texts:
I'm trying to understand a specific uses of で + は particle, and I would like a more detailed explanation of how it's used.

I referred to these 3 resources: デジタル大辞泉 Weblio コトバンク

Namely, there are 2 uses that I can't understand completely.

The first use:

From デジタル大辞泉

  4 〔…だったら〕

  今からでは遅過ぎる It's too late now.

From Weblio

  4 〈…であっては, …であったら〉

  これでは困ります. This won't do.

I assume these two sites refer to the same usage.

I'm not confident if this では can be a complete replacement for だったら,

In this case doesn't だったら mean "if" or "when"?

  暇だったら、遊びに行くよ。If you're free let's go play.

  暇では、遊びに行くよ。If you're free let's go play. (I'm not sure if this is grammatical)

I'd like more clarification on how to use では in this context.

The second use:

From デジタル大辞泉

  〔…から判断すると〕

  あの顔付きでは失敗したらしいね Judging from the look on his face, I'm afraid he has failed.

From Weblio

  〈…から判断すると〉

  彼の態度では, きっと仕事を辞めると思います. Judging from his behavior, I am quite sure
  that he will quit his job.

From コトバンク

  《断定の助動詞「だ」の連用形＋係助詞「は」》判断の前提を表す。…であるとすれば。…だと。「雨では中止になる」「彼ではだれも承知しないだろう」

Reading the definitions, it seems that から判断すると can replace では in this context.

But according to Japanese people I asked, it sounds unnatural in some sentences:

I am confused by this discrepancy when applying the rules, why is it natural in some sentences and unnatural in others, when the definition says it's the same as から判断すると?

  彼の態度では、きっと仕事を辞めると思います。Unnatural
  彼の態度から判断すると、きっと仕事を辞めると思います。Natural

Judging from his behavior, I am quite sure that he will quit his job.

  雨では中止になる Natural
  雨から判断すると中止になる Unnatural

Judging from the rain it (some activity) will be called off. (from the コトバンク example)

  彼の、今のコンディションでは、優勝はできないかも知れないな。 Natural
  彼の、今のコンディションから判断すると、優勝はできないかも知れないな。 Natural

Judging from his current condition, he will not win.

I can't seem to find much explanation for these uses online, if there are better resources that provide a more detailed explanation, please let me know.


texts: How to say someone's (possessive) home in Japanese?

texts:
The romantic phrase "you're my home," I was wondering how you would translate that into Japanese using someone's name? More specifically, how to say "Mya's home" & "Nathan's home" in Japanese, but less like a literal house and more like what is meant when people say they are "home," whether or not it is a country, state, or even with a person. Note: I mean Mya's and Nathan's possessively, not Mya is/Nathan is.
We were going with ネイサンズホーム and ミャスホーム but I was told that the word for home/house needed to be in hiragana not katagana and the syntax is wrong. However, I was never told the correct way to say it, so I am looking for extra guidance, thanks!


texts:
So I read that の can be used like an 's in English to show possession of something belonging to someone.

But I am confused. Is it grammatically correct to use の as in: 部屋の掃除を手伝う to mean "help with the room's cleaning"

Or must it be in 部屋を掃除するのを手伝う <-- this form?


texts:
I encountered this section in a manga but am unable to determine exactly what is meant by「あうあう！」

I have 2 possible interpretations:

It's just being said as affirmation, which is corroborated by this link. This seems to make the most sense to me, though I can't seem to find any other instances of this usage on the internet.
They're saying「会う会う！」, as a suggestion to have a meeting and discuss? Though it only barely makes sense...

I'm wondering which of the above interpretation, if any, is correct, and if it is in fact the first interpretation, how common is this usage as a replacement for something like 「うん、うん」?


texts: Why is ままだったはずだ rather than ままのはずだった used in this context?

texts:
(十香)「何を言っているのだ？確かにあやつの行動は目に余るが、前と全く同じというわけではないぞ」
(士道)「そうか？むしろ前よりヘビーになってる気がするんだが……」
(十香)「だが前の折紙なら、私が無理矢理引きはがすまでシドーにくっついたままだったはずだ。それに、今立ち去るときの顔は……」

Hi.
Context: 士道 and 十香 were talking about 折紙.
折紙 embraced 士道 and let go of him voluntarily. 十香 was surprised about 折紙’s behavior. Due to some reason, 折紙’s personality had changed a lot. 十香 thought 折紙 was not what she used to be because if the present 折紙 were the past 折紙, she would have sticked to /embraced 士道 persistently until 十香 forced to separate them.
Given the context, shouldn’t we use ままのはずだった rather than ままだったはずだ?
The difference between the two expression is as follows:
「XXだったはずだ」 -- "it must have been XX" "I am sure it was XX" (as far as I can remember, XX must have happened or been the case, though what actually happened is contrary to my expectation)
「XXのはずだった」 -- "it should have been XX" "it was supposed to be XX" (but XX didn’t happen or wasn’t the case)
https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/36220/confusing-use-of-plain-copula-だ-should-be-だった/36261#36261
Do I get it wrong or this sentence is an exception?
Thank you.
Please let me know if the context is not enough.


texts: How do I have to interprete this passive?

texts:
The following excerpt is an instruction from my textbook for a composition:

  近所の人に苦情を言われました。事情を説明して謝ってください。そして、どうすれば迷惑をかけずに生活が続けられるか、近所の人と相談してください。

Before I show you my attempt at translation, I must add that I also had some minor issues with どうすれば. I basically only know it in the set phrase "どうすればいいか。" However, I think I got it right, I just wanted to point it out to you in case my interpretation in this context seems off:

"A neighbor has complained to you (=By a neighbor you were told a complaint).
Please make an excuse explaining the reasons. Then, please discuss with the neighbor how (=どうすれば?) daily life continues (=is continued) without causing trouble."

My main issue lies with the use of passive in the bold part.
I'm not sure if I analysed its use correctly, but in my opinion it seems to be this new kind of passive my textbook just taught me about in this (last! :)) chapter. My textbook calls this passive
"indirect passive" either with "transitive" or "intransitive" verbs.
I'll type down some examples for you from the various uses my textbook lists in this chapter:

  1)
  私は今日雨に降られて。
  2)
  あなたにそこに立たれると、前が見えません。
  3)
  私は父に急に死なれて、大学に行けなかった。
  4)
  こんなところに信号を作られて、車が渋滞するようになってしまった。
  5)
  私の家の前にごみを捨てられて困っています。

The biggest issue I have with these new passive constructions is that it kind of lacks a proper equivalent in my language(s)...^^ It's also not really possible to paraphrase it, so I usually end up using either a standard passive or standard active construction.
There is a rather colloquial "form" of passive in my language which kind of resembles this one, but it isn't suitable for all cases and often sounds pretty odd in my translation...^^

Due to these "losses" in translation, it is hard for me to distinguish whether a construction is this new form of "indirect" passive or a "normal" passive.
When an intransitive verb is used, this problem is usually eliminated because I haven't learned about any other case where the passive mood is applied to an intransitive verb. But for transitive verbs, the problem persists...^^
I also don't really feel very comfortable with "bulldozing" the nuances brought in through these indirect passives by just translating plain passive or active. But as of now, I kind of lack the creativity to come up with a solution for this problem...^^


texts: What is "接続章" supposed to mean in novels?

texts: I've seen this a few times now near the end of light novels, "接続章", I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to mean? Literally it seems to translate as "connecting chapter". Is it supposed to be referring to a chapter that bridges one volume of a novel to the following one in a series of novels?


texts: I learnt that walk is あるく in japanese, however http://jtalkonline.com/the-basics-of-grammar/ site mentions it as あるき constantly. Is the site wrong or are those two interchangable?


texts: The grammar of "虎から食べられた" and "虎に食べられた"?

texts:
MORE INFO
In an effort to make my question as short as possible, I abbreviated too much. This is the complete sentence that originated my question:

  少年時代から２０年間もずっと過ごしてきて、他人から軽んじられるのに慣れていなかった。

Now you can see what I clipped. I removed important information. Sorry I caused confusion. I've learned how to ask questions better.

ORIGINAL QUESTION

  (1) イギリス人に軽{かろ}んじられた。
  (2) イギリス人から軽んじられた。

Both appear to be grammatically correct 受{う}け身形{みけい} and also have the same meaning:
"I was looked-down upon by English people."

  (3) 虎に食べられた。

Appears to be grammatically correct 受け身形 and mean:
"I was eaten by a tiger."

So, if I can swap "から" for "に" in #1 and #2, can I do the same with #3 and say:

  (4) 虎{とら}から食{た}べられた。

#4 does not sound possible to me (but maybe it is?).
So, might it be that "に" is the standard/safe thing to use in 受け身形?
Sometimes, "から" can be swapped for "に", but you'd need a native ear to sense when that is appropriate?


texts: How to parse the following sentence containing phrases that look like direct quoted relative clauses?

texts:
I cannot parse the following sentence.

自分の知る子供たちは、「無理だと知っていて」夢を語るが、日本の小学生は、「実現できると思って」夢を追う。だから「夢が違う」と言う。

As far as I know,

「」is used for direct quote. For example, 彼が「走ってください」と言いました。He said, "please run".

relative clause cannot be ended with て form. It means that「無理だと知っていて」夢 is ungrammatical. To fix it, I think I need to insert という so it becomes 「無理だと知っていて」という夢. However, this makes the whole sentence difficult to understand.

If 「無理だと知っていて」can be freely moved, the sentence becomes

自分の知る子供たちは、夢を語る「無理だと知っていて」が、日本の小学生は、夢を追う「実現できると思って」。だから「夢が違う」と言う。

Why did the author need to use 「」?

Generally, how to parse the above sentence?


texts: "Playing instrument according to what's written in the magazine"

texts:
To say "I played violin according to what's written in the magazine", my intuition is:

音楽雑誌に載るようにバイオリンを演奏した。

however, reading from the text above it sounds really weird, as I didn't "play" the way the music article was "appeared" (A載るようにBを演奏する). On the other hand, 踊るように演奏する sounds perfectly fine.

what would be a more natural way to express?


texts:
Does イギリス and 英国 mean the same thing? Looking at jisho it seems they do.

I know 国 mean country and I think 英 means English. So together it means English Country I guess. イギリス is written in Katakana so it's probably a foreign word but I can't recognise the English word it was derived from. Perhaps it doesn't come from English.

Anyway in what situations would you use one over the other?


texts: How are で and ばかりused in this expression?

texts:
来年は是非明るい年でありますように願うばかりです I hope that the next year will be great for you

Why is で used in 年であります? Is であります an older form of です? Also, what would the ばかり translate to here? I thought maybe it could be "just", but that meaning does not seem right.
Also, what is the nuance of this expression? Is it clunky and outdated, florid and verbose or none of these?


texts: How to interpret the comma in this sentece?

texts:
This is a line of Ghost in the Shell´s dialogue:

  より存在する為に複雑、多様化しつつ時にはそれを捨てる。

how it is interpreted the comma with "複雑"?


texts: Valid interpretations of the (first) て-form in 何かを犠牲にして、その上で、平和は成り立っている。

texts:
What are the valid interpretations of the (first) て-form in the following sentence?

  何かを犠牲にして、その上で、平和は成り立っている。

I'm having difficulties assigning a definite meaning to this sentence. There seems to be a couple of forms the て-form could imply that all make sense in context (in English at least), which I've listed below. Can any of them be excluded for grammatical reasons?

 何かを犠牲にした

 (平和が)何かを犠牲にしている

 (not平和が)何かを犠牲にしている

 何かを犠牲にする　(habitual)

The full context is:

  しかし、平和はただではありません。何かを犠牲にして、その上で、平和は成り立っている。昔は自分の可愛い子供達でした。


texts: What is the Japanese analogue of word "with"?

texts:
Suppose we have phrase:

  I will meet with Yamada

In Japanese it will be:

  私は山田さんと会います。

I am interested to know how to say:

Cards with hieroglyphs (meaning that hieroglyphs are written on cards)
Potato with meat (in the same dish)


texts: What are the rules or instances in which a kana indication of の is dropped?

texts:
I've noticed that, in instances such as 「天叢雲剣」{あめのむらくものつるぎ}, の is present in only the pronounced version where it should also be included in the written version. This is not the only instance I have seen of this situation, though I cannot remember the others off the top of my head.

Grammatically, the pronounced version is correct. What exactly are the rules for omitting the の、then?

I assume this is related to the history of the Japanese language; my question is not about why this came to be - just the rules.


texts:
So here in this sentence below "との" was used 2 times.
What does との standfor? Can someone please explain it to me?

  これまで数多くのアニメ作品とのコラボを実現してきた痛印堂には、「好きなアニメとのコラボは嬉しいけど、自分の好きなキャラクターがいない！」「メインキャラクターだけでなく違う子もお願いします！」などの声が届いており、その要望に応えるべく今回の「ガールズ＆パンツァー」痛印第2弾が実現しました。


texts:
I've got a question about this part - それらの音が、世界の中心にあることを思い知らされ. I cannot understand why it's used passive form verb（思い知らされる） and それらの音が. If I'm understanding correctly, the ones who "make you realize something are those sounds"
So, is it a mistake here, some sort of "author's stylistic" or I'm just misunderstanding something?

  いつもは車の音や街の音にかき消されてしまう、世界の囁き。それらの音が、世界の中心にあることを思い知らされ、だから、人の世界の不在を強く実感してしまうのだ

  "The world's whisper, which is always erased by the sounds of cars and
  streets. Those sounds makes you realize, that you are in the center of
  the world, that is why..."


texts:
Can one differentiate by pronunciation between [父]{ちち} and [乳]{ちち} (as for 雨 and 飴)?

If not, does anyone have a reasonable explanation for why 父 and 乳 have the same pronunciation? It seems unlikely that they stem from the same word, which was assigned two different characters, when 漢字 were imported from China...


texts: the meaning of で in 私は学生で友だちはいしゃです。

texts: Can anyone tell what で means in this sentence: 私は学生で友だちはいしゃです。Thank you. It looks like the で in this sentence means "and" but I'm not really sure.


texts:
Un dossard est un morceau de tissu qui identifie les sportifs dans un marathon:

Comment dire ça en japonais ?

日本語では、フランス語の「dossard」と同じ意味の言葉がありますか？
In Japanese, is there an equivalent for the French word dossard?


texts:
I have a sentence in Haruki Murakami's 海辺のカフカ which reads:

  でも形而上的であり象徴的でありながら、同時にそいつは千の剃刀のようにするどく生身を切り裂くんだ。

I understand the first part of the sentence as:

  May it be metaphysical or symbolical, at the same time it's like a thousand razors... ripping apart...

But I don't get the meaning of that どく part. I don't believe it's 毒, as it's written in hiragana.


texts: Can you nominalize a verb and then use it again as verb by combining with です?

texts:
I have come across a sentence which I do not know if I understand correctly.

  すべて の コイン を もらえる の です か？

I know that in this sentence the speaker asks if he wins/receives all of the coins, but I am not sure if I understand the structure and logic of it.

So far I know the particle "の" as a marker of possession or like the genitive like in the beginning of the sentence ("all of the coins"). But I did not understand why there is another "の" before "です か". I found out that "の" is also used to nominalize a verb. In this case this seems to be "もらえる の". But in use with "です" I think it is again used as verb. I have doubts if my interpretation is correct, because this seems to be too complicated.


texts: Is this how you say "I am irritated with you"?

texts:
Is this correct or is the form wrong?
私はあなたにイライラしている。


texts: What is the correct verb for "packing up?"

texts: I am not sure what verb I would use for "packing up" (e.g. Packing clothes into a suitcase). Would I use the verb 詰める {つめる}, which is "to stuff into?"


texts: Differences between それとも ・または・もしくは・あるいは

texts:
I've been trying to find out the difference between these four lately but whenever I look up any of them in a Japanese Dictionary, the only thing on the page is the other three options with no explanation.

Is there any way to separate them by nuance? Also, for example, if I was to say:
オレンジジュースが欲しいですか。それとも、コーヒーが欲しいですか

...why does it sounds like it is all inclusive? The combination of the particles "と" and "も" kind of makes it sound like you can have both at the same time. Sort of like 両親とも教師です。

Or is it saying "Both at the same time are an option"?


texts: What function does に serve in the following sentence?

texts:
I came across this sentence and I can't figure out what the purpose of に is. The full sentence in context is:

天照大神【あまてらすおおかみ】には須佐之男命【すさのおのみこと】という弟の神様がいたのですが、須佐之男【すさのお】はとても乱暴【らんぼう】で悪いことばかりするので、人々はとても困っていました。

I factored out irrelevant clauses from the sentence so it boils down to:

天照大神【あまてらすおおかみ】には須佐之男命【すさのおのみこと】という弟の神様がいた。

In my experience, に combined with the existence verb いる marks the location in which someone exists or is:

友達は家にいる。My friend is at home.

But it doesn't make sense to me that the god 須佐之男命【すさのおのみこと】 exists in 天照大神【あまてらすおおかみ】, but I rather think that the meaning is simply that 須佐之男命【すさのおのみこと】 has a brother 天照大神【あまてらすおおかみ】:

天照大神【あまてらすおおかみ】には須佐之男命【すさのおのみこと】という弟の神様がいた。Within the Great God Amaterasu, there was [her] younger brother Susanoonomikoto (it feels wrong to me).

I would rather say the same sentence without に

天照大神【あまてらすおおかみ】は須佐之男命【すさのおのみこと】という弟の神様がいた。As for the Great God Amaterasu, there was [her] younger brother Susanoonomikoto.

What is the function of this に?
Thank you in advance.


texts: Is there a difference between 嘘つき and 嘘つけ ？

texts:
Any subtle differences in meaning or respect? Which is more common?

Or is it just another one of those words like やはり/やっぱり/やぱり, しょうがない/しかたない、あんまり/あまり etc. with no difference at all other than preference or regional dialect.

If it's one of these words. IS there a name for these interchangeable words that don't really seem particularly affected by the region to cause variations?


texts: How to understand the meaning 時にいくつか in this sentence?

texts:
「今野のケータイのデザインを決める時にいくつか入手したのですがすごくカワイイです
時に」
I don't quite understand the meaning of sentence  due 時にいくつか
As I suppose the translation maybe:  It's a few to determine Konno's mobile design, when it was obtained, but it's very cute! But it isn't right translation.
 Maybe something like this or not. Thanks for your help


texts: What is the difference between といったところです and というところです?

texts:
銀行に変化を促しているのがタイの中央銀行です。 日本で言えば、日銀が腰を上げて、変革の旗振り役をしているといったところです。(source)

Could we replace といったところです by というところです here? If yes, what would be the difference? If not, why?


texts: How would one call something negative interesting?

texts:
This seems like it is very basic, but it was never resolved in the past, so here I am.
This was in a Reddit post recently, but it never received a good answer; most of the answers were along the lines of "I wouldn't call an old war story with sad elements 'interesting'," "just use「そうなんだ」or「なるほど」、" and things like that.
Essentially, I want to be able to call something interesting in its own right without any connotations of amusement. That way, if I encounter something that would upset the speaker to be amused by it yet still find the subject matter to be interesting to all audiences, I can reply with such.


texts:
I'm trying to translate a song and I came across the following part:

  消えてしまいそうな僕は

消える means "to disappear" so 消えてしまい could mean "to disappear accidentally" or, more likely given the context, "to disappear completely". Right?

Therefore 消えてしまいそう has the sense of "likely to disappear completely". My doubt is: Attaching な to this verb conjugation transforms it into a な-adjective? Simple like that? Thank you very much.


texts: Can で be used to define a family relationship?

texts:
天帝の娘ではたを織るのが上手だったおり姫と牛飼いのひこ星はおたがいに好きになり、結婚する。
  ??? Princess Ori, who was skilled with the weaving, and Hikoboshi the cowherd come to love each other and will get married.

Now, I'm assuming that the で in bold somehow tells us that Princess Ori is the daughter of the Sky King. But, this doesn't fit with my usual understanding of で as either a location marker, 'by means of', or て-form of copula.

Have I understood the meaning correctly? Can you please give some more examples of how/when I should use で in this way?


texts:
Eマウントはシステムが....と言っている人の考えが、なんとなくわかってきた。アダプタでAマウントいけるとはいっても、コントラストAFが更に遅くなるというわけで、まあAFなどそれでいいという考え方もあろうし、そうじゃない人もいるだろうし。まあ人それぞれか

Is it something like :  "it's ok even if it's ..." ?

I would be grateful if someone could help me :]


texts: Does 「天使が好きを見るで人間は。」 mean "Angels like to look at humans"

texts: So I just randomly thought of something to write and this popped up. My thought process behind it is that 「天使」 means angel and angels are the ones performing the liking so I put 「が好き」 to get "Angels like". Then Angels are also the ones doing the looking so 「を見る」 or "to look". Then followed by 「人間は」 "Humans". In all from my rough understanding of Japanese and particles I think this should mean along the lines of "The Angels like to look at [the] humans". Is this correct or would it at least be understood? Also could you please correct any mistakes with the reasoning behind them. Thank you!


texts:
In no game no life, this is one of the first things that is said about "blank", and it is supposed to translate to:

"Among gamers, they're said to be unbeatable.

勝｛か｝つことは不可能｛ふかのう｝とまで言われるゲーマーの話を (cuts to next scene)

winning is impossible= 勝｛か｝つことは不可能｛ふかのう｝

get said gamer story=言われるゲーマーの話を

How does とまで link this together, and how is to grammatically correct here, and how do I parse this type of grammar consistently?


texts: What's the difference between 真（しん）and 真実（しんじつ）？

texts: The dictionary definitions appear to be the same though I can only find usage of 真実.


texts: Is this a slang, and possibly derogatory term, for "lesbian"?

texts:
Warning: Potentially offensive terms.

I'm watching The Walking Dead on Hulu Japan with Japanese subtitles. I've noticed that the English dialogue and Japanese subtitles differ a lot. More than usual. It seems to me the quality of the translation is very low.

In one part, a character who is a vulgar racist propositions a woman, and she turns him down. In the English dialogue, he derides her by calling her a "rug muncher". Which is a derogatory term meaning "lesbian".

The Japanese subtitle for when he says this is, though, is:

  菓子{かし}を盗{ぬす}みやがった

My understanding is that やがる is just a disdainful way of ending a sentence, so it means something like, "fucking candy stealer."

I googled the phrase 菓子{かし}を盗{ぬす}み, but didn't come up with anything clear. It might mean "crybaby", but that seems odd - wouldn't 盗{ぬす}み refer to the thief, not the victim?

Since the overall quality of the translations is so low, this might not have anything to do with what was said in English.

What does this phrase mean, and does it have anything to do with the original English?


texts: What does the following sentence say about field fires?

texts:
My friend and I are reading the book 宝石泥棒 by Masaki Yamada.

The first scene is in a Jungle, and the protagonist, a young warrior in primitive attire, is just about to continue on his journey when suddenly there is a strange flash of blue light, a wave of heat hits the young man, and a fierce fire starts.

The following text follows. It seems to be meant to describe how fierce the fire is:

  少年は色を失っていた。いかに勇敢な戦士といえども、押し寄せる炎に抗することはできない。

  炎は、死神の使わしめ、〝髑髏の猟犬{カーマン}〟に譬{たと}えられている。確実に、そしてすばやく、その犠牲{ぎぜい}者たちを牙{きば}にかけるからである。野火がどれほど恐怖の対象となっているかの、一つの証左といえた。

What we don't understand exactly is this last sentence: 野火がどれほど恐怖の対象となっているかの、一つの証左といえた。It seems to say "It could be said to be a proof of the degree to which field fires become the subject of fear". But something must be missing in this translation. What is the proof of what?

What does this sentence say about field fires and the fire that just occurred in the story?

Edit:

Since the source of the confusion may be the way we interpret the beginning of the text, here is my translation of the first sentences:

  The boy paled. A brave warrior though he was, he could not stand up to the advancing flame.

Now, the 炎 in the next sentence could be "flames in general" or "these particular flames that are advancing on the boy", so the translation could be either:

  Flames are likened to the messenger of Death, "The Hound of Skulls".

or

  These flames were like the messenger of Death, "The Hound of Skulls".

And next:

  This is because they would sink their fangs into their victims without fail and very quickly.

(Note: the author seems to expect us to be familiar with the expression "髑髏の猟犬", even going as far as giving it a non-standard furigana. I couldn't find any relevant references, though).

My expectation as a reader is that this whole passage would explain why a brave warrior should fear the sudden flames so much. In the paragraph that follows this text, the boy starts running away as fast as he can. Either it's something frightening about fires in general, or something frightening about this particular sudden unnatural fire. But that last sentence doesn't seem to be about that. And being in the past tense seems to imply that it should be an observation relevant to the scene and not a general observation about field flames.


texts: I have no idea what my old shirt says. Can anyone help?

texts: I have owned this old RVCA shirt for nearly a decade. I have never had any clue what it means, though I suspect it is offensive or awkward (as that is what I would put on a shirt if I knew an ignorant teen was going to purchase it). Any genuine help would be much appreciated. Thanks!


texts:
Just wondering how you would say "I wish I could say "I miss you""?
I was thinking it would be something along the lines of 「恋しい」語るできたらいいのに although I'm not sure. Thanks!


texts:
At least in my country parents tend to give body parts cute or easier names when talking about them to children. Thus children use them too in their speech.
This is especially for sexual connoted body parts like penis, vagina, breasts and so on.
I tried searching for such words on jisho.org but it tends to be difficult.

Where could I find such word alternatives?
Is there a list?


texts: Understanding Basho haikus in difficult calligraphy

texts:
I'm struggling here to read these two haikus on my teacups. One horizontal row is one cup. All others I have are reading right to left, guess these ones go same way. All others have also been Matsuo Basho poems. Any tips would be welcome!
A little hint, picture A4 rightmost thingy has been "の" and the character on A1 (leftmost image) is probably "mu" as in emptiness, is not part of the haikus usally. Thanks.

This is my conclusion from the delightfully detailed answers I got from this discussion here. Thanks, guys! I have some more puzzles in my teacups set, I'll drop them in another time.


texts:
ほめられるために、あんなに努力しなきゃなんないのも大変だね
  In order to win praise, unless you put in great effort like that, ?????

The only way I can translate the end of the sentence is "not having hardship is difficult" i.e "Unless you put in great effort it is difficult to win praise without hardship". But this is a tautology. Great effort = hardship.
Have I got this completely wrong?

Edit:
Thanks to Flaw's comment I now have that なきゃなんない is a contraction of なければならない so I get "In order to win praise, the fact that one should put in great effort like that is difficult. That still makes no sense to me. I guess it's my translation of 大変 that's tripping me up somehow?


texts: What does '今のところ、目につくものは何もない。' translate to?

texts:
I'm thinking it might be 'So far, there was nothing for the eyes to focus on (attach to, arrive on). The ’つくもの’ without kanji is throwing me off.
Or maybe it's something like: 'So far, there's no destination in sight'.
The character in the book I'm reading is wandering to a train station.
Am I close?


texts:
The question is very simple: how many kanji there are that have a 'unique' ON-reading, not shared by any other kanji?
Or, as it is probably a too general question given the variety of kanji: how many one-kanji ON-readings exist in the Joyo list? Do any of those readings gain additional kanji if we start to consider Jinmeiyo-kanji / non-Joyo-kanji / non-standard readings? Tricky readings like [頁]{ページ} or [糎]{センチメートル} are excluded.

Example, which I know: the チャ reading is only with 茶 while we are in Joyo, but if we extend our search, there are at least 茗 and 楪 which share the same.


texts: How to say "the day after the day after tomorrow"

texts:
In my language you can just keep adding a particle before "the day after tomorrow" and with every particle it becomes the day after that. I was just wondering whether there is a way to say this in Japanese.

I can think of something like 「明後日の次の日」 but is there some suffix or prefix you can add to something as many times as you need it?

Also, is there a way to say "the day before the day before yesterday" in a similar way?


texts:
I want to know which one of these sentences mean loving someone the most, more than anybody else, loving someone more than the rest of the world.

It has to be the person someone loves more than any other person.

It's not a translation request (I already know the meaning of each sentence). I need Japanese people (born in Japan) to tell me which ones of these sentences mean loving someone more than the rest of the people in Japanese (as there can be subleties that the english translation may not cover).

一番愛している : The person I love the most
愛してる: I love you (inconditional love that lasts forever)
私は何よりもあなたを愛しています: I love you more than anything else
誰よりも愛している: I love you more than anyone

Rephrasing my question, which ones mean: 1) I love you very very much but I can love someone more than you; and which ones mean 2) I love you more than anybody else in the world. I'm dividing love into these 2 categories.


texts: Why concatenate three names into "PiPoPa"?

texts:
[copied from Anime SE at moderator's suggestion]

There is a 2008 anime-original series called Net Ghost PiPoPa. (For some reason, the version streaming on Crunchyroll is called "Web Ghosts PiPoPa", but the Hepburn is Netto Gōsuto Pipopa. Thus I'll stick with the name given by MyAnimeList and the English Wikipedia.) It is a kid show about a boy (Yuta) getting trapped in the Internet.

Anyway, Yuta meets three friends, Pit, Pot, and Pat (pronounced pitto, potto, and patto). They are web ghosts and live there. From their very first meeting, Yuta refers to them as a single entity PiPoPa. The Wikipedia entry refers to this name as "an onomatopoeia of computer beeps".  Is concatenating three alliterative names like that something a Japanese child might do? It strikes me as very odd, not to mention naming the three obviously separate individuals as one entity. They also make it clear that they do not like being called "PiPoPa".


texts: Is this enough to make intransitive use of the transitive 設ける?

texts:
The sentence in question:
入院先の聖隷浜松病院が設けてくれました。

For Full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/web_tokushu/2018_1130.html?utm_int=news_contents_tokushu_002

My attempt at translation:
"The...hospital has made preparations/prepared itself."

On https://jisho.org/search/moukeru is a transitive verb, but here it seems to be used in an intransitive way since there is no を　+ object phrase attached. Did I interprete this correctly? I didnt see this pattern before, I think, so I wanted to have it confirmed ^^


texts:
So I'm trying to understand Genki's preferred past negative form of です, that is: じゃなかったです.  I'm confused by the なかった.
As I understand it from this source, this is a combination of two 助動詞: the 連用形 form of ない continued with た.  However, wiktionary lists the 連用形 form of ない as なく.
なくた sounds a lot like なかった, so it seems reasonable to assume this is a vowel shift to avoid the awkward transition between U to T in KUTA, but, since I'm a beginner, I wanted to make sure - are there other grammatical processes in place that I've missed?
Which leads me to the following overall theory:
There are five "lexemes" in play here

じゃ -> DEWA relating the verb phrase to the rest of the sentence
なか -> NAI informing of negation
った -> TE informing of past
です -> DE relating the 助動詞 to ARIMASU -> informing of "existence"

these are combined with somewhat irregular conjugation process which involves shifting verb roots and auxillary verbs into one of a few base forms and then combining them.  I assume the grammar of this process is more descriptive than prescriptive, and the speaker typically memorizes a list of common conjugations and common exceptions, rarely applying the rules to create new verb constructs.  Or is there a formal grammar to this process described somewhere?


texts: How to pronounce "R → ∞ " in a mathematical context

texts:
For example on this wikipedia page:

  一方、右辺第二項は R → ∞ のとき 0 に収束するので、...

In English it would be something like "as R goes to infinity".
How would you usually read this in Japanese?


texts: Iterative / repetitive る evolving from classical 連体形【れんたいけい】

texts:
This is somewhat related to the discussion of classical auxiliary verb ふ, mentioned in the answer to snailboat's question, What is the わ in 忌まわしい and 嘆かわしい?.

Another apparent iterative / repetitive ending that I've bumped into is る, attaching not to the 未然形【みぜんけい】 but instead to the old 終止形【しゅうしけい】.  This suffix shows up much less often.  Examples that come to mind are まく・まくる and むく・むくる, but I think there may be a few more that escape me at the moment.  According to Shogakukan's Kokugo Dai Jiten dictionary, this form appears to have evolved from the classical 連体形【れんたいけい】, formed by adding る onto the 終止形【しゅうしけい】 for 二段{にだん} and 一段{いちだん} verbs (both 下{しも} and 上{かみ}).  (I almost listed あく・あくる above, but I realized that あくる here is still restricted to 連体-only usage.)

Does anyone have any information on the process whereby this 連体形 form evolved into an apparent iterative/repetitive?  Alternatively, does anyone have any explicit explanation of this formation and its semantic uses?


texts: Why is the Japanese currency pronounced "yen" in English?

texts: I'm wondering what the reason for the mispronunciation of 円 in English came to be "yen". I can understand how some words like 東京 became "Tokyo", but "en" to "yen" seems strange. On a side note, why is this symbol 「￥」 used to denote currency? And would you pronounce that the same as 円 as well?


texts: Is there an error in this song's subtitles or I'm not understanding it correctly?

texts:
Here is the song.
My confusion comes in first seconds of this song (also repeated in the end):
ずつと ずつと (Zutzuto Zutzuto) → "one by one" (?)
or
ずっと ずっと (Zutto Zutto) → "forever forever"
So, this is what subtitle lyrics display... つ in the middle seems big one, rather than small one so first variant seems to be correct, but maybe it's just font being ambiguous like this and its actually small っ. But if you listen to what is actually sung, its totally different, something like:
つめた つめた (Tsumeta Tsumeta) → may be this 冷た "cold", maybe you know more meanings that better fit context?
So is there really this huge error in subs (and not only subs, but on all lyrics sites in the Internet I could find)? Or am I just hallucinating? My theory is – maybe they changed lyrics in the last moment before recording song, and didn't had time to change lyrics texts, so they left it as it is?


texts:
A: 百均に入ると、何もいらなくても何か買わないと気が済まない人っているんだよね。
B: いるいる。僕だよ。
A: At the dollar store, there is always somebody who has to buy something even if they don't need it.
B: Yes, yes! That's me.

I am told that 気が済まない means  "won't be satisfied unless," or when one "must (do something)."
If I translate the expression literally I get confused--
気 spirit/mood/feeling
が
済まない finish;  come to an end;  excusable;  need not
Would anyone be kind enough to give me a clear and thorough explanation of this expression? I think my main confusion is as to which verb 済まない comes from.


texts: How is the の used in the sentence 願いの叶う家?

texts: I'm a little bit familiar with how の is to indicate possession but this just confuses me. Does it translate to "Grant my wish for a family"?


texts:
Hello Japanese StackExchange. I am humbly asking your help to translate a couple of song titles:

やりかけの人生 (Yari kake no jinsei)

and

夏の初めのイメージ (Natsu no hajime no imēji)

The artist is "Kimiko Kasai" and the album name is "Tokyo Special", if that is of any help.


texts:
According to this post, the に in 一緒に makes this an adverb. Which means that 一緒 is an adjective. But when can 一緒 ever be (or be used as) an adjective?  一緒人? (conjoined twins, a couple, best friends connected at the hip????)

Note: I have no idea if 一緒人 is an actual word or even grammatically correct. It was just something random I threw out there.


texts:
From Basho:

  蓮池や折らでそのまま玉祭

I have the impression that 折らで would be 折らないで without ない. If that's the case is it an artistic choice or some obscure grammar?


texts: Please help me understand あなたがそれを考え直して止めてもらえればと思います。

texts:
This sentence seems to me to be a bit convoluted and I am not quite sure what it means. If anyone can help me break it up, I would really appreciate it.

あなたがそれを考え直して止めてもらえればと思います。

As you can see, there are multiple constructions used within this sentence (1) Vte 止める, (2) Vte もらう, (3) (4) Potential form + provisional form (もらえれば) and (5) と思う

As I understand it, (1) is "stop and V" in a sense, and I think I can understand that part, but the combination of (2),(3),(4) and (5) which results in ～てもらえればと思います makes my head turn a bit. あなたが Vte もらう is, I believe, (s.o.) Vte for you, (3) is "can", (4) is "if", (5) is "I think", so if I combine the whole thing, I believe I'll get

"I think if (they) can reconsider for you..."

Am I correct here? If not, can you help me go through this sentence? Thank you for any help in advance.


texts: What is the difference between 取り除く and 削除?

texts: When a security threat is detected by Windows Defender, the two of four available actions are: 取り除く and 削除. Both of these terms are translated as "remove" and it is confusing when deciding which to use. I understand that 取り除く is used in the sense of "clean the threat", but I wonder if there is a better Japanese term to express the meaning of "cleaning file from the detected threat".


texts:
I've seen that 箱 could be read as ソウ, but when I look in the dictionaries I use most of the time, I can only find words with はこ （Or ばこ）reading (then you realize that Japanese have boxes for everything ^^)

Do you have any examples where 箱 is read ソウ?


texts: The difference between "ぶら下がる" and "つり下がる" in terms of usage

texts:
As mentioned in the title, I want to ask about the difference between "ぶら下がる" and "つり下がる" in terms of usage. Both of them are translated as "hang".
For example

服が 鉄棒に つり下がる/ぶら下がる
手が つり革に つり下がる/ぶら下がる

Are the two words interchangeable?


texts:
How do you indicate a lack of surprise at something? For example, in response to someone noting that Cyprus had given 12 points to Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest.

I tried using "本当に?" sarcastically, but I don't know how well it works.


texts: Is there a difference between 爆発しないといい and 爆発しないとよくなる?

texts: I'm having a hard time understanding how と works with negative verbs. With positive verbs, it is easy to see the timeframe of いい because it occurs after the verb happens, but if the verb ends in ない, how do I know when いい happens when a verb ending in ない means nothing occurs? I only seem to have this problem with いい and not だめ. For example, 食べないとダメ means that if you don't eat, you will eventually have something bad to happen. If reworded as 食べないとだめになる, the sentence still makes sense because the original sentence also reflected a change in state. However, in a sentence like 電池が爆発しないといい, 爆発しないとよくなる seems to have a different meaning.


texts: What is the correct way to use 全部: Adverbially or Attributively?

texts:
Which of the following two versions is correct? Or are both of them incorrect?

The one who ate all nuts was Squirrel.
木の実を全部に食べたのりすです。
全部な木の実を食べたのりすです。


texts: Meaning and usage of のみか (vs. のみならず etc.)

texts:
I came across のみか in this sentence in 日本語パワードリル, N2文法:

ネットショップの開設により、国内のみか海外からも注文が来た。

I've not come across のみか before, but it seems to just mean 'not only'.
Is a specific meaning/nuance or usage for のみか? Is it the same as のみならず, だけでなく, ばかりか, ばかりでなく, はもちろん, etc.?


texts:
A: 理亜ちゃん(B) にも見て欲しいな
B: 分かった。見とく

(Full context: https://twitter.com/kure_pu25/status/1308414619216740364?s=21)
What does 見とく mean here? I couldn’t find the word in the dictionary. The closest I could find is 味得, which the dictionary defines it as “appreciating fully”. Seems fitting in this case, but I’m not sure.


texts:
We have:

  Easy peasy + lemon squeezy (+ additional rhymes)

I've come across this expression:

  らくしょう + かいしょう + ??しょう

Where I was unable to clearly identify the third element, but it sounds like じょ or じょう

My candidates for the words are 楽勝、快勝、常勝

Since I was unable to find expressions corresponding to them (from tangorin) (from alc), I decided to post this question.

What are the words (Did I get them right?)
Is this expression recognizable? Is it common or uncommon usage?
Are there other expressions to convey "easy peasy"


texts:
In the book I'm reading, I came across the following sentence:

  あたしは[怒]{おこ}るに[怒]{おこ}れなくなった。 (furigana added by me)

My translation is something like "I couldn't stay angry [at him]".  ("My anger melted away.")

I don't actually understand the grammar, though.  The phrase 「怒るに怒れない」 has what appears to be particle-に following the dictionary form of a verb.  It sounds contrastive.  I can't seem to find this pattern in my dictionaries, though, so I feel unsure.

I'm interpreting it as 「怒る(の)に怒れない」, with a zero-nominalizer after the verb.  Is this correct?

Is this a set phrase preserving old grammar of some kind?


texts: Difference between 信用 and 信頼 and when to use which?

texts:
I am trying to teach myself some Japanese and I wanted to find out how to say "I don't trust anyone" or "I no longer trust this person (because of a bad experience".

So I thought it was a good idea to use Google translate and I got the following confusing results:

  "I cannot trust anyone" gets translated to "私は誰を信頼することはできません"

but

  "I don't trust anyone" gets translated to "私は誰を信用していません"

even though the meaning of the word trust in both English sentences is the same (as there is only one meaning of "to trust someone" in English).

Next I tried "I don't trust you" which gets translated to "私はあなたを信頼していません".

But why not "私はあなたを信用していません"?

  Please could one of the native speakers here on this forum explain to me the nuances
  of 信用 and 信頼？

Personally, completely disregarding Google translate, I would say

  "（あなたに)信用しないよ"

in a situation where for example the person I am talking to suggests to pick me up and drive me to the airport in time to catch a flight but I express my concern about their reliability.

  And what would a spouse say to their better half after being cheated on?
  "あんたに信頼できない"?


texts: The correct parsing of 無類 In this sentence

texts:
So I'm having a friendly debate with someone over the correct parsing of this sentence:

  隆之介のような無類のライトレベルを操る才覚なく

Namely the way 無類 is affecting it.

I'm of the opinion that the correct way to parse this is:

  He doesn't have the quick wits to handle unmatched light levels like Ryunosuke can. (I.e. Ryunosuke's light levels are unmatched)

But my buddy thinks it would be more accurate to say:

  He doesn't have the quick wits to handle light levels in an unmatched way like Ryunosuke can. (I.e. Ryunosuke's handling of light levels is unmatched)

I felt confident in my version but I'm seriously second guessing myself now. If someone could break it down I'd be grateful!


texts:
I know that when you attach ~方 (kata) to something (like a verb or noun), it means the way of...
But how would you describe the way of something?

For example, if I wanted to say that "there are many easy ways to cook onigiri", would たくさん簡単なおにぎりを料理する方があった work?

I'm not really sure about this sentence because it seems kinda off, but I can't tell what.


texts:
I sometimes find that songs liberally omit noun particles. As Japanese word order is somewhat free, this causes me to severely scratch my head. Song in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU4DkH77alw
For example, the first line:

色　あせた　青ににじむ　白い雲　遠い　あの日　のいろ

(with spaces where the singer pauses).
There seems to be a huge amount of ways to parse this:

色があせて、青に滲む。白い雲が遠い。あの日の色。
色のあせた青に滲む。白い雲。遠いあの日の色。

etc, etc. How would a Japanese person read this at first glance? Is there some normative way to read case-unmarked Japanese?


texts: Difficult sentence from a grammar dictionary

texts:
For the 且つ・かつ point in the Dictionnary of Advanced Japanese Grammar, there is the following sentence.

当社は、個人情報を取り扱うにあたり、個人情報保護法はじめ適用される諸法令、規範遵守を徹底し、適切且つ慎重に管理いたします。
The given translation is : At our company, when we handle personal information, we thoroughly observe the applicable laws and regulations, including the Personal Information Protection Law, and we manage the information properly and prudently.

The sentence is relatively long, so when I read it, I split it. However, I don't fully understand how the english translation was done.

1/ 個人情報保護法はじめ適用される諸法令

I understand that it's 個人情報保護法 (Personal Information Protection Law) + はじめ but the 適用される諸法令 part bothers me. I only found that 諸法 means "existing things" and 令 "command, order". But it doesn't make sense here considering the translation is "applicable laws and regulations". I tried to google the term, but I didn't find an answer.

2/規範遵守を徹底し
Is this part translates to "(we) thoroughly observe" in the sentence ? If it's the case, a を particle could be added right before ?


texts: Using げ to turn adjectives and nouns into adverbs

texts:
「自慢げに話す」「得意げに話す」「誇らしげに話す」

Is this げ a simple way to turn adjectives and nouns into adverbs?
(are the first two examples nouns turned into adverbs, or were they adjectives as well to begin with?)


texts: choice of ひと ふた vs イチ ニ etc. with counters

texts: Scanning a long list of counters, the Chinese derived イチ ニ numerals seem to be prevalent. Is there any pattern or logic to the exceptions, i.e. when the native ひと ふた numerals are used?


texts: Does 「静かではなければいけない」mean "must be quiet"?

texts:
I know I can use 「なければいけない」with verbs to mean "must/have to", but can I use it with adjectives/ nouns in this manner:

  「家を買うといえば、近所は静かじゃなければいけない」

Conversely, to say "must not" with adjectives/nouns, would I say something like

  理想の彼氏は、怠惰ではいけない

based on the fact that one uses the same structure with verbs, such as 「そこに入ってはいけない」.

If I am completely wrong, and there is a more normal way to say "must be/has to be" with adjectives/nouns, please let me know.


texts:
What is the difference between the two:

  高｛たか}い値段｛ねだん｝レストラン
  値段{ねだん｝が高{たか｝いレストラン

In other words, what is the difference between:

  adjective-noun
  noun-が-adjective

Another example would be this:

  ボブは魚｛さかな｝が好き｛すき｝だ
  ボブは好き｛すき｝魚｛さかな｝だ

I was reading http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/adjectives which uses the first form in these examples, but it also says you can modify a noun just by placing an i-adjective before it, and Google Translate gives me the same translations for both forms.


texts:
I have read this, this and this, but I still do not understand why 「街{まち}に歩{ある}く」 is not grammatical.

The person who wrote this wanted to say "I will walk to town".


texts: So I am trying to translate the sentence "Are you still waiting for me?" and I have translated it to "僕にとってまだ待っているのか?". Would this be a natural sentence or is it possible to make the sentence shorter?


texts: Does this ３度まで refer to quantity or frequency?

texts:
For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20180125/k10011302761000.html

The sentence in question:
熊野那智大社によりますと、２５日午前７時の滝の周辺の気温は氷点下３度まで下がったということです。

My attempt at tramslation:
"When it becomes evening at 熊野那智大社, concerning the atmosphere of the surroundings of the waterfall at 7a.m on the 25th day (of the month), it came down below freezing 3 times."

My translation is quite clumsy, but thats also because I struggled to resolve this huge nominal phrase ２５日午前７時の滝の周辺の気温. Im also not sure wether grammatically ５日午前７時 should be parsed as an adverb or part of the attribute 滝の周辺 to 気温.
I mainly want to know if ３度まで should be interpreted as "three times" like in "did X 3 times" or "was three times X" here. Id also like to know wether it can actually be interpreted in both ways or just in one of the two.


texts: When I ask a simple question should I ask it in negative form?

texts:
My textbook is prompting me to ask questions:

"Don't you want to see a movie?"
eiga o mimasen ka?
"Don't you want to eat dinner?"
bangohan o tabemasen ka?

I'm wondering if I should be asking these types of negative questions instead something like this:

"Do you want to see a movie?"
eiga o mimas ka?

etc...


texts: Can “genki desu ka” also mean “Am I well?”

texts: I learnt that how are you is “genki” or “o genki des ka”, but there is no anata, so how do you know that that’s not “Am I well?”. In other words how do you distinguish 1., 2., and 3. person when no pronoun is written?


texts: 「X」と「Y」と - how does the second と affect the sentence?

texts: I've seen some titles like this, for example an episode of an anime series that was called 敵{てき}と味方{みかた}と, or a manga that was called エルフと少年{しょうねん}と. I'm curious, how does the second と affect those sentences, what would change if they were removed? Would it make any sense to translate them as "X and Y and..." or would that be nonsensical?


texts: What is the difference between the words 間【あいだ】 and 間【ま】 ? Both seem to have the basic meaning space or time interval.


texts:
Are there particular rules on when to use one or the other?  休〜 appears to be more of a temporary closure or suspension (with implied continuation at some point in the near future)...

この図書館は改装のため、来月まで休館となっています。ご了承ください。　→　Due to our remodeling, this library will be closed until next month.  Thank you for your understanding.
あしたは休講です。　→　There is no class tomorrow
はしかの発生により、来週は休校です。　→　Due to a measles outbreak, (this) school will be closed next week.　→　I actually saw this when I lived in Japan.

...While 閉〜 is more like a complete shutdown of something.

閉校 = [廃校]{はい・こう}　→　Close down a school
閉業　→　Close down a business
閉場　→　Close a theatre/meeting room

However, there seems to be some overlap in some terms.

閉店 = 休業　→　Close a store for the day (to open again the next day)

Whereas 休店 seems to be used when a store will be closed for an extended period (owner going out of town, etc.)

閉館　→　Close (down) a 館

図書館・美術館など「館」と名のつく施設などが，その日の業務を終えること。  OR
図書館・映画館などがその業務をやめて施設を閉鎖すること
(Definitions taken from whatever version of スーパー大辞林 is built into macOS Sierra)

I work at a university, where it is now winter break.  The students at the university get about 4 weeks off of class between semesters.  The staff gets about a week and half off, during which the university actually shuts down (conducts no business).  How would I represent each of these points-of-view (students vs. staff)?

My gut tells me they would both be 休学 or 休校, but for different reasoning for students vs. staff.
Or would the students use 休学・休校 since they are just "resting" from class in 冬休み, but the staff uses 閉学・閉校 since business is ceasing?
Or something else...


texts:
What is the etymology of the exclamation 「よし！」?
I mean the one that's made before people decide to take some kind of action (such as standing up, or starting to do the dishes).


texts: How to use the passive form to say "This flower was watered."

texts:
I would like to use the passive form in describing the fact that a flower has been watered.

Is この花は水をやられた correct?
What difference does この花は水がやられた make or would that be incorrect?

A brief explanation of the use of が in passive phrases would also be appreciated.


texts: So, I started learning Kanji recently, and was learning the character 大. Given as an example usage was 大丈夫, or daijoubu. I found this as odd since the idea of big doesn't seem to fit into the idea of "Everything is ok" or "Safe". Then I realized that the character 大 in chinese is pronounced "Da", and that gave me a hunch that possible the choice of characters was phonetic. I looked up the whole phrase in chinese and found "Dàzhàngfū" to be the listed pronunciation. So it looks like daijoubu may have been spelled based on the chinese pronunciation of the characters 大丈夫. Has anyone noticed this or have any sources that would support this theory?


texts:
I am learning how to construct a japanese phrase with passive verb.

From "Mira-san wa watashi o pa-ti- ni shoutaishimashita" to "Watashi wa Mira-san ni pa-ti- ni shoutaisaremashita". Is the phrase after conversion with passive verb correct? With the two "ni" which seems bizarre.


texts: How to say "choices" that describes choices given in test questions?


texts: How to say that something is overrated, overhyped

texts:
I lack in ways to express the idea that something is overhyped, overrated, has an overestimated value.
What I’d like to say is that a restaurant/place/book/movie/idea is advertised or promoted to excess, that even though it’s not that bad, it does not live up to its legend.
The translation should not be too ‘negative’ because when you say that a movie was overhyped it does not necessarily imply that it is a bad movie; it could even be a pretty OK movie depending on the context.
I know 過大評価 (an overestimation) so I thought of 過大評価される, but can it be used in this context? My gut feeling is that this word is meant to be used in such sentences as I overestimated the value of this car or something like this. And this word is a bit long anyway.
In case some exemple sentences are required, here are some:

名古屋城 is a nice castle indeed but it is vastly overhyped as far as I’m concerned.
This is the most overrated book of the XXth century. (Real sentence I just read in a press article.)
No Man’s Sky is not a bad game, but it was so overhyped that people couldn’t help but be disappointed.


texts: The grammar of present progressive in imperative tense -ていろ

texts:
What is the nuance  of this sentence here:

自分の巣の中で オナニーしていろ 童貞
Translated as: "Go jerk-off in your nest, you virgin"

Does  -ていろ  imply to "to keep on doing something". So that a more literal translation would be: Keep on jerking-off inside your nest, virgin


texts: Meaning of ご休憩一時間コース

texts:
Can anyone help me understand what Hiragi means by "ご休憩一時間コース" in the below? Is this to be understood literally, or does it have some other type of meaning?

  二人の顔がゆっくりと近づき、 その唇同士が触れ合おうとした瞬間、横から声が聞こえた。

  「じ～～～～～～……」

  「ん…… 　ん？」

  「どわああああ！　ヒイラギー！？ 　おまおま、お前、いつからそこにー！？」

  「いつからと問われるならば答えましょう。 先程からずっとです」

  「正直、気付いてくれるのを待っていたのですが……」

  「お二人のイチャつきがＭＡＸになると本格的に出られなくなると言いますか、ご休憩一時間コースかなと思い……」

  「きゅ、休憩一時間って…… 　そ、そんなわけあるかーーー！」


texts: Dealing with paragraphs when translating Japanese literature

texts:
So I would like to translate a Japanese book into an Indo-European language (specifically, Russian) and I'm really not sure how to deal with the paragraph structure.

As you may know, Japanese literature is often written in numerous paragraphs, each containing just two-three sentences at best. I feel like if I keep the structure as is, it will result in an unnatural looking text because that's not how literature is usually written in my language. We tend to favor longer paragraphs and generally try to avoid making our texts too fragmented.

How do people usually approach this problem? Is it common for translators to simply follow the original structure or is it generally accepted that they should take some creative liberties and restructure the text in an attempt to make it appear more organized? Are there any papers on this?


texts: この世に生まれてきてしまった - How does this translate to "born into the world"?

texts:
The full phrase is:

ですが私は死にたくありません (but I don't want to die)
この世に生まれてきてしまったからです (because I was born into this world)

I think I understand the vocabulary break down. I just don't understand how this all grammatically connects to the English translated sentence.
この世に - to this world
生まれて - born, but with progressive te? Or is the te just connecting?
きて - I came, progressive te? Connecting te?
しまった - I did, but I didn't mean to do it? Could this have been しました?
からです - because.
I guess I can roughly translate it in reverse as "because I did come born to this world". But I feel I'm missing some nuances in the grammar. Can anyone explain to me what are the tes and the shimata doing?
Btw, this is a line from Attack on Titan. But I don't believe it's a spoiler.


texts: What is more common pronunciation for 本文?

texts: What is more common pronunciation for 本文: ほんぶん or ほんもん? Is it geographically specific?


texts: How to Convert Na-adjectives and Nouns to the ば-form?

texts:
I am practicing the ば-conditional and my main reference right now is the oxford grammar book.
It only mentions how to convert keiyoushi or i-adjectives and not keiyoudoushi or na-adjectives.

Can someone please break down how the various verb forms and adjectives conjugate into this conditional?


texts: What's the function of に here in this sentence with a passive verb?

texts:
I just stumbled on this sentence.

君にあそこまで言われたらいいよ

From what I've learned 言われたら is passive. So it's "When I'm told..."?
I'm confused whether this sentence means "When you tell me that much, it's fine. " or "when i tell you that much is fine?
Does に here mean 君 is the one doing the 言う？ or is he doing the one the action is being directed to?
Sorry if my question sounds confusing


texts: What are the differences between 衣類, 衣服 and 服

texts:
While I see 衣類 and　衣服 as more general concepts in comparison to 服, I am very unsure of the difference between them.

What situations explicitly call for one over the other? In what situations are both or all three acceptable?


texts: Is classifying the usage of the conditionals (if/then) like so, correct?

texts:
I think I get the differences between the 4 conditionals. But in order to get used to speaking faster, I want to set hard rules for myself regarding when to use each, and not just rely on intuition or feeling it, at least for now.
Now I know my way of dividing the usages, is not the only way to divide them, as long as it's one possible way that is not wrong, that's enough for me.

So the way I classified them is like so:

If x then y, where y is naturally or inevitably comes 'with' x →
ｘとｙ
If x then y, where y does not happen after x, or for counter-factual statements , or for past habitual actions →　ば

シカゴに行けば、車で行くよ
雨が降ればよく家で本を読んだものだ

If/When x then y, where y happens after x, also when y is one of the following:  Suggestion, Invitation, Request, Command, Volitional →　たら

嫌いだったら残してください

If/If it's true that x then y, or y does not happen after x and y is one of the following: opinion, judgement, suggestion, request, command, volition → なら

シカゴへ行くのならバスで行ってください

If I decide in my mind to choose my conditional according to these conditions, will I be wrong? If so, what tweaks do I need to make in order to achieve correct usage?
Again, I imagine that native speakers do not use such a scheme, and there may be more than one correct way of deciding which conditional to use when. I'm just trying to come up with a simple way of starting to speak NOT-wrong while avoiding overwhelming myself with the amount of rules for those 4 conditionals as laid out in 'A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar'.

Thank you very much for your help!


texts: I know that there are more irregular verbs than just this, but their changes are mostly euphonic and not really of any interest to me. What I would like to know is why 来る and する have developed the way they have. I don't want an answer like "It came from old Japanese" because that's obvious. I'd like to know exactly what caused them to become so irregular. I heard that する came from the verb す, which makes a lot of sense, but it doesn't explain される and させる (I think that they're just auxiliaries, but I'd like confirmation), and 来る is a complete mystery to me. I'm actually surprised this question hasn't been asked before.


texts:
Both いまいち and 物足りない generally mean that something is lacking, not good enough. Frequently, the undertone is that this is due to the inadequacy of the speaker.

いまいち is sort of slang, but still ok for business conversations.

Based on context, natives have a sense for which sounds natural. But, for the most part, they are interchangeable.

Am I wrong on any of those points?


texts:
I was a little confused after reading this on Wikipedia article for 宇部港, a harbor in Ube, Yamaguchi:

  港湾法{こうわんほう}上の重要港湾...に指定されている。

I'm really not used to reading very technical writing, so there is a (pretty good) chance that I'm way off the mark, but I figured it means something like:

  "It is designated as an Important Port under the Harbor Act" (or however the legalese works out).

What got me stuck was the use of the kanji 上 (which I, for lack of a clear reference, am reading as じょう). Is it saying that the 港湾法 is above the Ube Harbor, or vice-versa? It may be how English has wired my brain, but I think of things "under a law"? Is this simply the way it's said in Japanese? Does it have another meaning?


texts:
I'm really a 初心者 when it comes to Classical Japanese, and I guess that is what I have here...

  一日の苦労は一日にて足れり.　【聖】
  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Please, can someone tell me what this is about? 足れり comes from 足りる or is it from 足る?
Moreover, I don't get it... Even with the translation, because I'm not an English native speaker either. So can you put the japanese sentence and/or the English translation in a simpler way, please?


texts:
I recently came across the term 自由課題 in this context:

アイスの棒で作ったおうち
自由課題はこれでクリア!!

For reference, a character just finished building a house made of popsicle sticks.

I assume it roughly means summer project but could not find anything to support this online.


texts:
An entry of Tae Kim's blog suggested that 出来る came from Chinese word 出来 that does have the nuance of potentiality, but the most recent visitor's comment claimed that the usage of 出来 in Chinese to show potentiality is fairly recent, so the usage of 出来る in Japanese might be unrelated to the Chinese word after all.

If this Japanese verb really did not come from the Chinese, how do the kanji characters for "to go out" and "to come" end up giving the nuance of potentiality in Japanese?

Can anyone find out authoritative sources on the actual etymology of 出来る?

EDIT: Also, is the origin of 出来る somehow related to 出来 {しゅったい} (meaning: occurrence) or 出来 {でき} (meaning: workmanship, execution etc)?


texts: What is difference between 値段 (nedan) and 代金 (daikin)?

texts: 値段 (nedan) and 代金 (daikin) both means "cost" but im not sure where is a difference.


texts: What word to use to refer to a manager at a gym/drug store?

texts:
According to JMDict there are so many words for a manager depending on the context. Can someone provide clarification on the context of each term? What is the most appropriate term for a gym manager or a drug store manager? Is the borrowed term マネージャー widely accepted?

マネージャー
責任者
管理者
支店長
経営者
支配人
店長
社長
課長
主管
主幹
主事
総務
監事
元締
世話人
世話役


texts: What are some special ways to use よく besides “often” and “well”?

texts:
I’ve seen よく used in a variety of contexts outside of the basic “often” and “well”.

「よくよくのことがないと実家には帰らない。」
「よく聞いたら試験は、明日だった。」
「よく言うよ！」

Just a few examples. What are some different ways it can be used and the meanings/nuances they carry?


texts:
I'm having some trouble with the following sentence:

  一部屋一部屋が大きいのだろう、部屋のドアの間隔が広かった。

What's the meaning of the double "一部屋"? I think it's supposed to be each/every room, but I'm not sure. Also, is it read as "ひとへやひとへや"?


texts: I know that the kanji 英 now really has the exclusive meaning of "English", such as in 英語, but I'm wondering what the original meaning was. It's used in words like 英雄, which obviously don't have anything to do with being English. Is it just phonetic when used in words like that, or did it actually have an older meaning?


texts: breakdown of 誰もが納得するかたちで

texts:
勝ち取るしかないのだ。誰もが納得するかたちで。

I don't remember what the context is but i assume the speaker has to win.

Because I have to win, anyone would understand (what i'm trying to do here) ?

what exactly is かたちで?

thanks


texts: A single verb or phrasal verb that means "I have no choice but it is better if I let you win"?

texts:
Consider the following situations:

Your mother has just one cake. You and your younger brother really like that cake. If you eat the cake, your younger brother will cry. As you are older so you must be wise, you let him eat the cake as if you let him win.
You meet a crazy guy on the train. He rudely asked you to leave your seat. As you are wise enough, you let him take your seat as if you let him win.

Question

Is there a single verb or phrasal verb to convey the meaning of "I have no choice but I think it is better to let him win"?


texts:
Could you help me get the meaning of this sentence? In particular I don't get the meaning of the second part. Context: a swordsman is forced to fight to a common person by his enemies, but he doesn't fight seriously because he doesn't want to harm him. At the end, the enemies kill the common person and make it look like the swordsman did it.

  ここで追いつめられて斬ってしまえる程度なら、いっそ笑って見ていてやれるものを。

My attempt: "If you're going to be cornered here and killed, I'd rather try to laugh" (?)

More context here: http://imgur.com/a/aHBY8 (I uploaded the page before and the page after too, so the page in question is the second one).
Thanks for your help!


texts: Having trouble parsing this triple negative sentence

texts:
In my JLPT practise book, there is this sentence, which is designed to test if one can track all the negations:

  その仕事{しごと}ほどおもしろくない仕事{しごと}はないのではないかと、私{わたし}は思{おも}った。

Up to の, I think it's saying, "there is no job as uninteresting as that job." But then we hit のではない, and I get a bit lost. I feel like it's saying "there is no job where there is no job as boring as that job," which doesn't really make sense.

How do I parse this sentence so that I can understand whether the speaker thinks その仕事{しごと} is interesting or uninteresting?


texts: What is the meaning and pronunciation of 上 in the following sentence?

texts: 「新聞・雑誌などの編集上の一区分。」This sentence came from one of the definitions for the word 「欄（らん）」 in the "Super Daijirin" dictionary. I'm having trouble honing in on what specific meaning and pronunciation 「上」 could have.


texts: Why does 冬休みは家族でイタリアやイギリスへ行きました。 have で instead of と?

texts:
Why does this sentence:

  冬休みは家族でイタリアやイギリスへ行きました。

have で there instead of と?

Wouldn't "with family" be 家族と?


texts: What is 已然形? I know its classic Japanese but that's as far as I got

texts:
Can someone explain to me what 已然形 is?
I've seen it brought up being related the hypothetical form like 已然形+ ば but I just can't figure out what it was for. I know its related to classical Japanese but I like to know about these things and Japanese is the first language I've studied so I'm a bit lacking in grammatical knowledge in general. Thank you in advance for anyone who answers


texts:
These are the sentences I am confused about.  For better context, this is the whole page:

しよう in 「じゃあ今日は普通においしいものにしよう」
しよっ in 「…なににしよっかなぁー…」


texts:
I found this definition of 食用{しょくよう}:

  食べ物として用いること。また、その食べ物。「食用になる」

Which I read as

  食｛た｝べ物{もの}として用｛もち｝いること。また、その食｛た｝べ物｛もの｝。「食用{しょくよう}になる」

Meaning

  A thing that can be used as food. Also, that food. "To be edible"

I don't quite get what その could mean apart from that, but does that make sense here, as edible doesn't mean food, and according to jisho, 食用 means

  for use as food; edible

I am new to Japanese so forgive me if this is really obvious.


texts:
From this article (for those keeping up it's the same as my previous question):

  水産庁は、これから、この工場からＥＵの国にかつお節を輸出してもいいと認める予定です
  After this the fisheries agency are planning to accept that it's okay to export katsuobushi to EU countries from this factory.

I'm struggling with the meaning of the verb 認める and I can't work out whether と is quotative or conditional.

Reading the whole article I couldn't work out if 水産庁 was making the decision that it was okay to export the fish or whether the use of 認める somehow suggested that they were checking with an EU authority.


texts: Usage of 方 to mean person, interchangeability of くれる and もらう and passive form

texts:
So I stumbled upon the following sentence:

  特に日本人以外の人に日本語を教えてもらっている方に質問です

I was having a problem with translating it because of the parsing, but now I kinda get it.

What I could translate was "Especially, I have a question to people teaching Japanese to non-Japanese people", But some people in the chat said it would be

"especially I would like to ask people who are being taught Japanese by a non-Japanese person"

Now, for it to be being taught, shouldn't I use the passive form of もらう? like

  日本人以外の人に日本語を教えてもらわれている方 ??

Besides that, I have 2 more questions:

  1 - Can I interchangeably use もらう and くれる? Yes or no? and why?

(I feel like I can because there is no explicit topic, but i'm concerned that using くれる would flip the meaning from "people teaching Japanese to non-Japanese people" to "non-Japanese people teaching Japanese to people")

  2 - Why would one use 方(kata) here? instead of 人

Thanks in advance!!!


texts:
I have two sentences:

  時々、うみえ行くをが好きです。

and

  母はよく週末に祖父と祖母のいえ行、そこでとまリます。

I want to see if both of them are correctly stated, and I believe that the second one might not be. In the first sentence, a く follows from 行, but in the second sentence, it does not. Is there supposed to be a く in the second sentence, or the first sentence, or both?

I am not sure why the く should be in the second sentence, but that makes me unsure if there should be a く in the first sentence. Doesn't 行 mean to go/travel somewhere? What is the dif-ference when we write 行く as opposed to just 行?

Thank you in advance.


texts:
What are the differences between 依頼【いらい】、需要【じゅよう】、請求【せいきゅう】、注文【ちゅうもん】、要求【ようきゅう】 and 要請【ようせい】?
I've looked at jisho.org and tried searching for answers on HiNative, but couldn't find a clear enough answer, so I'm asking here.


texts: Why is 知りません the negative form of 知っています？

texts: I'm reading Minna no Nihongo (Chapter 15) and it says what I wrote in the question. I would think the negative would be 知っていません。


texts: What are words which stand at the very end of a sentence (like "yo" and "tomo") called?

texts:
As far as I know, "yo" at the end of a sentence indicates that quite new information is contained in the sentence, "tomo" ascertains that the content expressed in the sentence is definitely true. Both are placed even behind the predicative of the sentence: sentence-yo, sentence-tomo.

Do you know other words that are used like them?


texts: When へ is used as a response, to something someone has said, what does it mean?

texts: I have heard the expression used, but can't find its correct spelling or usage.


texts: What is the difference between「ブームメント」 and「ムーブメント」and do they share the same connotation as "movement" in English?

texts:
少し前まで潜り屋と揶揄されていた探索者達は独自のブームメントを巻き起こしているのである。

My question is to help me understand what 「ブームメント」 and「ムーブメント」 mean in Japanese using the example above. ブームメント　gives the impression of something much stronger than ムーブメント, but I don't understand what it means in the above.


texts: What's the difference between そうだ and そうです?

texts: It supposedly mean "that is so; that is right", but is there any difference between そうだ and そうです in terms of the context or any point of view?


texts:
What is the meaning of

  いかをとる

(line 5)?

I tried to juggle with the meanings of いか and とる, meanings that I knew about or I found about later on (http://jisho.org/search/ika), but I still cannot make sense of their meaning together.
Is this an idiom?


texts: About the specific difference between 見えます and 見られます

texts:
I have a question about the specific usage of 見えます and 見られます.

As already explained on the net, 見えます is used when something is visible to the speaker or comes into view. 見られます is used instead, when the speaker wants to express that he/she "is able to see smth", like a movie in a theater. I hope I did get that correct?

I'm now struggling with a small, but tricky sentence and I just can't wrap my head around it. It is, translated from German into English:

From the (train) station, the fireworks can be seen, but from my house, they can not be seen.

I have translated this into:

駅からは花火が見られますが、家からは見られません｡

I think this sentence is tricky, because the speaker both has the potential to "be able to see" them, when the time comes, but he/she will also be able to see them directly once they happen, so I am unsure of which form to use. If they were happening right now (which I don't get the feeling they are), I would have gone for 見えます, but as you can see, I decided for 見られます. I hope someone can further explain why that is, or is not, the case and why the other form can't be used.


texts:
I'm always bothered by ということで. What does it mean this time? Could it be a kind of "by" ("Are you going to kill me by accident too?")

  なぁに、姉さん。その銃は。 ……私も暴発ということで殺すの？

By the way, since 暴発 is used as a noun, shouldn't it be だということで?


texts: What is the function of を in this sentence?

texts:
彼は高齢を理由に社長を辞めたよ。

I found this example sentence in some core flashcards, and the translation says He gave up the company presidency due to age. Which makes sense to me, but I don't understand the purpose of the first を.

It seems to be indicating what the reason or cause for quitting is, but then why is 理由に there if を is already showing the reason?


texts:
I saw it in a tanka:
ながむれば霞みはてては絶絶にまたあらはるるかりのひとつら
Also what is the "ra" after "hitotsu"?


texts: Meaning of うち in "無意識のうちの行動なのだろう"

texts:
Given the context I think that this sentence means "it's probably an unintentional action".

But I am unsure of what meaning/nuance the うち adds here. I am used to seeing うち meaning "while" and that's what I'm seeing on various internet sources. But I don't see how a "while" fits into this sentence.


texts:
I read that 笛 can be interpreted as もにか, I was wondering if that's only used for names and if that reading is common/would be understood? Or is it more of a "kirakira" name?
Thank you for your insight


texts: The difference between はじめに and はじめて and はじめは

texts:
I am trying to figure out the difference between those three sentences.

はじめにコンピューターを使った。

~ Initially, I used a computer.

はじめはコンピューターを使った。

~ In the beginning I used a computer. (e.g. but now I use something else)

はじめてコンピューターを使った。

~ First time I used a computer.
Is there a clear difference in meaning between the first and the second sentence here?


texts: Understanding the phrase 「最も多くの乗客が乗っていた」 from a news article

texts:
Reading an article on NHK, it starts with this sentence about the missing Algerian plane. The French foreign minister says that it probably crashed in northern Mali:

  西アフリカのブルキナファソからアルジェリアに向かう途中消息を絶ったアルジェリア航空の旅客機について、最も多くの乗客が乗っていたフランスのファビウス外相は、２つの国の間に位置するマリの北部で墜落したという見方を示しました

The part I'm confused about is this:

  最も多くの乗客が乗っていた

This seems to mean that "most passengers were on board" when the plane crashed. Is that what it means? Where else would they be?


texts:
I am pretty sure I have heard people saying お願い before making a request. For example:

お願いだ、部屋を綺麗にしてください。

The second sentence translates to "Please clean your room". So the question is, what is the purpose of the お願いだ? Translating it literally would make "Please, Please clean your room"

By the above convention, if I were to say お願いだ、部屋を綺麗にして (no ください), will the sentence also mean "Please clean your room"?


texts: Parsing 彼には映画監督になるという夢があります

texts: My best guess is "His dream is to become a movie director," but I'm not sure what "になるという" means when put together like that. I know that "になる" means something like "becomes," and "という" means something like as/named/called, but I'm not sure how to parse it.


texts: What meaning does the にあって have in this phrase?

texts:
神秘の力が幽霊にあって現世に介入していたとしても、不思議はないんじゃないかと

As far as I can understand
Noun + にあって has the meaning of

In (time / location indicator)
At  (time / location indicator)
On (time / location indicator)
Due to / because

However in this case it's neither time or location nor a reason
I would roughly translate it to

As for the ghost even if it has a mysterious power that allows him to intervene in the present world I don't think that's strange

What do you think ?


texts:
I came across a use of から that seems unusual to me:

  伊月は　旅行の手配から運転から　何もかもしてくれて　本当に　頼りになる

    From the trip preparations, from the driving, Itsuki is taking care of anything and everything; she truly is reliable.

      From the trip preparations to the driving, Itsuki is taking care of everything. She is truly reliable.

I'm curious about the way から is used here. It seems like a variation of a structure used to describe a range of activities, like から～まで、から～にかけて、から～にいたるまで.

Except in this example, there are two start points, and the end point is included in 何もかも ("anything and everything") instead of being indicated with something like まで.

I haven't been able to find an example like is in the usual grammars. What exactly is this use of から? Is this a casual modification of the other forms, or is there something particular about this sentence (何もかも、してくれる、etc.) that results in this configuration?


texts:
I've been thinking about a way to say

  "Flash-forward two years in the future, he is now a school-teacher.

or something of the like.

  二年後、彼は今教師です。

is what I thought of. Does this even make sense?


texts: Please help me understand this excerpt from Terrace House

texts:
A: どこですか？住んでるとこ
B: 私地元は逗子っていって鎌倉の方です。

Firstly, is there supposed to be a ろ after the end of 住んでるとこ(as in, ところ, and was it cut short due to conversation?)
Secondly, does 言う in the te form simply loosely connect the first clause with the following clause (A place called Zushi, near Kamakura) - like it doesn't mean 'and' here, it's more like a pause because she still has more to say?


texts: What is the meaning of に匹敵する in this sentence

texts:
「数多ある父親らしからぬ時間が、今の父親たる私を父親たらしめんとしている！！」
「すなわち、この姿は我が娘が母親がほしいほしいと夜な夜なベッドで泣いていたひとしずくの涙に匹敵する！」
I read the last sentence as something like:
In other words, this look/appearence (女装している）is comparable to the tears of my daughter crying in her bed at night, begging for a mother.
This does not sound quite right to me and I'm not quite sure how to understand に匹敵 in this context.


texts: How to interpret the "もの" in どうしたものでしょうか

texts: I would like to ask how to interpret the "もの" or "もん" in the phrase "どうしたものでしょうか" or "どうしたもんか". Does it have any specific meaning or serve a grammatical function? I know the phrases have the same meaning as "どうすればいい?", but I am curious about this もの, though.


texts:
Generally speaking, how much time needs to go by before it would be natural to use 久しぶり?
Is 2 weeks too short? A month? Where is the line?

Does frequency affect the usage of 久しぶり? As in, you meet regularly every 2 months, so you wouldn't say 久しぶり?

Example situations:

  1) You regularly go to a gym and get to know several people there, but because you sometimes skip days as do they, after seeing them 3 times a week for a few months, a month goes by without seeing them. The next time you meet, would you say 久しぶり?

  2) You only rarely go to the library, say once every 3 or 4 months, and someone you know works there. That is the only place you see them. Do you say 久しぶり every time?


texts:
I'm reading Yotsuba (1st chapter) and I have come across the sentence

じゃあ俺が用意してきてやるおまえ片付けてろ.

The sentence translates as "WELL I'LL GO GET SOME STUFF THEN. YOU STAY HERE AND CLEAN UP." I'm having trouble understanding what the きてやる means in じゃあ俺が用意してきてやる. I've found from this link, https://www.kanshudo.com/grammar/%E3%81%A6%E3%82%84%E3%82%8B , that てやる means that someone is doing something for someone else. That makes sense in this situation. Unfortunately, I do not know what purpose the きて is doing here though.If the sentence were じゃあ俺が用意してやる then that would make sense. The きて makes me think that this is perhaps some "auxiliary verb." Something that I am not very good at recognizing. If anyone could help out, then I would really appreciate it.

Also, if it's not too much trouble, I would greatly appreciate someone telling me where the て comes from in 片付けてろ too since jisho says the verb is 片付ける.

Big thanks to whomever can help. I'm finding that reading is hard.


texts:
I came across this sentence

  次に繋がるデートにしたいと誓う

and the explaining was この例文は、デートができる立場でありつつ、まだ完全なカップルとは言えない人の心を文章にしたものです。
デートは毎回勝負で、次回のデートの誘いを断られないよう、努力をしている様子が伝わります。

It appears as if it means to just keep on dating with no intention of making things serious. is that true ?or does it mean the opposite ?


texts: What does [Verb Pre-Masu Form] + [shi] do in this context?

texts:
I am reading Cardcaptor Sakura in order to practice my comprehension. I see a lot of pre-masu form verbs followed by し, and I am not sure if they are the "giving reasons" し, the "connecting ideas" し, or something else entirely.

Here are some example sentences that I have had trouble with:

  カードに宿{やど}りし魔{ま}力{りょく}をこの鍵{かぎ}に移{うつ}し我{われ}に力{ちから}を！
  (in this sentence, I want to know what the し in 宿{やど}りし does)

  「クロウ」の創{つく}りしカードよ
  (in this sentence I want to know what the し in 創{つく}りし does)

Thank you very much for your help


texts: What's the difference between どうして and どうやって?

texts:
I've read on Stack Exchange that どうやって can be used to mean "what did you do in order to x"

  どうやってお医者になったか? — What did you do in order to become  a doctor?

This definition makes a lot of sense to me, but can どうして be used in the same way?

Also, I've heard some people say that どうやって can mean "By what means did you x", exactly like 何で.

Does this mean that the following is valid?

  どうやって作文を書いたか — What did you use to write your essay?

Also, besides どうして being able to mean "why", what is the difference between どうやって and どうして?


texts: Meaning of 俺はどこまで行っても俺だ

texts:
Looking for some help understanding 俺はどこまで行っても俺だ.

I've googled and can see the phrase どこまで行っても being used fairly often, but can't find an explanation, and what definition of 行く is being used here.


texts: How can this sentence using 次 be in the past tense?

texts:
In my JLPT practise book, the following exchange between a man and a woman is part of a longer exchange in a listening section:

  女{おんな}：先日{せんじつ}は町内{ちょうない}集会{しゅうかい}、お疲{つか}れさまでした。

  男{おとこ}：お疲{つか}れさま。次{つぎ}の役員{やくいん}が決{き}まらなくて、随分{ずいぶん}長{なが}くかかりましたね。

So, the woman first thanks the man for his efforts at the previous meeting. Then, if I understand correctly, the guy says that if they don't decide the staff for the next one, then it will have gone on long. The tenses don't add up.

I'm confused because he says 次{つぎ}, as if he's talking about the next meeting, but the sentence ends with the past tense, as if he was talking about a previous meeting.

Is the man talking about the next or previous meeting? And what exactly is he saying about it?


texts:
新潟県長岡市の花火大会は日本でも有名で、２日間で１００万人が見に来ます。
  Nagaoka's firework display is famous in Japan, and 1 million people will come to see it over a two day period.

What does the も (in bold) add to this sentence? The meanings of 'also'/'even' don't seem appropriate here.


texts: Use of もともと in a self- introduction 自己紹介

texts:
Is it proper or acceptable to say "僕はもともとNew Yorkから来まして。。。" during a formal self-introduction? This would be in the presence of superiors. Or does anyone know a better way to begin a 自己紹介?

Thank you in advance for the help!


texts: Do younger Japanese people really use 電気をつける to mean "turn on the light"? It sounds like something that your Grandad would say in the times when electricity was new and exciting. I know it's taught in textbooks but they can have a tendency to be somewhat anachronistic. Is it the most common phrase, and if not what should I be saying?


texts:
I'm studying nominalizers and don't understand when to use の/こと and when to use というの/ということ.

For example, in the sentence:

  こんなによく[遅刻]{ちこく}をするというのは[問題]{もんだい}ですよ。

Could I say:

  こんなによく[遅刻]{ちこく}をするのは[問題]{もんだい}ですよ。

Is there any rule to choose の/こと or というの/ということ?

Thank you in advance!


texts: Do all verbs have an honorific and humble form?

texts:
I was reading about this phenomenon in a few places and saw, for instance, this table of transformations and substitutions for various verbs.

Is it only these common verbs which change, or do all verbs have a variant for the respectful and humble styles of speech?

I am aware other aspects of speech may change for honorific/humble style, but I am asking specifically about verbs.

As I understand it, all verbs have a polite form, but I am not sure about honorific and humble forms.


texts: meaning of 思っていたところです

texts:
What does 思っていたところです means in this sentence?

  今、電話をかけようと思っていたところです。

I know that Vているところです means "be doing something", while Vたところです means "just did something". Thus, I was wondering under which category falls this sentence. I understand that the meaning should be "I was thinking of calling you just right now", bu I cannot figure out under which category it falls into.


texts:
Context: in a manga, a video of a person filming himself with a smartphone while committing suicide jumping in front of a train has the following title:

  早朝にガチの電凸してみた

As far as I understood from the Wikipedia article for 電凸, they are complaint phone calls or emails towards companies, mass media, government, etc. Why was the word used in the context I explained above? Does it have any relation to suicide? Thank you for your help!


texts: -sou + negative past - what is the meaning? e.g. 行けそうで行けなかった場所, 解けそうで解けなかった謎

texts:
Still with the Zelda guidebook translation :)
I cannot understand the meaning of the third line. It uses ・・・そう・・・なかった. I understand -そう as "seems like" and なかった as past negative, but how do these go together?
Note: My translation tries to stay as close to the original Japanese as possible whilst still making sense. I find it helps me for future reference if I translate the words rather than the meaning (so that's why it comes across as sounding like Master Yoda is speaking).

まずはマップとコンパスを手に入れたい。First of all map and compass you will want to obtain.
それを頼りに、宝箱のある部屋をチェックして回れば、そのダンジョンだけにある特別な　アイテムをゲット出来るはずだ。 Relying on these, if you check the rooms around the treasure chest place [on the map], that dungeon as might be expected special item should be got (collected).
それがあれば、行けそうで行けなかった場所、解けそうで解けなかった謎の多くが解決する。
If you [do] that, a place it looks like you were not able to go to, many mysteries it looked like you could not solve can be resolved (?????????????????????????)


texts:
Every source I look it says it's called はば AND きん. But in what situation do I call it きん instead of はば?

Also, it's usually specified as はばへん and きんへん, in my understanding へん radicals are always on the left of the kanji. So how do I call 巾 in kanjis such as 市, 常, and  姉?


texts: How is determined whether a sound should be romanized into an L versus an R?

texts:
I know there isn't a particularly distinct difference between L and R in native Japanese, but very often proper nouns and other non-translated Japanese names/words work their way into English translations. An odd thing I've noticed is that often when media is re-retranslated, Ls and Rs get flipped in proper nouns.

I've noticed this a lot in Final Fantasy games in particular (Rally-ho turned into Lali-ho), and generally the later translations had better English. However I haven't really noticed more Ls turning into Rs or vice versa; I haven't seen any particular pattern to the changes at all, so I'm wondering what (if any) logic is behind it.

Is there a "proper" way of determining whether a sound should be transliterated as an L or an R or are L and R picked simply based on which "sounds better" to whoever is doing the transliterating?


texts:
So, I recently decided to take a try at Japanese again. As such I decided to jump right in to using the vocabulary I know in sentences to see how far I could get. The following is what I came up with, I'll put the meaning I'm attempting to convey in English beside the Japanese.

  これは僕の物語り！！！(This is my story [tale]!)
  けど、これはその男の物語りも。 (But, this is that man's story as well.)
  はい、そうです。 (Yes, that is true.)
  しかし、物語じゃない。(But, this is not a story.)
  これは君の未来！ (This is your future!)
  何？嘘ですね？(What? You're lying, right?)
  嘘じゃない。 (I'm not lying.)
  そう。。。わかりました。でも、僕？なんで！？(Okay...I understand. But, me? Why me?)

What I'm most concerned with is the sentence order and if it is understandable. Not so much with if I could have left out a pronoun or something along those lines. I know this is a lot to ask but thank you very much to anyone who is willing to help!


texts:
When I first heard ノートパソコン I was a bit confused and thought they were referring to a PC brand or something.

Now that I think of it, it's a pretty appropriate term for a portable PC (laptop).

Was just curious where the term came from?

On that note (pun intended); laptop is starting to sound like a weird name, I don't think I have ever put a "laptop" on my lap... lol


texts:
I am trying to translate this sentence:

日本の名所と言えば、温泉も忘れることはできません

So the first part can be translated as `'Talking about famous places in Japan,'.
The second part is more confusing, I know that the こと modifier after a verb can be used to indicate an action but how can we translate it here? Also I don't understand the relationship with できません which means to be able to.
I would translate the sentence as something like 'I also forgot to talk about onsens' but that seems off to me.


texts: How to say "cannot compare/compete with him?"

texts:
How do you say these. E.g. I cannot compare/compete with him。　彼と比べらはできない/彼と比べられない/彼と叶わない?
Not sure if 比べ is too literal for comparing to use in this case.
What about "This is no contest."
これで競争できない？これは競争じゃない/がない？相手にはならない？


texts:
Is it possible to conjugate an adjective to its causative form? For example: 気味悪い、おいしい、etc.
Is 気味悪いをさせる (make me creep out/ creeping me out) and 美味しいをさせる (make it delicious) grammatically correct?


texts: What's the nuance behind using を要らない as opposed to が要らない?

texts:
I was reading the lyrics of a song and found the following line:

  あの人あたしをいらない

From the original English song, I can tell that the meaning is that "that person no longer needs me", but why does it use を when 要る is an intransitive verb? Is there a nuance difference?


texts:
I think that the Wikipedia entry for "kanji" has an error.

Please look at the last sentence in the third paragraph underneath the "kun'yomi" heading. quote:
 "...This contrasts with on'yomi, which are monosyllabic, and is unusual..."

My understanding is that none of "しゃく"、"ちょく"、"にゃく"、.... are monosyllabic.

If I am correct about this, can someone with greater standing than mine make the appropriate change to the "kanji" Wikipedia entry?


texts:
Why are we using から and not を in the following sentence?:

  出て行く：同居している恋人が家から出て行って、別に住むようになる。

I ask because the normal particle with 出る is を (eg 家を出る) so why do we have から here? My dictionary has the following sentence:

部屋から出て来なさい｜Come out of your room.

Do the 行く・来る verbs which normally take から in some way dominate over other verbs related to the action if the other verb is intransitive?


texts:
why does 手段を選ばない = will do anything?
why does 手段を選ばない = will do anything?


texts: What would be the difference in meaning between 違っていた and 違った?

texts:
昔は違っていた。

  昔は違った。

  It was different a long time ago.

Do these two Japanese sentences mean the same thing?

Here is the sentence in the original context. The translations are not mine, but are supplied by the Japanese writer. If I replaced 昔は違っていた。with 昔は違った。, how would the meaning change?

  February is the coldest in Japan.
  日本は2月が一番寒い。

  It was different a long time ago.
  昔は違っていた。

  There were ages where it was the coldest in December or January.
  12月や1月が一番寒い時期もあった。

  But now, you can say February is the coldest month.
  しかし、今はやっぱり2月が最も寒い。

  The seasons are getting shifted little by little according to global warming.
  地球の温暖化にともない、季節もだんだんずれ始めている。


texts:
その帽子に赤いマフラーが似合いそうだ。
  A red muffler seems to go well with that hat.

Is there a difference in nuance between the above sentence and the following one?

  その帽子には赤いマフラーが似合いそうだ。

I get that it's emphasised that the hat is the topic in the second sentence, but really it's hard to think about the first sentence as not necessarily being about the hat.


texts:
When we use ていられない, it means that we don't bother or care to do something.

  アさん)ああ、危なくて見てらんない！
  イさん) もう黙っていらんない。注意しよう。
  A) Oh no, I can't bear to see him doing dangerous things.
  B) me too, I can't bear keeping quiet. I better warn him.

  So 遅いなあ！もう待ってらんないので、先に帰る！
  It is so late! I don't care anymore so I don't want to wait and go home first.

  忙しくてテレビなんか見てらんない。
  Because I am busy, I can't bear to watch any further. (Am I right to translate this sentence??)

One more thing, based on the last sentence, what does なんか really mean in this context?

Thanks.


texts:
I'd like to say "I like anime because its unpredictable". I found out through searching online that ありきたり translates to predictable, however I'm not sure if this is correct.

My entire sentence:

  いっぱんにアニメとまんがのものがたりはたのしいですとおもいます。なぜなら、いつもありきたりでわありません。

My second question would be, does いっぱんに translate to generally in the way I've used it above.


texts: What do we call things that are neither kana nor kanji?

texts:
I was wondering Is there a Japanese name (or term) for written stuff that are neither kana nor kanji?

By that, I mean stuff like:

゠ (ダブルハイフン, for indicating the dash in foreign words)
・ (ぽつ, for separating foreign words, to make it more readable)
〆 (しめ, for indicating deadlines)
〄 (ジスマーク, on a product to show that it complies with industrial standards)
～ (なみ, from... to... e.g. 月～金曜日)
〽 (庵点, for indicating the start of a singer's part in a song)
※ (米, the English equivalent of asterisk for indicating attention)


texts:
I'm having a bit of trouble getting a grasp of 筋ってもん (sujitte mon) and what it's supposed to convey.  Does it possibly have kind of declarative function for whatever precedes it?

Examples include:

俺の通すべき筋ってもんだ

and

生身でもがくのが筋ってもんだ

Any help is appreciated.


texts: Do ～せずに～したほうがいい and ～しながら～しないほうがいい have identical meaning?

texts:
Do the following sentences have identical meaning?

A: チャットせずに勉強したほうがいいです。

Edit:

B: 勉強しながらチャットしないほうがいいです。


texts: What's my name in Japanese - Sensei can't pronounce it

texts:
I moved to a different country and joined a new karate club. Sensei speaks only Japanese and I'm ok with the commands he gives, but the ridiculous situation is that he can't pronounce my name (Povilas).

It became a comic problem when he names everyone - Tom, Ann, Patrick, etc., but I'm left alone and he just points at me and asks - "What's your name again?".

How would "Povilas" sound in Japanese? Maybe there's a similar sounding word or combination of two words?

Help is very much appreciated - I just want him to know who I am.


texts: Understanding「汲ませて」 and 「にっぷん」, assuming that is what was said

texts:
I have a question regarding what is being said in this video.

First of all, what is being said?

The following is what I perceived.

  ...水{みず}を汲{く}ませて、しっかりとにっぷんしてから、撃{う}ちます。

In particular, I am uncertain about the parts in bold.

「にっぷん」 is probably just a listening error, as it does not appear in any of my dictionaries. However, I can't seem to hear it as anything else.

Assuming that I heard it correctly, 「汲ませて」 appears to be the causative form of 「汲む」, perhaps meaning something like "to scoop" in this case.

However, I do not understand why the causative form of the verb is being used.

From the beginning of the sentence, the subject seems to be the method (of shooting water with your hands).

However, none of the other verbs are in the causative form. Is it because you are "making the hand scoop" water? Would 「汲んで」 also be valid here?

I would appreciate help resolving these questions.


texts:
So in trying to make my own notes for things, I wanted to make use of the word "classifications". Not the act of classification, but rather the plural of the idea of "a classification", as in, "Animals are a classification of living things". As I see it, it's similar to using the word class, group or category, but I find it carries less of an objective connotation. Kind of like saying 数学的 instead of 数理的. Both mean "mathematical", but the former is mathematical within the scope of our study of math, whereas the latter seems to encompass things beyond the scope of our study (ex. 数理的思考、the idea of mathematical thinking, see https://www.kitasato-u.ac.jp/sci/resea/buturi/hisenkei/sogo/suuri.pdf).

So back to the point, the main words I've been able to find that relate to classification are 分類、類別 and 部類. The former two seem to imply the act of classification as far as I can see, and I don't know if they can be used the way I'm looking to use classification. As for 部類, it looks at first glance that it's similar to class/group/category, with the more objective connotation. Maybe the lines are blurred in translation, but is there any word more specific to what I'm looking for? Can't find one myself.

Thanks!


texts: How do you pronounce the Japanese "r"? Is it more like an "l" or something inbetween? Would there be any picture or video explaining it correctly, please link it!


texts:
I think I answered this question for myself while writing it, but maybe someone can confirm: When to use 「の中で」 versus 「の中には」or something similar to mean "among X"?

For example, I pulled this sentence off the internet:
田中さんは兄弟の中で上から２番目です。

But:
ここの蔵書の中には、お金で買えない貴重な本もあるんだって。

Is it that you use で when the subject of the sentence comes before the 中, and には when the main phrase of the sentence (subject and verb) come after the 中? Would you ever say just 「中に」, or 「中では」?


texts:
Out of curiosity I looked up その in a monolingual dictionary, the first thing I see Is
［連体］《代名詞「そ」＋格助詞「の」から》What on earth is a "case marking particle"? Is this the の particle that simply means "of"?

So, if I were to translate it literally, a phrase like その上 would mean "above of that" "on top of that" while "その人" "person of that" Sounds like complete gibberish to me when I try to think of it that way though.