この前、就職の面接で、この質問が頭に浮かんできました。普段しゃべるとき、私はよく「やる」とやるの活用を使っていますが、面接では「やる」より「する」や「します」の方が丁寧だと感じます。たまに「する」が使えませんが、その場合、「やる」を使ってもいいですか。そうでない場合、何と言うべきですか。
ちなみに、先に Differences in usage between する and やる を見ましたが、私の質問には答えていないと思います。
言い換えると、以下のことを聞きたいです。

「する」は「やる」より丁寧ですか。
「やる」を別の表現で言い換えるのが難しい場合、面接で使えますか。
（必要に応じて）「やる」の代わりに何が使えますか。

English
Earlier during a job interview, this question came to mind. Often when I speak in Japanese, I use "yaru" and its variations conjugations, but my impression is that it's not as polite as "suru" or "shimasu." Also there are some cases where "suru" cannot be substituted in, in such cases is it acceptable to use "yaru"? If not, what should one use?
By the way, I looked at Differences in usage between する and やる but it doesn't appear to be answering my question.
In short, my question is as follows:

Is "suru" more polite than "yaru"?
when there's no easy alternative to "yaru" can it be used in an interview?
what are some practical alternatives to saying "yaru" (should this be necessary)?


texts: Is there a term for two words that mean the same thing, but a preference for one?

texts: I came across the terms いい and よい and wanted to determine if there is a word used to describe two words that have the same meaning, but a preference for one. Thank you.


texts:
Please, help me to understand the word コミカライズ.
It was in phrase 衝撃のコミカライズ


texts: Could you please explain the difference in meaning between 職務 ｛しょくむ｝ and 業務｛ぎょうむ｝? In which context are each of them the most suitable?


texts:
沢庵 ｛たくあん｝ 「花御堂にかざる花を、一人で摘むのはたいへんだ、わしも手伝おうよ」
  お通 ｛つう｝ 「そんな、裸のままで、見ッともない」
  沢庵 「人間は元来、裸のものさ、かまわん」
  お通 「いやですよ、尾いて来ては！」

  お通｛つう｝は逃げるように、寺の裏へ駈けて行った。やがて負い籠を背にかけ、鎌を持って、こっそり裏門からぬけてゆくと、沢庵｛たくあん｝は、どこから捜してきたのか、ふとんでも包むような大きな風呂敷を体に巻いて、後から歩いてきた。

宮本武蔵（1935年–1939年、朝日新聞連載、吉川英治）

Does it refer to Takuan finding お通 (who was trying to sneak out) or the ふとんでも包むような大きな風呂敷?

Reference: http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001562/files/52396_49781.html


texts: 1つの嘘から始まった連鎖は meaning

texts:
1つの嘘から始まった連鎖は留まることを知らない。

I think the above sentence is an idiom. I'm just guessing that the meaning is (roughly): Once we began to tell a lie, we will try to cover our lie with more lies.

留まることを知らない (as I read it from meaning-book.com/): "don't know when to stop".

But I'm not sure how to translate 1つの嘘から始まった連鎖は. (A chain that started from 1 lie?)

Thank you in advance for the guidance.


texts:
In Genki I, chapter 10 I've learned:

AのほうがBより(property)。 A is more (property) than B.
Example: 中国のほうが日本より大きいです。

Now I just came across the following example sentence:

新かん線はふつうの電車より速いです。 The Shinkansen is faster than a normal train.

Which makes it seem to me that it is also valid to say:

AはBより(property)。A is more (property) than B.
Example: 中国は日本より大きいです。

My interpretation is that のほうが just means "the way of..." and is not really needed or related to making comparisons.
Is this correct and if so, why does Genki teach comparisons with のほうが instead of the more simple way with just the は particle?
EDIT: I think it's not a duplicate as suggested because this is mainly about the role of the 「のほうが」 part.


texts: けっこんしていらっしゃいますか or けっこんなさっていますか

texts:
I was doing an exercise in which you are supposed to change questions into honorific expressions (Genki II second ed, pg. 175 Ex. C.9.) when I stumbled upon a question which had an answer that seems contrary to the way grammar was explained previously:

More precisely, けっこんしていますか was changed to けっこんしていらっしゃいますか.

However, according to the grammar section of the book (as well as A Dictionary Of Basic Japanese Grammar):

  "honorific verbs generally take priority over ていらっしゃいます".

I was wondering why in this situation the honorific verb なさる doesn't take priority (giving けっこんなさっていますか as an answer). What's more, if you were to type both answers into google.co.jp, the ていらっしゃいます version has 200 000 hits to 5000 of けっこんなさっていますか.


texts:
This is actually more than one question but they are connected, I dont know how to post them separated and make sense.

I was reading a translation of ゆめの続きはどこだ!? as "Where Does the Dream Continue?!

Now I knew one of the use of の is similar to the "'s" of english. But the "'s" is used only with nouns and here it's used to connect a noun with a verb. is here the verb used as a noun and a more literal translation would be "where does the dream's continuation is?" and the translation was adapted to sound more natural? (correct me if I'm wrong) . And the other question is, when I want to join a noun with a verb with the の particle, do I have to put the verb in infinitive?


texts:
本名ジョー•力石、現箱さき親方

現 is reality/consciousness or present/current, 箱 is box/shamisen, 親方 is master/craftsman. And さき is 先? So 現箱さき親方 is "top shamisen craftsman of the present day"?


texts: A translation of a song lyric which Seems off... What is the meaning of these to 2 sentences?

texts:
These sentences are taken from a song lyric 世界を壊している sung by Kagamine Rin and written by Neru. The song's translation seems off or weird in English.

  何者にもなれない事が許せなくて
  冴えない未来というハンマーを　千鳥足で振るっている
  胸のサイレンさえ打ち砕いて
  「もういっそこんな人生なんて」って僕は
  世界を壊している

  何者にもなれない事くらい知っていたさ
  結局は単純明快で　僕が全部悪いんでした
  ならばもう一生独りだって
  「不器用な愛を振り撒いてやる」って僕は
  「もういっそこんな人生だから」って僕は
  世界を壊している

もう means already:now, いっそ means rather:preferably, and なんて means such as. The line is "もういっそこんな人生なんて" and "もういっそこんな人生だから". Both continues with 世界を壊している。even by knowing the individual words, I still could not interpret the sentences. The translated one says : "I can't live like this!!" And "since this is the life I have to live..." They are not wrong but it feels like the translator is a Japanese learning English. This site definitely does not allow translation, but I want to know how the real meaning is reached by each of the following words.


texts: かきます（to write) when used with the particle に

texts:
From what my test book says in the vocab section the verb かきます usually takes the particles を for things and に for people. I'm pretty sure that you would use を like this.

  ともだちに てがみを かきました - I wrote a letter to a friend/friends

So then I guess my question would be then for に would I just make the sentence like this?

  ともだちに かきました - I wrote to a friend/friends(?)


texts: Meaning of なし得ないことをなし得えられない

texts:
だからね、このプロレスの世界で一番大事なのって何だかわかります？
  ――なんですか？
  フフフ。それは“タイミング”なんですよ。その場所、その時間にいなきゃ、なし得ないことをなし得えられない。それがタイミングじゃないですか。ジェリコはいままでプロレスラーとしての栄光。その“全部”をなし得てるんですよ。

In this interview that I'm reading there's a part where the interviewee is trying to define the concept of "timing" in the context of two people doing a special sports performance (ala Mayweather vs McGregor) but I can't understand the structure of the sentence

  その場所、その時間にいなきゃ、なし得ないことをなし得えられない。それがタイミングじゃないですか。

Is なし a negative prefix in here or is this some kind of idiom?, also, is 得えられない correctly typed or should it be 得られない?

The translation I have for that sentence is:

  It’s timing. Just the combination of absolute best time and absolute best place to do something nobody would think possible.


texts: Difference in reading 下に: When to use しも.に or した.に

texts:
As I observed, 下に can be read in two ways: しも.に and した.に.

As far as I know, した.に can be used to indicate objects spacial arrangement.
How about しも.に? Dictionary says that it also means down; below; downward (source)

When to use each reading form?


texts: Both seem to indicate an extent of something, but how do they specifically differ?


texts: Can 野郎{やろう} really have that many meanings?

texts:
(Warning: potentially offensive words. Proceed at your own risk. Also, apologies for the length.)

I realize this risks opening up the "does Japanese actually have swear words" debate, touched on here, and a little here too.

After exploring the issue in those other questions, I'm content that there are some words that are definitely always vulgar swear words in Japanese (no need to repeat them here), and some words that are merely verbal jabs.

However, there is one word that is still hard to nail down: 野郎{やろう}. It seems to cover such a wide range that I just have a hard time accepting most translations.

I was reminded of the topic when, walking through Ebisu today, I looked up and noticed this sign for a mahjong parlour:

(It's a little blurry, so just to be clear, the place is called 麻雀{マージャン}野郎{やろう}.)

Let's say this store expanded to become an international mahjong chain of stores, and they wanted an English version of their name. What would we translate it to?

According to Space ALC, 野郎{やろう} means bloke, dude, fellow, and son of a gun. Very inoffensive.

But, in that same entry, it also means the mildly offensive beggar, bugger (some might think this is worse), and hoser.

On top of that, it also means the definitely offensive mofo, asshole, and son of a bitch.

And, even further, it also means the inexplicable cuss (isn't that a verb?), gazebo (isn't that a kind of patio?), gazabo (what?), gink (huh?), and hooer (a what-er?).

Putting aside the bizarre words, we have a range that goes from dude to asshole. That's a hell of a wide range.

Clearly, the sign would lean toward the milder, so maybe we'd translate it as "Mahjong Dude". But if that's true, then I have a hard time believing it could mean the stronger terms. After all, this sign stands on it's own, so why not translate it as "Mahjong Asshole"?

I get the fact that words in languages can have a wide range. "Aloha", in Hawaiian, apparently means both hello and goodbye.

But part of the reason I have a hard time accepting the vagueness of this particular potentially offensive word is that, as Japanese learners, we're beaten over the head with the notion that the Japanese hold politeness in high regard so that they are sensitive to the slightest mishaps. Not saying さん after someone's name in a certain situation, or perhaps addressing someone with あなた, would cause offense.

And yet at the same time, we can have a word that goes from dude to asshole and everyone's cool with that?

"Aloha" might mean contrary things, but none of its meanings are potentially offensive, so I can see why it wasn't forced into one particular meaning. But I can't see how a word with high risk of insult survives in a culture that otherwise seems quite rigid about how to avoid offense.

Something doesn't add up in this word, and I suspect it has to do with a great deal of license on the part of most translations. Real offensiveness comes from the words surrounding 野郎{やろう}, not 野郎{やろう} itself.

So... after all that preamble:

What would the most accurate translation of the sign be?

If my idea that the words around 野郎{やろう} are what really manipulate it's offensiveness level, then let's zero in on what exactly the naked word means and what it, and it alone, conveys in offensiveness.

Or show me where and how everything I'm saying is just totally wrong and I'm just being a 馬鹿{ばか}野郎{やろう}.


texts: Is there any relation to "anatta", the Buddhist concept of non-self? I've heard that Japanese has some slight Pali/Sanskrit influences due to the arrival of Buddhism in Japan. Could these words be related or are their phonetic and semantic similarities only a coincidence?


texts: Is the title ～[殿]{どの} used in modern day japanese?

texts: Is the title ～[殿]{どの} used in modern day Japanese?  If so, which people can you use it with? I've only really seen it come across in referring to [大]{だい}[名]{みょう} (feudal lords). Also it is applicable to use as a translation of "sir" of people who have been knighted by the queen of England?


texts: Potential form for godan verb: register's/dialectical differences?

texts:
According to all standard book and webpage I consulted, godan verb's potential form are produced by first changing to え (e) form, and then add in る (ru).

But a native Japanese speaker (who is also fluent in English) told me that what needed to be added should be られる (rareru) rather than just る (ru), and added that "youth these day" keep dropping sounds from words. Its applicability to godan verb was specifically mentioned with specific example, so there was not a confusion with ichidan verb. It is also mentioned that this apply to both positive and negative potential too. I asked around, and it seems like colloquially the ら (ra) often get dropped in casual conversation. However, I cannot find anyway for the れ (re) to be dropped. It seems rude to go back and query further on the question, especially since it would sound like I am accusing that person of not knowing their own language.

So I would like to ask, if anyone know possible register's or dialectical differences, be it between different region, or between generation, or between texting and talking, or whatever, that would require to add られる (rareru) instead of just る (ru) for the potential form for godan verb? Thank you.


texts: Is で the primary way of introducing a modifying actor into a sentence?

texts:
I came across this english sentence tonight:

  "The rebel and government groups held talks mediated by the UN."

Which I loosely translated as:

  反乱の政府はUNで取り締まる会議を開催した。

Is using で the correct way to introduce secondary actors into a sentence or can が be used as well? Such as 反乱の政府はUNが取り締まる会議を開催した or ミキさんは神で/が作ったチョコを食べた。　（Micky ate chocolate made by God).

If が is not right, is there an ambiguity in the first sentence that the talks were being mediated at the UN rather than by the UN and how would I communicate explicitly that its the organisation of the UN doing the thing without using that particle?


texts: How do you say "thank you" for work that is good for the community?

texts: I remember a Japanese student using a specific phrase for thanking a person for work for the good of the community - like cleaning up the common area of the dorm.  Seemed like and idiom.  Does anyone know the correct phrase?


texts: What does 女子高生に唾液かけた疑い　逮捕の男「困る姿楽しい」 mean?

texts:
What does the following sentence mean?

  女子高生に唾液かけた疑い　逮捕の男「困る姿楽しい」

Especially the relationships between:

唾液 and かけた
困る姿 and 楽しい

Is 困る姿 楽しい?


texts:
There are understandably a lot of words in Japanese that are made of Kanji totally unrelated to the meaning of the actual word.

However, it's hard to ignore the ubiquitous 沢山.

How did a combination of swamp and mountain come to be used to express "many"?


texts: When using もう and まだ does a negative verb always have to be in the (ている) present continuous form?

texts:
When using もう and まだ in a negative sense, does the negative verb always have to be in the present continuous form i.e. 来ていません、食べていません etc? If so why is that?

Example sentences:

  いいえ、まだ買っていません。- Correct
  いいえ、まだ買いません。- Incorrect

My translation: No, I haven’t bought (it) yet.


texts: Different pitch accent patterns of もっとも?

texts:
The word もっとも has a few different uses. For example, jisho.org lists the following:

最も（もっとも）
Adverb

most; extremely

Other forms
最も 【もとも】、尤も 【もっとも】、尤も 【もとも】

尤も（もっとも）
Conjunction

but then; although; though (Usually written using kana alone)

Na-adjective, Noun

reasonable; natural; just (Usually written using kana alone)

According to super daijirin, these words have the following pitch accent patterns:
最も: もっとも{LHHL}
尤も: もっとも{LHHL} or もっとも{HLLL}
Considering that 尤も has these two potential pitch accent patterns, when should もっとも be pronounced as もっとも{LHHL}, and when should it be pronounced as もっとも{HLLL}?


texts: What is the difference between あれ and あの？

texts: Both terms mean over there but I am wondering if there are specific preferences of use. Thank you.


texts:
Today, in some official document I received, an enumeration (of items to address) had each line prepended with ㈰, ㈪, ㈫ etc.

From context, it is reasonably easy to guess that this might be an equivalent to numbers (①, ② etc) or roman letters (a, b, c etc).

I am familiar with the use of half-width katakana (ｱ, ｴ, ｲ etc) for that purpose, but it is the first time I see days of the week used that way (and surprisingly, there seems to be a set of dedicated characters for it).

Is there a name for this type of enumeration prefix, or at least for the characters themselves?

Do they have any special meaning, beside that of a regular enumeration (first item, second item etc)?

Is it standard to start with ㈰ and go from there? Is there anything after (土)?


texts:
MC's sister wakes him up.

  mc「なに……してるんだ？」

  sister「先に目が覚めたから、お兄ちゃんの寝顔を見つめていたの……♪」

  全国１０００万の妹好きを下僕に出来るだろう、笑顔と台詞が返ってくる。

..., i reply with a smile.

i an assume this is saying in a roundabout way that he is a degenerate for his sister, but hard to interpret this statement

thanks


texts:
The Kagoshima National Athletic Meet seems to have been postponed indefinitely from 2020 for obvious reasons.
However, I'm more interested in its slogan 燃ゆる感動. 燃ゆる is indeed the 連体形 of 燃ゆ, so I believe this is grammatical in Classical Japanese.
But my question is -- why the archaism? It doesn't seem to fit the theme at all. Alternatively, is 燃ゆる retained in a dialect, and is here to add local colour?


texts: Some questions about だけ and clarifications about its nuances

texts:
The girl who just spoke is clearly being a pain in the ass, and after she leaves, one of the boys says this :

1 - オレ憎たらしさには　自信があったが　あいつだけはぜったい勝てん。
I was sure I was unpleasant, but it's nothing compared to her.

I'm used to see 勝てる　used with に, which here is replaced by だけ which confuses me a bit.
It doesn't seem to mean "only her", or maybe in the sense "I'm still more unpleasant than anyone, except her"?
The thing is the contrastive は combined with に seems to have this meaning already, "I can't win against him VS I can't win against him (though I would win against others)"
in this question : sometimes だけ gets mildly confusing.. someone suggests that in example 2, だけ is juste used to stress は.

2 - それだけは、食べないでください。
"Please don't eat that. (Eat anything else.)"

Long story short, what would be the difference in example 1 if だけは was replaced by the following (my guesses on the right)
に - Just a simple relation : I'm nothing compared to her.
は - Same as には but with a casual drop of the に as in 僕（に）は自信がある
には - Contrast : I'm nothing compared to her (though compared to ohers...)
だけ - Stressed version of に with a casual drop of に : I'm nothing compared to her (and her only, don't know about the others)
だけは - Stressed version  of には with a casual drop of に : I'm nothing compared to her (and her only, though compared to others...)
だけに - Plain version of だけ
だけには - Plain version of だけは
All the versions without は dont feel right to me in a negative sentence.


texts: Translation Question from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

texts:
I have a question about the translation of this sentence from uncle Vernon in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone:

Original Japanese:
"あいつらは身から出た錆、魔法使いなんて変な仲間と交わるからだ
…思ったとおり、常々ろくな死に方はせんと思っておったわ"

My translation:
"They got what they deserved, because they got involved with those 'wizard' weirdos...Just as I thought, I thought there isn't always/usually a good/decent/satisfactory way of dying."

Published English translation:
"Just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end."

I don't quite understand how the text in bold comes together here to form the intended meaning. I'm not looking for a smooth translation, rather just trying to grasp how the Japanese comes together here.

Many thanks in advance.


texts:
What's the difference between the kanji term and the katakana term, and when should I use them? I think that some katakana words are only used when the author is being gratuitous with katakana, but I didn't think マップ was one of them.

In case context matters, I'm wanting to talk about tourist maps of cities and towns at a scale small enough to indicate individual landmarks.


texts: Are there any situations in which the verb 育ち行く is used?  I checked it up in www.tangorin.com and http://jisho.org/ and in both I found the definition, but not a single example of its use.


texts: How do I know whether 毎月 should be まいげつ or まいつき

texts:
This is my first question here and I'd like to ask something that has been bothering me for a while.

Some words written in kanji can be read using both onyomi and kunyomi of some of the kanji and the meaning of the word stays the same. An example can be "every month" - 毎月 which can be read both まいげつ and まいつき. If such a word is written only, how does one know how to pronounce it? For example when reading a written text aloud.

EDIT

It seems that the question is not very clear/too broad. Let me narrow it down and ask specifically about 毎月. Don't worry about any other words.

If I have a written sentence

  この雑誌は毎月出る。

How do you know to read it:

  この雑誌は毎月【まいげつ】出る。

or

  この雑誌は毎月【まいつき】出る。


texts:
こういうのも なんだが魚たちの ゴキゲンについちゃおれら 漁師が 専門家だ。

What does it mean についちゃ ? What grammar does it refer To ?


texts: What is the correct kanji for the verb to sweat 汗をかく

texts: What is the character used for the verb to sweat?  汗をかく


texts:
From the lyrics from this song say the following:

  ねぇねぇ君～　そこのぎゃんかわ女子～

I'm having trouble figuring out what "ぎゃんかわ" means. Is maybe this is a conjugation of a verb that I don't recognize? Maybe a grammer point that I am not familar with?


texts:
I'm really new to learning Japanese, so can answers be kept simple, please.
I just learned about 'も' as far as I am aware, this means 'also' or 'as well', my question concerns its usage in a basic question statement.

私は日本人ですみどりやはも日本人ですか

My understanding is that this means "I am Japanese, is Midoriya also Japanese?"
Since I am using 'も', do I also need to use 'は', or does it replace its declarative function?

私は日本人ですみどりやはも日本人ですか

There may be a whole lot more than this that I am cocking up though


texts: I sometimes hear 我々{われわれ} and 私{わたし}たち for "we", but am at a loss for understanding when I should use one over the other. Any tips?


texts: I came across this おれがあなたをあなたはおれを守る, which most probably means 'I will protect you and you will protect me'. The question that arises is there are from the looks of it, the phrrases (おれあがあんたを) and (あなたはおれを)  connected to each other, finally followed by the verb to end it. I am assuming that the verb is shared between these 2 phrases. So the above sentence means exactly the same as 俺があなたを守ってあなたは俺を守る. Is this correct? Also, can this structure be used in any context? For example, 俺は魚彼は鳥肉が好き。 Also, does this extends to theoretically, any number of phrases?


texts: Haphazard usage of katakana and hiragana for particles and okurigana

texts:
I'm looking at this picture of the 日米和親条約 (Kanagawa convention) from the late Edo period and it seems rather strange:

It looks like the non-kanji parts are rather haphazardly written in katakana and hiragana. For example, the first part: 全権 ニテユカル ペレトペルリ を . And the next page, 日本と合衆国と ハ 其人民...

Is there some sort of rules behind this, or is it just stylistic choices by the person in question? It does seem that Japanese orthography wasn't really standardized until the Meiji period (in which official documents seem to be written in a weird constrained Classical Japanese with 濁点 omitted, but I'll ask that as another question), but this random usage of katakana and hiragana, well I've haven't seen it before. I thought a text usually used either katakana or hiragana for its non-kanji parts.


texts: Is it permitted to use kanji beyond the jinmeiyō kanji for names?

texts:
Wikipedia says:

  [The jinmeiyō kanji] are a supplementary list of characters that can legally be used in registered personal names in Japan, despite not being in the official list of "commonly used characters" (jōyō kanji).

Is this to say it's actually illegal to use hyōgai kanji for names?


texts: Use of 自分【じぶん】as a personal pronoun in direct speech

texts:
Yay, yet another first-person-pronoun question!

I know that 自分 is commonly used as a personal pronoun in indirect speech, e.g.:

マイクは、自分はなんと不注意なのだろうと言った。→ Mike said that he was very careless.
スミスさんは自分はニューヨークの生まれだと言った。→ Mr Smith said, "I was born in New York."

as well as a reflexive pronoun (for speaker or listener/third party):

自分を信じて！→ Trust yourself!

and as possessive, to emphasise the possession:

掘っ建て小屋でもいいから自分の家が欲しい。→ I want my own house, even if it's a shack.

All these make perfect sense and share the same underlying meaning of myself/yourself/oneself (with emphasis on the self). But I have also encountered (in fact even caught myself saying) 自分 in places where 私/僕/あたし/etc could have been used, with only a very weak emphasis on "myself" (e.g. not answering a "did he or did you?" question):

自分はスポーツが嫌い。→ I hate sports. (?)

My question is, is this use as a general gender-neutral 私 substitute correct (in cases where there is no particular need to assert oneself against others)? And if so, what would be its speech level (e.g. could it be used in a formal context)?


texts:
I came across the expression in manga which is said by a Kansai-speaking character.

  そのいいぐさはないやろ...ぶちのめされ気をうしないかけている人間によ!

I think the expression might have a similar meaning to the expression 「気を失う」 with a slight difference.

Is it the combination of two words of 「失う」 and 「掛ける」?
Why is 「い」 inserted between them?


texts:
If I were to say "Mr. Li is cheerful, healthy, and interesting." It would be リさんはあかるくて、げんきで、おもしろいです。

What I don't understand is how to connect negative adjectives, like if I want to say "Mr. Li is cheerful, not healthy, and not interesting."

I also don't understand how to connect past tense adjectives and negative past tense adjectives.

Like how would I say "Mr.Li was fat, wasn't healthy, and wasn't cheerful."
Or "Mr. Li wasn't fat, was healthy, and was cheerful."


texts:
今日ふくを洗う。
今日ふくを洗濯する。

昨日食器を洗った。
昨日食器を洗濯した。

I know that 洗濯する means: washing or laundering (clothes). And 洗う just means washing. When I'm talking about washing in general can I use the two words interchangeably? When do I have to use one word as opposed to the other?