texts: Would someone mind checking my translation of -だか and a contrastive は?

texts:
If anyone is willing, I'd like to check my reading of the following sentence:

ところが夜だかは、ほんとうは鷹の兄弟でも親類でもありませんでした。

"However, for a number of nights, there is a lie that [he] is a family member or even a brother of the hawk, but it is not so."

I'm reading 夜だか as "a number of nights" (e.g. for a while), but I'm wondering if a better reading of -だか in this context would be "all" as in "all nights" or "nightly".

Also, I read ほんとうは as "in contrast to the truth" e.g. a lie. Was that correct?
EDIT: I found a good link explaining why this reading (as explained in the answers) is wrong. Apparently, multiple は "topics" can be grammatically correct.
Can we have two thematic は particles in a sentence?

On a side note,These kind of translation questions feel a bit out of place on Stack Exchange... since this site seems to focus more on specific grammar and word usage.

As I continue to read, I'd like to do more regular translation checks. Could anyone recommend a forum where that might be more welcome (if not here)?


texts: Relative clause with both direct object and head noun as object

texts:
From here:

  国土交通省によると、３つの会社は走るのに必要なガソリンの量や外に出るガスの量を調べる検査を国が決めたルールと違うやり方で行っていました。そして、ルールどおりに検査したと記録していました。
  According to the land ministry, three companies were operating in a way different to the rules that the nation had decided upon. The nation had chosen inspections which investigate amount of gases that are emitted and the amount of fuel that is needed for running. They also recorded that they had made inspections in accordance with the rules.

This is my best effort at translation but I think something is not quite right. The part in bold is bothering me. It looks like 決める has two objects i.e. ルール and 検査.

I parse 国が決めたルール as "the rules chosen by the nation". But also 検査を国が決めた as "The nation has chosen an examination". I can't join these together to make anything meaningful, hence why I wrote two separate sentences. Am I parsing this wrongly?


texts: How do adverbs change when changing くれる to もらう?

texts:
Consider the following part of a sentence:

  親切に教えてくれた。

Here, the subject of the sentence is the person who is the "giver". Furthermore, "親切に" is like an adverb for 教えてくれた. In English, a potential translation is "she kindly taught me".

Now consider this alternate phrasing:

  親切に教えてもらった。

Here, the subject of the sentence is the person who is the "receiver". To show this, we might translate the sentence like "I had her teach me".

The problem is: what does 親切に ("kindly") mean in this case?

As far as English is concerned, there is definitely a difference between

  I kindly had her teach me

versus

  I had her kindly teach me

... which brings us to another question: In "親切に教えてくれた", is it the teaching that is done kindly, or is it the "giving" that is done kindly?

In conclusion, how are くれる and もらう affected by adverbs, and how do adverbs change when changing a sentence from くれる to もらう?


texts: Does 萌え have the same meaning as もえ (cute)?

texts:
When I searched the meaning of "萌え" in the dictionary it said that this word means "sprouting, or crush (esp. on an imaginary character in manga, etc.)"
I have often heard that もえ means cute, but the meaning of this word in the dictionary is not close to "cute"
Does 萌え only refer to feelings of affection toward imaginary characters or does it have other meanings like cute?
Thank you for your time.


texts: How to correctly intepret the following clause?

texts:
This is a paragraph taken from a novel. It describes an outlawish group of people who decided to run away from civilized society.

Simplified part with bolded clause that I'm having trouble with:

  彼らは、他の大多数がそうするように順応して我を殺すことを良しとしない（～なかった）逃亡者だ。

What does the bolded part mean, exactly? Is it "adapting （順応する）　to what majority does （大多数がそうする, with そう implying 我を殺す?）, commit suicide （我を殺す）?" In other words, committing suicide like majority would do? Could 我を殺す also imply simply "repressing oneself (one's antisocial urges)"?

Full paragraph:

  警察、親、教師、あるいは極道｛マフィア｝から、生きるために逃亡してこの場に篭るアウトロー。表で生きられないと悟った彼らは、他の大多数がそうするように順応して我を殺すことを良しとせず、同類を求めて自らの居場所を作った勇気ある逃亡者だ。

Thank you for your help.


texts: The pronunciation of the Japanese translation of dictionary

texts: the pronunciation of 辞書 is jisho, however, why does it sound like jishyo in prerecorded pronunciation online?


texts: For the Kanji 校 is the fifth stroke connected to the sixth stroke?

texts:
Some websites online show the fifth stroke as a vertical line straight down connected to the sixth stroke, while others (and in Chinese) have it as a downward diagonal dash. Is there are difference between the two?

Similarly, is the first stroke in 高 connected to the second or a diagonal dash?

Is this always the case whenever a Kanji has something similar to these two?


texts: When writing Japanese when is it appropriate to write vertically?

texts:
I am starting to learn Japanese, and a question struck me:

If I were to write a note to a friend, or perhaps an extended essay, when would it be appropriate to write vertically?

From my experience trying to read books/manga it seems there is a massive preference for vertical writing, but most of my instruction books use the horizontal.

Are there any considerations for choosing which style to write in? Does the choice have much meaning besides readability? I imagine vertical writing has traditional connotations.

What would you do for a:

Hand written note
College essay
Business document


texts: What does the phrase 「やった人」 really mean?

texts:
I am a bit confused on what the 「やった人」really mean.

You can see it used as a Twitter hashtag, but truthfully the meanings elude me.

Does it mean a people who can do something?


texts: Which translation is closer to the original Japanese?

texts:
I'm curious as to whether or not I did a good job with my own stay-as-close-to-the-Japanese-as-possible translation of the following two lines, seeing as how google translate only gave me either partially correct gibberish, or a answer which is surprisingly close to my own translation, but I'm doubtful as it has given me outright not-even-close translations for other sentences in the past.

「ここにじっとしていてもしょうがない………か」
自分を奮い立たせるために、わざと自分の考えを声に出し行動を始めた。
“As far as patiently remaining here it can’t be helped…… I guess.”
I force myself to cheer up as a result, on purpose I vocalize my thought and start the action.
(The above doesn't quite sound right in English, whereas "I force myself to cheer up as a result, on purpose I start the action and vocalize my thought." sounds more natural to a English speaker)

For the top sentence, google translate gave me ""It's no use staying here..." That's what I'm going",
and for the bottom, it gave me "In order to inspire himself, he deliberately began to speak out his thoughts and act."
For the second sentence, which translation is closer to the original Japanese?


texts:
I found this sentence from the japanese yahoo answers:

  男性は結婚して幸せでも、初恋の女性（プラトニック）のことを忘れられないものですか？

I think the sentence means: "Even if men marry and are happy, can they just not forget their first love?"

https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q134724423

But I don't understand what (プラトニック) means for this question. Does it mean the man is currently in a platonic friendship with their first love? Or does it mean they never got past a platonic friendship but were still in love??


texts: How to choose between ずにはいられない・てならない・ざるを得ない・てたまらない when saying "Can't help but..."

texts:
Can someone highlight the similarities and differences between all terms that have a meaning of "can't help but …" ?

Examples:

  詐欺{さぎ}にあった気{き}がしてならない。
  I can't help but feel it was a scam.

  彼{かれ}の生{お}い立{た}ちを聞{き}いたら、同情{どうじょう}せずにはいられない。
  Hearing his story, I can't help but feel sympathy for him.

  自分{じぶん}の子供{こども}のことを心配{しんぱい}でたまらない。
  I can't help but worry about my own kids.

  彼{かれ}の辛{つら}い状況{じょうきょう}を見{み}て助{たす}けないではいられない。
  Seeing his suffering, I can't help but feel like helping.


texts: Both 日本 and 料理{りょうり} are nouns but why aren't they concatenated with の? I think it should be written as 日本の料理 rather than 日本料理.


texts:
I was trying to express the idea of "Like + do something", as in "I like to drink tea" or "I like to eat pasta".

After a quick search I found that you can express it like this, omitting the parts to drink/to eat:

  1a. (私は)パスタが好きです。
  2a. (私は)お茶が好きです。

But couldn't this be seen simply as "I like tea/pasta"? While being more or less the same meaning, it doesn't have the same nuance.

And if I wanted to make it clearer, would they be something like this?

  1b. (私は)パスタを食べる好きです。
  2b. (私は)お茶を飲む好きです。

I've used numbers and letters so it's easier to refer to the single sentences.


texts: Why progressive tense (～ている) is not used in this case?

texts:
I was reading something which is supposed to mean "Why is it moving?". I would translate it as なんで動いているか？ but it actually says なんで動いてんだ？

What's the difference between them? I think I cannot capture that nuance.

I think that 動いている it's something that it's moving at this time whereas 動いてんだ sounds more like I'm stating that it's moving, but I find the lack of tense disturbing (maybe it's a very strong statement implying surprise).

Another question: Could I even say なんで動いてんだった？ meaning "why was it moving?" instead of なんで動いていたか？


texts:
Looking for some help seeing whether I have understood the usage of だけに in the below. To summarise the conversation 御園 is saying that she was jealous of 佳奈. As she was explaining why she was jealous she became embarrassed and tried to change what she was going to say part way through, leading to the eventual ツッコミ by the narrator as the three of them spent most of the day eating out yesterday.

御園 says 音楽科だけに. Is this just to emphasise why she is jealous?(she specialises in music). edit: Thinking about it I'm not sure that makes sense. I originally thought she was saying that 佳奈 went to 河井楽器 but now I'm thinking she might be saying that she went there.

  「正直言うと、ちょっと佳奈が羨ましかったんです」

  「アホなところが？」

  「違います」

  「佳奈すけ佳奈すけって言われて、かわいがっ……」

  勢いこんで言って、そこで止まった。

  御園の耳たぶが赤く染まる。

  「河井楽器に昨日行ったんです。音楽科だけに」

  きりっとした顔で言った。

  一緒に飯食ってただろうが。


texts: What is the meaning of "ので" and "会う" here?

texts:
"正月に大ぜいの客が来るので, 会うのが面倒だと思う人もある"
The translation is: "Some people do not want to have to take care of the large number of visitors who shows up during the New Year"

Why is "ので" used here? I would translate it like "because of people who shows up during the New Year", but my translation doesn't connect with "会う" and with the second part of the sentense


texts: Is usage of を片手に necessary in this paragraph?

texts:
Is it normal to use 買い与えられたポケベルを片手に in this paragraph?:

  私の二人の姉は当時高校生で、両親から買い与えられたポケベルを片手に、高校生活を謳歌しているように私には見えた。

Why not use just 与えられたポケベル or 買い与えられたポケベル. Is it necessary to use を片手に?


texts:
Difference between 傷つくand 苦しむ
Both have similar meanings of "hurt"


texts: How to say "Please direct all your future correspondence to email"?

texts:
Soon I am leaving my job and I would like to leave an e-mail for future correspondence with my colleagues. How do I write in Japanese something like "Please direct all your future correspondence to my private email"?
I could go with some simple expression like: 今からメールをemailへ書いていただけますか, but there probably exist better ways to express it.


texts:
In the grammar exercise book for JLPT N2, I came across the following question:

（　）を食べてみたいものだ。
a. あ、このおいしそうな料理
b. 今日はユリさんのうちで手料理
c. 一度、その珍しい魚

the correct answer is c.
The explanation of the original grammar point said:

心からの希望を言う場合や一般的な希望として言う場合に使う。具体的な希望や要求を直接言うときには使わない。

From the explanation, I can see why b would not be an appropriate answer. But I couldn't figure out the difference between a and c.


texts:
I'm not understanding the subtleties of [視点]{してん} vs 観点{かんてん}.

I know that they both mean something like "point of view", and given the existence of two of them, one of them probably implies more consideration than the other, but I'm not sure which one is which.


texts: What honorifics do college teachers/professors use for their students?

texts: For instance, do they address female students as (Last name)-san or -chan, and males as (Last name)-san or -kun?


texts: What does this sentence mean? I can't understand this 求められようと

texts:
説明を求められようと、何も言えないのだ。

What does it mean? "Trying to be asked for answers, I can't say anything" looks strange...


texts: Does the (USA) English metaphor "Unable to see the forest for the trees" keep its meaning if translated verbatim into Japanese?

texts:
The phrase "Unable to see the forest for the trees" implies one is too entangled in a situation to understand what is transpiring from a larger context, and thus, unable to determine the correct course of action.

I'd like to know whether a native Japanese hearer:
 1. told this phrase in Japanese would interpret it to have the same meaning?
 2. would accept the word 森 to mean a very large amount of information?


texts:
I think I heard a nasalized alveolar trill /r̃/ instead of alveolar nasal stop /n/ for the mora na in this video https://youtu.be/LIqnhSpXgtI?t=801 (13:26).
Am I correct?
(Whatever the phone is, is the allophone/variation more of an idiolect or more of a dialect?)


texts: Why 喜んで in 喜んであなたのお手伝いをします。is in some sort of imperative voice and not in passive voice?

texts:
喜んであなたのお手伝いをします。

is translated as

  I will be pleased to help you.

あなたのお手伝いを "help to you" and is the direct object of the verb します , I understand this. But I don't understand why

the verb yorokobu is conjugated in a te-form (which I understand is imperative like "be delighted!"), and
it's translated as some sort of future passive voice since present passive voice usually ends with -reru, but
here it does not and it is translated in future tense (why is it "I will be pleased" and not "I'm pleased"?)


texts: which one is correct 聞かないでよね or 聞きないでよね?

texts:
I just learned about how to say "don't" in Japanese.

So far what I understand is:

You use stem form + ないて to say "don't do something"

However, I am confused with the usage of 聞かないでよね in sentence:

  恥ずかしいこと　聞かないでよね

Does not it have to be 聞きないでよね instead of　聞かないでよね? Because it from u-verb 聞く and then become 聞き before it can be formed also into polite form with -masu ending


texts: What does ムカつく refer to in this situation

texts:
Context: Two friends had a spar and one of them beats the other one. The following conversation then happens

「お前、ちょっとは手加減しろよ」
「俺とお前の腕に大した差はないよ」
「なんかムカつくな」

My question is to what is the cause of this emotion. Is it due to the way the speaker spoke as if they had little difference in skill (even though it was a relatively quick and easy win), is it just a general phrase to express annoyance at his loss with nothing specific in mind?


texts:
In my work book 代表的 has a few meanings, typical and representative.
So when you say 代表的な人 does this mean a typical person or representative person? Surely having both these meanings for this word must be very confusing?

Thank you!


texts: How to say two actions are the cause of a third?

texts:
I want to say I did something because of more than one reason. For example:

  I stayed home so I could study AND feed the dog.

I'm not sure how to name the reasons in Japanese. How I'm trying to say it:

  Benkyoushite inu ni esa o yate kara ie ni imashita.

Is it right? Is there a better way to say it?


texts: What is the difference between 照{て}れる and 照{て}れてる?

texts:
According to my dictionary, both 照{て}れる and 照{て}れてる mean to be shy, or be awkward.

I don't think one is a different verb form of the other. The て+いる form of 照れる would be 照れている, not 照れてる.

So I think they're different words, but do they have a difference in meaning?

Also, the kanji by itself seems to mean "to shine". Is there some kind of association in the word origin or in the culture between shyness and shining?

(Please note that the green check will only be awarded to answers that do not rely on technical linguistic terminology to be understood.)


texts: How to say "I bought this book for 1200 yen." in Japanese?

texts:
I want to say,

  I bought this book for 1200 yen.

My attempt is as follows but I am not sure whether it is correct or not.

私はこの本を１２００円買いました。
私はこの本を１２００円で買いました。


texts: What is the Japanese proverb for "even a thief is right three times out of ten"?

texts:
Even a thief is right three times out of ten.

I ran into this quote in a book about Taiichi Ohno, the creator of Toyota's philosophy. Does anyone know a phrase that corresponds with this translation?


texts:
What does 美味しい mean when referring to a person? In particular, in this sentence I found, it is used together with ところ:

  あの人おいしーとこもってくなあ...

Context: a guy is talking about another guy's bad behaviour. I think the meaning in this case is that the person in question doesn't have any positive feature in his personality. Is my guess correct? Thank you for your help!


texts:
How do i say the following (sorry I don't know how to get hiragana on a computer im just going to use romaji)

Ken-san read 100 pages of a book.
Ken-san read a 100 page book (a book that has 100 pages).
Ken-san read a 100 books (100 individiual books).

I'm thinking that it'll go something like Kensan wa hon no hyaku peeji o yomimasu for the first one, with the second one being ken-san wa hyaku peeji no hon o yomimasu, and the third is just kensan wa hyakusatsu (?) hon o yomimasu


texts: How to ask "How about you?" after answering a question yourself

texts:
I've run in to many conversations where I was asked something in Japanese: 「お元気ですか」、how my weekend was, what kind of music I like, describing family members, etc. After answering, I have the urge to say "And what about you?" or something similar as I would in English. My mostly uninformed intuition is to either restate the original question (which doesn't seem natural to me), or to say something like 「「name」はどうですか。」.

I'm wondering if there is a common way to ask  "How about you?" that has blanket use in most situations, or if such a phrase has to be tailored to what is being discussed. I expect the one used for 「お元気ですか」to probably involve a set phrase that may differ from the rest.


texts: complex sentence ending in a noun breakdown

texts:
どうせ知識だけ頭に詰め込んでる兵器

A couple things confuse me:  How can we end a sentence in a noun?  Whats the 「込んでる」?  I thought something deru, but it doesn't use 出る.


texts:
そこまで言いかけたリューだったが、へたり込んでいるリリを見てすっと目を細めた。

I'm not sure if が is acting as a conjunctive particle or a subject marker. Is it correct to interpret this as

  (そこまで言いかけたリューだった)が、へたり込んでいるリリを見てすっと目を細めた。

Thank you!


texts: に or で in the sentence pattern "ニュース(に/で)、...という報道があった"

texts:
I made the following sentence:

  テレビ東京は、政治に関するニュースに、（中略）という報道があった

However, a Japanese friend of mine advised that I should replace the particle に with で.

I googled and found a similar sentence, and indeed で is used instead of に.

  テレビのニュース速報で「マグニチュード5、○○市の震度は3でした。」という報道があった。

In my understanding, で expresses the place an action happens and に expresses the place a static object is laid at, shown in the following examples.

  天安門広場｛に／ *で｝自由の女神像があった。
  天安門広場｛*に／で｝大規模な騒乱があった。

However, 報道 doesn't seem to be an "action." Could someone help me figure out the reason why で is better than に in the sentence structure "ニュースで、...という報道があった"?


texts:
The term "手の込んだ" is described in denshi jisho as being a "Noun or verb acting prenominally".

In the context of Japanese, what does it mean for something to be acting prenominally? For example, does it mean that there's restrictions on where such a word can be used?


texts: What is the etymological origin of the word キノピオ (Toad in Super Mario Bros)?

texts:
I just found out the Toad character from the Super Mario Bros is known as キノピオ in Japan.

Where does that name come from? I know 茸 (きのこ) means mushroom, but what does the suffix -ピオ stand for?

Thanks in advance.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AD%E3%83%8E%E3%83%94%E3%82%AA


texts:
What is the significance of the usage of の in these nominals?

東京からの手紙
東京から手紙

The latter is how I was taught to formulate this nominal form, but I came across a source that uses the first form.  I'm unsure if there is nuance I am missing, or if these are just different ways of saying the same thing.

EDIT: This is from the textbook ("Basic Connections: Making Your Japanese Flow", pg. 21) which brought this to my attention:

"When の follows a noun and a particle, it is generally not translated.  Note that a phrase with a particle or with a -て form is considered to be a noun phrase."

I don't know from the examples how the -て form factors into this, as it only uses から, まで and へ.

Thank you!


texts: 「Aの運営は，Bとの連携のもと，C業務を遂行する。」の解析

texts:
I am having issues translating 「Aの運営は，Bとの連携のもと，C業務を遂行する。」

Edit: Here's the sentence in its original form.

災害対策部局本部の運営は，災害対策本部との連携のもと，災害対策業務を遂行する。

Is this grammar even technically correct?
It feels like the sentence should at least end with 「～ものとする。」
The middle part is fine, but it's the first and last chunks I'm having trouble connecting.

The best I could come up with is "A shall conduct C affairs in coordination with B.", but then I end up not using the word 「運営」 at all, which I'd like to avoid as my boss insists on word-for-word translation.

Any ideas would help. Thanks in advance!

Edit: My apologies, I should have been more clear. A and B are names of organizations.

Edit: I ended up going with the translation of "The Departmental Disaster Response Headquarters shall, in coordination with the Disaster Response Headquarters, conduct disaster response affairs." for the time being.


texts: Can someone help me figure out what 考えを示しましたが is supposed to mean?

texts:
This entry is hard to find on the web. I've only found 2 entries:
1)【that以下】という考えを示す reveal one's idea that
2) 考えを示す to state one's opinion

立花氏は来週にもＮＨＫに出向いて受信契約をする考えを示しましたが、「契約する義務はあるが、支払いは義務ではない」と主張していて、受信料は支払わない考えです。

Mr. Tachibana has been planning to visit NHK next week to make a receiving contract, but claims that he "is obligated to contract, but not payment," and is not willing to pay the reception fee.

I am pretty sure the above translation is correct, but I'd like to know how. Can this sentence also mean, "Mr. Tachibana has revealed his idea to visit NHK next week to make a receiving contract,"?
But then if both above definitions are supposed to be correct, why does it sound awkward and incorrect to say "Mr. Tachibana stated his opinion to visit NHK next week to make a receiving contract,"? I've never heard anyone say "I will state my opinion to visit _ place!" in all my life.


texts:
In the context of computer programming, how to say to uncomment?

For instance, here I uncomment a line:

// Before
// myvar = 3;

// After
myvar = 3;

I would use コメントアウトする, but I also see コメントじゃなくする, 非コメント化する, コメントを外す in use.


texts: How would I ask a Japanese person for a translation or correction that isn't 1:1 with my English example?

texts:
Let's say, on a site like lang-8, I present the following string, hoping for native speakers to help me by correcting it.

あー、あなたかな？

And let's say in the "Native Language" section, I write this:

Oh, Who are you?

Now, a lot of the time, they will respond by writing a 1:1 translation of the English, rather then correcting the Japanese.

If I'm trying to make, for example, a translation for a game; I may not want a 1:1 translation, but rather some equivalent, based on the Japanese I presented.

You know, what could I add to my post to ask the native speaker to treat it more like a localization, rather then a perfect 1:1 translation, respecting what I originally wrote?

Sorry if this is a dumb request, but I'm a novice and am at a loss for what to use to achieve this goal, thus I thought I'd ask here.

PS. Sorry if my examples fairly bad. The point is that English uses a lot of set phrases, which Japanese people will often translate literally, which, among other things, is what I want to ask them to avoid.


texts:
着 as in [着る]{きる}. I have tried looking up the kanji at Richard Sear's Chinese Etymology site, Wictionary and other sites. Every one of them points to a variant, 著 but offer no explanation as to why it means wear and write at the same time ?

Richard Sear's Chinese Etymology,

  Primitive pictograph 着著. From bamboo 艹竹 and words 曰 and remnant of bamboo scroll threaded together. Original meaning to write.

Wictionary,

  This character, 着, is the simplified and variant traditional form of 著

All I know is that the top part of the kanji is grass radical according to wictionary and rest of the part is a phonetic.

Why does the same Kanji mean wear and write ? Where can I find more information about how the kanji evolved to mean seemingly unrelated things ? Why Japanese only took the meaning related to wearing something and dropped the meaning which means to write?


texts: Please help translate this sentence. 請求する行為によって時効を中断しない限り,

texts:
Cited passage:

  学生時代に末弘(厳太郎)先生から民法の講義をきいたとき「時効」という制度について次のように説明されたのを覚えています。金を借りて催促さ れないのをいいことにして、ネコババをきめこむ不心得者がトクをして、気の弱い善人の貸し手が結局損をするという結果になるのはずいぶん不人情な話のよう に思われるけれども、この規定の根拠には、権利の上に長くねむっている者は民法の保護に値しないという趣旨も含まれている、というお話だったのです。いま 考えてみると、請求する行為によって時効を中断しない限り、たんに自分は債権者であるという位置に安住していると、ついには債権を喪失するというロジック のなかには、一民法の法理にとどまらないきわめて重大な意味がひそんでいるように思われます。

(丸山眞男)
Source: https://ameblo.jp/knowledge184-columnist/entry-11166425820.html

I think the overage passage is saying that if one doesn't protect his rights, then those rights might be loss. Now, I don't understand the highlighted sentence meaning and usage.

請求する行為によって means [by the act of claiming (your money back)], while 時効を中断しない限り means [as long as it's not breaking the legal/valid period] right?

So how does it all fit in with the latter part of the sentence. To me, it seems like he's protecting his rights but then finally he loses it (ついには債権を喪失する). Please help translate.

日本語でも英語でも大丈夫、教えてください。


texts:
This is a sentence from the fifth story in キノの旅, which is 大人の国. For context, the narrator is talking about a time when she was a kid and she said something about the "surgery" that offended her parents. Everyone in the country has a surgery to become an adult when they turn 12.

  子供だから戯言を言っただけとは思えないほど、彼らにはそれが重要なことだったのだと思う。今までみんなが、そして何より自分達が無理矢理されたことを、抵抗ができなかったからこそ素晴らしいことと思い込む。心の平穏を保つための防衛手段だったのではなかったかと。

I find this whole section pretty difficult, and it's hard for me to say exactly which part I'm confused about. I'm assuming それ refers to the surgery (and not, for example, what she said to her parents). If that seems wrong please correct me.

How should I parse the second sentence? Are みんなが and 自分達が part of the clause that ends with 無理矢理された? Are they the subject of 思い込む? Does 自分達が無理矢理されたこと mean "what was done to them against their will"? And why does the sentence end with the dictionary form 思い込む rather than something like 思い込んでいたのだろう?

Sorry for asking so many questions! Feel free to just answer whichever questions seem most important.


texts:
「テレワーク」は、離れたを示す「ｔｅｌｅ」と働くの「ｗｏｒｋ」を組み合わせた造語で「遠いところで働く」という意味です。

  インターネットやパソコンなどＩＴを使って、会社以外の場所で働くことで、自宅で働く「在宅勤務」や勤務先以外のオフィススペースで働く「サテライトオフィス勤務」などがその代表例です。(source)

I don't understand the logic behind it? It seems more logical to use それ(replacing テレワーク)の代表例 because the sentence before is about テレワーク and not about (representative) examples.

XやYなどがその代表例です means literally "X and Y are those representative examples" but the sentence before is not about examples at all so I don't understand why we would use 'those'?

I understand that it means that those are prime examples of 「テレワーク」(deducted with the context and the example sentences that I found where その代表例 is used) but I don't understand the structure and the logic.


texts:
I sometimes see moving or directional verbs doubled up, with the first verb in て form. I think my professor mentioned that this just sometimes happens but means the same as if you didn't have the second verb. So essentially the following 2 sentences are the same (both meaning I went traveling).

旅行に行きました
旅行に行って来ました

But is there any nuance difference between the 2?

I might also be wrong. Something tells me this might mean I went traveling and was still there.


texts: The difference between する and している with onomatopoeias

texts:
For example, what would the difference between 膝{ひざ}がガクガクする or 膝{ひざ}がガクガクしている be?

I believe the correct definition in Daijirin is 恐怖{きょうふ}・疲労{ひろう}・緊張{きんちょう}などのために体{からだ}の一部{いちぶ}が小刻{こきざ}みに震{ふる}えるさま, but that doesn't help me see how the two differ.

or the difference between:

  自分{じぶん}で出{だ}しておいてナンだけど、すごいドキドキする　怖{こわ}いかも

  自分で出しておいてナンだけど、すごいドキドキしている　怖{こわ}いかも


texts:
Jisho gives "exam" as one of the possible meanings of 校, but I was not able to find any words with this kanji which has a meaning related to "exam". Is there any?
My interest in this comes from the fact that I have started using Helsig's method to memorize kanji, but it seems counterproductive to me that some keywords are not related to any meaning of the corresponding kanji. Therefore, I have decided to replace each of such keywords with one of the corresponding kanji meanings. There is a keyword "exam" for this kanji and I'm considering updating it to something which makes more sense, such as "school".
obs: I have looked in the list of words which use this Kanji in Jisho. If there is a better way to find words which use a kanji, I'd be glad to know


texts:
I have question regarding the following sentence in English:
I also think that holidays are good and people need it.
At first I came up with this:

私も休日がよくて人はそれがいると思います。

But I am not sure whether this would be the better solution?

私も人は休日が要ってこれがよいと思います。

Is there a specific order or rule I can apply to this?


texts: I was studying the names of the planets and noticed some similarities. Are the days of the week named after the planets?


texts: In which context the sonkeigo is used with the imperative form?

texts:
I've encountered this example sentence for the word ポテトチップス (so there is no further context) where it is the case:

  もっとポテトチップスをご自由に召し上がれ。
  Help yourself to more potato chips.

And then I find another, but there is still no context because it's also an example sentence:

  もう１杯召し上がれ。
  Have another cup.


texts: What is the difference between 落とす and なくす?

texts:
Consider the following two sentences:

A:  かぎをなくしてしまいました。
B:  かぎを落としてしまいました。

I have looked up in dictionaries and I found

落とす　：drop, lose, etc

なくす　：lose

落ちる　：drop, fall, etc

I think the meaning of 落とす for lose is the same as 落ちてなくす which is drop followed by lose.
Is there any difference?


texts:
Can't understand Kanji, so please use furigana in answers :)
Context: I'm using Rosetta stone, so there's just pictures.  The picture accompanying the first sentence is a girl sleeping on a beach, the picture for the second sentence is just some random guy in mid-stride, walking on top of a mountain.

おんなのこは　かいがんで　ねています
おとこのひとは　やまを　あるいています

I'm confused about the use of で in one and the use of を in the other.  As I understand it, で implies wandering around inside some fixed borders, whereas を indicates going through a location.
Would I be right in thinking the first sentence uses で to imply the girl is sleeping on the beach/within the borders of the beach, and を implies the man is walking through the mountains, not within them?


texts: Is 「どこにもありません。」the same as 「どこもではありません。」?

texts:
When you ask "Where is the book?"

  本はどこにありますか。or
  本はどこですか。

Are both answers ("It is nowhere.") in Japanese correct?

  どこにもありません。or
  どこもではありません。

Is 「どこにもありません。」the same as 「どこもではありません。」, are both correct?


texts:
In the dictionary, 今度 has three definitions as follows. How does one know which applies for certain since they contradict one another? I feel it is too much to depend on context only.

this time; now
next time; another time; shortly; soon
recently; lately; the other day

今度の面接のために、このスーツを買いました from https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/%E3%81%9F%E3%82%81%E3%81%AB-tame-ni-meaning/ was translated to "I bought this suit for my upcoming interview." What would prevent it from being interpreted as "I bought this suit for my last or recent interview."
I understand most of the time it means "next time" or the tense of the main verb can help. However can one be more certain?


texts: I am in a Japanese office setup sitting next to my boss. He often gets phone calls but most of the time he is not in his seat. How do I answer his phone say that "This is Mr. XX's seat and this is YY (my name) talking and Mr.XX is not in his place" in Japanese?


texts: のちほどスタッフは彼女の元を去りました。 Could someone explain how 元を去りました。works here?

texts:
のちほどスタッフは彼女の元を去りました。
This was written on screen at the end of a video skit about a girl at a 女子会 at a restaurant.
元を去りました means the staff left her alone?
If anyone could translate this sentence, I would appreciate it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_QQeSdHjqI&feature=BFa&list=WLFF0791364AE7F1A1&lf=feedwll


texts:
Context: in the last round of a match, a boxer realizes his opponent is just repeating the same combination over and over. I think 骨 in the following sentence has a metaphorical meaning, but I don't know how to interpret it:

  支えるのはもう…　剥き出した骨のみ

I think the general meaning of the sentence should be:

  The only thing that supports him... is now exposed.

Here you can see the whole page for more context. Thank you for your help!


texts:
From this article: https://baseballking.jp/ns/75506

日本一連覇中の王者でありながら

What is the meaning and purpose of 一連覇中 here? Does it mean he became champion multiples?
Won't 日本の王者 just mean the same thing?


texts:
I believe it has something to do with bullying.
Also, I think I heard it as a verb: やさぐれる
I can't seem to find much information about it. Is it slang?


texts: When to use としたら instead of たら for conditionals

texts:
When is it recommended to use としたら in place of simply たら? It seems that in many cases たら can serve the role of "if it you were..." so in what places do we need to use としたら? For example,

もし今東京に住んでいたらコロナに巻き込まれているんだけどね

vs

もし今東京に住んでいるとしたらコロナに巻き込まれているんだけどね

What is the difference here, and more generally speaking. Also it seems that perhaps other conditionals could be used here so I wonder about that too. For instance.

もし山田さんが来てなければこのテーブル持ち上げられません

vs

もし山田さんが来てないとしたらこのテーブル持ち上げられません

PS: If relevant, what is the difference between these conditionals and 仮に


texts:
My best translation of the following sentence is

関心{かんしん}ももたらずに放｛ほう｝っておきました。
Without sufficient interest, it's been neglected.

My guess is that たらず can be written as 足らず (insufficient), but I'm not sure what the も in も足らず should be. I can't find ももたらず in my usual dictionaries. The closest I've come is from this site, but I didn't fully understand the explanation in Japanese:

http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E3%82%82%E3%82%82%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89%E3%81%9A

  百に足りない数であるところから「八十{やそ}」「五十{いそ}」に、また「や」や「い」の音から「山田」「筏{いかだ}」などにかかる。

  出典万葉集　三八一一

  「ももたらず八十{やそ}の衢{ちまた}に」

  [訳] たくさんの道が通じた交差点に。

  出典万葉集　三二七六

  「ももたらず山田の道を」

  [訳] 山田の道を。


texts: Can someone help me translate this sentence?

texts:
I was studying minna no nihongo 2 中級 and this sentence appeared in the middle of a text.
I don't quite understand it. Just the general idea.

  ロボコンによる教育は、生徒たちを精神的に成長させる人間教育としても注目されるようになった。

This "としても" confused me.
What does this sentence mean?


texts: What's the difference between 直る and 治る?

texts: In jsho dictionary both mean to to be cured, and both are also intransitive. Is there any difference?


texts:
俺も泣き顔より笑顔の方が格段にいいと思う。
  だから笑わないセイバーには苛々していた。
  なのに、彼女は言っていた。
  笑えと言う自分に、笑っている俺を見ている方がいいと。
  それは。
  望遠鏡から覗く、届かない星と同じ。

My translation is the sequent:

  I too believe a smiling face is way better than a crying one.
  That is why I got angry at Saber who was not smiling.
  Despite that, she said:
  For her, looking at me smile was better than telling herself to smile
  That was.
  The same as looking through a telescope at an unreachable star.

I am not sure about this sentence.
I looked up the fantranslation and it goes like this:

  I think a smiling face is much better than a crying one.
  That's why I was irritated when Saber wasn't smiling.
  But when I told her to smile.
  She said that it was better if she saw me smiling.
  That's…
  It's like seeing stars through a telescope that you can never reach.

Which is the correct one and why?
Can someone explain?


texts:
Meaning of んと流す

Could anyone please explain the meaning of 得させんと流す to me?

Full sentence:

  多くの人の為に、罪の赦しを得させんと流すものなり。
  http://s.vndb.org/sf/25/36025.jpg


texts: I've found other ways to say "as you can see" but most of them are the literate verb to see 見てる. I'm trying to explain something in the sentence.


texts: 「それがなにか」 v.s. 「それはなにか」

texts:
According to Weblio, 「それがなにか（問題）」 is similar to "So what", e.g.

I'm wondering why the topic marker 「は」, as in 「それはなに」, is not used here.

After all, "As to that, is there any thing wrong" sounds very close to "So what".


texts:
I am having troubles figuring out what the use of the 「に」 in 「に越したことはない」 is.
I searched for almost an hour on internet, but didn't find anything that could possibly answer my question.
Because we put it directly after the 連体形 of a verb, it must be an old use of に that remains common today, but I can't find exactly what its meaning is.
I thought it was the に that we use when we say something like 「私には妹がいる。」to mean "There is a sister to me."
So, I suppose 「食べるに越したことはない。」 would mean "there is no thing that is beyond to [eat]."
But I'm not sure at all whether my guess is right or not.
Somebody help me please, thanks.


texts:
まず鬼の『自分のすぐ近くに誰かが隠れているはずがない』
という先入観を利用し、鬼は無意識にひまりを視界の中に納めはしても、それ以上の索敵はしなくなる

a discussion on hide and seek strategy; hiding close to where the the seeker is counting, which is what himari is doing. speaker is an observer, neither himari or the seeker

(after the seeker opens their eyes when the countdown ends), at first they'd think "there can't be anyone> hiding close to me"
The seeker has this preconception and even though, unconsciously, within their
field of view, the seeker does ____ to himari,  beyond that the seeker will stop
searching for (himari) (to look for the other "hiders").

i can't figure out what 納めはして is suppose to be as "____"
thanks


texts: How do you say "a brush-shop clerk" in Japanese?

texts:
In Japanese would 「筆店の受付」 be how to translate "a brush-shop clerk"　(an employee in an administrative position at a small store that sells all kinds of brushes [probably hair brushes and paint brushes, not only calligraphy supplies])? Is 「受付」 a normal translation for a clerk?

Thank you for any help you can provide.


texts:
An example is (Tanaka and the speaker are in a relationship.):

  どれだけあたしと田中さんが頭をひねったか
  (I think it means something like) How long have Tanaka and I...

頭をひねった doesn't make much sense literally, so I'm not sure about it.


texts: Meaning of 無駄に that doesn't fit dictionary meaning

texts:
I'm playing a game at the moment and have come across a phrase that I can't seem to wrap my head around.

  ってなんでまたここにいるの！？

  こないだのレースの祝賀会をバイトの仲間が開催してくれたんだよ。

  無駄に仲間思いの人たちがいたものね。

I don't understand what the function of 無駄に is here. I understand the dictionary meaning (being a waste) and know it can refer to a negative in contrast to a positive such as in 無駄にかっこいい (good-looking but is shy or something else negative, so it's a waste), but don't see how having people he thinks of as friends is negative if they held him a party? What am I missing?

If I had to guess a translation, I would say:

  Oh, so he has people he thinks of as friends, but that's a waste.

Obviously a terrible translation, so please help!


texts: Questions about the construction A が B(B is a noun)+のだ/のである?

texts:
「……そんな危険な大学出身者どもを、ありがたく受け入れるのが塾講師業界ってんだから」
Hi. The speaker is a 塾講師 and he is talking with a stranger in a bar.
Hi. I have some problems with the bold part. I know it equals 業界というのだから. But I’m not sure if the という is 伝聞 here.

Grammatically speaking, can we insert a だ between 業界 and って? And can we say 業界なのだから here?
If we can, are the three versions (業界だってんだから、業界なのだから、業界ってんだから) the same in meaning and nuance?

A previous related thread addressed the pattern というのだから, where という was interpreted as “they say”. But as far as I know, there are many cases where the という in というのだから is just for emphasis without having a concrete meaning.
https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/11046/what-are-the-usages-of-のだから
I ask this question because the topic sentence reminds me of another sentence that I have come across before. Here goes it,
だがそれも無理からぬことなのかもしれない。
ただでさえ、女子の手作りクッキーをいただくなんてのは、他の男子たちの嫉妬の的だ。
しかもそれが、転入直後から、彼女にしたい女子ランキングを駆け上がった(と噂の)あの夜刀神十香のものだというのである。
The context is that the girl 十香 made some cookies for the protagonist, of whom the other boys were envious.
I was told the という in the bold part above meant “they say” but now that I read it again, I think the という could also just be an emphasis without any meaning. And unlike the first example, there is a だ between もの and という.
So let me summarize my question.
If the construction is A が B(B is a noun)+のだ/のである, as in the two sample sentences, when is a だ immediately after B necessary and when is the だ optional?
When is a って/という immediately before のだ/のである necessary? If the って/という is unnecessary, なのだ works as well in the construction, I think.
Thank you.


texts:
In English, "barely"/"hardly" can be used both with a connection to time ("just finished"):

I had barely finished eating when he arrived. (食べたばかり...)

or to express the idea that a goal was reached at great effort, sometimes against expectations:

We barely made it alive.
There was so much wind, I could barely move forward.
I can hardly explain it myself.

The former (time-related) can generally be translated well with words like ばかり/ばっかり. There are also a few expressions such as ギリギリ or やっとこ, that can express both shortness of time and "difficulty", but building them in the above sentences would be slightly unnatural.
Beside these, is there a more idiomatic way to unambiguously translate that "can do with difficulty"/"nearly couldn't do it, but still managed" adverbial meaning in sentences like the ones above?


texts: Is there a difference between 「どこからか」 and 「どこかから」?

texts:
While reading a child's fairy book, I came across with the following sentence:

人間界に着いたおばけのドロロンは「人間いないかなー♪子供はいないかなー♪」子供の魂をさがそうと街をフラフラ。すると、どこからかいい匂いが漂ってきました。「なんて甘くて美味しそうな匂い…」

I googled and found someone saying there's no difference as in https://hinative.com/ja/questions/13674821 and someone saying that どこからか、が自然です。 as in https://hinative.com/ja/questions/1530368. And also someone says there's a difference between the two.
I want to know under what circumstances will we say the following sentences:

どこかから鈴の音が聞こえてくる。
どこからか鈴の音が聞こえてくる。
物音が、どこかから聞こえる。
物音が、どこからか聞こえる。
どこかから良い匂いが漂ってくる。
どこからか良い匂いが漂ってくる。
どこかから蚊が入ってくる。
どこからか蚊が入ってくる。


texts:
The original sentence is:
人間は一人では生きていけません。
and the requirement is to change the sentence with a "ものです" ending.

I did this:
人間は一人では生きていけないものです.

Am I right?


texts: How do I say "I understand much better than before."?

texts: Or "I understand much better now." If someone helped me with a translation and I responded with: どうもありがとうございます。前より上手に分かっています。 Would that be the correct way to express that in Japanese?


texts: About くれ in 契約を守ってくれなくては困る

texts:
In the sentence below, is くれ imperative form of くれる?

契約を守ってくれなくては困る


texts: On http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/should#part5, the author doesn't explain the etymology of べからず. Can anyone explain?


texts: 歩道 vs 舗装 when meant part of road for people to walk (sidewalk, pavement, footpath)

texts:
As I understand 道 [michi] means any road or street, where people can walk and cars may drive.

But when we mean that part of road which was build to be used only by people to walk: sidewalk, pavement, footpath

1) Which word is better to use 歩道 [hodo:] vs 舗装 [hoso:]?
Are they full synonyms or they have some tiny difference in meaning?

2) Is there on SE question+answer like this What is the difference between 市, 都市, 都会 and 市街 but on road/way/track/street/sidewak/boulevard/avenue/highway topic. Like a set of words with differeneces at meaning.


texts: What's the meaning of 上 in this sentence?

texts:
I am not sure what 上 means in this sentence. I know that 上 means above or on, but I think the meaning here is different because it does not mention anything above or on the sushi.

  僕はいつもここでは握り寿司の上を頼むんだ。

Does it mean:

  I always ask for the top hand-rolled sushi here.

i.e. best hand-rolled sushi?


texts: Spotting the N1 に N2 construction (eg パンにバター）

texts:
I have recently come to the conclusion that the N1 に N2 construction (eg パンにバター）is more common than I thought. It is the only explanation I think of to make grammatical sense of the sentences below. Could somebody confirm I have this right (in bold)  in the following case?

  なお、本状と行き違いにお支払い済みの場合はお許しください
  Please ignore this notice if you have already paid (this card and your payment have crossed)

Note

The following sentence has been removed as に should have been の：相手に言い分もわかったとはいえ、心から納得したわけではない ( "Although I understand were he's coming from, I can't really agree with him.")


texts:
If I'm trying to say or write "See you on Tuesday" to someone politely, can I say

また火曜日。

or is it better to say

また火曜日です。


texts: What does "nanode" mean? What are its grammatical rules?

texts:
What's the meaning of this sentence and what does なので mean here? If possible, I would like to know the grammatical rules of なので as well.

  英語と日本語なので私にとっても良い勉強になります。


texts: I just noticed something. There are some Kanji that use Hiragana instead of the characters (like きれい). I'm a bit confused.


texts:
I already know there is the adjective iroiro+na, and I've learned that, but recently I've learned that iroiro+to and iroiro+no are different ways to use "iroiro", which I have not learned in class, yet I've already finished the course... I can't really find an answer online though. Any explanation will help.

Thank you.


texts: 足が遠い　does it have the following meaning?

texts:
Ok, so I found this phrase in regards to a profile of a character and there's a list given with his abilities and such. The first thing in that list was that it said that the character has good reflexes, followed by this: 足が遠い.
What I could understand was that, literally, his legs reach far? Does it imply that I dunno, he is flexible? I don't think it's similar to 長い, right? It sounded quite peculiar to me and I couldn't find some examples in sentences, except for this other phrase 足が遠のく which it looked similar, but it has another meaning.


texts: What's the difference between complaints 不満 不平 文句?

texts:
I tried reading explanations in Japanese on hinative, but they tend to use one of these words to describe the other two.

Usually I only distinguish formal complaints (苦情) and verbal informal complaints, and apparently there are at least three types of informal complaints in Japanese.


texts:
Here is the sentence including the word.

  生{せい}活{かつ}費{ひ}そのほかいっさいのせわを丹{たん}下｛げ｝氏{し}よりうけ


texts: Could you help me understand this sentence?

texts:
I came across this sentence: "恋愛してもいい歳だ"google translator says it means: "I'm old enough to love" but is that really what it means?
Could you please explain this grammar pattern to me?
Thank you in advance.


texts: English as a second language, Japanese as a third language -learning it in english, or mother language?

texts:
This is a question particularly aimed for those, who speak English as a second language, and also mastered Japanese:

When studying words & phrases, did you found it more efficient to study it with the english translation, or translation of your original language?

(If length of use is a parameter, I've been using english, and been living in english-speaking countries for >8 years; but used my mother language, and been living there for 20)


texts:
Background

In my understanding that might be wrong, I think the ～ない form of a verb becomes an i-adjective. For example,

  納{なっ}豆{とう}を食{た}べない人{ひと}が多{おお}いです。

where 納{なっ}豆{とう}を食{た}べない modifies 人{ひと}.

Furthermore, I think I should be able to make use of the following pattern as well,

  目{め}が大{おお}きくて納{なっ}豆{とう}を食{た}べない人{ひと}が多{おお}いです。

or in the reversed order,

  納{なっ}豆{とう}を食{た}べなくて目{め}が大{おお}きい人{ひと}が多{おお}いです。

Question

Today I learnt a new grammar.

  砂{さ}糖{とう}を入{い}れてコーヒーを飲みます。

What makes me confused is the negative version as follows,

  砂{さ}糖{とう}を入{い}れないでコーヒーを飲みます。

Why don't we use ～なくて instead of ～ないで as follows?

  砂{さ}糖{とう}を入{い}れなくてコーヒーを飲みます。


texts: What do these two phrases with さえ and ように mean?

texts:
I need some help with translating this:

  君の後ろ姿さえ 明日への希望に思えた日を
  幻にしないように 瞼へと刻んだサヨナラ

These two phrases are from certain Japanese song and I can't understand them.
The parts I have difficulty with are:

What does "さえ" mean here? I know its meaning is ( Even, if only, if just, as long as, the only thing needed.) but I can't tell which meaning it has here to link the second part.
In the second phrase there is a part with "ように". What does it mean? Is it "in order to" or "take care that" ...?


texts: Question about the possible nuances in this sentence

texts:
In found this sentence in a novel (甘城ブリリアントパーク). The person that is talked about here is a fairly intelligent guy who is at the time of utterance visiting a theme park. He has seen several mascots already which are all designed in a similar pattern. After he sees the outfit of yet another one this sentence is expressed.

  「（オーソドックスなかわいさとでもいうのか。）きちんとツボを押さえているのはさすがといったところだ。」

As far as I understood it the 「ツボを押さえている」means that he got the essential points of the mascots' design pattern; however what follows is troubling me. (https://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E3%83%84%E3%83%9C%E3%82%92%E6%8A%BC%E3%81%95%E3%81%88%E3%82%8B)

Usually 「といったところ」is explained as "a certain amount (that is not really impressive)"; therefore my question is: Does this last part imply that it is pretty obvious for aforementioned protagonist to fully understand/grasp the "general design pattern" of the theme park?
(https://nihongonosensei.net/?p=11855) (https://j-nihongo.com/toittatokoroda/)


texts: "One step behind" or "one move too late"

texts:
I heard this phrase that sounds like 「いいえ、一手のさで、私どもの勝ちです。」, which in the context should mean one is one step behind, or one move too late, or being overtaken by someone else in doing something. But I cannot catch what the last part (after の）means. I don't actually know for sure if the first two is 一手, but it looks to me the only possible fit. After の it might have been さて instead of さで, but I cannot search online with just this.

I am fairly sure this is not slang/colloquial, so I doubt it's a modification that does not appear in dictionary. What is the exact phrase, and if I heard wrongly what is the closest to this?


texts: Use of ...と思います at beginning of presentation

texts: I've noticed that in the introduction to a presentation of some sort (whether it be an academic presentation or a YouTube video explaining something), the presenter will often say something along the lines of 「　…　したいと思います。」 Why is this? Doesn't this give the message of "I think I want to present this"?


texts: Is hiragana equal to lower case and katakana equal to upper case when comparing Japanese and western writing systems?

texts:
In western languages, if we need to emphasize some words, or mark something to be special, we use ALL UPPER CASE to do that even when the word is normally written with lower case. While in Japanese, we can write that word in katakana even when the word is normally written with hiragana.

Does this fact mean, when doing computer programming, we can treat hiragana as a lower case letter, and katakana as an upper case letter. For example, are the following algorithms appropriate for a Japanese user?

A procedure converting a sentence to all upper case converts all hiragana characters to katakana inside, and a procedure converting a sentence to all lower case converts all katakana characters to hiragana chracters.
When naming variables in camelCase, if the variable name is in Japanese, use a katakana at the beginning of a word, and a hiragana otherwise
In terms of password complexity requirement, e.g. at least 1 upper case and 1 lower case, count hiragana as lower case and katakana as upper case when the user enters Japanese as password.


texts: Is there a difference between ご飯 and 御飯?

texts: I know they both mean rice but is there a difference between the two? Perhaps one is more specific or am I typing them wrong? Also, can ごはん be used to write rice or is one of the other versions more common? I am a beginner in learning Japanese and just unsure of the proper ways to write the words.


texts: Why does きいろ mean yellow rather than green?

texts:
I know that most of "why" questions don't make much sense as far as linguistics are concerned but I'll ask anyway.

I know that  き means a tree. いろ means color. It doesn't take a genius to guess that きいろ (lit. tree color) should mean green. But it means yellow. Is there any reason for this?


texts: ともすれば～・ともすると～: " a tendency to ~, prone to ~" or "cause and effect"?

texts:
頭の中は恥辱と奇妙な解放感に混乱した。ともすると恥辱と刺激だけが意識を占めてしまいそうになる。

  彼の掌から甘い痺れが沁みこんで来て、ともすれば腰が抜けそうになる。

  呼吸を整えることで、ともすれば崩れそうになる自尊心を平静に保とうとした。

Regarding these examples, it feels"as a result," is more appropriate than " a tendency to ~, prone to ~" for the uses of ともすれば・ともすると. The clauses after ともすれば・ともすると feel much more like a outcome due to the actions in the first clause than a long held habit.

even with 大辞林 i still only get どうかすると。ややもすると。ともすれば as definitions.

Thanks for any clarifications.


texts: Is apple usually spelt as リンゴ in a culinary context?

texts:
I came across the sentence

  あなたは1つのリンゴを食べます

on the English for Japanese speakers duolingo course. (I'm mainly doing it as dogfooding before suggesting it to a Japanese speaker learning English)

Is it normal in a context of talking about a foodstuff to use the katakana form?

Jisho.org doesn't indicate whether to use hiragana or katakana, and Wiktionary says

  As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana in biological contexts, as リンゴ.

Which I assume doesn't apply here. The Japanese edition of Wikipedia uses katakana, but it talks about it at least partially in a biological context.


texts:
I've been asked a couple of times by Japanese where my "おく" was, and I just respond to where my country of origin (the answer is what they were expecting so I guess I have the right notion of what it means).

I can't actually find おく in the dictionary referring to country. Is it short for something (like お国)?


texts: Rules governing formation of adjectival and genitive modifications for Noun-Phrase

texts:
The following was observed in sawa's answer to "Can ごとに be replaced by それぞれ in this question?":

　◯　正月はそれぞれの家が門松を立てる。
　×　木村さんはそれぞれの会う人に挨拶している。
　◯　木村さんは会う人それぞれに挨拶している。

それぞれの会う人 is said to be an ungrammatical construction because it is modified from outside of the relative clause. What are the rules for modifying noun-phrases?
I had perceived それぞれの会う人 as a XのY construction i.e. I perceived 会う人 as a noun-equivalent. Does this imply that a relative clause construction cannot act in all ways that a noun can?
Also, are the following constructions valid?

[な-adjective] + [noun-phrase from relative clause construction]

[い-adjective] + [noun-phrase from relative clause construction]


texts: greeting the wife of a colleague with 「お世話になっています」?

texts:
Supposing I'm meeting a colleague's wife for the first time, I was trying to think of how to modify いつもお世話になっています to express something like "I'm always in your husband's care". Is this appropriate? if so, how would I modify the phrase?

I've encountered the phase used where the speaker is thanking the person he's talking to on behalf of a third person - for example 息子がお世話になっています - and I wondered if it works the other way around.


texts: Does し here mean the "do" verb stem or is it expressing reasons? And why is も used without は?

texts:
I'm reading Tae Kim grammar and there is a sentence which I can't relate to either of two grammar rules (see topic name):

Ａ：旅行の計画は終わった？
A: Are the plans for the trip complete?
Ｂ：うん、切符を買ったし(!)、ホテルの予約もし(!)てある。
B: Uh huh, not only did I buy the ticket, I also took care of the
hotel reservations.

What do the し mean there? Also, why is there も?


texts: I wondered about this. I know the first name can be written in Hiragana, Katakata, Kanji (and maybe a mix of it?) but how is it with family names? I think I've never seen one which was mixed, Hiragana or Katakana unless it was a stage or foreign name. Do surnames not only with Kanji exist?


texts: Why で instead of を in しんぐもつちぼこりでよごしてしまいました。

texts:
I know that I can use で here to mean by/with but wouldn't it be more proper to use を since よごす is a transitive verb?

  しんぐもつちぼこりでよごしてしまいました。

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!


texts: is "Ai suru hito" rightly translated as "beloved persons"?

texts:
I'm confused about the phrase "Ai suru hito" being translated as "beloved ones" in the phrase

"Ooshiku tatta wakamono wa
Ai suru hito o kabaitsutsu "

As far as I understand, aisuru is translated as "to love". But here it is used as an adjective. Is it rightly translated? and if so, is it common for verbs to used like adjectives by placing them before a noun?


texts: Correct usage of [verb stem] + に + [another verb]

texts:
I'm a little unclear on the use a verb stem, followed by に and another verb.
Take these two examples:

特別なビザをもらって行った
特別なビザをもらいに行った

I think the first means "I went with a special visa", but it might be simply grammatically incorrect.
The second, I think means "I went to get a special visa". I'm pretty sure it's grammatically correct as I got it from a native speaker.
I have a lot of bad habits when speaking Japanese, and I think one of them is that I often mess up and use the first form when I should use the second.
So I just want to be clear. Is the first example simply incorrect grammar (and therefor meaningless), or does it mean what I think?
Also, do I have the translation on the second example correct?
This might be related to the difference between に and で as in this question.


texts:
I encountered this phrase and after a bit of Googling, it seems to describe the action of crowding around a particular thing or object (people crowding around someone, trees crowding around a building) but doesn't 取り囲む itself also describe that action? Does omitting the 周囲 change the effect of its use in sentences or is it more similar to an idiomatic set phrase?

The sentence i saw it in was:

  周囲を取り囲むように大勢の学生が集まっている。


texts:
Last summer my family hosted a Japanese exchange student for two weeks, and we've kept in touch with her a lot. Unfortunately, about 2 months ago I found out she had Leukemia. She said she'll recover...but it'll take a long time (6 months according to her)

I know Japanese at an intermediate level, so it strikes me as odd I've never picked up the phrase "Get well soon". We're sending her a bunch of gifts and a card (and my family knows I'm the only one with any knowledge of Japanese), so they put it on me to write what goes inside of it.

Please help me not screw this up =x She's 16 turning 17 soon if that makes a big difference.


texts: What are all the possible meanings of 筆記{ひっき}の心{こころ}?

texts:
It kinda popped into my head one day and I want to know the correct meaning and translation into English. Translating it through Google Translate gets you 'Heart of the writing'. I know the meanings of the kanji by themselves but searching the word 筆記 in a dictionary gets me '(taking) notes; copying'.

I would like to know how a native person would read and understand 筆記の心.

Edit: Wikipedia also has it as 'writing' 筆記  but I understand only as far as my knowledge and Google Translate can help me.


texts:
Excerpt from A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar:

Consider the difference in the sentences below:

  [a] 昼間遊ぶ代わりに夜遊ぶつもりだ。
  I intend to play at night instead of having fun in the daytime.

  [b]　昼間遊んだ代わりに夜勉強した。
   I played in the daytime, so (to make up for it) I studied at night.

  [c] 昼間遊んだ代わりに勉強するつもりだ。
   I played in the daytime, so (to make up for it) I intend to study at night.

  [d]　昼間遊ぶ代わりに夜遊んだ。
   I played at night instead of playing in the daytime.

I shall generalise the sentences to the form [X]代わりに[Y].

For [a] and [d], X and Y are regarding the same activity (遊ぶ). So when used with 代わりに, Y occurs while the action is not performed at X.

For [b], X and Y are separate activities (遊ぶ and　勉強 respectively). When used with 代わりに, both X and Y have the activity carried out.

I think where I'm having trouble understanding is becoming evident. There seems to be a missing construction where X and Y are separate activities, and only Y is carried out.

I'm trying to convey "I studied at night instead of playing in the daytime" (The action of playing is not carried out).

I know that there are ~ないで and ~ずに that does approximately the same thing, but they create sentences that are "Without X, do Y" which does not have the nuance that "instead" creates, which is "Do Y in place of X"

(Question) Can 代わりに do what I'm trying to do? If yes, how? Or must I use a different word altogether?

References:
 1: A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar, Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui (ISBN4-7890-0775-8)


texts: Is the Japanese verb 'ちらばります’ an intransitive verb or not?


texts: あまり気持ちのいいものではない in this context

texts:
girl X who the MC has never met before, suddenly appears and says that she is he MC's fiance

  俺だって、興味がない訳じゃない。

  会ったこともない人との絆があるって言われても正直ピンとこないし、あまり気持ちのいいものではない。

  それに、もし、Xと俺が許嫁となる運命であるのならば……こんな綺麗な女の子とケッコンかぁ……。それもいいかもしれない。

in this section the speaker is not entirely opposed to this situation in the 1st statement and quite positive in 3rd.

What i have trouble with is the "あまり気持ちのいいものではない"/"I'm really not alright with this" statement followed by "それに、もし、this would be pretty nice since she's so beautiful" .

Logically it would make much more sense if "あまり気持ちのいいものではない" was a positive statement for "それに、もし、Xと俺..." to add on to.

Thank you


texts: Understanding the connection between adverbs and adjective negation

texts:
い-adjectives negate in the following way.

  「大{おお}きい」→「大きくない」

How I've always interpreted process is that we're basically changing the adjective 「大きい」 into the adverb form 「大きく」 and then tacking on 「ない」, which is itself an adjective describing negation.

One thing that seems weird is of course that「ない」is an adjective and not a verb, so why would our adjective need to be changed into an adverb first? Perhaps it is because in context we would see 「ないです」, which itself functions as a verb? So perhaps in the sentence 「大きくないです」, we are seeing an outer structure outer structure of 「大きく」 and an inner structure of 「ないです」.

Usually, I see 「大きくないです」 romanized as ookikunai desu instead of ookiku naidesu, so this makes me doubt my thinking.

Is the way I described above a correct way of interpreting this inflection? If not, what would be a proper way?


texts:
じゃあんたはなりたいか

Is this the same as じゃあんたは何になりたいか but with 何 implied?
I'm thinking it might be like in English where a teacher might say to a child "and you want to be ...?" with rising intonation, expecting the child to complete the sentence by saying "a doctor" for example.


texts:
日本語と英語は、文法だけなくて、考え方随分違うらしい。

It is saying that: evidently, the way of thinking in english and japanese is extremely different.

What does the 文法だけなくて? (Grammar only ...?)
I always get confused when なくて appears in a sentence. It is as if i am bracing for some contradiction or negative.

Is their a general phrase pattern for 「~なくて」？


texts:
I'm not understanding this use of the ～さえ～ば pattern. This example comes from a manga.

両親のもとへ　帰ってからの生活は　拍子抜けするほど　普通だった
母が仕事優先で　家庭を省みないことも
父が体裁さえ　保てていれば　家庭に無関心なことも
今のわたしには　割り切れるように　なっていて
昔みたいに　寂しさや息苦しさは　もう感じなかった

My interpretation of the third part is like "If my dad would save face, he would be indifferent to family matters", but that doesn't make sense. It seems opposite that being indifferent to family would save face.
Does this pattern not work how I think it does? Or maybe am I misinterpreting 体裁を保つ?


texts: I heard this the other day, and I can't find it in my dictionary. From the context, it seemed to be used with the meaning of "disappointing," or "a let-down."


texts: "二つ目のお話しのtheme" vs. "二つのお話しのtheme" nuance difference?

texts:
(1) 二つ目のお話のthemeは愛と失意{しつい}です。
  (2) 二つのお話のthemeは愛と失意です。

Fundamentally, both sentences mean

  The two themes of this talk are love and despair.

What is the difference in meaning / nuance between #1 and #2?


texts: What is the meaning of '育てられ方’ in this sentence?

texts:
I would appreciate it if someone could break down the grammar in this sentence for me and offer an English translation. What I am confused about is who the subject in this sentence is and whether '育てられ方' is in passive or some other grammatical form. Also, why 'をする' was used with '育てられ方'

友達が、両親からどのような育てられ方をしましたか。


texts: What do we know about vowel variations such as 雨 read as あめ/あま

texts:
There are several words which have vowel variations. This seems like it could be a fossilization of morphological processes in an older version of Japanese. How much do we know about these processes? Can we reconstruct a grammatical or phonological explanation for these vowel variations?

雨: あめ
雨水: あまみず

月：つき
月読：つくよみ

高：たか
丈：たけ


texts: What is the difference between 各 and 毎{ごと}?

texts:
I think the difference is mainly just a nuance:

毎{ごと}・・・each ・・・それぞれの
各・・・every・・・すべての

I think 毎 is used mainly with 名詞や動詞

「年毎に」
「会う人毎に」

Or there is any other difference?


texts: Confused by the meaning of ~なかな at the end of a sentence

texts:
でも人通りが多すぎてちょっとうるさくないなかあ。近所付き合いが大変じゃないといいんだけど。

The sentences are regarding to the situation of renting an apartment.
For my own guessing, the first sentence probably means

  There are too many people passing by so it's very noisy

Then in this case why does the it use the negative expression うるさくない then followed by a weird ending word of なかあ?

Could anyone one help to explain the use of なかあ and the meaning of the whole sentence?


texts: Confused when determining the correct subject with 思います

texts:
I met the following sentence :

  あなたのお母さんは私が好きじゃないと思います
  I think your mother doesn't like me.

As far I can tell, あなたのお母さん is the subject or topic marker of the sentence. But at the end of the sentence, there comes 思います, which means "to think".

Based on the subject and the verb at the end, I'm confused with the translation since it says "I think your mother [...]".

Isn't it supposed to be "Your mother thinks [...]" since the verb 思います refers to the subject あなたのお母さん? Where did the "I" subject come from? Or is there an invisible subject "I" in the sentence ?


texts: Use of a comma to separate a single word

texts:
I brushed up on the use of Japanese commas (読点) here, but I don't think it explained this usage I found on 知恵袋.

The sentence is this:

忙しい、の対義語に当たる形容詞は何でしょうか。

Why exactly is the OP using the comma like this? The rule of thumb for me in English is that if you pause when speaking, you should use a comma in writing. I've just carried that over to Japanese somewhat, but this sentence would sound very unnatural to my (non-native) ears if one where to pause after 忙しい. Is that just not the case? Is this a standard use of the 読点 or internet slang, or...?


texts:
２６日は、１９日と別の場所で２回目の噴火がありました。
  On the 26th there was a second eruption in a place different from the 19th.
  しかし、２６日に噴火が起こった所は、頂上から西側に５００ｍぐらいの所でした。
  However, the place where the eruption occurred on the 26th was around 500m to the west of the summit.

For along time now I've been happily reading both 場所 and 所 as 'place' without thinking about the difference. Are they interchangeable or is there a deeper reason for using different words in the above text?


texts: How to express that something "must be + adj" as in "we must be strong"?

texts:
I am not talking about consequences, such as in "I can't find my wallet, I must have lost it" in which case I think something like ~に違いない could be used. Rather, I would like to know how to express that something "must be + adj" because of some reason.

Example 1: We must be strong (for example because the times are tough).

Example 2: The transition must be harmonious/peaceful

My guess is that some verb conjugated in the "なければならない" form should be used, with the verb depending on the situation.

My  attempts:

Example 1: 強くでいなければならない.

Example 2: 推移は...に行わなければならない.

Which makes me realize I also would like to know what's a good word for "peacefully/harmoniously" in this case. Notice that here I'm thinking of an abstract transition from one state to another such as could be changing a job or habit, rather than a concrete physical transition.

Anyway, I am really not very confident that my attempts make sense (if they are grammatically correct at all) so even though somehow I feel this is probably something quite basic, I'd appreciate some help. Thank you.


texts: What is a natual expression for "vast collection"?

texts:
I can't seen to find a natural expression for "vast collection", as in:

  I have a vast collection of baseball cards.

Literally there is 莫大なコレクション, but that seems pretty unnatural and I don't see it used online much. I know there are other adjectives like 巨大 or 大規模, but I can't find a good combination. Also, I am not sure if 集まり would be better than コレクション or if there is another common word pairing here.


texts: 日本人のかたですか vs 日本のかたですか

texts: I originally received a post from an online chat which stated 「日本人のかたですか？」 I assumed this post was correct and questioned the meaning of the word かた in this instance. Would 「日本人のかたですか？」 be considered redundant? Would 「日本のかたですか？」 be the correct rewrite of the sentence with かた meaning person?


texts: Etymology of 「ボンボン」 meaning "green young man from a well-to-do family" in Kansai dialect

texts:
I came across this word and the most fitting definition in JMdict was the fifth one here.

What does it come from? None of the 擬＊語 defined in JMdict describe a "green young man from a well-to-do family" in my opinion. There's also the French loanword ボンボン meaning sweets, so maybe that's related somehow.


texts:
I wanted to say the following:

  "I am trying to learn to play Mexican songs on the guitar."

I know how to express try to, but I am not sure about the rest. Perhaps

  メキシカンな歌{うた}でギターをひきますをするならびましょうとする。

Is that translation correct?


texts: Can we use Kanji for 「すみれ」 (violet color)?

texts: Can we use Kanji for「すみれ」? I want to describe violet color. I've tried 「菫色」to look here, but no luck..


texts: How do you say, "I have been an annoying person lately."?

texts:
I know I have to start the sentence with 「最近」for "lately" but I don't know what to say for the rest of the sentence. Could someone help me with this?

Does it go like 「最近私は面倒くさい人です。」?
Thanks!

Also,
- I want to speak in a formal way. (I want to apologize to my senior ^^; )
- I am a girl.


texts:
髪を染めたんですけど、すでに黒髪が恋しくて、早く色落ちしないかなあって思ってるだけです

I don't understand 落ちしないかなあって思ってる from the above quote.

Is 落ち acting as a noun here with しない attached? is this different from  落ちない？
What does かなあって mean


texts:
How can I interpret this sentence:

  これから次第に広まって日常的に使うようになるのではないかという視点で選ばれるこのイベントは、

In this paragraph:

  ところで、みなさんは　“ほぼほぼ”という言葉を　聞いたことがありますか？ 実は、この言葉は、辞書で有名な三省堂が主催した今年の新語大賞に選ばれました。 新語として選ばれる基準は「その年を代表する言葉で、今後の辞書に掲載されてもおかしくないもの・今後定着しそうな言葉」なんだそうです。 流行語大賞とコンセプトは違って、耳に残るインパクトのある言葉ではありませんが、これから次第に広まって日常的に使うようになるのではないかという視点で選ばれるこのイベントは、 面白いと感じました。

The translation is:

  By the way, have you heard of the term 'hobo-hobo'? Actually, this word was chosen for this year's New Word Prize which is held by Sanseido, which is a firm famous for making dictionaries. The criteria needed in order to be chosen as the New Word is that it has to be “a word represents that particular year, it wouldn't seem out of place to publish the word into the dictionary from here on, and that it is word that will more than likely become a household word in time”. I felt that this event was interesting since the word is chosen from a different viewpoint than that of the concept of the buzzwords contest, in that it is not a word that stays on your mind or creates an impact, but one that will gradually spread and may become a word that gets used in everyday conversation.

I don't know how ではないかという fits in this sentence


texts:
What do you call "normal" handwritten Japanese? I mean this as opposed to calligraphic style or handwriting in block letters?

What would be a cursive Japanese writing? Something that you would find on blackboards in lectures, class notes, posters, notes and so on.

Are there good sources for learners for getting exposed to real texts written in it?


texts:
I'm  currently trying to get back into studying Japanese. I want to take the JLPT N3 this summer. To get myself in the mode for this I am first looking at the N4 tests on the JLPT website.

The reading parts and kanji comprehension are no challenge for me. I can get through the vast majority of that without trouble and where I do slip up I can understand why.

Grammar however...grammar is the devil.

One of the supposedly easiest questions on the test is as follows-

  わたしの父は中国語も英語ｘ話せます

My instinct was for the answer to be を. も means in addition, so you have to have an actual action for the も to be in addition to, right?

No. It turns out the answer is も. I fail and I don't understand the reasons. Can anyone explain why in this context を is incorrect and　も is right?

It is a bit of an unusual sentence and a break from textbook patterns of the additional も. The way I'm used to is one person says I like y/I come from z, and the other person says 私も. Its not a particle I generally see used too often in this also sense, where I see it its usually as a negative.
To have the も come first like this confuses me.


texts:
As far as I know ~になります means "something becomes ~" but when combined with a Noun it seems strange to me.

A common example:
ご利用になりますか

Which is suppsoed to mean "Would you like to use it / make use of it" while the literal translation would be something like "does it become a usage".

My question is, why is ~になります used here and not some other potential form? Also, how does なる and する interchange? For example, what is the difference of 利用になる and 利用する?


texts: What's the canonical transliteration of "Give me chocolate" into katakana? Not as in the Babymetal song Gimme Chocolate!!, but in the phrase that's described as being used by Japanese kids during occupation-era Japan (though the latter may have influenced the former). Is it ギブミーチョコレート?


texts: How does one say "toy airplane" in Japanese?

texts:
「飛行機のおもちゃ」と「おもちゃの飛行機」のどっちが正しい日本語？どっちも正しいんであれば、それぞれの使い方を説明してください。

伝えたいのはプラや木で出来ているおもちゃのことです。よろしくお願いします。


texts:
未来の国からはるばると

This is the name of the first chapter of "Doraemon" (1).

What is the function of と in this case?

Apparently, it's not for quoting, and it doesn't seems to mean "if/when," "with" or "and..."

Here there is one answer in which they say that と　turns  a word into an adverb. But はるばる　is an adverb, isn't it?

Thank you!


texts: Ore hitori de wa kesshite miru koto no deki nai keshiki; It's a view I could never see on my own

texts: I do not understand the meaning of de wa, I thought it meant something like at the / in the (location) - But in this sentence, I don't know. hmmm


texts: Difference between 行ったから and 行ってから　and 行くから

texts:
What is the difference in usage between 行ったから and 行ってから and 行くから?

Is there a sense of sequence implied in one and not the other?

In the following examples where would i be buying the book and where would i be saying this?  Like in I bought the book after i arrived in america.

アメリカに行くから本を買う
アメリカに行ってから本を買う
アメリカに行ったから本を買う


texts: Is there any difference between 「精々」 and 「たかだか」?

texts:
Like mentioned in the title, I would like to know if there are any subtle differences between 「精々」 and 「たかだか」.
As an example, are all these sentences grammatically correct? Is there any change in nuance?

出席者はせいぜい３０人程度だ。
出席者はたかだか３０人程度だ。
There will be about 30 attendants at best.
電車で行ってもたかだか一時間ぐらいだ。
電車で行ってもせいぜい一時間ぐらいだ。
If you take the train it should take about one hour at most.


texts: How to say "please be strict with me" in Japanese

texts:
I'm trying to figure out how to say

  "please be strict with me"

For when I am practising with conversation exchanges.

So far I have come up with:

私と厳しくしてください
私に厳しくてさられてお願いします

Are any of these close to accurate?
Any help that could be offered would be appreciated :)


texts: Can anybody here substantiate this anecdote in V. I. Arnold's book "Yesterday and long ago"?

texts:
It can be found on page 124 of the edition I own and it goes as follows:

  The abstract idea of a number (independent of what is counted) is not evident, and abstract numbers do not exist in some languages. For example, in Japanese there are certain numerals which depend on whether a counted object is reclining or standing, or whether the object is edible or not, and so on. Several years ago the Japanese faced a problem in their legislation connected with various numerals. Once there were debates in their Parliament on the food problem, and one of the deputies drew attention to the fact that there are many hares in the mountains--excellent food but unused. The point [was] that hares were counted by numerals used for inedible objects and for this reason people did not eat them.

  A special committee was arranged to solve the problem. After some time the committe proposed a new law. The law passed, and the problem was solved; according to this law "a hare is a bird"...

I would greatly appreciate any comments or answers as to the accuracy of this story (especially of what is mentioned in the second paragraph) that you may want to leave for me below...


texts: The usage of 「見違える」: positive or negative

texts:
オフィスで係長が話しています。

係長: 皆さん、先月の会議でオフィス環境の改善についてお話しましたが、取り組んでくれていますか。机の上に個人情報を出したままにしないというのは徹底してくれているようですね。以前はメモがたくさん張ってあるパソコンをよく見ましたが、最近はなくなりました。えー、今は使わない昔の書類ですが、ダンボール箱に入ったままになっていますね。年度ごとにファイルにまとめるなどしておいてください。あっ、ファイルといえば、棚の中のものは、ラベルが付いて整理され、見違えるようになりましたね。

I was confused about「見違える」. In my opinion, labeling files is a good way to make everything clear. Why does the sentence say that adding labels to files will make them be "wrongly seen"?


texts:
What does it mean when people start sentences with つー事? Is it an abbreviation of something else?
Two examples of such are:

つー事で。

つー事は、


texts: What particles and what verb forms to use when attached to もらう or くれる

texts:
I was speaking with a friend and at one point in making plans said something like:

  田中さんに連絡されてもらった後で…

but was corrected to:

  連絡してもらった後で.

I understand how the particles and such work with the もらう but it doesn't make sense to me to use them with a simple する. If it's me who's receiving the task, 私は田中さんにもらう seems correct, but looking at the 連絡する separately doesn't make as much sense: 私は田中さんに連絡する. To make it work with the もらう don't I have to change it to させる?

After this correction, it spurred a further conversation about using もらう and くれる but I feel like I've gotten even more confused.

  田中さんは私を車に乗せてくれる
  私は田中さんに車に乗せてもらう

These make sense.

  田中さんは私に車に乗ってもらう

That one doesn't make any sense to me at all.

I guess what I'm looking for is an in depth explanation as to what forms of verbs to use with kureru/morau (transitive? intransitive? passive?) and what particles would need to accompany them.


texts: Employed by one institution but work for another

texts:
I've worked my current job for a few years, and I can't believe I've never thought of this question.  I have a unique employment situation.  I am employed by a university, but the work I do is for the state government; that is, nothing about the work I do/produce has any relation to the university.  It's simply that our office is on the university campus and the university signs my paycheck.

So what's the best way to describe my situation?  I always learned that 〜に勤めている means "to be employed at/by 〜", but some dictionaries say "work (in, at, for)" which confuses me because I work at the university but for the government.

Would something like 大学に勤めている[州政]{しゅうせい}職員 suffice?  Or is there a better way to phrase it?

(Note: I made up 州政 since America has states, but presumably it would work along the lines of 府政, 県政, 国政, 市政, etc., but maybe 州立政府 or something would be more correct.)


texts: 知る vs わかる and when to use が and を in "how to" questions

texts:
"I don't know how to use honorific language."
敬語の使い方がわかりません。
"Do you know how to make a flight reservation?"
飛行機の予約のし方を知っていますか。
The above two sentences were taken from my homework -- which were graded by my sensei, so these should be the correct translations. My question, however, is why is it that in the first example,「が」is used, and in the second example, 「を」is used? Is it due to the fact that "わかりません" in this case is being used in the form of an ability? (Potential forms use the が particle.)


texts:
Here is the sentence which includes the word.

あたし　エラフィタの近くにいる　かまっちって　魔物がときどき落とすよるのとばりが　どーっしても必要なの!

In my understanding, it comes from 構う{かまう}　which mean to concern about. However, I cannot find the reference about 「っちって」.


texts:
I'm reading a paper about linguistics when it comes to learning a second language. I came across this sentence:

  典型的な動詞修飾副詞であることと、その基本位置は用言の前であり、移動範囲は述部内であることがわかった。

I have tried searching for a definition of 動詞修飾副詞 but can't come up with anything, and my grasp on grammar is pretty weak to begin with so it's not ringing any bells. I literally break down the compound to mean "verb" + "modify" + "adverb", which still doesn't make sense to me as I'm not aware of any adverbs that modify verbs, but again, my grammar knowledge isn't up to snuff. Would appreciate any ideas on this to learn this concept, thanks.


texts: Is this phrase a grammatically correct translation?

texts:
I'm trying to translate the following English into Japanese:

"The only thing more troubling than the silence were the whispers that followed."

What I've come up with is:

  沈黙{ちんもく｝より悩｛なや｝ましいのは継｛つ｝ぐささやきだけだった。

But it feels clunky. Would something like:

  沈黙{ちんもく｝より悩｛なや｝ましいのは継｛つ｝ぐささやきしかなかった。

Be better, or should I change the grammatical structure of the sentence to something else entirely?


texts: Translation of 〜さえ〜ば ("if only ~ then" or "as long as ~ then")

texts:
The term 〜さえ〜ば is often translated as "if only ~ then". I am not a native Japanese speaker, but several example sentences I see make me think it can be translated more like "as long as ~ then".

Below are three example sentences and I translate both as "if only ~ then" and "as long as ~then".

Which translation is accurate in these three sentences? (and, if neither is correct, how should they be translated into English?)

  1a）道が込みさえしなければ、駅までタクシーで10分ぐらいだ。

("As long as the road is not crowded, then you can reach the station by taxi in about 10 minutes"), implying the road is usually not crowded.

or

("If only the road were not crowded, then we could reach the station by taxi in about 10 minutes."), implying the road is usually crowded.

  2a）交通が便利でさえあれば、この辺も住みやすいのだが。

("As long as the transportation is convenient, then this area is easy to live in"), implying the transportation is usually convenient.

or

("If only the transportation were convenient, then this area would be easy to live in"), implying the transportation is not really convenient.

  3a）住所さえわかれば、地図で探して行きます。

("As long as the address is known, then we can look it up on a map and go" ), implying the address is probably known.

or

("If only we knew the address, then we could look it up on a map and go"), implying the address is not known.

Below are four more examples in which the "as long as ~ then" translation just seems more fitting than "if only ~ then".

Do you agree with these translations of mine?

  1b）あなたのご都合さえ良ければ今度の日曜日のコンサートのチケットを買っておきます。

("As long as it is convenient for you, then I will buy tickets for the Sunday concert").

  2b）体さえ丈夫なら、どんな苦労にも耐えられると思う。

("As long as your body is healthy, then I think you can withstand any hard work").

  3b）言葉さえ共通なら、お互いにもっとコミュニケーションがよくできたでしょう。

("As long as we have commonality in our words, then we should be able to improve our communication.")

  4b）建設的なご意見でさえあれば、どんな小さなものでも大歓迎です。

("As long as your opinion is constructive, then any input no matter how small is welcomed").


texts: When should I say 10年越しの夢 instead of 10年の夢?

texts:
10年越しの夢がようやく叶った。

10年の夢がようやく叶った。

I'm familiar with using the particle の before a noun to form an adjective-like possessive form. But how is 越しの different from saying の?

What does 鏡越し mean in this sentence?

I read this past question, but it still does not solve my question.


texts:
In my JLPT textbook, they have this sentence:

  自分{じぶん}のない者{もの}に表現{ひょうげん}もへったくれもない。

The book provides a translation, which is this:

  You can't talk about expression if you have none (of your own ideas).

(The "of your own ideas" part is built on the context from the previous paragraph.)

I'm having trouble seeing how we get to that translation, partly because I'm not sure about the use of へったくれもない. According to my dictionary, へったくれ is an expression meaning "to be damned", as in, "to heck with it". So I would understand the sentence if it just ended there, but there's a もない as well, which would seem to reverse that, meaning, in my mind, that you can't discount self expression from someone without ideas.

Or maybe I'm not parsing it right, and it's not へったくれ, but the へる is something else, like 減る.

I don't know. It just confuses me. How do the parts of the sentence combine to end up with the translation given?


texts:
I came across with the next sentence:
「そんな呼び方をして、馴れ馴れしくはありませんか？」
「そんな、馴れ馴れしいだなんて」

Why is there a だ with a いadj? And what is the meaning or nuance of that だなんて?


texts: Does Desire and Hope also express Volition?

texts:
The concept of volition in Japanese still stumps me until now. As a basic knowledge, I know that when a verb is in the volitional form, it expresses willingness or invitation. However, in some notes I've read so far, I kept seeing certain sentences being defined as expressing volition, when it does not really contain any verb in the volitional form. Right now, I'm trying to study the ば conditional in the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar, and it has this to say:

S2 can be a statement of the speaker's volition or hope, as in Exs. c and d:

(c).　安ければ買います。 I'll buy it if it's cheap./I would buy it if were
cheap.
(d).　時間があれば京都へも行きたい。 If I have time, I want to go to Kyoto too./If I
had time, I would want to go to Kyoto, too.

The sentences stated below neither makes use of the volitional form, yet are somehow considered to be volitional. Example (c), I think, seems to express more of hope, which leads me to assume that (d) is the one that is said to express volition, when the only thing it seems to express is desire. Does that mean that sentences expressing desire and hope also fall under volition?


texts: Meaning of まで in 地下３階まであります

texts:
東京都多摩市で２６日午後２時ごろ、つくっているビルが火事になって、５人が亡くなりました。ビルは３階建てで、地下３階まであります。
  Around 2 o'clock on the afternoon of the 26th in 多摩市 5 people died when a building which was under construction caught fire. It's a three storey building and has as many as three basement levels.

I'm not convinced by my translation of 地下３階まであります.
1) I would have expected to see が after 地下.
2) What does まで mean here? My guess is that it means 'as many as', suggesting that three basement levels is a surprisingly large number.
3) If my translation is correct then do you not count underground floors when you state how many storeys a building has (3 above ground + 3 under ground = a 6 storey building)?


texts:
I have this Japanese sentence from a novel:

  それだけでも町が盛況になるのに十分な上に、スラウド川には橋がないせいで自然と人は渡し舟の多いこの町を通ることになるのだ。

Which from my trial (but I really get the feeling it is wrongly translated) I translate to:

  Even with just this, the village can amply prosper, since because the Slaude river has no bridge, both the nature and the people become the ferry of the village.

The part which makes me more unsure would be 自然と人は渡し舟の多いこの町を通ることになるのだ。 Does it mean that nature and people are something together, like acting as metaphorical ferries?


texts:
To create ～なければいけません or similar forms, I've been having trouble finding the exact method for conjugating into ～なければ.

I imagine (but also greatly doubt) that it's something like this: 食べる -> 食べない -> 食べなく -> 食べなける -> 食べければ. However, even if it was like that I still wouldn't really understand why. Can anyone explain the exact process to get from ～ない to ～なければ?


texts: What's the difference between [上]{あ}がる and [上]{のぼ}る?

texts:
The textbook I'm studying from lists [上]{あ}がる as "to go up", but I've previously learnt that [上]{のぼ}る also means "to go up".

Jisho.org only lists "to go up" and any derivations of that as a single definition out of its 23 definitions for 上がる. I'm currently only wondering about when it means "to go up", but explaining the other definitions would be good too.

Also, what are the differences between 上がる and the other kanji, 挙がる and 揚がる? From my Chinese background, the other two seems to mean about the same, "to raise up something", but I want to confirm this for Japanese too. Jisho.org doesn't help much here either since it lists the same 23 definitions for all three, and doesn't provide any examples for the latter two.


texts: What separates the different ways to ask a question in Japanese (何, どう, どんな, etc.)?

texts: It's been something I've been thinking about for a while, but could never answer in a more concrete way. This is most apparent when I compare the functions of 何 and どう. I know that 何, どう and どんな are great basic building blocks, but I'm not sure about what each implies when used to ask a question. Does anyone know?


texts: What is the equivalent in arabic numbers of ３．２千

texts:
Sorry if this question seems to be stupid, but I'm not a japanese speaker, yet I have to "translate" Japanese numbers to Arabic numbers.

I have a problem with the chain ３．２千 :

according to https://lucene.apache.org/core/6_1_0/analyzers-kuromoji/org/apache/lucene/analysis/ja/JapaneseNumberFilter.html , it is equal to 3200.
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_numerals (if I understand correctly), it should be equal to 32000 because the large numbers are grouped by myriads and 千 stands for 1000.

So what it the real value ?


texts:
I checked the meaning of Farfetch'd on Bulbapedia and it says it is "カモネギ", likely to be inspired by "鴨が葱を背負って来る", meaning "something surprising, but convenient".

What does "surprising but convenient" mean? Is it like an idiom or phrase that is often used? Can some examples be given how it might be used in daily speeches in a situation or context?

For example, does it mean good or bad? Can it be: I didn't think it'd rain, but it suddenly did and made my car clean; it really is 鴨が葱を背負って来る.

I saw an example of 「あんな高額な商品を買ってくれた上に、家族や友達にまで勧めてくれるなんて、鴨が葱を背負ってくるとはこのことだ」, but I don't quite get what it means.

I also saw some website explains it as "Along comes a sucker just begging to be parted from his money".


texts:
Context: after the commander of a platoon (小隊長) says some apparently incomprehensible things, one of the soldiers whispers to another:

  こいつ、なんか決{き}めてないか？

What is the meaning of 決めてない here? Considering the context, I guess it could mean "crazy" or "lunatic". Is it correct?

Please let me know if you need more context. Thank you for your help!


texts: に or の in this sentence, also any recomendations on where to post practice sentences?

texts:
I am trying to say,

  I always forget to turn on the lights

this is what I have translated

  でんきを点けるのいつも忘れた。

I used の because what I learned is that a verb needs to be with の to add to an existing verb.

but now that I look at it, to turn on would it have to be used with に since it can be roughly translated to "to____"?

Also, is there a site where I can post my practice sentences and people can check it out? I know here you cant. Google translate isn't very good at translating the sentences so if its possible, I would like actual people correcting me.

thank you in advance.


texts:
I am working on amateur translation for a videogame, this game was  originally in Japanese and another team translated the texts into English.

Check out this video, from the English subtitles (activate the CC subs from youtube player to see them), seems the character uses some slang while he speaks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDC50jRtUFE

Because I don't know Japanese (yet!) I would ask you if the English subtitle reflects the way Keith speaks.

How do you classify the register of this character? Does he uses all the slang like it seems from the English subtitles?

Thanks


texts:
I read this sentence and got confused:

  この曲には「昔のほうがよかったと言っても何の意味もありません。今を大切にしましょう」と、市民を元気にするような歌詞がついていました
  The song had lyrics to cheer up the people which said "Even though we say the old days were better it's meaningless, let's embrace the now".

I'm familiar with ている expressing change of state. My problem lies with the verb itself.

付く means 'to be attached' rather than 'to attach' doesn't it. So the extra ている seems unnecessary.

My example sentence is in past tense so I can make a distinction between

  付いた = was attached but is no longer attached; and
  付いていた = was attached and remains attached

Is this distinction correct?

But if I wanted to write in the present tense, what is the difference between:

  この曲には歌詞が付く; and
  この曲には歌詞が付いている

They seem the same to me.


texts: What is the difference when using dake and nara in sentences, and if possible an example sentence for each would be helpful too. Thank you very much. They both mean just if I'm not mistaken. Like if I said I only understand hiragana. ひらがなだけです. Or ひらがなならわかります. Which is better and why


texts:
I just learnt about 〜てみる and the book introduced 〜てみたい in an exercise.

I can see the difference between, say, 食べたい and 食べてみたい, but with 行きたい and 行ってみたい it's not so clear.

Would I be right to assume the first expresses my desire to go somewhere, and the second my desire to go and check out if I like it?


texts: How to say "she's dead" or "she passed away"?

texts:
How can I say RIP (rest in peace) in Japanese? For example "RIP [name]".

Also, how do I say to someone who know the person "she's dead" or "she passed away this month"?


texts: Is 片方 only used for things that come in twos?

texts:
Is 片方 only used for things that come in pairs? For example I can say:

  彼は片方の眉を吊り上げた。
  He raised an eyebrow.

But can I say:

  彼は左の手の片方の指を折れていた。
  He broke one of the fingers on his left hand.

or would it have to be just 彼は左の手の指を一本折れていた (or whatever the counter for fingers is)?


texts: ビル (biru) or 建物 (tatemono) as a translation for 'building' in Japanese?

texts: I see there are two words for building in Japanese, ビル and 建物【たてもの】. Can someone tell me the difference and when I should use one or the other?


texts: Question about the point of view when using の右 / の左?

texts:
I am a bit unclear about which point of view we are talking about when describing the location of things.
For Example:

小山さんは山下さんの右にいます。

For this sentence I have two possible interpretations:

Koyama is to Yamashita's right.
Koyama is to the right of Yamashita.

In the first one the POV is Yamashita, so assuming he is facing us, that would mean from our POV he is to the left. The second one is more ambiguous to me, but I would usually assume that we are speaking from our POV here. I'm not native in English though, so I could be a bit wrong here.
Regardless, my questions is whether it is also ambiguous in Japanese or if there is a clear POV?
I have a feeling that it is more like the first interpretation, since that is closer to how the の-particle works.
If there is a clear POV, would the same then also apply to 後ろ and 前?


texts:
When using masu-stem to connect sentences, is the short form for shimashita = shi?

  昨日無事に大学を卒業しました。日曜日に国へ帰ります。

=

  昨日無事に大学を卒業し、日曜日に国へ帰ります。

Is his correct?


texts: Sentence ending に and のに compared to their non-sentence-ending form

texts:
Consider these:

[A] 僕はいい仕事があったら美智子さんと結婚出来ただろうに
[B] 僕はいい仕事があったら美智子さんと結婚出来たのに

Is に in [A] related to the case particle に?
Is のに in [B] related to the use of のに as a conjunction in mid-sentence?
Is it possible that their sentence ending usage originates from elision? I.e.,

[A'] 僕はいい仕事があったら美智子さんと結婚出来ただろうに(Elided content)
[B'] 僕はいい仕事があったら美智子さんと結婚出来たのに(Elided content)

Or have I no choice but to learn them as another atomic concept?


texts: Why does 「もう待てないよ！」 mean "I can't wait any longer"?

texts:
I've just learnt that the expression 「もう待てないよ！」 has similar meaning in English as "I can't wait any longer", but how to interpret 「待てない」 from a grammar point?
Shouldn't the "te-form" of 「待つ」 be 「待って」like in 「待っててね！」?
And why 「待ってない」 doesn't mean something like "I'm not waiting (right now)", since it's the "nai-form" of 「待ってる」.
Here're some websites I've referred to:
https://eikaiwa.dmm.com/uknow/questions/11115/
https://ameblo.jp/aki-aki-tokachan/entry-11925700002.html


texts: I'm struggling to understand the difference between the verb suffix ～方【かた】 and the noun 方法【ほうほう】. As an example, the difference between 遊び方 (which seems to mean something like "manner in which someone is playing") and 遊ぶ方法 (which seems to mean something like "means by which someone is playing"). I'm also not sure whether the former is the same as 遊びの仕方 (and if so, this page answers my question). Can anyone help me to clear these up? Thanks!


texts: Nuances and context of linking without 〜て / dropped 「て」in linked constructions

texts:
(Taken from ジョジョの奇妙な冒険６部: When Jotaro talks to Jolyne about who got her into prison.../ for those who do not know the series: The persons speaking to each other are father and daughter but have a rather bad relationship)

  「おまえに殺人の罪を被せこの刑務所に入れたのはロメオとかいうボーイフレンドではない」

The "shortend" 「〜て」 form makes me wonder here (if it actually is what I suppose it is).
In a similar question this construction of linking sentence constituents together by using the 「〜て」 form and dropping the 「〜て」 it was stated that this is rather used in formal/academic speech; however the context here doesn't seem to fit into the rage of academic contexts...

Is this 「被せ」 a different construction or do I overestimate the academic nuance of dropping 「て」 in linked constructions.


texts: What was the origin for the term 水{みず}色{いろ} to be associated with youth, adolescence and puberty?

texts:
I am particularly interested in the phrase 「水{みず}色{いろ}時{じ}代{だい}」. Did it come from the old manga that used the phrase as its title, or has the phrase been carrying that particular cultural connotation long before the manga?

So how and when did the term 水色 start to be associated with youth, adolescence and puberty?

p/s: While on the same topic, I'd like to share this interesting chart on how different cultures interpret different colors: http://www.globalization-group.com/edge/resources/color-meanings-by-culture/


texts:
For example, I'm trying to make sense of the following phrase:

  二回後システム

When literally translated to English, becomes:

  Twice After System

I have also encountered a similar phrase:

  システム第2回

Can both phrases mean "System Version 2"? If no, what makes them different?