texts: I usually see the word 連載 pertaining to articles or books in a series. However, when I read 順次 I was confused (I saw this is a technical article). They seem to both hold the meaning "serial" or "consecutive" or "in series". Is 連載 exclusively used when referring to books, articles, novels, etc.?


texts: How should I say someone "let me through"?

texts:
「空港の人がもう一度搭乗券確認したと私に。。。」

通させた？ 通してあげた？
Is that right? Are there more ways of saying this?　In the most natural way possible please.


texts: Can't understand why "に" is used in "蚊に刺された" or what's the sense of this sentence

texts:
I was reading a page about passive verbs in Japanese, and I came across the phrase: "蚊に刺された。" What intrigued me is why the particle "に" is used in this phrase, because when I read it and try to understand the sense, I understand it as "Bit on the mosquito". It becomes even weirder if a pronoun is used, as in "私が蚊に刺された" ("I was bit on the mosquito").

Why does it use "に" instead of another particle that, translating, would make more sense and it would be like "I was bitten by a mosquito"? I think what confuses me is that the phrase doesn't indicate that the person was bitten by the mosquito.  Instead of that, it has a "に" indicating that the location of action is the mosquito instead of the person.

Could someone explain that to me?


texts: Should the furigana go above the whole word or individual kanji?

texts:
I've seen both styles used, basically:

A = 家内{かない}
B = 家{か}内{ない}

I can see pros and cons for both styles. The rendering of A is probably better and there are words for which it may be difficult to say which character is responsible for which sound. On the other hand, B provides more information about the sound of individual kanji.
My questions therefore are:

Are there objective criteria to prefer one style over the other?
Is one of the two styles considered in some way "official"?
Which of the two is actually more widely used?


texts: How to say you go back to doing something

texts: What would be a natural sounding way to say something like return to [verb] i.e. "Return to listening to music"  Would it be something like 「音楽を聴くことに戻る」　or 「音楽を聴きに戻る」or anything else like simple て-form?


texts:
It is my understanding that using the either the particle も or まで can both indicate surprise that the noun is included within some context.

(I'm not that advanced in Japanese yet so I apologise for mixing English and Japanese into the example. Hopefully I got the idea across).

Ex/

English:
"Even children own phones!"

Japanese:
"childrenも phonesを own!"
v.s.
"childrenまで phonesを own!"

Are these particles interchangeable in this context?


texts:
1)What is the meaning of the てくる form in this specific case?(I more or less know the meanings of てくる but I can't tell which one is used in 呼んでくる)

2)Does it imply going somewhere or this action can be done by telephone staying at the same place?

3)If the person goes somewhere to accomplish this action, does he need to come back with the target person or this verb only says that the target person will be called by the doer?


texts: Is 上京 appropriate in a setting where Tokyo doesn't exist?

texts:
Does it make sense to use 上京 in a fantasy setting where the geography is totally different from our world? In my mind this word is very strongly associated with Tokyo. I know that according to some dictionaries it can technically refer to moving to any capital city, but still I can't help but feel that it sounds slightly odd in other contexts. Did I get the wrong impression?

Here is a scene from ハクメイとミコチ that inspired this question.


texts: Use of 物 as a noun suffix, specifically 配達物

texts:
More pain with Duolingo. I've come across the word 配達物{はいたつぶつ}. It's supposed to mean "delivery" but it's not in Jisho, it's not in Weblio, it's not in my beginner paper dictionary and it's not in my good paper dictionary. And indeed, a Google search only yields six pages of results.
配達 is in all these dictionaries, and it means "delivery" in its own right. What is the purpose of appending 物? How does it change the meaning? Is this a relatively recently invented word?
Can anything be said more generally about using 物 as a noun suffix?


texts:
This is the title of a technical document:

  性能評価用提出図書（別添）作成要領

What is the meaning of 提出図書? Is it "document to submit"? On dictionaries, 図書 is translated as book, but in this case I think it is simply a document (later on it is stated 図書サイズは、特に指定されたもの以外はＡ４判としてください). Here is my translation attempt:

  Guidelines for the preparation of a 'Document (attachment) to submit for quality evaluation'

Also, could you please confirm that 別添 means attachment? In the first paragraph of the document it is repeated (本書類は、性能評価用提出図書 (別添)です), so even though it is between parenthesis it seems an important detail.

Thank you!


texts:
直子は七歳のときに家出したが、聡明な _______ 、見つかることなく十日間もひとりで生きていた。
a) だけあって
b) だけに
c) だけ
d) だけは

Answers say that A is proper, but according to my knowledge a and b are synonymous (though だけに can be used when the result is negative, while だけあって cannot).
Why isn't B a valid answer as well?


texts: How to say "I hope you liked it" or "I hope you found it interesting" as a conclusion for a formal speech?

texts:
I am preparing a speech, and would like to finish it by saying
"I hope you found it interesting" or "I hope you found my speech interesting",
or similar. However, I am not certain of the different nuances of "hope", nor how to link it with "you liked it".
This is not the same as saying "Thank you for listening/attention", which will be added to the end as well.
This would be said in a context of a formal speech in a serious context, meant for Japanese teachers and class.


texts:
In a video that snailboat pointed out in a comment on my question about geminated /r/, at least one speaker of Japanese sounds to me like they trill both the /r/s in タリアテッレ.

It's my understanding that, most of the time, /r/ in Japanese is a flap that freely varies between central and lateral (cf. the answer to R sound vs L sound). For /r/ to transform into a trill, then, is really quite surprising.

  In what contexts (social, dialectal, grammatical, whatever) does /r/ become a trill?

I know that /r/ manifests as a trill (巻き舌) in yakuza speech (cf. What are the stereotypical characteristics of yakuza speech?); where else do we find trilled /r/?

(Note: I may just be mishearing the speaker in the Youtube video linked above; if so, just ignore that part. Either way, my question about trilled /r/ in Japanese remains.)


texts: What common words are written one way - but almost always pronounced a different way? (eg. 言う is generally spoken as 「ゆう」)

texts:
I am aware that [行く]{いく} is sometimes read 「ゆく」 but I do not think it is mostly read as 「ゆく」except in combinations. 例えば、行く手・行く先・行く春.

Whereas I almost never hear 言う as いう. These are the only two examples I know of where an alternate reading is as common or more common than the common reading and where the commonly spoken phrase is adding or changing a sound rather than omitting a sound.

NOTE: I am not talking about changes that omit sounds like in すき・です・ます but ones that add sound. On this same note, I am also not interested in words where the vowel sound is dropped - like 「の」 becoming 「ん」. I am looking for cases where a sound is added rather than omitted.

Are there any other words where an alternate reading is more common than the dictionary-given reading of the word, especially when the word is not part of a combination word? Or is this only common for the「い」 sound being slurred into 「ゆ」?


texts: Verb for the object `dareka` in `探さずにはいられない 誰かを`

texts:
Here is part of the lyrics of Mai Kuraki's Time After Time:

風舞う花びらが
水面を撫でるように
大切に想うほど切なく…

人は皆 孤独と言うけれど
探さずにはいられない 誰かを
儚く壊れやすいものばかり
追い求めてしまう

Time after time
君と色づく街で
出逢えたらもう約束はいらない
誰よりもずっと傷付きやすい君の
そばにいたい今度はきっと

The full lyrics can be found here, in case someone wants to see them. This passage I translate to:

The flower petals dancing in the wind
Seem to be stroking the water's surface
The more [I] believe [they] are important, the more [I] suffer…

Although all people say they are lonely (lit. "say «loneliness»")
[They look for] someone [they] can't depend on if [they] don't look for [them]
[But] only fragile and transient things
[They] end up pursuing

Time after time
If with you in the city of changing hues
[I] were to meet, [I] would never need promises
Of you, who are always easier to wound than anyone,
I want to stay at the side, this time, surely.

I have a couple of questions:

The main question is about 探さずにはいられない 誰かを. Analyzing it, I see sagasazu, from sagasu, to look for, which is a negative connective form, so not looking for, then ni, stessing the "adverbial" nature of sagasazu, wa, marking the lot as a topic, irarenai, negative potential of iru (要る, I take it, but surely not 居る), to depend on, to need, dareka, someone, and wo, marking dareka as object. So the translation should be:

  someone (obj) from whom [they] cannot depend if without looking for [him/her]

The question of course is: what is the verb holding this object? The subject is probably mina in the line above, as in the whole verse, meaning everyone.
Then we have this "water's surface", which has come out of nothing since I don't remember anything before or afterwards referring to water, so what water is it?
What is the subject of 大切に想うほど切なく…?
Why do some translations refer the "always" to "I want to be" when zutto is in the middle of the relative clause dare yori mo zutto kizutsuki yasui kimi?
The mono in koware yasui mono, is it 者 (people) or 物 (things)?


texts: How to translate historical names which don't necessarily have an equivalent in Japanese?

texts:
What is the acceptable procedure for writing proper names in Japanese academic papers when you don't know the official Japanese translation or the katakana for it?

Is there an expectation that all references to proper names must adhere to the official translation when mentioned in an academic conference paper presentation, journal article, and/or doctoral thesis? Or is it acceptable to create your own translation or make your own guess as to the katakana if you cannot easily find a source for the official one? Is it considered unprofessional and looked down upon to do this?

For writing an academic paper, is there an official translation of the name of the The Biological Laboratory of the U.S. Fish Commission which existed in Woods Hole (ウッズホール), Massachusetts in the mid-19th century (not sure if it still exists today) or can I myself translate that as 「米国水産生物学実験所」?  It seems to be part of 合衆国水産委員会, but there are more than one famous marine science institutions in Woods Hole.
Is there an official spelling of Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz's name (co-founder and first president of Radcliffe College)? The name Cabot seems to have a variety of pronunciations so I don't know what to use to write her name in katakana.
Is there an official spelling of the surname Worcester? I found ウスター is the name for the city name that has that spelling but that ウォーセスター could be a spelling for the surname.

What is the customary way to deal with these questions while writing an academic paper when you don't have time to hunt down an official source, especially when the proper name may be of a historical entity that had an official Japanese translation in the past but which no longer exists?


texts: Is there a Japanese phrase equivalent to "Chopstick gene"?

texts:
Is there a Japanese phrase equivalent to "Chopstick gene" (or "Chopsticks gene")? Here's a link to a description in the scientific journal Molecular Psychiatry, and here's one to everything2.com, but the idea is this:

A naive scientist, acting in good faith, tries to determine if there's a genetic component to the ability to use chopsticks. Lo and behold, the scientist finds genetic differences between those who are good at it, and those who are bad at it. However, the findings are useless: the genetic differences have no bearing on chopstick using ability, it's just that some genetic variations are common in Asian people, and some are common in non-Asians, and the scientist didn't think of checking that.

Just to clarify, the "chopstick gene" isn't meant to be about scientists trying to argue that there are innate differences between different races based on genetic differences, such as people claiming that a so-called "warrior gene" (a different version of the MAO-A gene) is more common in Maori people than non-Maoris.

I tried doing a search based on 箸遺伝子 (the Japanese for chopstick, plus the Japanese for gene), but I didn't notice anything relevant.

The phrase "Chopstick gene" isn't very common in English, so there may not be a Japanese equivalent.


texts: "Strategies" to speak in 1st, 2nd or 3rd person without pronouns

texts:
My level of Japanese is still very basic. So sorry if I what I'm saying doesn't make sense.
As I understand it, Japanese do not like the usage of pronouns to express if a sentence's subject or direct object is in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd person. Actually Japanese seems to use as little pronouns as possible. But even when replacing pronouns by people's name the subject tends to be completely dropped.
The reasoning given by most learning resources online is that you should get it from the context and that you will learn to understand if after hundred of hours of immersion. But based on the little immersion I could do, on example sentences from ejje.weblio and other learning resources explaining grammar point by point, I think (hopefully I'm not completely wrong) there is more to that. And even completely out of context, a sentence can contains enough information to tell what the subject is without relying on pronouns.
Here's a few sentences and what, I, as a beginner listener would assume the subject to be.

悲しそうだよね。

I would assume that the subject would be "you", based on the usage of "そう" and the particule "よね".

悲しいの？

I would assume that the subject is "you", because it's a question.

悲しいよ。

I would assume that the subject is "I", because of the particle "よ"

悲しがってるとおもう。

I would assume that the subject is "he/she", based on the usage of the verb がる and the ending in "とおもう"
First of all, are my assumptions correct? If I'm right, my question would be the following:
Do you know any other example of words or expression that can help understand if the subject is 1st, 2nd or 3rd person without using pronouns? I think I would understand enough to read or listen to this kind of sentences, but it would help me to express myself better if I knew all those little words and expressions.
Edit:
I just thought of another one: ほしい is automatically "I want" and can't be use for "you want" or "he/she wants".
Edit 2:
I replaced 怖い by 悲しい as it seems more suitable for my examples. I wanted examples that implies that the subject is a person.
Also the end goal here is not just better understanding, because, yes context DOES matter. The end goal here is how can I express myself better. I want to drop the 私は あなたは 田中せんは etc. but still be able to be understood. Like when should I use ほしい and not -たい, when should I use がる, am I clear enough or should I add a subject for this sentence? This kind of stuff. If I understand the implications of those little words better it would help me to know when the topic/subject is absolutely necessary and when I can drop it.


texts: difference between [pronoun/noun][particle] and [pronoun/noun]のこと[particle]?

texts: What is the difference between 誰よりも君のことを愛している。 and 誰よりも君を愛している。?


texts: How to say to my boss "Please don't hurry and take your time."?

texts:
another question has awaken in mine mind.
My boss writes me, that he will arrive later to the place we are supposed to meet. I wish to answer him

"Please don't hurry and take your time. I will wait as much as it will be necessary".

What would be the best way to express this English sentence in Japanese?  I tried my luck and have said the next sentence:

急がないで時間をご十分にとってください。

And for the second sentence, I was not sure, so I decided to express it in a little bit another way:

○○さんのご都合がよい時間にいつでもお会いできます。

How would you express this English sentence in Japanese?
And I also know, I have mistakes in my sentences, could you please point out, what is exactly wrong in them...?


texts: How to say "the one I sent the letter to"

texts:
I sent him the letter - 彼に手紙を送ってあげた

He was the one who sent me the letter - 手紙を送ってくれたのは、彼だった

He was the one I sent the letter to - ???


texts:
まだ何度でも食べたいと 欲張ってしまうな
So I know an imperative negative like 飲むな means don't drink, but in this case the speaker is talking about himself and his inability to not stop his own desire. why is this not 欲張ってしまわない instead of 欲張ってしまうな.
Thank You!


texts:
I've learned that the 1st to 10th day of the month is always read specially. However, when I converted these by using my computer typing "いちにち、ににち、さんにち、よんにち、ごにち、ろくにち、ななにち、はちにち、きゅうにち、じゅうにち、じゅうよんにち、にじゅうにち、にじゅうよんにち", these converted correctly. Especially, one-letter day expression can only be found when you convert correctly. For example, if you convert "よっか" or "よんにち", you can get a letter "㏣(IDEOGRAPHIC TELEGRAPH SYMBOL FOR DAY FOUR)". But, if you input "しにち" or "よにち", the letter is not shown within the candidates. I've learned that when you use generic counter for 1 to 10, you can use either "つ" or "こ". But, when you refer to over 10, You cannot use "つ", only "こ" can be used.

i) I wonder that the 1st to 10th, 14th, 20th and 24th day of the month also can be read as both "か" as "にち".

ii) And I wonder if I use "にち", the meaning is changed.


texts:
もし俺がここで諦めたら、一生会えない気がする

If I give up here, I don't think I'll never see him again.
If I give up here, I feel that I'll  never ever ( in my whole life ) see him again.
My question is simple, what would be the best "translation" or interpretation to this sentence ?


texts:
インドの文化にくわしい友達を、今度ごしょうかいします。

I have trouble parsing this sentence...

What I roughly understand:
インドの文化 seems to be indonesia's culture, but  i don't understand the function of に in the back. Or is it a place?  So it can means "In indonesia's culture festival"?

くわしい ともだちを: Do something to my well informed friend (but why the を end with comma? )

今度 sometimes / this time?
ごしょうかいします: doing introduction? Asking reference? I'm not sure...

With all that information I have trouble finding out what the speaker is speaking about...


texts: 「広がる広げる漢字の知識」ってどういう意味ですか

texts:
I believe that it must be some word play here, but what does it really mean? What is 広がる広げる？

Edit: この文は漢字教材で出会いました。特別なコラムみたいなものです。普通の音読みと訓読みなどの学習ではなく、音の濁りや形声文字について紹介しています。


texts: What is the correct reading for the word 士 in the context of this phrase, "有能の士". I found online that 士 can have both the 音読み reading of し and the 訓読み reading of さむらい. However, as 士 is a word that is not usually used alone, I am unable to discern as to which reading is the correct one.


texts:
Recently I was talking to a friend and the topic of credit cards came up. I asked my friend (xx) if they had a credit card:

  ところで、xxはクレジットカードを持ってる？

and got the following response:

  そりゃあ持っているでしょうに。

I'm not too sure what the に at the end means, but searching around the internet it seems to be related to のに. However, sentences that end with のに typically indicate disappointment/regret etc and I don't believe that was the case here. I found this:

  あなた、それくらい分かっているでしょうに。
  You know that, don't you?
  この場合の、don't you? に相当するのが、「でしょうに」です。

which seems close in meaning, but it doesn't feel like it's from のに. Any elucidation on this would be helpful.


texts: Ordering of writing furigana in multi-character words

texts:
I've recently started writing in a genkouyoushi notebook for practice and I've been writing furigana along with it to reinforce the reading. I was wondering how Japanese writers typically write furigana for jukugo or other multi-character words. Do I write the entire word out first, then write the furigana for all of the characters in the word, or do I write the furigana for each character as I write that character, even in the middle of writing a word?

At first it seemed most straightforward to write the furigana immediately as I write each character, but I found myself saying in my head the reading of individual characters twice and it became hard to think about, so I thought maybe it was better to write the whole word and then come back and write the furigana.

Is there a best practice? Or is it "just do what works for you"?


texts:
When asking about what particular thing is made of, this may be asked like this:

  [材質]{ざいしつ}は何ですか。

  What's the material? — Tatoeba

  What's the material? — Tanaka Corpus (Source: from weblio page 1)

Then, the answer may be given like this:

  [材質]{ざいしつ}は、紙・木・布等である/です。

  They are made of materials such as paper, wood or cloth.  - Wikipedia日英京都関連文書対訳コーパス (Source: from weblio page 2)

Different word choice

When asking similar question about a dish or food, ざいりょう is used instead:

  すき焼きはどんな[材料]{ざいりょう}を使うのですか。

  What is sukiyaki made of? — Tatoeba

Then, the answer has word choice that is certain:

  [材料]{ざいりょう}は、肉・野菜・[出汁]{だし}です。 ○

  [材質]{ざいしつ}は、肉・野菜・[出汁]{だし}です。 ✕

I am aware that the word ざいりょう is used to mean materials or ingredients in cooking. But earlier examples are hinting that ざいしつ is used to mean materials... other than cooking?

Based on the kanji used in each words, [質]{しつ} means quality and [料]{りょう} means quantity. Could it be that 材質 is used for uncountable things, and 材料 is used for countable things?

Then again, first example has mentioned "paper, wood or cloth"; Those are countable things but seems to be not counted on purpose, or for some reason that I may not aware.

Question 質問

Hence my question: When asking "what is the material", which word to use ([材質]{ざいしつ} or [材料]{ざいりょう}) and when should either be used?

ここで質問です:「この物は、何でできていますか」と尋ねるとき、どの言葉（材質・材料）をどんなときに使いますか？


texts: how can I say ''I post about Japanese history, mythology and culture'' properly?

texts:
I have been learning Japanese for almost a year. However, I still have some hardship on writing something in Japanese...

Would it be okay If I put it like this:

  日本の歴史{れきし}、文化{ぶんか}と神話{しんわ}について投稿{とうこう}する。

It doesn't really make sense to me but I can't seem to organize it properly.. Can someone help please?


texts: 影 vs 形 vs 形状. What's the difference between them?

texts: I've been reading a text and all three of these come up 影 vs 形 vs 形状. I know they mean shape/figure, but is there a more nuanced difference between them? I can see the logic of where they are in the text but I can't figure out the difference.


texts: What the difference between using か and が for a question?

texts:
So what's the difference between asking:

だれか？

And:

だれが？


texts:
One of the people I follow on twitter sometimes ends his sentences in ぞと. Is this just a more polite form of ぞ？

Here's an example:

  ブログUPしましたぞと♪(´ε｀ )


texts: What instances would you use someone's full name?

texts: I've run into this a couple times and was always curious. In what instances might you call someone by both their surname and given name? Ex. In a conversation, person B, refers to person A (named Yamada Tarou) as Yamada Tarou when speaking to them. Is this informal, formal, or rude?


texts:
Its a paper stroke hanging below a iron bell

The hiragana transelates to no furin but i cant find the translation or meaning for the top two kanji


texts: What does "ne" in "so ne" and "gambaru ne" mean?

texts:
I heard somebody saying "so ne" which from the context sounded as if "Yeah, sure!". But then also one of my friends wrote to me "Gambaru-ne!" which from the context appeared as if "Gambaru to you too." or "I will continue to tell you gambarou as the last time".

But what does "ne" exactly mean? In what grammatical structures and with what words can it be used? Is it informal?


texts: What's the difference between 腹切り and 切腹?

texts: I need to add a body to submit my question, so I'll just say the Mortal Kombat seemed to believe that the term 腹切り (はらきり harakiri) was more appropriate for self slaughter (i.e., throwing a boomerang hat that cuts one's own head off); however, I found 切腹 (せっぷく seppuku) used in many novels about Japanese samurai considering suicide due to some circumstance involving their master falling from grace.  Is the difference between the two whether it is over personal loss of face or clan-wide loss of face?


texts:
For example:

  Youtubeで動画をアップしています。

Does 「アップ」 mean “upload”?


texts: Just something as simple as the character for "one" has the On readings "ichi" and "itsu." So how would I know which one to use if I saw this as part of a compound?


texts: What is the difference between 就職 and 求職?

texts:
I learned a long time ago that 就職 meant "looking for a job".

But just a few minutes ago, I came across a new word- 求職, which I assumed to mean (almost) the same thing. After a quick check in a few online dictionaries, it turns out it does. I know that it is a lot rarer than 就職.

Is there a difference in meaning between them?


texts:
I've become pretty decent at understanding when to use が, but every so often I make a mistake between using が vs. を.  In the two sentences below, I'm confused:

Everybody knows that / sore wa daremo ga shitte iru / それは誰もが知っている
Everybody respects her / daremo ga kanojo wo sonkei shite iru / 誰もが彼女を尊敬している

I translated the first sentence correctly.  In the second example, I used が instead of を and it was marked incorrect.  My logic was that the verb was not an action verb (or is it?), which from what I've found so far would use the particle が.

I see the structure of both sentences and the type of verb as very similar and I'm confused by the difference in use of particles.  If someone can please clarify why が isn't used in the second sentence, I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you!


texts:
This is an excerpt from ゲド戦記

竜が人間の地である
この東世界に現れよったか

Dragons here, in the east? Can this really be true?
I don't understand what よったか is doing here - can anyone kindly explain?
Thankyou!


texts:
The two parts of this line I'm not quite sure I understand is the meaning of 来てる and who is being referred to in 体あったまってきた.

Looking at this website it appears that 来てる can have a positive meaning. Is this similar to the instructor telling the instructee that they are "nailing it"?

My second question is I am unsure who of You/I/We is being said when the instructor says 体あったまってきたよ　is there something obvious that makes it clear who is being referred to?

Instructor「あーもう！　このポンコツが！ちゃんと妾の言う通りにせんかー！虎だ！　お前は虎になるのだー！」

Instructee「がおー！」

Instructor「おっ、いいよ！　来てる来てる！体あったまってきたよ！　ワンモアセッ！」


texts: What is the function of 一 in バスルーム and コンピュータ?

texts:
Is 一 in バスルーム and コンピュータ meant to indicate a drawn out vowel?　Like ba-su-ruuu-mu and kon-pi-yuuu-ta? Or is it a counter somehow? And it's the line radical (http://www.kanjidamage.com/kanji/1-one-line-radical-%E4%B8%80) right, and not a katakana like the other characters? Other examples include ヨーロッパ and オーストラリア.

Wasn't sure if it was related to this question: Syntactic Properties of "Bare Numerals": 「一」in「其の一」


texts: What's the difference between そうかな and そうなんだ?

texts: I've always thought that they both mean something like "I see" or "Is that so?" and I was told that they have different meaning. Is that so?


texts: Having trouble with this sentence and how to figure out the exact meaning of compound words?

texts:
それ以外、つまり冒険者の半数以上は未だLV1のもとで燃え燻っている。

I am having trouble understanding the last part of this sentence. What does のもとで do here?

Also, how do you figure out the exact meaning of compound words? I tried looking up 燃え燻る but I can't find it in a dictionary. The story I'm reading has a lot of these words that I can't find in a dictionary.

Thanks!


texts: Is there a difference between 'futari' and 'futari-domo'?

texts:
What is the difference between 'futari' and 'futari-domo'?

Also, is 二人共 the correct way to write 'futari-domo'?


texts: Does 次の always indicate a temporal relationship?

texts:
今年はほかに、片渕須直監督の「この世界の片隅に」が、クリスタル賞の次の賞の「審査員賞」をもらいました。
  Additionally, this year, director 片渕須直's 'In the Corner of this World' received the Judges Prize, which is ???

Does クリスタル賞の次の賞 mean the prize which is awarded after the Crystal prize, or the prize which is second best to the Crystal prize?

When I first read the sentence I thought it meant the second best prize, but then I started to worry that 次 might only describe a temporal relationship.


texts: What is the meaning of でも 私 あなたのそういうところ すきよ?

texts:
I was reading a manga and the character said:

  でも 私 あなたのそういうところ すきよ

I translated it as "You like someone such as me." I may be completely wrong because ところ throws me off. I know some particles are being omitted, but I just don't know which ones.


texts:
I've stumbled across this line in a short novel and all of a sudden, everything I've learnt so far as a student in the language has gone out the window by something as simple as the "で" particle.

  「美咲{みさき}のそういう冷たい顔で暑苦しい所、本当にキモいと思うけど、結構好きだよボク？」

From what I can gather, it almost feels like で should be translated as something like "yet or "but" here, but I'm not aware of any usages of "で" with this sort of nuance.

  "A cold expression like that on Misaki yet[?] In a hot place, I think it's really gross but I kinda like it?"

I'm not sure, the whole first part "美咲のそういう冷たい顔で暑苦しい所"  seems a mess when I try to translate it in my head and I think it's because the で is causing me confusion, so it would be great if someone could point out where I'm going wrong :)


texts:
遠坂がマスターとして行動しているのなら、俺もあいつに恥じない成果を出さないと。
  If Tohsaka is acting as a master, i have to get results which will not make her feel ashamed.

  人に恥じることはなにもない。
  People do not feel ashamed for anything.

恥じる: To feel ashamed.
僕が恥じる: I feel ashamed.
僕に恥じる: To feel ashamed towards me.

Is it correct?

I always have troubles understanding when に means "In" and when it means "Towards";"Regarding";"Against".

By In I mean:
There is something to feel ashamed in laughing at people.

And towards:
I feel ashamed about that towards her.
(In my mind this feels something like に対して, but I do not know if it's correct or not. If not please tell me)

Is it there a way to understand this?


texts: What is 〜からです and when is it used? How does it differ from 〜ですから and 〜んです?

texts:
I have seen this expression a few times, and have never quite understood it. In particular, it seems to be equatable both to ですから and to んです, but I can't figure out where it would be used over either of those two expressions. Here is an example I found on Google:

  新聞{しんぶん}に目{め}を通{とお}していないと、仕事{しごと}が成立{せいりつ}しないからです。

I believe this translates to "Since I haven't been skimming the newspaper,  I do not have a job." (but I am not sure, and please correct me if I'm wrong).

What does the からです mean in this sentence? And more importantly, when is it appropriate to use, and how does it differ from ですから and んです?


texts: ですが vs が， what are the differences between them?

texts:
In my textbook, there is a sentence:

中国語の発音は難しかったが、漢字はあまり難しくなかった。

And there is also a sentence:

「日本史」は難しくなかったですが、「翻訳」は大変でした。

I'm confusing that is it still a correct expression with removing of the "です" in "ですが" in the second sentence?

If it is still a native expression, what's the differences between it and the original one?


texts: This particular gif shows a character blushing, with the word 「てれり」... but isn't 「照{て}れる」 (to be shy; to be bashful) an ichidan verb? Is てれり valid? What does it mean? (A jisho.org search for tereri doesn't show anything useful)


texts: ご無沙汰いたしました — OK for electronic communications?

texts:
In a recent comment exchange on ELU.SE, a Japanese man (my senior in years, and a "guest" in the forum whose questions I had answered regularly for some time, but not much lately as I have been scaling back my participation there), said in his comment to my response:

  お久しぶりです。

I felt obliged to respond in kind with

  ご無沙汰いたしました。

and that is how I replied. But it just felt a little strange in a comment-chain discussion. What do you think? Might こちらこそ or something else have been better?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ?
  What are the guidelines of omitting particles?

It is possible to say both of these:

あなたが好きです
あなたのこと好きです

The adjective 好き is usually used with the particle が to express what we like. What is the difference between these sentences? and why is the particle can be omitted in the second case?

EDIT

I just saw this question What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ? and it answers my first question, but it doesn't give any hints about the second one.


texts: Is 薬指 related to the Latin term "digitus medicinalis"?

texts: 薬指 ("medicine finger", ring finger) is interestingly similar to the Latin term for ring finger, "digitus medicinalis". Are they etymologically related?


texts: How do I say "Don't let your dreams be dreams"?

texts:
You know, that meme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0. I'm pretty sure there has to be a good Japanese equivalent, but for now I'm trying to come up with a version I can share with my friend.
What I have now is:

夢を夢に居させない

or

夢は夢に居させない

But I'm not sure about that. What interpretation would fit the original high-energy expression the most?


texts:
What is a good translation of 'hashiri ni hashirimashita'?

I'm familiar with the general masu-stem-ni-iku construction: kai ni iku, "go in order to shop" - but this sounds like "run in order to run", which sounds strange.

This is from "stories you can read in 10 minutes - first grade".  A hare and hedgehog are racing, and the hedgehog keeps tricking the hare, and the hare wants to race over and over.

A Japanese friend said it is something like "to run over and over", but that I could not make my own constructions i.e. "mi ni miru", so I am missing something.

(btw I don't have kanji - it's a first grade book - mostly kana).


texts: Is there a rule for when to use くらい vs ぐらい?

texts: I see phrases like 200人ぐらい, 半々ぐらい, and 何分くらい, which seem to indicate that くらい and ぐらい are synonymous, if not interchangeable. Is there any kind of rule for deciding which to use, or is it a stylistic preference?


texts: Why the ます形 of おっしゃる is おっしゃいます?

texts:
I'm studying for the N4 of the JLPT and in the 尊敬語 lesson is the verb おっしゃる

おっしゃる is the respectful form of 言う. When in the textbook they change the verb to the ます形 it changes in a way that I can not understand.

How I understand it should be

  おっしゃる ► Ends in "る" so the "い" sound of that character is "り" ► おっしゃり ► and
  then we add the ます ► おっしゃります

How it is in the textbook:

  おっしゃる ► おっしゃいます

The same happens with

  くださる ► くださいます

  なさる ► なさいます

  いらっしゃる ► いらっしゃいます

Does someone knows why it is like this?


texts:
I came across the adverb すこぶる "greatly, extremely" and initially mistook it for a godan verb.
This seemed to me an unusual 'shape' for an adverb -- what's the etymology of this adverb, and are there other adverbs in Japanese ending in る?


texts:
I'm trying to figure at the nuance between
学校まで1時間も掛かります。
and
学校まで1時間掛かります。
Book says it's used to express something plentyfull, but I'm not sure what exactly that means. What is the fine difference ?


texts:
天を仰ぎ両手を合わせずにはいられない結果が得られている

In the above excerpt, I'm not 100% sure how to connect the 結果 with the rest of the sentence. I do understand that the meaning is something like "Obtained result that you can't but look at heaven clasping both hands". But, again and again, the lack of relative pronouns in japanese keep confusing me. Can someone give me some tips?


texts: Why is に応{おう}じて the wrong answer in this question?

texts:
This question is in my JLPT practise book:

  オリンピックの日本{にほん}代表{だいひょう}選手{せんしゅ}は、みんなの期待{きたい}____金{きん}メダルをとった。

  A にこたえて 　B に応{おう}じて 　C に沿って 　D によると

I chose B, because it seems to me that it's saying "in accordance with everyone's expectations." Or, put another way, "as everyone expected."

However, according to the book, the answer is A. But that seems weird to me, because I think of にこたえて as "in response to." Maybe it's just me, but I don't think of expectations as being something that gets answered. Instead, expectations get met.

Where am I going wrong here?


texts: What is the meaning of 制限 when talking about phones/phone numbers?

texts: I have my phone set to Japanese, and I got a call from " 制限 ". I understand that 制限 means "restricted", but in this context does it mean a blocked number, or something else?


texts:
In a recent email conversation, an acquaintance used the expression:

  １対１で対応するそれは、大変だね。

Although I can vaguely infer the meaning of the expression １対１で対応する (いちたいでたいおう), I am having a hard time finding a clear definition and description of it. All the hits in Japanese pages seem to have to do with mathematical terms (where it'd mean something like "bijective" or "one-to-one correspondence"), but our conversation had nothing to do with mathematics and the person is not a particularly mathematically-inclined person, so I doubt he'd be using it a math term for an everyday-idea... Furthermore, all the hits I got, were without that 'で' in the middle: １対１対応する

My questions:

what does this expression mean in a general context? Where does it come from? How common/familiar is it?
which of the two forms is the correct one? is the 'で' form a typo, or just a less common form?
is the spelling of '1' as roman numeral standard practice, or just e-mail shorthand, with 一対一対応 being the preferred way to write it?


texts: Indicative form of an i-adjective used adverbially

texts:
As expected, the adverbial form (aka 連用形) of an i-adjective ...く can be used as an intensifying adverb to an adjectival predicate:

  すごく速い

But there are cases where the indicative non-past affirmative form (or attributive form, depending on the theoretical assumption) ...い is used in addition to or replacing the adverbial form:

Young people's colloquial speech:

  すごい速い

Kansai dialect:

  えらいきつい性格

Modern literature:

  恐ろしい沢山書いた　 (夏目漱石)
  恐ろしい長い物を捲り上げる　 (樋口一葉)
  恐しい利く唐辛子だ　 (泉鏡花)
  可恐い光るのね、金剛石　 (尾崎紅葉)

  　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(饮水思源 - 主题文章阅读: 形容詞の副詞化)

What is happening with this usage of i-adjectives?


texts: Is the で in というわけで the de-particle or the te-form of だ?

texts: Would the で in というわけで be analyzed as the te-form of da or the de particle? Both of them seem like they would fit, as the de particle can indicate cause/reason (as alluded to in this similar question) but another question states that ので can be interpreted as "て form of the explanatory particle の with だ..." and indeed というわけだ is by itself a valid phrase.


texts: What does te form of verbs mean in these two sentences?

texts:
犬は雪の中を走ってボールを取りに行く。
時間がありまして、映画を見ました。

Are the grammar in these two the same? If yes, why is there a comma in the second one and not in the first one?


texts: Using から (because) with nouns, adjectives and verbs

texts:
Could someone please check my understanding of how から is used with nouns etc?

Today I read what I think were some rules. から needs だ/です depending on what precedes it.

  しずか　ですから　散歩しましょう

-na adj, needs です.

  天気がいいから　散歩しましょう

-i adj, doesn't need です

  コーヒーを飲むことですから、しずかにしてくれ

noun, needs です.

  猫がいますから、しずかに　してくれ

verb, doesn't need です


texts: I have the impression that if a Japanese uses the term 神様, they refer to an omnipotent deity very similar to the Abrahamic god. According to my (very limited) knowledge of Shinto and Buddhism, there is no such equivalent in these beliefs, correct me if I'm wrong! So I was wondering if that term or the connection of the term with the concept emerged with Japan getting in contact with Christianity or if it has a different origin?


texts: How does state-of-being + んだ differ from んだ + state-of-being

texts:
I was reading up on noun-related particles and came across 「の」 as an explanatory particle.

From my understanding, firstly we need to add 「な」 to differentiate it from relationship 「の」 particle (「ジムなのだ」 vs. 「ジムのだ」).
Now, adding it to the end of the sentences adds an explanatory tone that makes the sentence sound like "It is like that ...". e.g. 「学生なのだ」

Then we have this table of combinations as shown.

Here is what I think they mean

学生なんだ: I am a student [with an explanatory tone]
学生じゃないんだ: I am not a student [ditto.]
学生だったんだ: I was a student [ditto.]
学生じゃなかったんだ: I wasn't a student [ditto.]

The main problem is I don't understand the second table and this is what I guess are the translations:

学生なんだ: I am a student [with an explanatory tone]
学生なんじゃない: I am a student, am I not?
学生なんだった: I was a student, wasn't I?
学生なんじゃなかった: I wasn't a student, was I?

Can someone explain what this particle actually means and what these two tables actually mean?


texts: Can someone explain the させる in this case?

texts:
後はこの仕掛けを偶然を装って作動させることで、彼に対して災難が降りかかる形。

roughly translated it's something like

afterwards by running the mechanism/device which is disguised as a accident, great disaster will fall upon him

させる is used to make/let someone do something.

However in this case the someone is the mechanism/device (which is a thing) so how does it work in this case?


texts:
Here is the sentence I found the word.

わしはむかし丹｛たん｝下｛げ｝段｛だん｝平｛ぺい｝とはちがうんだ　わかってくれ
いまいったすじのいい若いのにわしゃあ命｛いのち｝をかけとるんだ　わしの先生命だ！

I have tried searching for some web sites e.g. Jisho.org, dictionary.goo.ne.jp　or weblio.jp but there is no where refer to the meaning of it.
I guess it might be meaning as 'right now' or 'present time' but I have no idea what the word 「いった」means.


texts:
For full context:

僕たちは一つだけ決めていることがある。 それはよる10時を過ぎたら、自分の部屋で過ごすということだ.

I think this ということだ expresses "means". "Concerning this...it means (that)".
I'm asking for confirmation because my textbook also teaches ということだ as a means to express hearsay or to summarize what the partner in dialogue just said.
My attempt at translation:
"Concerning this, it means that when it is past 10 o'clock in the evening, I/we (?) pass time in my/our own room(s)."


texts: What are the principles behind turning foreign language words into verbs?(e.g. ググる and サボる)

texts: I have a decent grasp on the basics, but I'm not quite clear on the details. Anyone know?


texts: Most natural way to express "It's later now."

texts:
I've been keeping a journal in Japanese, and recently I wrote a paragraph about something I was planning to do, and then after I had done it, I wrote another paragraph about how it went. I wanted to write something along the lines of "It's later now." at the start of the second paragraph, to indicate that there was a break in time between the first and second paragraph. I came up with two possibilities, but I'm not sure if either sounds correct, much less natural:

後{あと}だ。
今{いま}の方{ほう}が遅{おそ}い。

What is the most natural way to express this?


texts:
Came across the honorific -たん in Re:Zero (episode 4, 6 minutes in):

  You saved me, didn't you, Emilia-tan?

Does anyone know what it means?

The protagonist who said it clearly likes the female lead he addressed, but he also doesn't believe that anything is real. When she asks him what it means, he says:

  Uh, you can just ignore that one.


texts:
What is a good way to express a wish about something that won't or is unlikely to happen?
For example:

I wish I were tall enough to be allowed on that roller coaster.
I wish I could eat that much and not gain weight.
I wish I had been born 100 years ago instead.

etc.


texts:
I was learning about 限らない and encounter this particular sentence.

  社長の意見が必ずしも正しいとは限らない

I'm pretty sure that the meaning would be
"Manager's opinion is not always right"

But if I check the dictionary entry for 必ずしも it means "not always".
How come then 社長の意見が必ずしも正しい means "Manager's opinion is always correct"?


texts: Difference between the words for "feeling"

texts:
I have seen and been taught many words meaning "feeling", but what is the difference between the words, and where are they used?

I have done a bit of research myself and have come up with these meanings. Are they correct? Could someone please give a more detailed explanation?

具合 - health related
気分 - mood
気持ち - inner/emotional feeling
感じ - outside/perceived feeling
感覚 - ?
感情 - ?
意識 - ?
情 - ?
情意 - ?
心持ち - ?

Are there any others I should know about?


texts:
I was reading a manga and I was wondering if I understood, at least the first sentence well. The other two...hmmm, I don't know if I translated them so well, so I would need some assistance.
If it helps, the context is about money and friendship.

  「この世の悩みのほとんどすべてはお金で解決できる」

This is the first sentence and I translated it as: The problems of this world (or rather society), most of them can be solved with money." (Have I gotten the gist of it?)

  「お金で築ける友情がある」
  「お金がないから築けない友情がある」

It's with these two sentences that I have problem to translate. 築く, looking in the dictionary, it means "to build, to construct, to amass", and I think the sentences are saying something about making friends with money?

Please, can someone clarify them for me? Thank you


texts: What is the meaning of all those "w"s in email and SNSs?

texts:
You see a lot of w and ww and even www in Twitter and casual chat. What does it mean? I've always thought it was わいわい but never found out. How is it pronounced?

Here's an example from Twitter

  なんでじゃろうねwwとりあえず電車なうだから間に合いそう笑


texts: Equivalent of saying "It breaks my heart"?

texts: What's the Japanese equivalent of saying "It breaks my heart"?


texts: What is the correct usage of conditional and hypothetical?

texts:
Is my translation correct in the following examples?

If (when) I build a house I will buy furniture.
家を建てたら、家具を買う。
If I built a house I would buy furniture.
家を建てたなら、家具を買った。
If I build a house I will have a place to live.
家を建てると住む場所がある。
If I build a house I will buy good furniture.
家を建てれば、良い家具を買う。


texts: Interpreting 下手に俺を残して手柄を奪われても困ると判断した in this context

texts:
The MC/魔術者 found out that their army was headed towards a trap/ambush and informed in commander about it. The MC proposed that the solution was to turn backwards/retreat and take out all the enemies that were setting up behind the the army by surprise.

The MC is asking the commander if he can part with the main army, to escort an injured party (that got injured discovering the trap with the MC) back to safety. Is it true that MC is very motivated to get recognized for 手柄. The Commander is very arrogant and self centered. The Commander probably wants 手柄 but that isn't clear.

  Commander「そしてこれより我が軍は転進し、後方に潜む卑劣な手で仲間を傷つけた敵部隊を排除する！」

  将軍の号令で騎士達は雄たけびを上げ、隊列を乱さぬよう転進する。

  明らかに士気も上がっているこの手の人物はやはりこういう役回りには向いているな。

  MC「閣下、私は軍に同行しなくてよろしいので？」

  commander「貴公の言う通りなら、敵の手の内がわかった以上もはや勝ったも同然今更魔術など必要あるまい」

  MC「なるほど・・・ごもっともです」

  ・・・下手に俺を残して手柄を奪われても困ると判断したか、あるいは伏兵処理に赴いた人間は全員退却させる事で部下思いの指揮官を演出したいのか。

  いずれにせよ、将軍の言う通りタネが割れた以上は俺がいなくとももはや勝利は揺らぐまい。

  MC「では、閣下のお言葉に甘えさせていただきます」

...

(this might make no sense depending on how off i am)

Did the commander determine his is troubled even though he can leave me in a inferior position by taking the credit (for this victory), or is it that he wants to act like he's the commander that the underlying think is the one who turned around an army that was heading into a trap?

...

Assuming this is done by the commander, should 手柄を奪われて be interpreted as the general honorific passive and not the passive voice?
If 手柄を奪われて is the general honorific passive and not the passive voice is 俺を残して also done by the commander? If so why was 俺を残して not passive?
Why was  困ると判断したか used over 困るか？ It definitely feels less natural, especially when ...と判断したか isn't really "parallel" with ...を演出したいのか in terms of tense and type of action.
The doer of ...指揮官を演出したい has to be the commander as well right? Or is it somehow the MC?
On basis did the MC make all of these 。。。か assumptions from? It seems completely out of the blue.

Thanks!


texts: Is the only time 得る read as うる when it's a suffix?

texts:
Just wondering If choosing a reading is as simple as whether
 得る is a suffix.

This is from tatoeba.org, a wiki-like sentence mine, so I'm not sure if える, the reading entered is correct.

  彼はとてもよく訓練された役者だけが本当に成功し得ると思っている。
  He thinks that only very well trained actors can be really successful.


texts:
It is somewhat uncommon, but some words such as 気宇{きう} and the name 霧生{きりう} end with  イ列 + う.
I thought the pronunciation might be different from a simple concatenation of the two vowels, since 言う{いう} is pronounced as ゆう, and because in the examples I gave it is somewhat easier on the toungue for me to change the trailing う to ゆ, resulting in either きゆ　or きゅ for 気宇.

How should I be pronouncing these?


texts: How can I translate けど in this sentence?

texts:
I don't get these sentences; the first one ends with けど (plus I don't get why there is the use of !? at the end)

Here the sentences:

  俺モデル!
  顔命なの です
  けど!?

  んなに
  硬くねーだろ>

I know that けど means "but, though, however" but I don't get the meaning here.

My translation is:

"I am a model! My face is the most important thing but!?" (there's a pause here before the person continues talking)

"It isn't so hard"

But the second sentence kind of make no sense to me unless けど at the end changes the entire meaning of the second sentence? So that the translation is completely different?

The context is (if this can help) the person has been hit by a ball in the face and he is angry and shouting.
Help would be much appreciated (:


texts: Name identification for 安田 味子, and "saying" using という

texts:
I have the following sentence I need to translate for my introductory Japanese class.

  私の友達の名前は、安田味子さんといいます。

There are 2 parts I am having trouble with.

First, the name translation. I think it should be something like Mr/Ms Yasuda Ajiko. When I type "Yasuda" in hiragana, my computer translates it to the correct kanji. However, the "Ajiko" doesn't get the right kanji, making me think that it is not the correct translation.

The second issue is the sentence as a whole. I know the first part is "the name of my friend". And then the second part I think is "say it is Yasuda Ajiko". But these 2 parts of the sentence don't really go together into a good English sentance. "I say the name of my friend is Yasuda Ajiko"?

Any help is appreciated.


texts: What is the function of っ in these words ending with っこ?

texts:
I've noticed some words ending in こ which seem to insert a っ where it is seemingly unwarranted phonetically.
Examples are 末っ子, 売れっ子, 江戸っ子, 町っ子, etc. I don't see any phonetic issues with the 'expected' 末子 (a word in itself), 売れ子, 江戸子, 町子. So what function is this っ performing in these words? Is it phonetic or could it be a morphemic usage, denoting っこ as a suffix with specific semantic content?
Also, does 慣れっこ also belong to this group of words?


texts: Relative clauses targeting different parts

texts:
Consider the main premise as follows,

  A boy borrowed a pen from a girl. 男の子は女の子にペンを借りました。

Now consider the following additional premises, each with a different conclusion:

The boy is Suzuki Shin.

男の子は鈴木伸です。

The boy who borrowed a pen from a girl is Suzuki Shin.

女の子にペンを借りた男の子は鈴木伸です。
The girl is Hayashi Aimi.

女の子は林愛美です。

The girl from whom a boy borrowed a pen is Hayashi Aimi.

男の子がペンを借りた女の子は林愛美です。
The pen is expensive.

ペンは高いです。

The pen that a boy borrowed from a girl is expensive.

男の子が女の子に借りたペンは高いです。

Questions

I am not quite sure the second case above is correct, what do you think?
Can we use a passive form in relative clauses? For examples:

The pen that was borrowed by a boy from a girl is expensive.

女の子が男の子に借りられたペンは高いです。

Warning: I am not sure this passive form is correct.


texts: Can I always use 色々な or do I have to use 色々の sometimes?

texts:
On the web I can find many occurrences of both 色々な and 色々の.
色々な seems to be used more often though.

Can I always use 色々な and get away with it, or is 色々の the only choice in some particular cases?
If yes, which cases?


texts: What is って in どうかしらって?

texts:
Which meaning of って is used in this case and what is its purpose?

  「そうねぇ、私も考えていたのよ。捨ててしまうんなら取っておいたらどうかしらって。」


texts: Logic behind "が" preferrence when using a "-たい" form

texts:
I have learned that when using a "-たい" form, when the sentence would normally require "を", you can use either "を" or "が", but "が" was actually preferred, "を" sounding unnatural.

I searched about the reason, but could only find the same, "が" is preferred, "を" doesn't sound natural to native speakers.

What is the reason? since the particle is before the "-たい" verb, it can't be a phonological deformation, so what is the logic behind it?

Thanks a lot!


texts: I was seeing the kanji for the word group, 隊 and for remembering it, I was trying to discomponse it. This part  㒸 looks like a kanji but I can't find anywhere its meaning if it's really a kanji. I know this kanji 豕 means pig, but this other one 㒸 which looks like "pig" but with "horns" above, is it really a kanji? If so, what does it mean?


texts: How do the two occurrences of the word など function in this sentence?

texts:
One of my life's strangest experiences was unexpectedly ending up in Cairo, where there was a sort of extremely cheap hotel full of Japanese backpackers, part of which is described below.

  インド方面からずっとやってきた人や、アフリカを中心に回っている人など、さまざまで、周辺の国への渡航方法なども、ここを訪れれば、かなり情報得られると思う。

I can understand how most of that works, but how does the word など function here? Is it used when giving a list of examples?


texts: Why are the verb groups in Japanese called "consonant-stem" and "vowel-stem"?

texts: They both contain vowels and consonants. So why should 1 be called consonant and the other vowel?


texts:
I'm watching Ponyo, this is dialogue at 30:15:

  お前達に農場の仕事を見せようなんて連れて来たのがいけなかったのだ。

I'm not sure about ようなんて, what does that do grammatically? Anyway here's how I understand it:

  It was not possible to bring you guys to watch farm work.

But the English version of the movie has:

  Bringing you along to watch me was a mistake.

Is the English version just taking liberties or am I wrong in my interpretation?


texts: Is 明鏡国語辞典 being over-prescriptive in its usage note for 「〜を買う」？

texts:
I was looking through some definitions in 明鏡 and I noticed the following

批判:

  【表現】近年「批判される」に代えて、「批判を買う」という言い方があるが、不適切。

買う:

  ❸ 自分がもとになって相手に好ましくない思いを与え、それが自分に向けられる。
  「仲間の反発［顰蹙］を➖」
  「怒り［反感・不評・恨み］を➖」
  【表現】「〜を」には、「反発・顰蹙・怒り」など相手の思いを表す語がくる。「批判・非難・苦情」のような、自分に直接働きかけられるものについて「〜を買う」と言わない。

I find this usage note to be a little over-prescriptive personally. 〜を買う seems to easily generalize to “do something which causes 〜 [negative thing] in response”, and I don’t really understand the point of the distinction between whether that thing is the 相手’s “feeling” or not.

Would it be fair to say this usage note is not describing how 〜を買う is understood and used today?


texts: What is the meaning of doreka, doremo, and doredemo which is taken from dore?

texts: So どれ means "which". When you add か,も,でも the "which" becomes "some,any,every" definitions which for "which" I don't quite understand.


texts:
I asked a female Japanese friend to translate a sentence for me and it ends in "nano" which I took to be either an alternative question particle to -ne or -ka; or possibly two particles I don't know which could come together.
But just now I looked it up in wwwjdict and it tells me it's a "feminine copula". So does this mean "なの" (nano) is a synonym of "です" (desu) that only female speakers use? Assuming it's not very formal, what should I use instead as a noun?
Also does this mean it's a verb and if so what kind of conjugation or other forms does it have?
EDIT
Since this has turned out to be quite subtle and even controversial, here is my sentence:

(Original English: Why must life be so difficult?)
Japanese translation: なんで[人生]{じんせい}はそんなに[大変]{たいへん}なの？


texts: In japanese writing, the ubiquitous 「」is used to mark speech. I have seen "" being used instead of 「」especially on messaging apps. Question is, what's the difference? For the record, I have only seen "" being used in messaging apps


texts: Are 何気なく and 〜てしまう equivalent? If not, how do they differ?

texts:
I've seen 何気なく attached to verbs and used to mean "unintentionally or accidentally" similar to how 〜てしまう is used.

I was wondering if they had a different nuance.

For example the sentences:

そのケーキを全部食べてしまった。

and

そのケーキを何気なく全部食べた。

I would both translate as "I ended up eating the whole cake accidentally." But is there a difference between them to a Japanese person?


texts: もう一度やってみるように+と what's the purpose of it?

texts:
もう一度やってみるようにと彼を励ましなさい。
I'm confused by the usage of と here.
もう一度やってみるように彼を励ましなさい。would be translated as "in order to make him try one more time,  please encourage him"  but with と I'm not sure how it'd be translated.


texts: Did standalone noun “好き” mean a person in classical Japanese?

texts:
In classical Japanese, did standalone noun “好き” mean a person who likes something?  I do not think that it does in modern Japanese, although it sometimes means a person when used as a suffix (e.g. 野球好きが集まる公園).

If it did, it explains why 好き can be equated with ものの上手 (a very skilled person) in the proverb “好きこそものの上手なれ,” which I failed to explain in my answer to the question “Help on a specific usage of こそ” by yadokari.


texts:
I was trying to understand the differences between 限定 and 制限, but I don't really get it: I found that the former is generally a business term seen as positive and special, yet as example sentences I found 切符の数は限定されていた (which isn't really positive) and 今話し合っている問題だけに発言を限定してく下さい, which isn't necessarily business related.

Here they say 制限 is an upper/lower limit, while 限定 is to assign some amount, which I'm not sure is right/complete since again I found examples seemingly going against this, like この版は７、０００部に限定されている and 彼は会員数を２０に制限した, which kinda seems similar, both imposing a man-made limit to something.

In this question there is some explanation, but it doesn't cover 限定.


texts:
Giving examples if possible, what's the difference between e.g. もっと大きい and より大きい to mean "more (than)"/"bigger (than)"? In what situations would you use もっと over より and vice versa?

For instance, why or why not would the two be interchangeable in the following sentences (example sentences from Space ALC):

  危険性がより大きい
  "at greater risk"

  それ以上である。それはもっと大きい夢である。
  "It is more than that; it is a bigger dream."


texts: What semantic notions underlie 和 and Japan?

texts:
I was reading about Wasei-kango, and am bemused why Japanese-made Chinese words is translated as 和製漢語. Why not 日本製漢語?

How did 和 semantically shift to mean Japan then?

Isn't this semantic shift ironic? Some Chinese wouldn't regard Japan as "peaceful" or "calm". Sino-Japanese relations haven't been harmony.

CUHK doesn't exhibit Wiktionary's definition 8 of "Japanese". So I screenshot Yellowbridge.


texts: "again" word: 二度｛にど｝, 再び｛ふたたび｝ - usage, difference

texts: Do they mean the same thing when used as a sequence word ("again, a second time") or is there any difference (apart from 二度 also being used to mean "two times")?


texts: Is the water radical sometimes three strokes and sometimes two strokes?

texts: 凍, does it have the water radical on the left? Why is this three strokes in some words and two strokes in others?


texts: Usage of 〜ても in the phrase「でも普通どおりにやっても面白くないから…」

texts:
I'm translating Haruki Murakami's essay「真っ白な嘘」and came across this sentence:

  でも普通どおりにやっても面白くないから、架空の本をでっちあげて、それを詳しく評論することにした。

Which I've roughly translated as:

  But it’s not fun if you do it in a normal way, so I decided to make up imaginary books and write detailed reviews about them.

Most of the sentence I have no problem understanding, It's just the use of 〜ても here in やっても that doesn't seem to translate naturally. I know the construction means "even if" or "even though", but translating the phrase as "But because it's not fun even if you do it in a normal way..." doesn't sound right in English. If there some other use of 〜ても that I'm not aware of?

Thanks!


texts:
Does anybody with in-depth knowledge of Old Japanese know why vowel-based verbal stems could only end in -e or -i (leading to the える/いる or type 2 class of verbs in Modern Japanese)? Why are there no cases of vowel based verbal stems ending in e.g. -a, -o or -u?

It is a very peculiar feature when compared to other languages that have conjugations based on the last letter/vowel of the verbal stem (such as Latin, Greek and Sanskrit)… Unfortunately my Japanese is rather rudimentary and my Old Japanese practically non-existent…


texts: "Put down the sword" in "The Last Samurai" movie

texts:
There is a scene with 木剣 in "The Last Samurai" movie where a samurai says "かたな X":
https://youtu.be/5MQC5uCPuGE?t=75

I can't understand what is the X verb ?


texts: Why words such as しばらく are almost always written in kana while words such as 石鹸 are usually in kanji?

texts:
"Almost" and "usually" here means that while "alternative" is definitely used, vast majority of people is still using the mentioned version. Just look at google results count!

Also, note that kanji used in words like 暫く and 敢て are jōyō while 鹸 is not.

(I understand the common variants are generally suggested by IMEs and dictionaries and people simply are used to seeing しばらく written in kana. But my question is, how did this situation come into existence?)


texts:
As I understand it, the word 学際 is usually used to mean "interdisciplinary" when referring to college courses. However, I recently came across the word "超域文化科学" while browsing college websites. In this context, 超域 seems to mean "interdisciplinary" too, but I'm not 100% sure.

What exactly is 超域, how is it different from 学際 and how is it pronounced?


texts: Is 音沙汰 not used anymore because communication technology has changed?

texts:
My understanding of the word 音沙汰【おとさた】(news, letter) is that in terms of usage, it functions the same way that 連絡【れんらく】(contact, communication) does. It refers to modes of communication between people.

The context in which I read it was a book, written recently, where the author spoke about communication from a girlfriend at that time. The author seemed to deliberately choose 音沙汰 over 連絡 to convey a different feeling of how communication was in the sixties, when the relationship happened.

So you could say:

  音沙汰がなかった

or...

  連絡がなかった

... and they would have the same essential meaning, but the former says, "there was no contact by phone or letter," and the latter says "there was no contact by phone, letter, email, text, etc..."

So my question is, does 音沙汰 mean communication in a sense of writing letters and making phone calls, and therefor has a 昭和【しょうわ】 era (or earlier) feel to it?

And has 音沙汰 been more or less entirely replaced in modern Japanese by 連絡 because now we use email and text messaging and a wider variety of more immediate communication technologies?

Or am I just totally off base about the meaning and usage of 音沙汰?


texts:
Could someone please explain the grammar in the following sentence? I'm particularly interested in the を解決中だ portion.

  手がかりを追いながら、数々の難事件を解決中だ。

I suspect that this might be a set grammatical pattern because it seemingly disobeys two that I am aware of. I am under the impression that ながら can only be used to describe two simultaneous actions (where the first is assigned a higher priority in the mind of the speaker). This sentence seems to be using it with だ.  Further, there doesn't seem to be a verb that 難事件を could be the object of.

My best guess is that 解決中だ is an alternate way of expressing 解決している or something like that.


texts: How can I write my name Nicole in Japanese?


texts:
I'm trying to understand the use of Japanese quotation marks, and I'm at a loss: in other languages, inverted commas shows (1) a direct quote («He said, "That's not enough"»), a non literal meaning («He is my "friend"» - whereas he isn't really a friend), or a meta usage (i.e. using the word for its signifier and not its meaning: «I like the word "red"» - the meaning of "red" is useless and the sentence is completely clear also without knowing it).
Yet in Japanese I found 「」 used with another meaning - and I'm at a loss about what that meaning is.
I found this page on the Internet (from Tokyo Ghoul), with an example of what I'm confused about: in it, マジックテープ isn't any one of the meanings I've mentioned before, yet it is in quotation marks - and I have no idea why. On this other page there are more examples.
I thought it could be to mark emphasis, but I read this isn't the case, since 「」 in Japanese don't have that meaning. I read they mark quotation behaving as single nouns, and are used to talk about something while using it as a noun, but I wasn't able to understand, since in those example they aren't quoting someone; in Japanese sentences can behave as noun without needing quotation marks; and in cases like マジックテープ the work itself is a single noun also without quotation marks.
In the second page, 脆い isn't even a compound word (unlike マジックテープ, that at least as etimology can be read as マジック + テープ), so I don't think being formed by more words is relevant.
What's the difference between ちょっと違うが 「マジックテープ」 みたいなもんかね and ちょっと違うが マジックテープ みたいなもんかね? Or between 他の『赫子{かぐね}』に比べると 「脆い」 and 他の『赫子』に比べると 脆い?


texts:
In the Genki Workbook, it is asked to translate the sentence

"My computer is slower than yours."

I did so using the structure AのほうがBより~ and wrote

「私のパソコンのほうがあなたのより遅いです。」

However, in the answer sheet, it was written

「私のパソコンはあなたのより遅いです。」

After doing some research, I've managed to find that both these structures are correct. However, there are some questions to which I didn't found an answer to:

1) Are there contexts where one or the other structure is desirable, or mandatory?

2) In daily use, which is more natural to say?


texts: the word "Buster" in action-centered fiction

texts: I've noticed that across videogames and anime that focus on fighting and action, the word "buster" is frequently applied as the name of a super powerful weapon. For example, Gunbusters from Toppu o Nerae, the Buster Sword from FF7, Megaman's Buster arm gun, Trunks of Dragon Ball Z's Buster Cannon. It carries this implication that the weapon is awesomely powerful. Clearly it is a word borrowed from and it has similar uses in different forms of English, but nowhere near to the same extent. Buster is like a go to word for these kinds of weapons in Japanese action shows and games, but it's rarely used in English for that specific purpose or with that much frequency. I'm wondering if anyone has any insight as to the origin of the use of the word Buster as it's used in this context, and any explanation as to how it might have become so commonplace compared to its English counterpart.


texts: のに and のが. How do they differ in the context below?

texts:
この本は読むのに簡単だ。This book is easy to read.
  この本は読むのが簡単だ。This book is easy to read.

I was wondering if anyone could explain to me how these two readings differ in nuance?

When there is a sentence like the one below I can see how it would be different if が was used.

  彼女は夕食を料理するのに忙しい。  She is busy cooking dinner.

It seems like it is saying "She is busy in the act of cooking dinner"

So would it be that のに focuses on being IN the act whereas のが just connects the following attribute to the preceding verb?

BONUS QUESTION: can you say 料理するのには忙しい  ??


texts: ending na instead of ne, when to use it?

texts:
which connotation gives to a phrase ending with "na" instead of "ne"? is it more informal or what?

Particulary saying,

"soo da naa" instead of "so desu ne"


texts: What are the stereotypical characteristics of yakuza speech?

texts:
When people imitate yakuza speech, what are the major things they do to make it recognizable as such?

If possible, how accurate is this compared to actual yakuza speech?

I've seen mention elsewhere on this site that there is some relationship with Hiroshima dialect - how so?

One thing I've been told is that r's should be trilled. Intonation also seems to be exaggerated. Is this so and what else is there?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is じゃないです equally correct as じゃありません?

Both have the same meaning ("did not come") and according to my Japanese co-workers both are acceptable while they can't define the difference.

What is the (possibly obscure) difference in meaning between these two sentences?


texts:
The following speech is from a video game called ファイアーエムブレム 新・暗黒竜と光の剣:

  　　父上に万一の事があれば
  　　マルスは
  　　アリティア王家唯一の男子。
  　　世界でただ1人の
  　　神剣ファルシオン
  　　継承者となるのです。
  　　あの子は
  　　アリティアの希望
  　　アリティアの未来。
  　　そのあの子を…マルスを
  　　私たちに代わって
  　　導いてやってください。

I'm confused about the combination of その with あの.  I remember learning something like:

この - in the speaker domain
その - in the listener domain
あの - in neither domain

I don't see how 子 can be both "in the listener domain" and "in neither domain" at the same time, so I don't think that's the right way to interpret it.  What's going on here?

(I think it's related to the earlier mention of あの子 somehow, so I highlighted that, too.)


texts: Need help parsing a sentence (てもいい or ても）

texts:
「子供たちに仕事ですか？」
「心配しなくても危険な仕事とかじゃないから」
I was reading a web novel and came across this sentences. For the second sentence, should I parse it as "心配しなくてもいい" and "危険な仕事とかじゃないから" as another clause? Because this makes more sense to me than just ても. Using a grammar guide as reference, なくてもいい means "do not have to do ~" or "it is all right if ~". In this case, my rough translation of the sentence is "It is all right if you do not worry because I am not giving the children dangerous work to do". (I am not sure if the author intentionally dropped the いい portion of　なくてもいい though).
This makes more sense than using "ても" which means "even if/although". If I were to use this, it will be something like "even if you do not worry, I am not giving the children dangerous work to do", which makes less sense than the former.
Could anyone check if my understanding is correct or not? Thanks!


texts:
Consider the following two sentences:

  うちへ帰って来ます。

  うちへ帰ります。

What's the difference between these two sentences? How does the bolded part affect the meaning?


texts: does anyone know of any o-words or go-words which are absolutely neutral?

texts:
Does anyone know of any o-words or go-words which are absolutely neutral (have no nuances of being polite / courteous / respectful / womanly / cute etc etc)?

The only ones I'm aware of currently is おちゃ and ごはん

Update

Does anyone know of any o-words or go-words that when the お or ご is omitted, becomes another word or not a word altogether?

The only ones I'm aware of currently is ごはん


texts:
I found it in several sites like this: https://daigakujc.jp/c.php?u=00325&l=05&c=00686
My question is what "いくら時間がない” means.
I've only been taught how to use いくら with でも.
I only understand right now "no matter how much time we don't have." But that doesn't sound logical so I'm probably wrong.


texts:
I thought as far as 今夜は？サベ
But sabe doesn't seem like a thing?


texts:
How should I translate the verb かける and the sentence as a whole?

  階段に掃除機をかけてください。


texts: A quick question about funny sexuality-related words

texts:
In the manga Dragon Ball, a girl is captured and frightened to be sexually harassed. It turns out the sexual torture is simply a blown kiss. She then says:

  へろへろとかぱふぱふとかきょいきょいとかいんぐりもんぐりとかされるかと思っちゃった。

Earlier in the manga, they describe ぱふぱふ as putting one's head between a girl's boobs and squeezing them around.

I was wondering if the other 3 also have something close to a meaning or if they are just random sexually connoted babbling.


texts: How do I say "x is y kilometres from z"?

texts:
Very basic grammar but for some reason I cannot easily find an answer online.
For example, "My house is 5km from school."

Kind of like かかります but for distance instead of time.


texts: Is there any phonetic rule behind readings 馬場{ばば} and 馬場{ばんば}?

texts:
I understand that place names often undergo changes separate from regular language, but I always wondered if there was any phonetic rule behind reading for the word 馬場. Meaning "horse riding grounds" and being a designated area in most castle towns, it converted into contemporary place names, yet in some areas it is pronounced mostly ばば, but in some places ばんば. Most notably:

東京 高田馬場{たかだのばば}
大阪 馬場町{ばんばちょう}

This wiki page shows ばんば only in Ishikawa, Aichi and Osaka Pref. However having visited a few castles I remember seeing ばんば elsewhere (e.g. 桜の馬場{ばんば} in Kumamoto).

1) Is there a more general phonetic rule behind this? Are there other examples of words in which repeated syllable gets an ん before?

2) Could such rule (if existed) be tied to a regional dialect (like ん is placed where や is used in areas where や replaces だ ...though I doubt)?

Or is it just purely customary?


texts:
I know it means don't run away or sth similar.

I wonder does it has another meaning like--逃げよう(just run away)?

Update

For example, 「小鳥、逃げるな。」


texts: Heard that "master of something" is pronounced as 'shokaneen'—could you help me find the right term?

texts:
I attended a talk at SXSW and the chef Paul Qui had a great quote but I don't know how to spell the work in English (and Japanese) and could use some help. Here is the quote, with the best attempt at the word as I could manage.

  I don't know what that dream project is and I am always in search of that dream project. In Japanese there's a term called shokaneen that means to be the master of something, but nobody is ever shokaneen you're always to trying to chase (that) to be a master in whatever that is. For me, whatever that dream is—and I don’t know what it is—I keep on chasing it.


texts: Why is it necessary to add く in the following なる sentence?

texts:
This is the full sentence:

  お酒を飲みすぎると、気持ち悪くなる。

なる here means "to reach a certain state." The rest is easy to translate.

The only thing that confuses me is く. What does it mean here and why is it necessary?


texts: Is it possible to put two adverbs one after another?

texts:
In the following sentence:
本当に正直に話していいかな？
I know that 本当に is an adverb which means "really" but what about 正直に? I though that it was an adverb because of the に but I don't know if one can put two adverbs one after another just like in above sentence, but if that's not the case... then that に is acting as a particle?


texts: Usage of Traditional style characters vs Simplified Chinese characters adopted in Kanji

texts:
As I started peeking into Japanese, I see lots of characters in hiragana and kanji where the latter uses Chinese characters that are similar to traditional Chinese ones (I'm familiar with hanzi).

For example, for the following kanji 関門 there's a simplified hanzi: 关门 (I'm not talking about meaning here, just characters).

Also, country in Japanese 国 is same character in Chinese (simplified) as opposed to Traditional 國.

AFAIK in Chinese, people hardly write using traditional style characters, since they are hard to use. Is it applicable to Japanese? Or is the use of hiragana/katakana eases that difficulty or it isn't an issue for Japanese?


texts: How to say I was so angry I could kill him in Japanese

texts:
I tried to translate the phrase, 'I was so angry I could kill him', but I was told by my Japanese girlfriend that, 'aitsu wo koroseru gurai okotta', was unnatural and, 'gaman dekinai gurai okotta', was better.

This is in the context of my explaining 'could' to her to express feeling or extent in English. The sentence comes from a textbook.

What is the best way to translate this sentence in Japanese?


texts:
Take the below as an example

  では私達は先に行くとするわ。ごきげんよう、皆さん.

What is the difference between saying 行くとする and 行く and 行こうとする

I've seen a lot of explanations for とする that use the meaning of "assume" which doesn't quite make sense with me.

ようとする　from my understanding means to to attempt to do something.

But I don't quite see what 行くとする would mean.


texts: Use of は in 「確認はされていない」

texts:
I think the quote

「確認はされていない」

translates to "It hasn't been confirmed yet". However, the use of は is leaving me a bit uncertain. As far as I know, 確認 can be used either a name or a する-verb, and 確認する would be to confirm. In that sense, I'd expect instead to see

「確認されていない」

する-verbs can also take the を particle, so I'd also understand

「確認をされていない」

Is は used here, instead of the optional を, to emphasise 確認? If so, can this happen with other する-verbs?


texts:
I'm a bit confused about で particle in 「微妙な具合で五感を鈍くしている」. Is it used here to separate 「微妙な具合」 from 「五感を鈍くしている」? Or does it show the way the summer atmosphere makes the senses of the speaker dull with its 'strange' condition?

開け放った窓から入ってくる夏の空気が、微妙な具合で五感を鈍くしているのかも知れない。
暑くはないが、涼しくもない、停滞しているような、それでいて流れの存在しているような。
全てが内保されて、中には何も存在しない。
矛盾こそが理論的であり、同時に混沌の中に秩序が成り立っている。


texts: Question concerning 〜やがる / Imperative in "Slang"

texts:
I've come across these expressions in all sorts of anime, manga and light novels and now I am wondering behind the "mechanics" of it...

  「勝手に言ってろ」「ほざいてろ」「食らいやがれ」

In these cases the imperative is used; these expressions are usually similar to the English 'Shut up', 'Take that', etc.

However in cases like:

  「ふざけやがって」

I am not sure what is implied by that...

I get the meaning of what is said however I am unsure about its grammatical form.
Can it be understood as 「っている」 just with 「いる」 being left out?

What exactly does this 「〜て」 mean if nothing follows here?


texts: Is あれ？ when used like "huh/what?" contracted from something?

texts:
I frequently hear 「あれ？」 when people find something that catches their attention, often even when a listening party is not present.  It seems to have a similar function to "what?", "what's that?", or "huh?".

Since あれ isn't a "question word" itself, was this あれ contracted from a longer sentence?  The closest I could think of is 「あれはなんだ？」, but I'm unsure.  If it isn't from a longer sentence, is there an explanation behind あれ as a question?

I am also interested in if it was historically contracted from something.


texts:
I am reading some easy manga for kids as an exercise.
I am stuck on this sentence for quite some time and I would like an input on my translation :

But how are we going to find it since we don't know where it is ? (that was easy to translate)
そこがわたしのあたまのいいところよ。

This is how I tried to translate it :

  そこ

the aforementioned place

  わたしのあたま

my head

  のいいところよ

the good place (physical or I'm guessing here abstract)

So in the end I went with : I have some ideas.
Because I thought that the head had some good points.

Did I interpreted あたまのいいところよ correctly ? If I did why is there no verb ? (yes it is spoken and sometimes desu is implied but I don't know what verb should be used here)


texts: performers of actions in 自らも同行すると言い出して聞かず

texts:
X went on a mission, the speaker just appeared in scene as well.

x 「出陣は久々だなぁ・・・ふふっ、なんだか気分が高揚するよ」
手勢を連れて村へ様子を見に行っていたXが戻ってきて、俺に声を掛けてくる。
突然自らも同行すると言い出して聞かず、さらにXの希望で俺まで連れ出されたのだ。

さらにXの希望で俺まで連れ出されたのだ。 is indicating that the speaker was dragged here because of X's wishes as an extra reason.
Without this knowledge, if the sentence were cut off at
突然自らも同行すると言い出して聞かず---
Who is doing 言い出して and 聞かず seems to be hard to determine. Even with knowing the 2nd half of the sentence i'm not sure because no passive forms were used.
How would you go about tackling this?
thank you


texts: Meaning of 冗談は顔だけにして下さいよ

texts:
What's the meaning of the phrase 冗談は顔だけにして下さいよ in English?
According to Google translator, it means "Joke should only be in your face" which makes no sense to me.


texts: What particle (の；を) should I use between noun/verb and ～方 (買い方；歩い方 etc.)?

texts:
I'm not sure of particles in these 3 sentences, especially this particle-の between noun/verb and ～方, are they OK?
(If you see any other grammar mistake, you may let me know too.)

  1）着物を着ての歩い方は何ですか。
  2）飛行機の切符の買い方を教えてくれます。
  3）写真の撮り方を忘れた。


texts:
I can't understand the difference between うち and よそ. I learned that they are used in polite speech, for example:

╔════════╦═════════╦═════════════╗
║        ║  うち    ║   よそ      ║
╠════════╬═════════╬═════════════╣
║ 言います║ 申します ║ おっしゃいます║
╚════════╩═════════╩═════════════╝


texts:
The main characters younger sister showed him some scribbles she had done in her textbook and then said 「上手いモンでしょう」.

My question is whether it is definition 5 here or whether モン refers to the scribble itself.


texts: ですら・でも・さえ・だろう（と／が）。 Are there any differences?

texts:
I am just wondering if anyone can explain the differences between these in terms of nuances.

When I say nuances, can you give examples of whether one is for more polite situations, or whether one is more akin to regardless of whether X, Y or even if X, Y, or anything like that.

I just can't see myself using anything other than でも if I am stuck believing they are all the same.


texts: How to use ~のか accurately? 「体調が悪いのか、顔色があまり良くない。」

texts:
Can anyone explain to me the function of のか in this sentence? Is it "I suppose that..." or similar?

  彼は、体調が悪いのか、顔色があまり良くない。


texts:
ゲストハウスの当番だということで、郷田さんと熊沢さんがゲストハウスまで案内してくれることになった

I'm often troubled when I see ということで in the middle of a sentence. Looking at this sentence makes me wonder if there isn't some kind of "because" or "since" meaning implied with ということで, but as I'm not sure I'd like your opinion on it.


texts: Is there a pattern to the usage of 〜的 on the end of words?

texts:
Sometimes I think it's more obvious when to use 〜的 as a suffix for example 国家 "nation/state" vs 国家的 "national", but in a lot of other cases I think the distinction might be more blurred, and they frequently translate to the same word in English.

For example (probably not a complete list):

一時（的）"temporarily"
自動（的）"automatic"
国際（的）"international"
理想（的）"ideal"
一般（的）"general"
直接（的）"direct"
絶対（的）"absolute"
標準（的）"standard"

Is there a common pattern where to use/not use 的 on the end of these kinds of words? For example, in the following sentences taken from the Tanaka corpus, is there any difference between their usage, and can they be interchanged?

  そのような国際協力が素晴らしい成果を挙げた。
  Such international cooperation was productive of great results.

  京都は景色が美しい点で国際的にも有名です。
  Kyoto is internationally famous for its scenic beauty.

  10年前だったら彼の理論も一般的に認められるということはなかったでしょう。
  Ten years ago his theory would not have been generally accepted.

  この教会は教会一般の大きさからすると大きなものではない。
  This church is not a big one, as churches go.

Does 的 always make a noun an adjective or are there cases where it's used for other purposes? (For example there seems to be 直接的に as well as 直接に, and they're both listed as adj-na in Edict, and 絶対に and 絶対的に which I think have different usages etc).


texts:
甘 is sweet right?
甘えるって is to be sweet or does it mean something completely different?


texts: What is the meaning of the phrase ”男の顔になったな”

texts:
The question in the title is just one of the various ones that I don't quite get. They all use the phrase

  such and such+ 顔になった + sentence ending particles

Literally it sounds weird to me but the general idea I get from the phrase is that it can used to comment on someone's growth e.g. 男の顔になったな could be what something a father says to his son when he's seen that he has grown up. Anyway, anyone care to explain this?

Thanks.


texts:
Here is the dialogue including the word.

A: とまあこんなところが矢{や}吹{ぶき}丈{じょう}の罪{ざい}状{じょう}だが...

　　あんたもずいぶんたいへんな少年を保護していたものだな　ええ？

B: どうもごめいわくおかけしやして...


texts:
I was reading, and one line came up as

  人の上には〇てぬぞ

and for the life of me, I can't figure out what the sixth character is supposed to be. Because of font, I thought it might be a way of writing 之 , but that doesn't seem to make sense with the rest of the sentence. The full line is

  よく聞け、下の者の気持ちも知らねば、人の上には〇てぬぞ


texts: Is it possible that "何度も" could be translated as "Nothing or anything"?

texts:
So I was reading "BTS, No more dream" Japanese lyrics, and I encountered this line:

  "You tell me [何度もやれ!]

And it was translated like this:

  You tell me [I can't do anything!]

I looked up 何度も in dictionary and it was translated as "Many times or Often".
So can you tell me why does it mean "anything or nothing" here?

Thanks in advance.
Shahrzad Parvizi.


texts:
In Yukio Mishima's "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion," (三島由紀夫によって書かれた「金閣寺」) one of the characters, Kashiwagi, writes a sentence over a poster:

  未知の人生とは我慢がならぬ。

Here is the passage:

  それは日本アルプスを描いた旅行協会の美しい石版刷で、青空に浮かんだ白い山頂に、
  「未知の世界へ、あなたを招く！」という活字が横書きになっていた。柏木は毒々しい朱筆で、その字と山頂を斜め十文字に抹消し、さてかたわらには、内反足の歩行を思わせる彼の踊るような自筆が、「未知の人生とは我慢がならぬ」と書きなぐっていた。

In the English translation the sentence is written as,

  I can't stand an unknown life.

Do you think this is the best translation? Would the following be more accurate in meaning?

  I won't put up with an unknown life.

I guess my suggestion may be more faithful in meaning, but on second thought, perhaps the tone of the sentence is more faithfully translated in the book's attempt. Looking at the ならぬ, I think I remember the ~ぬ negation being literary in tone, which is not really reflected in the translation (but that might be asking too much.) Is this correct? What do you think about the translation?

I have some other specific questions:

In English the phrase, "an unknown life," is odd because it is ambiguous in meaning and can be interpreted in so many ways. It can mean "the life of an unknown person" ie, living an anonymous life. Or it can mean "a life about which nothing is known-- a life that we cannot understand."

Is the meaning open to this much interpretation in the japanese phrase, "未知の人生"?

Does the phrase, "未知の人生" sounds odd in japanese?


texts: ココロが上手くできていると思った - meaning

texts:
本当に真っ白になるんですね。 また、ココロが上手くできていると思ったのは、怖い話を聞くと耳をふさぐんですね。怖いものは見たくないから、がんも見ない。

I think it means something like: "I thought that being tough meant blocking out the bad". I haven't heard ココロが上手くできている before. I think it means being mentally strong maybe?


texts: Questions about double particles 「は」in a same sentence and using comma

texts:
Here is the full sentence.

負けず嫌いで、しかも勇敢な矢吹丈は、ナイフで刺すとか拳銃で撃つといった、卑怯なリヴェンジは何も考えませんでした。

I guess that the first one would be the actual subject marker and the whole sentence would roughly be translated like followings:

'Yabuki Joe who is brave and hate to lose did not know how to revenge the unfairness he got which feel as if stabbing with a knife or shooting with a pistol.'

If I am correct in the translation as above, what is the purpose to put the second 「は」after the word 「リヴェンジ」?

Is it still grammatically correct if I remove all commas in the sentence? Mostly conversational bubbles found in the manga I have been reading never use it but the sentence above came from the review section written in the end of the manga.


texts: Mukashi-banashi. Do they borrow from other current dialects in addition to older Japanese?

texts:
At my schools 日本語クラブ, we studied a 昔話 (舌切り雀）, which like most of the others I've read, had some nonstandard grammatical constructions. I've heard that many of these constructions are archaic forms that are generally no longer used (or used much less often). It also seems that some of the grammar is very similar to many dialects of Japanese other than Tokyo dialect.

For example: 申し訳ないことをしてしもうた。 It seems like しもうた is equivalent to しまった. As far as I know, this isn't standard Japanese, but is currently used in kansai and chuugoku dialects.

Other than the characters' dialog, this story seems to be written in standard Japanese. My conjecture is that rather than being reflective of the Japanese language of the past, しもうた may be taken from another dialect to lend itself to the rural, countryside feel. Alternatively, this grammar could be from older Japanese, that has managed to persist in other dialects.

Was しもうた ever a part of the standard japanese dialect?
Do 昔話 borrow from the other current dialects to create their atmosphere or do they generally only use older Japanese forms?


texts: Differences among -たら、なら、-んだったら、-えば, etc

texts:
The Japanese language has a lot of patterns for "if" clauses. What are the differences among the following patterns and how do we choose to use one over the others?:

行くと
行ったら
行くなら
行けば
行くんだったら
行くのなら
行くとしたら
行くことになったら
行くならば

p/s: Please add any other additional "if" patterns


texts:
今年の欧州マイル路線では古馬や牡馬を交えても断然のＮＯ・１
At this year's European Mile route, even with other types of horses participating, (アルファセントーリ) is the absolute number one

I know that 断然 is a taru adjective so shouldn't it be 断然たるＮＯ・１ instead?
Is 断然 a noun or an adjective here? if it's an adjectives, can I use other taru adjective with の instead of たる, like if they were の-adjectives? (I guess to not sound very strict/archaic)
Other sentences I found:

現時点で断然の１番人気になりそうなのはアイルランドの３歳牝馬アルファセントーリです。

全点に撥水加工を施したemuは、他ブランドに比べても断然の撥水性を保っています！

私はずいぶん昔にBBTの単科科目を履修したことがあるのですが、その時に比べても断然のパワーアップ！！


texts:
I was wondering how した is used in this sentence.

また ああやって　くだらないバカな　斜め下すぎる解決法　出して

I pretty much know everything else about it, but I don't know how 斜め and 下 work together.


texts: How to use adjectives to qualify nouns in between the の particle?

texts: For example, how would I say "my dad's old car's broken wheel"? Where does the adjective go w.r.t the の particle? 父の古い車の駄目な車輪 ? Is it right for the adjective to appear near の? It sounds odd


texts: Expressing that two words have the same meaning

texts:
Would someone please explain how the Japanese would most naturally state that two "words" (関係 and 関連 for example) have approximately the same meaning?

My best bet is either

  「関係」と「関連」の意味は同じぐらいです。

or

  「関係」の意味は「関連」のと同じぐらいです。

Do either of these sound more natural? And for that matter, are they both grammatical?


texts: お母さんは、かわいそうだからといって、花子たちのなかへその鳥を入れてやりました。

texts: Is mother putting the new chicken with Hanako because the new chicken "seems cute" is "poor and pitiable" or because the family is poor.


texts:
How Do You Say "I read it wrong" in Japanese?

Is there such a word like 読み間違え or something like that in Japanese?

Thanks!


texts: Why do people say 分からない and not 分かっていない?

texts: Based on what I've been learning, it seems that by saying 分からない, your suggesting that you just don't do "the act of understanding," but if you say 分かっていない, you are saying that "right now, I don't understand." However, I hear people say 分からない to mean "I don't understand" much more often. Is it just more colloquial, or am I missing something grammatically?


texts: What is the purpose of では in this context

texts:
Person A: どんな　ときに　しゅくだいを　する　ことが　できませんか?

Person B: きょうしつで　とか　かいしゃでは　できません。

I understand what 「で」is doing (indicating the place) but what about 'wa' in this case?

thanks in advance


texts:
I've been told の is formal, thus のです is grammatically right.
Yet, のだ is not.　Only んだ would be correct.

Therefore, 「んだぜ、んさ、んだぞ、んぜ、んぞ」 are correct and 「のだぜ、のだぞ、のさ、のぜ、のぞ」 are not.

Do you agree? Why or why not？


texts: Trouble understanding しちゃア　and ending かい

texts:
そんなに絶望的な顔をしちゃア、妾の涎が止まらなくなっちまうじゃあなィかい♪

I don't understand what that means. What is しちゃア and the last い ?

I assume it means something like :

  I can't stop drooling if you keep making that desesperate face.


texts: How does one say 'my compliments to the chef'?

texts:
What is the expression 'compliments to the chef' or 'give my compliments to the chef' in Japanese?

Is there a suitable matching phrase, or something that expresses a similar message?

(Please answer with as much English and Romaji as possible)


texts: The meaning of the particle に in this sentence

texts:
医者に薬をもらいました。

I couldn't understand the meaning of に here.

Would it be: "I received the medicine from the doctor."?


texts: What is the difference between 妙諦 and 原理?

texts: They both seem to have translation as "fundamental truth" or "cardinal principle" except 原理 seems to be much more common than 妙諦. Does anyone have some information on the nuance of these two or how they are used differently in a sentence?


texts: Using 「～さん」 when referring to both oneself and others: precedence?

texts:
In this question ("When shouldn't I use 「〜さん」when referring to a third person?"), the consensus seems to be that one should avoid referring to one's own boss, coworker, etc. in an elevating manner by using ～さん.

Nevertheless, referring to other people's relatives in general still calls for a respectful manner of address with ～さん. It intrigues me what happens when these two "guidelines" overlap; for example, when your boss happens to be the husband of the person you are talking to, or when you are talking to your coworker's wife about him.

My gut feeling says using ～さん and being respectful has precedence in those cases; would that be correct?


texts: Counters for graphs in oral presentations?

texts:
I have to make a Japanese presentation and I'd like to say "I'll explain japanese demographics using three graphs", but then realized I didn't know the counter for graphs.

Can someone help me out?


texts: Would this be an okay response in Japanese?

texts: My friend and I are talking on Facebook and he said 「日本語かんぺき！今度会おうねアメリカで^_^　」. Just curious, but would a response like 「うん！そうしよう！」make sense in Japanese?


texts:
I was playing ポケットモンスターファイアーレッド (Pokémon fire red) when I noticed that this appears when I start reading most of the signs:

I've searched for it in a couple of sites, and it looks like けいじばん is bulletin board, but I didn't find what おとくな means, nor what the sentence is saying.


texts: do people actually respect the nuances of 探す vs 捜す?

texts:
Part 1

I understand 探す to be to search for something (general)

and 捜す to be to search for something lost

But do people actually care about the difference in nuance when they use it?

I mean do people use them interchangeably like using 捜す for searching (general) and  探す for searching for something lost?

Part 2

Do japanese school children learn the kanji 捜す first or 探す ?


texts: Exclusive or, does it exist in Japanese?

texts:
How do I translate
“Please select either A or B.”
Can the “or” be translated directly, or would I have to work around it like
AもBは, ひとつを選ぶください。


texts:
I was playing Fire Emblem If (暗夜) yesterday and came across a construction I did not know beforehand, な-adjectives apparently turned into adverbs using く.

  お前｛まえ｝のことは、父上｛ちちうえ｝に上手｛じょうず｝く言っておこう

I am not sure I understand the function of 上手く here. My rough translation is:

  Let's prepare your father by telling him about what you did well.

But I am not sure at all about how 上手 fits into this sentence.


texts:
Adjectives describe a noun which is marked by が.

  僕は料理が得意。

Could it be rewritten as

  僕には料理が得意。

Or is it wrong?

Regarding adjectives, a sentence like this would be correct:

  僕にはペンが必要です。

Would a sentence like the following one be correct?

  僕がペンを必要する。

(I think I should say 必要にする, but I am not sure.)


texts: Can someone help me with this basic sentence?

texts:
I found this in a 小学校's tales book, the line is this

  ごさくは、決して【けっして】ごはんを食べないというおよめさんをもらいましたが...

I want to know what is the full meaning but especially the use of という in that context (Is a Yokai "horror" story).


texts:
Where do you place the counter in Japanese when you want to specify how many of something there are, especially if you're listing multiple things?
I believe the counter usually goes after the particle associated with the noun:

I bought 3 pencils => 私は鉛筆{えんぴつ}を三本{さんぼん}買{か}いました。

But what do you do when there are multiple things you want to count? Are these sentences correct?

I bought two books and three pencils. => 私は本{ほん}を二冊{にさつ}と鉛筆{えんぴつ}を三本{さんぼん}買{か}いました。 ?
Two books and three pencils are on the desk. => 本{ほん}が二冊{にさつ}と鉛筆{えんぴつ}が三本{さんぼん}机{つくえ}の上{うえ}にあります。

Can you use the の particle to mean the same thing? Would it change the meaning or nuance?

私は二冊{にさつ}の本{ほん}と三本{さんぼん}の鉛筆{えんぴつ}を買{か}いました。 ?


texts:
How would I describe the designated object of someone's affections on Valentine's Day?

The meaning I'm referring to is meaning 2 on Wiktionary:

  A person to whom a valentine is given or received, especially on
  February 14th.

  Won't you be my valentine?

Goo.ne and Yahoo! Japan describe the concept in Japanese as

  この祭日に選ばれる恋人；（一般に）恋人.

Is there a word for this concept in Japanese, and if so, what is it?

If it's relevant, it's being used to describe a guy in Japan, rather than a woman in western countries.


texts: What are some different ways to use これから?

texts:
I know the basic usage of it, e.g. これから (thing the speaker wants to do), but there are some contexts where the usage doesn't seem to make any sense, like when someone just says it by itself.

Anyone have any ideas?


texts:
In the sentence 何できた (nandekita), the de is a particle and connects nande to the verb kita, but in the case of nande, there isn't a particle, so what is it in the sentence?

I'm just confused about the fact that the words have to be connected by particles?　Or am I wrong?


texts: Who is doing what in these related sentences, and how do you know?

texts:
(Background: similar circumstances as this question; the speaker is a sleazy low-level gangster commenting on sex workers in his employ.)

「駄目な人間は、駄目なものだな。まったく、愛想が尽きるよ。ほかじゃ、鼻もひっかけないような大年増に、きまりの組合費だけで、シマを分けてやっているんだぜ。せっせと稼いで、足を洗うことでも考えたらどうなんだい。いまさら、ヒモに可愛がってもらえるような柄かって…」

Breaking it up by sentence, here's what I've got (subject/topic marked in bold):

駄目な人間は、駄目なものだな -- Hypothetical/general about people on the whole.
まったく、愛想が尽きるよ -- The speaker complains that his incredible benevolence is wasted on such human failures.
ほかじゃ、鼻もひっかけないような大年増に、きまりの組合費だけで、シマを分けてやっているんだぜ -- ?? I think the speaker is saying, "If things were different, they'd [the sex workers would] be under some matron who'd go easy on them and only take the [mob] family cut off the top, and let 'em split the rest."
せっせと稼いで、足を洗うことでも考えたらどうなんだい -- ?? "How about they [the sex workers] put their backs into making money and think about getting out of this [criminal] trade, huh?"
いまさら、ヒモに可愛がってもらえるような柄かって… -- ?? "[do the sex workers actually] Think they've still got what it takes to get favors from a pimp anymore?"

5a. Alternatively, "Do I look like the kind of pimp they can squeeze favors out of?"

I'm mostly unclear on 3 and 5.

The question is, how do you know (especially for the native speakers) what the subject of the sentence is as it changes from sentence to sentence? Initially what threw me for a loop was the cascade of increasingly unclear clauses (the speaker is monologuing, which doesn't help). (I've seen this before, but never so intensely as here in the efficient prose of 阿部公房)


texts:
The following is copied verbatim from a JLPT prep book:

  将棋歴30年のベテランに、初心者の私が叶うべくもない

I read it as,

  A beginner as myself should be no match for a shougi veteran with 30 years of expertise.

But I would have expected かなう to be written as 敵う. Do I understand the sentence right or am I mistaken? Why かなう is written as 叶う?