texts: What is this specific way of announcing court orders called?

texts:
What is the Japanese word for the action of announcing court orders to the public, by running to the journalists and expanding a piece of rolled paper with the verdict written on it (like here)?

In a casual conversation, I wanted to compare a business situation when no details were given to the interested party but the final verdict, and while my description was clear, I still think there must be a proper term for this phenomenon.


texts: Why is 領土{りょうど} more suitable than 領域{りょういき} in this JLPT practise question?

texts:
In my JLPT practise book, there is this question:

  その国王{こくおう}は戦{たたか}いに負{ま}け____の一部{いちぶ}を失{うしな}ってしまった。

Which I roughly translate as, "The kingdom lost a part of its __ in the battle."

The possible answers to fill the space are:

  A 領域{りょういき} (territory)

  B 領土{りょうど} (territory)

  C 占領{せんりょう} (occupation)

  D 領収{りょうしゅう} (receipt)

Both A and B are defined as "territory" and a lot of other overlapping words. So, going by the kanji, I figured 領土{りょうど} was more to do with the physical land, and 領域{りょういき} was more to do with the dominion. So my answer was A.

The book, though, says the correct answer is B.

As is usually the case with JLPT questions, both could work, but what makes 領土{りょうど} the more appropriate answer in this case?


texts:
Could you please tell me what kind of relation has ～てまでも with ～ないまでも?
(They appear in the same section of my textbook as if they were closely related to each other)

Thank you so much in advance for your help!


texts:
賃金繰りがこうも厳しくては、プロジェクトから撤退も

（１）やむにやまれない
（２）やむにやまれる
（３）やむをえる
（４）やむをえない

is a question I am facing. Can't seem to find what 賃金繰り means.... also not too sure about any of those answers.


texts:
I saw it used on Twitter several times, but googling around I couldn't figure it out.

Here are some examples.

  "@mao_sid: 24あるある。シーズン2ぐらいから、あのちょいちょい入ってくるデジタル時計いらないなぁって思いだす。"

  "@mao_sid: 24あるある。ジャックは忙しくなると基本、大統領以外にはタメ口になる。"

  "@mao_sid: 24あるある。たまに他の海外ドラマに出てる俳優さんが出てくると嬉しくなる。"

It looks like this is about the TV show "24." But I don't understand the あるある part.


texts:
So I'm trying to learn a song at the moment (good way to stay motivated c: ) and they use the phrase 「君の好きなところ」 which translates to "What I like about you", but I don't understand why the word ところ is used since it means "place" or "spot". Can anyone help out or give a more direct translation of the sentence so it makes a bit more sense please?

Much appreciated :)


texts: What is the meaning of と in this sentence?

texts:
Its from the song "Stay with me";

  帰らないでと泣いた

Also, is there a better way to translate the 'naide' form of a verb than "without doing"? It sounds quite odd I think.


texts: What is the etymology of the word プラスアルファ?

texts:
What is the etymology of the word プラスアルファ(+α)?

This is a neologism I believe, however I hear it quite often nowadays. I'm curious to what the origin would be?


texts: What does 記 mean in a 公正証書 (notarial document)?

texts:
What does 記 mean when is placed between different articles/paragraphs of a 公正証書 (notarial document)? Here's an example: https://goo.gl/yVYQe7 (I have omitted names and addresses for privacy).
Thanks for your help!


texts:
清くない男女交際をするやからである

I think this translates to 'being only interested in indecent relationships'. However I am not exactly sure what the word やから means over here.


texts: What is the etymology of the term “特定厨”?

texts:
For those of you who have never heard of the term “特定厨”, please allow me to explain.

According to Weblio, there are two definitions:

  person who identifies someone's private information (esp. through online research); doxxer; doxer; Internet sleuth
  person who identifies real-life locations or items appearing in anime, video games, etc.

There is an interesting answer on Quora that makes comments about “特定厨”. The comments are as follows.

  Also, there are people called Tokuteichu (特定厨) in the 2chan community. They specialize in identifying the identity of people just by reading their posts or seeing photographs. They have existed since the early 2000’s but significantly grew after the HaseKara calamity. Tokuteichu’s capability is notorious and even the police had their spine chilled after many cases where Tokuteichu discovered who they were looking for in a fraction of time the police took. When they target someone or show interest in them, that person is finished, and their interests are unpredictable. Often they go after wanted criminals or people who post provocative posts online, however, they sometimes go after people who are having a better life than themselves, people who stick out from the rest, people who they consider disrupting the order of society, and both people who are physically unattractive or physically attractive.

  It is said that there can be as many as half a million people who are Tokuteichu in Japan. Many of them are said to be unemployed, but the majority are ordinary citizens with various backgrounds. These are people you do not want to antagonize. They are the modern Gestapo of Japan.

And I thought that one group Anonymous was scary! (Shudder) But I digress.

Is there anyone here who knows the etymology of the term “特定厨”? I would really appreciate your answers.


texts: What's the most common way of describing weed?

texts:
In Japanese, what's the most common way of describing weed (aka cannabis)?

Apparently you can use 葉っぱ, but I'm just wondering what your average stoner would use to describe there favourite 'activity'.

Is 葉っぱ a good pick? Or is something else used? Like some katakana word?


texts: Meaning/Use of 陰陽 in Japanese and differences in reading (Onmyō/In'yō)

texts:
I'd like to know if the word 陰陽 is commonly used to describe Yin and Yang as a "series of words", or if it's (only) used to describe the combination of Yin and Yang as one single term, so to speak. Basically, would it mean "'Yin' and 'Yang'" or "Yin and Yang", or perhaps both? I'm aware that the original concept is Chinese, but it also exists in Japanese as 陰陽道, no? What I basically would like to know is if saying 陰陽 is different from saying 陰と陽.

Also, the word can be read as Onmyō and In'yō, but is there any different in the reading's meaning? I'm aware that the reading of a kanji normally doesn't change its meaning, but it often gives more information, right? For example, 弟 with the reading ボブ to denote that the younger brother that is meant is Bob and not Jim. Is that the case here?


texts: あり+と: What does と do when preceded by a verb stem?

texts:
In the following sentence:

  彼女はそれを手に入れるためにありとあらゆる方法を試みた。
  She tried every possible means to get it.

と is preceded by あり, which I take to be the verb stem of ある. I do not see what this ありと adds to the sentence.

Usually, when I see a と that I cannot immediately identify, my first attempt is to think of it as either a *conditional marker, or a *particle that connects two clauses to describe a sequential past event. One of them usually applies.
*Layman's attempts at describing grammar

However, in both of the abovementioned cases, と has to follow the dictionary form of verbs, not the stem. Therefore, this is something different.

Could someone please help me identify what this grammar point is? よろしくお願いいたします！


texts:
世界のルールで、島は水より上に出ていなければならないと決まっています。
  World rules determine that an island must stick out above the water.

In this sentence 水より上 clearly means 'above the water', but when I look in bilingual dictionaries they just translate 'above' as 上. I wonder how this sentence would sound if より was omitted?

Supposing I had the sentence:

  時計はテーブルの上にある。

Without further context would this be interpreted as "The clock is on the table" or "The clock is (on the wall) above the table"? Or is there ambiguity?

Would the ambiguity be removed if I wrote 時計はテーブルより上にある to mean above the table?

In summary, I'm just trying to understand the difference between の上に and より上に. Also, I wonder if より下 is used. There seems to be no need to distinguish between below and under.


texts: Earliest Examples of Literature Written with Katakana and Hiragana Online

texts:
So it turns out that the Kojiki was (at least to my findings) written in 100% Chinese script, no Japanese. This is because it was written around 700CE, around the time when Japanese script is thought to have started to emerge.

My question is if there are any available Japanese-only scripts online as text format (not PDF or image). Something written ideally with only Katakana and Hiragana, or if not just those, then with a mixture of those plus Chinese characters. I am looking for some of the meaningful early literature of Japan which was written using Japanese script, but I haven't found anything after months of research. Maybe it is because I am not searching on .jp related websites (I don't speak Japanese).

Specifically I am looking for metaphysical sort of stuff (philosophy, religion, poems, etc.), as opposed to historical documents or letters, though if that's all there is that would be fine too.

Some that would work include:

The Tale of Genji
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
Hōjōki
Tsurezuregusa (is this it?)
I Am a Cat (is this a good copy?)
Etc.


texts: What is the difference between 非親告罪 and 親告罪?

texts:
非親告罪【ひしんこくざい】　vs　親告罪【しんこくざい】

To my understanding 親告罪 means: A type of crime which requires a formal complaint from the victim in order to prosecute.

非【ひ】 means: a mistake, negative, injustice, non, un, etc...

So is the first word like a double negative? In other words like not a crime?  A conversation of these two words happened during a talk recently and I didn't quite fully understand.  Any in-depth explanation would be great!


texts: According to Jisho.org/mansion and Japanese Core 1000 マンション in Japanese means "apartment, condominium, residential building". But in English where the word might come from, it also refers to a large block of flats in British English, but its primary meaning is "a large, impressive house", which is the meaning we use also in Spanish (we don't use the apartment or condominium meaning at all as far as I know). Therefore this "luxurious house" meaning seems to be missing in Japanese. Does マンション also mean "luxurious house" in Japanese?


texts: Translation help - trouble finding out who does what

texts:
The beginning of the opening for the anime 彼女、お借りします goes as follows:
運命なんて言えない
あと何センチ近づけばいいんだろう
君がいいと言えないまま見つめてる後ろ姿
My problem is with the third line. I can't really figure out what belongs to the 君が. There are four options:

君がいい
君が言えない
君が見つめてる
君が後ろ姿

I don't think 君がいい makes much sense in this context. The same goes for 君が見つめてる, because in the preceding line the singer asks "how many centimeters can I come closer?" (as far as my understanding goes, at least), so it would make more sense if the singer is the one who stares, not 君.
Now, for option 2: If this were the right option, I would interpret the whole 君がいいと言えないまま見つめてる as a relative clause modifying 後ろ姿 and I would interpret the 後ろ姿 as a kind of "addendum" to make clear what the singer is trying to come closer to in line 2. Like this: "How many centimeters can I come closer? To this back figure (that I'm staring at while you still can't say 'it's fine')?" Maybe the problem with this interpretation is that it would have to be 後ろ姿に with に added instead, but I have a feeling に could be left off here.
For option 4: I would interpret option 4 as a 体言止め, where line 3 is independent of line 2, like: "You're a back figure (that I'm staring at while you still can't say 'it's fine')."
Which is correct (if any...)? Thanks!


texts: What's the meaning and use of しまわれました in this sentence

texts:
I'm doing an exercise in my textbook on 尊敬語、and there's a sentence that I don't understand well.

The sentence is:

  もう論文かいてしまわれましたか｡

Is "しまわれました" the past tense of "いる"?

If so, with the 尊敬語 shouldn't it be "いらっしゃいました"?.

I'm a bit confused about this, if anyone can please help me understand I'd really appreciate it!


texts:
I have hard time following the dialogue by a single character from a certain manga.

貴方は安達垣愛姫を選ぶ
でも、それは復讐のため
恋じゃない
でしたら、わたくしと恋をしたって
浮気にはなりませんでしょう?

How can I understand the fourth and fifth sentence? Does the「って」in the fourth sentence mean "if"? Is it something among the lines of

If that's case, if you fall in love with me, then it will not become affair?

Perhaps this「って」is a colloquial topic marker.

If that's case, speaking of falling in love with me, it will not become affair?

I'm not sure what is the correct meaning of「って」in this context.


texts: Why are verbs written in kanji and kana combinations instead of all kanji?

texts: All verbs are written in kanji and kana combinations, but I am not able to find the reason for them to be written in this way.


texts:
I can't get why どうも is in the following sentence. What is its role in it?

  どうも君は未だ胸に一物もっているような気がする。文句があればはっきり言ってよ。


texts:
I'm reading 仮面の告白 by Mishima Yukio, and I came across this sentence:

  そのほか に縄目は見えず、青年の裸体を覆うものとては、腰のまわりにゆるやか に巻きつけられた 白い粗布があるばかりだった。

I would like to understand how is this sentence made by the particles とて and ばかり and by the use of verbs like 覆う and ある in their terminal form.

The first part (青年の裸体を覆うものとては) seems right to me, with a relative clause (青年の裸体を覆う) modifying もの and then a particle (とて), wich I believe needs to be at the end of the clause, and so は, but why 覆う is in its terminal form and not in its past -た　form if this is a literary text?

The second part (腰のまわりにゆるやかに巻きつけられた白い粗布があるばかりだった) seems more complex to me, with another relative clause (腰のまわりにゆるやかに巻きつけられた), this time with its verb 巻きつけられた in its past -た form, modifying 白い粗布, but then followed by another verb (ある) and then a particle (ばかり) and then one last verb (だった). What is the purpose of ある and だった in this sentence? I think they are related to ばかり, and even とて.

Also, I noticed は is used in the first part and then が in the sencond part. Does it mean this is a contrastive construction?

Thanks.


texts: How to express the concept of there being too much?

texts:
Example: "There's so much food, I can't eat it all..."

Right now, if forced to write that, I'd say something like 「食べ物がたくさんから、すべてを食べられない・・・」but I'm not quite sure how I'd make sure the meaning is clear that I can't eat it because there's TOO much. Is there a way to express this, or is it just one of those concepts that's just not present in Japanese?


texts:
In my studies, I've come across the noun 人減 used in the context of population.

An example would be,

十一万人減.

減る means to diminish / decrease.

Thus, I hypothesize the meaning of this noun is to express

population has decreased [to 110 thousand].

Is my assumption correct, or is the meaning different?


texts: Confused on why 日の出 and 日の入り mean what they do

texts: So, it is my understanding that 日の出 means sunrise and 日の入り means sunset. However I'm having difficulty understanding why. 日の出 to me would mean, "The sun's exit", and 日の入り to me would mean "The sun's entrance". Can anyone help me better break down these nouns? Is there some meaning to 出 and 入り that I am missing?


texts:
▽アジアの中心が中国にシフトしつつある中、日本が世界で戦える人財づくりを企業・学校・政府と本格的に取り組む仕組みづくりに期待したい（自動車）(source)

1) I don't understand what the を is doing there? 取り組む doesn't take the を particle normally...?

2)Is 仕組みづくり the object of the verb 期待する(the thing 'hoped')? if yes, why isn't the particle を used instead as in the following sentence?

  彼の成功を期待している We expect him to succeed.


texts: Meaning of いやみを必ず顔に表す

texts:
What does this line mean?
いやみを必ず顔に表す

I know the individual words but I can't seem to figure out the meaning of the sentence.


texts:
I'm just starting to tackle non-textbook Japanese, so apologies if my question is silly.
The sentence below gave me some headache even though I more or less know what it's supposed to say (this is from a review of an old historical drama):

信長の有力武将であった乱丸の父と兄は戦で死んでいる。

My translation is something along the lines of "Ranmaru’s father and older brother that were important military commanders of Nobunaga have died because of war".
But why is であった used in this relative clause? Aren't 有力武将 animate?


texts:
From an article written on the 7th of the month:

  東京から日本のほかの場所に向かう「下り」の飛行機は、１１日が特に混みそうです。東京に向かう「上り」の飛行機は、１５日〜１６日と１９日〜２０日が混みそうです。
  For planes heading from Tokyo to other places in Japan, the 11th will seem particularly crowded. For planes heading towards Tokyo, the 15th to 16th and 19th to 20th will seem crowded.

I'm confused by the nuance that そう is adding to these sentences. I'm assuming these are guesses based on previous years' flight statistics, so I would have expected something like はず or よう to be used instead.

Could you please provide some explanation as to why そう is the best choice, and whether はず or よう would also be appropriate here?

My understanding is that 混みそうです means that when I look around I will have a feeling that it is crowded ("It will seem crowded"). Whereas 混むようです means that based on evidence I predict it will be crowded ("It seems that it will be crowded"). Could you please confirm or correct my error in understanding?


texts:
I got this sentence from My hero academia anime and I am confused on the usage of したる. The line is said in season 3 episode 9 at the 4 minute 45 second mark.

こいつらの方針が変わんねえうちに２～３人ぶっ殺して脱出したる！

The english translation is, "Before they change their minds, I'll take down a few of them and escape!"

I came across this post, Please help me understand this たる? , which could maybe seem like the answer to my question but I am not sure. Saying 脱出する seems much more natural here since the character isn't in the act of already escaping yet。

Is don't believe this to be an instance of 足る, being attached to する but I could be wrong. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.


texts: What is the meaning of 売るほうも売るほうなら、買うほうも買うほうだ。

texts:
I found this grammar structure

N1もN1なら、N2もN2だ

My book explanation says that it means both N1&N2 are terrible.

They provide this example of usage.

子どもが子どもなら、親も親だ。

Now, there is also this sentence, which I can't translate into English, please help.

  こんなつまらない商品を、売るほうも売るほうなら、買うほうも買うほうだ。

Also, why the を particle?

Thanks a lot.


texts: What's the difference between 洗面器 and タライ?

texts: They both look similar, and aren't they both washbowls? What's the difference between them, or are they just synonyms?


texts: How can I translate this? すべてかけて抱きしめてみせるよ

texts:
いつでも捜しているよ　どっかに君の姿を
向かいのホーム　路地裏の窓
こんなとこにいるはずもないのに
願いはもしも叶うなら　今すぐ君のもとへ
できないことは　もう何もない
すべてかけて抱きしめてみせるよ

This paragraph of "One More Time, One More Chance" by Yamazaki Masayoshi, I'm translating to:

I'm always looking for you everywhere I go
On the opposite platform, through the alleys
Even though you will not be there.
If my wish can come true, I will be with you right now
The impossible would no longer be anything.
I'll show that i'll hug you tight again.

But the marked, I definitely think it's pretty wrong. But I can not think of a better way, no matter how hard I try.


texts: Can のろけ話 be used in a platonic sense to refer to closeness amongst female friends?

texts:
I was reading a novel where a girl is talking about her friend who is another girl and someone says uses this phrase : のろけ話

Which I know translates to mean to speak fondly of significant other, but these girls are described as being just good friends in the novel. So I was wondering, can this be used to show extreme closeness/admiration between platonic friends or is it mean to maybe imply that one person likes the other?


texts: How can I say "the leader(s) of the club" in Japanese

texts:
I would like to ask which one of the following two words could be used to express the word "leader" when I am talking about someone who is the head of a club or at least the member of its board; for example an anime fun club.
When I checked the dictionary I found these two words with the meaning "leader":

  始端部したんぶ and 引率者いんそつしゃ


texts: Does the pronunciation of ん change with the sound following it?

texts: For example, the word かばん (bag) is pronounced kabaN when it's alone but what if another word like と (and) comes after it? Would it be still pronounced kabaNto, or  should you consider the following と and say kabanto?


texts:
The following is an excerpt from a reply from my language partner: 「チームのスパイ行為」 が主語で、「暗示を上げる」という行為の間にはさまれた条件文を、受身形にした場合と、能動形（普通の文）にした場合で比較しているので、わかりにくくなっています。

For context: I tried out a rather overcomplicated structure in passive voice because I wanted to see wether this is still grammatical/understandable or not. I also wrote down the same sentence in the active voice and I asked for her feedback. Here are the 2 sentences (ridden with awful grammar):

passive voice: 例えば、チームのスパイ行為はチームにwhaleとsharkの言葉を選ばれるつもりだったら、「Fish, 2」という暗示を上げたらいいでしょう。この番号は代行者にスパイ行為が望言葉の分量を送ります。

Active voice: 例えば、チームのスパイ行為はチームがwhaleとsharkの言葉を選ぶつもりだったら、「Fish, 2」という暗示を上げたらいいでしょう。この番号は代行者にスパイ行為が望言葉の分量を送ります。

So, back to the sentence in question, here is my attempt at translation:
"It is difficult to understand, because you made a comparison in the case where you made the conditional statement, which was inserted in the space between「チームのスパイ行為」as the subject and  the action 「暗示を上げる」, active voice (the normal sentence) and in the case where you made the conditional statement passive voice."

In my translation, I assumed that チームのスパイ行為」 が主語で、「暗示を上げる」という行為の間にはさまれた is the attribute to 条件文. Furthermore, I assumed that 条件文 relates to both 受身形にした場合 and 能動形にした場合. I don't know if thats correct, but I couldn't find any other solution which would have made sense.

I'm also not entirely sure wether my interpretation of the particle で in 場合で is legit.


texts: Why is there の between 考えて and こと in this sentence?

texts:
Consider the following dialogue.

A: ダイエットするのは、健康を考えてのことでしょうか。
B: 健康を考えてのことというよりむしろ、…

Why is there の between 考えて (not a noun) and こと (noun) in this sentence?


texts:
I'm finding it difficult to find a pattern in the usages of these two.
When should I use 業績 over 実績 ?


texts: Is the meaning of these sentences the same?

texts:
I'm a little confused about some Japanese forms which seem rather similar to me and I'd like to understand the difference between them.よろしくお願いします！

  大人であれ\であろうと 子供であれ\であろうと 、 信号を無視してはいけない。it doesn't matter if it is an adult or a child, the signal must not be ignored.

This seems similar to the following sentences in meaning and usage:

  世田谷学校の生徒であろうが生徒じゃなかろうが、この授業を受けることができる。
  犬だろうが猫だろうが、母はペットを飼うことを許してくれない。
  合格の見込みがあろうがあるまいが、今はただ頑張るだけだ。
  私達は、持ちつ持たれつの関係だ。


texts: Asking someone about their feeling towards experiences

texts:
I have been struggling to figure out the correct way to ask somebody about what they felt about certain life experiences.

Consider the following sentences:

1) "How do you feel about becoming the president again?"
Assuming the listener had once taken on the role and is in the process of taking up the role again

2) "What was it like when you were studying abroad?"
Assuming the listener is either currently or was previously performing the action

3) "What is it like living with 10 siblings?"
Assuming the listener is currently still living with 10 siblings.

For 1, I can imagine using 「どう思いますか」, but for 2 and 3, I can't recall coming across any way to ask "what is/was it like"

I can also imagine saying 「どんな感じですか」but that feels a little too literal.

Any suggestions?


texts: When is it appropriate to put さ at the end of a sentence? Do women say this also? I think I remember seeing a female character say it in an anime.


texts: Why are these words considered less politically correct?

texts:
Warning: I have no sense of how offensive any of these words might be. They are repeated only insofar as they help me learn what not to say. Apologies for any accidental offense, and please do not read if you feel it might be potentially upsetting.

I was going through this list of unbroadcastable words, and most of them, being racial epithets, terms of derision, or simple vulgarities, are easy enough to understand why they are objectionable.

However, some of them are puzzling. To a non-native speaker like myself, without enough knowledge of the history, or enough feel for the language, a lot of them seem kind of arbitrary. So I'm hoping some people can give short summaries for why some of these words are not considered politically correct.

Why is 芸人{げいにん} any different from 芸能人{げいのうじん}?
My dictionary defines both 人非人{にんぴにん} and ひとでなし as "brute of a man". Putting aside the old-school English definition, what differentiates them to make 人非人{にんぴにん} worse?
Why are 家柄{いえがら}、血筋{ちすじ}, and 身分{みぶん} bad at all? They are defined as "lineage", "blood line", and "social status", respectively, all of which seem kind of neutral to me. Why ban them and not things like 上流{じょうりゅう}, 階級{かいきゅう}, or 地位{ちい}?
Following from the above, what makes 名門校{めいもんこう} bad? There's a note saying that in a particular use in reference to baseball it might be accepted, but why would it ever be seen as a bad thing?
Does ザギン have any more impact other than just being a slang way of saying 銀座{ぎんざ}?


texts: What is the meaning of ように in the following sentence?

texts:
I came across this sentence in a text regarding the Japanese and religion (please see the end of the post for the full paragraph if more context is needed):

そして、神道が人々の生活の中で生き続けてきたように、仏教やキリスト教の行事なども、日本人の生活の一部になっているのだ。

I roughly translate the sentence as:

Besides, Shintō has continued to live in the daily life of the Japanese, Buddhist and Cristian events and such have also become a part of Japanese people's lives.

The problem is that my translation would work removing the ように, too:

そして、神道が人々の生活の中で生き続けてきて、仏教やキリスト教の行事なども、日本人の生活の一部になっているのだ。

This ように doesn't look like the ように for purpose (日本語が分かるよう勉強する), nor the ように for wishes or requests (先生に宿題を減らすように頼む). I'm probably missing some nuance in the sentence since I'm unable to identify what role does this ように play here. What is it?
Thank you in advance!


texts:
I am a bit puzzled by the use of ところ and its association with も in the following sentence

  さっきの少年の態度や言動には、やや引っかかるところもあるが、概ね間違ってはいないんじゃないかと結論づけていた。
  The attitude
  and behavior of the boy had caught on with some of the passengers and
  they convinced themselves that the boy was right.

The dictionary entries (wwwjdic) for ところ and ところも do not give a satisfying result so I tried for
ところが (assuming that が and も does not change too much the meaning) which gives:

  even so; however; still; whereupon; even though; nevertheless; on the
  contrary; as a matter of fact; despite;

However, it does not seem to work either

Could you help me ?


texts: Equivalence of Traversal Verb + て and で of Means/Instrumentality

texts:
Consider:

XにYで行く

学校に自転車で行く

"Go to school by bicycle" ("means/instrumentality" interpretation)
"Is* bicycle and go to school" (Questionable?) (Verb conjunctive interpretation)

XにTraversal Verb-て行く

学校に歩いて行く

"Go to school by walking" ("means/instrumentality" interpretation)
"Walk and go to school" (Verb conjunctive interpretation)

The leads me to ask:

Does て-form implicitly contain the で of means?
Or is the で of means a て-form of something *(the copula だ perhaps?)

There seems to be something common between て-form and で of means.


texts: Deceased 7-yr old referred to as さん on the news, then as ちゃん later on

texts:
I've been following the unfortunate 新潟 railway child murder case on the news recently. I noticed that in the beginning, the news referred to the victim as さん, but later switched their usage to ちゃん―which is the title I would usually expect to see attached to a child. This is unlikely an occasional mistake in that さん occurred several times on different articles related to this case.

When I first saw them use さん on the news, I found it rather odd. However, I figured they probably wanted to show respect to the poor victim. If that was the case, the fact that they switched back to ちゃん struck me as somewhat strange, yet fascinating culture-wise nonetheless.

Question:
Is this phenomenon a common practice in Japan, or merely a matter of personal style? (Since it occurred on Japanese news, I doubt the latter would be the case though.)


texts: で as 動作を行うときの様態 vs で as だ

texts:
I'm looking to clear up the use of で as:

動作を行うときの様態を表す。「急ぎ足で歩く」「親子同伴で出席する」「笑顔で答える」「土足で上がる」

or で as the て-form of だ with nouns/na-adj in this example.

describing a new girl the speaker just met

  見たことのない制服で顔を真っ赤にしながら、口をわなわなとさせて目を真ん丸くする女の子。

見たことのない制服だ。顔を真っ赤にしながら、口をわなわなとさせて目を真ん丸くする女の子。- て-form of だ

or

[見たことのない制服で顔を真っ赤にしながら、口をわなわなとさせて目を真ん丸くする]女の子。- で as 動作を行うときの様態

Thank you.


texts: How do I decipher each word in a sentence, if all is written in hiragana?

texts:
I don't know what this sentence means. "相変わらずつーといえばかーだね". I tried using google translate but it produces way too different meanings, when I try to translate the sentence bit per bit.

ex. 相変わらずつーといえばかーだね=
    As usual I can not stop talking to you.
    つーといえばかーだね=
    It's awfully cool
    つーといえばかー=
    Wait a minute.

Does this mean that the original sentence means "As usual she's awfully cool."?
Is the word for word of the sentence like this; 相変わらず つー と いえ ばかー だ ね? or is it 相変わらず つー と いえば かー だ ね?
But the words: つー and かー do not make sense to me.


texts: Is the  radical usually identified as 入 or 人?

texts:
I have read the questions that kind of talk about this already:

What is the radical of 全? 人 or 入?

and

Why are there different names for the same kanji radical?

However, I would like to ask about how Japanese people would most likely refer to this radical, or part of the kanji, in a more general sense. So if a Japanese person is telling their friend how to write any particular kanji that uses the  radical ( 金　鉛　食　飲　今　琴　吟　介　冷　倹　全 ), would they refer to it as ひと? いる? Or some other reading? Or would the way they describe depend on the kanji and what that radical originally intended to represent?


texts:
I have a question about the meaning of 緑色 in the following sentence. Does the author means a green colored bug by it, or the nature itself?

Translation attempt: "Ferocious 'green colored' will caught the butterfly."

  緑色の狂暴な意志が、蝶を捕まえていた。

Context


texts: How to say to "persuade into doing something"?

texts:
I am looking for a Japanese phrase or an idiom which could be used to describe a situation in which a person A persuades person B into doing something, not required for the person B, but beneficial to the A.

Like selling a trekking map for a very well marked and safe path.

I tried looking for "to scare someone to do something" and got literal 脅かして～させる, which I feel is too strong (there is no direct threat). だまして suggests deception (while A might only exaggerate certain aspects, not necessarily lie). On the other hand 説得する does not have a negative connotation.

Is there such a phrase? Or are my concerns for the above-mentioned phrases irrelevant?


texts: When do i have to use yaru instead of suru

texts:
They are both "to do" and i know that やる is only used with phsysical actions, but i cannot say 想像やる because is not a phsysical action. And i also know that やる is also "to give" like 「プレゼントをやる」but i sometimes see やる being interchangeable with する is there a rule for that? Can i freely say 「勉強やる」 「運動やる」or 「可愛い女性の写真を見ながらオナニやってる」? How do i know when to use する or やる?

Thanks, greetings from france.


texts:
Is it 言う{いう}?

Example sentence:

  My city is called [＿＿].

How should I construct this sentence? Can I simply say:

  私の町は[＿＿]です。


texts:
I'm struggling trying to complement sentences using させる＋くれる/もらう.

In my studies it was said that させる＋くれる meant "to let someone do" kind of, so the following sentence:

先生が質問をたくさん聞かせてくれた The teacher let (someone) ask lots of questions.

Now how can I specify who the teacher let to ask the questions?

If I want to say "The teacher let the students ask lots of questions.", how do I say that?

My try: 先生が学生に質問をたくさん聞かせてくれた。

thanks in advance.


texts:
A and B have ended up in past, but maybe sure yet, although they have seen people that look like the younger versions of people they know. We pick back up with them with A saying this and B responding.

A: B。 やっぱりここって過去の世界？
B: うう……そう思うしかないのかも……

What's confusing for me is the entire やっぱりここって construction. って is most obvious the quoting bit. With ここ I guess it's saying that here/now is the past. A is wondering if they really are in the past. What does やっぱり then do? This is my current tentative translation.

A: B. You still think we are in the past?
B: Ughh…we might have no other choice but to assume that…


texts: Figurative meaning of 結果的に 「一直線で来られてよかった」?

texts:
I came across this sentence:

  「結果的に 一直線で来られてよかった」

The sentence was uttered after the character reached the place where he wanted to go. Why I don't think that this statement is used in a literal sense is because he had to take an alternative route to come there (he couldn't walk straight to where he wanted to be).

Especially the 「結果的に」 seems to me as if the  「一直線で来られて」is used figuratively.

In any case, I haven't found any senteces that use this construction in a similar way.

So my question is whether I am in the right with regarding this construction as 'metaphorical' or if I am missing the point here,


texts:
I encountered this in something I read:
彼らの頭髪は金髪や白髪、茶髪を始めとして緑髪から青髪まで様々で、さらに格好は鎧やら踊子風の衣装やら黒一色のローブやら『それ』らしすぎる。
 1. Do the quotations around それ means that it is emphasized? If so, how does it work in this sentence?
 2. I do not understand the らしすぎる. I am unable to find an answer online. However, I learnt that すぎる means "too much". If this is the intended meaning and not part of a figure of speech, what is it saying too much of?


texts: 「いつまで待つつもり」 v.s. 「いつまで待っているつもり」

texts:
Both seem to be possible. But what's their difference?
Instances of the former are everywhere, e.g. a line from 「華麗なるギャツビー」

「信じられるもんですか、あんな男」「いつまで待っているつもりです?」

The latter may be less common (?), but still some instances can be found, e.g. a line from 「賭博黙示録カイジ」

[Sidenote]
In my mother tongue, which is Chinese, it will sound very weird to use aspect particles indicating progressiveness or continuity (such as 「在」 or 「着」) in such cases. That is, we will almost always opt for the equivalence of  「いつまで待つつもり」:

√ 打算等到什么时候？
× 打算等着到什么时候？
× 打算在等到什么时候？

Therefore, it's hard for me to grasp the difference in nuance (if any) between the two usages in Japanese.


texts: Help understanding how these clauses fit together

texts:
The taiko memoir saga continues.

Today's challenge:

  それを癒せるのも、自分自身や、その一人一人を包む鼓童の奏でる音からでしかないのだが・・・

Here's the context leading up to (and including) this sentence, which is the last one on the page:

  体力に頼るところのおおきい鼓童の太鼓は、個々人の体調の良・不良に大きく左右される。それにより舞台の出来・不出来も生じる。長い時を掛けて得られていた信頼や、ほどけかけていた誤解、新たな邂逅などまで、総て崩れ落ちてしまう危険性がこんなところにある。それは、対お客様との関係であり、また、個対メンバーとの関係でもある。一つの小さな病いが、別の大病を招いたりする。それを癒せるのも、自分自身や、その一人一人を包む鼓童の奏でる音からでしかないのだが・・・

My understanding is that he is discussing the vulnerability of a group based on the performance of its parts: The odaiko (large drum), despite being an instrument of great power, is at the mercy of the person playing it. Success or failure of a stage performance overall is contingent upon each individual performer in the same way. Trust takes a long time to earn, but can be unraveled by a simple misunderstanding, and this balance put the group in danger of coming apart until another opportunity presents itself. A small weakness begets a greater disease...

...Then we arrive at the final sentence, where he talks about the cure for this "disease" (I think?) and I'm not exactly sure how all of those clauses interact with one another. My best guess is: It's a disease that can only be cured when oneself and each of those individuals envelop themselves in the sound of Kodo's music.

Or something like that. :) Thank you for your help!


texts:
I have only seen the sub character 々 used before. Now I am encountering the full size character, but cannot figure out how to enter it into a keyboard.

Also, I know 々 is a repetition marker. Is there any specific use that the larger version serves?

Example

日本は、世界の国？の中で。。。


texts:
I have the following sentence I'm trying to translate:
暗く打ち寄せる波の下には、血に飢えた神々が目を覚まさんとしていた……。
I tried translating the sentence as follows:
Surging from the dark waves, bloodthirsty gods were trying to awaken.
I'm not entirely sure if my translation suffices, so I would appreciate any help regarding that, however, my main concern is the way the verb 覚ます is conjugated, I had never seen such a construction. Is it translated as to try to or something similar? and what is it called?


texts:
I've been learning japanese for quite a few weeks but I'm still pretty new to it so maybe this question will sound silly, if that's the case, I'm sorry.

Because I really love the way it sounds and looks, I tryed learning japanese. And now, I'd like to get myself a tattoo.

"Look at the sky" (which is one of the last things someone told me before passing away).

Then again I'm learning with books (not the best way, is it?) so I'm running into a doubt.

Would you rather spell it :

空を見て - Sora o mite

or

空を見上げて - Sora wo miagete

I'm having a hard time figuring out the difference (as I'm still a newbie in japanese) and as it's an important decision (the tattoo I mean) I'd really like if someone could explain the difference.


texts: "訳す" is the best way to say "to translate"?

texts:
The difference between "翻訳" and "通訳" has been explained very well in several forums. Even so, for me that nuance is a distraction and I prefer to simplify with this strategy:

  When I hear "翻訳", "通訳", "訳す", or "訳する" I sense "to translate". If "written or spoken" is ever relevant, I can deduce from context.
  To say "to translate", I just say "訳す". My understanding is that "訳す" can have either the "翻訳" and "通訳" meaning. A native speaker can use context to decide "written or spoken".

I've not been corrected yet. That strategy seems like an easy solution to the "written or spoken" issue. So, is my strategy wrong in any way? Might it be technically correct, but painfully unnatural, Japanese?


texts: When did the "wu" character drop out of use?

texts:
In the last century, the ゐ and ゑ characters were eliminated from common use.  But it seems like there used to also be a "wu" character that has since been lost.  Given that it's a lot harder to find information about "wu", I assume it vanished much earlier.

Around when did the pronunciation and written character for "wu" drop out of use?


texts: Why does お[馬鹿]{ばか}さん contain honorific お?

texts: Why does お[馬鹿]{ばか}さん contain an honorific? If you're basically calling someone silly, why be "polite" about it? Also, what is the difference in meaning between お馬鹿さん and just 馬鹿 (I hear the former much less frequently)?


texts: Is it いる or ある with 物の怪? (Are ghosts animate or inanimate?)

texts: Shall we treat [物の怪]{もののけ} (a kind of ghost) as animate or inanimate? Does it vary for the different ghosts?


texts: Emphasis instead of negation in 「そんなバカなことはありません」

texts:
In this quote by Akihiro Miwa, 「そんな～ことはありません」 isn't used the way I'd expect it to be:

  努力{どりょく}をしない人も[平等]{びょうどう}になどと、そんなバカなことはありません。
  It's (extremely?) foolish to treat people who don't make an effort equally.

I think 「そんな～ことはありません」 is used for emphasis here, but is using negation in this way common and how does "there aren't those kind of foolish things" become "extremely foolish"?


texts: How to say when you're doing a specific thing?

texts:
I'm still a little confused on the nuances of the の particle. For example, let's say "I played Dota 2."
Would that be

"Dota 2のゲームをしました。"


texts: How to read words like テスト with ordinal numbers?

texts:
Consider this:

  テスト１, テスト２, テスト３ etc. (Taken from my exercise books. The tests are labelled as such up to 30)

(Question) Should numbers that are used with loanwords like テスト be read with いち,　に,　さん etc.? Or read as ワン, ツー, スリー etc.?

I feel that it's more consistent to use "English derivatives" all the way, than to have "English derivative"+"Japanese reading".


texts:
Note: I understand the risk that this question might be considered "too localized". However, my hope in asking isn't just to translate this one instance, but to use it as an exploration of how and why standard Japanese words can get modified by a native speaker so as to deviate so far from the textbook that they become unparsable to a learner.

One thing I find somewhat frustrating about my level of Japanese is that my ability to understand people rapidly drops off the more they add character to what they say.

So, for example, I can't understand the crazy rantings of a man who, for some reason, is walking down the street shouting at the top of his lungs.

Which is what I encountered today when walking through Aoyama Ichome. The guy, who didn't look particularly crazy, was walking along, shouting at the top of his lungs to no one in particular.

It frustrated me that I couldn't understand him. He rolled his Rs too much, shortened his words, and possibly used slang I didn't get. At one point (not in the recording), I made out the words 娘【むすめ】(daughter), and ですか. That was it, though.

I followed behind him for a bit and recorded him using Soundcloud, which you can listen to here. The sound quality is better than I expected, but still a little quiet.

However, I know that in English I would be able to cut through the noise and make out what he says. In Japanese, I can't parse his words.

Can anyone make out what he is saying, and in addition offer some analysis of the types of modifications that make his words so hard to parse?


texts: Usage of 整{ととの}える for asking for a trim when getting a hair cut

texts:
I have looked at Getting your haircut in Japan already and did not see this word in there.

Usually when going to the barber I simply say:

短{みじか}くしてください

Since my hair is pretty uncomplicated.

Now, I would like to ask them for a "trim" (keep my hair relatively the same length just cleaned up). Would I be able to say the following, or does it sound odd?

整{ととの}えてください


texts: Is it acceptable to use あなた when referring to a superior indirectly?

texts:
I know that generally あなた shouldn't be used when referring to superiors. However, I find it difficult to rephrase the following sentences which refer to a superior using あなた in an indirect manner:

  彼はあなたが日本語の先生だと言いました。
   He said you are a Japanese teacher.
  あなたが日本語の先生だそうです。
   It is said you are a Japanese teacher.

Are there alternative ways to phrase such sentences which are more natural or is using あなた here acceptable?


texts: What is the origin of ポイ as in "タバコのポイ"?

texts:
I was trying to see how much of the writing on the signs in the park I could make sense of today and found something of interest.

A sign stating what not to do in the park covered not littering and in that section was the turn of phrase タバコのポイ.

I could find the meaning of ポイ online but so far not its origin. It means "throwing away" or "littering".

As it's in katakana I tried to think of an English word it might be based on but couldn't think of anything. Of course not all katakana words have origins in English.

A local friend suggested it could be one of Japanese's famous "onomatopoeia" words. But it seemed to me that just about all of those I'd come across are two syllables with reduplication, and written in hiragana.

So from whence ポイ?


texts: I'm writing a skit but I need a counter for bowls of ramen. ひとつ　ふたつ somehow sounds weird. Is there a counter for bowls?


texts: What is the difference between あと、うしろ and のちほど?

texts:
I'm confused, because all of them seem to have the same meaning (*in my opinion).
Can anyone help me?


texts: Why is 輩 in 先輩 pronounced ぱい while 輩 in 後輩 is pronounced はい?

texts: I wonder in this case if there is any rule that turns H to P.


texts:
I'm wondering how Japanese tenses work for hypothetical situations that may happen or could have happened.
More specifically, are the verb tenses in the below sentences correct?

We probably would not have come this far without his support.
彼の支援がなかったら、ここまで進んでなかったでしょう。
If you don't hurry, you will be late for school.
急がないと遅刻するよ

I have seen this post as well, but I'm wondering about present and future situations as well.


texts: 第一木曜日 : Which Thursday of the month is it?

texts:
When you say : 第一木曜日, does it mean the first Thursday of the month? Or does it mean Thursday of the first week of the month?

For instance, if we talk about October 2015, would 第一木曜日 be October 1st or October 8th?


texts: What exactly happens when you embed a clause with も?

texts:
I understand what's going on when you embed a interrogative clause using か、like when you form pronouns like 誰か、or write things like 「ええ、何を食べたか知らないよ・・・。」

However, It's still beyond me what も、does when used to embed a clause; I get how 誰か means 'somebody' or 'whom', but I don't understand why what's normally the temporally inclusive topic marking particle makes it's 誰も mean 'everyone' or 'anyone', which is what I'm hoping to learn.

Edit: Could you also explain how the meaning changes when using でも instead of using も？


texts: Meaning of させてもらう + 事にする in this sentence

texts:
The sentence is taken from a manga in which the character kills people at a TV station in order to threaten the world :

おはよう世界の諸君...これからほんのわずかな時間だけ...
Hello (ladies and gentlemen of the) world... for only a very short time...
テレビにおジャマさせてもらう事にした。
???

The first thing I'm not sure about is if テレビに is the agent of もらう and something like お前たちを is implicit: I received the favor from the television to let me disturb you.
The second is　the combination of させてもらう and 事にする which to my understanding means "decide to" : is it a way of being ironic? like I decided the TV would kindly let me (kill them and) disturb you guys.
Thanks for your help.


texts:
My memory from playing the VN that the sentence is based off of is 87% certain in the protagonist's voice pronouncing the above as

"YareshKA-nai!!"

and meaning something similar to "I have to do this!!" But I don't know if that is actually what the kanji 今 means or is pronounced as.

Help?


texts: Does a bear sh*t in the woods? Rhetorical affirmations in Japanese. Is there any?

texts:
I could not find anything on this website nor with a (quick I admit) search on Google.

Does Japanese have any "yes phrase" (or more technically rhetorical affirmation) used to answer questions whose answer is supposed to be an obvious "yes"? Such as:

  Does a bear sh*t in the woods?

  Is the pope catholic?

In fact, these expressions are so common in English that you can often find them twisted in comical ways:

  Is the Space Pope reptilian? (Futurama)

  Is the atomic weight of Cobalt 58.9? (Ghostbusters II)

Given that sarcasm is generally is not a typical trait of Japanese people, maybe something like this doesn't exist. Or does it? Anything similar?


texts: What does the warrior in the red armor, Hirotaro, say in the Last Samurai movie?

texts:
In the movie Last Samurai, Hirotaro has only one line in the whole movie.

I tried some years ago to understand and "decipher" his words, but I couldn't and I blamed it on my lack of knowledge. Now that my 聞き取り is much better, I still fail to grasp what he says. Maybe it is in old language, Samurai dialect of some sort.

Here's the link to it, time marker included:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnzMVisprX8#t=1m26s

The subtitle says "He's mine".

My only guess is that he might have said "儂やる" in a bit twisted manner.
No marker is not impossible in 'hard' language, and 儂 (わし) makes sense to be used instead of 私 or 俺, since 儂 is an older form and male term, and the story takes place during 1870-1877. However, what I hear is at best "washi yeru", which is not very encouraging.

Any ideas are welcome.


texts:
I'm having trouble understanding a translation I've encountered in Makino and Tsutsui's Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese grammar, under とする1.

The original sentence is as follows:

  一男【かずお】を養子【ようし】とすることには依存【いぞん】はない。

Which the textbook translates into:

  I have no objection to regarding Kazuo as our adopted son.

According to the dictionaries, 依存 can only assume the meaning of "dependence", not "objection".

デジタル大辞泉:

  「依存」とは、他に頼って存在、または生活すること。「会の運営を寄付金に―する」「―心」

EDICT:

  dependence; dependent; reliance

Which should make the original sentence, given the lack of any context, translate into something like this:

  There is no dependence on regarding Kazuo as (our) adopted child. (???)

The meaning of this sentence is unclear, although it would have probably made more sense given the broader context that I don't have.

My question is whether it is possible for 依存 to be interpreted as "objection" in this (or any other) sentence and why.


texts: Fun with synonyms - "perhaps/maybe/probably"

texts:
What are the differences when using the following words/phrases to mean "perhaps", "maybe" or "probably"?

多分
恐らく
蓋し {けだし}
もしかして
ひょっとして
なかろう (negative -> probably not)
だろう / でしょう / であろう
かも知れない

Please add any other words/phrases that provide similar meanings.

N.B I hope istrasci doesn't mind me using his favorite question title pattern here :P


texts: Can the ったら form of a verb be used to mean "after?"

texts:
Take this example:

AったらB

Could this mean, "After doing A, B happened?"


texts:
In Japanese, how to call a wait pointer?

I am talking about a computer mouse pointer which becomes a spinning wheel or hourglass (depending on the OS) when the application is busy processing something, or frozen:

After discussion with 3 Japanese people, apparently ウェイトカーソル is acceptable but there might be something better.


texts: What is a similar suffix to -itis in Japanese?

texts:
The humorous use of -itis:

  nouns denoting abnormal states or conditions, excesses, tendencies, obsessions, etc. (telephonitis; baseballitis).

For baseball, I suppose 野球【やきゅう】バカ might work, but スマホ中毒【ちゅうどく】 seems too strong, I've never heard random nouns being suffixed with 病【びょう】 or 症【しょう】, but is that a thing in Japanese?


texts:
浴槽にバラの花びらを浮かべ遊ばせる様なゆとりを

What does ゆとり　in this context mean? My guess is:

  Time allowed to play in a bath tub filled with rose petals

According to an online dictionary it should mean time, since it's written in Hiragana. Is that correct?


texts: Meaning of 一度や二度じゃ、とうてい伝えきれないくらいに

texts:
その返事と、その笑顔が、一番たまらなかった。

  一度や二度じゃ、とうてい伝えきれないくらいに。

My main confusion is with the  一度や二度じゃ part of the above. The character just confessed his feelings to someone and after hearing her response we see the above. I've looked up and 一度や二度じゃ or 一度や二度では appear to be relatively commonly used in these types of statements.

For example:

  初めて訪れた時、一度や二度ではとても回りきれないことを知り、時間がかかってもいつかは制覇しようと思っていました。

This makes sense to me as it means one or two times (of visiting the place). However, I don't quite understand what it means in the context of 一度や二度じゃ、とうてい伝えきれないくらいに. One or two what exactly?


texts:
Here is the sentence that includes the phrase.

なんと　忘れてしまった！　格好だけに　こうしちゃおれんな！


texts:
Girl A is complaining about her bleak future to girl B. Girl B replies:

  泣いたって仕方ないじゃん。

I asked a similar question here about おもしろくって仕方ない where I was told that it was a more emphatic version of おもしろくて仕方ない

I'm struggling to apply similar thinking to this construction.

Is って short for という in this case?

I don't know how to translate this sentence at all (note that there is no suggestion that the girl was crying before this sentence).

  I can't stand that you cried, can I?
  It's no use that you cried is it?

Neither of these attempts sounds right. Please help.


texts:
I have no idea how to translate this sentence pattern into Japanese.
If I try with basic grammar, it sounds very wrong and overly complex.

What is the most natural way of expressing this? If there is a more business version, please share it as well.

For example

  電話が鳴ったら早く電話に出ると言われました
  それが出来ると課長に報告してと言われました.


texts: Is there a noun for a "destination line" when changing trains?

texts:
While discussing this question I found a new problem: is there a way to say "destination line" in Japanese using a noun or a compound noun?

I am thinking of the ◯◯ in the following construction:

  「乗換駅{のりかええき}は何ですか」
  「梅田です」
  「◯◯は何ですか」 (何線に乗り換えなければなりませんか)
  「御堂筋線です」

I already learnt 乗り換え先{さき} is not what I wanted (supposedly it means "destination station of a destination line"). 乗り換え電車{でんしゃ}、乗り換え線｛せん｝ do not seem to work. 目的線{もくてきせん} neither.

I thought of 次の電車, but that is ambiguous and 次の線 is wrong.

Is it possible to say without using a verb?


texts: Which kana/kanji are used to write Yoshitoshi's death poem?

texts:
Browsing for art late at night, I came across this beautiful poem by Yoshitoshi, said to be his death poem:

yo o tsumete
terimasarishi wa
natsu no tsuki

translated as:
holding back the night / with its increasing brilliance / the summer moon
...which I'd like to be able to write. How is this written? Which kana and kanji are used?


texts:
Is there any special meaning to a "と" when used after a number? For example (these lines are in the same work but not one after another),

試作品の工場って、何百と見てきたんですよ。
試作品ったって、数百と作るわけだろ？

The dictionary says "量を受けて" for this usage, but it isn't clear if this と is needed or how the meaning would change if it was removed.


texts: What do the shapes △ ◯ ╳ ◻ mean in Japanese? And are there variations in meaning, depending on whether or not the shape is filled?

texts:
I am interested in Japanese culture and the symbolism used in Japan, specifically I'd like to know what the △ triangle, ◯ circle, ╳ cross and ◻ square mean to a Japanese person.

How are those shapes interpreted and do they vary depending on there being filled or not?


texts: Meaning of がな at the end of this sentence

texts:
What is the meaning of がな at the end of the following sentence? (I divided it into 3 pieces because this is how it's written on the manga page it is taken from. Source: http://imgur.com/a/vNBhT)

  "齋藤仁【さいとうじん】"がそういうんじゃねえってことくらいは // ずっと見続けてきてんだわかる // 口では絶対【ぜって】ェ言ってやんねえがな

I read on dictionaries that がな can indicate a wish, or uncertainty, but I think it has just an emphatic value in this case. My attempt:

  "Jin Saito" is not what he looks like / I know it 'cause I've always
  watched him / (But?) There's no way I can say it

I would also be grateful if you could correct any error in my translation, thank you!


texts: How does 取材で訪れた integrate into this sentence?

texts:
The sentence in question:
取材で訪れたとある街で「きょうのラジオで近藤麻理恵が出ていたよね。最近“こんまり”している？」という会話が聞こえてきました。

For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20190314/k10011847731000.html?utm_int=news_contents_tokushu_004

My attempt at translation:
"In a certain city, a conversation became audible (saying): 'Marie Kondo has vanished from nowadays radio, hasn't it? Recently, one makes/pronounces it 'Konmarie'?'...."

Now as you can see,  I didn't translate 取材で訪れた at all here. That's because I just have no idea how to do it xD

"In a news article appeared" is how I would translate the phrase in isolation.
However, I'm already confused WHERE to connect it to, or how.
Making it a "direct" attribute to  とある街 didn't make sense in my attempts to form a comprehensible sentence. If I just "added" it to とある町　it would kind of work up to a certain point:

"In a news article appeared in a certain town a conversation (saying): '...'" but it goes terribly wrong once it collides with 聞こえてきました since no conversation can become "audible" in a news article. At least I understood it as a news article without any audio/audio-video content but just in plain written language.

Making it a relative attribute feels wrong to me:
"In a news article, which appeared in a certain town...". I can only think of this as being grammatical if the whole 取材で訪れたとある街で can be regarded as some sort of adverbial which is only loosely attached to the '[quote]という会話' phrase. But even there I wonder if this can be correct, because it basically leaves us with the same problem as in the first attempt 'In a news article...the conversation became audible' which simply doesnt make much sense to me.
Furthermore, I wonder if it is grammatical to do:
取材で[relative attribute]
???
Because, well, I assume that 取材で is kind of an adverbial itself, isn't it? And having an adverbial like this being modified by a relative attribute...I don't know, as you can see I'm thoroughly confused and utterly clueless on this and request your help :D


texts: What's the difference between these two transitive verb forms?

texts:
I've always been little fuzzy on transitive verbs, something which I was reminded of when looking at this answer.

The answer says that 終{お}わらせる, 終{お}える, 済{す}ませる, and 済{す}ます are all transitive. They all mean "to finish" something, as in something doesn't finish by itself (intransitive), someone makes it finish (transitive).

I get the nuance of difference between the kanji 終, 済 as explained in the answer.

But what is the difference between 終{お}わらせる and 終{お}える? And what is the difference between 済{す}ませる, and 済{す}ます?

I'm really asking more generally about the transitive verb form. Both versions of each verb are transitive, but I'm not clear on how they differentiate.

(My knowledge of grammatical and linguistic terms is very limited, so a minimum of technical terms would be much appreciated. よろしく!)


texts: What's the difference between よろしくねがいする and よろしくおねがいします?

texts:
よろしくねがいする as opposed to よろしくおねがいします.

This is, at this point, probably outside of my level.

I would like to know if よろしくねがいする:

is used and correct, and
has the same nuance and context.

While not completely memorized and understood, I noted that the kenjougo [the お- and the -します stem] is used to make it more formal/polite. But how that affects the overall use, I'm not sure.


texts: As I understand it both にしたら and にとって mean "~ from the point of view of ~". What are the differences and if there is a similarity between either and として and is the difference between them ?


texts: と quotation particle: Omission and the で particle

texts:
I have two questions about the と quotation particle. One about it's omission together with connected verbs and the other about how it operates with the で particle. I believe the bellow sentence contains an omission of と思う:

Original: 世間では警察も無能、Lも無能.
My extension: 世間では警察も無能、Lも無能と思う

The translation I have reads

"People think [society thinks] L and the police are incompetent".

I don't see how I could've gotten that from the original. The only thing I can think of is that と思う is being omitted, because I don't see how the sentence makes sense otherwise.
In addition, I'd like to know how exactly the で particle operate with the と particle here, because I don't quite understand it.
If someone could clear this up that would be great :). Thanks!

[The context is that these are police officers and the superior is
talking about how "L" who is a character and the police are
incompetent. The example is from episode 10 of Death Note.]


texts: What could the expression "ナンパされた" mean in english?

texts:
ナンパ - seducer, ladies' man, playboy
された - passive form + past tense of する


texts:
《アパート『へ』帰る『と』ハガキ『が』一枚届いていた…》

In that sentence, why is the verb using the past progressive form?
届いていた=〜て+いた right? Does it mean that the letter was being delivered when he got to this apartment?

Source: ブラックジャックによろしく


texts: Connotation of 年季の入った when describing things

texts:
I encountered the following line in volume 2 of ハクメイとミコチ:

  鋭い目付きの男は、年季の入った道具を携え卓越した技術を振るった。

How does 年季の入った characterize the tools the man used? Does it mean that they are reliable tools that stood the test of time, or just old worn-out tools?


texts:
I'm confusing about the meaning of 受注 and 発注 in some specific sentences.
I understand the meaning of both words in case it stands alone:

受注 means "receive (an) order"

発注 means "make (an) order"

But in the following 2 sentences:

  取引先からの発注がある

and

  取引先からの受注がある

Google Translate translates both in to "There is an order from the business partner".
But I think there is a difference between "who make" and "who receive" the order in these two sentences. Actually I don't know between Our company and Our business partner, which one is making and which one is receiving the order in each sentence.

Can someone please help me with it? お願いいたします。


texts:
「どちらにお住まいですか。」

「どちらにお住みですか。」

「どちらに住んでいますか。」

Do all of these questions mean "where do you live?" ?
How are they grammatically different?
Is 「住まい 」a conjugated form of the verb 「住む 」?


texts:
The meaning of のに is "despite", "although".
But in the sentence, it seems to have another role. Could you explain?
Context: another character wants to join the team consisting of the protagonist and Aqua.

俺はここ二回のカエルと戦いで、どうもこの女神、ちっとも使えないんじゃないかと疑っているのだ。
はっきり言って、アクア一人でも厄介なのにこれ以上問題児は。。。
Our recent battles with the Giant Toads had left me doubting whether
this goddess was going to be any help to me at all. To be blunt, Aqua
was a liability all by herself. To take on another problem child ...


texts:
I took up an interest in Japanese and I have to say I'm enjoying the language overall.

I've been reading online resources and have no problem with normal Godan or Ichidan verbs since they have rules you can follow.

However when I look up verbs in the dictionary such as cooking, painting, etc:

[料理]{りょうり},　[絵]{え}

None of the online resources I've found tell you how to deal with these. There are a lot of words that don't end like the regular verbs.

What do I need to learn to to begin forming sentences like

Do you cook?
Are you cooking?


texts: How does はっとばすぞ translate as "Don't make me hit you"?

texts:
I was watching some Nichijou, and in this one scene where Mai and Yuuko are helping Mio with her manga, Mai wrote in one of the text bubbles, "はっとばすぞ" and on the screen it translates to "Don't make me hit you." I feel like this is wrong, since there's no mention of "打{う}つ" (to hit) and it's too short to translate to that. So I was wondering, does this translate to that at all or is the translation really crappy?

Also how does "はっか場すぞ" translate as "Don't make me kill you"?


texts: Difference between the kanjis for "tears/なみだ": 涙 and 泪

texts:
I found here that 涙 is a semasio-phonetic character (形声文字) while 泪 is a more visual version. Apart from that no big differences should be between this two ways of writing "namida". Anyway I would like to be sure of that.

Thank you very much!

Edit: I searched 泪 on google. Although the results are mostly in Chinese there are also results in Japanese. See for example here.


texts:
値段が高いレストランはあまり好きじゃない

This is a sentence from my texbook and I can't understand why there is は after
レストラン?
As I know, we always use が after something that we 好き.
In this sentence we doesn't like restaurants so shouldn't it be like this?

  値段が高いレストランがあまり好きじゃない


texts: What is the purpose of 「ん」in this sentence 「忙しいんだよ」?


texts: Why the difference in metal between 銀行 and お金?

texts: Money seems to be about gold but banks about silver. Is this due to an evolution of the status of the valuable metals themselves? Is it a complicated (e.g. ateji) etymology?


texts:
学業にスポーツ、なにをやっても秀でいる兄と違い、原島は、何もかもが平凡であった。
I can`t figure out the meaning/funtction of に in this sentence...
I checked a page which listed several usages of に but nothing seems to fit


texts:
I am trying to say something like:

  Could you tell me where I could get my glasses repaired ?

My first try was to use 直れる (potential form of 直る) to say something like

  直れるところ
  place where something can get repaired

But here, without even considering that it sounds quite weird (if not utterly wrong), the “potential form” of 直る seems not to exist (save for a few compound verbs like 立ち直れる (get over sth)).

So, from this point, taking into account that place where something can be repaired uses passive voice I thought that it would be better to use passive.

  眼鏡が直られるところ
  place where glasses are/get repaired

So that the final sentence looks like this:

  眼鏡が直れてもらえるところを教えてくださいませんか。
  Could you tell me where I could get my glasses repaired?

And I think at this point that the above sentence is grammatically correct and conveys the right meaning. But I don't think it is really natural yet. Indeed, even if 直る seems to fit in this kind of situation, according to the dictionary, I don't get many hits on large database like google, weblio or bbcwj. In fact, 修理 seems to be used in that case.

So I reworded it with 修理:

  眼鏡が修理されてもらえるところを教えてくださいませんか。or
  眼鏡を修理させてもらえるところを教えてくださいませんか。

But here again, 修理される (be repaired) or 修理させる (have repaired) seems not to work so well in this context.

So here is my end sentence,

  眼鏡が修理してもらえるところを教えてくださいませんか。

My question is multi-folded:

Is my end sentence both grammatically correct and natural?
Am I right in the fact that 直れる does not exist save for a few compound verbs?
Am I right in what I said about 修理[する・される・させる]?


texts: My sensei in class told us about 火の車 that means someone in a difficult financial strait . I was wondering what does it have to do with fire 火 and a car 車?


texts:
In this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYrbaZo-tdw  minute 2:13, the phrase reads:

それでも何度でも　また芽を出すと

What does that と at the end mean for the phrase?


texts: Need help translating a sentence involving 要して

texts:
I'm helping someone translate some supplemental material for an old video game, and I'm a bit unsure how to translate this sentence. For context, it's about an ancient biological superweapon ("Deus") hatching an elaborate scheme to repair itself over thousands of years.

  何故　“神”－－デウスは一万年という遠大な時間を要してまで自己修復しなくてはならなかったのか?

And here's my attempt at a translation:

  Why was it absolutely necessary for 'God', Deus, to restore itself within the long span of 10,000 years?

The part that's tripping me up here is 要してまで. According to the dictionary, 要す　basically means "need" or "require", but that doesn't seem to fit the way it's used in this sentence, so obviously I'm missing something here. The next sentence talks about Deus having to operate within a time limit, which supports my interpretation, but that still doesn't make sense of 要してまで.

The full text I'm translating is here, just in case: http://xeno-underground.net/x_u_hi_res_scans/xg_pw/PW302.jpg

Any help would be much appreciated!


texts: How to express "We the ...", "We who are ..."

texts:
I am having a bad time trying figure out how to say this.

The sentence I am trying to make is "We the westerners, think that the way Japanese people take a bath it's a bit weird. I guess it's the cultural difference right".

The hardest for me it's saying "we the 'something'".

What I could come up with so far is:

  僕ら西洋人は「日本人が入浴するの方法がちょっと変だ」と思いますよ。やっぱり文化的な違いですね

Please correct me, if there are any other points that are wrong or sound unnatural.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: maybe "僕のように西洋人"?


texts:
The most commonly cited one is Konnichiwa, but knowing that is time specific, can it be used generically in all hours of the day as a "hello" instead of a specific "good afternoon"? Ohayou and Konbanwa doesn't seem to hold the same nuance to me as a standard greeting and more of greeting your coworkers or friends in the morning/evening.

Any generic greetings like these informal greetings such as 'domo' or 'osu' or 'ya/yo'?


texts: Learning Japanese from a female can create bad habits on my form of speak as a male?

texts:
I'm learning Japanese mainly with books and other "neutral" sources, but I have a female friend who is helping me with that too.

My main concern is if the fact that she being a women can makes me sound weird or funny to native Japanese people.


texts: それで, それと, それから, あと(は), and そのほかに: The difference

texts:
I'm doing a practice book that tends to oversimplify things for the sake of... simplicity. In one of the questions, the following sentence is given:

柿をください。それと、イチゴも。＿＿、ドリアンも。

The provided two similar options, あと・それで, with the former being the answer.
I'd always thought that それで can fill in any place where I wish to express "and then," so I chose the latter.
In the explanation section, they say that それと = それから, and あと = それほかに.
They also gave these two sample sentences:

登山はちょっと…。時間がないし…、それと体力もないし…。
宿題はしたし、掃除もしたし、あと何をしたらいいかな。

In addition to それで, I had always thought that the following conjunctions are interchangeable:
それで, それから, and あと(は) (didn't know that それと existed). As mentioned above, there's also そのほかに, which I feel do not differ significantly from them. This thesaurus confirms my assumption それからの同義語 about most of them bar それで.
Question:
How are these similar terms used differently? How does one decide when to use which? I'm especially keen on knowing why それで does not work in the question sentence. If these's really no way of explaining the subtlety, I'll take "time and exposure" for an answer.
Edit 1:
Thanks to user4092様's comment, I think それで is out of the way now. However, are それと, それから, あと(は), and そのほかに interchangeable in the sentence at the top? Can I switch them around? For example, can I say

Aをください。あと、B。それから、Cも。
or
Aをください。そのほかに、B。それから、Cも。

Edit 2:
それかれ was an awful typo on my part obviously. My apologies. (Apparently, it exists tho.)
どうぞよろしくお願いいたします！


texts:
My previous question about ellipses (三点リーダー) in Japanese got me thinking about the middle dot (中黒) in foreign names.

When I was in college, I learned that if you have a non-Japanese (or, rather, non-kanji) name, you should put a 中黒 in between your first name and last name.

For example:

リア・スミス

However, when exchanging e-mails with a native Japanese speaker, I will often see a katakana name typed with a space in between the first and last name:

For example:

リア　スミス

Which is technically correct: middle dot (中黒) or space (スペース)?
As a non-native Japanese speaker, I prefer a space, but does a space look incorrect/confusing/unaesthetically pleasing to a native Japanese speaker?

Thanks!


texts: Meaning of 立てる in どうやって皆を立てたい、立てれるとこ立てよう

texts:
I'm trying to translate the actor's speech from this clip.

Now I got stuck at 0:54 where he said

  もう本当に今回やっぱ縁下(えんのした)として、元々やっぱ原作って前も言ったように描かれていない部分がすごい多いんで、その分、やっぱり、皆をどうやってサポートしようかな、どうやって皆を立てたい、立てれるとこ立てようかな とかすごい考えた時に、まあ本当に微々たる所でやってくしか無いんだなと思って

I was wondering about the meaning 立て in the above sentence. I did look up the dictionary and the reason I thought 立て = to stand is because they are the stage actor, so they need to think about how they should stand on the stage.

At first I thought he meant

  皆をどうやってサポートしようかな、どうやって皆を立てたい

= How should I support everyone?, How I want everyone to stand?

  立てれるとこ立てようかな とかすごい考えた時に

= Where can everyone stand?

and I couldn't grasp the meaning of the rest.

According to the comment below, I assume that 立て here do not mean "to stand",

and each of them probably has a different meaning?

but there are several meanings on both Jishou and on weblio
I still could not make any senses out of these meaning, which is why I decided to reach out for help.


texts: What would be the function or meaning of わけですし?

texts:
『それにしても、随分と思い切りましたわね、士道さん』
狂三が、面白がるような口調で言ってくる。士道は一瞬口ごもってから返した。
「……仕方ねえだろ。それに、狂三だって賛成したじゃねえかよ」
『まあ、それはそれですけれど。ーー確かに、折紙さんが現れる前に<ファントム>を追い払うことができたのなら、折紙さんはそもそも攻撃する目標を失うわけですし』

The context is that 士道 and 狂三 are carrying out some plan to prevent 折紙 from attacking “phantom”
Hi. Is the わけですし the same as わけですから? If it is, is the speaker using this construction 「～わけだから、～する／なるのは当然だ」, as is explained in this link?

「～わけだ」は根拠に基づいて論理的に引き出される結論を述べます。ある事実を根拠にして、当然の成り行きとして後件が起こることを表します。ｅ「～わけだから」は、「～わけだから、～する／なるのは当然だ」という形で使われることが多く、理論的に説明や解説、理由を述べるときに使われます。「～わけだから」の主語は多くの場合話し手以外の人や事柄になります。
⑩あなたは皆から選ばれたわけだから、頑張るのは当然だ。

https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/project/japanese/teach/tsushin/grammar/201612.html
It seems that the speaker 狂三 is explaining why she agrees with the plan because 士道 says 狂三だって賛成したじゃねえかよ. So maybe there is something omitted after わけですし, such as 「賛成するのは当然です」.
If I am on the wrong track, please tell me how to understand the わけですし.
Thank you.


texts: I downloaded Genki and the CDs that came with it. しごと was pronounced as 'shingocto' instead of 'shigoto.' Why is that?


texts: Is this proper use of 敬語 in a business situation?

texts:
For context, I am writing a menu for a made-up restaurant, and want to provide English and Japanese restaurants. This is an exercise I made up for myself. I want to include a phrase that is like, "A Japanese menu is available upon request." I have written this sentence, but I am not sure if the 敬語 is used correctly.

  ご[所望]{しょもう}の方がいらっしゃいましたら、日本語のメニューもご[提供]{ていきょう}できます。

I wanted to use the honorific form for 所望 (as it is describing the customer) and the humble form for 提供 (as it is the action of the business). I wasn't quite sure if 提供する should use ご～ or お～, but I think it is a Sino compound noun + する type verb I picked ご.

Please let me know if my understanding of honorific and polite forms is correct, as well as my usage of them is accurate. Also, please notice any other mistakes you can find; I am always excited to learn! Thank you.


texts:
To my understanding, there are standardised kanji that have either:

No reliable information on how they are to be pronounced OR
No reliable information on what they mean OR
All of the above.

Do these kanji exist, and if so: What are the current hypotheses on what they mean/how they are pronounced?


texts: Are there rules for omitting にin phrases?

texts:
暗い森、さまよう　"Kurai mori, samayou"

translates to "in the dark forest you wander". Is the comma here replacing the function of ni? can you always replace it this way or is it specific to this sentence?


texts: Why they used -ていれば instead of -ば in this context ?


texts:
I've never seen spaces before in Japanese.

The other day, however, I noticed that Shin Kubota's name in Japanese is often stylized with a space:

  久保田 信

which really struck me.

It isn't necessarily always written this way, as I have seen, but it certainly is not an accident.

This all got me wondering: when are spaces used in Japanese? There must be a point, and a rule?


texts:
Hello I was wondering if I could use a 自動詞 with the 受身形 for example:

　ここから、月が見える : from here, the moon is visible (I can see the moon)
　ここから、月が見えられる : from here, the moon is visible

I don't understand much the difference between except that in the second one, I feel like it is supposed that there is someone looking at the sky, and the moon is visible by him I think...
I know it could also mean "the moon can be visible" but my question is about the passive voice
Another example:

猿が落ちる
猿が落ちられる

The second sentence doesn't make much sense to me, I would like to know if I'm wrong and how you understand these sentences, thanks!


texts: A lost haiku from the Heian period about the death of a child

texts:
I remember reading a haiku which I thought was by Sei Shonagon (I think I read it in Will and Ariel Durant's "Our Oriental Heritage" volume, in Greek, a long time ago.
It was about losing a child, and it went something like

  How far the young hunter had to go today to gather his butterflies

but I cannot find it by reasonable searching.
Does it ring a bell? Was it Shonagon? Was it maybe Izumi Shikibu? (I do not think it was Murasaki Shikibu.)

I'd be most obliged, this is for an acquaintance that has lost an 8-yr old child (not that any haiku would make any difference to somehting like that).


texts: 呉 is an ancient kingdom in china, how did it become "to give" in japanese?

texts:
I found in the Chinese dictionary that 呉 is the name of a kingdom. But in japanese it means "to give". How did it happen ?
Thanks a lot


texts: How can I express sentences like "How long is ..." or "How old is ... " or "How convenient is ..." etc.?

texts:
I want to know if there's a grammar structure that can be used when you want to know the extent of an adjective. E.g.

会長は若いね　＞＞　How young is he?
この映画はとっても長いよ！　＞＞　How long is it?
たきくんは遅れてしまいました。　＞＞　How late was he?

I know that there are other ways you can ask these questions (会長は何歳ですか？・映画はどのくらいかかりますか？・たきくんは何時に来ましたか？) but I want to know if there's a structure like "How [adjective] is [noun]?" in English that can be used for any adjective.


texts: 「私はジョンにラジオを貸した遣りました.」は、違いますか？

texts:
この文は訳して見たが、全然わからない。
"I lent John a/my radio."

でも、「て-やる」は、「貸して遣りました」と思った。


texts: Can someone explain how this massive sentence works

texts:
アメリカやヨーロッパなど6つの国は、イランが核兵器をつくろうとしているのではないかと考えて、経済制裁（＝貿易などを禁止すること）を続けていました。

America and Europe etc plus 6 countries (this is the topic)
Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons
Since it is not prohibited economic sanctions (the thing that prohibits international trade) are continuing.

I get the basic gist but I don't really understand lots of the grammar.

Especially:

What is it really saying about America? It seems the topic of individual clauses changes lots
I understand the つくろうとしている。But not the のではないかとかんがえて。 Does it mean since it is not prohibited? I don't understand how the grammar works here. ～ので？ ～かと？

Cheers


texts: Adjective for beautiful hand-writing? (きれい, 美しい{うつくしい} ?)

texts:
Yesterday I wanted to tell a Japanese friend that his hand writing was really pretty (he was writing Kanji to show me in a very neat way).

So I said "書き方がとても美しい{うつくしい}！" (instead of the simpler "書き方がとてもきれい").
Since he didn't correct me I didn't think anything special on the moment, but now I'm still thinking it might be a weird way to put it. Is it?

I read this page on the difference between きれい and 美しい:
https://exploringjapanese.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/きれい-vs-うつくしい/
And I get the feeling that 美しい might have been too majestic and formal for this, am I correct?

Then I thought maybe actually a better way to put this would not be with "beautiful" adjectives at all! Any thought?


texts:
How can I start my Japanese greeting card for a newborn?

Is the following a correct sentence, in Japanese?

  新しい両親になるからおめでとうございます


texts:
Some times I encounter the phrase (ex: 世間の知るところとなる) and the usage of ところ seems unusual to me so after looking up in a dictionary I found this meaning for ところ:

《漢文の、受身を表す「所」の訓読から。「…ところとなる」の形で》前に置かれた語句が示す行為の対象であることを表す。「世人の称賛する―となった」

Is this the meaning being used here? If so, would "世間の知るところとなる" be essentially the same as "世間に知られる"?


texts: Honorific form of i-adjectives (e.g. はやい → おはよう)

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  ～うございます - keigo い-adjectives

I still remember the introductory lecture of the first Japanese course I took in college, my sensei told the class that おはようございます does not mean "good morning" but it is actually derived from はやいです which simply means "it is early".

Some time later, I've been told that this honorific formation of i-adjectives is not restricted to はやい only, but can be applied to any i-adjectives. I've not been told how though.

I'm assuming that for any i-adjectives that end with X-ai, they become o-X-ou:

  はやい → おはよう
  たかい → おたこう

But what about adjectives that end with -ui, -ii etc? Turning them into -ou does not sound right. For example:

  さむい → おさもう?
  たのしい → おたのしょう?
  おおきい → おおおこう?  　[triple お]

What are the rules for turning i-adjectives into honorific form? And also, are this honorific still in use today and in what kind of scenarios?


texts: I have been wondering about it for a while, Are all intransitive verbs becoming stative with ている?


texts: I have seen 僕は落ちるのが怖い  translated as "I am afraid to fall".   Could it also be used to mean "I am afraid to fail".


texts: What's the meaning of these kanji in this image still?

texts:
This is a sincere question, I apologize for the lewdeness, though.

I was watching a japanese pornographic film and I stumbled upon this written phrase. I wanted to know what it means (I'm also starting to study japanese -not related to the porn, lol-). I attach just the sign so you don't have to watch the video:

I am able to read hiragana but I can't discern the kanji.

Thanks in advance and again I apologize.


texts: What's the difference between Ichidan/Godan and Ru/U verbs classification?

texts:
I've come across two different ways (at least, apparently for me) to classify verbs. Please note that this question is fundamentally different from Verb classifications by japanese learners.
The first classification is to divide verbs into Godan and Ichidan, which I think is good for reference, but not clear at all for learners (you can't really guess the number of conjugations by just looking at the verb).
The second, which I personally find clearer, is to divide them into る- and う-verbs. According to this last division:

With the exception of two verbs, all verbs fall into る- or う-verbs.
All る-verbs end in る, while う-verbs end in -う (including る). Therefore, if a verb does not end in る, it'll be necessarily a う.verb.
For verbs ending in る, if the vowel preceding る is /a/, /u/, /o/, it will always be an う-verb.
If the vowel is /e/ or /i/, it will be a る-verb in most cases.

So what's the difference between the two? Is one system adopted by Japanese and the other adopted by learners (e.g. in JLPT)? Or they totally coincide but just have different names?


texts:
Is there a reason why [新聞]{しんぶん} is often romanized as "Shimbun" instead of the "Shinbun" its supposed to be? I ask as I've found that even brands like 毎日新聞 do this; romanizing their name as "Mainichi Shimbun".

How did this all start? And is it actually the correct romanization? Or is it just a miss-romanization that people've just gone with?


texts:
The one who just attacked is Lancer and not [髑髏]{されこうべ}.

防御と反撃。
動作は一呼吸、まったくの同時に行われた。
それを、自分から飛びかかった髑髏に防げる筈がない。

  Defense and counter-attack.
  Those actions happened in the same moment.
  Against that, for the skull who leaped by his own will, it should be impossible to defend.

Shouldn't it be:
それを、自分から飛びかかった髑髏が防げる筈がない。


texts:
I'm new to Japanese language. I was looking for a way to ask "what class are you in?" or similar (not sure if that's the right way to translate it to Japanese, but the idea is to ask him what class is he taking in this precise moment, considering we're in different schools and we're texting).

So far I've found threads here in Stack Exchange but they refer to the verb "attend" or "to be registered" rather than what I want to say.

I ended up with the sentence:

  nani no kurasu wa anata ga imasu ka (sorry no hiragana on my computer's keyboard)

He understand what I meant, but I'm not sure that was right. What's the right way to ask this?


texts:
In my grammar dictionary, it gives the example

  あのステーキはおいしそうだった

but under the notes it goes on to say that 「そうだ」 can not be used with regards to past events or states.


texts: The order of verbs and their complement/adjunct

texts:
次の日そのスカートを学校にはいていったら、友達によく似合うと言われた。（〇）
次の日そのスカートをはいて学校にいったら、友達によく似合うと言われた。（〇）
何枚ものお札を窓口につかんでいく（✕）
何枚ものお札をつかんで窓口にいく（〇）

I saw the first sentence in a book (留学生のためのここが大切文章表現のルール) and asked a Japanese friend if the above four sentences are natural, told that only the third one is unnatural. Could you help me figure out why the first one is natural while the third one is unnatural?


texts:
なお、参考までに反対に成功した場合の原因帰属を括弧の中に書いておく。

= roughly: The cause-association for the case where things conversely went well is written in the brackets.

Does the madeni mean' before the reference here?


texts: Form of address for a medical doctor in Edo and Sengoku eras

texts:
I know that nowdays 先生 is used as the honorific for medical doctors (among others), but I'm curious what honorific was used in older periods, Edo and Sengoku specifically.
Also if this usage of 先生 is entirely modern, when and why did it become such?


texts:
I often hear 春風【はるかぜ】(or, much less often, 春風【しゅんぷう】) used to describe the characteristically windy weather of early Spring.

I was also certain I had heard it used on occasions as a figurative expression, to mean something akin to "Spring cleaning" or "Spring renewal".

However, when I look in both bilingual or Japanese dictionaries, I cannot find any such additional definition.

EDICT gives:

  春風 [はるかぜ]  (n) spring breeze

  春風 [しゅんぷう]  (n) spring breeze

And Wikipedia:

  春風（はるかぜ）は、春に吹く風のこと。

Did I dream this figurative meaning? Is it merely understood and self-explanatory, but not widely accepted as part of the definition? Has anybody ran into a non-meteorological use of the expression?


texts: What is the difference between 何 and どれ?

texts: 何 means what and can be conjugated with か to mean something (何か要る : I need something) with も to mean everything/nothing (何も知らない : know nothing) and with でも to mean anything ( 何でもいい : anything is fine). Now what if I conjugate どれ(means which) in the same way as 何 with か も でも to mean one from a lot of choices, all/none of the choices, one but any of the choices. Actually I'm confused with the real definition of those. So what is the exact meaning of どれか,どれも,どれでも specifically and with examples please. The か there is not asking "which one?"


texts:
二十歳 is a (to me) bizarre exception to the usual number+さい rule for discussing age. Is this rooted in 20 being the Japanese age of majority?

Added: To be more specific: why isn't it pronounced にじゅうさい like the rest of the さい words for age?


texts:
We use "desu" and "deshita" to make the polite form and "ka" to make it a question, for example:

Tokyo ga suki desu ka? (Do you like Tokyo?)
Tokyo ga suki deshita ka? (Did you like Tokyo?)

How can I ask the same questions using the dictionary, casual forms of "desu" and "deshita" which are "da" and "datta"?

Should I add "ka" at the end of a sentence? Or just replace "desu" and "deshita" with "da" and "datta"?

P.S. I don't need a long explanation, but rather a simple answer. The information I've found so far is ambiguous.

P.S.2

How common and ok to use this in informal speech (without ka)?:

Tokyo ga suki da/datta?

Just yes or no.


texts: meaning of 振り回す in this context (referred to a person)

texts:
Context: summer vacation started and a boy is thinking of asking her crush to spend some time with him, but when he checks his phone he notices that she has not replied to his texts yet. He gets frustrated, wants to write her again but doesn't want to text until she replies. Then he shakes his head after noting the way he's acting and says

あいこに振り回されすぎだ...

After checking in a dictionary,  振り回す means brandish/wield/etc when refered to things, and to manipulate or abuse one's power when referred to a person. But the last 2 definitions don't quite fit here. Could it be something like "controlled"? I'm not sure though.
Also, is this the "suffering pasive" form? Even though it's not an intransitive verb


texts: たの at the end of 「そんなに寝ぼけるまで熟睡してたの？」

texts:
Could you help me with this sentence (it's from Attack on Titan)

  そんなに寝ぼけるまで熟睡【じゅくすい】してたの？

そんな　refers to the muttering he did earlier

まで　probably doesn't mean "until", but rather "even"

So something like, "even half asleep, you do..."
I'm just not sure how the 熟睡 part fits in, and how the ”たの” works.

I appreciate any help on that matter.
Thanks :)


texts:
I'm trying to figure out if question words need particles. For example

なぜ　(should there be a particle here?) にほんご　を　べんきょうしますか？
Why study Japanese?

Should there be a particle after なぜ? If so which one? If no particle is needed could you say why that is.

Thanks.


texts:
漢字の辞書を買おうと思っています。

  (I am going to buy a kanji dictionary) (decision already made)

  from "Genki 2"

So, we use the volitional form + と思っています　to talk not about spontaneous decisions but those which we have already made.

Do the sentences below mean exactly the same?

  漢字の辞書を買おうと思っています。

  漢字の辞書を買うつもりです。


texts: What is the nuance of 寝てもらう in this context?

texts:
Consider the following sentence.

  私のアパートは狭い上に家具がたくさんあるので、お客さんが来た時、寝てもらう場所がない。

What is the nuance of using 寝てもらう rather than  just 寝る? The guest is sleeping for my purpose?


texts:
X1ばX2ほどY is more common than X1ばX2だけY and seem to have similar meanings.

I've also seen X1ばX2だけY being used with X2 being used in both the present and past tense, and I don't think I've seen the past tense much with XばXほどY, and occurrences on the web seem to confirm that.  For example 「売れれば売れただけ」turns up many hits, but 「売れれば売れたほど」only 4.  Same for 「食べる」.

Can someone please clarify the differences in usage and nuance between the two patterns, and the two tenses for X2.

Edit: Since the past tense sounds unnatural to people, here is the transcript of the drama the example is from, in case context helps:

A: 僕の小説は面白いですか？

B: もちろんです。１５０万部突破ですよ。数字が証明しています。

A: 売れれば売れただけ面白いってことですか。


texts: Is there a word for “using a wrong kanji”?

texts: This would be probably more common when writing personal names, but can happen in a regular writing as well. Is there a Japanese word or expression for a kanji “typo” – a situation, when you use a wrong kanji character? Not necessarily from a technical reason such as misspelling, but because of a mistaken recall or bad guessing as well.


texts: What is the difference between 隠す and 覆う?

texts: It would be really nice if someone could explain the difference between these two words that both mean ´to hide´. Some example sentences that illustrate the difference would really help. :)


texts:
ここ は… どう 言えば いい ん だろ。

I think the ん here is the abbreviated の resulting in のだろ.

I'm not sure how to connect it with the provisional form どう 言えば いい.

If the latter means: It will be good if I somehow say..., then would the former modify the will to would?

The result being: It would be good if I somehow said (as in named this place).

Is this interpretation correct? I was trying to translate it around いいん being a noun. It made some sense due to the overall context, but felt like I'm forcing the meaning. Thank you.


texts: Whats the difference between ぜひ and もちろん

texts:
Both mean of course, right?

I always traditionally used もちろん but I increasingly seem to see ぜひ.

When do you use each?


texts: Can someone help translate this gravestone?

texts:
I've been trying to research my family back through my Japanese heritage. I got all the way back to the Masuhara name but didn't know the kanji. I knew that I had a Great Uncle that was a doctor. I finally found his gravestone and I've translated the first two kanji as the Masuhara name 「増原」and the ドクトル since he was a doctor. But I can't really see or understand the last few kanji on there. I tried using the google translate writing tool just to see if the kanji would come up and I think I got one that looked similar and was like "Tooru no" or something　「亨之」. I don't know if that is on the right track and I can't even find the last kanji anywhere.

Any help would be appreciated]1


texts: What's the difference between ことがある or ことはある?

texts:
In Tae Kim's guide, he wrote a few example sentences:

徹夜して、宿題することはある。
一人で行くことはありません。
パリに行ったことはありますか。
お寿司を食べたことがある。
そういうのを見たことがなかった。

In these examples, I don't really understand why some sentences use が and some use は.


texts:
Ok ,so this is frome a mange where two couple have been dating for a while but did not hold hand,yet .

  奥手すぎて手も繋げていない

So what does {奥手すぎて} means ?
I tried to look it up but did not found any thing beside that {奥手} means late bloomer .


texts: What is the English equivalent of「ひとこと欄」?

texts: I believe this a kind of word-game, but cannot find a reference to it...


texts: The uses of おはよう, こんばんわ and おやすみ

texts: How should I use ohayō, konbanwa and oyasumi? As a greeting or as a goodbye?


texts: How can you express a "double causative"?

texts:
Made-up example to illustrate what I mean by "double causative", since that may be an abuse of terminology:

Suppose your grandmother always forces your kids to eat okra, which they hate. You think this is unreasonable and the kids should be allowed to eat what they want. As the grandmother is about to come over, you say to your spouse, "Don't let grandma make the kids eat okra!"

My guess would be something like this:

  おばあさんに、子供たちにオクラを食べさせることをさせないで！

Is my attempt correct? What is the most natural way to express this meaning?


texts: Is this sentence in a different language or is it just gibberish?

texts:
There's a line in the lyrics for the song "Viva La Viva" by Stereopony that's written like this:

  ヨボセヨペゴパヨ チキンピリョヘヨ

Underneath this is:

  (わたしはチキンが大好きです。)

The second line isn't actually sung, so I'm assuming it's some kind of translation of the first. As for the first line, I've no idea where to even begin parsing this (besides the word チキン). Does it actually mean anything?

My first thought is that it's either a completely different language or that it's some kind of "language game" similar to Pig Latin in English. Or it could just be nonsense words used to fit in with the song (the "translation" line merely there for a joke).


texts: How to use the word ''Amari'' and "Juushi suru" in a sentence

texts:
Was wondering if someone here could help me know how to use the word AMARI in a sentence. And also, the word JUUSHI SURU which means "to emphasize". I couldnt find out when to use the word.

  仕事で人の間違いを重視するあまり仕事が楽しくなくなった。
  At work, people focus too much on other's mistakes so work became unenjoyable.

Please let me know if my japanese grammar is correct, if not please correct me


texts:
I'm trying to translate this blog.
The blogger said his today's content will be しょーもない.
Based on goo, it seems to be an Osaka dialect meaning silly, stupid or lame.

今日の内容はとてもしょーもない事なので、、、
あんまり期待して読まないでください。
え、いつもしょーもないじゃんと思ってる人
逆に読んでください。そしてそのしょーもなさに驚愕し恐怖を覚え僕を恐れてください、、、

However, he later said しょーもなさ, which I'm not sure whether it has the same meaning with しょーもない.
It also seems to have a hashtag on instagram.


texts:
I am at present rigorously studying 擬音語／擬態語 (an entire world of its own!).

The definition my book has for ぼちぼち (also ぼつぼつ) is:

1. Gradually; slowly but steadily
2. Used to describe something that is about to happen.  Imminently.  Right away.
3. The condition of many dots or other small objects scattered around.

Ignoring definition 3, definition 1 seems nearly identical to どんどん and だんだん:

ぼちぼち　←→　どんどん　←→　だんだん

and definition 2 seems nearly identical to そろそろ:

ぼちぼち　←→　そろそろ

Is this correct??  If so, are they freely interchangeable in a given situation, etc.?  Can someone explain any nuances amongst them??


texts:
Sorry for the bother. I'm in the middle of translating some notes from a musician on their newest album's tracks, and I ran into such a weird looking phrase that I don't know what to do with.

Here's the context:

そして、一番最初に歌入れをしたのもなんとこの曲。

The translation I have for it is pretty weak...right now, it says, "and so, this piece was somehow the first song we sang (for the album)."

The sentences before and after it have seemingly nothing much to do with the sentence, though I can post it if asked...I know what した、の、も、なんと means on their own but all of them strung together like that is making me crazy. I can't find anything on weblio or google, so if anyone can help me, I would appreciate it very much!


texts:
一番好きな人どうしが一番好きでいられる関係が一番だって、信じてるから

My translation would be something like this: Because I believe the best thing is for the person you like best to be liked the best.

I'm having trouble to understand this sentence because the word best keeps being repeated.


texts: The stylistic use of romaji for the particle "de"

texts:
Or other cases when a single word/particle is rendered in romaji within a sentence otherwise written in normal Japanese. This is something I first came across on cooking websites, for example:

ルクエde白パン (where ルクエ refers to the cookware used)
塩麴{しおこうじ}deあさりのパスタ (where 塩麴 is a notable ingredient)

I've also seen it in advertising materials, for example a range of children's toys that you can use in the bath, made by トミカ is called 「おふろDEトミカ」
The interesting part is that this seems to be much more common with "de" than with other particles, as far as I can tell (examples with "ni"/"no"/"to" exist but they seem to be less frequent - please correct me if I'm wrong on that).
Actual questions:

Is this usage influenced by the existence of "de" as a preposition in Spanish and French?
In cases like の, when the romaji version could be read as the English word "no"/shorthand for "number"/etc, is this avoided? Used for puns?
Is this a very recent phenomenon? Was there a particular source that popularised it? (For example a popular cookbook or restaurant used it and the people I see on the internet doing the same are just copying that).
Are there cases where this happens for other parts of a sentence, e.g. just one particular noun or verb rendered in romaji?

Examples of really good/bad puns using romaji in this manner also very welcome.


texts: japanese equivalent of "Mmmm" as in "Mmmm I like that!" or "Mmmm, delicious"

texts:
in other words, "Mmmm" used as a tone of appreciation or approbation, NOT of deliberation as in "Mmmm, let me think about that"

thanx


texts: Is this で a particle or the connective form of copula? Or something else?

texts:
昨日はひどい雨で雷も落ちて、大変でした。

I would translate it like this:

"Concerning yesterday, there being terrible rain and thunder dropping it was terrible."

In this case I assumed that で represents the connective form of です/だ.


texts: Meaning of 太ももを鍛えたなんたらいうシナリオ

texts:
I'm struggling to understand what is being said in this line. To provide some context the person was discussing with a girl about his muscles and let her touch them. She then asked if he wanted to touch hers, and he declined (because of his conscience and the fact that she is a naïve sheltered girl).
「私のは……ぷにぷにですね……」
自分のお腹を触ってしょんぼりしていた。
「触ってみますか？」
「いや……自慢の腹筋になってから触らせてもらおう」
「ですよね……」
むしろぷにぷにのお腹を触らせていただきたいが、これ以上は良心の呵責というやつが。
太ももを鍛えたなんたらいうシナリオが頭をよぎった。
「体を鍛えるつもりなら、食事にも気を付けないといけないな」
「食べてこそ、血となり、肉となり、骨となる。しっかり食べないと大きくなれないんだぞ」
In the bolded line I am unsure what he saying.
頭をよぎる is used to say that something crossed one's mind. In this case 太ももを鍛えたなんたらいうシナリオ.
太ももを鍛える simply means to work out / train one's legs.
What is confusing me is what なんたらいうシナリオ means and who 太ももを鍛えた is referring to.


texts:
the following is an excerpt from the NHK easy article: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10012946031000/k10012946031000.html

そして、災害に強い町にするためにどうしたらいいか、生徒が自分で考えるようになっています

DeepL translates the sentence as:

The students are then encouraged to think for themselves about what they can do to make their town more resilient to disasters.

I understand that ようになる is used when referring to a change in state (or ability, if potential form + ようになる). However, I don't really understand how 考えるようになっています is equivalent to "encouraged to think". Is the sense of "encouragement" coming from the fact that the grammar form is in the continuous っている? - i.e. active/continuous entering into a state of thinking (literal)?
Hope this makes sense :s
EDIT: it appears ようになっている is supposed to mean something along the lines of "designed to do" - if so, this makes more sense - can anyone confirm?


texts: Male speech pronunciation changes for i-adjectives

texts:
i learn japanese from many sources including movie or anime. unfortunately japanese often pronounce it different from actual word that make me often failed to find the translation, for example すごい becomes すげえー, でかい becomes でけえー, たかい becomes てけえー. so my questions are:

how this works? is it that simple just replacing おい、あい to えー？because i think never hear someone saying kawee for かわいい。
is there any other japanese male version other than replacing あい、おい to えー OR な vs ね?

Note: Pardon me i dont know proper tag for this question.