texts: Using adjectives in simple sentence (Need です and い-form?)

texts:
I meet various sentences with adjectives, which version is correct?

この猫{ねこ}は黒{くろ}です。 (...kuro desu)
この猫は黒いです。
この猫は黒い。

Thanks a lot!


texts: How do you translate "A person who admits ignorance shows it once; the one who tries to hide it shows it often." to Japanese?

texts: I have read that this proverb is of Japanese origin (correct me if I'm wrong), but was unable to find its Japanese form. Thank you in advance.


texts: Is 君 (きみ) obsolete as a way to call your romantic partner?

texts:
In many love songs, the singer calls their partner 君 (きみ).

But is this used by couples in real life, as of 2013?
Should this word be considered obsolete, or is it still seeing some use outside of the pop world?

Note: I have heard きみ used in conversations between junior/senior, but here I am referring specifically to couples.


texts: Is the use "ほしい” appropriate in these sentences?

texts:
Professor A asked you to go to his room.

  A先生があなたを先生の部屋に行ってほしいです。

Is it OK? I feel it is not quite natural.

Similarly, how to say "Professor A hopes you can concentrate on the XX research."

  A先生があなたをXX研究に集中してほしいです。


texts: Specialized banking/credit card vocabulary

texts:
I recently found myself in a situation where I had to attempt customer service over the phone in Japanese and I got tripped up on some terminology that I've never encountered before. Most of it had to do with credit card payment logistics. Are there any good resources for dealing with this kind of specialized vocabulary?
Specifically, I found myself getting stuck on:

"Charge", both as a verb and as a noun, in the sense of charging a certain amount to a card.
「支払い」 seems to be an appropriate noun, but what would the verb be? 「支払わせる」 doesn't sound right to me.

"Hold", in the sense of a temporary reservation placed on a card that will clear up by itself after a few days.
A dictionary suggests 「数日間保留中」, but I'd like to be sure of that before I actually try using it.

"Offer", as in "offer to buy" as a noun (e.g, "your offer" or "an outstanding offer" pertaining to an item for sale).
I was using 「お申し込み」, but it would be nice to be more specific than this, if possible.

"Finalize", in the sense of officially completing a transaction.
Maybe 「纏める」? I'm not sure if that's an appropriate usage.

If you have any familiarity with this kind of vocabulary, any help would be greatly appreciated. The dictionary offers some guidance, but I'm wary of attempting to use any of these terms without seeing them in context first.
Thanks!


texts:
In this sentence(from this site:http://aozora-pwresult.com/archives/4924):

  このリストはオーエンズにかかっているんだ。

I don't know how to interpret Noun(personal name) + に + かかっている.

I've been looking at www.imabi.net/l243kakarukakeru.htm and I think it could mean this:

  "To be concerned", "be the work of", or "to concern". Only a usage of 係る.

So, could this sentence mean: "This リスト is going to be about オーエンズ?

Also, I found this example sentence with it's translation:

  成果は君の努力にかかっている。(The outcome will depend on your efforts.)

So, could it also mean: "This list will depend on(be in charge of) オーエンズ"?


texts: When to use 〜す verbs or their する verb counterparts

texts:
Consider the verb pairs 表【ひょう】する and 表【ひょう】す、or 訳【やく】する and 訳【やく】す。

I realize the distinction may be academic(for example, either way the ます form is always spelled 訳します), but what is the functional difference between these pairs, and when is one used over the other?


texts:
I've been practising my Japanese by reading the bible. And I came across a usage of 結ばれ that I don't quite understand. More specifically, it's the first sentence of Genesis 4:1 from the "Living Japanese Bible".

  そののち、アダムは妻エバと結ばれ、エバはカイン〔「私は得た」の意〕を産みました。

Which is, in the English "New International Version" is

  Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.

What is 結ばれ doing here? I get that the use of the stem means it's acting similar to 結ばれて, but I don't get what exactly it's to mean in this context.

Is it saying Adam made love to her, then she gave birth to Cain? Or is it saying they're married, then by saying she gave birth, imply that Adam did her?

Btw, sorry if I'm getting 結ぶ all wrong here.


texts:
I apoligize for the dumb question, I just started learning recently.

But I'm using memrise to help me learn Japanese, and what I've learned is that ち = "chi", ょ = "yo", う = "u", し = "shi".

Based on that, wouldn't that translate to "chiyoushi"?

Or does ち mean "chi/ch", and ょ mean "yo/o"?

Thanks!


texts: What is the difference between 「名前【なまえ】」 and 「名称【めいしょう】」？

texts:
I am learning the word 「名称【めいしょう】」. According to the dictionary, it means "name", but so does 「名前【なまえ】」. What are the differences in terms of meaning and usage between both words?

I noticed that the entry for 「名称【めいしょう】」 states that it can mean "title", yet I can't figure out how to use the word properly.

よろしくお願いします！


texts: Is there some functional difference between デマ and ガセ?

texts:
According to gogen-allguide.com デマ comes from the German demagogie, so it would make sense for it to be similar to demagogy in English. But demagogy is used for political things like false claims and promises, where デマ is much broader nowadays to mean any groundless statement or rumor 「根拠のない、いい加減な噂話」, even if it was political in nature at first.

For ガセ gogen-allguide.com simply defines it as 「偽物。まやかし物。噓。」 and describes it's origin as probably being the がせ of お騒がせ.

These are both very general definitions, so are they completely interchangeable anymore or are there situations where one would be preferred over the other?


texts: 3 Questions from a Shin Kanzen Master N1 Passage

texts:
Here is another passage I read from Shin Kanzen Master Dokkai N1. (Well, it's actually an excerpt from Asahi Shinbun.)

For this passage, I have several questions:

Usage of という

Here I encircled two instances of という. At first, I thought that these two というs are used differently, but I think they are the same in the sense that they both serve to quote the expression that precedes it, except that the first one is a direct quote, while the other one is an indirect quote. Can anyone confirm this?

That にである (end of first paragraph)

I was surprised when I saw に next to である. Is this a typographical error? Is this a truncated sentence? I have not seen a sentence like this before.

Another case of だ抜き? (last paragraph, second sentence)

Here I found out that だ抜き happens often. So far, I have seen the structure だと〜 becoming と〜. In the last paragraph however, there was no と〜 at the end. Can this be considered as another example of だ抜き?


texts:
I know it's a complicated grammar concept that even Japanese don't fully get, but I'd like to know what's the difference between

明日は火曜日です
and
明日が火曜日です

They way I understand it, in the second sentence you're indicating that tomorrow, and not any other day, is Tuesday.  And in the first one, you're indicating that tomorrow is Tuesday, and not any other day.

Would this be correct?


texts: Translation of "want to be taught by him"?

texts: I know to teach is 教え, but I'm not sure how to use the passive form. Google Translate gave 彼が教えしたいです, but that seems he wants to teach (sb). How about 教わたい?


texts:
In the dictionary, many words have these English translations:

最後
前
以前
先
昔 etc

I would be grateful if you could tell me the differences between these words. What i'm trying to say are things like "at my previous school" or "my last girlfriend" etc


texts:
それだけじゃない、ほかの星座の神話だって有名なものだったらロマンチックに語ることができる。

what does だって do here? Something along the lines of the following ?

ほかの星座の神話という有名なもの

ほかの星座の神話の有名なもの


texts:
For full context:
https://www.satorireader.com/articles/sanzu-no-kawa-episode-1-edition-m

The sentence in question:
その日の朝は、いつもと全く変わらない、平凡な朝だった。

My attempt at translation:
"This days morning, really as always nothing changed and it was an ordinary morning."

I usually would expect 変わらない to be either て or ます form to formally connect to the noun 朝 which it modifies. But instead, it's just plain form. Did I miss out on something, or is this just a question of style?


texts: Should I use "Te-" form or "Koto mo" for this?

texts:
If I wanted to list my hobbies, I'm not sure if it'd be better to use...

  趣味は書くことも、素敵なノートと文房具を集めることも、テレビゲームをすることもです。
  My hobby is writing, collecting lovely notebooks and stationery, and playing (doing) video games.

  趣味は書いて、素敵なノートと文房具を集めて、テレビゲームをすることもです。
  My hobby is writing, collecting lovely notebooks and stationery, and playing (doing) video games.

I feel like it's the first one but I'm not sure because you can use "て" form to list things and "こと" to make things nouns so I need help.


texts:
Let's say I wanted to render the sentence "Money's worth what we make it worth." into Japanese. I'd break it down like so:
money-topic 貨幣は
is worth-suru verb 値打ちする
"what we make it worth"-object
Within the relative clause or "object phrase."
we-subject 我々が
make-verb 稼ぐ
worth-object 値打ちを
According to Jisho.org, '値打ち' can do double duty as a noun and suru verb. link
So the "simple sentence" (to borrow english parlance) is "貨幣は 値打ちする"
Then dropping the relative clause in, we get "我々が 値打ちを 稼ぐ 貨幣は 値打ちする"
Does this resulting sentence "work" in Japanese?


texts:
If I wanted to say that I've been working out as of late, I'd probably write something like (feel free to correct or suggest):

  私はこのごろ手慣らしをしている。

Would it be any different if I ｗrote

  私はこのごろ運動をしている?

I've been told the former sort of translates to 'practice/training' as opposed to 'exercise' though I'm not sure if it matters...?

Any suggestions/ideas are appreciated!


texts: What is the difference between ていたつもりだったが and ているつもりだったが?

texts:
1.リビングで眠ってしまった琴里をおぶって部屋に運ぶのは日常茶飯事であったし、女の子を背負うのには慣れているつもりだったが......やはり、少し感覚が異なった。琴里よりも少しだけ重たい体重が、女の子特有の柔らかな感触をはっきりと伝えてくる。

Context: 士道 is carrying his classmate 折紙, who is in hospital, on his back. He isn’t having the same feeling as he does when he carries 琴里, his sister.

2.折紙は、自分の判断が甘かったことを知った。
剣压の余波で、おおよその威力を推し量っていたつもりだったがーー違う。明らかに、世界が、違う。

Context: 折紙 is fighting a 精霊. The latter uses a sword that has tremendous power. 折紙 guessed the power wrongly previously.

Hi. Can we use ていたつもりだったが and ているつもりだったが interchangeably in both examples? If we can, what is the difference between ていたつもりだったが and ているつもりだったが in both examples? Is ているつもりだったが used only for durative verbs while ていたつもりだったが only for punctual verbs?

(Both seem to mean “XX thought..., but......”).

Thank you.


texts: 議論する場としてreading of 場

texts: In the phrase 議論する場として (from this Wiki page) which is the correct reading of 場? じょう or ば?


texts:
海外で目指すビジネスのねらいについて、下村さんは、「僕らは『世界の農業の頭脳』になりたい。データを集めることで、例えば、地球温暖化の原因とされるメタンガスをあまり出さない牛をどうしたら作ることができるかも提案できる」と夢を語ってくれました。
Is と working here as WITH or IF or what?
Personally I think is WITH, but I am not so sure.
My breaking down of the sentence:
*地球温暖化の原因とされるメタンガスをあまり出さない牛をどうしたら作ることができるかも提案できる
earth warming's cause (WITH or IF or WHAT)done methane gas を not-much-emit cow を what things make が able may propose be able to.


texts: Modifying adjectives: カンペキ [に or な?] 思ったとおりの仕上がり

texts:
I have a question about カンペキに in the following sentence. As far as I can guess it modifies the whole 「思ったとおりの仕上がり」, but grammatically I cannot understand why. Well, 仕上がり is a noun, so wouldn't カンペキな be correct here?

お母さまを真似して作ってみたんだけど、カンペキに思ったとおりの仕上がりなの
"It came out perfectly just like I thought it should!"


texts: How to make comparisons using "like" in japanese?

texts:
So take the following (contrived) example in english.

  A: What does 'plane' mean?
  B: Which 'plane'? 'Plane' like 'the thing in the sky'? 'Plain' like 'hills on the ground'? Or 'plane' like 'a pocket dimension'?

Another example in Japanese:

  A: 「なのか」はどういう意味ですか？
  B: どっちの「なのか」？「なのか」 like 「みっか」？「なのか」 like 「だよね」?

How do I express the 'like' in that way in Japanese?


texts:
I always considered the form て＋いる as the expression of an ongoing action, but recently I read an article that it can be read as succession of the て form verb and the verb いる. Then, 'もう、家に帰っている。' would not mean 'I am already coming back to my house'. It would mean 'I am already home (I've gone home and I am waiting there now)'. Is it true? When do I know which translation should I use? Are there any possible translations? How I use them?

Thanks in advance.


texts: According to Wikipedia, ッチ is rendered as tch, not cch (etchi not ecchi). Logically I would think that ッジ would then be dj but there's no example of it. What is the correct way? dj or jj? Is there any comprehensive guide to Hepburn romanization that helps with this?


texts:
青年が皆の手で地面に取り押さえられ、縄でぐるぐる巻きにされているところだった。

Does ところ here take on the meaning of "in the midst of doing"?

So this sentence would mean: "The boy was held down by everyone, and was being rolled up by a rope."?

Thanks!


texts:
Expanding on my previous question,

What if the range is not numerical? I encountered these on a book for learning Japanese.

The 初～中級編 book for beginner to intermediate level and 中～上級編 for intermediate to advanced level.

(Question) If I were to read "~" out loud, what would it be? Can I similarly use から and 乃至?

In English I can use "From One to ten" and "From beginner to advanced", is it reasonable for me to map this to Japanese? i.e. the use of から and まで?


texts: Function of で in this sentence: 「入れ違いで亜美さんが出て行ったところです」

texts:
Back again with another question about で in this sentence:

さっき入れ違いで亜美さんが出て行ったところです。

Which supposedly translates to "You just missed Ami as she went out."
From my understanding of で, it may serve three functions:

To indicate the location where an action is happening
To indicate means
Used as a conjunction to connect clauses

However, I seem to be confused with this one, since it modifies 入れ違い which does not seem to fit the functions listed.
Or I guess it may be (1) since it sort of says where the action is happening (i.e. while they're passing by), but I'm not too confident.
Is my understanding of it correct?


texts:
ok so, i'm reading デューク and there's a line that says

  その格好がモップに似ていると言って、みんなで笑った。

with my limited comprehension, i'm unsure of whether this means

everybody laughed that he resembled a mop.
i laughed when people said he looked like a mop.
something else completely

i read this which is what made me think my first translation was probably wrong, but i'm still quite unconfident on the matter...


texts: "wa" vs. "ga" in the question "do you have...?" (child speak!)

texts:
If a child were to casually ask their teacher, "do you have [some object]," which would they say?

先生、「何か」はあるの？ (Sensei, [nanika] ha aru no?)

先生、「何か」があるの？ (Sensei, [nanika] ga aru no?)

I think I've heard a child say the second on one occasion, but a friend of mine says the first is correct. Which is it? What's the difference?


texts:
I'm a little confused on how exactly I would say "I'm going to Japan in 2 months." I don't want to make it seem like I'm saying "I'm going to Japan for 2 months"

What would be the difference between those two sentences?

Here's what I have ２ヶ月に日本へ行きます。

If I dropped the particle に, would that indicate I am going for 2 months? Or would it still indicate in 2 months I would be going.

Thank you!


texts: What is the background of the phrase 背中で教える, and where does the meaning "to teach with one's back" come from?

texts:
I came across this phrase today while doing a lookup on 背中.

  背中で教える

I checked several sources, and all listed the meaning, amongst others, "to teach with one's back". It seems related to learning by example, such as when growing up how you learn from your parents or older siblings. Things related to manners, morals and in general "how to get along in the world".

But as far as I searched, I could not find good example sentences using this phrase. I found some examples here
http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E8%83%8C%E4%B8%AD%E3%81%A7%E6%95%99%E3%81%88%E3%82%8B
but these seem to be general teaching references in a historical setting.

So I am wondering if this phrase has a historical background, and also where the "back" reference came from. Learning while watching someone from behind?


texts:
I was studying the words 何十/何百/何千, and I often see the particles「も」and「の」after.

For example,

  彼は何十冊もの日本に関する本を持っている。

Or,

  高速道路は何千もの車で渋滞した。

The「も」I think is used to emphasize that there's a large quantity, but what is the purpose of 「の」?

I also found some sentences with a similar pattern, but 「の」 is not used.

Example:

  彼は何十冊も英語の本を持っている

Why is that the case?


texts:
The following text is taken out of a novel.

  「お人好しもいいですけど、hIE (インターフェース) が動いているところに手を出したら、かえって処理に負荷をかけますよ」

Kengo knew his computers and machines, though. “Best not interfere when an
Interfacer is at work. You'll only get in the way.” By Interfacer he meant hIE of course, a Humanoid Interface Element, an android in human form.

My attempt:

  It's nice of you, but if you interfere when an Interfacer is working, it will rather put a heavy load on the process.

or

  It's good-hearted of you and all but, if you interfere when an Interfacer is working, the altered process will cause an overload.

Not sure if it's 変って処理 or 却って処理.


texts: Is 飲んだことがない identical to 飲まなかったことがある?

texts:
When two or more verbs (or adjectives) can be "bounded" (either loosely or tightly) as the following case,

食べていない。
買ってくれて欲しい。
したことがある。

does the negated position matter?

More precisely, for example:

Is 「食べていない」identical to 「食べなくている」?
Is 「買ってくれて欲しくない」identical to either 「買わなくてくれて欲しい」or 「買ってくれなくて欲しい」?
Is 「したことがない」identical to 「しなかったことがある」?

Bonus question:

Is there a rule specifying the only part that can be negated?


texts: マリーと日本語を勉強 / Studying with Marie. Is this right?

texts:
マリーと日本語を勉強 or マリーと一緒に日本語を勉強する ?

I just started learning kanji, so i'm not sure which one would be the correct way to say this.

I'm trying to write "Studying with Marie"


texts:
まるで腹を空かせた野良犬が飛び掛るかのように、性急で品性に欠けた仕草が目立った。

All I can translate is: "Just like a hungry dog she jumped about...." and maybe "a gesture that stands out" at the end.

As for the questions: 1) why is 腹を空かす used with the potential form?  2) I don't understand this part "性急で品性に欠けた". A character that lacks impatience? It should be the other way around, so I must get it wrong.


texts: Are バレー (volleyball) and　バレエ (ballet) pronounced differently?

texts:
I recently learned that バレー is the short form of バレーボール and the word for ballet, on the other hand is typically spelled バレエ. I'm wondering whether this difference in spelling reflects a phonetic contrast.

At least according to Wikipedia, the pronunciation of バレー and バレエ is the same, but when I asked a native speaker she told that she thinks that the pronunciation does differ, although she admitted that both words "kinda" sound the same.


texts:
On jisho.org, the definition of 今に is given as "before long; even now" and 今にも is given as "at any time; soon" so the both seem to refer to the near future with 今にも perhaps being more immediate.  However, example sentences I've seen seem to give no indication that 今に is referring to a near future.  E.g., also from jisho.org:

  今に後悔するぞ。 You will yet regret it.

  今にわかる。   You'll see.

  今にバチがあたるぞ。　You'll get it someday.

Does 今に indicate a near future?  If not, why is 今 used in this way?


texts:
I recently came across this song that I really like, 「神居謡{かむいよう}」.
(Link to the full lyrics here.)
This sparked a few questions about archaic Japanese, which I know little of.
How would you translate 「神居謡」 anyway? "Kamuy Chant"? "Kamuy Hymn"?

In any case, I'm fairly sure that I understand the meaning of 「～ねど」, 「夢む」, and 「萌ゆ」.
What perplexes me is the usage of 「や」 in this context. I can guess, but that doesn't really help.
Also, I wonder if there are other usages of archaic Japanese here that I am misinterpreting in a modern context.

The other thing that I wonder about is the usage of 「君」. Did it mean something different than what it means now?
The reason that I ask is because I know a handful of Chinese vocabulary. As we know, kanji is borrowed from Chinese, with some things staying as is, and others being altered.

The Chinese word for "you" is "你" (ni). "君" (jun) in Chinese refers more to a lord.
So, this leads me to wonder if 君 held a different meaning at all back then. Its usage seems strange within the song, to me.

Spiritual and/or mythological references that I might be missing aside, it would be nice if I fully understood the song simply on a language base.

One last thing.

  君や君や　夢む過客や
  賽に玩ばれて　見失う

These two lines are doing my head in. Is it to be interpreted as saying that the singer has lost the person in question to fate?

Sorry for asking such a difficult question. I would be overjoyed if anyone can provide some insight on the matters at hand. If you have anything else to add to what I have already inquired about, I would be grateful for that, too.
Its easy enough to look up on Japanese forums the meaning of words such as 「夢む」, but when they mirror modern words, it becomes harder to source an answer.


texts:
Although the long あー sound occurs in many words written in katakana, and in some onomatopoeia and interjections (ザーザー, まあ, etc.) it seems to be very rare in words written with kanji. The only example that I know is お母さん{おかあさん}. Is this the only one, or are there other words written with kanji that use this sound?

Clarification: I know there are many cases where two あ sounds meet across a morpheme boundary, e.g. 唐揚げ{からあげ}, which is not what I'm interested in. I'd like a list of kanji which have morpheme-internal readings containing あー.


texts:
Reading this answer I noticed an embarrassing hole in my basic knowledge. From the answer:

今日は私も誕生日です。
Today is (your birthday, and) also my birthday.

Without the 'also' part we would have

今日は私の誕生日です。

But I think the original sentence (with も) is a different structure. Rather than replacing の with も I think that 私 has been promoted to a topic and も is actually replacing は in this case. Is this correct?
If I'm right about the above then how would you add も whilst still preserving the possessive structure? I feel that 私のも誕生日です and 私もの誕生日です would both be ungrammatical. That would leave me with 私の誕生日もです. But that also looks weird. Finally, employing も's tendency to move to the right in sentences, I would fix this by writing 私の誕生日でもあります. But, if I'm not mistaken, that's a rather stiff and formal sentence.
Are the things I've said above correct? What is the most natural, informal way to express this simple statement? Is it possible to preserve the possessive structure, or must we promote 私 to a topic as in the original sentence?


texts: In the next sentence does she really care or is she pretending to care?

texts:
Context:

A girl is monologuing. She's talking to another girl. She had previously said what she desires is her happiness. After that she monologues:

  違うんだよ、アリス。私はね、そうやって、自分を誤魔化してるんだよ。

I'm well aware that the sentence she said before means something like: You're wrong, Alice. I'm only saying that to make myself look better.

This is what I'm not sure about:

  あなたのことを気遣ってると思いこむことで、逃げてるんだよ。

I'm just running away from it all by pretending/through caring about you like this.

She really cares or she makes it seem she cares?


texts:
So i came across this sentence in a newspaper article

  与党が各党と修正協議をしている間、特別委員会での審議は、たるみ切っていた。

That I translated into

  While the ruling party together with the other parties were negotiating the revised bill,the discussions of the 特別委員会 were [ ]

Now what exactly does たるみきる mean? With たるみ meaning something along the line of "dullness" or "boredom", and 切る having a whole lot of translation, whereby "terminating" seems to refer to discussion, what does this come out to? It seems like a fix expression, that i can not derive.


texts: I know the safest pronoun to use in Japanese is always 私, but I like the sound of 僕 and want to know if it would be odd or stupid sounding for me to use it? I'm a teenage girl and a foreigner(obviously). If used only with friends casually, is it weird? I've seen this on the web before but opinions seem very mixed, and a lot is 5+ years old(it seems in my results it least) so I mostly just want opinions.  Thanks for answering!


texts: The context: Yotsuba goes to the front door to welcome her friend, and says 「どうぞおあがり。おまかいですが。」and her friend visibly confused responds with 「何だそれ？」I didn't manage to find this おまかい expression on the dictionary or Google. Since she is a child, I imagine it may be a mistake, but then if so, what is the actual word she meant ro use?


texts: What does 「Nounを笑え」 phrase mean in this sentence?

texts:
Oh! KAREN 浜辺の濡れた砂の上で
抱きあう幻を笑え

It's from a song 「恋するカレン」by 大滝詠一. Lyrics here.
Based on my understanding, here's my translation:
Oh! KAREN I laugh at my dream of embracing you in my arms on wet sand on the beach
Would "laugh at"  something be the appropriate or close enough meaning for Nounを笑え. I say "laugh at" because searching for「〜を笑え」showed up this sentence in the search results (as title of one of the youtube videos)

Laugh at life～人生を笑え～

Video with that title here.
宜しくおねがいします


texts: How to interpret whose じいちゃん is being talked about

texts:
Context: A mom talking to her son disapprovingly about him turning the family liquor store into a convenience store.

死んだ親父がじいちゃんの代から受け継いだ酒屋を潰すなんて許さない

How do we know whose じいちゃん is being talked about here? Is it the son's grandfather, or the father's grandfather?


texts: Historically, how would a military lord and his direct subordinate address each other?

texts:
I am currently writing a short story, for a text prompt demanding I set my plot among medieval Japan's nobility, but I am unfamiliar with older honorifics.

The main dialogue takes place between a military commander of high nobility and his first lieutenant and bodyguard. The point is that although they have no hierarchical intermediates, the commander's blood is much more aristocratic than the other's, which demands immense levels of respect from him.

If the lord is a samurai, what would be the title of his first lieutenant? How would they address one another, both in terms of particle ( -kimi? -sama? "O-"prefix?... ) and of designation (a title, a last name)? Could there be several possibilities?
Is there a more fitting title than samurai for this type of subordination relationship (for example, is it unrealistic that a samurai would have a first lieutenant serving as body guard)? In which case, does the lieutenant also have a title I should be aware of?
What could be address variations (for different tones), such as between the English "my lord"/"lord X"/"master"? And, the other way, "lieutenant"/"lieutenant X"/"X" or even a (slightly condescending) "my friend"?
Bonus question, like this wasn't enough yet: raking through even my most guilty references, I looked up the term taicho for captain and only ever found pages about the anime Bleach. Does this rank even exist in real life (along with fuku-taicho)? That's just me being curious however, I believe I can absolutely not use them.


texts: Listing things off: Using Hitotsu repeatedly

texts:
I've seen shows where they list things (etc rules, principles) with hitotsu for every point. I would expect hitotsu, futatsu... etc, to be the norm but it doesn't seem so. It didn't seem to be a running gag in the show I've watched for the char to mix things up or have short term memory, and I've seen it used more than once in diff places.

Is using hitotsu repeatedly just a way of starting a new point without having to go through the hassle of keeping track of the order and number of points being listed? In the same way we would probably just say "next point"?


texts:
In this sentence:

陽あたり良好

Jisho.org states that "陽" is another form for "日" and that when it signifies "day", it's implied to have the same meaning. With this example, I've only ever learned of "日" for either the sun or the day. How is it that the same word can have an alternate form?


texts:
I need to know what しかりだ does mean. I couldn't find over internet a satisfactory meaning.

It is from a manga called Saint Seiya. Here is the whole text:

  黄金聖闘士 十二人とはいえ まだ幼い者が かなり多い シルバーセイント ブロンズセイント しかりだ.

The pope is inheriting his place to a gold saint, and he is telling him that the most of gold saints are young yet. But I don't understand what he is saying about silver and bronze saints, because that last word しかりだ.


texts:
Can someone explain to me what あてがない means?
I saw "私はどこにも行くあてがないの".


texts: The role of hiragana when there is a relevant kanji?

texts: If I don't know the kanji of a thing but I know the hiragana of it, can I just write the hiragana if I have to write it down? Is it a free choice? Or some rules or social formalities?


texts: How to use イコール to compare things? How is it different from 同じ?

texts:
I've heard sometimes that イコール is used sometimes to imply that things are similar. What would be a correct expression to use イコール? Furthermore, how is it different from using 同じ to say that things are similar?

以上、どうぞよろしくお願い致します。


texts: In the song title「ハレ晴レユカイ」(Hare Hare Yukai), why is the second ハ written as a kanji but not the first?

texts: This song title is translated as Sunny Sunny Happiness in English, so it seems that both "hare" are supposed to have the same meaning, and yet they're not written in the same way. Is this a play on word, a common thing to do, or just random?


texts: 美しくつくろい飾ること　This　つくろい's meaning

texts:
I searched 修飾's meaning and it described "美しくつくろい飾ること"

I know what 美しく's meaning but I don't know つくろい. Can anyone explain it ?

^ Picture here


texts:
I know とおり (toori) means "as per", to convey accordance, like, 計画{けいかく}どおり (keikaku doori) = according to plan. But I wanna know whether it can also be used for sentences like this, or whether I should instead only use ように (you ni):

怖い猫どおり/のとおりにおそいかけた。
kowai neko doori/no toori ni osoikaketa.
Attacked like a frightened cat.

or

怖い猫のようにおそいかけた。
kowai neko no you ni osoikaketa.


texts: What is the difference between 描【か】く and 描【えが】く?

texts: I believe the two forms of to draw are 描{か}く and 描{えが}き. What are the differences between them? Which one is used more commonly?


texts: how to say "i'll change the meeting day to tomorrow" in japanese?


texts:
Here is the full sentence I have found:

  あんた あれほどボクシングをきらっていたのに
  どうして急に本気でやる気になったの?

Does it mean 'me'?


texts: Is this a kanji, a radical or something?

texts:
I've seen some kanjis have this figure inside it. It's similar to other radicals and kanjis, but I couldnt find anywhere that it is a kanji or radical of its own. Is this a kanji or a radical by its own? Being able to identify part of a kanji as another kanji or as a radical helps memorizing them

I can't type the symbol with my computer, if someone can please add it to the title it would be appreciated and it would make the question more descriptive and useful for others

For example it's used in this one above


texts:
Why wasn't が used instead of には in

[そんなこと、私にはとても出来ない。]?

Is it correct to use が? What is the meaning/sense and role of には in the sentence to choose it over the が particle?
English:

There's no way I could do something like that.

Note!!
Same phenomenon in [この本の漢字は難しいので私にはとても読めない。].


texts:
Here is the sentence including the word.

  たっぷりかわいがってやりい。

I guess it would mean 'to do' but I would like to know why it is written in this form.


texts:
いくつになったら買ってくれるの？

I'm not sure of the grammar used in this sentence.

いくつ-> Does this still refer to how many?

になった->Is the なった here a conjugation of なる (To become)?

Also is the の at the end of the sentence the contraction of an explanatory の (e.g. the written form of んです)

Thank you!


texts:
背景

現在特任講師として大学機関で働いていますが、かつて院生のころから、日本人の「奨学金」の使い方が気になっていました。私は文部科学省の奨学金も頂きましたが、その奨学金は普通の英語の"scholarship"のように、返済しなくてもよいものでした。

しかし、院生として学んだ大学、また今教えている大学の日本人学生は、返済しなければならないものにも「奨学金」ということばを使っています。参考として、多分、JASSOからもらっているものと思います。

質問本体

辞書でちょっと調べたので、一応分かっているつもりですが、次の三つの点についてお聞きしたいです。

区別するため、表現を変えなければなりませんか。（例えば、「返済する奨学金」または「返済しない奨学金」のように言いますか）
概念として、「奨学金」というと、返済するもの、と思いますか。
"scholarship"より"student aid"に意味が近いと思いますか。

お詫び

文法ミスが多くて読みづらいかもしれませんが、すみません。英語で答えてくれても構いません。


texts: What is the grammatical function of と in the sentence 同じ心を持った人は二人といない

texts:
What is the grammatical function of と in the sentence:

  同じ心を持った人は二人といない。


texts: Form and means of japanese reduplication

texts:
Im on my research about form and meaning of japanese reduplication. Have you guys ever heard or use 休み休み? What exactly the meaning is? If I translate 'resting multiple times' is it right?
Thanks


texts:
While translating a book, I noticed early on that こと is often used as a nominalizer when its placed behind a dictionary-form verb and written in hiragana. Having jumped back on the translation bandwagon during covid, I re-noticed this while looking over my early translation notes, such as the use of こと in the following excerpt from said notes.

(1) ともかく、　逃げきることだけを考えよう。
Anyhow, my only thoughts are of escape.
(2) そんなことを考えてる僕の耳に、銀髪の外国人の忍{しの}び笑いが聞こえてきた。
Thinking over such things, I accidently hear the silver-haired foreigner’s muffled laughter.

Is this observation of こと acting as a nominalizer if it is placed behind a dictionary-form verb and written in hiragana correct, or merely coincidental?
Edit: I am certain こと doesn't work as a nominalizer if placed behind a adjective (pre-noun adjectivals excluded from exemption), as in the second excerpt above, however, any clarification provided if my guess is wrong would be much appreciated.


texts: For example, what is the difference between ゆっくり and ゆっくりと?


texts: What is the difference between すみません and すみませんでした?

texts:
What is the difference between すみません and すみませんでした (or すまない and すまなかった)?

If it is what the 「でした」 suggests and すみませんでした is the past form and used to apologize for things done in the past, then what I don't understand is that even mistakes that I did just now is already in the past (I have already done it!). Then すみませんでした should be the correct one to use and すみません should be used only when you are trying to apologize for something that you will do in the future. But that doesn't seem the way it is used. Can anyone please explain the nuance difference?

Edit: Here is the thing that is bothering me:
Anime: キルラキル

  (After complementing her clothes 鮮血{せんけつ} about how good it feels, 鮮血 starts to cry)
  流子｛りゅうこ｝：「バカ！服が泣くな！ビショビショして気持ち悪いだろうが。せっかくいい着心地{きごこち}だったのに。」
  鮮血：「すまなかった」

So he was sorry about an incident (crying) which happened in immediate past (and he was still crying when he said that), but he didn't use すみません. What would be the difference in meaning if he said すみません? Or is it totally inappropriate in this context?


texts:
Another sentence from my JLPT practise book, this time in a section explaining the use of ものを.

  借金{しゃっきん}で困{こま}っていた友人{ゆうじん}を、助{たす}けようと思{おも}えば助{たす}けられたものを、見捨{みす}ててしまった。

I think this sentence is saying, "My friend who was having debt problems / if I had thought about helping I could have helped / but I forgot about it."

If I'm on the right track in the meaning, then I'm not sure what ものを is bringing to the party here.

Is this sentence equivalent:

  借金{しゃっきん}で困{こま}っていた友人{ゆうじん}を、助{たす}けようと思{おも}えば助{たす}けられたけど、見捨{みす}ててしまった。

If so, what extra meaning does ものを have that would make one choose to use it over けど?


texts: When did the word 「女性観」 come into standard usage? Is it a more politically-correct form of 「婦人観」?

texts:
I need to know when 「女性観」 was coined and, more importantly, when it became widely known/used. Was 「女性観」used in the early to mid-19th century? Did it replace 「婦人観」later on?

Nitobe Inazo used 「婦人観」 in his early to mid-20th c. writing and I have not, so far, seen him use 「女性観」.

I searched for "女性観" 造語 in Google but I could not easily find an answer about the origin of 「女性観」.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!


texts:
授業は粛々と進行している。音とといえば、黒板にチョークを走らせる音や、教科書をめくる音だけ。

音と vs just 音? Feels redundant if followed by といえば.

A: 『宗教倫理』っていうのが時間割にあるけど、それは初めてだけどね
B: それは普通の道徳と捉えていただいて結構よ。ミッション系としての特色はありますけどね

Speaker asked about a religious morals class

As for the class, if you grasp normal morals (for us/the school) , that would be great ??  , ...

普通の道徳と... vs 普通の道徳が... ? hard to fit it as the quotative particle here.
The conditional usage feels similarly clunky for both sentences.
Thanks


texts: Japanese equivalent of the phrase "wrapped around your finger"?

texts:
The English phrase "wrapped around your finger" usually means that a male is so fond of a girl that she can get him to do almost anything she wants, or to give her whatever she wants.  In my case, it is my 2-year old daughter.  I could say she has me "wrapped around her finger" because she's just so cute it's hard for me to see her upset.

Does anyone have a similar phrase in Japanese?


texts: Any special meaning for "negative verb+なる (なってくる)"?

texts:
In the ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 manga (v.5 ch.32) there's a sentence

  また、南町にコーヒー豆が入らなくなってきて、今日は、うちも休日。

English translation reads

  I need to visit the south town for coffee beans again, but today is a day off at home.

Do I understand it correctly that the actual translation would be closer to

  And again I'm not going (for some time already) to Minamimachi for coffee beans, so today is a day off at home.

and that "need" is actually not in the sentence itself but is inferred: "I didn't go for some time" => "I have to go"?  Or does "negative verb+なってくる" indeed has the meaning/nuance of "have to"?

Update: perhaps "入らなくなってきて" here actually means "it so happened that I'm not going" - is it so?


texts: What is the difference between と, たら and 時【とき】?

texts:
First, I came across this sentence using と in a way I've never encountered before.

  ピノキオはうそを吐くと、鼻が長くなります。

My translation: When/As Pinocchio tells lies his nose becomes longer.

After a little research and based on the context of the sentence I figured this use of と must mean 'when' or 'as' as opposed to the 'and' meaning but then I started wondering what the difference is between this 'when' and the 時【とき】 'when' and the たら 'when' in terms of usage.


texts: Are haiku typically "padded" when read aloud?

texts:
I was once told that haiku should be "padded" so that instead of 5/7/5, they fit an 8/8/8 meter:

  ■■■■■□□□　←　wait for 3 beats after this line
  ■■■■■■■□　←　wait for 1 beat after this line
  ■■■■■□□□　←　wait for 3 beats after this line

If I recall correctly, the explanation was that Japanese favors rhythms in groups of 4 or 8 beats (morae).  I don't actually know if haiku are read this way, though--it's just something I was told once.

Are haiku actually read aloud with these pauses?  Or is this something my friend made up?


texts:
I came across this sentence in my textbook (上級へのとびら):

  電話を終わるあいさつ

As far as I'm concerned, 終わる is an intransitive verb and as such, it can't be used with the particle を, but with が. The transitive counterpart is the verb 終える.

What is the reason for using 終わる as a transitive verb in the sentence above? If this is a legitimate use (which I assume it is, as the example is taken from a textbook), is there any difference between 終わる (transitive) and 終える？

宜しくお願いします！


texts:
Sorry to ask a vague question, but I hope someone could explain what these following expression amount to.

これでもかって
これでもかってほど
これでもかってぐらいに

I thought I would figure this out eventually but well I don't there is only about a dozen sources on this expression each never reaffirming.
Even with this, to this degree, was my best guess. What I have read seem to suggest that it highlights the degree or choice of action as excessive but I don't even know anymore. I hope someone will kindly teach me how to understand this.
Here are some samples from Youtube titles,
こぼれいくらがたまらない！これでもかって程の大粒いくら丼！
ウルトラマンFE3 これでもかというぐらいに撃つ
これでもかってくらいのドロップキック！


texts: なんどもあります　OR　たくさんあります？

texts:
If someone asks, てんぷらをたべたことがありますか？

I read that you can answer with なんどもあります. However, I thought it would be たくさんあります. They both mean, "I've done it many times." Right?


texts:
What is the difference between 全く vs 全然?
Is there a preference between using 全く or 全然 in essay writing?
Is this true:

全部 (zenbu) all [casual]
全て (subete) all [formal]

全然〜ない (zenzen nai) not 〜 at all [casual]
全く〜ない (mattaku nai) not 〜 at all [formal]


texts:
I found this sentence in Nihongo Sō-Matome:

  A: また太っちゃった。。
  B: あまいものばかり食べているからだよ。

Based on my understanding:

  A: (you're) fat again...
  B: I only eat nothing but sweets.

I do not know why からだよ is there.

Should the translation be: body eats nothing but sweets? Is it ok to remove からだ?


texts: Is this a joyo kanji? What does it mean?

texts:
I'm taking a look by recommendation to the "remembering the kanji" book. In it appears the kanji below. I look for it in a list of joyo kanji and it doesnt appear, at least not when I look for it by its meaning. The meaning the book says it has is "siesta". Siesta is a spanish word, and I dont even understand what it is doing in an english book unless it means something different in another language or japanese? Anyway, I'd like to know if this is a joyo kanji, and if this is the meaning it has "siesta" and if that meaning it's the same meaning than the word "siesta" in spanish . I just wrote a very similar question recently, of another kanji which looks different, which was also referenced as meaning another spanish word "fiesta". This is a different question even if the word almost looks the same with the difference of only one letter! (siesta in spanish means nap and fiesta in spanish means party)

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


texts: まぁ、そんなものですかな？ perhaps this means perhaps, perhaps?

texts:
I have seen this construction used various times in Japanese text, but I cannot really put my finger on as to what it could mean definitively.

  人類の進歩と調和に役立つもの・・・例えば
  ディフレクターに代わる
  新しいエネルギーとか
  まぁ、そんなものですかな？

Personally, I believe it to be something

of tremendous importance to mankind. Something that will help us better

ourselves and the world. Perhaps, a new energy source, more powerful than

our current refractors.

My attempt at figuring this out

It's something of tremendous importance for the progress of mankind. For example, a new energy source to replace refractors, or something like that, perhaps?


texts: What is the difference between 家屋, 家 and 住居

texts: I've found yet another word that's translated as 'home' which now makes it 3. Could you please tell me if these words have the same exact meaning or is there any difference between their usage?


texts: Meaning of 気負わずに奮ってご参加ください

texts:
What does 気負わずに奮ってご参加ください mean?
Is it like 気軽にご参加ください?
Context: an event information page announcing pre-requisites for attendance:

前提知識
Javaでのプログラミング経験がある方が分かりやすいかなという程度です。さらにAlfrescoを触ったことがあれば理解しやすいかもという程度です。
気負わずに奮ってご参加ください。

I guess it says Even if you don't fit the pre-requisites, you are very welcome, am I right?


texts: How would you say "I like to go bowling" and other suru verbs?

texts:
I would like to learn how to say "I like to go bowling" rather than "I like bowling." That is, I want to emphasize that I like to do it, rather than that I like the sport in general.

I believe 「ボウリングが好きです。」 would be how you'd say "I like bowling (the sport)" but not necessarily that you like to do it yourself.

I see that ボウリング is a suru verb. Does that mean that I should change it to a verb and then noun-ify it with の as in 「ボウリングするのが好きです。」? Or would this be unnatural because ボウリング is already a noun?


texts: 「○○は草」とはどういう意味でしょうか？

texts:
Abemaの麻雀チャンネルを見ていたら、人のコメントの一部または全部をコピーして、最後に「は草」を付けて送信する人がいました。

例えば、コメント欄がとても盛り上がっていた時に「コメント読みてえのに多すぎて読めねえんだよ だから各自で控えろ」というコメントがありました。

これに対して

  コメントを控えろは草

と送ってきました。

このようなことをいろんなコメントでずっと繰り返していました。これはただの荒らしかもしれないけど、何か意味があるなら知りたいです。


texts: does it make sense to talk about サ変名詞{さへんめいし} as 他動詞{たどうし} or 自動詞{じどうし}?

texts:
Does it make sense to talk about サ変名詞 as being 自動詞 or 他動詞? If so, surely some are 他動詞：
車{くるま}を運転{うんてん}する。
日本語{にほんご}を勉強{べんきょう}する。
庭{にわ}を散歩{さんぽ}する。

But, what about 自動詞? Perhaps this posting of mine from awhile ago describes 自動詞としてのサ変名詞 (but maybe not)？ More likely, I have insufficient vocab knowledge to think of even one.

And, in a broader context, I am interested in if, in a transitive sentence (regardless of if it is サ変名詞 or not), with a specified direct object, must "を" always be the final 助詞{じょし}?

thank you.


texts: In vertical writing, what do these signs (that look like backticks) mean?

texts:
This is an extract from 窓ぎわのトットちゃん。

The teacher is talking about how Totto-chan ended up drawing a ふさ around her rendition of the flag of Japan. She is presumably quite astonished at this and my only guess is that these signs are used to express that astonishment? Not sure.


texts: Why does Unicode have code points for MANSYON, APAATO and such?

texts:
In Unicode, there are many characters named like "SQUARE APAATO" which look like this ㌀ - a number of katakana characters arranged in a square.

The full list is here: http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/block/cjk_compatibility/images.htm

Why do these characters exist, and how are they used? It feels like some of them are currency signs (doru, koruna) but I have no idea about the rest.


texts:
I've got a question regarding difference in usage of 辞書形+ように and 辞書形+ために with verbs' dictionary forms, i.e.

飛行機に乗り遅れないように、前日早寝したのです。
彼は質問をするために手を上げました。

The notion I get is that the first is used with non-action verbs, while the latter form is used with action verbs. Am I correct?


texts: ない in つまらない and similar adjectives and their conjugation with すぎる

texts:
The usual path for conjugation would be:

高い　→　高すぎる　 (drop い, append すぎる)
ない　→　なさすぎる (drop い, append さ, append すぎる)

Is ない in つまらない treated as the negative ない which conjugates as 2.? Or is つまらない a single piece that conjugates as 1. ?

Does つまらない conjugate to つまらなすぎる or つまらなさすぎる? Are both acceptable? If so, is there a preference for one form or the other?

Do the conclusions that apply for つまらない also apply to similar adjectives ending in ない such as:

危ない (ない explicit as おくりがな)
汚い (ない hidden inside the word)


texts: What's the difference among 送る, 乗せる and 連れていく

texts: They are all translated as "escort/take someone somewhere". Are there any differences?  Can I use them interchangeably?


texts:
Hi I have found the following sentence

"普段学校に行かず家に引き篭もっている俺だったが、今日は珍しく外出をした。"

translated as:

Normally I stay locked in my room. Don’t even go to school. But today,
for once, I left the house.

I wonder, why the 俺だったが was used ?
What would be the difference if the sentence were:

普段学校に行かず家に引き篭もっていたが、今日は珍しく外出をした。


texts: "美味しいじゃん?" and "美味しいでしょう?" No matter how I translate it in English it still means "it’s delicious, right?" So what’s the main difference between them both? (I do know that "でしょう" in dictionary means "probably". But I heard you can use it as "right?" In daily conversations)


texts:
From here:

  ウイルスが入らないようにするソフトの中には、このメールのウイルスを見つけることができないものもあります。
  There is also a feature where you can't find these e-mail viruses in the software whose purpose is to make sure that there are no virsues.

I'm unsure how to deal with もの in this sentence. I'm wondering whether "feature" is a valid translation (it certainly isn't one I've seen before).

Or perhaps I should treat ...ものもある more generally as "it is also the case that...". Would that work?

On a separate subject, I was surprised to see の中に used to describe the relationship between the virus and the anti-virus software. When I read this it sounds like the virus can't be found inside the anti-virus software rather than that the anti-virus software can't find the virus. If I'd tried to write this sentence I'd have written ソフトでは (with で having the "using/by means of" meaning). Am I wrong?


texts: How can I say "I want one of each kind" in Japanese?

texts:
I remember a trip I did to Japan (it's a magical place) back in 2007 when my Japanese was not as rusty as it is now. In Kyoto I had the chance to buy a meron pan from a stall in a park. The fact is, he had many types of bread and I wanted to say him that I wanted one piece of each type. But I could not get with the proper way to say that.

So, 11 years after :-) I go to Google Translate and I come up with the following:

  それぞれの種類の1つ ください

So is that sentence correct? Is there any shorter way to say this?


texts: When would you use 相互 as opposed to お互い？

texts: I'm thinking the former is slightly more hard/archaic, and for written style japanese, where was the latter is more conversational? But they both seem to have the same meaning.


texts: Specifying what's different between two things, 違い

texts:
I wanted to write a sentence that means:

  Okinawa and Hokkaido are different, their climate and the time cherry blossoms bloom differ.

I was wondering if this would be the appropriate way to write that:

  沖縄と北海道が違い、気候とか桜を咲く時とか違います。

I want to make sure the second phrase doesn't sound like "climate and cherry-blossom-blooming time are different (from each other)"

Another way I could think of writing this is (but might have two 違い too close):

  ~,その違いが気候とか桜を咲く時です。

Basically, is there a grammatically different way to express "This two things are different" vs. "This two things differ on these two points"?


texts: Please help to understand the verb suffix 掛ける

texts:
I have a sentence フライト・アテンダントはよく話しかけてくれて親しみがありました。
Where 話しかけて is what I can't understand. What sort of suffix is "shikakete"? Or is it two suffixes, shi + kakete?


texts: What are the negating-suffixes in Japanese?

texts:
I'm going to do my research about analysis of negating suffixes in Japanese newspaper. But I have a big question and want to make sure about Japanese suffixes. Are ーない、－くない、‐ではない、‐なし、‐ぬ、‐ず、 and ‐まい a kind of suffix?

If yes, is there any other negating suffixes besides what I've mention before?

If no, then what are the Japanese suffixes that have a function to negate words?


texts: Present vs. past tense with certain verbs?

texts:
～ことにする　ｖｓ　～ことにした
～と思う　ｖｓ　～と思った

What sort of context would you use either of these? Does the past tense imply that you've changed your decisions or thoughts?


texts:
disclaimer: this question regards only the age counter for humans. For age counters regarding innanimate things(such as how old are cars or trees) please refer to this thread: General expression for the age of something

It's clear to me that 才 can be used as "slang" and it's mainly used by 小学生 (elementary students) so they'll consentrate on learning other "more important" kanji before reaching the level necessary for 歳 (JLPTN 2).

22歳です = 22才です
Both of these "sentences" are equivalent, except only
by the "formality" or "level" of kanji knowledge/usage.

But my question is regarding specifically 「年齢　、 年令」(both equivalent except for the level of kanji).
In what context are these expresions used?
Is saying 私は22年齢　considered correct?
How are they different from the first two?
Can someone give examples?


texts: What does よし！久しぶりに魚にしようっと！ mean?

texts:
So I am reading Dragon Ball in Japanese and I got stuck with this sentence. Goku is looking for food and looks down at a river and says:

  よし！久しぶりに魚にしようっと！

which I think means something like

  Nice! It's been a while since the last time I ate fish!

So I can understand it by context but I would like somebody to break it down for me and explain to me the use of the two に and especially しようっと. Thank you very much!


texts: Meaning of ゴリゴリの荒いもの

texts:
Not very clear sense of phrase ゴリゴリの荒いもの
in the sentence

  さてFEDの元となったライカはいかにもドイツ人が作ったきっちりかっちりしたメカで、外見は同じでも細部の仕上げはFEDの方がもったりしていたり使い心地もずっとゴリ‌ゴリの荒いものだったりする。

which I could translate as "much more rough in usability", though I'm absolutely not sure.


texts:
To put it simply, is there any inherent difference between 苗字 and 家名 ? Since both of these words means "Surname" or "Last Name".

Does there a differ in how they are used?

Does 苗字 refer to the surname in historical sense and 家名 refer to surname in modern sense?


texts: New York is called the Big Apple, Seattle is the Emerald City. Does 東京 have a nickname?


texts: Line translation and like それこそ普通はためらうような

texts:
This is internal monologue of a character about another. Also this is from a manga so there is no punctuation.

この子は時々まるで『自分』を省みないような
それこそ普通はためらうような… 命を投げ出す行為を平気でしてまう

This is my current interpretation:

This girl sometimes seems like she doesn’t care about “herself” at all.
That for sure is how she normally is, seemingly hesitant…
about actions that completely and remorselessly sacrifice lives.

The second bit is a bit dubious. It is characteristic of the character being described, since she never hives up on people, it still feels weird in context.
On the grammatical/language side I'm assuming それこそ普通 is basically saying that she is like that normally こそ is intensifying this but Im' not 100% sure since I haven't encountered それこそ before.
Also I'm not sure what's being described as ためらうような hesitating like? How it's normally?
And of course what's your read on this sentence?


texts: What is the term for the English idiom of "with high stakes"?

texts:
In English there is the idiomatic expression "with high stakes." There is also the adjective high-stakes, which means involving serious risks if there is no success. Is there a similar idiom in Japanese?

  a "high-stakes" negotiation

  a conversation with "high stakes"


texts: I don't understand this sentence もう声が出ず体でうなずいて

texts:
I'm reading a story about a taxi driver picking up a young girl. He is driving when he notices that the girl has disappeared. However, at a certain point he hears her voice telling him to change his destination. At this point I found this sentence: もう声が出ず体でうなずいて真っ直ぐ前だけ見て走らせた。
What does the part in bold mean?


texts:
試験では、ことばを覚えているかどうか聞く問題を減らすように言っています。
  (Scientists) are saying to reduce the problem in exams of whether or not you've memorised a word.

I'm not sure I've translated this correctly. I'm confused about the inclusion of 聞く. I'm sure the act of asking whether or not you've memorised the word isn't the problem.

If I'd been asked to write this sentence I'd have replaced 聞く with either:

1) という
2) が
3) nothing

Would any of these options lead to a grammatical, natural sentence? Would my sentence have a different meaning?


texts: What does adding お at the end of a word change?

texts:
An example would be: "watashi wa cake o(お) tabetai". What does the お do?
I tried on google translate and it seems it gives pertenence to that thing..like it belongs either to you or me..but I still need actual clarification.


texts: Can "yee ka ka desu ka" mean "how are you?"

texts:
I was learning Japanese a few years ago and a phrase I picked up (I think from the Pimsleur program) was "Yee ka ka desu ka" (or maybe the "Yee" was written as "ii" to pronounce as a short form of "ee"), to mean "how are you?"

I then said this to some Japanese people I met.  Some say it can mean "how are you", but some showed a "what is it?" facial expression and when I tell them what I meant to say, told me it can't mean "how are you".  Can this phrase mean it? Or perhaps only in a certain context or between really close friends who saw each other recently?


texts: Meaning of "[気張]{きば}らずゆっくりやっていこうね"

texts:
気張らずゆっくりやっていこうね

'ゆっくりやっていこう’ means "I'll keep on going slowly", right?
But what is 気張らず?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the difference between 〜となる and 〜になる?

What is the difference between using なる with the particles に and と? When should which be used?


texts: Is the 女 radical ever written with the strokes くフ?

texts:
The shape of the onna-hen radical can obviously be represented this way, and in plenty of fonts it actually is, as in the character 好.

While the "correct" way to write it is as a skinnier version of the full-size character, using the strokes くノ一, actual handwriting, especially 行書, sometimes deviates from proper stroke order. Is this one such instance, or would altering the strokes have a negative effect on legibility?


texts: Can someone explain the logic of the grammar "とは限らない"

texts:
I found this example sentence in "A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar" under a grammar point unrelated to "とは限らない":

"運動をよくする人が必ずしも長生きするとは限らない。"

I understand the meaning of the sentence ("People who exercise a lot don't necessarily live a long time.") but I'm struggling to understand the logic behind this usage of "とは限らない". If this dictionary did not have an English translation I would think it meant "Living a long time is not just limited to people who exercise a lot" since "限る" means "to limit" in other contacts.

Without the "とは限らない", the sentence means "People who exercise definitely live a long time." From my understanding of "必ずしも", you can say "長生きしない" instead of "長生きする" and it should also have the meaning "People who exercise a lot don't necessarily live a long time".

So why is "とは限らない" used this way? And bonus question, what is the semantic difference between "運動をよくする人が必ずしも長生きするとは限らない" and "運動をよくする人が必ずしも長生きしない"?


texts:
Here is a dialog relating to the phrase

A: その　たったひとつの自由すらうばわれてしまったら　おれには　なにが　のこるっていうんだい。

B: どうしたい　ジョー　やる気があんのかないのんか！

It is said by Kansai-speaking comic character. I'm not sure if it would mean something like 'do it or not.'

Does the word 「あんのか」be contracted from 「あるのか」?


texts: What's the difference in nuance between multiple 形容詞 (い-adjectives) with and without て-form?

texts:
When multiple adjectives refer to the same noun, the adjective(s) other than the last one are usually written in the て-form:

  ① 大きくて重い本

However writing all adjectives in their い-form is not (necessarily?) incorrect either AFAIK.

  ② 大きい重い本

Can anyone shed some light as to how they differ in meaning/nuance, and why and when anyone would opt for form ②?


texts:
Could anyone please help me translate this? I have only gotten a hang of basic sentences but this one I just cannot seem to understand.

  疑いはいらない。それだけが真実
  Utagai wa iranai. Sore dake ga shinjitsu.

I am mainly confused about what function それだけ has in this sentence.


texts:
Are both of these formats interchangeable?:
noun の noun を する
noun + を + noun する
For example:
I'm going to practice the piano on Monday

月曜日にピアノの練習をするつもりです
(noun の noun を する)

月曜日にピアノを練習するつもりです
(noun + を + nounする)

Do both of these sentences work and make sentence? Do they mean the exact same or do they emphasise words differently?
This question is about all uses of both "する formats".


texts: When you have to use "to" when using "no aida" to express "in between"

texts:
Why are these 2 phrases different? One uses "to" between the two nouns and the other doesn't. Is the "to" optional? Is one of them incorrect?

"Hikaru sora to kumo no aida tooku habataku toritachi"

"Teeburuto doa no aida yo."


texts: Use of the particle を to mean where something is going?

texts:
A little while back I was working my way through the Book "Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication" When I got to page 156 it explains the topic of the section which is "The te form of a verb, followed by ください, expresses a polite request or command...." It then gives some examples and asks you to solve a few problems. One of the sentences to translate was "Please carry this chair to the conference room"

I worked out the problem like so

会議室にこのいすを運んでください。

however the answer the book gives is

このいすを会議室に運んでください。

This seemed very strange because the conference room is a direct object of the chair. I am also aware that を can mean the space through which something is going, but again that usage  seems incorrect since we are talking about a destination.

Can anybody explain this usage of the を particle and if my answer makes any more or less sense than the book answer? If I had never seen this sentence before Im sure I could make out what it means, but the way it uses the を particle is tripping me up. Thanks!


texts: How to shorten conjugations of "must" forms without sounding girly?

texts: I know the full conjugations of expressing things that must/must not be done (ex:行かなくてはだめ）and their slang forms (ex:行かなくちゃ) but I've heard the ちゃ sounds like a little girl speaking? If that's true, how can I shorten the full conjugation without using ちゃ?


texts: Are there any rules for choosing between おお and おう?

texts: Am I correct assuming that both おお and おう are homophones in Japanese - both being pronounced as long o? I suspect I am, since that's what I'm indirectly reading in various tutorials. If so, are there any (non necessarily exhaustive) rules to guess the correct spelling of the words with long o? I speak several languages where there are no strict  spelling rules, but still there are some hints that help guess the right spelling most of the time. Is there such a rule for  おお vs おう in Japanese?


texts: Trouble understanding this apology: 我々が...謝罪

texts:
An English website wrote an apology in Japanese after it took down an image of cracked hinomaru (日の丸) — the hinomaru linked to a donation page for the disasters following the March 11 earthquakes.

It read: 我々が 起こした偉大な犯罪の謝罪 (われわれが　おこした　いだいな　はんざいの　しゃざい)

I understand the meaning, but I don't really get how this sentence works.

It's really tricky for me because no one explicitly apologizes, or there is no actual apologizing here. Is something like です dropped, or する? If a です is dropped, I see that as saying they are the apology...is that a valid way to apologize?

And is 偉大な犯罪 strange in this context? I thought 偉大 was more along the lines magnificence rather than greatness in terms of magnitude.


texts: I can't identify this semi-cursive kanji

texts:
So I'm reading this manga and I am suddenly hit with a semi-cursive kanji which I need some more practice to get use to it. I tried checking the radicals but to no avail. I have no idea what it is.

世に＿れる

I was thinking it might be something with this radical"彳" but I still didn't get it.


texts: Can I use more than one possessive の in a row in the same sentence?

texts:
I already know the main usages of の as said here, but I was wondering: If I want to use the possessive indicator in a row, is it correct?

For example, if I wanted to say "My family's car is blue.", could I write something like this example?

  私の家族の車は水色です。

And are there restrictions or alternatives to this I'm not aware of?


texts:
The sentence in question:

  その反面{はんめん}、あっという間{ま}に成長{せいちょう}しちゃうなぁと、少{すこ}し寂{さび}しい気持{きも}ちにもなった。

For full context:
https://www.satorireader.com/articles/sanzu-no-kawa-episode-2-edition-m

My attempt at translation:

  On the other hand, (I thought that) they grow to adulthood in the blink of an eye (and) I became a bit sad.

Well, I think that 思う or 思って (to chain the 少{すこ}し寂{さび}しい気持{きも}ちにもなった phrase to the ...と思う phrase) was just omitted after the と particle here, but I want to be sure that I'm right and didn't misinterpret the sentence out of flippancy.


texts: Do both "どっかの男" and "ある男" equally effect an indefinite article kind of meaning?

texts:
There is no context for these sentences:

  (1) ある男と自己紹介するために、夜明けに家を出かけた。
  (2) どっかの男と自己紹介するために、夜明けに家を出かけた。

both best translate to:

  I left my house at daybreak to introduce myself to a man.

#2 explicitly states (I did not know where the man was from)?
 #1 tacitly hints (I did not know where the man was from)?

Are those translations correct?
 #1 does not sound like it would be used in a daily conversation among friends?
 #2 is too informal to use in business Japanese?


texts:
上手{じょうず} に なりたければ もっと 練習{れんしゅう} する [こと/べき/もの] だ

As per my understanding, all the 3 options seem appropriate above.
Is that correct?
If so, are there any quirks or exceptions?


texts: Causative form to request others to do something

texts:
I'm familiar with using the causative from to request something for oneself, as in "could you let me do this, please" (やらせていただけませんか). However, I've come across this sentence:
17時までにこの仕事を終わらせてください。

This seems to me to say "please finish the work", but with the causative form it would be something like "make it be finished", which doesn't make sense.
So, why is the causative form of 終わる used? Is it the causative form in the first place or it's something else?
Thank you very much.


texts: What's the meaning of "という" at the end of a sentence?

texts:
I'm reading about this grammar in my book but I don't get it. According to the book it means - そうだ　and - らしい. Here is an example:

UPDATE:　Full Sentence:

  従来、病院といえば白い壁が基調の空間であった。　しかし、白くて冷たい壁を見ていると　人はゆううつな感じになり、不安を覚えるという。　この環境では、患者は快復への意志を高めることはできない。

It says that it is used at the end of a written sentence.


texts: What is the difference between 彼氏が出来る and 彼氏を作る?

texts:
I often hear both of the following phrases:

  彼氏が出来る

  彼氏を作る

Both of them seem to mean the same thing(?). Why is it that 作る is used in this way? I had previously thought 作る meant to "create" or "make" something. Does this mean that the two phrases differ?


texts: What's the difference between 真似る and　真似する？

texts: I'm just wondering if they are the same word or if there is an actual difference (in meaning or nuance). It seems weird to me that there would be two different verbs with the same kanji stem that mean "to imitate".


texts: Does this saying make sense? (Kurayami kara Hikari or 暗闇 から光)

texts: I'm trying to convey the message "Light from Darkness" or "Light out of Darkness" so I came up with the saying "Kurayami kara Hikari" or "暗闇 から光". Or is this too simple and it should be "暗闇からの光"? I'm just wondering if this would make sense in the context of Japanese language. Like if this was on a shirt would it convey the message I'm intending. Or should I word it more like "Light born out of Darkness" in Japanese? And how would I say that? Thank you in advance.


texts: Is there a "right" or "best" way to write this Okinawan expression for "cheers"?

texts:
When I was still in Okinawa I learned how to say "cheers" / "乾杯{かんぱい}".

You can either say just karii or you can use the extended version I pefer karii sabira.

My question is how to write it? I have found things saying katakana is best and others saying hiragana is best, but I'm also not sure the best way to write the long "i".

かりいさびら
かりーさびら
カリイサビラ
カリーサビラ

Then while I was looking up just a bit earlier I was surprised to find at least one way to write it in Kanji!

嘉例
佳例

This is just the karii part, so the other options would be the same for the sabira part.


texts: I came across this sentence and after a long while searching I still have no idea what it means. I'm probably just an idiot but I am clueless here.


texts:
I've seen the kanji 風 appear in several different illnesses:  [風邪]{«かぜ»} (a cold), [中風]{ちゅう・ふう} (paralysis), and [痛風]{つう・ふう} (gout).  Conceivably there may be others, but I haven't seen them.

What does the wind have to do with any of these (aside from possibly catching a cold by going out into the cold wind—which I believe is a fallacy anyway)?


texts:
I wanted to say something like:

  He was trying to deceive me, but to see how far he would go with that, I played along.

My attempt:

  彼は僕を騙そうとしていたけど、どこまでやるつもりかわかるために、騙されていたようなふりをし続いた。

I have two main questions about it.

1 - How do I express "To go far with words/actions"?

2 - How do I express "To play along with a situation"?


texts: What is the difference between Vてはじめる and はじめてV meaning?

texts:
例えば：
１．子供のとき、コーヒーをはじめて飲みました。
２．子供のとき、コーヒーを飲んではじめました。

I think both mean "When I was a child, I started/tried to drink coffee."

And how do I say "I drink coffee for the first time"?


texts:
I'm taking a beginners Japanese course, and I heard that Japanese Kanji originated from the Chinese writing system, which is the reason for so many similarities. However, the Japanese Kanji for "I" (私) is very different from the Chinese character for "I" (我). In fact, in Chinese 私 seems to mean "private". I would have expected a word so fundamental as 我 to be adopted along with all the other Chinese words, but it seems like that was not so.

So where did 私 come from? And why was 我 not used instead?


texts:
Consider this example sentence from SPACEALC:

  あなたがどうしているか気になっていた。
  "I was concerned about how you were."

What is the difference when 気にする is used instead? I.e.,

  あなたがどうしているか気にしていた。

～なる seems to convey "spontaneity" or "arising from nowhere" while ～する seems to convey deliberate agency. Would ～する mean to be deliberately concerned about the person? The ～する version seems to be "more concerned" than the ～なる version because of explicit agency.


texts: Why does the sentence combination 「situation。 explanation から。」sound awkward?

texts:
I'm Japanese giving advice to my friend.

He wrote two sentences like this:

  昨日は寝れませんでした。気分が悪かったですから。

According to a textbook「〜ですから。」is correct, but for me 「〜からです。」sounds better than「〜ですから。」

I couldn't find out when 「〜からです。」is better to use.

Can anyone tell me where to place 〜からです or 〜ですから in different grammatical situations?


texts: Does ようとした always mean failure to try doing something?

texts:
Consider the following sentences.

  A: 昨日たこ焼きを作ってみた。

  B: 昨日たこ焼きを作ろうとした。

A means that "I tried to make takoyaki and I really made it."

Questions

Does B always mean that "I tried to make takoyaki but I (did not)/(failed to) make it." ?


texts: What is the difference between はじめまして vs 始めよう?

texts:
I was watching a Japanese TV show, and in the start of the episode, introductions were made between two people; then later in the show, they were playing a video game. In both instances, the phrase "Hajimemashite" was used.

Is it correct to use it in the second instance? Shouldn't they have said, "Hajimemashou" instead?

Research

  How do you do?; I am glad to meet you - はじめまして on Jisho

From my understanding, this is used when meeting someone for the first time.

  to start; to begin; to commence; to initiate; to originate - 始めよう on Jisho

Whereas, this one means to begin, e.g., to start a race, game, etc.


texts: What is じゃねぇか? What is its original form?

texts:
完成前とずいぶん色が違うじゃねぇか！

In this sentence, what is じゃねぇか?


texts: When to use は instead of other particles

texts:
I have seen that は acts as a sort of negation (or contrast) particle, although I'm not sure how it works, for example:

1) わたし は ともだち が いません
2) わたし の ともだち が いません

Is 1) the only correct sentence? Why? And what's the rule for using は instead of other particles? I have tried searching a bit but I still can't seem to understand this.

Another example would be

1) さかな は たべません
2) さかな を たべません

Is 2) incorrect? Why? Are there any other cases where I should be aware of this?


texts:
What does おなり mean in:

  気持におなりになった

  あと一カ月ぐらいして、もし君が説明してもいいというお気持におなりになったら、そのときは僕たちにご連絡くださいませ、だ


texts:
Related: の意味は何 versus はどういう意味

I was wondering why どういう is used in situations like asking for meanings of words, or in something like どういう状況, for "What's going on here?" Does anyone have a good reason why saying "How would you say" is favored over just asking a direct question like "What is the situation" or "What is the meaning?"


texts: どれくらいかかる　ｖｓ　どれくらいかかりそう？ 「どれくらいかかるか」と「どれくらいかかりそうか」の違いは何ですか？


texts: I came upon these questions in my textbook. Here is the dialogue: 私は学校にせいふくを着て行きますが、何を着て行きますか。Now, I might assume 着て行く is close to 着ている as it still makes sense using the latter, but why is this verb used, assuming it acts as one, instead of the former?


texts:
I found that there're two ways to pronounce the transcription of りゆう, that are:

Riyū. For example: Riyū in 理由 (reason)
Ryū. For example: Ryūgakusei in 留学生 (International student)

So in certain situation, how can I know which one to choose?


texts:
What is difference between "終わったり" and "終わり"? I can't find "終わったり" in English Japanese dictionary

Whole context link:https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=manga&illust_id=69898837


texts:
How would you translate something like “so that you are/can be X”?

I bought this so that he’ll be safe.

I want to do this for you so that you’re happy!


texts: Why do some kanji have furigana that are not valid readings?

texts:
In my text I read the sentence:

  あなたが体験したよりもっと[巨]{おお}きく、もっと深くさせてくれる力があるからだ。

(furigana is from the text)

I understand 大きく, and I understand some words with 巨　like 巨大. However, when I looked up 巨きく　in a dictionary, I was unable to find anything.

Why do these kind of readings exist; however, they are not in a dictionary?


texts: Can 耳が痛い be used to mean 何度も同じことを言われて聞くことがつらい?

texts:
This usage of 耳が痛い seems to overlap with 耳に胼胝ができる, and is not listed in any dictionary I checked.
三省堂:

人の言うことが、自分の弱点や欠点に触れているようで、聞いているのが辛い様子。「彼が先生に注意されているのを聞いていて、私も耳が痛かった」

明鏡:

　他人の言うことが自分の弱点を突いているので、聞くのがつらい

デジタル大辞泉:

他人の言葉が自分の弱点をついていて、聞くのがつらい。「親友の忠告を聞くのは―・い」

This meaning is also absent from here and there.
However, the website 絵で分かる lists three meanings:

自分{じぶん}の失敗{しっぱい}について、聞{き}くことがつらい
自分の悪{わる}いところを言{い}われて、聞くことがつらい
何度{なんど}も同{おな}じことを言われて、聞くことがつらい

This meaning also seems to appear in a book for children (I don't have the reference but I was told that this picture is from a book for children).

Hence my question. Did the usage of this proverb evolve or is the usage as 何度も同じことを言われて聞くことがつらい considered wrong?


texts: Radicals : How to remember suffix-es, readings and positions?

texts:
There are 214 radicals, and their positions can be either Hen, Tsukuri, Ashi/ Ashi Variant, Kanmuri, Nyō, Tare or Kamae/ Kamae Variant. One example 衝(oposition), so this kanji is made of the kanji 行(to go) and 重(weight), 行 stands for gyo-gamae(kamae position) and this is where I need help:

-) Is it true that the 行 makes the semantic part and 重 the phonetic part of the kanji 衝?
-) If yes is it always so that that the kanji which presents the radical of the main kanji makes the semantic part and the other kanji the phonetic part?
-) Some radicals have suffixes based on their position like ninnyō, wakanmuri, tsutsumigamae, etc., but what with the others with suffixes like gashira does it mean that they are phonetic and semantic(phono-semantic) kanjis and they can be placed anywhere and does that apply to the other kanjis which don't have those suffix endings like : ~hen, ~ben, ~ri, ~kuri, ~tsukuri, ~ashi, ~kanmuri, ~ganmuri, ~nyō, ~tare, ~dare, ~kamae, ~gamae and the ones with this suffixes are they always semantic or can they be phonetic or even phono-semantic?


texts:
1) Why do Japanese school examination questions get more rude as the year gets higher?

In elementary school

  ...してください。

or

  ...しましょう。 ... です。　...ですか。

In junior high school to high school

  ...しなさい。

In university

  ...せよ。　...である。 ...か。

2) When even using the imperative form as in university, why is it not

  ...しろ。
  ...せい。

or when in declarative, why is it not

  ...だ.


texts: What's the role of ネ・サ・ヨ in Japanese Grammar?

texts:
Recently I looked up an explanation for 文節【ぶんせつ】 on here 国語文法, which I learned are the phrases/units that make up sentences while theoretically still standing on their own out of context.

During that explanation they used the concept of ネ・サ・ヨ to illustrate their points, by separating each 文節 of a sentence with one of these.  E.g.

  「机のネ/上にネ/バッグをネ/置いてネ/おく。」

I didn't understand why at first as this seemed rather specific for an arbitrary separator, so I searched for other mentions of ネ・サ・ヨ on the net.
What I found was only a mention of some movement around 1958 in some elementary schools to avoid using these sounds at the end of sentences, as they were supposedly not part of standard language. See here.

From that I pieced together that in the initial 文節 explanation ネ・サ・ヨ were used because conceptionally they could be appended at the end of each basic phrase in a sentence so Japanese people might have a natural feel for what a phrase/文節 is.

That's all just my limited speculation however, thus my question:
Is ネ・サ・ヨ used with any frequency in Japanese grammar explanations, and if yes, to what end?


texts: How to figuratively express something that has been lost/disappeared as in "where did (something) go"?

texts:
I think this is quite common in English but I wouldn't know about Japanese. For example, suppose you're asking yourself (or someone) "where did (something) go"? In the sense of "what happened to (something)?" as such something has been lost or disappeared and where "something" is generally abstract. A concrete random example:

"Where did all your ambition go?"

Can simply 行く be used in this sense and have a figurative meaning to indicate that something (the ambition here) has been lost or we don't know what happened to it?

Does something like "あなたの野心は何処へ行ったか/行っただろう” make any sense? If not what could be used for a figurative speech like this?


texts:
In dictionary examples for 多彩な there is a sentence:

メニューにはいろいろ多彩な料理があった。
There was a great variety of dishes on the menu.

Isn't いろいろ多彩な a tautology? Do いろいろ and 多彩 convey a different meaning? Is there a difference between the above sentence and the following?

メニューにはいろいろ料理があった。
メニューには多彩な料理があった。

Is it an emphasis of some sort, or just a quirk in the body of examples?


texts: How do I ask someone to limit the scope of their questions?

texts:
I am required to represent my university with an introductory speech to our Japanese Exchange students. I would like to express at one point that my Japanese, though I may appear to speak it well in this speech, is limited, and as such could they please limit their questions to * examples of questions relevant to their tour *

Any assistance anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards.


texts:
This is an issue that came up with my host family quite often. I have never been quite clear on which to use. In particular, 子 seems somewhat rude (much to the same effect as 男 or 女). On the other hand, 子供 "seems" less rude, but I'm not entirely sure if that's the case. Finally, お子さん seems very polite (for obvious reasons), but it seems almost too polite--especially to refer to kids, with whom you would most likely use casual language.

What is the difference between 子, 子供, and お子さん?


texts: Telling the speaker apart from the person being spoken about

texts:
A recent question about the usage of quoted speech contained this interesting sample sentence:

ハイリアの民は、ふしぎな力を
あやつることが、できたと言います。

Often when I read this kind of sentence, I wonder if ハイリアの民 is part of the quoted sentence, or the actor doing the quoting.

That is, can this sentence only be read as "They say that the people of Hylia were able to harness a mysterious power" (which seems to be the only reading considered in the aforementioned discussion), or is "The people of Hylia say that they (not necessarily the Hylians) were able to harness a mysterious power" also a valid reading?

If only the first reading is valid, is this possibly due to the usage of the particle は versus が, which would mark the speaker?


texts:
I'm playing a Japanese video game and am having a small problem understanding the configuration instructions for my controller. These two sentences in particular:

左スティック上方向で前に移動

左スティック右方向で右に移動

I understand those sentences when broken down, for example the first is "left stick", "upward" and "move forward" (I think), would that mean "Move your left stick forward and up"? I feel like the particles are tripping me up in both sentences so thought I'd ask what others thought.


texts:
I'm looking for a good way to say "marriage equality" in Japanese.

I like to avoid the term "same-sex marriage" (同性婚{どうせいこん}) in English because I think that it has an implication that it is somehow different to "regular" marriage.

Am I forced into a roundabout way of saying it like "結婚が各性的指向に認められました" or something like that?


texts: The verb いる (居る) with an inanimate subject?

texts:
In a novel I’m reading, I’ve come across a usage of いる that surprises me. The context is that a woman is driving along, deep in thought about an encounter she has just had with another character, when suddenly her train of thought leads her to an epiphany about an unrelated matter. She is so startled that she slams on the brakes without even realizing it, as we learn from these two sentences describing the situation when she comes back to herself:

急ブレーキを踏んでいた。後ろに車がいたら確実に追突されていたろう。

I interpret this as “She had slammed on the brakes. If there had been a car behind her, she surely would have been rear-ended.” But since I know (or thought I knew) that the verb いる is used only with animate subjects, its use here raises several questions. I’d like to know whether this usage seems natural and correct, how common it is, and whether there are other contexts in which one might use いる with an inanimate subject other than a car.


texts:
I'm familiar with the concept of how たくさん、多く、and 多い are used in relation to nouns (多くの人、人が多い、etc.) but I'm still unfamiliar with how you can say the expression "a lot of [verb]". I know, for example, たくさん食べる means "a lot of eating," but I'm unsure if you need to distinguish 多く and 多い when it comes to verbs.

In addition, here's what I know; tell me if I got anything wrong.

多く and 多い can carry an additional meaning of "too much." たくさん doesn't.

While there's a grammatical distinction between 多く and 多い, たくさん doesn't need this.

Thanks!


texts: Meaning of 小せェサル in the following sentence

texts:
A Japanese boxer that has never been beaten in Japan is fighting against a Cuban boxer in his first match against a foreigner. After easily taking the lead of the match, the Cuban boxer says:

  この小せェサルの島国にはいなかっただろう　　テメェを支配出来るボクサーは

I know that サル is used as an offensive word meaning "idiot, hick", but used together with 小せェ could it be an offensive way to say "puny"? Please consider that previously in the manga (see here and here) he made a derogatory comment about Japanese physical features.

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


texts:
In a recent class, my Japanese teacher taught me the use of しも as something akin to a formal version of でも as in the following sentences:

いつでも暇{ひま}じゃないんですよ。
いつしも暇{ひま}じゃないんですよ。

I was told the above sentences have the same meaning, varying only with formality.

Now, when she wanted me to practice using しも, she gave an example that uses it in a completely different way from what she explained. She gave the following sentence:

母{はは}の考{かんが}えが必{かなら}ずしも正{ただ}しいとはかぎらない。

I understand the meaning. But I don't particularly understand what the use of しも is in this sentence. For me, the meaning stays the same whether or not しも is there (though this might only be because I don't really get it). My teacher explained it simply as an emphasis and told me I should try making sentences using しも like this on my own. But I don't see how I can try making up sentences when I don't really understand what it's for. No matter how much I search for しも, there is no explanation for it used as an "emphasis".

I tried searching about 必ずしも and I found results saying it means "not always (necessarily)" and that makes sense. Does this mean then that しも acts as some sort of negation? If so, is it just attached to adverbs? How is it formed/used? If not, what is it then?


texts: What does ハイツ mean in building names in Japan?

texts:
I've been living in Hokkaido for a while now, and there are plenty of dinky buildings on flat surfaces that have ハイツ stuck on the end of their names.  As a native English speaker, few of these are places I would call "Heights".

I did a bit of googling and 知恵袋 states beyond the English definition that it shows up in building names.

What does it mean in Japanese to call a building ~~ハイツ?


texts: How to say 'an outdoorsy person' in Japanese

texts:
In Google Translate, outdoorsy shows up as: アウトドア好きの. I know this means 'likes outdoors'. I wonder if I can write XXXはアウトドア好きの人です。Meaning XXX is an outdoorsy person.

My first instinct is usually not to completely trust Google Translate and double check it with other sources but at this point I can't find any other sites providing a translation of this.

My Japanese is rather bad, so any other suggestions of different sentence structures, etc. are welcome.


texts: How to understand this use of "sareru" in 「植物が成長を妨げられる」?

texts:
What does this mean?

  植物が成長を妨げられる。

Can I get a more detailed overlook of 貰わせる and rareru and saseru and all those things depending on whether wo ni ga or whatever is used. It's really frustrating to not be able to understand how their relations work with each other and who you are referring to.

For example:

  ネロが家族を殺された。

Does that mean that Nero had his family killed (His family was killed by someone else and they got killed.)?


texts:
I see this one in N3 JLPT sample paper

ぜひ輸出を検討したく思いますので、
最新のバッグのカタログと価格表を今月中に送っていただけないでしょうか

Usually I would say 検討したいと思います, but why would this one use 検討したく思います?


texts: Expressing "someone got someone to do something for me"

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

Tanaka got Honda to buy me a coffee

The best I could come up with was:

田中さんは本田さんに僕のコーヒーを買わせた

Is this correct, or is there a better way to say this?
At first I thought I would have to use もらう but I think that would make it become:

I got Tanaka to get Honda to buy me a coffee

I went with 僕のコーヒー here because I thought I couldn't really use に twice, and it would be confusing as to who was being made to buy it.


texts: How to let a pen pal know it is ok to speak in English

texts:
I have a new Japanese pen pal and we have only written in Japanese. I would like to clarify (in Japanese) that it is ok if she wants to write in English so she can practice. What would be the most natural way of extending this invitation？ Perhaps:

英語は話しましょうか。


texts:
I've just heard many times [面倒]{めんどう} in anime, in translation is not troublesome but boring. Is it usual? Which is more appropriate?

Example: 面倒な仕事です。


texts: Difference between ~によって and ~を通じて (through, by means of)

texts:
It seems that both ~によって and ~を通じて (sometimes ~を通して) can be used to mean "through", "by means of", "via".  Both seem moderately but not very formal.

Are there any differences in nuance that dictate when I use one over the other?


texts:
I recently learned the word 運輸{うんゆ}, which has ん immediately followed by ゆ. However, seeing this made me wonder in what way this is different to にゅ. I can't imagine that there's much of a difference in pronunciation because both have n immediately followed by y, so I thought this might be similar to how double consonants use ん instead of っ.

Is there a difference between んや、んよ、んゆ and にゃ、にょ、にゅ, or is it simply a difference in how they're written?


texts: でも、週明けすぐっていうのもね clarification

texts:
The following sentence should translate to "However, going at the beginning of the week is no good":

  でも、週明けすぐっていうのもね。

Still, what exactly in the sentence gives the idea of "no good"? Is it just でも? Would omitting でも change the meaning of the sentence? Or is there something on the のもね part too which gives that nuance to the phrase?
Thank you very much for your help.


texts:
I was reading a novel at Syosetsuka ni Narou's site and I found（棒） in one of the dialogues. I know that there's a similar（笑） that's equivalent to English net slang "lol", but I find no sense in changing "smile" for "pole". What would it mean?

The chapter in question:
http://ncode.syosetu.com/n2872bw/83/


texts: How to handle が and によって in this sort of sentence?

texts:
I'll be taking a written test in a few weeks to become a part-time translator for an automotive client; they sent me some practice documents in the meantime.

I am having issues at the moment, since I just don't understand the context well enough for my intuition to kick in. It's an uphill battle but I must improve to the point where I can impress said client enough to get hired.

This is taken from a document the client sent, which features material similar to what I would be working with:

制御が値を下げることによって、Vehicle挙動を急変させないこと

I made an attempt at translating it:

"The control must not suddenly change vehicle behavior due to its lowering the value"

によって is one of my weak points when it comes to Japanese - I always get it wrong! Also, the が is stymieing me for some reason... I am not sure whether the "control" itself is lowering the value or not. (I think it is)

Can someone please explain how the が is functioning in relation to the "value," and also can someone explain the proper way to translate this によって if I have it wrong?

P.S. This is my first question on here - よろしくお願いします＾＾


texts: Is どうしよう the equivalent of the Chinese 怎么办?

texts:
I just learned that doushiyou means ''what shall I do?''

Is this the equivalent of the Chinese 怎么办 ?


texts: Is it ok to still say はじめまして to a Japanese person when you have been talking online prior to meeting face to face? Or would that be weird?


texts: What's the difference between きらいがあるand がちだ?

texts: I believe that both these forms are used to express a negative tendence, but I have the feeling that they are not always interchangeable. In particolar, I got the impression that 嫌いがある is also used to refer to somebody's attitude, am I right?


texts: Is the pronunciation of 翼 (tsubasa) 訓読み or 音読み?

texts: I noticed that the first two syllables of the pronunciation of 翼 is tsuba, which sounds very similar to Chinese word 翅膀(chibang). 翅膀 is the colloquial form of 翼 in Chinese. Is this a coincidence? Or it's that when this word was borrowed from Chinese, the writing of 翼 while the pronunciation of 翅膀 was imported?


texts:
This sentence is in my JLPT practise book in a section on the use of 目{め}まぐるしい:

  社会{しゃかい}の目{め}まぐるしい変化{へんか}についていけず、時代{じだい}遅{おく}れになる会社{かいしゃ}も多{おお}い。

I think the sentence is saying, "There are lots of companies that do not keep up with the bewildering changes in society."

If that's right, why does it use 会社{かいしゃ}も多{おお}い instead of 会社{かいしゃ}が多{おお}い?


texts:
I asked a few native speakers about which phrase was more natural in a situation where I ask a friend if they had time:

  時間がありますか？

or

  時間はありますか？

They all chose the latter. So is the former unnatural? In what situations would you use it in?


texts: How to say "I knew that Kanji, but not that reading"

texts:
A friend recently showed me her name in Kanji. It was 梶原｛かじわら｝。I'm trying to figure out how I would say that "I knew that Kanji (原), but not that reading (わら)". If I was shown the Kanji first I would have guessed either はら or ばら.

This is what I came up with:

漢字の「原」は知っているが読み方は「わら」だと知りませんでした。


texts:
Tell me please, what is the meaning of お納めになられる　in the following sentence.

Is it just passive ?
Thanks for help!


texts: whats the difference between て言ってた vs ように言われた

texts:
I have learned recently that ように can be used for advice, command, ask and so on.
my question is, there is a difference between て言ってた and ように言われた?

for example, there is a difference between these two sentences?

私はママにTVを消すように言われた。
ママは私にTVを消しなさいって言ってた。


texts: Of course 来る is most often read as くる.  However, it can also be read as きたる.  Is きたる mostly an archaic reading?  Does it carry a different, or any additional meanings??  When are "appropriate" (socially, grammatically, etc.) times to use it?


texts: Subject and object of a passive sentence are interchangeable?

texts:
I am a bit confused with passive sentences in Japanese. For example, when I want to say "My back was pushed by someone on the train.", if I am correct, the Japanese version can be phrased in 2 different style as follows.

A: 電車の中で、誰かに背中を押された。
B: 電車の中で、背中が誰かに押された。

In English, the A seems to be weird while B is fine. How can subject and object be interchangeable in Japanese passive sentences?


texts: What does this mean 公方さまの、表に出してはならぬような声も気にならぬほどで

texts:
Context : 1 subordinate of a general (Kubou sama is JP general /shogunate i think ?) said this to her after go into an open hot spring outside.
まったくですな。公方さまの、表に出してはならぬような声も気にならぬほどで
What does she mean by this ? My guess is "Really,you don't even care about your speaking tone as a general which is not supposed to be spoken out loud"
Is she not supposed to be speaking loud or exposed her voice to public ?
If my understanding is wrong please correct me thanks


texts: What is the proper way to write "cube" in romaji?

texts: I have been trying to search for the Romaji version of "cube" without too much success. There seem to be several variations on the word, although that is true with almost any version of a Japanese word in any form. I have so far seen sanjou, rippou, and even kyuubu. Am I entirely off track?


texts: Tried my best to decipher a long sentence from a tweet. Please help me see if I understood correctly

texts:
Tweet:

  長い休みの間に中１長男が朝ごはんを作ってくれるようになり最近は「今日は何がいい？」なんて聞いてきて（オイオイ新妻かよぉ〜！）とかニヤニヤしてたら今朝寝坊して慌てて出掛けようとする私に「ひと口だけでも食べてけば！」と焼き立てのホットケーキを口の中に放り込んできて普通にお母さんでした

My attempt to understand:
As for the recent days of my middle school first year eldest son starting to make breakfast for me during the long break, I have come to hear things like "What will be good for today?" (Hey are you my new wife?), and after grinning, I wake up late this morning in a hurry to leave, and then while saying "If you just have one bite or something then go!" he comes and tosses a freshly baked hotcake into my mouth and was being a normal mother.

One thing I might be confused about:
- for 食べてけば is this a shortened form of 食べて行けば? That was my guess.

Please just see if I got the general idea right (you don't have to translate the whole thing). I'm pretty sure I have most of it right but I might have gotten lost with who was doing what so if you see anything that looks off please point it out.

Link to the tweet is here if any context is needed: https://twitter.com/waruyoiseijin/status/1252532887368286208?s=20

Thanks for any help you can provide!


texts:
An example I read is:

  こちらの条件を呑んだ、と認識していいんだな.
  (They) have accepted our conditions...

What does the last part mean, and how does it affect the first part?


texts:
As far as I know, forms like 「てしょうがない」 and 「てしかた(が)ない」 means something like "very, extremely" and "can't be helped", like:

  心配する理由はなかったけど、どうしても不安でしかたなかった: I didn't have any reason to worry, but I couldn't help be uneasy

Then I found this sentence:

  そんな本は読んでも仕方がない

which was translated as "You shouldn't read a book like that", while I translated it as "I can't help reading a book like that"; there is no context, it's an example sentence from a grammar.

I know those form can also mean "There is no point in doing something", but I'm not sure how to discriminate between those meanings. After reasearching a bit, I thought the difference was in the 「も」: 「てしかたがない」, "I can't help but"; 「てもしかたがない」, "I shouldn't". The again, I just found this sentence:

  こんな酔っぱらいと時間をつぶしたってしょうがない

which to me sounds like "I couldn't help wasting time with such a drunkard", while it was translated as "I shouldn't have wasted time with such a drunkard", without having 「も」. I'm wondering if 「たって」 is a colloquial form for 「ても」: I know some time ago I found such a case, but I can't find it anymore.

I found some questions here about these forms, but nothing addressing this; in my grammar and on the Internet all I can find are the meaning I gave above, with no explanation about the "You shouldn't" meaning. I did find this page, in which there are examples like 「まだ証明されていないことを考えてみても仕方がないぜ」, translated as "Do not spend thoughts on a matter which has not been proved", which seems to prove my point, since it does have 「も」.

Am I missing something? Am I right in my 「てしかたがない」, "I can't help but"; 「てもしかたがない」, "I shouldn't" interpretation? Is it just depending on context?


texts: What are good sources for streaming Japanese language television?

texts:
While learning Japanese I'd like to watch some Japanese television, whether it is children's programming, drama, or news.

I've found a few places online that allowed me to stream snippets, but nowhere to watch full shows. Is there a service similar to Hulu that has Japanese programming?


texts: Why 電話をかける is Ichidan verb, but when using kanji (掛) 電話が掛かる it becomes Godan verb?

texts:
I'm learning vocabulary and kanji for those words as well, and I notice in jisho that verb type changes when using kanji or hiragana.
And does the same thing happen with 出かける - 出掛ける ?


texts:
When looking at the hiragana ぬ (nu), ね (ne), and る (ru) one notices a small circle in the symbols. In fact that circle is the only difference when comparing them with the hiragana め (me), れ (re)　and ろ (ro).

In the history of hiragana, is there any special reason that lead to this. And while I could see the relation of ね/れ and る/ろ (given that they sound similar), why are ぬ and め so different in their pronunciation?

(Image was taken, and slightly adjusted, from the manga “Mahoraba” by Kojima Akira)


texts: 部屋で2人っきりてのがどーもな。 Understanding this て and the meaning of this どーも

texts:
小島：塾なんかやめればいーじゃん
  オレ家庭教師にしたぜ

  伊藤：うざいんだ　家庭教師って
  部屋で2人っきりてのがどーもな

I am struggling with the bolded phrase, I think he says something to the meaning of "What are you going to do with just two people in a room" but think I may be missing something because I am not sure if どーも can be interpreted that way since I can't find a use case.

て I think might be short for という but in that case I would expect って so I am not 100% sure about that either.


texts: What is the difference between 動画 and 映画？

texts: My research indicates that both terms refer to movies, 動画 and 映画. Is there a difference in usage? Does 映画 refer to film/videotape based movies and 動画 refer to everything else?


texts:
I'm reading through this one story where it takes place in the feudal era of Japan. Two men are travelling through a forest and carrying a secret letter. An army of female ninja try to sneak up on them. But one of the men can smell them, so he closes his eyes and concentrates. Detecting the location one of them, he throws his sword like an arrow, and hits her. Then he readies himself for the rest of them.

At that point, the narration says “どしゅっ!” I'm guessing that this is an interjection of some sort. I tried to look it up, but it doesn't seem to be listed in the dictionaries. There are websites featuring it, but they don't have any explanations for it in Japanese or any other language.

Does anyone know what it means?


texts: Differences between verb + の verb + か and -ます/-です?

texts:
Consider these two examples:

神｛かみ｝を信｛しん｝じるの？

and

神を信じますか？

To me, both mean 'Do you believe in God/gods?', with the first example possibly slightly more casual than the second. Other than that, are there any other nuances? I can't really give a context, but in general they seem to be used slightly differently and I can't seem to pinpoint the exact differences.


texts: Multiple common kanji for a word: which to use?

texts:
I have been using jisho.org and aedict (android) to look at the definition, kanji and reading of words. Sometimes though, they list words that have multiple kanji in use and they are all indicated as "common" kanji.

For example: aedict says that, for the word のぼる、the common kanji in use are: 上る、昇る and 登る. Another example is かたい when searched on jisho.org, which lists the same exact list of meanings for 固い and 堅い and lists both as common kanji. There are also alternative kanji listed, which are not labeled common but are also not labeled as "outdated kanji" as some of the others are. For example, 言葉 has alternative kanji 詞 and 辞.

My question: Is it okay to freely use any of them?