texts: Is writing the "wa particle" as は a modern convention?

texts:
Recently, I was given a copy of Complete Course of Japanese Conversation-Grammar by Oreste and Enko Elisa Vaccari. As it dates back to 1967, I was expecting at least a few things to be a bit old-fashioned – which is not to say that I, as a beginner, would really notice when they are – but I am enjoying it so far. I like the way the authors set the lessons out, and, at least to my mind, they explain the rules and features of the language in a very clear and readable manner.

Even so, I have a query regarding a passage from one of the earlier lessons. Just need some additional information, really. The authors say:

  The nominative case is generally indicated by the particle wa ハ (postposition) placed after the subjective word. As a rule, the syllable ハ is pronounced ha, but when indicating the nominative, it is pronounced wa as in the English word waft.

In all the Japanese learning resources I have read up to now, I have only encountered は as the wa-particle. Given the age of this book, am I right in thinking that writing は is a modern convention? Are there still some circumstances in which the katakana form is preferred?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Can somebody explain the various words and combinations thereof used for thanking?

There are numerous ways of saying thanks. To give the ones I know:

ありがとう
ありがとうございます
どうも

Are there other ways? And, if so, how would one discern when to use them?

Also, how can I thank someone for something specifically? As in, "Thank you for the cake." 「ケーキ[something]ありがとうございます」. Would such a phrase be culturally appropriate in most situations, or are there nuances?


texts: Meaning of 世界観に入り込む in the following sentence

texts:
The following sentence is taken from the afterword of the final volume of a manga:

  そんな風に名残惜しさを感じたり、世界観に入り込んで描くことができたのも、たくさんの人に読んでいただけて、キャラクターや作品が好きだと言ってもらえてものすごい励みになったことが一因だと思います。

I understand the general meaning of the sentence and its grammatical structure, but what is the meaning of 世界観に入り込んで描くことができた? In particular I don't know how to interpret the verb 入り込む. My attempt:

  I was able to draw understanding[?] the vision of the world [whose
  vision?].

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


texts: Usage of 「と」in a sentence from Harry Potter

texts:
In the following sentence

  ダーズリー一家【いっか】が目【め】を覚【さ】ますと、外【そと】はどんよりとした灰色【はいいろ】の空【そら】だった。

「と」is used in a place where I'd rather use 「とき」 or 「たら」.
I know that 「と」is used for inevitable conditions like facts of nature but it doesn't fit that sentence.

Does particle 「と」has another meaning similar to 「とき」in the context of the above sentence?
If so, is there a difference between the two?
Similarly「と」and 「たら」(I think the difference here would be 「と」being more formal than 「たら」).


texts: What's the role of the に particle in this sentence?

texts:
I'm having trouble to understand why the ni particle is being used here.

ギルダが「情報源」？
本当にギルダ…？

That's a part of Yakusoku no Neverland manga, when Emma (one of the main characters) is doubting if Gilda is a spy.


texts:
Here are two examples:

[電話]{でんわ}による[通報]{つうほう} // Fine
電話により通報する // Okay?

I feel like using により is strange in my second example, but I'm not sure. Is the second example perfectly fine grammatically? I feel like 電話で通報 or 電話から通報 would be better.


texts: Differences between 度 and 回 when counting occurrences

texts:
What are the differences between using 度 and 回 when used to count number of occurrences?

For example:

そんなことは一度もしたことがない
そんなことは一回もしたことがない

Are there any restrictions on what kind of actions referred by そんなこと that can be used with 度 or 回 in the examples above?


texts:
According to Wikipedia this symbol 亏 is a Japanese kanji.

Jisho returns no results. Does anyone know what it means?


texts:
It's part of the lyrics of a song. The actual line is:

  どれほど夢{ゆめ}に触{ふ}れている?

I checked the definitions of 触れる as an intransitive verb on Weblio and came to the conclusion that this is most likely the meaning here:

  ② 機会・物事に出合う。また、直接体験する。

So, would the translation be:

  どれほど夢に触れている?
  To what extent are you living (experiencing) your dream?

The song is called "Hunting For Your Dream", though, so it seems a bit strange that the person might already be living their dream to some extent.

I don't think the rest of the lyrics would be of any help, but here they are, in any case.


texts: Difference between 承知いたしました, わかりました and かしこまりました

texts: I always hear these three words by different people. Is there any difference between them?


texts:
I watched a series. There is a scene, while subtitle text is written as 優しく言ってあげた　I heard something like やさしくったあげた。　so I did some search to check if this usage exist in real world. In google I found some, but in twitter there are few of tweet using やさしくった。　the following are my questions,

what is grammar pattern for this? is やさしくった abbreviation form of 優しく言って?
are there any resources (book/website/etc.) about Japanese spoken language? I try searching for book using 口語　but I don't think that is what I want.

Also I feel that there is a high probability to be just a mismatch between subtitle and voice.

here is the sound file
(now that @l'électeur mentioned this and I wonder why I don't record the sound. Thank you for your suggestion!)

Thank you in advance!


texts:
I want to say "Even though I didn't have time, I went out of my way to..." (not a dialogue, just an essay reflecting on my stupidity).

  時間がなかったのに、わざと...

(In case this is a silly question: I just watched a video explaining the difference between わざわざ and わざと, but all of the examples used described the actions of other people (namely 'you'--"Thanks for coming while you're busy", "You punched me on purpose didn't you", etc.). After reading that くせに can't be used for oneself, I began to wonder if it was true for the mentioned expressions too. Is there a list somewhere that lists all of the 'can't use for yourself' words?)


texts:
寝ていい？

I've learned that to ask permission for doing something, you needed to use ～てもいい but the more I read japanese, the more I come across ～ていい. What is the difference ? Is the latter a colloquial version of ～てもいい ?


texts:
Can anyone tell me what this means? The only definition I could find was "summer vacation" which made no sense in the context. This is what's on ether side of it:

  これ完全にマウン卜ポジシヨンになってるから!


texts:
Not sure how to say "I got used to it compared to before" or something similar:

  前よりに慣れるようになった。
  前よりに慣れるのです。


texts: Why are long vowels represented differently in hiragana and katakana?

texts:
Wikiversity says the following about long vowels in Japanese:

  A long vowel takes two morae. In rōmaji it's written with a macron: ā,
  ī, ū, ē and ō.

  In hiragana, it's written with an extra "あ" (a), "い" (i) or "う" (u)
  depending on the vowel. In katakana, it's marked by appending a
  dash-like symbol "ー".

Why are they represented differently in hiragana versus katakana?


texts:
i was wondering how なりそう was conjugated i know it was made of なる and そう but i don't know how \
なる became なり


texts:
Can you combine 趣味{しゅみ} with a verb?

  趣味{しゅみ}はジョギングをします。
  translation: My hobby is jogging. (verb)
  趣味{しゅみ}はジョギングです。
  translation: My hobby is jogging. (noun)


texts: The use of ただ and だけ together redundant?

texts:
ただ一つだけ守りたいものを最後まで守り通せばいい。

This quote comes from episode 9 of the anime Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica and the English subtitles translate it as "Protect the thing you want to protect until the very end."

However, ただ means "only" and だけ means... "only."
Why did the character say "only one thing only"? Wouldn't either ただ or だけ have been sufficient alone?


texts:
Actually there are two instances of という　in this sentence (regarding the recent nsa scandal)

そのスノーデンは、「ＮＳＡは中国に対するハッキングをやっていた」という[暴露]{ばくろ}を行なってアメリカの中国に対する「人権外交」にダメージを与えたり、Ｇ８会議が北アイルランドで始まるというタイミングで、...

I understand the basic use of という　and it meaning "called" i.e.

アダムという男性　the man called Adam.

But what about in these two cases.


texts: How to ask if a dropped object belongs to someone?

texts: Let's say I see a wallet on the ground and a person I suspect dropped it. In English I would naturally ask" Excuse me. Is this your wallet?" A direct Japanese translation would be"すみませんあなたの財布ですか" but time and time again I hear that using "あなた" is rude. How then do I get around this in case the person a complete stranger?


texts: How to read this calligraphy? What does it mean?

texts:
What are all the characters in this calligraphy? Overall, what does it mean?

as per the accepted answer, just wanted to share the complete porcelain set I have. It is kind of cool:


texts: What is the closest equivalent Japanese word to "melempem"?

texts:
How do you describe this state of 'melempem' in Japanese?

This is the food (kerupuk) in question:

Melempem = a state of condition of something that lacks 'hardness' due being out in the open for some time, has gone soft and not crunchy anymore, usually used in cookies, fish/shrimp chips, or belinjo chips.
Usage: usually to describe a food.

In Japanese, it's the opposite of 'かりかり' or means lacking stiffness/firmness/something that has gone limp and soft due to exposure to air.

Can we say: 不干な(ふかんな)?

Thanks!


texts: 無謀とも言えるその計画に (Reckless can be said that plan to)

texts:
I have seen the above construction only twice online, but it sounds like one of those sentences where the word order has been moved around in order to give it maybe a Shakespearean effect, or samurai effect or who knows.

  無謀とも言えるその計画に誰もが驚き、掲示板で彼の足どりを確かめ応援し続けました。

  いまだ成功した者はいない

  「禁断の地」への冒険

  ムボウとも言えるその計画にいどむ

  フォン・ミュラー氏とバレル博士が･･･

I think it means, " reckless can be said that plan to challenge", but that obviously makes no sense.


texts: Why is もっと pronounced "motto" but written "motsuto"?

texts:
Word もっと is pronuncing as motto means more. But when writing It is mo(も) tsu(っ) to(と).

Why is that ? I'm new to Japanese language.

Please tell me there are other commonly used words like this ? Please give me some examples.


texts: Why is the topic marker often used in negative statements (ではない, ～とは思わない)?

texts: What function does は provide in statements such as 本ではない or 本だとは思わない? I notice the は after と is often left out, at least if a Google search for 思わない is any indication, but there still seems to be a general trend of sticking は into negatives where I presume they wouldn't be used in positive sentences (one hears です and である, but not ではある). What's going on here?


texts:
I wonder if both prounciations of 十三日 are accepted?

じゅうさんにち
じゅうみっか

The reasons I am asking are these:

Windows IME seems to accept it
十四日　is pronouncecd as じゅうよっか, matching the pronunciation of 四日, which is よっか, but my textbook says 十三日 should be pronounced as じゅうさんにち

At the same time, both Google Translate and my dictionary (Weblio) gives only the first pronunciation (じゅうさんにち).

Google Translate
Weblio


texts: Distinguishing certain characters in handwriting and print (Similar-looking Kana and Kanji)

texts:
Japanese has some sets of characters which look very similar or even identical. Obviously, context is usually more than enough to distinguish which character is intended, but I'm wondering if there are subtle differences which can be used to disambiguate. It's easy enough to compare characters in computer fonts, so my question is really more about handwriting.

ー (katakana), 一 (kanji) and — (em dash)

The first two can be distinguished from the last one in Minchō-type fonts, and usually it is possible to distinguish between all three. In vertical writing the katakana bō and the em dash are oriented vertically so is easily distinguished from the kanji ichi.

What about in handwriting or Gothic-type fonts? I suspect they are indistinguishable then, but counterexamples are welcome.
ロ (katakana) and 口 (kanji)

In print, katakana ro is usually printed a little bit smaller than kanji kuchi. In some of the fonts I have the final stroke of katakana ro protrudes to the right, while the penultimate stroke of kanji kuchi protrudes downwards.
カ (katakana) and 力 (kanji)

Like the above, katakana ka is usually printed a little bit smaller than kanji chikara; but I've also noticed that the little hook is subtly different for katakana ka, and that in some fonts katakana ka has a bit of a rightward slant or curvature.
ニ (katakana) and 二 (kanji)
エ (katakana) and 工 (kanji)
タ (katakana) and 夕 (kanji)
ト (katakana) and 卜 (kanji)

Other than size, it seems like the only way to distinguish these pairs in Minchō-type fonts is to rely on the tendency for katakana to have more brush-like strokes than the kanji.
ハ (katakana) and 八 (kanji)

These are usually easy to distinguish in print, even in brush-type fonts, since the last stroke of katakana ha is of a different type from the last stroke of kanji hachi. What about in handwriting?
え (hiragana) and 之 (kanji)

These are easily distinguished in print and good handwriting, but I have trouble making them distinct in my handwriting.
へ (hiragana) and ヘ (katakana)

Is there any difference between these two? They are identical in Hiragino Mincho, for instance...


texts: Difference between Okinawan and Yaeyama language

texts:
Are locals on the Yaeyama islands also using Okinawan words/phrases or is it a completely different language?
For example can I use はいさい (hello) or くわっちーさびら (thanks for the food) on the Yaeyama islands as well or do they have completely seperate expressions?

In Before: I am aware that Japanese is the language primarily spoken and that those dialects are probably more used by the older generations if at all.


texts: Why does the か come before です in this question?

texts:
I'm looking through a book of go problems, and ran across the following sentence accompanied by the problem diagram:

  隅の黒一子が次にアタリですが、ここをどう考えるかです

A rough translation is relatively simple, along the lines of "Black's single stone in the corner is 1 move away from atari (technical term), what do you think about this position?" (By implication: how should black play to survive?)

The go problem is relatively simple. The bit that confused me was the か landing before the です in this question. What does this mean and how does it affect the sentence?


texts:
I know it says "karate do" in the middle. what about first two and the last

I get "karate do" from this reference
http://isami-eng.com/images/example/b/e4.html

Please! anyone?


texts: Linguistic/syntactic analysis of のほうがよく聞く

texts:
In Japanese the following such sentences are seen quite often:

「〜のほうが（よく）（聞く／使う／感じる／知っている）」

However when you consider the grammar, these are all transitive verbs (in the sense they normally take their object marked by 〜を), so it is odd that they are accepting their objects with 〜が here.
Honestly, to my ear, the sentences sound better when they are followed by some sort of noun "のほうがよく聞く気がする" "のほうがよく聞く表現だ" or are made passive "のほうがよく使われている" "のほうがよく知られている", but of course these all change the meaning.
And it cannot be denied that the bare sentences do exist and are used by native speakers as well.
So, I wonder, is there any formal syntactic analysis of what is going on here? Is the thing marked by が actually a grammatical subject?

As for initial thoughts, I think it is not a subject because:

it can't take subject honorification with the desired reading: *私は社長のほうがよくご存知になっている. While this is a borderline valid sentence, 私 turns into the object because 社長 is forced into a subject by the subject honorification since you can't use it with yourself -- so it's not the intended reading of "I know (the honorable) CEO better (than whatever we were talking about earlier)".

in addition, 自分 doesn't seem to be able to bind to it. ?私はいとこのほうが自分の親よりよく知っている "I know my cousin well more so than my parents". While this sentence sounds incredibly awkward to me in the first place, either way, 自分 cannot bind to いとこ here, just 私.

This suggests that が is instead a so-called "nominative object marker", but normally this is only seen with predicates like 好き、わかる、ほしい、聞こえる, etc. not 聞く or 使う, so it's surprising to see it here...
Is there any analysis which gives this a decent explanation?


texts:
In this thread on appositives, @OskarLindberg had mentioned that けれども could be used as a neutral connector. My understanding up until now was that it presented contrasting ideas, being translated as "however", "but", "although", or "even though". I'm trying to understand more of this neutral connector role of けれども. If you could give examples with the corresponding English translation, that would be very helpful.

These are the examples Oskar had given thus far, but their translations confuse me a bit:

  犬がほえているけれども、だれか外にいるんじゃない？
  The dog's barking, isn't there someone out there?

I would translate this as: "The dog is barking, but someone is outside, right?" In this case, I would think けれども shows the contrast between what you expected (the dog normally barks when someone is outside) and what is actually occurring (it seems that maybe no one is outside, but the dog is still barking anyway).

  この地方は寒いと聞いたけれども、本当に毎日冷え込むね。
  I had heard that it was cold in this region, and it's truly quite chilly every day.

I would have translated this as: "I had heard that it was cold in this region, but it really does get very cold every day." I thought that the けれども here was showing the contrast between what you had heard and what you had actually experienced, but it seems that is not the case based on the translation.


texts: What is the meaning/usage of あのね/あのな at the start of a sentence?

texts:
によによ
によによ
ちょ、なによ、その顔{かお}？何{なに}か言いたい{いいたい}の、二人{ふたり}とも？
何{なに}もありません。ただ、今{いま}はこういう反応{はんのう}をすべきかと思いまして{おもいまして}。
俺{おれ}はサイエに自分{じぶん}と同じ{おなじ}顔{かお}をしろと言われて{いわれて}な。
で、この「によによ」に、なにか意味{いみ}でもあったのか？
あのね…

Occasionally I'll see this usage where someone has said something and then the listener will respond with あのね/あのな (sometimes with nothing said afterwards and appearing to be an expression of exasperation). Does あのね/あのな stand alone as a comment without anything said afterwards (or is the listener suppose to "understand" from context what they are going to say?)


texts: How to say "To clarify, ...?" in Japanese?

texts:
How do I say, for example, the following sentence/question: "To clarify, breakfast is at 7:00am?"

I know that 明らめる and 明らかにする both have the meaning "to clarify". But I do not know if there is a more natural set phrase to use.

Also, I actually do not know how I would use the vocabulary to translate my sentence anyway. As of now, the translation I would do has multiple sentences: すみませんですが、少し分からなくて、朝ご飯のことを明らかにして頂けませんか。朝ご飯は午前７時ですね？


texts: 「なん」as a formal, spoken, suffix for questions?

texts:
I sense that using "なん" in questions probably makes the question sound more formal:
"どこですか？"
"どこなんですか？" // maybe more formal?
"いつですか？"
"いつなんですか？" // maybe more formal?
"だれですか?"
"だれなんですか？" // maybe more formal?
....

Am I right about this? Maybe this is very similar to the function of [美化語]{びかご}?

But, I don't remember ever seeing this in written Japanese. I suspect that this is just because using fewer characters trumps whatever formality "なん" may, or may not, inject into questions?


texts:
In one of 宮沢賢治's stories, the following sentence appears:

そのとき風がどうと吹いて来て教室のガラス戸はみんながたがた鳴り、
学校のうしろの山の萱や栗の木はみんな変に青じろくなってゆれ、
教室のなかのこどもはなんだかにやっとわらってすこしうごいたようでした

My question is as to what the meaning of 青じろく (青白く) is here.

The technical definition of this word seems to be "bluish white" or "pale", however in context I don't understand why the trees "paled strangely".

Are the trees "paling" because their leaves are turning over due to the wind? Or for some other reason?

Or would "darken" be a closer English word to express this usage?


texts:
A person asked for car insurance recommendations, and here is the whole reply of another person:

  うちは以前ソニー損保つ使ってたね。何回か事故ったりしてたけど特に不満はなかったかな、値段も安かったし。車両保険はつけたことがないのでよくわからないんだけど。

I am confused: Isn't ソニー損保 a kind of 車両保険?


texts:
I recently came across an example in a text book

 カラオケは好きですか。

and was not sure why wa was used here instead of ga?


texts:
I encountered this sentence:

提供サービスごとの適切な値付けを行い、事業が継続的・発展的に拡大する戦略を立案する

Is there any way of knowing if this is

提供サービスごとの適切な値付けを行い、事業が継続的・発展的に拡大する戦略を立案する

or

提供サービスごとの適切な値付けを行い、事業が継続的・発展的に拡大する戦略を立案する

?

Do I just have to rely on context?


texts: How can よ be used as part of a question?

texts:
In the trailer for Fault Milestone One, one character asks another, わたし達．．．帰れるよね．．．？

The translation provided of 'Will we... be able to go back...?' seems straight forward enough, but the use of よ here confuses me. I'm familiar with よ to add emphasis or certainty, or to soften insisting, commanding, or warning statements, but none of these seem to apply here. In fact, the sentence seems very timid and hesitant - hardly a situation where emphasis is needed.

Why would the writers have chosen to use よ here? What does the よ add to this sentence? I know that よね can be used to ask for confirmation; would this sentence be better translated as "We will be able to return... won't we?" to encapsulate the nuance of the particles?


texts:
Here, I already asked about a sentence containing a ほど construction, and chocolate was so kind to give me a nice, comprehensive answer :=)
("Issues with this sentence")

However, a follow up question came to my mind now, which might even sound a bit silly:
In my textbook, ほど constructions are always used in that way:

  インフルエンザの予防注射は思っていたほど痛くなかったです。
  Concerning the Influenza immunisation, it didn't hurt to the extent that I thought.

The keypoint: After ほど, a negation follows. And it's always like that in my textbook. "it didn't...to the extent..."

Is it possible for ほど constructions to be followed by a positive statement as well?
Like: "Concerning the influenza immunisation, it did hurt to the extent that I thought"?
Or are other constructions used for this kind of statement?


texts:
お前{まえ}もどうせ暇{ひま}だろうから誘{さそ}ってやろうと思{おも}ってよ

The dictionary tells me this means either:

Adverb

anyhow; in any case; at any rate; after all; at all; no matter what
at best; at most

So which is it in this context and how would you translate the sentence? I know this is something like "I figured you'd be free so I thought I'd invite you" but I'm not sure about the nuance introduced by どうせ.


texts:
Based on the text below, apparently there is a special type of table in some Japanese restaurants made for eating Katsudon.

どうしてレストランのテーブルにデスクランプがあるんだろう。
デスクランプのあるテーブルを挟んで座るって、なんだか取調室を連想させる。カツ丼専用席だろうか。

But why would tables for eating Katsudon have a light in the middle? Why would you want to lighten up just Katuson and not other foods?

I did some online searches and can't seem to figure out what the reason for this is.


texts: How would I indicate yelling when writing Japanese?

texts: In English typing in capital letters is considered yelling. How would I indicate yelling when writing in Japanese?


texts: In Japanese, can we say an object asks a question?

texts:
I was just wondering, because in English we can say "This story begs the question" etc. The wording for English is very versatile, and I was wondering if Japanese has this as well, for example in this sentence:

  このゲームは質問を頼む


texts: そういうことです vs そういうことになります

texts:
In a mystery story I was reading, a revelation is uncovered that changes the perception of the case. One of the characters then asks, "では, ...... というのですか?". I removed parts of the actual line to avoid spoilers, but he was creating a hypothesis based on the new information.

Another responds: "そういうことになります". My question is, why use なる in this case? Is there any difference in nuance between that and そういうことです?


texts: 日本の人口が少ないです. adjective and noun in this sentence

texts: 日本の人口が少ないです。 when we define a subject 日本の人口, after the ga particle should there be always a adjective like 少ない for eg...     can we place also place a noun ?


texts:
While reading some lyrics online, I stumbled upon the following phrase:

  これ以上何を失えば 心は許されるの

Which I could myself losely translate as following:

  If I lose what more (than I already have), will my heart be forgiven?

And this is a translation I found on the internet:

  If I lose any more than this, will my heart be forgiven

Now I'm wondering why これ以上何 means "Any more than this" rather than "What more than this"

Thanks


texts:
『......わかったわよ。一応観測機を回してみるわ。それ以降のことは、その結果如何ってことで文句ないわね？』

Context: 士道 believed his classmate 折紙 was a 精霊 and reported this to 琴里, the speaker, hoping 琴里 would send people to investigate 折紙. 琴里 didn’t believe 士道 at first but gave in to 士道’s request at last.
Hi. What is the function of the で of ってことで(ということで)? Can we omit ってこと in this context?
Thank you.


texts: How to say "how are your Japanese studies going?"

texts: I wanted to ask that to a friend that is also studying Japanese about how he is doing, and thought maybe asking "日本語の勉強はどうですか。" but I have no idea if it is correct. How do I say "how is (something) going?"


texts: "~において、..." vs. "~にとって、..." differences?

texts:
I'd like to ask about the difference between "~において、..." and "~にとって、...":

example #1

  アジア地域{ちいき} にとって は、日本{にほん}は超大国{ちょうたいこく}です。
  アジア地域 において は、日本は超大国です。

example #2

  中国人{ちゅうごくじん} にとって は、漢字{かんじ}は難しくない{むずかしくない}。
  中国人 において は、漢字は難しくない。

thank you.


texts:
I bet this two words has the same meaning, and my prediction might be one of it are obsolete and the other one are frequently used by japanese people. Not just in this case, how to self-crosscheck kanji on a word whether obsolete or not?

Thanks in advance


texts: are there nouns that can function as another part of speech?

texts:
Many English words have their definitions change depending on their parts of speech:

"type" (noun) = classification of something. (verb) = to peck-away as a keyboard.
"blue" (noun) = a color. (adj) = depressed, melancholy.
...

But, in the case of Japanese、are there any nouns that can also function as another part of speech? サ変動詞 do not count.


texts:
I am currently learning basic grammar using the Tae Kim's guide to japanese. In one of his examples he roughly translates this sentence:

  こんなのを本当に食べる？

as "Do you think [he/she] will really eat this type of thing?"

My question is, how does the possessive の particle make this sentence different from for example:

  こんなを本当に食べる？


texts: What are the differences between 床,　床上, and　床の上?

texts:
I think I have an idea of the differences but I'm not sure. My goal was to say "put [something] on the floor".

To me, 床{ゆか}の上 sounds the best (not that means anything). For example: 服を床の上に置きます。

The dictionary definition of 床上{ゆかうえ} is 建物の床の上。また、床から上。. It looks it has more of a "above floor level" or "from the ground up" meaning, but I still see the English translation of "on a floor" (i.e. Rikaiちゃん). Is this misleading, or would something like 服を床上に置きます work?

Lastly, where would just plain old 床{ゆか} fit into this? Does it have a connotation of the floor or a bed? Is it ambiguous if I just said 服を床に置きます? (If so, does 床の上 not have that ambiguity?)

Bonus Credit: Have I missed anything that means "on the floor"?


texts: the different between "使命" and " 任務" .i looked up dictionary and they are the same meaning "mission"


texts: What do you call young animals in Japanese?

texts:
In English we have a lot of very specific words for many animals. Male foxes are known as reynards or tods, female foxes are known as vixens, and baby foxes are known as kits.

It's not an isolated instance either. Bucks, does, and fawns. Bulls, cows or heifers, and calfs.

It's not even isolated by class. Roosters, hens, and chicks.

Does Japanese have this sort of word specificity, is there an affix of some sort, or are you forced to spell it out, so to speak, as when saying "young fox" or "baby fox".

I am specifically looking for what to call a "kit" or baby fox, since the closest translation I can find is キット which is obviously a loan word and doesn't even necessarily mean a fox kit but it would be good to know what to do in the future.


texts: Causative verbs: when does the doer take を or に?

texts:
父は わたしに/を 大学へ行かせました。

I'm confused about what particle I should put after わたし.

When it is correct to put を (and に) after the doer in a sentence with a causative verb?


texts:
I heard this phrase in a video 「はったはった」, and I am only guessing that it might be the verb 「張る」. It passes in a rap verse so I can't really think of a context to give other than that our rapper is a gambler. To cut it short, can 「はった」 mean "bet" or "place your bets"?

I also found 「切った張った」, but I am pretty sure that's not it. Thanks in advance!


texts:
I came across a situation where I went to a volunteer class wearing a mask since I have a cough. My sensei told me "お大事に", and I did not know what to reply.

In this case, should I just say "はい"?
Or is there a more appropriate response?


texts: Recently I learned what the days of the week are and noticed "kinyobi" 金曜日. I'd like to know where the term "gold" relates to. Were people in ancient Japan paid at Friday each week?


texts: What are common mistakes made by Japanese kombini employees speaking "manual keigo" (バイト敬語)

texts:
Mainly inspired by this question on what seems to be the misuse of a standard idiom by a Japanese employee, I was reminded of being told about バイト敬{けい}語{ご} ("manual keigo") in the past: a slightly dumbed-down sonkeigo crash course handed to new kombini recruits, that covers the basics but often results in widespread misuse of proper keigo forms at the hands of young Japanese unused to this level of speech.

I know there were a couple very specific examples of classic mistakes (generally: confusions between sonkeigo and kenjôgo). Wikipedia (en) lists a few disputed forms (「おつぎのお客{きゃく}様{さま}」,「〜になります」...) present in the manuals themselves...

I'd be interested to hear if anybody has other examples of egregious misuse and why they are not correct.


texts: Do 形容詞 have a 未然形 in Classical Japanese?

texts:
I was reading Eiríkr Útlendi's answer about -い vs. -き in 形容詞 and noticed that he identified -く as the 未然形 of 形容詞. When I studied classical Japanese, though, I was taught that 形容詞 lack a 未然形 (and also lack a 命令形, of course).

This jives with my (probably poor) intuition about how 形容詞 conjugate - you can't say *美しくず or *美しくぬ for the negative of 美し - you have to say 美しくあらず or 美しからぬ or something like that (i.e. using the 連用形, which is 美しく, adding an あり, and then tacking a negation 助動詞 onto the 未然形 of あり, which is あら).

Are there multiple schools of thought on whether or not 形容詞 have a 未然形? The textbook I used was 新編文語文法 by 大野晋, in case that helps.

UPDATE: I found my textbook; it states the following in the section on 形容詞の活用の種類 (p. 30): for the ク活用, we have two patterns of conjugation (未然・連用・終止・連体・已然・命令):

 1.　　 〇　　　　　―く　　　　　―し　　　　　―き　　　　　―けれ　　　　 〇
 2.　　―から　　　　―かり　　　（―かり）　　　―かる　　　（―かる）　　　―かれ

Likewise, we have two patterns of conjugation for シク活用:

 1.　　 〇　　　　　―しく　　　　―し　　　　　―しき　　　　―しけれ　　　 〇
 2.　　―しから　　　―しかり　　（―しかり） 　　―しかる　　（―しかる）　　―しかれ

The textbook does not specifically name the (2.) conjugations as the カリ活用 and シカリ活用, but does mention them. In any case, the textbook specifically claims that in their "bare" form (without あり), 形容詞 do not have a 未然形 (p. 31; emphasis added):

  「ク活用」「シク活用」のいずれの場合も、本来の活用は「〇・く・し・き・けれ・〇」「〇・しく・し・しき・しけれ・〇」で、未然形・命令形がなかった。それでは助動詞に続かず不便なので、のちに、それを補うために、連用形のあとにラ変動詞「あり」をつけて、「高く＋あり→高かり」のように熟合させたのが[the (2.) conjugations]である。これによって未然形・命令形を補うと共に、助動詞との接続が自由になった。


texts: Can someone explain the grammar in this sentence "もうこれで終わってもいい"

texts:
I'm having problems with the particle で and its main function here. I can't figure out the real meaning of this sentence.

  もうこれで終{お}わってもいい

I found that [Verb + Te-form + もいい] is used to ask permission to do the action of the verb, which conflicts with the context of the scene (a firm, decisive affirmation) from this page of a manga:


texts: When asking what a certain building within sight is, would "あれ" or "あの" be used?

texts:
If I were to point to a building and ask what it was, would it be appropriate to say
"あれ は なん です か", "あの たてもの は なん です か", both, or something completely different?


texts:
In a short story I'm reading (or trying to) I found this sentence:

  屋上の手すりから、ひらひらと風になびくタータンチェックのひだスカートと、そこからにょっきりと生えた二本の脚とが見えた

I think the general meaning is the character saw from the rooftop's handrail someone's legs protuding from her skirt fluttering in the wind, but I can't understand what the two と in bold means, and how would the sentence's meaning be different without them.


texts: How do I understand this sentence which ends in an adverb

texts:
Character gets wounded by a sword slash and replies with this line.

びっくりした。今の感じでもっと強くね

Does 強く describe 感じ here?
Is he saying he's more sensitive right now? If not, what is it describing? Do you normally end sentences with an adverb?


texts:
So I was talking to this girl and she sent me this message:

  あたしもラーメン食べたくなっちゃったw

(She always send me the same message in English, which I got admit that makes my life easier)

Since I was not understanding the sentence in Japanese I asked her to send me it without any abbreviation, then she sent me:

  食べたくなってしまいました

I guess it is 食べたい + なる + ??? I don't get the shimaimashita (shima + imasu in the past tense?)

And how could she compress all that with only ちゃった？ Isn't ちゃ supposed to only compress ては？


texts: きり and から: When the meaning "since" is used, how do they differ?

texts:
I saw a sentence that got me thinking―what if I used きり here instead?

  彼女はこの前会ってからずいぶん変わった。
  (*て form required)

Then, I replaced から with きり, and asked on HiNative.

  X彼女はこの前会ったきりずいぶん変わった。

I was told this sentence was wrong. However, I thought this was probably correct before posting it, because I had found this sentence on Japanesetest4you beforehand:

  翌朝、彼女はホテルを徒歩で出かけたきり、二度と姿を見せないのです。

Here, きり follows the past tense of the verb 出かける, and is then followed by a clause which explains what has taken place since the event in the previous one. If this sentence is correct, I do not see why the one I made using きり in place of から isn't.

皆様にいつも色々お世話になっておりますが…またご教授をお願いいたします。


texts:
牛からミルクが出なくなって

I'm having trouble working out the conjugation of the bold characters. I assume that なって is the -te/connective form of なる... but what the heck is 出なく?

Logic tells me it should be some form of 出る... but I don't know which.

So... can anyone tell me where that 出なく came from? Is it just a typo of 出なくて? Or am I completely misreading this and it's actually a different word altogether?


texts: Why is 渡部 累 transliterated/translated to "Lui Watanabe" with an "L"?

texts:
Why is 渡部 累 transliterated/translated (I'm not entirely sure which it is) into English as "Lui Watanabe" rather than "Rui Watanabe"?

The only cases I've seen of transliterations or translations involving "l"s has been when wasei-eigo expressions get translated back into English using English words, for example サラリーマン being translated as "salaryman" rather than "Sararīman".


texts: Please help me to deconstruct the grammar of this relative clause: この法律に違反する可能性がある政治の団体が活動をやめています。

texts:
This is an excerpt from an NHK easy article talking about the new law passed in Hong Kong:

この法律に違反する可能性がある政治の団体が活動をやめています。

この法律に  this law
違反する可能性がある政治の団体が活動  activities (by?) government groups (that?) possibly oppose... this law have ceased
Possibly a better translation would be - demonstrations/protests by government groups that possibly oppose this law will cease?
I suppose what I don't understand is how the two が's used in this sentence are functioning:
The first が: 違反する可能性がある政治の団体  lit. government groups that possibly oppose?
The second が: 政治の団体が活動  lit. activities by government groups? (in retrospect, the が here is the subject marker)


texts:
The other day I overheard a question/reply pattern that confused me a bit. This is the scenario: something weird just happened in the street, and person A came up to a police officer. It went something like this:

Person A: 今ここで、数千人の通行人が一瞬で消えたんです！あなたの見ましたよね？！
Police Officer: 見えていない。いいから早く出ていて！

I have 2 questions about this:

I don't think I ever noticed that kind of question pattern "あなたの見ましたよね". Is this common? What's up with that? I'm specifically a bit confused with the usage of の here. My guess is that it means something along the lines of "This surely is a seen event[of yours]".

Person A is obviously asking if the police officer saw the event in the past. However, the police officer responds by mentioning the present. Is he actually referring to the past(i.e. "didn't see") with ている somehow, or is he basically saying "I'm not seeing anything" ? His answer seems a bit weird to me..

Thanks.
EDIT
For future readers of this question, before you get confused, I misheard も as の, and 出ていって出ていけ as 出ていて(whoops)。


texts: What's the difference between 母方 and 母系? The same question goes to 父方 and 父系

texts:
I saw these words a while ago but just now I decided to ask it here because I didn't find the answer anywhere.

As the title says, I don't really know if there is a difference between 母方【ははかた】 X 母系【ぼけい】, and 父方【ちちかた】 X 父系【ふけい】as well.

The sentences I've come across are:

  父方【ちちかた】の祖父【そふ】の米寿【べいじゅ】のお祝【いわ】いにマフラーを贈【おく】った。

and

  母系【ぼけい】の祖母【そぼ】はその旧式【きゅうしき】のドレスを着る【きる】ことに固執【こしつ】する。


texts:
I already tried to google this but can't find an answer, first I thought it was a question clause (not sure if correct term) but then I realized there's no question word in that clause.

The sentence is from anime "kami nomi":

  掃除ってレベルなのか これ 新品みたいにピカピカだぞ

I suppose the な before the なの follows the rule about distinguishing between the possession particle の because レベル is a noun.
Thank you beforehand.


texts:
In the song イドラサーカス sung by 鏡音{かがみね}リン, there is the line, 「青{あお}い空{そら}が汚{よご}れて見{み}えますか？」I translated it using て as the present continuous. "Can you see the blue sky becoming dirty?"
Is my translation right and, if so, why would you say 見{み}えます? Wouldn't you conjugate 見{み}ます using ます form?


texts:
I came across this post on Twitter:

ぎゃんこ
@gyankotsu
mirrored 死 from tokyo ghoul:re

I don't really understand what mirrored 死 refers to, and from the picture I'm still quite confused.
What are mirrored characters? Which common ones exist?


texts: Are ミツバチ and イルカ more frequently written in katakana?

texts:
I was looking through a list of words that normally are written in kana, instead of their kanji. Two caught my attention because the list has them written in katakana, instead of hiragana. But, as neither are 外来語, writing them in katakana seems strange.

When given no context, is it true that both "honey bee" and "dolphin" are written in katakana (instead of hiragana)?

(Note: I do not care about any theory as to "why" they are exceptions. Simply, when there is no context and they are just words in a list, should both be written in katakana?)

Here is the full list of animals written in kana, instead of kanji:

  あかんぼう　baby, infant
  イルカ　　　dolphin
  うさぎ　　　a rabbit
  かたつむり　snail
  きつね　　　a fox
  くらげ　　　a jellyfish
  とら　　　　tiger
  とんぼ　　　dragon fly
  ばら　　　　rose
  ミツバチ　　honey bee
  やまあらし　porcupine
  やもめ　　　a widow
  りす　　　　a squirrel


texts: Why is it using いらなくなった instead of いらなかった here?

texts:
This is the sentence I am trying to understand:
Context: They are talking about recycling

  これはいらなくなった服でお母さんが作ったんだ

I understand the meaning, which would roughly be: My mother made this with clothes that were not needed. My question is, why is it using that verb conjugation: いらない+なる=いらなくなった (to become not needed).

Am I missing some nuance in the translation? Why is the sentence written in this way and would this be incorrect or unnatural?:

  これはいらなかった服でお母さんが作ったんだ

みなさんありがとう！


texts:
I have this sentence in my flashcards, which I pulled from a JLPT textbook of mine a while back. Long enough ago that I've lost the source. It looks strange to me now, though, and I wonder if maybe I copied it down wrong:

  ためらいもはず告白{こくはく}した

I believe it means, "didn't hesitate to confess (my) feelings."

Because はず is in there, I think it implies that it was expected that the speaker ordinarily might have hesitated, but managed to confess anyway. Shouldn't it be:

  ためらいもはずけど告白{こくはく}した

... or...

  ためらいもはずが、告白{こくはく}した

... or something like that? Without some kind of "but..." or "although..." type of connection to glue the sentence together, it seems half formed to me.

Is the original sentence complete? If so, what am I missing about the grammar that makes it complete? If not, how should it be completed?


texts: Let's say you're at the barber shop and he's using his mirror to show you how your hair looks like after he's done cutting it, what would be the appropriate and natural way to say "It looks good (thank you)"?


texts: Is there a general way to express how you feel?

texts:
For example, while I am running I feel great.
This makes me feel happy.

When doing lots of work for low wages I feel tired.

What are the common ways to express my physiological/psychological state?


texts: How should I translate “It was the most horrible time of my life”?

texts:
Using Weblio, I can go through the words and get some ideas on how to translate this sentence:

It: それは. I have spent enough time with Japanese sentences to know that I can just omit it and still be understood.

Was: でありました, であった，でした, だった, いた，あった, and a few others that I may have missed. Since this sentence is in writing, I’m trying to be polite, and the sentence has the basic sense of “X = Y”, I should probably pick でありました.

The most: 最も, 一番. I’m picking 最も, because it modifies an adjective.

Horrible: ぞっとするほどいやな, 実にひどい, 残酷な. I think “horrible” is being used in the “very bad” sense here, so I think 実にひどい would be a good choice.

Time: 時，時間, 時の経過，歳月. I’m picking 時間, because “time” in this sentence refers to a period of time.

Of: I know there are a lot of ways to translate “of” into Japanese, but I think の might be my best bet.

My: 私の. I think I can omit this and still be understood.

Life: 人生. That page is loaded with different terms that could be translated as “life”. Still, I have seen examples similar to the sentence I’m trying to translate, and they indicate that I should pick 人生.

Based on all this, I think “It was the most horrible time of my life” can be translated as 人生の最も実にひどい時間でありました.

Is this a good translation? If it isn’t, how should I translate it?


texts: Help understanding this handwritten Japanese sentence

texts:
Could you help me understand what is handwritten in this image? It is taken from a manga about boxing.

My attempt:

  左ボディ→左アッパー右フック
  上(?)の打ち分け
  オー(?)ックス(?)コンビネーション
  を得意とする　サンデーパンチ


texts: Is "俎板の上の鯉" related to the Vietnamese phrase "như cá nằm trên thớt"?

texts: Is the Japanese phrase "俎板の上の鯉" - a carp laid on a chopping block related to the Vietnamese phrase "như cá nằm trên thớt" - like a fish on cutting board, either because Japanese got the phrase from Vietnamese, Vietnamese got the phrase from Japanese, or the two languages got it from a third language?


texts: Position of は relative to other particles

texts:
So I've had a feeling for a while regarding particle order, which I haven't managed to find much of anything to either confirm or deny in any of the learning resources I've tried, and I'm hoping someone here can tell me whether it's actually true or I'm just imagining things.

It is generally taught that the order of particles in Japanese sentences is (usually) grammatically not that important (there are conventions, of course, and different placement may result in slightly different emphasis, but the overall meaning is still the same even if you, for example, change whether the を part or the に part comes first or second, etc).  However, I have had the impression for a while now that that may be not entirely true of は (the topic particle)?

Specifically, to borrow a math/CS term, it feels to me like は has a slightly lower "operator precedence" than most of the others, which is part of why it commonly comes first.  For example (off the top of my head, so it might not be the best one):

人は公園で歩いている -- "The person is walking in the park" (The topic is "the person" and the action is "walking in the park")
公園で人は歩いている -- "In the park, the person is walking" (The topic is "the person (in the context of being in the park)" and the action is "walking")

(I know that "in the park, the person" might actually usually be said differently (公園では, etc), but my point is that even without that the placement of 公園で before a later は changes a bit (the feel, at least, of) what it applies to)

That is, it seems to me that if other particles, such as で or に are put before は, they can end up essentially modifying the topic, instead of the sentence as a whole, so effectively, は can sometimes have a grouping/partitioning effect on things that come before it (not always, but sometimes), which isn't true of other particles.

In most cases, the effect is not really substantial (it often ends up coming out with the same meaning in the end), but in some cases it seems like it could potentially change the nuance of things noticeably, so I'm curious.  Am I completely off base with this?  Does は actually work differently than other particles in this regard?

Edit: So my example above was bad in a few ways, I guess.  Here's one I came across recently, though I'm not sure it exemplifies what I'm talking about quite as strongly:

  この近所にコンビニはありますか？

It seems to me that the normal way to phrase this would be 「コンビニはこの近所にありますか」 ("As for convenience stores, is there one in this neighborhood?"), but by placing 「この近所に」 in front of 「コンビニは」, this has an effect of essentially making it feel more like "As for convenience stores in this neighborhood, is there one?" (that is, "in this neighborhood" becomes more tightly associated with "convenience stores" and essentially serves to help refine the scope of the topic).  In this particular case, one could argue that the two questions end up asking essentially the same thing, but I suspect that wouldn't always be the case in all sentences, which is why I'm curious about this sort of thing.


texts: Appropriate "No, I don't have" response to "お持ちでしょうか"

texts:
I'm regularly asked at shops/supermarkets with something like:

  ポイントカードはお持ちでしょうか

My understanding is that the person is asking if I have a point card. I've also read What's the difference between でしょうか and ですか at the end of a question? that adding a でしょうか basically just means that person is guessing or wondering if I have a point card.

What is the appropriate way to say "No, I don't have one"?

I understand 持ち comes from もつ (to have).
But I'm not sure if I should say:

持たない (negative of もつ)
もっていません (progressive, "not carrying one right now")
simply ない (seems off because the question is not using ある）
or some other?

I've tried all 3 and they seem to understand.
But maybe there's one that's most appropriate.


texts: What are the rules for substituting の with ん?

texts:
I've noticed that sometimes the hiragana の can be shortened to ん.

For example,

部屋のなか → 部屋んなか (inside of the room)
俺のうち → 俺んち (my house)
俺のところ → 俺んとこ (my place)

(More examples can be found in Derek's post.)

Is there some explanation or rules that we have to observe when substituting の to ん?

Or can we arbitrarily substitute any の with ん as such:

「俺ん母さん」?
「俺んいえ」?
「俺んせんせい」?
「俺ん犬」?
「俺んテーブル」?
「NんN」?


texts: Cartel, syndicate, anti-competitive practice

texts:
I've heard this story from several foreigners in Japan:

  I hired Japanese Company A for a service. I didn't like Japanese Company A, so I went to Japanese Company B in the same industry and tried to hire them instead. Japanese Company B refused to do business with me because I was already a client of Japanese Company A.

What is the name for this practice in Japanese? Is it called 企業連合?
Is this legal in Japan? Is there some kind of law which prohibits this practice? What is the law called? Is it called 独占禁止法?

EDIT

To be clear, this is a question about Japanese vocabulary. If I can get an answer about the vocabulary, then I can research the law. If anyone has any links to articles on this subject, that would be very helpful.


texts: What is the exact reason behind the usage of がin the following phrase?

texts:
Hopefully, just another quick one here.

In the phrase

  日本で東京スカイツリーが一番高い建物です。

what is the reason behind using が as opposed to は in the phrase

  東京スカイツリーは日本で一番高い建物です。

Sorry if this is a silly question... But thank you nonetheless!!


texts: Could you please tell the difference between particle は and に in case of description of a place of existence

texts:
I am just a beginner and am currently reading particles. I came across a thought of using に instead of は in a certain example and I couldn't find the difference in the usage and the context as well.

E.g. 君の出身地はどこですか？ and 君の出身地にどこがありますか？

In the above example, both the sentences mean "Where is your hometown?".
So, my questions are

Is there any difference between the two?
Can に replace は if we talk about the description of the place like
where a thing is or likewise? If yes, could you please explain?


texts:
I received the following message:

  無理しないでやるよね。

What function やる performs here?

Also could I say just:

  無理しないでよね

Can I put the particles like that after a command/request?


texts:
Here is the sentence I found the word.
いりゃあいたでやっかいだし　いなくなるとへんにさびしくなるなんて...おかしな男だよ


texts: What is the difference between [利用]{りよう}, [活用]{かつよう}, [使用]{しよう} and [用]{もち}いる?

texts:
I feel 活用 has some kind of feeling of "put to the use", as a politician would use his charm in a campaign.
The other three seem confusing to me, however. What are the differences?


texts: それどころじゃない and 〜どころじゃない grammar points.

texts:
So I've been going over past JLPT N1 tests, and I came across this sentence:

  「この仕事、ずいぶんもうかるでしょう。」「いや、経費がかかりすぎて、もうかるどころじゃありませんよ」

Now a definition for this one I got from the Goo thesaurus:

  「どころではない」はかなり強い否定だが、その否定した事柄が話し手にとってそれほど重要ではないことを示している。

But this also reminded me a sentence from GITS:

  インターセプターの件で現場はそれどころじゃなかったんだからな！

I'm still not sure what the above means...even the different translations can't agree on what this means. I did find a Weblio thesaurus entry that gives perhaps a fitting defintion:

  そのものをする時間が足りないことを指摘する表現。

But I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around why these two definitions are so radically different. What basic meaning does どころ have that enables it to be so versatile as to fit into these various grammatical patterns?


texts:
I came across the phrase やめときます in alc.co.jp, which is apparently translated to things like "I'll pass" or "I'd better not."

It didn't appear as a stand-alone word in the dictionaries I checked, so I'm wondering if it's a contracted form of two other words.

Just for the sake of making a guess...I'll guess that it's 止め (imperative form of 止む) and 説く.


texts: 首都 (しゅと) and 都 (みやこ)

texts:
首都 ｛しゅと｝ and 都 ｛みやこ｝ what's the difference?
thanks for your reply.


texts:
As in this example:

  ルイスさんの日本語は太田先生も外国人だと気づかなかったほど上手です。

I think that the beginning says: "As for Mr. Lewis's Japanese, even Prof. Ōta..."

And then the end is: "...[his Japanese] is so good to the extent that he [Prof.] didn't realise."

But did he not realise "if he was a foreigner", or that "he was a foreigner" just enclosed with the と particle?


texts: Can the である copula be explained as で (particle) + ある (to exist), i.e. "to exist in the form of ~"?

texts:
Recently, I read this article which interprets である as described by this post's title, so 学生である would be analyzed as "(I) exist in the form of a student".

On one hand, である originated from にて + あり, with にて being the precursor of で particle.

非回答者 also mentioned here regarding the splicing of である with a topic

  Grammatically, である can be treated as one word, which is probably why you feel it weird being spliced, but native speakers know instinctively that it consists of two parts で and ある and that the subject for ある could be squeezed in between. "in (= で) a certain state + subject + ある(exists)".

On the other hand, if one looks at the ある entry in dictionaries, e.g. 大辞林 definition (二).1, 大辞泉 definition (二).3, and 広辞苑 definition (12), one would see something along the lines of

  名詞に助動詞「だ」の連用形「で」を添えた形に付いて

i.e. で is specified as the 連用形 of だ instead of as a particle.

Also, since ある in である is listed as 補助動詞, and Wikipedia JP's page on 補助動詞 says that

  日本語などにおいて、別の動詞に後続することにより文法的機能を果たす動詞で、それ自体の本来の意味は保っていない（前の動詞との組合せで意味を持つ）ものである

is it still correct to isolate the ある and say it means "to exist"?

In short, can one break down である into the particle で and the verb ある, and analyze である as "to exist in the form of ~"?


texts: How to use 〜かのよう{に・な・だ}

texts:
I understand fine how to use 〜(の)よう{に・な・だ}, but I'm not sure when or how you can add in the か.  Here's an example from my book:

  ４月になって雪が降るなんて、まるで冬が戻って来たかのようです。

How is this different than if it had just said 戻って来た(の)ようです?  Is it purely adding more emphasis?  Are there any restrictions on when you can (or can't) add the か?


texts: I came across this sentence as a bullet point on a manga character's info sheet. I think it may be alternatively written 「諜使いがヲタナリ」 since I gather 「ヲタナリ」 means something like “otaku wannabe”, is that correct?


texts:
In Japanese, the particle で seems to have multiple uses:

Instrumental: 車{くるま}で大阪{おおさか}に行{い}った。 "I went to Osaka by car."
Locative: 図書館{としょかん}で数学{すうがく}を勉強{べんきょう}している。 "I'm studying math in the library."
て-form of copula: 水{みず}はきれいで静{しず}かだ。 "The water is pretty and calm."
て-form of copula (sentence conjunction): 彼{かれ}は来{く}るので、大丈夫{だいじょうぶ}だ。 "He's coming, so it'll be fine."
連用形{れんようけい} of copula: そうではない。 "That's not how it is."

(It may be possible to analyze #4 as a 連用形, in the 中止形{ちゅうしけい} sense, but I don't think that's what is in modern usage, since there is an implication of temporal order.)

What is the origin of these uses? Do all these でs historically come from one thing?

(I've heard that "で came from にて", but that doesn't really explain much for me in terms of how all these forms came about and if they are really all from the same original thing.)


texts:
I came a cross the expression かげぐち【陰口】(backbiting) and found it in my dictionary as follows

  人の陰口をきく［たたく］｜[speak ill of a person / run a person down] behind his back / backbite

When I tried to look up the meaning of　きく the only transitive verbs that seem possible are 聞く＆　聴く. However these relate to listening or at best "asking" which does not seem to be quite same thing.

Should I just accept such expressions as idioms? Even if that is the correct course it seems odd that the entry for 聞く does not mention this use.


texts: Is anything implied, but not written, in this nominalization "遠くを見つめる"?

texts:
(1) 遠い所を見つめた。

I think means:
"He was looking at some distinct location in the distance."

  (2) 遠くまで見つめた。
  (3) 遠くを見つめた。

I think both mean:
"He was looking off into the distance and looking for anything unusual."

So, what is the grammar of #3?

  (3) 遠くを見つめた。

Doesn't "を" require an object?
Has "遠く" been nominalized somehow?

btw:
I heard #3 in an 男っぽい dialogue.
Maybe the words that are needed to create proper grammar are not spoken?


texts: Nominal connectors in embedded sentences: 名詞・形容動詞 ＋「である」「だという」「な」等 (+ こと) の使い分けについて

texts:
This is a general question about what to place after nominals when connecting them to constructs like こと.

Lately I've realized I've either forgotten or never knew when I should be using だということ over であること or ということ, etc., with 名詞・形容動詞 (and now I'm wondering about な too), at least in the spoken language. From my understanding, だということ・であること are preferable in 文語, and I found this answer discussing that a little bit, so I'd rather focus on the spoken language here.

I've scoured my resources, as well as stackexchange and some of the Japanese web for hours and come up short, though. I found this question that describes the grammar of these constructions and says that they're all fine, but I don't know their 使い分け. This has become problematic for me lately (at least mentally) when communicating at work and with friends in Japan.

I'd appreciate an answer specifically pointing out the following:

Which constructions from the linked question can be used with friends, coworkers (either above or below you), your boss, strangers on a bus, kids, etc. Some kind of politeness or formality ranking might be helpful for me here.
How one would choose a construction in the case where more than one is appropriate or the case where it's fine to use any of them.
If there is really 0 difference whatsoever between some of these, such that it would be fine to literally just choose your favorite and only use that one (or else to 適当にどれでも選ぶ), pointing that out specifically as well/which ones are identical would be appreciated.

I've listed the constructions below, with my own guesses about their usage/formality (ordered by my guess from most to least formal):

  であるということ (in presentations, on the news, to a special guest)
  であること (in presentations, on the news, to a special guest)
  だということ (to anyone except friends/family)
  なこと・のこと (to anyone, perhaps depending on usage)
  なの (to anyone, perhaps depending on usage)
  だと (to friends/family/lower-ranking people)
  だって (to friends/family/lower-ranking people)

I'd like more information about usage depending on grammar or the specific situation, as well as the 意味合い of these constructs.

I've included example sentences below for everything. Everything below here is ripped from the linked question. Credit to @Chocolate

Basically:

  連体形(attributive form) + こと
  終止形(predicative/terminal form) + ということ

So grammatically speaking you can use...

有名な+こと (有名な is the attributive form)
有名である+こと (ある is the attributive form)
有名だ+ということ (有名だ is the terminal form)
有名である+ということ (ある is the terminal form)

as in:

  この漫画が有名なことを知っていますか。
  この漫画が有名であることを知っていますか。
  この漫画が有名だということを知っていますか。
  この漫画が有名であるということを知っていますか。

As an aside, you could also say:
この漫画が有名なのを知っていますか。
この漫画が有名だと知っていますか。
(or この漫画、有名だって知ってる？ in colloquial speech)


texts:
I am learning the lyrics to the song "Last Summer Whisper" by 杏里. I came across these lines:

Baby, love again　二人の愛はもどりはしないけど

Baby, love again　せめてあなたをにくみたくはないの

What is the usage of the は in these lines?
For 1, it seems like it could've been said this way: 二人の愛はもどりしないけど. It seems like this は is not acting as the topic particle, since は is used after 二人の愛. So what is it doing?
And for 2, it seems like could've been said this way: せめてあなたをにくみたくないの
As I understand, にくみたくない would be the standard negative of にくみたい. What is the は doing there?
By the way, I don't mean to imply that I think these sentences are "wrong" and that I'm right. I am just curious what sentiment or grammatical function these はs are playing in the two sentences.


texts: How do you pronounce "☓☓" as a placeholder?

texts:
I have come across the following in a piece of fiction (「永遠のジャック＆ベティ」, by 清水{しみず}義範{よしのり}):

「今日は上着を着ているためには暑すぎます」
◯◯するには☓☓すぎる。つまり、暑くて上着なんか着ていられない、という意味だった。

As you can see, the bolded sentence is presented as an example of a Japanese sentence structure, with the ◯◯ and ☓☓ standing in for two arbitrary 動詞 (or 形容詞 or 形容動詞, I guess). It is part of the running prose (i.e. not dialogue), so no character in the story actually speaks it.
How do you read this aloud, though? My first instinct is to read it as 「マルマルするにはバツバツすぎる」, but this seems kind of weird to me. I've seen マル used a lot as a placeholder, but バツ seems to carry with it a meaning of "wrong" or "incorrect" and doesn't seem like a neutral placeholder.
EDIT: My professor claims that it is incorrect to read both the ◯◯ and the ☓☓ above identically (as なになに), because then you lose the fact that the ◯◯ and ☓☓ can (and perhaps should) be distinct lexical items. In light of this, I have provisonally unaccepted @tdes's answer and am now hoping for answers with some sort of authoritative citation.


texts: How to say animal feed in Japanese? Is there a particular verb for eating when the subject is an animal?

texts:
Is the verb 食【た】べる used for animals that are eating?

Is animal food called 食事【しょくじ】?

I was having a conversation about a cat. I wanted to know what the cat was eating and the conversation came off track. I think that the person I was chatting with thought that I meant that I was eating her cat!

I said

  あなたの猫【ねこ】は何【なに】の食事【しょくじ】を食べますか。

Thank you.


texts: What is the difference between べき and べきだ

texts:
Are べき and べきだ one and same thing?
I found many grammars where べき is defined, but examples with べきだ are provided.
知るべき。
両親には従うべきだ。
Or is だ a copula? But then why do we use a copula in such case?


texts: What is the difference between XはYが and XにYがあります?

texts:
For example, what is the difference between these sentences?:
日本は神社が多い。
日本に多い神社があります。
Don't they both mean "There are many shrines in Japan"?


texts: What is the most common word used for 'idea'?

texts:
Pretty sure I've mostly seen idea as アイデア

Does anyone know of other words used for 'idea' and if possible any example sentences and contexts where different words are used?


texts: What is the Japanese equivalent of "Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes"?


texts: てほしくば - "If I want you" to or "If you want me to"?

texts:
I always understood てほしい as "I want/need you to".
How does it make sense in this context where a kidnapper in a drama says:

姫を返してほしくば 城を明け渡せ

Per this translation: If I want you  to return the princess, surrender the castle.
Shouldnt てほしい also mean "You want/need me to"
For the correct translation to be: If you want me to return the princess, surrender the castle


texts:
英雄はただ、1人でいい。 This sentence, What does it mean. I got 2 meanings in my mind.

1.) Hero is just one person. (Only one hero is enough)

2.) Hero is one person and good. (Hero is one good person)

Which one is correct here ? And why is it ? Thanks


texts: Is そんなに short for そのように？

texts: As specified in the title, is そんなに just short for そのように？ Likewise for こんなに and あんなに。


texts: What is the difference between あまつさえ、しかも and それに?

texts: あまつさえ、それに and しかも (and maybe a few more words like そのうえ perhaps) vaguely express the idea of 'moreover/besides/in addition'. Are there big differences in the way they are used?


texts:
水中に月を捉ふ爭でか拈得せん

What does 拈得せん mean there? Is some classical construction? I cant quite find an explanation for it


texts: 感じなんです, 感じでして meaning and translation issues

texts:
I have a sentence like this:

今はその解決に色々とアプローチをかけとる感じでして
試作機のテストをCら共々 手伝わせてもろてる感じなんです

It's a part of dialogue where A is giving a report to person B about progress on her project. Although this is a bit in media res, as in we cut into this conversation right at this line.
But anyway. I'm wondering what 感じでして and 感じなんです (which is probably 感じなのです) are meant to convey. I imagine it's supposed to mean that A thinks/feels these things? Like

Right now, I feel trying various approaches to solving the problem (will help?)
and I also feel all of C to help with prototype testing (will help?)

I assume the help bit is to be assumed from context, since they are talking about a project?
What I'm also wondering is, is she PROPOSING this course of action? Or is she saying, like, that she feels geting C's aid in testing is helping them?
Oh and of course is there a meaning difference between 感じなんする, 感じでして?
Like the former is more of a statement of feeling, but the later?


texts: I am having high confusion between katakana n ン and katakana so ソ. They look very similar even with the different stroke directions, they look very similar. Could anyone suggest how to differentiate between them?


texts: Can I use 「さぁ…さっぱり。」 to express that I don't understand at all?

texts:
The full form should probably be 「さぁ…さっぱりわからない」, but is it OK to omit the latter part in informal conversations and will that cause any confusion or will it sound strange? I suppose it should be OK but I just want to make sure because there seem to be multiple explanations to さっぱり。

Related: Way to Use さっぱり (sappari) and すっかり (sukkari).


texts:
I basically have two questions:

When we use なくなる we basically force the verb to be in negative so that we can replace い by く and then add なる. For example: 見えなくなる (to become not visible). My question is, what if I want to use it in positive, meaning "to become visible"?

Second question, which is related to the first. I have the following sentence: ナスはほぼカロリーないが、揚げ油が2/3くらい吸われてなくなる which I think I can translate for "Eggplants have no calories but the suck 2/3 of the frying oil". However, it is using なくなる which for me, it implies that the verb 吸う has been first converted into negative form 吸われてない and then replace it by なくなる. The question is, how can it have a positive meaning while having a negative conjugation?

Thanks.


texts: Does "させ" comes from the verb 刺す or just する ?

texts:
Recently I came across this sentence in a computing-related technical document:

  some software と連携させ、 some feature のカスタマイズを作成します。

I get the meaning (after having integrated some product, we will customize some feature), but my question is:

In this sentence, does させ come from the verb 刺す or just する ?


texts:
でも生徒同士で序列をつけるようで、こうした風習もどうもね……

  手はまったく届かなかったが願いは届いたようで、謎の生命体は翼をはためかせてメアの頭に着地した

  あいつの意見が正しかったことだけは認めざるを得ないようで、亮二もそれ以上食って掛かりはしなかった。

  俺もノートに向かい続ける授業は苦手なようで、自然に体を動かす実技授業が多くなった

I can't really come up with a concise interpretation of this usage. I read ようで as both a situation summarization and a cause indicator all in one, but it feels clumsy.

The 4th sentence, for example, has much more of a "because feeling" in it than the first one.  The 2nd and 3rd sentence feels like it's more in the middle in terms of cause.

(since) i'm not good with just looking at the board and taking notes, naturally i have more physically active practical  classes.

vs

But applying a hierarchy among the students,  that sort of custom...(stuck between a rock and hard place)


texts: How can you express "as long as you want"?

texts:
I want to tell my friend that he can stay at my house as long as he wants.

I was thinking:

泊まるのは何ヶ日でもいいです。

or

泊まりたい程泊まってもいいです。

What is the correct way?


texts: What's the difference between そうな/に (sou na/ni) and ような/に (you na/ni)?

texts:
I'm a beginner in Japanese.

I know ように can mean "as", "so", "like",
and よう can mean "look like".
And I know that そう can mean  "seem like", "that way", "or such", but there are too many possible combinations similar to よう.

In another post the difference was explained for  そうだ　and ようだ.
Here I'm asking that can you explain what そう means for the other scenarios like そうに/な (compared to よう).

For example in the following sentence:

  優{やさ}しそうなご両親{りようしん}でしたね
  "They looked like very kind parents."

What is the difference from よう in this example or other possible combinations?


texts: I wanted to ask what the '◯' symbol underneath the 金 means below? It seems the black-haired guy is asking the other guy something that's to do with drinking?


texts: Difference between すれ違う, 外れる and ずれる plus something about grammar

texts:
I've heard in a song the following line:

すれ違い心見えたなら
「要らない，要らない」しないのに
貴方はいつも貴方のまま

This seems to mean something like "If I met someone whose feelings differed from mine, I wouldn't say 'I don't need it, I don't need it", but you are like you have always been". I have no confidence at all in this translation and I would appreciate it if someone came up with a better one. I also would like to know why it's　見えたなら and not 見えたのなら.

Anyways, it seems that すれ違い means something like "to differ" or "to go against". However, I looked up at some dictionaries and it seems that　すれ違う means almost the same as 外れる and ずれる. Are there any differences? Moreover, what is the kanji for すれ違い's すれ?


texts: Is there a list of Japanese characters that don't have equivalent roots in Chinese?

texts:
According to this answer:

  Almost all Japanese characters (in my experience >99%) are exist in Chinese. Few are changed a little, like 宮 and 宫. As a Chinese, I have no difficulty in recognizing Japanese characters.

Now, I wonder which character is what was invented in Japan, or maybe imported from Korea but not originally from China, if any.

Is there any research regarding this area or is there such compiled list?


texts:
How would you translate the following sentences?
1/ Check the identity of any other person for whom you may have requested an extra card.
2/ She is the person to whom I sent the documents.

I always struggle when I have to translate "for whom" or "to whom".
On the web, I found "添付ファイルを送る相手" to translate "person to whom one sends the attachment".
Is this translation acceptable ? If I am correct, this may also mean "the person (or party) who sends the attachment". So I am really confused.

Thank you very much for your help.


texts:
When looking up the definition of 音物 (a present or a bribe), I thought it was very odd that it contained the kanji 音. I can't think of what 音 (sound) could have to do with presents or bribes.

Is there some significance that is being lost in translation or am I just overthinking this?


texts:
いじめの問題が起こったとき、学校が最初に調査をすると法律で決まっています。しかし、学校が調査をするとき、子どもの親などとトラブルになることが増えています。裁判になったことも５年で２０件以上ありました。
  When the problem of bullying occurs the law says that the school will investigate from the outset. However, when a school investigates, the number of incidents where the children's parents become troubled is increasing. There has also been over 20 裁判になったこと in the last 5 years.

I'm not familiar with the word トラブル. Does トラブルになる mean "become inconvenienced" or does it mean "get into trouble" i.e. displease someone?

I can't understand what the と in 子どもの親などと is doing. I think I must be completely misunderstanding 子どもの親などとトラブルになること.

I'm guessing that 裁判になったこと (literally "thing that became a judgment") means 'prosecutions'. Is this a set phrase? Have I misunderstood?


texts: How does one say “bye” to a stranger they just met?

texts:
When one starts out learning Japanese, they're always taught to use the phrase “さようなら”  to mean “goodbye.” However, it's now known that it's not that commonly used as people regard it as a kind of “final” goodbye, similar to the phrase Adieu.

And informally, “じゃあ、また” or “またね” are the most common phrases used.

But when one meets a stranger in the streets, for example, how would they say “goodbye” to them?


texts:
As I slowly try to learn more grammar and less "1001 survival phrases in Japanese FREE!," I started wondering about abbreviations in the language.

From what I have read so far, contractions and word-shortening happens in a much different way than it does in English. It seems long words almost become portmanteaus? I wasn't able to find any information on how common things such as 高校 (for 高等学校) or スマホ (for スマートフォン) are used/when they are appropriate.

This question started with me wondering whether Japanese has anything similar to the English "cont." or "cont'd"

(I'm from Canada so I'm not sure how these abbreviations are done in U.S/EU)... but then I also started wondering about "Mrs." and "can't/won't" and well... "etc." :)


texts:
I'm learning Japanese and decided to pick up some manga in Japanese to improve my reading.
I found a preview of a manga I'll be receiving and had a look inside. I found the following character, and everything tells me it's a そ, but I'm not sure. Is it a weird font? Is it a certain common stylization?


texts: I am trying to figure out what this sentence means but can't figure out part of it

texts:
確かに、女にもてるのもいいが、じらされる方はたまったもんじゃねぇ

I think the first part says something like, it is certainly nice to have a girlfriend/wife but I can't figure out the rest. Please help...


texts: Meaning of ~ようかな between "I wonder if I should...." and "I guess I'll...."

texts:
As fair as I'm aware and have read in grammar dictionaries, ~ようかな can take both meanings of "I wonder if I should...." and "I guess I'll....". Obviously, there is a big difference between the two as the former is simply pondering a possibility and the latter is making a direct volitional statement with a bit of uncertainty. I wouldn't want to convey the wrong message.

How are these distinguished?


texts: Can't recognize these handwritten kana (or kanji) in a text

texts:
While reading a 1920s handwritten official document, I'm having some trouble to recognize these two kana (or kanji) which the red arrows (see image below) are pointing at. The question here is what kana or kanji are these two symbols?

The content of the text is about a person's health status. And it was wrote under the pre-war Japanese orthography which the native words could be written in katakana.

(I'm a native Chinese speaker and just know a little Japanese vocabulary.)


texts: Can the subject appear at the head of a relative clause and **in** the clause simultaneously?

texts:
宮城県と岩手県は、仮設住宅などには世話をする人がいないお年寄りなど生活に困っている人が住んでいることが多いため、１人で亡くなる人が増えていると考えています。
  The Miyagi and Iwate prefectures think that the number of people who are dying alone is increasing because there are many cases of people living in temporary housing who struggle with daily life and have no one to take care of them.

I'm struggling to parse the part in bold in a convincing way. I'll try to break it down:

  仮設住宅などに人が住んでいることが多い
  There are many cases of people living in temporary housing.

What kind of people?

  生活に困っている人
  People who struggle with daily living

The part I'm stuck on is how to join all of this with

  世話をする人がいないお年寄り
  Old people who have no one to care for them

I don't understand how this fits with the rest of the sentence. At first I assumed that お年寄り was the subject of 困っている but then I have

  お年寄りが生活に困っている人

So the subject appears twice in this clause, both as the actual subject and the relativised (is that a word?) noun. This doesn't seem right.

What am I getting wrong here?


texts:
複数の新聞を読むことで初めて、立体的かつ冷静に分析が出来ることもある。

I'm not sure about how I should interpret it, is this で needed after こと because of the ～て初めて grammar and because you can't add the て form on 読む ? It would be something like :

  "There are times when only after reading multiple newspapers, you can analyze calmly in three dimensions"

Is this correct ?


texts: How are the adjectives conjugated to izenkei (うれしけれ, たのしけれ) used here?

texts:
I came across a "Mermaid's song" in a text:

  ものみな眠るさ夜なかに
  水底を離るることぞうれしけれ。
  水のおもてを頭もて、
  波立て遊ぶぞたのしけれ。
  澄める大気をふるわせて、
  互に高く呼びかわし
  緑なす濡れ髪うちふるい、
  乾かし遊ぶぞたのしけれ！

The bolded adjectives, うれし（い）、たのし（い）、both seem to be conjugated to izenkei. If that is so, can izenkei of shiku adjectives be used in exclamatory function? E.g. second line as "how happy (I) am to leave the depths!".

If it's not exclamatory, then what could it it mean here? And if it's not izenkei, then what else is it?


texts: Usage of に or で in the following sentence

texts:
I have a doubt regarding the use of で and に in the following sentences:

私は車の中に座っている
私は車の中で座っている

As per me, I think で should be used as, the person is sitting inside the car (i.e. an action is being performed inside the car), so で should have been used. Whereas, when I used Google translator it was showing the first sentence i.e. 私は車の中に座っている, and not で座っている. However, when I clarified it by involving the use of 椅子 then the particle governing 車の中 changed to で i.e. 私は車の中で椅子に座っている.
So, my question is,

Whether the use of に instead of で grammatical (sentences 1 and 2)?

Could you please highlight the difference between 1st and 2nd sentence, if sentence 1 is grammatical?

教えてください


texts:
My textbook (Minna No Nihongo I ch. 22) gives:

私がいつも買い物するスーパーは野菜が安いです

(The supermarket I always do my shopping at has cheap vegetables (for sale)).
I'm guessing this is ok actually, and it might be better than

私がいつも買い物しているスーパーは野菜が安いです

(The supermarket I'm always doing my shopping at has cheap vegetables (for sale)).
However when I solved it I rather wrote:

私がいつも買い物に行くスーパーは野菜が安いです

(The supermarket where I always go to do my shopping has cheap vegetables (for sale)).
But now I'm doubting this a little (such is the nature of the very immature student of Japanese, without tutor): maybe the -iku actually modifies the noun too much in the "traveling" sense of "to go", and this does sound a little off?
Maybe Japanese just say

いつも買うスーパーは野菜が安いです

Although this may sound like I always buy the supermarket.
I feel like I will learn a lot by just asking this and asking for the best type of nuance, because noun modification is a little scary in that I don't know how the end result might feel like.


texts: How to interpret 喜んでもらえて私も嬉しいです

texts:
In reply to my thank-you-message I received the following:

  喜んでもらえて私も嬉しいです。

Can it be interpreted as "I am glad that you enjoyed it"?


texts:
At the end of each tankōbon, the manga DEAD Tube has always an extra page with a funny drawing/short story. Every time it has a different title. In the volume in question the title of the extra page is:

  かまって！？水野さん！

In the page, the character called Mizuno is just bored while their friends are away. What is the meaning of かまって in the title? I guess it comes from 構う, but I don't know how to interpret in this context. Is it related to this question? How would you translate the title?

You can see the original page here. Thank you for your help!


texts: Connecting phrases with the stem of masu-form

texts: When is it possible to connect sentences using the stem of masu-form? Are there restrictions on the use of this form?


texts: Is this と (particle) + したら　or is it "としたら"

texts:
It's an exercise from my textbook where I have to fill in a word from a list.
The list is:
なる,
渡る,
話す,
できる,
たいへんな,
降りる.

The sentence in question is as follows:

  電車を _______ としたら、ドアが閉まってしまった。

I don't think that と+したら could make any sense here, but my textbook hasn't taught me the word としたら http://jisho.org/search/toshitara yet so I can't rule it out. That's why I'm asking you what you think.

I would insert 降りる here and translate the sentence as follows:
"If it happens that I exit the train, unfortunately the door will close."


texts: なんだこの「ギャラリー」？ What does he mean by gallery?

texts:
Panel this is taken from for context. This is commentary about a school go tournament that will start soon.

あれ　おまえも見にきたの？
なんかギャラリー多いな
海王中囲碁部はトップレベルだもん
見なきゃソンだよ

My translation attempt:

Oh, you came to look too? There's so much at this gallery [??] [Attempt 2: There's so much to see] [Attempt 3: So many people are here to watch]
The Kaiou Middle School Go Club is at a top level, so it would be a loss if you don't look.

I am wondering if maybe there is some Japanese usage of gallery that I am missing?
Fake EDIT: Judging from weblio I wonder if it might be sense 3:

③ ゴルフ・テニスなどの観客。また，観客のいる場所。
3: Spectators for golf, tennis and so on. Also, a place where spectators gather.

If that's the case, then I think my attempt 3 is on the right track but I am not sure.


texts: What is the max number of kanji a jukugo can be made of?

texts:
So far I haven't seen any jukugo with more than 4 kanji. Is this a limit? Or some of them are made of more than 4 kanji?

Also, I've seen jukugo made of other jukugo. Like 高速道路 is composed with two other jukugo: 高速 and 道路. What if a jukugo would need to be composed with other jukugo, but those smaller jukugo would sum up to more than 4 characters? Is this something that happened when the language was formed? What happens then?


texts:
Example from this article:

  先月、東京都内で初めて開かれたセミナーは、企業の人事担当者など200人余りで満員となり、注目の高さを伺わせた。日本は、アメリカに比べて、人事部門にデータ分析を専門的に行える人材が少なく、活用は大幅に遅れているという。

How do we know if it is:

1°)the first time that the seminar is held in 東京都内 ( but the seminar is not really new and has already been held in the past in other locations)

2°) The first time that the seminar is held in any location and the  location is 東京都内

I would like to know how to do 1°) if it is 2°) and how to do 2°) if it is 1°)


texts: Dropping particles in casual speech/songs

texts:
Hey i was listening to this song And it felt weird for me when one of these lines seemed to lack a particle, I am wondering if it is lacking one and it is ok to do so since it is a song, or if there was no need to a particle in there...

[君の前前前世から僕は君を探し始めたよ]

Why can I say 探し始めた without a particle, would it be ok to say 探しを始めた？

Is it perhaps like the difference between "I began to look for" vs "I began looking for" ?

When it's ok to drop a particle in casual speech? I know that if my sentence contains only one "が" particle it'd not be ok to drop it, but what about sentences with more particles?

Thanks in advance


texts: How would a native speaker correct themselves when they misspeak?

texts:
Once, a long time ago, someone asked me to tell me how I thought something went in Japanese. I replied

  うまくいったと言います。

Quickly realizing my mistake, I corrected myself like this:

  言います…思います。うまくいったと思います。

But I'm not sure a native speaker would correct themselves this way. Is there a more natural way?


texts: How do I convey false impressions with まるで

texts:
I'm struggling with まるで～ようだ　a lot. A lot of resources say that it means 'as if.'
Do I really need まるで to convey the "as if" nuance? I thought that ようだ already means 'like/as if.'

彼はまるで答えを知っているようだ。
It's as if he knows/knew the answer.

彼は答えを知っているようだ。
he seems to know the answer.

Is there any difference between the two sentences?


texts:
I would like to know if the anime's title " boku dake ga inai machi " grammatically correct? It's quite confusing because the verb ”いる” in negative form, should be the last word as long as I know. 街 Is noun and its referred to location of the existence of 僕 so how come they put it at last?
I tried to rearrange the words' order and put it in this way: 僕だけが街にいない。
Is there some grammar rules support the original title in any way?


texts: Examples of when passive form in English takes active/non passive form in Japanese

texts:
Can anyone give a few more common examples (or even more insight) of when we should be "switching" from English passive into Japanese active/non-passive?

(A joint effort might help a lot of us to make our Japanese more natural? I am happy to compile into one answer...)

BACKGROUND/EXAMPLES_________________________________________________________________________

We have a number of very good questions on the use of passive verbs including:

  1 Passive vs. active form of verb (past) What is the difference?

  2 Passive verb forms for intransitive verbs

  3 What forms of verbs (potential or passive) are more frequent in Japanese?

During the most recent it was pointed out that often when the passive is used in English the  active/non-passive is preferred in Japanese, and over-use of the passive is a common problem among Japanese learners. I know an additional reference on how the passive is used in Japanese (Dict of Basic Jpse Grammar p33) but  can anyone give a few more common examples (or even more insight) of when we should be "switching" from English passive into Japanese active?

(A joint effort might help a lot of us to make our Japanese more natural?)

I have added my own (possibly less common) example that recently confused me to the two recently given below.

Example 1:

  ニュースに驚いた <-- Not passive

  I was surprised at the news. <-- Passive

Example 2:

  These cookies were made by her yesterday.

  これらのクッキーは昨日、彼女によって作られました。　#1 <-- Passive

  彼女が昨日これらのクッキーを作りました。#2 <-- Not passive: possibly more likely to be used

Example 3:

  The armed forces were dispatched <-- passive

  軍隊が出動する <-- Not passive


texts:
どうにもしようがない。=Nothing can be done about it.
my word-by-word breakdown attempt:
[どう][に][も][し][よう][が][ない]。=
[which way][in][also?/even?/emphasis?/exclamation?][do][way of][subj marker][none].=
[どうにも][しよう][が][ない]。=
[even in which way][the way of doing][が][none]=
[No matter how][a way of doing][doesn't exist]=
No matter how, there no way to do.
Another question:
Does どうにも mean 'no matter how' with positive verb?


texts: Meaning of 親子同士のペア in the following sentence

texts:
Context: In the manga リクドウ, Riku is going to fight against Hyodo. Hyodo is a boxer and the son of a former world champion boxer, so he's a thoroughbred (サラブレッド). He didn't have a good relationship with his father so he moved to Yoneda Boxing Gym. Yoneda is a trainer that has recently inherited his father's boxing gym. The two seem to make a good team together. Hearing about all this, Riku's trainer says:

  ボクシング親子同士のペアか…強敵だな

What is the meaning of ボクシング親子同士のペア? To me it translates to "a boxing couple with a father-and-son-like relationship", but the fact that they seem to be about the same age made me think that my translation could be wrong. Could it refer to the fact that they both continued the profession of their fathers and so, in a certain sense, they are both thoroughbred?

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


texts: is this sentence gramatically correct? "ano ko ga futteita makka na sukaafu"

texts:
This phrase from a song "ano ko ga futteita makka na sukaafu" is gramatically correct? shouldnt be

ano ko ga makka na sukaafu o futteita ?

BTW, ko is translated as "girl" . Ko has many meanings, but I dont remember any of them being "girl". Shouldnt be "kid" here?


texts: Does the particle や come after particles like に or で (as does も in「にも」or「でも」), or does it come before them?  I can't find any examples of either, be it through Google; in the Tatoeba database; or otherwise.


texts: I'm writing a speech in Japanese about the difference between languages and I've been trying to figure out the correct way to say "lexical gap" in Japanese. Any ideas?


texts: Why do some native Japanese speakers put a comma after a particle?

texts:
Example:

  あなたは、きっと日本の抹茶ティーは嫌いだね

This is how I'm seeing the sentence:

  You'll, certainly hate Matcha tea in Japan.

Or maybe I'm translating the sentence in the wrong way? Anyhow, could be the reason of putting that comma there?


texts: How to express feelings about a performed action?

texts:
I am wondering how I express my feelings about an action that has already occurred/been performed.

For example, how would I state the following:

I am happy to have returned home.
I am sad that I missed the train.
I am upset that I finished the apples.

My best guess for the first example is the following:
帰った【かえった】ことが嬉しい【うれしい】。

However, I am unsure about my usage of こと. If it is correct are there other ways of writing this kind of sentence that I should be aware of?

I know that の is also used for verb nominalisation but as far as I could find online that would be wrong since the two actions are being performed at different points in time, right?


texts: Can particle は use cases be summarized by a single inclusive term "disambiguation"?

texts: Particle は is often called topic, emphasis, contrast, etc. particle. Can particle は use cases be summarized by a single term disambiguation? If one could think of は as disambiguation particle should one ever need to remember all sub-cases?


texts: Difference between 楽しくやってます and 楽しくやれてます

texts:
In the below exchange how does the meaning of 楽しくやれてます differ from  if 楽しくやってます was used? I know that the former is in the potential form, whilst the latter is in the plain form but I'm not quite sure the difference in nuance.
To provide some context for the below exchange, the person was on the phone with someone and talking about how things have been going so far.

仲間同士での問題はありますか？
今はないです。藍咲と実乃璃が仲悪いかな。 それくらいです
あの二人は大変そうですね。 暴力沙汰にはなってませんか？
それはないですよ。境子も実乃璃が悪さしたら日本に送りかえすって言ってますし
今のところは楽しくやれてます


texts: Can't find this character in the dictionary

texts:
I have been looking for the meaning of this

I can't seem to find its meaning. And I see it being used a lot.
Is it even a kanji, or is it just an expression?


texts:
To translate :

  My friend and I are going to the park.

, the following sentence can be used :

  私{わたし}は友達{ともだち}と公園{こうえん}に行{い}きます。

Literally :

  I am going to the park with my friend.

と is used to represent with, and the subject (before は) is me (私). But if I want to emphasize more about the fact that the subject is me and my friend, I'd write :

  私{わたし}と友達{ともだち}は公園{こうえん}に行{い}きます。

My questions :

is it possible to write this? Is this sentence grammatically correct?
if so, is there any difference between the first sentence and this one? I feel like writing "私と友達は..." emphasize more about the subject (me and my friend) than "私は友達と..." (me with my friend)
is it more polite to use 友達{ともだち}と私{わたし} instead of 私{わたし}と友達{ともだち} (because my friend is placed first)?
more generally, can we encounter particles (like と) in the subject of a sentence (before は)? Or are they necessarily placed after the subject?


texts: Any hints on how to translate the 'Nanny' in Totoro?

texts:
I'm working through translating となりのトトロ and I was doing ok until the Nanny starts talking. Going through her sentences and translating them piece by piece is an exercise in extreme patience. I find her lines very confusing.

Is she speaking in a particular dialect that I can reference?

Here's an example sentence that confuses me:

  ニコニコしとれば 悪さは　しねえし いつの間にか いねくなっちまうんだ。

Which I've translated literally to say:

  If smile wet, as for the bad things they will die and leave completely before you notice, you see.

So, "If you keep smiling the bad things will go away."

But the details escape me. What's up with the wet smile for instance?

(It's about 15 minutes in, if you have the video...)


texts: Why is katakana considered its own character set while the Latin capital letters aren't?

texts:
Everyone has agreed upon that Japanese has three sets of characters - hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

Yet the Latin alphabet is considered to be one character set, even though the capitals and lowercase letters differ just as much as the two kana.

Why is this the case?


texts: Why should we use 世界で and not 世界に for 日本で一番高い山は富士山です

texts: Why do we always use で in the following situations? 日本で一番寒い月は二月です。 日本で一番高い山は富士山です。 Why can`t we use use に here? There is no action in these sentences yet we use で,rather we are indicating the place of existence.


texts: What's the difference between 僕等,　我々, 僕たち, and お互い?

texts: As I read more Japanese texts, I’m finding there are a lot of ways to say “us.” Are there any contextual differences or differences in politeness level between 僕等, 我々, 僕たち, and お互い?


texts:
Bulma:

  どうせ

  こうなるんなら

  水着もってくりゃよかった！

  If I knew we were gonna come here, I would have brought my swimsuit

どうせ In any case
こうなる Turn around here
ん Nominalizer
なら if
水着 Swimsuit
もって Hold
くりゃ Short for きたら?
よかった Good

I couldn't find the くりや ending anywhere. That's my best guess, but I'd like to confirm.


texts: When I hear bisuketto pronounced I hear bisket-to. I don't hear bisuket-to. Is it my ears or do you just not say su? If not, why not? Is there a pronunciation rule I'm not aware of maybe?


texts: Alternate meaning of 見えない when used as an expression?

texts:
I've always learned that 見えない means "unseen" or "invisible".

However, lately I've been seeing quite a few Japanese people in online games that, upon failing to complete some (usually very difficult) task, post stuff like "みえないわｗ" or "見えないこれ".

I've come to the conclusion that it's supposed to mean something similar to 無理, as in they "don't see success happening", but Google hasn't been able to back me up on this theory. So now I'm wondering if that's actually a meaning of the term, if it's purely colloquial, or if there's some other concept behind all of this.

Thanks!


texts:
に対して is generally used with the sense of "in contrast to" or "in regard to/ toward to"; however I never understood if the difference can only be infered by the context or there is a difference in patter. Usually when it has the meaning of "in opposition to" it seems that is preceded by の, like in　のに対して, but I am not sure if it is a rule or just a coincidence.
In the following sentences I believe it means "in contrast":
外遊びが好きな長男のに対して、次男は家の中で遊ぶことが好きだ。
昨日は大阪では大雨だったのに対して、東京はいい天気だった。


texts: What's the difference between Kokonotsu and kyū

texts:
My dictionary says they are both translated to the word "nine".

Can someone help clarify this for me.

Thank you


texts:
I'd like a translation of what is being said in the third window bubble.

It begins with その他 and is just that bubble.
I translated it as:

  "In addition, he made some other various things which did cost some money, but. . ."

And then it continues in the next bubble.
I am just curious as how this is meant to be translated. I just want a quite literal translation of it. To me it sounds like the speaker is receiving various kinds of money that is being made.

Since I knew from the context that such is not the case, I still feel vexxed by the fact that my translating skills are so horrid. for example 色々と means to me not various things but just "various" since it doesn't have the を particle. the には, 作っていただいた金 (I) got to make for me money?!? just sounds weird. Please help.

It might be because the japanese are so horrendously bad at marking out (assumed) words like say. I also had it make other various things(.) (WHICH) it did cost some money but. Since the japanese don't have any good 'which' words, it is usually portrayed in って. But since 作っていただいた金 could mean 'money that I (had) him make for me, or something.


texts: What is this 「お忘れ物ございませんように」

texts:
For full context, see here:
https://www.docdroid.net/XIK9pCk/img-20171020-0001-new.pdf#page=2

The sentence in question is taken from line 24-26:

  でも、日本のアナウンスははっきりわかるので役に立つし、「お忘れ物ございませんように」と丁寧な話し方から、日本語のいい勉強にもなります。

My attempt at translation:

  However, because I clearly understand the Japanese announcement, it is useful and because it ??「お忘れ物ございませんように」 ?? is a courteous way speaking, it becomes a good lesson in Japanese.

So, I basically can't make any sense of this 「お忘れ物ございませんように」in this context xD By browsing jisho for ございます　I found out that it is the teneigo for "to be, exist". How this ございます relates to ように and お忘れ物　I have no idea. The "it" in my translation is actually redundant, I think. I put it there to make my translation more comprehensible, it shall be a dummy for the for me incomprehensible 「お忘れ物ございませんように」 . But since I'm so utterly clueless about 「お忘れ物ございませんように」 , I might've used my dummy "it" in an inappropriate way (syntactically). If that's the case, I'm sorry ^^


texts:
What is this で particle here?
It's not a time or a place
Same with 戦いで怪我をした. I can't see the usage in any dictionaries unless 場所 is being used in some abstract sense to just refer to the setting in which the action takes place.


texts: A sentence that must consist of 終わられる, しまう, and よう

texts:
Is my sentence below correct? What I want to say is

  This textbook seems to be finished before Friday this week.

My attempt is as follows,

  今週{こんしゅう}の金曜日｛きんようび｝の前｛まえ｝にこの教｛きょう｝科｛か｝書｛しょ｝が終｛お｝わられてしまうようです。


texts:
I'm reading a passage from a Japanese novel and happened upon an unfamiliar piece of vocabulary "勢力図的な." When I tried looking it up in an online dictionary, I got the definition of "Power relationships" for the term 勢力図, however I am unsure what this refers to exactly, does it refer to how much power person A has over person B in a relationship? Or maybe something else entirely?

If someone could explain the meaning and in what context it might be used, that would be great!


texts: Is 彼女が懐かしい equal to 彼女を懐かしくした?

texts:
This question might be too basic but up to now I am still in doubt whether my understanding is correct.
Example 1

A:僕は彼女が懐かしい。I miss her.
B:僕は彼女を懐かしくした。I miss her.

Example 2

A:僕は彼女が好きだ。I like her.
B:僕は彼女を好きにした。I like her.

Question
Is there any difference between A and B for both examples given above?


texts: Why does this store named サァラ have a small ァ in the name?

texts:
Over on this awesome answer about old and unused katakana forms, I notice that among the examples is the word "valve", written as ヷァルブ. It has a small ァ character in addition to the ヷ that precedes it. What puzzles me is that I can't imagine how ヷァルブ would be pronounced any differently than ヷルブ. Maybe the small ァ does the same thing as ー, but then why not write it as ヷールブ? Also, I'm no expert on katakanization of English, but I wouldn't think extending the vowel sound in "valve" would be the right way to convert it.

ヷァルブ might be an archaic way of writing "valve" that is no longer in use, but it reminded me of a store I pass by on my bike now and again, called サァラ麻布{あざぶ}. I've never been interested in the furniture they sell, but the name has always caught my attention. They write the English version of their name as "Sala Azabu". If I had seen the English first and someone asked me to write it in katakana, I'd have simply gone with サラ.

What is the small ァ character doing in these instances? How is サァ pronounced differently from サー or サ?


texts:
Looking the に particle up on jisho.org, it says that it could also function as a because of~ or even for the purpose of~ but I'm still uncertain if that's the case in the following sentence:

二人で歩み寄って許し合える関係に

I think it means "Meet halfway for your relationship to be one where you can forgive each other." but I still don't know how に functions in this sentence.
Is the sentence incomplete by any chance? Or is it already grammatical by itself?


texts:
I really need someones help and PRONTO!!
So I have finally decided my next Japanese Kanji tattoo! :)
BUT I got one problem when I was doing some research on "Fall down seven times, stand up eight." I have found at lest two different ways of writing it!
Can someone please help me figure out the if they're both right and have the same meaning?

1) 七転び八起き (probably most common)

or

2) 七転八起 (most preferred since its shorter)

Are they both correct? Does the shorter one still has the same meaning and could it be understood as the first one?

Thanks! ;)


texts: Is 入れ物 different from other A-物 expressions?

texts:
While I can understand the meaning of the word, I cannot wrap my head around the logic behind it.

In all similar cases, the basis of the expression is the object of the action:

Aを食べる ⟶ A: 食べ物
Aを飲む ⟶ A: 飲み物

But:

Aを入れる ⟶ n/a
Aに入れる ⟶ A: 入れ物

I have asked my native Japanese teacher, but she could only explain it by saying that the container is still involved in the action of putting things inside it, and is thus labeled by that action. But to me the object of an action is a quite distinct thing, and the "direction" of it all seems off in the case of 入れ物.

Could someone explain the logic behind this? Are there other A-物 expressions that are not based on the object? Or is this just a unique exception?


texts: I sometimes find that when Japanese answer my questions, their answers are too vague. For instance, I asked what つなぎ is in a given context. A Japanese person told me it is 作業着の種類, "a type of work clothes." That's still too vague for me. Is it a kind of cloth? What are the other types? What can I say to get more clarification to get a better explanation of what exactly つなぎ is?


texts: What does the の particle do in relation to verbs?

texts:
More specifically, what is the difference between 「見るの」 and 「見たの」 in this context:

  時々、子供のころの夢を（x）があります。

How does the の particle function? Is its meaning modified by the 「が」 particle as well?


texts: According to any definitions I'm aware of, I don't understand the phrase "一応褒めている". 一応 is pretty tricky (for me, anyhow), so I'm sure I'm overlooking something, but what does it mean here and how would you translate it? "Tentatively", "to some extent", make little sense and seem like they'd come off impolite. What's 一応 mean here?