texts:
Context:
The protagonist did some kind of magic the day before and now cannot move the left side of his body.

  「……ふん。投影をしたと凛から聞いていたが、やはりそうか。
  半身の感覚がなく、動作が中よりに七センチほどずれているのだろう？」

  [I heard from Tohsaka that you did Projection, but it's just as I thought.
  You can't feel half of your body and your movement is off by 7 cm from the center, am I right?

I think it means "From the center", but the translation is:

  "……Heh. I heard you did projection, but it really is true, huh? Half your body is numb and your actions are misplaced about seven centimeters inside of you, right?"

Which would be better?


texts: What is the difference between キャリアウーマン, OL, and ビジネスウーマン?

texts:
When I come across the titles キャリアウーマン, OL, and ビジネスウーマン, I seem to have a difficult time picturing what their position is or what they do. I'm wondering if anyone can elaborate on how they are different.

Also, I know that there is a male counterpart to these, but are they the same in title and position? I know that there are ビジネスマン and サラリーマン, but are these different as well?


texts:
Can this mean (ignoring likelihood or awkwardness) both

  He says I'm eating

and

  He starts talking if/when I'm eating

?


texts:
In the below passage I am a bit unsure of what the character is saying when he says ろくなもんじゃない. Before this passage the character has woken up from a nightmare and reflected on the events that have lead him to where he is now.
Originally I was thinking that ろくなもんじゃない was referring to his father, however on second thought I'm not quite sure this is correct. The fact that he can't even really remember his father in the first place and the previous sentence where he uses the phrase ろくでなし make me think this ろくなもんじゃない is referring to something else.

しかしまあ、見事な脱線人生である。どこで、どうして、まっとうな道を外れたのか？これと言って怒りをぶつける対象はなかったが、強いて言えば父親という人なのだろう。とはいえ、飲む打つ買うの三拍子揃ったろくでなしならともかく、殴る顔も覚えていないと来ている。一体、どこで何をしているやら。寝よ……ろくなもんじゃない。無理矢理、目を閉じる。


texts: What is the grammatical analysis of the sentence 「君を笑いに来た」?

texts: In English, the popular translation of 「君を笑いに来た」 is "I came to laugh at you," but ever since I heard the original in Japanese, I was curious as to what is going on in the sentence from the grammatical perspective (in particular, the 「笑いに来た」 part). Does anyone know?


texts:
Recently, the が particle has been a little iffy for me especially with adjectives.

Some nouns when modified by an adjective can seemingly use が　and は interchangeably while others cannot, is this correct? Can you guys confirm my understanding here and elaborate/explain some of the nuances I may be misunderstanding.

So, from my understanding the following 3 examples are grammatically correct and translate as follows. However, is there any fundamental difference between example 1 and 3 where one sentence uses は while the other uses が ? What kind of situations would one use が as opposed to は in these types of sentences?

1.) アイスクリームが美味しいです　-> Ice cream is delicious

2.) アイスクリームのほうが美味しいです -> Ice cream is more delicious

3.) アイスクリームは美味しいです -> Ice cream is delicious

However, there seems to be a subset of adjectives like 好き, 嫌い, 上手, 下手 and so forth in which は would be inappropriate and not make sense. Is this correct?

4.) アイスクリームが好きです -> I like Ice cream (appropriate usage of particle, が）

5.) アイスクリームは好きです　-> I like Ice cream (doesn't make sense needs が）

Thanks!


texts:
I have the following translation for class.

勉強しなかった悪い学生に、
家で漢字を三百回書かせて、
それを持って来させて、
それから、教室の前に一時間立たせた。

So far I have the following.

Bad students who didn't study
I made them write kanji 300 times at home and
.... and
after that, I made them stand at the front of the classroom for an hour.

That 3rd line I am really having problems with. I see the "to make someone" structure with the 来させて. And then the て form of "to have" with the 持って. So "I made them to have this and come"? Or I think て and 来る　can mean to come to a point. So maybe "so as to make them get to have this" like in an "understand this" sort of way?  I just don't know...


texts:
I wondered why こんな, そんな, あんな and どんな can be used prenominally without any particles. Due to the lack of a proper etymology dictionary in my possession (a recommendation would be appreciated), I came up with a theory on my own: Do they originate from こう, そう, ああ and どう + the な used in な-adjectives (the attributive form of だ, I hear)? For example...

そうな男 (literally "a man who is that way") becoming そんな男 (through sound shift).

If this were indeed true, how can it be explained that こんな, そんな etc. can be used adverbally by putting に after them? Since with な-adjectives, the な itself becomes に.

I'm hoping this isn't too far-fetched!


texts: Kochira vs Konohito and Donohito vs Donata

texts:
I'm reading a textbook and I've encountered these examples:

Kochira wa donata desu ka?
Konohito wa donohito desu ka?

I know the first one is a more polite way of asking about someone, but is there any meaning difference between these two?
Thank you in advance.


texts:
According to this,

[辛い]{からい} means both spicy and salty. Where I live we associate spicy with pepper, not salt.

Is this something similar to the case of "ao", meaning both green and blue? (or something in between them).

Are there words for differentiating foods with too much salt than foods with too much pepper?


texts: Does 連声【れんじょう】 still happen in the modern language?

texts:
I remember reading that there's a historical process called 連声【れんじょう】 which explains words like 天皇:

　　天皇　　　　てん＋おう　＝　てんのう
　　云々　　　　うん＋うん　＝　うんぬん
　　銀杏　　　　ぎん＋あん　＝　ぎんなん

Does this ever happen in modern Japanese?

For example, does anyone ever pronounce 南欧 like なんのう rather than なんおう?  Or would that be very strange?


texts: Why is "many gods" (八十神) exactly eighty?

texts: Looking under terms that include かみ/神, I was interested to find "八十神" defined as "many gods; many deities". Jisho.org lists it as an "archaism", though. I see the term appear in this Japanese Wikipedia page (thanks Google!), but I can't start to understand it really, and it appears only else in Chinese. I'm really curious behind the story of this term: why 80? I'm guessing so Chinese of Japanese legend?


texts: Okay, this is my first question on this page so bear with me, I was studying Japanese nouns but I'm not sure if you use  ではありません or じゃない to deny a noun, so if someone could please explain it to me, that would be great. Thanks!


texts: Topology in English is called 位相幾何学 in Japanese; also, topological space is called 位相空間. But why is topology called 位相幾何学? What is the correspondence between topo and 位相? What is the origin of 位相?


texts:
I am interested in naming a dish “sesame sawayaka udon” in a restaurant in America, but am curious if this would sound silly to anyone who speaks Japanese.
Does it make sense in Japanese to use sawayaka to describe food (in particular udon) or the flavour of food?


texts:
I have this line in my book:

  かいしゃのりょうはふるいです。

I understand the whole sentence except for りょう.  When I googled it, it says it mean "Ryo". So I googled かいしゃのりょう and I got "Ryo Company".  What does りょう mean?


texts: How to avoid repetitive usage of 面白い and 楽しい?

texts:
For the new year, I've been keeping a daily diary in Japanese for practice, but I've noticed that I tend to describe everything good that happens to me as either 面白い or 楽しい. Is this typical of a beginner/intermediate/not-as-advanced-as-I'd-like-to-be student, or is the usage of these words really that common? Do you have any suggestions for how to possibly make my writing more involved?

As an example, I may write something along the lines of 「ジョーと昼ご飯を食べに行きました。…　とても楽しかったです。」 or 「討論を見ました。面白かったです。」 But that's what I end up writing for pretty much everything I do.

I apologize if this is too broad a question.


texts: Translate German name "Markus" to Japanese

texts:
I'm trying to translate my German name Markus to Japanese, which seems quite difficult.

My first approach was just to transcribe it.

Ma → ma → マ
r  → ru → ル
ku → ku → ク
s  → su → ス

giving マルクス.

Now, after reading a bit, I found this blog entry: What is my name in Japanese?

There I found Mark which is translated as Māku マーク, so my name might be like this Mākusu マークス.

Then I found this stack link with a link to a website with a translation: The result was Mākasu マーカス.

Well, I'm a little confused how to do it "right".


texts:
I saw an article (in a website that has both English and Japanese versions) translates the following sentence “The 70-year old architecture of existing processors is inadequate to meet today’s deep learning and AI processing needs” to this sentence “これまでのプロセッサーのアーキテクチャは70歳の老人で、今日のディープラーニングやAIの処理ニーズに適していない".

Is that a natural way to describe a processor? or is that some automatic translation mistake?


texts: Is there a grammatical (or semantic) reason that explains why the opposite of 便利（な） is 不便（な）rather than 不便利（な）。 I'm asking because I noticed a similar thing possibly occurring with 満足 and 不満 and was wondering if there was some underlying information that could help me better understand Japanese grammar.


texts: Does 筈はなくて grammar construction have a negative connotation?

texts:
I found the construction 筈はなくて and by helping me with the context, I suppose to have properly translated but I am not sure.

  このバックパックは特殊な製法でできていて、見た目の大きさよりずっと多くのアイテムが収納できる魔法の袋…とまぁ、そんな都合のいいものの筈はなくて、
  This backpack has been done in a special way, it is a magical bag that you can put many more items than what appears to be possible to put in it ... but it does not turn to my advantage!

  生地の限界がくれば溢れるし破れる。
  If it is filled beyond its limits, things come out and break.

  勿論重さも健在だ。
  Of course, the important thing is that I am alive and well.

  夢のような便利なアイテムはないんだよね。
  Yeah, is not an object of your dreams, it is not easy to handle!

Is it correct my interpretation of そんな都合のいいものの筈はなくて?

I think that the subject is denying the fact that the backpack is convenient.


texts: What is the meaning/usage of に in the following sentence?

texts:
ある事柄について感じた事(が、発表できる程度にまとまったもの)。

So, I understand the first sentence, but I'm a little confused about the second one.

My translation is: to have a feeling about a certain matter to the extent of being able to declare about it.


texts: Why are certain terms sometimes written in hiragana and sometimes in katakana?

texts:
I was typing something up and when I went to type apple in Japanese, the Microsoft IME on the computer I was using defaulted to リンゴ in katakana. But from what I remember seeing online and out in the real world from time to time, りんご is usually written in hiragana as such. What was weirder to me was that when I typed orange in Japanese, it defaults to みかん in hiragana.

I have come across this question and this question, as well as this question over on Quora trying to find an answer.

The gist of what those three links explain, if I understand them all correctly, is that writing a word in hiragana is usually because its kanji form contains non-standard kanji and is thus for ease of reading, and katakana is used either for emphasis/ease of reading or in academic contexts.

What I was wondering was, unless you are discussing something in an academic context, are words that contain non-joyo kanji almost always written in hiragana?


texts:
I understand that いんや, まだずらよ means something along the lines of "No, not yet". At least, in the context I'm seeing it in (the question "Has Person A arrived yet?"). However, I'm having difficultly understanding how the parts of this give this meaning.

まだ I can see as being "Still"/"Yet". And the よ is surely just adding emphasis. But where are the いんや and ずら parts coming from? Do they have meaning on their own and how does that meaning come together to create the full sentence meaning above? Thanks!


texts: What does 「そうもいかなくて」 mean in this sentence?

texts:
This comes from 新完全マスター読解N2:

  でも、現実にはなかなかそうもいかなくて、目の前にあるのは希望とはまったく違うものだけれども、転職するのも大変だから、いやいや会社に通っているという人も多いでしょう。

Seems like it may mean something like "it's not like that"?

What are the words/particles at work here? そう+も+いかない?


texts: Meaning and etymology of phrase or interjection いよっしゃあ?

texts: Lately I have been watching a lot of streams and videos of Persona 5 The Royal, which has only released in Japanese. One character in that game very frequently exclaims "いよっしゃあ{LLHHHH}", "iyosshaa", which sounded strange enough to my English-speaking ears that I felt compelled to look it up, just to find no definition that I could read! It seems to roughly correlate with "Yeah!" or "Alright!", and does not strike me as terribly formal. If this is dialectal, the game is set in Tokyo, and in particular the area around Shibuya. I am very curious as to the precise range of meanings carried by this word or phrase, and what its origin may be.


texts:
I have this sentence: "どんなスポーツでもこの三つがなければ上手にならないと考えられている。" But I can't figure it out what sense でも is giving to the sentence. In my head is something like "although it's expected sports to be good, they aren't going to be good if they don't have these three."
is it right or wrong, could you show any light on this please! How would you translate this phrase?


texts:
This phrase appears in the first episode of the anime Acchi Kocchi:

急ぐついでに早く行って暖房の恩恵にすがろうかと

What does this 急ぐついでに mean?


texts:
Is it possible to use 好き, and specify who is fond of it?

  風呂は好きです。

Would be interpreted as "[I am] fond of baths.", and

  風呂は好きですか

Would be interpreted as "Are [you] fond of baths?".

How would I specify that it was someone else who was fond of something, if that's possible?


texts: How can 池仲 be read as 'ikenohata' in the seal 'Ō Ikenohata Jōkin', 大池仲上金? Doesn't 仲 = 'naka'; can it be 'hata'?

texts:
If Ō Ikenohata Jōkin is written as 大池仲上金, how can 池仲 be 'ikenohata'? 池 is ike, but 仲 is usually naka? Can 仲 -- and presumably its homonym 中 -- also be read as hata (はた)? Am I missing something?

Context: I was looking at a mid-19th century publisher Jōshūya Kinzō, 上州屋金蔵: the academic text I was referencing indicated that he used an Ō Ikenohata Jōkin seal, 大池仲上金, during 1837–1848. I also came across a ukiyo-e print and found a variation seal, 大池中上金, and can only assume that since 仲 and 中 are homonyms (naka, なか) then the second seal would also be read as Ō Ikenohata Jōkin.

Jōshūya Kinzō's address in Edo was Shitaya Ikenohata Nakamachi-dōri, 下谷池之端仲町通. I have found a publisher’s address cartouche Shitaya Ikenohata, Jōshūya Kinzō han, 下谷池之端上州屋金蔵版. In these two instances, Ikenohata uses the expected character hata, 端.

This is a little confusing. Given my earlier examples, how does 仲 and 中 represent the hata in Ikenohata? I've gone through a few dictionaries and references but none shed light on this usage.

Wiktionary gives 中 the following readings:

Go-on: ちゅう (chū, Jōyō); じゅう (jū, Jōyō, uncommon)

Kan-on: ちゅう (chū, Jōyō); じゅう (jū, Jōyō, uncommon)

Kun: なか (naka, 中, Jōyō); うち (uchi, 中); あたる (ataru, 中たる)

Nanori: あたり (atari); あつ (atsu); あつる (atsuru); かなえ (kanae); かなめ (kaname); ただし (tadashi); とうる (tōru); とおる (tōru); ひとし (hitoshi); みつる (mitsuru); わたる (wataru);

and for 仲:

Go-on: じゅう (jū)

Kan-on: ちゅう (chū, Jōyō)

Kun: なか (naka, 仲, Jōyō).

Any observations appreciated.


texts:
I was reading 二銭銅貨 from 江戸川乱歩, and the words 給料 and 賃金 occurred :

芝区のさる大きな電機工場の職工給料日の出来事であった。

I understand 給料日 as the "pay day", or the day the worker receive their salary.

十数名の賃銀計算係が、五千人近い職工のタイム・カードから、それぞれ一ヶ月の賃銀を計算して、山と積まれた給料袋の中へ、当日銀行から引き出された、大トランクに一杯もあろうという、二十円、十円、五円などの紙幣を汗だくになって、詰め込んでいるさなかに、事務所の玄関へ一人の紳士が訪れた。

In that sentence, 賃銀 is the old form of 賃金.
What I don't understand is the difference between 給料 and 賃金 in that context. My dictionary both translate them as "salary".


texts: Difference between "行くんスカ?" and "行くんですか"

texts: I think both of them have a similar meaning but the use of んスカ is puzzling, like what is the literal translation of it?


texts:
I want to say "I love my cats," but I don't know how to convey more than one.

I've come up with 「私は私の猫大好きです」but I don't know what to do to indicate I have more than one cat.


texts:
I was watching 田中君はいつもけだるげ, and in one of the scenes Tanaka explains that in order to be lazy as much as possible, he needs to exercise to help his body endure whatever sleeping position Tanaka chooses.

Ohta responds with this:

  矛盾してる気がしなくもないが　なるほど

Since this is a double negative, Ohta is definitely saying that Tanaka is contradicting himself in a way.

But what meaning is implied when you use なくもない rather than かもしれない、でしょう or straight up just 気がする？

I've found a couple answers here like this and this one, but they don't really give a clear picture on why it's used in place of かもしれない or でしょう.


texts:
There is an anime/manga  called  俺物語!! which is translated as "My Story!!" or "My Love Story!!"
depending on which site you visit. The way I have learned it, it should be "俺の物語" to be "my story" instead of the "俺物語". My question is: What is the difference between "俺物語" and  "俺の物語"?

Sincerely yours Brian


texts: Why in this example sentence there's no difference between ごとに and おきに?

texts:
I am using the "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar" to help me with Japanese studies. As explained from page 128 on I understood the difference between ごとに and おきに.

For example:

２日おきに = every third day
２日ごとに = every second day

The Answer what is the difference between ごとに and おきに? also backs this understanding.

Now in the mentioned grammar book there is one last example where both forms do yield the same meaning.

Quoting:

  When a time expression precedes oki no or goto ni, there is no difference in meaning, if an event takes place at one point in time:
  [電車]{でんしゃ}は[五分]{ごふん}おきに／ごとに[出]{で}る = The train leaves every five minutes.

I don't get the difference between this "time expression" and the other ones like 二日. Can somebody give me a hint here?


texts: When do I use できます as opposed to わかります in a sentence?

texts:
I know the difference in meaning between the two: できます being "to be able to" or "can do", and わかります being "to understand how to" or "to know". I also know a simple sentence structure for both: "Person は Noun が (できます/わかります)" However, I can't understand which one to use in a sentence. Especially with the use of dictionary form verbs and こと in place of the noun.

I am trying to learn about this grammar point for a test and I just don't understand them. Here is an image of my notes so you see exactly what I'm seeing:


texts: Is これから a fixed phase? What does it mean?

texts: I'm studying lessons 2 on Minna no Nihongo. There's a sentence says これから お世話になります and the phrase おねがいします。What do they mean?


texts:
Is 「うつむく・俯く」 a compound of 「うつ＋むく」? What does 「うつ」 mean here, and what's its origin?
Thanks!


texts:
I cannot understand the meaning of 手前 in the following sentence. As far as I know 手前 means "in front of my/your hands" or could be a pronoun. However I haven't seen before the usage like in the sentence below, so could you please explain the meaning.

  着物姿の女の子なんて珍しいから、つい眼で追いかけてしまっていた。眼が合って、彼女は口を引き結んで、僕の前で挑みかかる手前な顔をして。

Translation attempt:

  "Because it is pretty rare to see a girl wearing kimono, my eyes
  unintentionally followed her. Our eyes met, she tighten one's jaw and
  right in front of me..."

~Edited:
I think I'm more or less understand the meaning, thanks to Brandon. But I also can't figure out why it's used な here, as if 手前 is na-adjective?


texts: Who's the implicit subject in お世話になりました?

texts:
Which (if any at all) of the following two understandings of お世話になりました is correct?

The implicit subject is あなた. The お〜になります pattern is a 敬語 construction. The full sentence in plain form is あなたが（私の）世話をした, literally meaning "you took care of me".
The implicit subject is 私. There is nothing special about the なりました part. It just means "became". The full sentence would be 私が世話になりました, literally meaning "I became 世話".

And what about ご馳走になりました？


texts: How to grant permission for something in Japanese

texts:
I know that させてくれないか is won't you let me?
But how do I say allow? させてあげる I'll let You!.
I want it to be "something + the auxiliary ageru".

Btw.
Why is 借りしてもいい right but not 借りてもいい ?!?!?

I want it like this:

  (部下に) よし。そいつを殺させてあげる。はははは (悪声)

I want to grant permission without a request having been made in the first place, and I want to be firm when I grant the permission.


texts: What is the nuance of わかりゃあせん vs regular わかりません?

texts:
I heard the following phrase spoken in Osaka:

  そう泣いてばかりではわかりゃあせん

Is it regional? Does it have any nuance to it?

Is it a more regular pattern or just an intonation of this particular phrase?

(Googling shows some わかりゃせん, but it also seems a spoken dialect; anyway I could not find any dictionary reference)


texts:
How would you translate "I will buy something"?
I came up with:
なにかかいます。

But I'm not sure if this is correct.

Thanks!


texts: How does one pronounce ≒ the symbol for "approximately"?

texts:
It appeared simply as "縮尺：≒1/82" and the meaning is quite clear (="approximately 1/82 scale").
Jim Breen's wwwjdic does not seem to contain an entry for the symbol.
jisho.org suggests only おおよそ 《大凡》but not the symbol itself.
Just randomly googling the symbol does not give me an answer in which I could have confidence.
At least it's listed here, though without pronunciation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximation#Unicode
I came across it here, if the source is relevant (one needs to download the pdf for the Hayabusa (隼) to see it in the header.
https://ta7080.wixsite.com/paperfactory/%E8%A4%87%E8%A3%BD-%E3%83%80%E3%82%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89-download-1-4


texts: How do you pronounce a ッ followed by a ー?

texts:
I thought I fully understood katakana, but an old meme confuses me.
Here is a nicovideo dictionary entry on it: フタエノキワミ、アッー!
If you listen to a video of the English voice actor saying it, it just sounds like a normal "aaaaaa" which I would expect to be アー.  I know アッ is already "ah", but elongating that seems impossible to me.  Why isn't it something like アーーッ?  Maybe I'm overthinking this because it's a meme, but this spelling was agreed on, so there's clearly some construct to the language that makes this normal.


texts:
Would it be accurate to say:
すべてが高かったので何も買いませんでした。
to mean "I did not buy anything because everything was expensive."
Is the phrasing correct? And is the use of the particle ”が” accurate or should I use ”は” instead? (すべては高かったので何も買いませんでした。）


texts:
So, I've been told by a native Japanese that the following sentence sounds weird:

LA VITA E'BELLAを見{み}る[時]{とき}、[感動]{かんどう}しました。

In her own words, 'because watching that video is a one time thing and not your habit, so we usually use the past tense.'

But in my book, it says that in a A時、B sentence, we use the present short form when A happens after or at the time of B.  And I want to say that I got emotional when I watched that film (at the same time, not after the film).  So, could anybody explain to me in more detail whether the sentence is correct or not, and why?


texts: Grammatically, is a 体言止めの文 a "Japanese sentence"?

texts:
In Japanese, a 文【ぶん】 is basically anything which is delimited by periods (マル) or question/exclamation marks. For example, let's say there is a paragraph like this in the middle of the main text of a novel.

  夕暮れの川岸を一人で歩く俺。太陽の光を浴びて輝く水面。頬を撫でる風。

Here, we have rather simple 体言止め expressions, which make this paragraph compact yet dramatic. Despite being 体言止め, I believe there are three 文 in this paragraph, simply because there are three periods. If I were to explain this paragraph with grammatical terms, I would say something like this: "This is a paragraph which contains three sentences. Each sentence lacks a main predicate; instead, one long noun phrase forms the entire sentence."

However, on this site, I keep seeing assertions like "Strictly/Grammatically speaking, this is not a sentence in the first place" to explain this pattern. And to my surprise, apparently many users favor this type of explanation. The most recent example is this.

So I thought, "Ah okay, grammatically speaking, sentence in English means something different from 文 in Japanese, and a sentence always needs a main predicate!"

However, I failed to find any credible source to support this. All the serious English articles I've read so far say that a sentence doesn't necessarily have a main predicate. For example, "Hi.", "Yes.", "At three o'clock." and "Two pizzas with cheese crust, please." are English sentences (categorized as minor sentences) simply because they begin with a capital letter and end with a period. Simply put, I found essentially no difference between sentence in English and 文 in Japanese.

So my question is as follows: Is 文 different from sentence? Ordinary English speakers have an idea of sentence which is different from the formal dictionary definition? English speakers who are learning Japanese actually tend to feel there is no sentence in the paragraph above? If yes, how many sentences are there in this article? I feel there are dozens of 文's, and I have never doubted that. On a website where not everyone is an expert, is it unsafe/misleading/unpractical to call the 文 above 'Japanese sentences'?

As far as I can tell, I have never seen a Japanese article which says something like "体言止めの"文"には述語がないので、厳密な文法的には文ではありません".


texts: 彼が持っているのは二百円です。 Supposedly this means "It is 200 yen that he has.". But I am really not familiar with this sentence construction. Therefore, I'm not sure how everything before の works with the rest of the sentence. Or what の is doing in the first place.


texts: What is an equivalent phrase to the colloquial "I know, right!?"

texts:
What are the Japanese equivalent phrases for the phrase "I know, right?!"

The scenario is my friend said 「PS4には最高だね」, and I'd like to respond with something akin to "I know, right?!" 「でしょ！？」 comes to mind but I'm unsure if it has the same effect.


texts: Where should I use 租借 {そしゃく} or 賃貸 {ちんたい} or [リース ]{りーす}?

texts:
I'm a beginner in Japanese. So far I learned the following three words have the same meaning - Lease (noun).

[租借]{そしゃく}
[賃貸]{ちんたい}
[リース]{りーす}

Where should I use them appropriately and what are the differences among them?


texts: How to translate this cleft-sentence: あと少し避けるのが遅れていたら……?

texts:
I need some help with understanding the meaning of the のが part in the last sentence (shown in bold), which this answer has told me means that the sentence is a cleft sentence and this one told me how to mostly parse the cleft sentence, but not what のが means.

Context:

  鼻先を彼女のナイフが かすめ飛ぶ。

  The tip of my nose flies as it skims over her knife. OR
      The tip of my nose leaps as it grazes her knife.

  あと少し避{よ}けるのが遅{おく}れていたら……

According to the second link, which has great examples that I am using here to try and understand my own sentence:

"The non-focused element introduces a variable , and the focused element tells us the value of ... The most basic type of cleft looks like ＡのはＢだ in Japanese, where Ａ introduces a variable , and Ｂ tells us the value of that variable."

When applied to my own sentence, I understand this to mean the following:

  In [あと少し避{よ}けるのが遅{おく}れていたら……]

  ﹅

  A)  あと少し避{よ}けるのが遅{おく}れていたら……

non-focused element: (x)      あと少し避{よ}ける
    focused element:       遅{おく}れていたら = (x)
(translated non-focused element is shown in bold at the bottom of this post)

From what I can tell, the focused element is a verb that can be translated to variants of either 'late' or 'delayed' in the provided context while indicating continuing action or state (i.e. to be ..ing, to have been ..ing).

Does the のが in my sentence mean that the sentence is a cleft sentence?
Is my understanding of cleft-sentences sufficient to have correctly translated and parsed あと少し避{よ}けるのが遅{おく}れていたら…… into the following possible translations?

      'After a short distance [ I ] was almost late in avoiding [her knife]......' OR 'After a little while [ I ] could barely fend off [her knife]......'


texts: function of 一度 in the following sentence

texts:
In the sentence: 一度にケーキを全部は、とても食べられない。

I am confused about the function and placement of 「一度」.
Also, the object is the 'cake' because of the particle を,　but why is it followed by　全部 as the subject?

I know the meaning of the sentence is: "I can't possibly eat the entire cake all at once." But maybe I would have constructed it this way: ケーキは全部とても食べられない。

What is wrong with my sentence? Please clarify.


texts:
Consider the sentence:

今度の旅行は全部で何人行きますか。

I would roughly translate it literally to:

For this trip, in the domain of "total"(abstract location), how many people will be going?"

And then more naturally as:

How many people in total are going on this trip?

My conjecture: で is taking on the role of "location where a verb/event occurs".
(Question 1) What is the role of で for this type of usage?

Other things for your consideration:
JMDict and WWWJDIC categorises 全部 as:

Adverbial Noun (副詞的名詞)(Q1.1),
noun (temporal) (jisoumeishi)(Q1.2)

(Q1.1) But I don't think 全部で acts adverbially to modify the verb　行く. Am I right? (Please correct me if I'm wrong)
(Q1.2) I don't think this part is relevant right? (Again please correct me if I'm wrong)


texts:
From this goo post:

  確かに顔を見たことはありませんでした。
  でも普通アパートって隣の顔を見たり、接点持ったりとかあまりないですよね？
  ただ今回は相手の方もうるさくないと思って聞いてたそうで、また性格のよさそうな人だったので、良かったでした。

Is this a mistake, or is this actually grammatically correct? If so, what would be the difference between this and simply "よかったです"?


texts: Why are there two words 算数 and 数学 representing different fields?

texts: Why are different words 算数 and 数学 used for mathematics at and after elementary school? I understand that the quality is different in that, in the former, the method of solving an equation is usually not allowed, and special calculation methods that developed within the 和算 tradition are used, but is that different enough to be considered as different academic fields? I don't see any more difference between these two methods than the difference between number theory, algebra, geometry, calculus, combinatorics, etc. which are all subsumed under 数学.


texts: what does the particle で do in this sentence

texts:
Can anyone here please help me with this sentence?
私達は交代で運転した, what does で mean here?


texts: Can the volitional form be used when the speaker is not intending to do the action themselves?

texts:
From what I understand the volitional form is often used to mean "let's do" something, e.g. 行こう can mean "let's go". Can this form be use when the speaker themself is not going to perform the action? For example, in English a teacher might say, "Let's all do well on the test tomorrow!", even though she isn't actually going to take the test herself (my Japanese is terrible, but something like 「明日は試験を退けよう！」)? Could you use the volitional form in this case?

A second, similar question, if you don't mind. Could the volitional form be used in a case where neither the speaker or the listener will perform the action? Such as in a science documentary, when the narrator might say something like "Let's try mixing sulphuric acid with sugar", even though the actual mixing is not being done by the narrator or the viewer.

Thank you!


texts:
音無とかいったか俺はお前をまだ認めていない
I'm unsure how to properly break down this sentence. I believe that とか is to make using the name 音無 less direct. Is いった the past tense of いう?
It seems like a possible translation could be "Otonashi, I have yet to approve you". But then why would とかいう　be in the past tense?


texts: 「言ってたら」What is the meaning behind the "te-tara" form?

texts:
This has just come up in my textbook, but not too sure what the meaning is.

「～」と言ってたら～

I can see that it is a 'te' conjugation of 言う, but then followed by the conditional 'tara'. I've not before seen such a 'double conjugation' and my grammar dictionary is as useless as ever!

Is it simply the same as 言ったら, or is it slightly different?


texts: Plain verbs vs [conjunctive form 連用形]+をする (e.g. 間違える vs 間違えをする)

texts:
(Question 1)

Are there any differences in nuance and usage of conjunctive form of verb (連用形) + をする compared to the plain form of those verbs whose conjunctive forms can be used as nouns?

For example:

間違える vs 間違えをする
考える vs 考えをする
逃げる vs 逃げをする

(Question 2)

Does (連用形) + をする follow the plain form in term of transitive or intransitive? E.g 逃げる is intransitive; is 逃げをする intransitive too?


texts: How to distinguish between different meanings of 'うま味'?

texts:
According to my dictionary, the word umami can be used to mean (as it has come to mean in English) the particular savoury category of taste associated with, for example, ramen, but it can also be used just to mean a 'good' taste or flavour. Can anybody confirm if this second meaning is correct usage? If so, how are you meant to distinguish between the two meanings?

For instance, in the sentence:

  だしとは、素材のうま味、香りを、水または湯に出したもので、その素材の味が凝縮されたものです。

Is it specifically 'savoury-ness' which is extracted as dashi, or simply 'good flavour'? Or is it ambiguous?


texts: How does 的に work in this clause: 「よくなるしかない的にいいこと 」

texts:
I normally see 的に at the end of words and I understand them but I can't seem to understand this one

よくなるしかない的にいいこと


texts:
sorry for such a rudimentary question but i'm learning on my own and i have problems translating a question from the genki book. The problems are in the 6 lesson 6 exercise.
Its a role play exercise and i have to translate this. "You just bought a brand new car and don't want anyone to use it".
あたらしい くるま を かいました

I translated the first part like that but for the rest i'm not sure how should i advance. I guess i need to start with "daredemo" but i cannot come up with a meaning full translation.
Sorry to ask such a basic stuff but i have been stuck on it


texts:
I am struggling with the meaning of に続いて in the following sentence:

  貞操に続いて今度は命を守り抜くために、この街を走り続ける羽目になった。

I know that the sentence carries a rather ironic meaning and that 貞操 is not used in a strictly literal sense. Earlier in the novel the protagonist's friends have been drugged by a love potion and chased him around, so I consider the に続いて今度は construction as referring to what happened earlier.
However mentioned "chase" didn't happen in that specific town (この街).
While the example may be very specific I want to ask how the に続いて construction works in general between a preceding noun and a verb phrase.

According to my interpretation 貞操 is further "described" by 守り抜く, therefore the verb acts on 貞操 and 命.

I think that it means something around "protecting his chastity last time and this time his life and in both cases kept on running".

However この街を走り続ける is not part of the action that happens again...

TLDR: What is the scope of に続いて between a preceding noun, a following verb phrase (with ために) and a concluding verb phrase (with respects to ために) in the following sentence.


texts: Confusion on the politeness vs. formality terminology

texts:
I was reading the "Dictionary of Japanese Grammar" series, and I found the way it uses the term formality vs. politeness contradictory and confusing, so I wanted some clarifications.
Here are some examples:
From the "Basic" volume, page 43:

From the "Advanced" volume, page 35:

In the "Basic" volume, だ is said to be informal, while です is said to be formal. On the other hand, the "Advanced" volume defines だ<->です as a plain<->polite pair, but they both are categorized as informal.
To add to the confusion, there is this quote:

Which once again contradicts the chart from the first volume of the series. This is especially confusing, because in every resource that I have read (including the verb conjugation chart at the end of the "Basic" volume), the -ます form is the formal form of a verb.
And it never mentions how all of this fits into the 丁寧語・尊敬語・謙譲語 framework either.
So can anyone help me reconcile these contradictions? Also if possible, can anyone point me to a detailed resource on Japanese formality & politeness and how it fits into the 敬語 framework, preferably in English? I tried to look around, but all of them tends to be really shallow and contains few examples. I liked the in-depth style of DoJG explanations, but the contradictions above plus the fact that they completely excluded 敬語 left me wanting for more.


texts: I bought this shirt from Monogatari Series but I want to know the meaning of the kanjis


texts: How can I ask what kind of evening one is having?

texts:
I want to say "what kind of evening are you having?".  I think 何で can be used, but I dont know how to fit evening into the sentence structure.  I have:

何でイブニングがあるか？

Is this right?  Would the sentence structure be similar in general?

"What kind of X do you have?"


texts:
I have a question about the following sentence fragment.

  その巨体は残り少ない緑と僅かばかりの生物を食い荒らし

Context: It's talking about a gigantic sand worm thing, that is in process of trying to eat someone. It's living in a desert with scarce greenery and life.

What I'm wondering about is the

  僅かばかりの生物

I'm wondering whether 僅かばかりの means little, as in small creatures, or could it mean more along the lines of really scarce animals, since those would be more rare than scarce greenery. I'm also assuming that ばかり is here just to intensify 僅か.

I'm asking because small animals would not really gel with later comments about them devolving to cannibalism in case food is missing and it's currently trying to devour whole a human. So I don't know if this is the writer making a mistake or me.


texts:
私もその妻として恥ずかしくないよう、微力を尽くします。
  As his wife, I will ***

I don't understand the end at all. What my dictionnary says and what the sentence says doesn't seem to match.


texts:
The term 捉{とら}え直{なお}す has come up in three different essays in my JLPT practise book, and I can't determine exactly what it means.

My understanding of 捉{とら}える is that it means "to catch, to capture", and my understanding of 直{なお}す is that it is "to fix, to restore". Of course, each of these has other meanings as well, but it hasn't helped me to try and consider the myriad combinations of each word's nuances.

"To capture and fix"? "To catch and restore"? The literal combination isn't very evocative.

捉{とら}え直{なお}す doesn't have a direct entry in any dictionary I've looked, nor has a Google search come up with much.

What does it mean, exactly?

Here is an example sentence where it is used (though it may be a little opaque without the rest of the essay to support it):

  場所{ばしょ}に根{ね}を生{は}やし、場所{ばしょ}と接続{せつぞく}されるためには、建築{けんちく}を表象{ひょうしょう}としてではなく、存在{そんざい}として、捉{とら}え直{なお}さなければならない。

WIthout having clarity about 捉{とら}え直{なお}す, my attempt to translate will be half-baked, but here is a rough attempt: "Cultivating the roots of a place, in order to connect with the area, not as an emblem of the construction, the reality (existence) has to be caught and repaired."


texts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGfOC6H4ow
so in this video on Youtube, the title uses "世界に", yet the thumbnail uses 世界的に. What is the difference, why couldn't they simply say "世界に有名Youtuber" (they didn't use a な(!)?). Any explanation would be appreciated, thanks :)


texts: Is 〜てある commonly used with verbs other than 書く?

texts:
This question is prompted by @Abi's comment　on meanings of 「書{か}いてある」 and 「書かれている」:

  書いてある seems to be commonly used, while with other verbs 〜てある is not so common, right?

And indeed, I don't really recall seeing 〜てある with other verbs. So what are other common verbs used with it?

Stative verbs: ～ている　vs　～てある　vs　～（ら）れる mentions an example of 窓が開けてある but I feel it's somewhat less natural than e.g.  開けておく or 開けっ放し.


texts:
My textbook just taught me about っぱなし and how it indicates that X wasn't followed by Y as it is usually expected. It also taught me that this expresses that this fact is perceived negatively by the speaker.

What it didn't explicitely teach me is how it functions syntactically ^^
So far, I noticed that it is only used in this way:

Subject + が + verbっぱなし

Example:
あの家は留守らしい。洗濯物が4,5日前から干しっぱなしだ。

This pattern even extended into sentences like this one:
1週間前から階段の前にバイクが置きっぱなしにしてある。

where the verb in use 置く confuses me a bit since I only encountered it in the pattern

subject + を + 置く

In addition, whatever rules the things coming AFTER っぱなし follow is still kind of a mystery for me.
I frequently see っぱなし　being followed by the copula as in my first example.

However sometimes it is  also followed by something like in example 2.
I would guess now that っぱなし is a noun?
In this case, from a grammatical point of view, both the copula and the example 2 case would be viable I guess?
If it should be the case that っぱなし is a noun I would expect a fixed set of particles being required for constructions like in example2  since the

verb+っぱなし

complex feels like in the function of an attribute or adverb here, and therefore I'd usually expect something like の or に.


texts: I don't know how to interpret ばかにはええじゃねえか in the manga here. I believe ばかにはええじゃねえか = ばかにはいいじゃないか　but I still can't make sense of this. As the picture suggests, the father says this as some sort of a greeting for the boy who's just got back from school. My best effort at translating this is something like "Aren't you look wonderful!" (my dictionary says ばかにいい =　be mighty nice; be absolutely wonderful). But it's obvious that the boy is dejected, so my translation can't be right.


texts:
As in "Wu Tang" or something similar.  Would it be something like ウゥ?  I know that "wool" is written as ウール, but 1) the "woo" sound is pronounced slightly differently than "wu", and 2) ウール doesn't give you the "pushed" sound of the 'w'.

And not just at the beginning of a word.  Specifically, I was watching this video of a guy who goes by the name of "Swoozie", visiting Tokyo.  How would he (or others) write that name?


texts: Does 寒気がする really mean "have a chill" or is it just cold?

texts:
Can the expression:

寒気{さむけ}が   する

really mean feel cold and also have a chill (as per many dictionaries)?

To me, to have a chill/bug means to be sick from a virus/cold for a short period: have I missed something?

For reference I give the followings nouns fitting the construction "がする”・to sense:

  におい、音、気、味
  [smell, sound, feel, taste]


texts: What does 「まさかそれが、」 mean at the beginning of this sentence?

texts:
まさかそれが、あのような惨劇{さんげき}を引{ひ}き起{お}こす事{こと}になるとは、知{し}るよしもなかったのです。

What if 「まさかそれが、」 is at the beginning of a sentence? What does it mean? Would it mean something like "That's it,"?


texts: What is the use case difference between 去る and 残す?

texts:
In the process of learning certain kanji, I found that 去る and 残す both translate to the English word "leave."

I know that 出る is used for the common "leave a place"/"exit" usage, like, 「五分前家を出ていました」. I assume that 去る and 残す have different nuances to them. Is 残す more along the lines of "leave a note" like, 「花の世話するの忘れないでくださいと言うノートを残した」 and 去る more along the lines of "leave" in the context of [forgive the dramatic example] 「人間がきらいだから、この世界を去りたい」?
Or do I have them backwards/are they interchangeable/something entirely different?

(大学の四がき日本話の学生から)


texts:
明日はどうやら雨らしいよ。
  It looks like it's going to rain tomorrow.

The English definition given (in Core 6k) is "seems, looks like", but in this sentence and other example sentences I've seen, it's generally paired with words that have similar English definitions such as らしい、よう、～そう. What does どうやら add to the sentence that isn't already covered by these other words? If I changed the example sentence above to 明日は雨らしいよ。, how would the meaning change?


texts: チェス versus 西洋将棋; 象棋 versus 中国将棋

texts:
I recently came across 西洋将棋 as a translation for Chess and was wondering how common it is. The reference I have describes it as a "dated term" and I have mostly seen chess translated as チェス.
In a similar vein, I learned 象棋 to refer to the Chinese game Xiangqi but came across this word 中国将棋 as a possibility.
There's a nice sort of symmetry here, since in English we often refer to Shogi (将棋) as "Japanese Chess" and Xiangqi as "Chinese Chess".


texts: Can someone please help me understand the structure of this sentence?

texts:
ようやくきたかって感じでした

I'm assuming ようやく is 踊躍 and きた is from 来る but I'm not really sure what the meaning of the sentence is.


texts: Can 総指揮 be used outside of a military context?

texts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4JDxrrSGT0
「えーー、こんにちは、あるいはこんばんは。えー、糸井重里です。
今度、任天堂から、えー、マザーというタイトルで、えー、僕の、えー、組織、監督脚本というなんか大げさ が/な 触れ込みで、マザーという新しいロールプレイングゲームが出ます。
I'm not sure if its そうしき 総指揮 general director, executive producer


texts: Is it okay to say 'ohayo gozaimasu' in first meeting with a Japanese stranger?

texts:
I've seen a lot of people saying that First Learners should be careful when greeting a Japanese. I have to be careful how to address Japanese people with '-Chan', '-Kun', '-San' and '-Sama' and also how to refer them. I noticed that it would be hard for me to greet a Japanese properly in our first meeting since I don't know her/his name.

Out of curiosity, is it informal to greet Japanese strangers with 'Ohayo', 'Konnichiwa', or 'Konbanwa' only when I go around and see one?

If this question seems inappropriate or stupid, I apologize for my curiosity.


texts: How to interpret 分 in the following passage

texts:
報酬分は働かせてもらうよ。もちろん追加をもらえりゃあ、その分よく働くってもんさ。

The first sentence is ambiguous to me. Is the second sentence actually an explanation of the first sentence here, i.e. "let me work the amount appropriate to the amount that you pay me" and that the first 分 and the second 分 are being used in the same manner here?

There is a later passage with a similarly ambiguous statement:

  出撃の時はあたしに任せな。報酬分はきっちり働くよ。こう見えて、雇い主を満足させる女なのさ。

Thanks for any help.


texts: How to use の particle and the で particle if I want to say “I bought the shoes in Tomoyo's shop”

texts:
If I wanted to say "I bought the shoes in Tomoyo's shop", how would the particles work? I know "shoes" would take the を particle. But when it comes to "Tomoyo's shop" would I place the の particle after "Tomoyo" and the で particle after "shop" or would I write "Tomoyo's  shop" and then ので together? Or are both ways wrong?

To clarify, "Tomoyo's shop" is not the shop's name, it's more like "I have a friend named Tomoyo who owns a shop."


texts:
What is それ in 「俺もそれを強制しないようにしている。」? I think that the author says something like this - "...and I'm trying to not force her to do it(しっかりとした料理) too." Also is it correct to think that 「めんどくさい」 is saying the sister of author, who doesn't want to cook?

  普段は８割くらいジャンクフードやカップラーメンのみで構成されているウチの食卓なのに、今日は珍しくしっかりとした料理を作ってるみたいだ。いつもは仕事で疲れてるから、そういった食事でも特に文句は言わない。ズボラってのもあると思うが、この家の維持費は、みんなねぇさんが働いたお金でやりくりされてるし、勿論俺の学費、食費、小遣いもそうだ。多少「めんどくさい」っていって食事が簡略されるのは仕方が無いことだし、俺もそれを強制しないようにしている。

Some sort of translation of the whole sentence:

  "It couldn't be helped that she's saying "it's a bother" and as a result
  our meal is simplified, and I'm trying to not force her to do
  it(しっかりとした料理) too."


texts: What does “stem” mean in “Adj (na) stem”

texts:
In A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, I have (at least tried to) read the grammatical terms and list of abbreviations very carefully, but maybe something is missing. Or maybe I missed something.
At some point in the dictionary, it defines a certain usage of grammar as follows:

{Adj (na) stem / N}　{∅ / だった}　みたいだ

The dictionary defines the Vmas  as the “ます stem” which is the “話し in 話します”, and then subsequently defines the Vstem as the “食べ in 食べる”.
Whilst there is no definition for an Adj (na) stem (or adjective stems of any kind), would I be correct to assume the word “stem” means “disregard the な suffix”?
And furthermore, if I were to find “Adj (i) stem”, it would mean to “truncate the い suffix”?


texts: Can we say 「ほとんどの日本人と韓国人も中国系である。」?

texts:
Some people in the east asia (such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, etc) are called 中国系 because their ancestors came from China centuries ago. And the native ones are not called 中国系. Is the word 中国系 misused (or even offensive) in this case?

How about Japanese (and Korean)? According to the history I read, Japanese (and Korean) people come from China as well, so can we say 「ほとんどの日本人と韓国人も中国系である。」?

Disclaimer: Without any intent to offend, the point of this question is actually what the word 中国系 means.


texts: Is there a word to refer to those pairs (or sets) of words that are made up of the same kanji but in the opposite order?

texts:
I find such thing very interesting as it is a phenomena that simply does not exist for languages that do not use kanji or similar writing systems. Is there a way to call such pairs of words? For example:

会社 / 社会
海外 / 外海
旅行 / 行旅
貸借 / 借貸

よろしくお願いします！


texts: meaning of ひょうたん ぽっくりこ in a song about a rolling caterpillar

texts:
I am reading a children's book written in hiragana. I saw the opening line of the book mentioned online as being from the lyrics of a song, so I think this may be a folk song or children's song.

The first line is: いもむし ごーろごろ

I translated this as The caterpillar started to roll (with the sound effect of a large and heavy rolling object adding humor).

But then the next line confuses me completely.
ひょうたん ぽっくりこ

My dictionary tells me that ひょうたん could be a contradiction or a gourd, but I don't see how either of those ideas would fit in.


texts: Do Japanese writers use underline for emphasis?

texts:
Do Japanese writers use underline to emphasize a point, or other techniques? Wikipedia mentions the use of katakana in its article on Emphasis and in its article on Katakana, but I'm not sure whether it's appropriate.

Background: I’m incorporating XKCD 386 (with the text modified) into a talk given in English with Japanese subtitles. I'm doing the cartoons side by side, and I'm wondering what the equivalent of underlining "wrong" in a western cartoon would be.


texts: What does it mean when と is at the end of a noun list

texts:
似てるよ、ユーマくんと初めて出会って時と。

I'm slightly confused at how と is used at the end.


texts: I've been learning adjective conjugations and I've understood that to conjugate an adjective into its negative form you drop the last syllable (～い syllable) and add くない. However, I've run into the word すくない which has left me puzzled. It seems to be the negative conjugation of a word but I don't see which one.


texts:
I'm sorry if this sounds like a naive question, but I tend to get confused にしたら and からすると.  Someone said that they are completely different but to me they seem to both translate to "from the perspective of" as in the following sentences.

  親からすると、子供はいくつになっても子供で、心配なものだ。
  From the point of view of parents, their children regardless of their age are children, and will be their concern. (Feel free to edit the translation.)

  あの人にしたら、私達の親切はかえって迷惑かもしれない。
  To that person / From the point of view of that person, our kindness was (considered as) a bother.

Has anyone been through this confusion before? What then is the difference between the two?


texts:
I have searched and read articles and questions available regarding いけない and i do understand that it means that something cannot be done (you mustn't...).

But i'm a bit unsure about it's meaning in this sentence :

  あのホテルは遠いですから、歩いて20分では行けないでしょう。

Roughly i translate it as

  since that hotel is far, it seems that 20minutes walking there is not enough time.

I'm confused about what 歩いて20ぷん means : v-て + noun?
And いけない is must not do, if we use that literal meaning, it becomes we must not walk 20 minutes... So what is the meaning of いけない in here?


texts:
In the sentence below, does 外からは apply only to the part of the sentence up to 見られずに, or does it apply to the entire sentence?

  あれなら外からは姿を見られずにテレビ局内に入れますね。

In other words, which one of these is it:
(1) あれなら外からは　＜姿を見られずにテレビ局内に入れます＞　ね
(2) あれなら　＜外からは姿を見られずに＞　テレビ局内に入れますね

Even if (1) is correct, are there any examples where は only applies to part of a sentence, instead of the whole sentence? Like perhaps when a sentence uses something like たら to connect two thoughts?


texts: Tracing subject sentence and missing classifier

texts:
In the following sentence I am not sure if the subject is 始末したコボルト or not. I guess it is the subject and not the group in which is plunged searching for shelter. Is it correct?

始末したコボルトを盾にするように群へと突っ込み、二匹のコボルトを巻き込んで地面に倒れ込む
“The goblin of which I got rid throws himself into the group in search of shelter and collapses to the ground, dragging with him two goblins.”

This is the other sentence with a problem for me:

今、四匹目を腹をかっさばいて残るは二
“Now, I break the fourth belly and remain two.”

If my interpretation is correct, why is 二 not followed by the 匹 classifier?


texts:
I've being studying Japanese over 3 years by now, but I don't think I've ever encountered a phrase to express "very little", like in a humble "I know Japanese language very little". Can I say 「本当に少し」or anything of this sort? I just don't see it being used.
Thank you.


texts:
I recently heard this phrase being told in a show, but I just couldn't make sense of what it means...And what really caught my attention was that the listener was really surprised to hear this phrase being told.

  Here is a quote:

  A: じょうきょうが　うんたらかんたら。

  B: ええ！　いま　「うんたらかんたら」っていったよな！

Thank you in advance


texts:
I'm still learning japanese, so I'd like someone to help me with this, please!

I can't understand the meaning of this phrase/expression:

  そっちのケはないんじゃ

I do understand the meaning of はないんじゃ, but I don't know what does "そっちのケ" means. Thanks in advance!


texts: I've just been thinking that if verb + なさい constructions are a combination of verb stem + なさる's 命令形, how on earth is something like しなさい possible. they both mean "do", don't they ("do do!) perhaps I'm completely over-thinking this. Is there a reason as to why なさい can't be used its own?


texts: The meaning of the particles in "Yume no naka futari de ita yo ne"

texts:
The phrase

  Yume no naka futari de ita yo ne

is translated in a page as

  In my dreams, we were together

I don't understand the meaning of the particles here, plus where the 'together' comes from. Yume no naka is 'inside of my dreams' I suppose, futari would be 'the two of us' and ita the past of iru which would be 'were' but where is the 'together'? What does the yo ne adds here? And de is supposed to be a particle that indicates the place where an action happens, but here is after 'the two of us'?


texts: What does 撥の音も加えた gliss. mean? (in sheet music)

texts:
I am a musician playing the Marimba. Because quite a bit of music for marimba is written by famous Japanese composers, occasionally I come across some Japanese text I would like to understand.

In the piece "Two methods of Movement for Marimba", written by Toshimitsu TANAKA, there is, on the 6th page, a Glissando (moving with the sticks along all bars) with a star. At the bottom of the page, the star is printed again, this time with a note in Japanese.

(Full images: glissando & note.)

  ★撥の音も加えたgliss.

I would be very grateful if someone could unveil the meaning of that sentence.


texts: Does the nanda at the end of ここはどこなんだ mean "what"?

texts:
Does the なんだ at the end of

ここはどこなんだ

mean "what"?
Reason I'm asking for help on such a obvious question is my brain thinks なんだ is the explanatory んだ; which I know is wrong, but its the only answer my brain is supplying at the moment. And I doubt "なんだ" is "what", as that would make the full sentence translate as "What where is this place/here?" which does not sound correct in the least bit of sense.


texts:
I'm reading some R-rated doujinshi on the internet and came across this line:

この立派なホーケーチOチンで!

I don't understand what "ホーケー" means. My guess is that it means something "take a look at this!" type of meaning, but I can't seem to find anything about this line.

As a whole, the sentence means something along the lines of "using this fine **** right here!".

Thanks!


texts: For this sentence, "保存をお忘れなくですぞ！”　I am guessing the word "naku" is a suffix meaning not? So then it'd be saying, "do not forget to save!"? And is the "o" before "wasure" there to make it more polite?


texts:
The official transition is:

  フォースと共にあれ

Can you break it down for me? What is あれ in this sentence?


texts: 彼はもう英語を教えるまい。 (Most probably, he won't teach English any more.) I got this sentence from this thread. もう doesn't seem necessary to use or have. Isn't the meaning the same if it was like this: 彼は英語を教えるまい。?


texts: Why な instead of の is used in the anime title "はるかなレシーブ"?

texts:
There is an anime named "はるかなレシーブ" this season. While the official English name is just using the Romaji (i.e. Harukana Receive) instead of translating the meaning, from the Chinese official translation, it seems that the name of the anime means "Haruka's Receive". As the main character is named Ozora Haruka, I guess this translation is correct?

If that's the correct meaning, then my question will be why な instead of の is used to connect the 2 nouns? (i.e. why "はるかなレシーブ" but not "はるかのレシーブ"?)


texts: Casual way to say: ''See you tomorrow at (some time)''

texts:
Lets say 11am

How would you say: ''See you tomorrow at 11.'' ?

All I have is :

ashita wa juuichi ji ni ... what now ? ...

I found this expression online :

11 のあなたは見てください


texts: 「。。。個人を超えた大きなものの」ってどういう意味ですか？

texts:
「。。。なるほど個人がひとつきりの体でその人生を生き、それを指して「わたし」と言いながらも全部がわたしと感じるゆえに「このわたし」なんてものは個人を超えた大きなものの、やっぱり一瞬間でしかないような気持ちにさせられます」

（川上未映子『世界クッキー』文藝春秋）

質問１：この「なんてものは」は「なんというものは」の省略ですか？

質問２：タイトルの通り、「個人を超えた大きなものの」はどういう意味ですか？
自分が習った文法では、「ものの」は「だが」の意味です。だから「個人を超えたものの」だけでも十分ではないかという疑問を持っています。「大きな」は何を表しているですか？

教えてください。


texts: キッチリした性格の人 >>What does this mean about a person characteristic?

texts:
Context : 2 character are talking ,they're seems to be the student at a magic school
C2: あ、あはは…なんか、ここって愉快な人が多いのかしら。ちょっと思ってた感じとは違うなあ
C1: もっとキッチリした性格の人とか、捻くれた魔術士ばっかりだと思ってた?
Later on C2 thanks C1 ,because she said will guide C2 around the school and introducing her to people C1 knows about
C1: お礼は食堂のスィーツでいい
C2: あ、そういうところはキッチリしてるんだ
What does this expression mean about one person's personality ?


texts: Need a brief explanation of the grammar of って when it means "if ... then"

texts:
The って I'm referring to is in the sixth line of the lyrics of a song called Don't you see! And it is right after 楽になる.

信じる事を止めてしまえば　楽になるってわかってるけど

Judging from three translations of this song I have been able to find and two Japanese-English dictionaries, it seems to me that the って here means "if ... then". However, despite my hard searches, I haven't been able to find its grammar (in this meaning) such as under what conditions it can be used or what words it needs to be used together with.

An brief explanation would be much appreciated.


texts:
I am playing a game with a mix of English players and Japanese players. It has a helpful translate feature built in but not everything is in there. For instance being able to tell a player to use an item.

As an example the item is "魔土器:解呪" I want to be able to politely say , "Please use Pomander Of Purity" but in Japanese (items often have different names in different language).

So in the case of my example would I say something like, "つかいます 魔土器:解呪"?


texts:
I came across the following sentence:

  僕が何を怖がるっていうんだ？

which was translated as "What am I supposed to be frightened of?"

I know that the first part means "what am I afraid of?"

I just can't see how adding that っていうんだ could change the meaning in that way.

I'm assuming that it's the same as というんだ but I still can't figure out how it affects the meaning of the sentence.

Could it be a mistranslation on the author's part?


texts: ~ ないで for 'without doing ~' and 'don't ~'

texts:
I know that if you use ~ないで after a verb it could either mean "without doing ~verb" as 何も見えないで (without seeing anything) or it could mean "don't do ~" as 見つめないで (don't stare at me).

How can know when it is either one meaning or the other?


texts: Does 両親ともに健在とは限らない。mean "Both of my parents aren't alive."?

texts:
This is a sentence from the Tanaka corpus, I would have thought that it means "I have a parent that has passed away.".

I'm asking that because the Tanaka corpus contains some mistakes so I think it may be the case here but I'm not sure(some people say that this sentence doesn't mean anyone is dead).


texts:
どうしたんだ　vs　どうしたんだい

そうか　vs　そうかい

This kind of thing. Is it a formality difference? Is it dialectical/Regional? Age related?


texts:
How to say " I'll leave it to you " and  "make it little shorter" to barber/hairdresser  in barbershop/salon.
Thank you


texts: What are the rules determining the use of the dash in katakana?

texts:
As explained in this question, a dash character is used in katakana as an extension of a sound.

First, what exactly is this character called? A "nobasu mark"?

Anyway, I saw this sign in Shibuya the other day:

It's not a remarkable advertisement. It simply says 「ケータイ代{だい}に悩{なや}まない３年間{ねんかん}を。」, which means something like "Get a three year worry free mobile phone service plan." (Very loose translation.)

What struck me though is that in this case, they are using katakana for a word for which there is kanji: 携帯{けいたい}, and in that kanji, the first character is read けい. Not けえ.

I always thought that the purpose of ー was to extend the same sound from the previous character. Or, in other words, use the same 段{だん}, or "vowel row", in the hiragana syllabry. So the ー in ラーメン represents あ because it follows ら, both in the あ段{だん}.

Intuitively, of couse I recognize that ケー is probably more of a phonetic representation than anything rule based.

So, more out of curiousity than anything else, is there any set of rules which determine what exact sound a ー should be? I feel that as someone who has gained a familiarity with Japanese, I just unquestioningly intuit the reading for ー when I come across it, but if one were to try and explain it to someone completely new to Japanese, how would you do it?


texts: Can その（其の）X be used without X previously being referenced?

texts:
Namely this definition of 澄ます:

  よけいなことを考えないで、その事一つに注意・意識を集中する。

(under 3, http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/119957/m0u/).

This seems to be used like ある, e.g. あること ("a certain thing"), not like "that thing"　そのこと, since the noun which その describes isn't referenced anywhere else. Can this be the case?

Checking definitions of 其の 1 to 4 here http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/131116/m0u/%E3%81%9D%E3%81%AE/, none of them seem to fit.

So what does 其の in the 澄ます definition mean here?


texts:
I keep on trying this type of jlpt questions and I keep on failing. Do you have any recommendation on what to read or what to review?

An example question that I answered wrong is :

れいぞうこにくだもの__ * __ __ が あります。
A. が
B. と
C. 三つ
D. ぎゅうにゅう

My answer is D because this is how I arranged it : と ぎゅうにゅう が 三つ but the correct answer is C which confused me. Why? How do they know that there are 3 fruits? Why not 3 milk?

*edit: The main question here is : Do you have any recommendation on what to read or what to review or how to attack these type of question?  (Not just the example I have given which people tag as duplicate, I am concerned with this sentential type of question)


texts: Siri says そわそわしてしまいます

texts:
Siri asked to set a timer responds with:

１分セットしました。そわそわしてしまいます。

Is the latter part correct (I assume so)?

If it means "I'm all nervous" (I guess the English counterpart is "Ok, it's set. And the suspense is killing me") -- why isn't it simply そわそわしています?

My dictionary of grammar lists two usages of てしまう: (1) to express regret; (2) to express doing something to the end -- the latter is explicitly mentioned to be possible in future tense, but the example given is to complete a certain action before another one starts (先に食事をしてしまってください).
How is てしまう used here? It's a state + しまう. Are there more examples of this usage (maybe I'm missing some common form which I did not pay attention to when spoken by humans)?


texts: What is the difference between ぶつ, 叩く, and 殴る?

texts:
I have found a question regarding these words here:

たたく versus ぶつ in a JLPT question

Which mostly deals with idioms, however.

So far as I understand it 殴る means somewhat violent beating and punching. What about the other two?

There are questions like this on the Hinative and the other Japanese sites, but I'm having trouble comprehending the answers and making a good distinction between the synonyms.
Here are similar threads if these are of any help:

https://hinative.com/en-US/questions/6180065

https://okwave.jp/qa/q5155677.html

http://mixi.jp/view_bbs.pl?comm_id=2748&id=10547445


texts: What does "manga" truly mean in Japanese?

texts: In English the word "manga" is used to refer to Japanese comics. I would like to know if this word is similar to "anime", where westerns use it only for "Japanese" animation (in a broad sense since several "Japanese" animations are produced in Japan but animated on Korea or other country) or does it mean comics in general? Is a fanfic japanese comic a "manga" or does it have to be paid and officially released to be "manga"?


texts:
As I'm encountering more words with rendaku, I thought I started to understand it, but I came across an example that does not make sense to me.
Why is 気 voiced き in 元気 and 本気, but is voiced ぎ in 一本気 ?
In other words, why is there no rendaku in 本気 ?
From other questions, I see that there is some unpredictability about rendaku… but those words are really close to one another.


texts: Does 「何は名前は君の大学か？」 mean "What is the name of your university?"

texts: I just learned the word 大学 and wanted to try to put it into a sentence. My reasoning is that nani means what, namae means name, kimi no means your and daigaku means university, although im not so sure that this is how I would ask it or if it is even correct. Could someone please help me with this? I'd like to know 1. If i used the particles correctly and 2. If the question makes sense, if not could you please show me how to say it and explain it? Thank you for your help c:


texts: What do the words 「出ないのって」 and 「だる」mean?

texts:
They are bold in the following sentence:

まあまあ 出【で】るの出【で】ないのってビヤだる 一ぱいほどの玉【たま】を出【だ】しちまってな。


texts: What does it mean when a number is followed by こ

texts:
れいぞうこ の なか に ケーキ は 3こ ありました.
せんしゅう 、かんじ を 20こ おぼえ ました.

In the above examples, why does こ come after the number? Is it a counter? If yes, at what instances can it be used? If not, please advise how and when it should be used.


texts:
How do I determine the pronounication of compound nouns such as 来年夏.

Obviously 来年の夏 is pronounced  らいねんのなつ but what happens when I remove the の? Does it just become らいねんなつ? My guess from everything I've read is that it's more likely to use an 音読み reading, which gives me a choice of らいねんか or らいねんげ. It would be quite vexing if simply omitting the の changes the pronunciation, but I fear this may be the case.

Compounds like this don't appear in any dictionaries I've seen, so are there some general rules to apply?

Here's another example from the same article: 登山者数. Is it とざんしゃかず or とざんしゃすう


texts: Is it possible to use 持{も}っていく with people?  Or is another verb used for taking people to places? For example: 毎日学校に妹を持っていく


texts: Grammar correction: Death Note theme deconstruction

texts:
I'm currently watching Death Note and decided to interpret the opening theme. However, I'm unsure about my interpretation. I don't know what I don't know, so please either correct my mistakes or tell me what is wrong.

Original Passage

  広がる闇の中　交わし合った　革命の契り
  誰にも邪魔させるワケにはいかないから
  果実が告げた未来 夢、理想に変える
  誰もが望んだ「終幕」を･･･
  いつか僕が見せてあげる
  光り輝く世界を

Rewritten passage (bold are my inclusions)

  僕は広がる闇の中で革命の契りを交わし合った、
  誰にも邪魔させるワケにはいかないから。
  （僕は）果実が告げた未来を...
  （僕は）夢を理想に変える。
  （僕は）誰もが望んだ「終幕」を･･･
  いつか僕が光り輝く世界を見せてあげる。

Thought process behind rewritten passage inclusions

The first sentence seemed easy enough to understand by explicitly stating the subject and denoting the location of activity and direct object with the corresponding particles. For the second sentence: I began by noticing かえる as a transitive verb, and thus tried to explicitly state what I assumed to be the subjects and objects. I understood "果実が告げだ未来" as the noun 未来 modified by the relative clause 果実が告げる, and thus assumed it should take the particle を and the subject 僕, while stylistically excluding an appropriate verb. Then, I thought maybe 果実が告げた未来 was the in fact the 夢 mentioned in the next clause/sentence, and thus the verb 変える is actually acting on both noun phrases because the noun phrases are in reference to the same thing. I used the same logic on the third sentence, though the 僕が confused me because I'm failing to see what the topic could be (even if something like それは).

Interpretation of rewritten passage

I exchanged vows of revolution within spreading darkness because I can’t let anyone hinder me.
The future that the fruit foretells…
That dream, I’m going to change into the ideal
The ending that everyone desires…
The (better) world that will glitter and shine, one day I'm going to show you.


texts: 決めることに賛成です Ni particle

texts: 私としては、多数決で決めることに賛成です。 in this sentence why did we use に particle before 賛成です. is 賛成 here working as a noun or adjective ?


texts:
hello, my lovelies! I found this from a song:

嘘つくのは得意なんだ
でも、本音は少し苦手でさ
おかしいね、いつだって
本当の話が一番嘘臭いんだよ

I'm going to guess that it's a masculine or slang form of である with the さ particle attached for emphasis (the singer is male). Just to be sure there are no other misunderstandings getting in the way though, here is my rough translation:

Telling lies is my forte
But I'm kind of bad at (telling) the truth
Funny, right?
How my true tales are always the biggest stinking lies

So, I'm basically assuming that でさ here is just a slang way to say だ or です, but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Many thanks!


texts:
In this JLPT N3 audio practice question (#3), the correct reply to the statement is 3.
コーヒー、もう一杯いかがですか。

けっこうだと思います。
おかげさまで。
いただきます。

If the question translates as "How about another cup of coffee?" then I'm confused why 3 is correct.  First, I thought 「いただきます」 as a set phrase only applies just before a person is about to put food to mouth; second, in this setting that I assume to be a customer and server, I'm confused why the customer would be speaking keigo.  Obviously there's some detail I'm missing here.
Also, why is answer 1 incorrect?  If 「結構です」is an acceptable way to turn down an offer, why would a slightly less confident 「結構だと思います」 be out of place?  Is 「結構です」strictly a set phrase that can't be modified?


texts: Sentence structure of いつだって不安な朝は迎え難い　今日くらい大丈夫だって言って

texts:
What is the sentence structure of this sentence, which is from the lyrics of this song? I'm lost. How to understand くらい?

  いつだって不安な朝は迎え難い　今日くらい大丈夫だって言って

Does the sentence mean: Mornings of anxiety are always difficult to deal with, please tell me even something like 'things will be fine today'.

I'm not sure. Please kindly help.


texts: Does ところを always mean the same thing as のに? What is the difference between ところへ and ところに?

texts:
One of my JLPT books, 総まとめ文法Ｎ２, uses the following examples to explain the grammar pattern ところだ:

  お忙{いそが}しいところをすみません。(=忙{いそが}しいのに)　→　I am sorry to bother you at this busy time.
  会{あ}いたいと思{おも}っていたところです。(=今{いま}ちょうど思{おも}っていました)　→　I was just thinking that I wanted to see you.

It also mentions that ところ could be followed by particles へ・に・を or nothing. But it does not give any example or any explanation on the difference between them.

I have a few questions:

Does ところを always imply the meaning of のに in the meaning of "although"?
What is the difference between ところに and ところへ? Is ところへ more elusive than ところに?

In another document (related with N3) I see the following explanations:

ところを allows to use the whole sentence like a noun.
ところへ something comes from the situation.
ところに something happens in the current situation.

The given examples were:

  これから寝{ね}ようとしたところへ友{とも}達{だち}が訪{たず}ねてきた。　→　When I was trying to sleep, a friend came by.
  こっそりタバコを吸{す}っているところを妹｛いもうと｝に見{み}られた。　→　My sister saw me while I was smoking in secret.

According to my professor, ところに and ところへ are somewhat the same. But I am still wondering whether there is a difference or not?


texts: Japanese idiom for don't let it get to your head?


texts: Clarification on comparative constructions is needed

texts:
Here's a sentence:

  シベリアより東の地域はシベリアの中部ほど寒くないです。

I understand what it says but I don't understand why 「より」 is used right after 「シベリア」, and why the word order is not like this:

  シベリアの東の地域はシベリアの中部ほど寒くないです。

Can the reason be in those 2 different comparative constructions in one sentence? I assume that one cannot say something like 「AよりBほどC」, thus involving 「AはBほどC」to make it work properly.

Even if it's right, I'd like to know the reason 「シベリアより」 is even taking place and, what's more, I'd like to know how to translate it properly. Every time I read it I want to say "Comparing to Siberia, eastern region is not that cold, as central one", but then again, "comparing to Siberia" just makes no sense for me. Also, I cannot understand why author used this, but not the 「シベリアの東の・・・」.


texts: Verb nominalization with plain form vs の

texts:
I was wondering if there is any clear rule as when to use plain form vs の
eg.
その食べっている人。
ラメンをたべるのが好き。


texts: What do you call the hooked tip of a kanji stroke?

texts:
When writing a kanji, some downstrokes have a clean end (such as in 木) while others end with a little hook (e.g. the center stroke of 小).

What are the names of such stroke tips?


texts:
So I need to write a short essay about an interesting experience I had for school and I decided to write about a cooking class I went to.

I'm trying to say

  because I have been to a patisserie class, I did not learn anything new/I did not learn any new techniques.

(The context is dessert making.) But I'm not sure what the right word for 'techniques' is. The word for 'technique' in the dictionary is 手法 but is the context correct for 'cooking techniques' because all the other words that mean 'technique' are very specific.

In terms of the sentence I would like to write this but I'm not sure if it is correct.

  パティスリーのクラスに行ったことがありますから、新しいtechniquesを習いませんでした。

Preferably I would like to say 'I did not learn anything new' but I'm not sure how to form that sentence. Would it be

  何も新しいを習いませんでした。

Thank you.


texts:
I was playing a Japanese video game when I came across this line:

  私は立ち上がり、お弁当箱をしまった

I was just wondering, can I translate お弁当箱をしまった as "carry the bentou box"?


texts: Using nicknames or first name with high school peers

texts:
I have a story set in Japan with Japanese high schoolers (around the ages 17-18). One of them is called Kiwatamura (family name) Ryuko (first name). He is Japanese and lived there as a kid but he spent a few years in America recently. Since English speakers mostly call people by their first name he got used to being called Ryu or Ryuko by his peers. After he came back to Japan and enrolled in high school there with Japanase classmates he realized he still prefers being called Ryu or Ryuko. From what I read, classmates would usually call each other family names without honorifics, so the default would be Kiwatamura for his classmates. I read that sometimes nicknames are also okay. Would these change if someone was a transfer student (aka joining the school and class later but still being the same age).
If he expressed his preference to be called Ryuko to his classmates or kids his age he just met, would they call him that? Would they be actually comfortable using his first name since it was him who asked, or would they just do it to respect his wishes but still feel uncomfortable while doing it?
If he asked his peers to call him Ryu would that be something they would use as a nickname and would be comfortable using it? Or is it too close to his first name?
Would it be likely that in response someone would also tell Ryuko to call them a nickname or their first name? Or would this only happen after they became close friends?
I am looking for real life experiences so I could make the story a bit more authentic. Thank you for all your help!


texts: How do we roll a ball along a street from A to B?

texts:
This question is a follow up to この道をまっすぐ行ってください。Why “を” and not “で”? posted earlier.
If:

道で転ぶ = fallover on the road
ボールが道を転がる = a ball rolled along the street
〜を転がす = roll something (他）

How do we say:

"I rolled a ball along the street from the police station to the second traffic lights?"

Is it:

道沿い／道に沿って交番から二番目の信号までボールを転がした

？
[I want to capture the movement along the direction of the street and we can't have two をs. I have only just remembered the expression に沿う]


texts: おおい / すくない+[noun]は あまりつかいません

texts:
I read in this file (p. 7) the two statements :

  すくない+[noun]は あまりつかいません

  おおい+[noun]は あまりつかいません

No translation being given, I'm wondering what the meaning of these sentences is. Maybe "I don't use XXX very much." (?) Do they have the same meaning ? Can you give an example ?


texts:
After killing his opponent, Takezou:

  颯爽と、一顧して、彼はすぐ後ろへ戻って行くのである。なんでもないことのようだった。もし先｛さき｝が強ければ、自分が後に捨てられてゆくだけのこととしかしていなかった。

宮本武蔵（1935年–1939年、朝日新聞連載、吉川英治）

What does 先 refer to? Could it be his dead opponent (先方)? Or future / future opponents?


texts: There's new, old and home?? in it. But I've seen multiple translations. If anyone could help it'd be appreciated.


texts:
I was struggling to translate the following poster in a rigorous manner, more specifically to Korean, which is a LOT easier than translating Japanese to English.

It says "2016年レギュラーシーズン公式戦の西武プリンスドーム開催試合においていずれも当日、残席がある場合のみ"

Now I have divided the phrase "-開催試合においていずれも当日" into

"-開催試合において" / "いずれも当日"

"Regarding Prince Dome Games" / "???? the day"

And from the context I've concluded that the phrase really means

"All Prince Dome games regardless of the day" and subsequently,

"The game is free only if it is a regular season game @ Prince Dome, and if there are free seats left."

Which sounds pretty reasonable, but I still can't really pinpoint the definition of the word "いずれも," and Googling didn't help at all.

I was thinking "all," but why the phrase when we have 全部 or すべて?


texts:
Specifically when transcribing foreign words into katakana, it is often implied that half of a letter is dropped in pronunciation.

Take for example メルボルン, the Japanese import of the Australian city name Melbourne. The rōmaji for this is Meruborun. However, it is pronounced Merborn. Therefore, the latter half of ru is intuitively dropped in both of its instances within the word.

Is there a symbol which denotes that only the first half of the preceding character should be used? Or is the conversion between orthoëpy and lexicon usually intuitive?


texts:
Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro Chan Season 2 EP1 5:16

I think she says something like
読んでこようだ or maybe 呼んでこやった or a lot o possibilities, I'm just a begginner so I can't differentiate exactly what she says, it's too hard for me right now, and even in the subtitles I think her last words didn't got a translation. It is actually something easy to know?


texts:
I recently received a job offer from a company, say X会社. However, I would like to turn down their offer as I have some opportunity at my current place of employment.

How can I express this in a polite manner as to not offend them ?

After a few searches it seems that:

  体{てい}よく断{ことわ}る

Is the polite expression to decline an offer. Is what I am looking for, i.e. "Declining politely". I found a website with a number of phrases, however, I am not sure which to choose and how to use them in my case. I would like to explain something along the lines of:

  Thank you very much for this very interesting offer. However, due to an opportunity at my current place of employment, I have to refuse your offer. I am sorry for the trouble I may have caused, and hope to maybe work with you at X in the future.

Although I think I can get around the first part with something along the lines of:

  就職｛しゅうしょく｝の機会｛きかい｝を与｛あた｝えて誠｛まこと｝にありがとうございます。

I also have ideas for the last part, around using 手数, but I would really need some help for the refusal itself.

I guess proper keigo would be the only acceptable level of speech, but as my Japanese is not so good, I would like to keep it as natural as possible for someone my level (JLPT N3).


texts: Do 分 and 秒 take 間 if I am talking about duration?

texts:
30秒かかった or 30秒間かかった ?

10分かかった or 10分間かかった?


texts: Using からが、からで、からに and からは

texts:
How are these used in sentences to answer questions.  The particular question I'm asking about looks like this. たんじょうびに　田中さんから　何を　もらったんですか。

I'm given the choices からが、からで、　からに　and からは.

The problem is when I've used online dictionaries they tell me different meanings for these phrasal expressions.  I know that から　by itself generally means from as in something from someone or somewhere.  What I am confused with is the particles being used at the end of each から。

Can someone explain what the differences are?

Thank you.


texts: question about the use of に to mark location in this dictionary entry

texts:
2 related excepts from 月鏡 on に regarding location

  (Ⅰ)動作・作用の成立に深く関わる場所を表す。

  ㋐存在の場所や所有する者を表す。「机の上に本がある」「母は部屋にいる」「この公園に砂場がない」「彼には子供が三人いる」「彼女には責任感が欠けている」
  「？道ばたに犬が死ぬ」「？ベッドに男が眠る」のように、動詞だけでは「に」をとれないものでも、「ている」が付いたり、連体修飾語になったりすると、「道ばたに犬が死んでいる」「ベッドに眠る男」のように、「そこにそういう状態で
  ある／いる」という意味を表すものもある。

  ④動作・作用が行われる場や手段などを表す。…で。…にて。

  ㋐動作・作用が行われる場を表す。「駅前に待つ」「母校に会す」「会館に昼食する」

I'm not quite sure how to interpret "動詞だけでは「に」をとれないものでも" in the bolded section.

that aside, what i take from this first entry is that you need to either have the verb in ている form or have the verb attached to 体言 to establish where something is done 。「道ばたに犬が死んでいる」「ベッドに眠る男」

with the second entry, that is not required. 「駅前に待つ」「母校に会す」「会館に昼食する」

I don't see the difference between 「ベッドに男が眠る」and 「会館に昼食する」where 「ベッドに眠る男」or 「ベッドに男が眠っている」is necessary but 「会館に(男が)昼食する」is fine.

  「ベッドに眠る男」= the man sleeping in the bed ✓

  「会館に(男が)昼食する」= the man eats in the hall✓

  「ベッドに男が眠る」 = the man sleeps in the bed.

  「会館に昼食する(男)」= the man eating in the hall.

These should all be viable right?

Thank you


texts: Listing places in Japanese and using particles afterwards

texts:
If I want to say

  John studies at home and the library

do I say

  ジョンさんはうちととしょかんでべんきょうします。

I feel like I'm getting the particles wrong or that I'm actually supposed to use double particles.


texts:
I saw this word in a song. The lyrics read:

  大きな花を咲かそうとしてる

What word is it an inflection of? I can't figure it out.


texts:
I haven't seen this very often at all, so this has got me stumped.

Here's an example with it showing up frequently:

http://www.orenoh.com/knowledge/mensetu-shikaku.html

The title, for example:
"未経験者を面接をする側の気持ちを考えてみる"

How do you translate this sentence, and how would you read 側 when it's used like this?


texts: Help to understand the ending verb "動かねーんじゃね"

texts:
Original sentence: アドビやら、お絵描き系のアプリは、誰かが実証しない限り、動かねーんじゃね？
I can't understand the structure of the last verb. So far I understood that 動か(conjugated form) + ねー(negative particle) + んじゃ(???) + ね(question particle).
What does んじゃ mean


texts: What is the Japanese phrase for "art of the horse"?

texts:
Does bajutsu 馬術 refer to the use of weapons on horseback, or less specifically the art of the horse riding and horsemanship?

I'm trying to work out if bajutsu is the horse equivalent to kyūjutsu 弓術, kenjutsu 剣術 and sōjutsu 槍術.


texts:
Is it:

  AはBに変わる。

If I want to say A changes to B

Thanks


texts: How to properly use particles in translating the following sentence?

texts: I'm still trying to figure out how to use two verbs together in Japanese. Like pairing the words "going" and "learn". Please excuse me for my beginner question, as this is my first time posting. I can read hiragana and katakana. I came here to ask if someone could translate the following sentence into Japanese. This will hopefully help me gain an understanding on how to use particles properly. Thanks!! "What language are you going to learn?"


texts:
During my Japanese classes, I saw two examples really similar :

昨日、さとうさんは自転車で事故にあったけれども、怪我はしなかった。
車で事故にあうと、怪我をします。

I don't understand why for the first one, the particle before する is は, and for the second one it's を.


texts:
In an episode on Crayon Shin-Chan, Shin-Chan says

  開けて！

In this situation, he was knocking the door (For the second time he was knocking. His mom has already told him that he should properly say "I'm home", as he didn't use the proper greeting. Shin-Chan replied that "You should not take a child's words too seriously".)

Shin-Chan's mom replies from inside the house

  開けません！

She was angry on him for returning home late.

Jisho says there is this verb 開ける, which may mean

  to open (a door, etc.)

But why Shin-Chan uses the te-form of the verb? He could at most use the imperative form of the verb, which is 開けろ.

Another question, why Shin-Chan's mom uses the polite masu-form of the verb with her kid, while Shin-Chan didn't use it with her mom?


texts:
「そういえば……助けたといえば、あの時のは何だったの？急に突き飛ばされた気がしたんだけど」

  「ああ……」

  さて、どう言ったものか。ここでまた妖精なんて言ったら、今度こそ終わりだろうし。

  「近くにいたけど、俺にもよくわからなかったな。でも助かったんだし、いいんじゃないか？」

  「それはさすがにすっきりしないんだけど……」

  結局、誤魔化すしかなかったが、納得してはもらえなかった。ただ、俺のせいとも思われなかったが。

What exactly is he saying in the last sentence?

It looks like he is saying that he doesn't believe he is to blame, but I'm not quite sure what he means.


texts:
Is "da" used often in the casual speech? Or is it often omitted whenever it's possible? For example:

1) Genki (da)?
2) Suki (da)?
3) Ke wa atsui (da) ne?


texts: What is the origin/etymology of the phrase "ばかな" meaning "impossible!"

texts:
Preface: I do not know Japanese, so please forgive any misnomers and inaccuracies.  Also please forgive the crude transcriptions of the Japanese sounds; I mean no offense.

When watching anime/playing video games with Japanese soundtracks, I've often heard characters exclaim "ばかな!", apparently roughly transliterated as "ba ka na", which many anime/videogames translate as "impossible" and sounds to me eerily like bu4 ke3 neng2 (不可能 - "impossible" in Chinese).  It's obviously tempting for me, with my Chinese background, to think that the phonological similarity is something more than coincidence: for example, I've heard the phrase "KAI SEE" in contexts where it quite obviously corresponds to Chinese kai1shi3/開始, so in some instances such similarities are actually not coincidental. But in this case it seems rather dubious to me that "ba ka na" is some Japanese reading of 不可能, which is a bit "too Chinese" of a construction, and I'd like to settle the speculation for good by inquiring as to the true genesis of this phrase.

So, where did this expression come from?  One colleague argued that it stems from the the Japanese word "baka" (馬鹿), in which case I suppose one possible path towards the present meaning of "ba ka na" might be something like "this [situation] is just stupid" > "are you kidding me" > "impossible".  Is this accurate, or is it sui generis, or something else entirely?  It's driving me a bit mad, since right now everything time my ears hear "ba ka na", my brain hears "bu ke neng".


texts: Situational acceptability of politeness and/or honorific use

texts:
Consider:

I am expected to use polite forms when speaking to someone socially above me. Let's take for example, a teacher.
If our relationship improves, and it becomes permissible for me to speak casually to the teacher, then if I speak to that teacher in the presence of another party. How should I behave?

(Question) Is the politeness determined by accountability to the person I'm addressing, or is it accountable to external societal pressures?


texts:
The main character (A) is randomly accosted by some guy, who is allegedly working for some kind of organization aiming to make the city greener, on the street to sign his petition with the main character's name and phone number. Later he gets a call from an unknown number that the payment of his loan is due and that he better pay up soon or else he'll have some goons sent over to beat him up (it's obvious that the petitioner is behind this) but the MC refuses and hangs up on him. Later he gets a call from a friend (B) who says that his co-worker ran into the same situation, except that he was gullible and actually paid the amount and asks MC for help in finding out who's behind all this.
Here's the conversation:

B: うちのホストでケンヤって奴がいるんですけど、そいつが偽の借金取りに騙されたらしいんですよ。
A: 偽の借金取り？
B: えぇ。話を聞いてみたらチンピラっぽい格好をしたヤツが「神室町に森！」と言って署名活動をしてたとか。でもそいつ、連絡先どころか許可証すら見せなかったらしいんですよ。そんないかにも怪しい署名にわざわざ名前と住所と、電話番号まで書くなんて・・・間抜けすぎてちょっと呆れちゃいましてホント。まぁ悪いやつじゃないんですけどね。
A: gasps ・・・・・・・・・ (probably because he realizes that he fell for the same scam himself)
B: どうかしました？
A: え、あぁ、いや・・・ずいぶん性質の悪いやつのようだな。
B: そうですよ！ケンヤもこんなアホみたいな詐欺に引っ掛かる奴ですけど真面目に働いてたんです。

The bolded やつ is what confuses me. Which person does it refer to here, the scammer or Kenya? I'd assume the former as 性質が悪い usually refers to a person who, as far as I know, is inherently bad in an evil/selfish kinda way whereas Kenya isn't a bad person according to MC's friend but rather just gullible. I've taken a look at the official translation and the sentence was translated as I just can't believe Kenya fell for that. which does seem more natural given the flow of the conversation but now I'm not sure.
Can 性質の悪い人 be interpreted as somebody who's just stupid/gullible but not evil?
As always many thanks in advance for your help!


texts: What is the purpose of the が particle in this sentence?

texts:
友だちがきれいな花をくれました。

I have translated this as:
 Friend gave (me) beautiful flowers.

I did not understand the usage of が , couldn't we have used は ?
And in this case is my translation correct?


texts:
So, I have noticed that sometimes comma appears before と, sometimes its after it, and there are also time that there is no comma at all. Does it hint something? Is there some kind of rule?
慣れた者だと限りなく本物に近い敵を出すことができるので、一人でできる訓練としては効果的と、魔力を持つ者の多くが学んでいる。relative pronoun
気分転換にもなるな、と壁に立てかけてある剣に目をやった. quotation
しばらく戦った後にカイルは荒い息でそう言うと動きを止めた。and then


texts: Why is ことに used the way it is in this sentence?

texts:
In 窓ぎわのトットちゃん, the author talks about the window.

  だいたいこの教室の窓というのが、トットちゃんにとっては幸福なことに、先生にとっては不幸なことに、一階にあり、しかも通りは目の前だった。

ことで seems more intuitive to me in this context. Why is ことに used instead?


texts: What is the difference between 惹かれる and 引かれる?

texts:
I was texting a Japanese person, and I saw 引かれる【ひかれる】for the first time, so I searched for its meaning. I saw contradictory explanations and translations, some sources say it is the same as　惹かれる｛ひかれる｝, as in being attraced to someone or something.

One of the examples I found:

  「蛾｛が｝は光｛ひかり｝に引｛ひ｝かれる」

After I had answered the text the other person explained to me that both of the kanjis have the same reading, but they mean the exact opposite, so 引｛ひ｝かれる would be mean being put off by someone or something. I felt really stupid and went back to research mode, and I found out about ドン引｛ひ｝かれる, which should mean to be put off.

My assumption is that both kanjis used to mean the same, but somewhat recently ドン引｛ひ｝き appeared in the common vocabulary, but it was too long so people started to drop the ドン　part. Is this correct?


texts:
So I came across a kanji I can't seem to find in any online dictionary.
It's basically the following two characters stuck together 眞頁 (I'm reading a physical book, so can't copy paste it), and is followed by 末.
After trawling through jisho, the closest I've found is 顛末, which would make sense in context, but definitely isn't the same.


texts:
先ほどまでとは打って変わって礼儀正しくなったオオカミに戸惑いつつも、返す。するとオオカミは、ドン、と胸を叩くようにして続けてきた。
『ならば、僕の鼻が役に立つかもしれません。この世界においてあなた方はいわば異物、特徴的なにおいをしてらっしゃいます。似たようなにおいを辿っていけば、あるいは』

Source: Date A Live, novel
Why is においをして used instead of においがして? I’ve seen the latter 匂いがする more often.


texts:
I understand the meaning of this phrase, but I have a hard time understanding how it's constructed.

In phrases like それで or というわけで you have a noun plus the particle で. This looks superficially similar, except that それが元(です) is a sentence, not a noun (or noun phrase).

What's going on here? Is there a bunch of other stuff being left unspoken?


texts: I just started reading a Japanese version of the New Testament when I encountered this.  The English has it as "Behold", but 見よ doesn't seem to be a command form that I am familiar with.  Is this something specific to 見る?


texts:
What exactly does 〜ておきます mean in this context?

旅行{りょこう}する前{まえ}にホテルを予約{よやく}しておきます。

Is this trying to say something like "Before traveling, reserve a room". Is this a suggestion? An order? (If so, why aren't they using ください at the end instead of おきます?)


texts: What is the difference between と話す　and に話す

texts:
Just as the title says, I'd like to know the difference between 先生に話す
and 先生と話す, since they are both correct (if I'm wrong please correct me)


texts: What is the term for "Past Tense Negative Form" in Japanese?

texts:
Doing my Japanese practices today, and I've noticed that

Present Tense:

現在形

Negative Form:

否定形

Past Tense:

過去形

And I wondered what Negative Past tense is in Japanese. Thought it's an easy question but after many fruitless searches, I can't seem to find an answer anywhere. Not that it's a much  needed phrase to be learnt, but it would be a really helpful little knowledge to have!


texts: At the store the other day, a toddler walked by and called me おじさん. I know this is a generic "mister" for children toward middle-aged adults. I'm wondering if there's an equivalent generic word for adults toward children?


texts: 人生に生き甲斐を求めてギターを習い始めた。 Can　求める mean give?

texts:
人生に生き甲斐を求めてギターを習い始めた。
I started learning guitar to give myself something to do with my life.

Is this translation a little too loose?
Can　求める mean give?
Or would another way of translating this sentence would be:
I wanted more out of my life, so I began to learn the guitar.
or
I wanted something to do with my life, so I began to learn the guitar.


texts:
In the following exercise, I'm asked to choose between 「どんどん」,「だんだん」 or 「ぞんぞん」to complete the sentence:

  遠慮【えんりょ】しないで、____ 食【た】べてください。 Do not hesitate, eat ____ (adverb) please.

I think that neither どんどん (rapidly, steadily) nor だんだん (gradually) fit well in this sentence, do they? Therefore, I think that the correct choice is ぞんぞん. However, I can't find a proper definition for ぞんぞん in English. I found an article where they talk about ぞんぞん, tried to read it but the required level is way too high for me that I couldn't.

To sum up,

What does ぞんぞん mean?
Is ぞんぞん the right answer of the exercise?


texts: Could someone explain the ironic(?) use of よくいうよ?

texts:
Dainichi was kind enough to tell me that よくいうよ means "to shamelessly say something you should be ashamed to say."

On spacealc, this explanation and translation is provided:

  よく言うよ。
  What are you saying?

  〔相手の発言の矛盾を皮肉っぽく批判する言い方。「何を言っているんだ？」が直訳で、「そんなことを言うなんて信じられない」というニュアンスを含んでいる。〕

What meaning does this particular よく provide, and which kanji, if any, does this particular よく derive from?  (I am interested in the literal meaning of this よく from which the figurative meaning derives i.e., does it mean "talk well," "talk brazenly," etc)


texts: why do some kanji have multiple stroke counts?

texts:
A few years ago, I came across the issue of one kanji having multiple stroke counts. Now, I need to review this:
牙 = (4 or 5 strokes)
瓜 = (5 or 6 strokes)
邑 = (6 or 7 strokes)
....

If native speakers don't know about this ambiguity, then I'll just ignore it. But, if it is something to be aware of, can someone please check these assertions?
(1) Depending on the era, some kanji's stroke counts changed. One stroke count is considered correct in modern Japan, while the other is just a historical footnote.
(2) Counter to the trend of simplifying kanji, the modern writings have the greater number of strokes.

Any more information would be welcomed. thanks.


texts: How to express that I'm still learning Japanese?

texts:
Sometimes I get to talk with Japanese users on social media sites and one thing that I say to them quite a lot is:

  "Please forgive my Japanese, I'm still learning" or "it's not very good".

I just want to know if I am expressing myself well enough if I say:

  私の日本語をゆるしてください。まだ勉強していますから。

Does it sound ok? I would really like to know better expressions. For example, at some point I asked this:

  "Could you understand what I wrote about? My Japanese is not that good, thus it might sound weird."

In Japanese I translated like this:

  書いたのが理解できますか。私の日本語はまだ上手ではないからちょっと変かもしれないけど。
  I don't know if 書いたの is a good choice... What do you think? Could you give some examples that sound nicer?


texts:
こんばんは、皆！(6:25pm in Russia)

So, I just got confused by these two words (超える【こえる】 and 超す【こす】). Can someone explain them to me? Do they have the same meaning, or am I wrong?


texts: During some kind of repetitive task which doesn't involve thinking, I lost my concentration and forgot what I was doing. When I told someone about this I said 途中でぼけてしまった but I wonder if that is the best way to describe such an occurrence. 途中で集中しなくなった sounds quite odd to me somehow. 集中を失った would be a translation of "lose concentration" in English but I'm not sure that is good Japanese. Is 途中で間を抜けた or something like that too strange?


texts:
Most detailed definition I could find:

  床下とは
  建物の床の下。えん（縁）のした。

Picture from google:

Example:

  その大雨で床下30センチまで水につかった。
  The heavy rain flooded my house up to 30cm below the floorboards.

However, what I don't understand from the above is:

Does the water rise within 30cm distance of the wooden floorboards (upper limit) or 30cm above the cement floor (lower limit, like on the picture)? Does 床下 refer to the whole space? In any case, what exactly happens in the example sentence?


texts: What's the difference between 触る and 触れる?

texts:
These two seem to overlap almost completely.  The only thing I can really tell is that 触れる seems that it can also be used in a metaphorical sense ("touch on" something; feel; perceive).  I'm interested in how they are different in the sense of physically touching something.  It seems like they can almost always be used interchangeably, but I hardly see 触る as much as 触れる.  Yet earlier, I was reading my Japanese Bible, and within a few lines of each other, they are both used.

  ...女が近寄って来て、後ろからイエスの服の[房]{ふさ}に触れた。
  (a few lines down the same page)
  イエスが二人の目に触り...見えるようになった。

How do you choose which one to use when speaking of physical touch?  Do certain circumstances or situations warrant one over the other?

Related question:  Is the potential form of 触る (= さわれる) ever used?  Because when reading ふれる, I'll often reading it as さわれる and then have to correct myself.


texts: Why is graduating from graduate school 修了 instead of 卒業?

texts: I noticed that on Japanese 履歴書s, graduating from graduate school is marked with 修了 instead of 卒業 like for undergraduate and primary/secondary education. I'm curious as to the reason this difference exists and in particular why the distinction was made in the first place.


texts: What does w stands for in young people's writings?

texts:
What does the letter w stand for generally in young people's writings, like in :

帰宅途中に突然変なノリが始まったww

or in :

それが好きってww

I found them on Youtube


texts: How to say that an article is published (in a newspaper, blog, etc)

texts:
When looking online in dictionaries, I can't figure out what word to use to say the following:
An article I wrote has been published in a newspaper.

私が書いた記事が新聞で掲載してくれていた。
私が書いた記事が新聞で発刊してくれていた。
私が書いた記事が新聞で著してくれていた。

Are any/all of these correct?


texts:
しかし、彼は屈服しないということで、いつ如何なる時も、抵抗を見せることが出来る…。

"However, since he wouldn't surrender.... he could show resistance." I'm not sure what いつ如何なる時も is supposed to mean.