texts: How do I interpret this question that ends with よ?

texts:
In the 7th book of the awesome High School of the Dead, there's this page:

The situation is that the main characters, a group of mostly teenagers who are surviving a zombie apocalypse, are walking through a neighbourhood where some of them used to live.

The character with the sword, Saeko, says 〈奴ら〉になっているのは君たちの隣人だ……. Meaning, "The people in this area that have turned into zombies are your neighbours..." (Not an exact translation, of course - I'm adding more context to help clarify the situation.) She's saying that she should go forward and be in a position to kill zombies because if the other team members recognize a zombie as someone they used to know, then they might hesitate.

Another character, Takashi, who is one of the people who used to live in the area responds ……家族をやれるか／ということですか／必要ならきっとーー. "You mean if we have to kill someone from our family? If we have to we'll definitely..."

Saeko cuts him off and says [友]{・}[達]{・}[と]{・}[家]{・}[族]{・}[は]{・}[違]{・}[う]{・}[よ]{・}？

That's where I get a little bit lost on the nuance. I get that the baseline of what she's saying is, "friends and family are different", which I think can be extrapolated more specifically to, "killing family and killing friends is different."

But, because it ends in よ, which to me seems like an assertion, but the sentence also ends with a question mark, I'm not sure if it's a rhetorical question as a statement or a sincere question. As a response, Takeshi thinks to a moment when he had to kill a friend, but since I'm not sure of her statement, I'm not sure of the meaning of his reaction.

Is she saying "Killing family and killing friends is different, don't you agree?" Meaning that of course, it's different, so you shouldn't think you can just because you had to kill your friend before. Takeshi was able to actually kill his friend, but maybe Saeko is saying killing family is harder.

Maybe she's asking "Is killing friends and killing family different?" leaving it open for Takeshi to consider the difference. Maybe Takeshi then just reflects on how hard it was to kill his friend, even though he eventually did it, and realizes that killing his family will be a challenge.

Or maybe she's saying "What's so different about killing friends and killing family?" Meaning both are difficult. Takeshi then remembers killing his friend, and this steels his resolve to face up to killing people he might remember.

Or maybe it's something else entirely. Is what Saeko is saying a genuine question? What exactly is the subtext of it?

Also, her words all have dots beside them, indicating emphasis (my understanding of these kinds of dots is that they're like using italics in English). Is the emphasis for the benefit of the character Takeshi, or for the reader? And how does the emphasis impact the meaning?


texts: Could you explain what does っていうのは mean here?

texts:
コンビニっていうのはそんなに複雑な話はしない場所。

I understand the meaning of the sentence well enough but I don't quite get the usage of っていうのは here. I think it's the casual form of ということは which I thought I knew how to use up until now.
If you could give me a hand here, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you in advance :)


texts:
あれ?参加者は20人のはずなのに、21人いる。

I'd translate it as follows:
"Huh? I'm sure it should be 20 participants, but 21 are here."

I interpreted "should" because のに to my knowledge indicates a surprise here. Using plain indicative wouldn't reflect that in my opinion.

However, the real "problem" is the bold な. First, I don't know into what category はず falls (formation morpheme like suffix, or anything else like noun, verb etc.). Therefore it is hard for me to try to use other grammatical rules to deduce the meaning of な, like な after nouns in -んです/-のです constructions.
And even if I knew that, I still wouldn't know what function it bears here.


texts:
I just started playing the video game Mother 3, and if you try to examine the trash can in front of his house, Lucas says, 問題なし.

I expect this means something like, "no problem here", but I haven't been able to confirm that so far.

What kind of construction is the なし part?


texts: Help with the meaning of 大絶賛 in this sentence

texts:
というわけで、俺は実家で只今大絶賛ひとり暮らし中である。

From what I can tell, the speaker is saying that for reasons mentioned he is living alone at home, but I don't see how 大絶賛 (which means very high praise) affects the meaning of the sentence. The meaning "high praise" seems to not fit in at all with the rest of the sentence or context. The word can be used in either noun form or suru-verb form, so its usage and placement has left me baffled. Is there perhaps some omission or something in play?


texts:
さあ、お茶をどうぞ。
それじゃ、おやすみなさい。

As far as I understand, both さあ and それじゃ mean quite similar things: well, then; alright; well now.

In sentence 1 above, would it be correct to use それじゃ instead of さあ (alright, here is your tea)? And would さあ be OK in sentence 2 (OK, let's sleep/OK, goodnight)?


texts:
難しい言葉でなくても、道路の表札には、途中で切れずにとても長い道路の名前が書いてあることが諸っちゅうあります。

Obviously, I should describe the context behind this sentence, so here goes:

On Tell Me!goo (教えて!goo), there is a question where the questioner asks, “Please tell me about the differences between ‘今’ and ‘現在’”. You can read about it here: https://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/4537310.html

One answer in particular is interesting. It says that ‘今’ and ‘現在’ have the same meaning, and that ‘今’ is a Japanese word of Japanese origin and ‘現在’ is a Japanese word of Chinese origin (i.e. a loanword). This implies that ‘今’ is used for casual conversations and ‘現在’ is used for formal writing. Then it cites Germany as an example of a country that avoids loanwords as much as it can, and that results in very long nouns.

Then it arrives at the sentence. When I use Google Translate, I get the following sentence as a result:

  Even if it is not a difficult language, there are many things in the nameplate on the road that the name of a very long road is written without being able to cut along the way.

Obviously, it is not a perfect translation, but it is a start.

When I looked up っちゅう on the following website (https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A1%E3%82%85%E3%81%86), it says that it is a conjunction and colloquialism that means “meaning; called; said”.

I wonder if that part of the sentence is trying to say, “...there are many said instances of....”

Am I on the right track here?


texts: 1カ所: いっかしょ or いちかしょ?

texts:
What is the correct pronunciation for 1カ所 ?

It means: 1 place

Context:

  ユーティリティ関数として定義されているわりには1カ所からしか呼ばれていない。

It is defined as a utility function, but only called in one place.


texts: Help understanding trailing "ものを" in song lyrics

texts:
The following is a stanza from an enka song:

  あれから幾つの　流れ星
  かぞえた女の　一途な願い
  面影胸に　待ちわびて
  積丹かもめに　なれるなら
  カムイの岬　どこまでも
  あなたを探して　飛ぶものを

I get what the lyrics are saying, I'm just wondering what the final "ものを" refers to or what it connects to.


texts: How do you say "This souvenir is from X" where X is a person or a place?

texts:
Would it be correct to say

  これは日本のお[土産]{みやげ}です

to say that 'this souvenir is from Japan'? And if so, can the same form be used to say it's a present from a friend? For example

  これはよしさんのお土産です

as in 'this is a souvenir from Yoshi' (given to me by Yoshi)?


texts:
I'm having some problems differentiating between meanings of sentences.
For example the sentence

とても元気は男の子です

can mean, very energetic boy
or it can mean very healthy kid.

These two are very different in meaning, how can you tell the difference ?


texts: How would you say something is like something else?

texts:
I know something similar to this has been asked before: Saying something is like/not like something else

I'm just wondering if there's a phrase to express 'like-ness' using senses, for example, "this apple tastes like a banana" or "my socks smells like sweat".

Would you express it as...

  このりんごの味はバナナの味のようです。
  This apple's taste is like a banana's taste.
  靴下の匂いは汗の匂いみたいです。
  [My] socks' smell is like the smell of sweat.

I can't help but think this way of expressing it is kind of long-winded...

Thank you very much! :)


texts: Difference between あまり and そんなに when used with a verb

texts: When using あまり and そんなに with a verb, for example: そんなにいらない and あまりいらない, is there a difference? I think they both translate to "I don't really need it"


texts: Do na-adjectives have an attributive negative form?

texts:
Assuming present tense, we can use i-adjectives in an attributive context both in the affirmative form:

  高い　椅子　が　あります　- there's an expensive chair

And in the negative form:

  高くない　椅子　が　あります　- there's an inexpensive chair

I know we can use na-adjectives similarly in the affirmative form:

  綺麗な　人　が　います　- there's a pretty person

But for the life of me I can't find any info on whether using na-adjectives in the negative form is allowed in an attributive context (i.e. modifying a noun rather than as a predicative with a copula). So is the following grammatical?

  綺麗じゃない　人　が　います　- there's a non-pretty person


texts:
それならどちらか一人に絞って魔力を提供した方がより効率的という訳か。
If that is the case, Squeezing magic in one of them end supplying would be more effective.

I think it means:  This way is more effective.
Am i right?
This got me confused with
より and 方が.
Could someone give me an explanation of 方がより?


texts: Why is Ichi a common name for a blind person?

texts: I was watching a Japanese movie and incidentally it is mentioned that Ichi is a common name given to a blind person. Why would that be?


texts:
in this sentence "natte'ta" is used:

"tsumetai ame zubunure ni natte'ta watashi ni"

i don't understand how the word "natte'ta" is used or its meaning. How would the word be translated to english and what tense is it in?

i'm really confused about the word


texts:
I am having a difficult time understanding the meaning of "ii tokoro" in the context of this sentence.

The full sentence(s) in which I am translating is as follows:

"おっと、いいところに。
今日 は新しいムービーを撮るみたいなんや。"


texts: Does the letter "C" attract any superstition?

texts:
I've heard that the number four attracts superstition because of its similarity with the word for death. For example, yon is used instead of shi in some circumstances, and sometimes the number 4, along with some other numbers is avoided.

Does the Roma-ji letter "C" attract any superstition, as it is usually pronounced "shi" (for example, CD is pronounced "shi dee")? Or are the pronunciations different?


texts: What is the specific meaning of 時の函 in this song lyric?

texts:
I came across a song (琥珀ト瑠璃ノ輪舞曲) where there's a line

"時の函に横たわっていた".

I know the meaning of the words individually ,

"時の" = of a certain time,
"函" = box,
"横たわる" = lying down /stretching out.

But putting them to together in the sentence makes no sense to me.
The most literal way I can translate it is "Lying in a box of a certain time" But the meaning seems incomplete to me. Is there any other meaning behind it?
Thank you!
For context, these are the song lines before it :

煤けた硝子玉 淡い月と碧い夜
それだけを映して時の函に横たわっていた


texts: What does か at the end of the headline signify?

texts:
米追加関税第４弾　３８０５品目対象、スマホも　措置発動は６月下旬以降か

I understand this as, "The USA has added additional tarrif/tax on 3805 articles/products (according to bullet point 4), which includes smartphones. To be put into practice from third half of June"

What role does か at the end play here? Wouldn't the headline be fine without it or is it some kind of transformation か like コンピューターか (computerization) ?

Article for reference: https://www.sankei.com/world/news/190514/wor1905140011-n1.html


texts: How do you differentiate saying vague words in Japanese that have multiple meanings? E.g. tokei, koshi

texts:
I'm not talking about homonyms that have very different meanings to be able to make it abundantly clear from context alone like hana (nose, flower) or kami (hair, god, paper), but like tokei(watch, clock) and koshi (back and waist).

Do people just say 手の時計 for watch or 普通の時計 for a standard clock?
What about koshi? Usually people will use it in body-related topics where context alone seems rather unhelpful because both are plausible. What then?


texts: What is the difference between 体面 and 面目？

texts:
体面{たいめん} = honor; dignity; prestige; reputation; appearances
面目{めんぼく} = face; countenance; honor; reputation; prestige; dignity

As individual words they seem to be almost the same, is there any difference I need to be aware of? I'm especially curious how the phrases they are used in distinguish their meanings.

For example, the construct ～を保つ exists for both 体面 and 面目 but do the phrases
体面を保つ and 面目を保つ
have meanings that are as similar as the words by themselves or do differences in meaning and usage become apparent?

The reason I think differences may appear is because of the difference in the verbs used with each of these words.

(All of the following are 体面を・面目を+VERB from the NINJAL corpus; excluded some at my own discretion for brevity; attempted to group them by concept 仲間外れがあれば、自由に修正してください。)

  Same for both 体面 and 面目
   保つ
   守る
   重んじる
   損なう
   失う

  Unique to 体面
  気にする・思いやる
  汚す・捨てる
  維持する・繕う
  表す
  与える

  Unique to 面目
  施す
  一新する・改める・回復する・取り返す
  高める・立てる
  潰す・失わす・欠く
  示す・見せる
  発揮する・主張する・貫く
  うかがう

So what I noticed is that while both 体面 and 面目 are important, to be protected, and can be lost, only 面目 has positive words like 一新する・改める・回復する・取り返す・高める・立てる associated with it, while with 体面 the best you can do is 維持する・繕う。

With 体面, you 気にする・思いやる it, but with 面目, you 示す・見せる・発揮する・主張する・貫く it.

I'm not sure how clear this is, but there seems to be an intrinsic, significant difference between these words that a dictionary can't express. That's what I'm trying to get to the bottom of.


texts: The question marker か can only be used in polite questions right? Then why plain volitional can use it?

texts: 今日は何をしようか。So is it a set rule that volitional form in plain (not using -ましょう) can use the question marker か?


texts: Appropriate ただいま-like greeting for a neighbor?

texts:
I frequently pass by an elderly neighbor who lives in the same apartment when coming home from a dog walk. He's kind of an in-house carpenter for the building and is frequently seen around the garage. I usually just nod to him with a small murmur that sounds like こんにちは.

Now this chap is not exactly as close as a family, so ただいま doesn't quite feel right. But he's more on a talking basis rather than a higher-up, which rules out ただいま戻りました. I've seen ただいまです used in the Internets but not in spoken Japanese.

What's the appropriate words of greeting in this situation?


texts: What is the proper form of a short question with an i-adjective vs. a na-adjective?

texts:
I have read that great answer about i-adjectives being predicates. How does it reflect in questions?

Say, I have a dialogue:

  — Is your city a beautiful one?

  — Yes, it is.

  — Is it big?

  — Yes, it is.

As I imagine, a conversation would be something like:

  —あなたの町はきれいですか。

  —はい、そうです。

  —あなたの町は大きいですか。

  —はい、そうです。

Is it possible to change the third phrase to something shorter, like 大きいですか or even 大きいか? Would this still be polite?

What would a similar short question look like with the na-adjective きれい?


texts: Facebook Quote Translation Informal Language

texts:
I would like the following quote translated for me. It comes from my sister who is going through a tough time right now. Unfortunately, we grew up apart. I grew up in Oklahoma and she grew up in Tokyo. I am coming here because I do not know where else to turn for help.

Quote:

苦しくなっちゃったから、さようならを言おう


texts: 授業- is it the class or class-time or more broadly?

texts:
http://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%8E%88%E6%A5%AD

list this word in one line so it doesn't seems like it should have lots of nuances.

Here some usage in my textbook.
出席　してこそ、授業の意味があるのです。

implies a sum of knowledge passed in class time.

授業が終わるか終わらないかのうちに、彼は教室を出た。

implies class-time.

Is 授業　really defined so broadly? What are the its limits of meaning and how to discrimate in practice?
www.jisho.org lists
授業時間 as class-time, are there correct term for scheduled class-time and actual class-time? I know from my time as an ALT in a Japanese high-school,  these are certainly not the same periods of time.


texts: A word used in fandoms "headcanon"-is there a word in Japanese for it?

texts: I talk with a couple of Japanese users on social media and I was wondering what other words can I use to say "Oh, I have this theory", or "I imagine this and that about those characters". Up until now I mostly used the verb 想像する to say that I 'imagine" the following or saying イデア. While talking with an user they wrote this 妄想 and I was glad to know another word and I think it fits more, I believe with the term 'headcanon'. I'm gonna use the word more often, but if anyone knows other terms, please tell me! I hope at least it was informative for some, because it was the first time that I encountered the use of 妄想.


texts:
In the middle of the Famicom game Bucky O'Hare, a cutscene starts with this text:

こうして　４人を　きゅうしゅつした　バッキーであったが・・・じつは　それは　バッキー　オヘアを　とらえる　ために　トードぐんが　しくんだ　わなだったのだ！！

The meaning of the sentence is obvious -- "Thus Bucky rescued the four, but [etc., etc.]" -- but I can't quite grasp this use of であった. I realize it's from である, but its role here doesn't seem to be a simple "was". What's going on here?


texts: Cohortative ましょう with and without the auxiliary construction ～てみる

texts:
In "何かしてみましょう。" meaning "Let's try/do something.", what is the literal translation of "してみましょう"? I've got "して" means "doing" and "みましょう" means "let's watch or let's?".

How is "してみましょう" different from using "しましょう"? Would using "してましょう" be grammatically correct and mean the same thing?


texts: カス in the context of 俺はやる lyrics by Wanyudo

texts:
I can't figure out the meaning of the chorus from the song 俺はやる by Wanyudo. Particularly I have a problem with the word カス.

The context is as follows (someone transcribed the full lyrics here, the link contains also a live performance of this song without the need for Spotify account):

  口だけのカス朽ち果てろよ
  こんな奴が相手じゃ誰も付き合えんよな
  期待を裏切り嘘をつき人の道に背き
  偽善者の人見知り繁華街のごろつき
  ...
  俺はやる やりたいやらなくちゃそれはカス
  俺はやる 必ず俺はやる声枯らす
  俺はやる やりたいやらなくちゃそれはカス
  俺はやる 必ず俺はやる声枯らす

From the first phrase (口だけのカス) I guess カス is a noun and it might be used in the fifth meaning here: dregs (e.g. of society); scum; dross (and etymologically coming from カストリ文化) for someone who lives only from "their mouth", i.e. this rapper.

I imagine the first line (口だけのカス朽ち果てろよ) is something that he hears (from imperative form of 朽ち果てろ) and the meaning of what follows and the chorus would be an answer to it - something like "this is how I live, this is the way of カス."

Is my interpretation correct?


texts:
From here: http://doge-sucha.com/2018/12/zaregoto-1328/

I've seen this before on slangy dialogue but I can't find a dictionary meaning for it. Thanks.


texts: さえ vs でさえ ｜ この整理は正しいですか。(English available)

texts:
日本語

以下の整理は正しいですか。正しくないところがあれば、てつだってください。

１　「でさえ」の「で」は助詞の「で」の場合

  X: 世界の闇｛やみ｝の中さえきっとあなたは輝｛かがや｝く。
  O: 世界の闇の中でさえきっとあなたは輝く。

闇の中で輝く -> 闇の中でさえ輝く
元の助詞は「で」ですよね。「さえ」が入るなら、「で」は「でさえ」になります。「で」は消せません。

  O: 君さえ止められない人間を見たことがない。
  I've never seen someone who couldn't stop even you.

  O: 君でさえ止められない人間を見たことがない。
  I've never seen someone whom even you couldn't stop.

  (from broccoli forest’s answer in ですら・でも・さえ・だろう（と／が）。 Are there any differences?)

「君さえ」の文章は、最初に「君が」ですから、「が」が消えます。broccoli forest によると、「君さえ止められない」は「人間が君を止めることができない」ということです。

「君でさえ」の文章は、状態の「で」ですから　（君として止められない）、「で」が消えなくて、「さえ」が入ります。broccoli forest によれば、「君でさえ止められない」は「君が人間を止めることができない」ということです。
(子供でわからなければ、大人に聞くといい。さえ how to use it)

２　「でさえ」の「で」は「である」の「で」の場合

その場合は、「さえ」と「でさえ」の用法はわからない時、まず「条件」か「類推」か考えたほうがいいと思います。

  条件
  O: お金さえあれば、いいですね。
  X: お金でさえあれば、いいですね。

  O: パソコンさえあれば、仕事ができる。
  X: パソコンでさえあれば、仕事ができる。

  O: あの男さえいなくなれば。。。
  X: あの男でさえいなくなれば。。。

  類推
  X: この問題、猿さえ解けますよ。
  O: この問題、猿でさえ解けますよ。

  X: 犯人さえ人情{にんじょう}がありますよ。世界の闇さえ輝ける。
  O: 犯人でさえ人情がありますよ。世界の闇でさえ輝ける。

脚｛きゃく｝注｛ちゅう｝

さえ how to use it

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

Difference between さえ、でさえ

での用法

(Edited errors involving particles and translation)

English

Are the following observations correct? Please help if I have made mistakes somewhere.

１　When で in「でさえ」is a particle

  X: 世界の闇｛やみ｝の中さえきっとあなたは輝｛かがや｝く。
  O: 世界の闇の中でさえきっとあなたは輝く。
  Even in the darkness of the world, you will surely shine.

闇の中で輝く becomes 闇の中でさえ輝く.  Since あなた shines in the darkness, で is needed to express a place of action.
At first で is used, but once さえ is added, で doesn't disappear; it becomes でさえ.

  O: 君さえ止められない人間を見たことがない。
  I've never seen someone who couldn't stop even you.

  O: 君でさえ止められない人間を見たことがない。
  I've never seen someone whom even you couldn't stop.

  (from broccoli forest’s answer in ですら・でも・さえ・だろう（と／が）。 Are there any differences?)

For 君さえ, the original phrase is 君が, but が disappears. According to broccoli forest, 君さえ止められない means「人間が君を止めることができない」- the subject is a human, 人間, and the object is 君.

For 君でさえ, the「で」is a particle that expresses a state - the state of being 君（like saying 君として止められない - As you, you cannot stop...）. で doesn't disappear when さえ enters. broccoli forest says again, 君でさえ止められない means「君が人間を止めることができない」.
(A similar sentence would be 子供でわからなければ、大人に聞くといい。from さえ how to use it)

２　When で in「でさえ」is from「である」

In this case, I think it's best to think about whether a condition or an analogy is being expressed.

  Condition
  O: お金さえあれば、いいですね。
  X: お金でさえあれば、いいですね。
  If only I have money; that would be great.

  O: パソコンさえあれば、仕事ができる。
  X: パソコンでさえあれば、仕事ができる。
  If only I had a computer; I would be able to do my work.

  O: あの男さえいなくなれば。。。
  X: あの男でさえいなくなれば。。。
  If only that man weren't there...

  Analogy
  X: この問題、猿さえ解けますよ。
  O: この問題、猿でさえ解けますよ。
  Even a monkey can solve this question.

  X: 犯人さえ人情{にんじょう}がありますよ。世界の闇さえ輝ける。
  O: 犯人でさえ人情がありますよ。世界の闇でさえ輝ける。
  Even a criminal has humanity, you know. Even the darkness in the world can shine.

References

さえ how to use it

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

Difference between さえ、でさえ

での用法

(Edited errors involving particles and translation)


texts: What is "かたいことばかりは言えないがだ"?

texts:
This is from the long-running anime Sazae-san. Let me set up the situation. A young couple is at a public telephone. The woman is calling her parents, telling them that she's at her female friend's and will get home late today. The viewer sees that this is a lie (since she's with her boyfriend and the guy is sticking his tongue out). Then suddenly, a stranger out of nowhere （波平）just snatches the phone from her hand and seems to be giving the parents a lecture. Below is the transcript:

  (The woman) もしもし？
  (The woman) 今　カズコんちにいるの。

  (The woman) 帰り　遅くなるから。

  （波平）いかん！  (snatches the phone)
  （波平）あなた　お母さんですか？(already talking on the phone)

  （波平）失礼だが
  （波平）お宅の教育は　間違っている。

  (The woman's mother, on the phone) あの　ちょっと
  (The woman's mother, on the phone) 主人と代わります。

  （波平）いや　そりゃ
  （波平）かたいことばかりは言えないがだ。

The anime is here (starting at 10:30): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x46ojrm.   Watching it is going to be essential in understanding the situation, I think.

Now my question is, what is 波平 saying to the parents? It seems to me that he says to them that they are raising their girl wrong (お宅の教育は　間違っている)? The last part I simply don't understand: "かたいことばかりは言えないがだ".  Something about them being too conservative? Also, what's with "がだ" at the end? Doesn't look correct grammar-wise. (This script comes from TV feed so it should be correct). This is all weird: I thought he would tell the parents the truth (that they were being lying to), and not go at them like this (perhaps I misunderstand the scene?).


texts: Unrelated clauses joined by て or the extra meaning of こともある

texts:
会計検査院が調べると、この商品券を同じ人がたくさん買って、１回の買い物で１００万円以上使っていたことがありました。同じ会社の人たちが全部で１８００万円の商品券を買って、船を買うために使っていたこともありました。

  When the audit office investigated (they found that) it's the same people that buy a lot of these coupons. There was an occasion where 1 million Yen was spent in one shopping trip. People from the same company bought a total of 18 million Yen's worth of coupons, and there was a time they were even used to buy a boat.

I'm a bit puzzled by こともありました at the end of this paragraph. At first I assumed that the company who bought 18 million Yen of coupons were the people who bought the boat, because the clause are joined with て. But the こともありました ending makes it sound to me like the boat buying was a separate thing.

Is there some aspect of こともありました that I'm missing or are these two events unrelated (even though they are joined with て)?


texts: Simple translation for one of my Anki cards, why is 上り translated to going "downtown"?

texts:
So I THOUGHT I understood the meaning, but the sentence translation threw me off.
Wouldn't it technically be UPtown since the train is going up? If not, can someone explain why it's set up this way? I might have misunderstood. Thanks in advance!!


texts: 日本へ手紙を送る vs 手紙を日本へ送る

texts:
I'm trying to learn the ropes of Japanese language with some online guides, and sometimes I try to anticipate the sentences using what I learn, just to find out that the guide uses a different form. Now I'm aware that a thing can be said in different ways, but let's go to the problem.

The guide was explaining the sentence "Send letter to Japan", now using what I learned so far I started composing the sentence from the destination, which is Japan (日本) and being it a location target I used the へ particle to connect it with the letter object (手紙). Now I have a letter to Japan, which is the object of my sentence, so I connect it with the を particle and finally the action to send it (送る).

Google Translate agrees with me that 日本へ手紙を送る is "Send a letter to Japan", but the guide uses 手紙を日本へ送る, which is clearly also correct.

Now to the question: are both these way of saying "Send a letter to Japan" correct or is there a preferable one?


texts: Does this use of だろうか indicate assertion of an opinion?

texts:
I always get a bit confused with だろう, which I've asked about before. In my other question, I got the impression that たろう meant a certain amount of assertion, and だろうか left some room for uncertainty.

This sentence is at the end of a longer piece of text in my JLPT practise book:

  教師{きょうし}のアドバイスに耳{みみ}を傾{かたむ}ける必要{ひつよう}もあるのではないだろうか。

I took it to mean something like, "Should we necessarily listen to the advice of teachers?" The rest of the text, too long to reproduce here, explores two sides of an issue, which the teachers are on one side of. So I thought it reasonable that the author is leaving it to the reader to decide if they want to agree with the teachers or not.

However, from the content of the questions, it seems that the book is telling me that the person who wrote the above sentence definitely sides with the teachers.

So, is だろうか more assertive than I thought it was?

Would it be more accurate to translate it as: "We should definitely listen to the advice of teachers."


texts: Is 子年 read as ねずみどし or ねどし? What about 卯年 and 亥年?

texts:
My dictionary says that 子年 can be read as both ねずみどし and ねどし, but when typing it in my computer, my IME only seems to convert ねずみどし to kanji.
The same goes for 卯年 (うどし and うさぎどし) and 亥年 (いどし and いのししどし).

Are both readings used? If so, which one is used more?


texts: Can someone please explain the に particle in this sentence: 'そして急ぐ君の目に焼き付いてはなれない'?

texts: I have 2 question really: What is the に particle's job in this sentence?, And when I put this sentence on Jisho.org it identifies 焼き付いてはなれない as 2 verbs, is it true?.


texts: What does どうした mean and how does it differ from 何をした?

texts:
I've never really understood how どうした works and hope someone can explain or point me towards further reading.

For example, in my textbook, the following question is asked in relation to a short passage:

  母親の気持ちに対して、住友君はどうしましたか？

The passage describes a young man, Sumitomo-kun, who from about the time he entered elementary school attended juku. The passage explains that because his mother felt the schools you attended were important to succeeding in life she sent him from this age despite thinking at some level that it was too early.

The answer to this question seems to be in the following part:

  「心を鬼にして塾へ送り出してくれた」母親を喜ばせてやろうと、一生懸命勉強し、県下でも有数の公立の進学高校に入学。

What I don't understand is why the question used どうした. Could it have used 何をした instead?

More broadly, what are the differences between the two questions?


texts:
この習慣は日本に特有のものです。

But if I were to ask a question, この習慣は日本に特有のものか would have a negative tone so what word do I use instead?


texts:
In the same meeting, I heard people talking about 性能試験, and then about 強化試験, like it was a totally different thing.

My understanding is that both are software performance tests. What are the differences or nuances in usage between the two?


texts: How to say "to nothing" with a positive verb in Japanese?

texts: Since なにも seems to only mean nothing with a negative verb if you want to use a phrase for example "The dog barked at nothing" in Japanese how would you express it? Is it 犬がなにもに吠えなかった because that seems wrong to me.


texts:
I use anime as a sort of playing ground to help my vocabulary construction and recognition. However, I often find confusion as a result of English translations. May I have some help distinguishing the functions and contexts of these following kanji/words?

心 (can specifically mean "heart", but sometimes may connote "mind", "spirit", or "soul");

霊 (will this only ever mean "spirit", or does it have other connotations?);

魂 (seems to connote "soul", but also seems to imply one's state of mind);

精神 (this appears to paint the concept of "mind" with very broad strokes, ambiguous enough to imply any of the key words I have listed so far).

As far as English goes, I consider the heart to be the figurative center of one's emotions and passions, the mind to be the figurative center for thought and logic, the spirit to be what animates the body, and the soul to be the literal combination of one's body and spirit. But how might we classify the functions of these Japanese words?


texts: I've come across this phrase かっこいポーズのリクストにこたえてくれました and I simply can't understand it, something about a cool pose perhaps? I don't know if it's written correctly either. I've tried translating it word by word but even so, it doesn't make much sense. Sorry for such a stupid question lol, thanks in advance


texts: What is a subsidiary verb? Could someone please explain it and give some examples of its application?


texts: Use of は with 自分 in a subordinate clause

texts:
Another sentence from Kanji in Context:

自分は偉いと思って人を見下しているとそのうち逆に他の人から見下されるようになる。
Those who think highly of themselves and look down on others will
eventually themselves be looked down upon (by others).

I've been puzzling over the choice to put は (instead of が) after 自分. It's the only は in the sentence and presumably marks the topic. Actually I find the topic itself unclear, if this was meant as a warning the topic could well be the listener, or this could just be a general observation of people.
What bothers me most is the usage of は in a subordinate clause (of 思う) and nowhere else. Is this a sort of shorthand for not stating the topic explicitly? i.e. could this be reworded as 人は自分が偉いと思って etc?


texts:
According to jisho.org and the yahoo japanese dictionary, the phrase 「いい加減【か・げん】」means roughly either 'half-baked' or 'quite-well'.

I know that 「[目覚]{め・ざ}めなさい」means "wake up" or "open your eyes".

I can understand that 「いい加減【か・げん】」is often used when trying to knock someone back to his senses.

But this doesn't jive quite well with the translations given above by the dictionaries.

It seems that 加減【か・げん】 means "extent, degree", so we can sort of see that 「いい加減【か・げん】」can mean "to a good degree" if we translate it literally.

If we go with the literal translation, I can see that the entire phrase can be understood as "open your eyes really well!".

But given the dictionary translation of 「いい加減【か・げん】」, it seems like the phrase might as well mean "open your eyes in a half-baked way".

I need some help deciphering this.

The only analogy I can think of is when in English people use "really bad" to mean "to a high degree"; as in: "I need this really bad!"

Is this kind of a similar nuance?


texts: Understanding the subtleties behind [noun]する vs [noun]だ

texts:
I still notice this when I see [verbal noun]する instead of [verbal noun]だ. While I understand the meaning of both, I'm missing the qualities that often make する or　がある seem to be a more natural choice in Japanese.

For example instead of:

  国民の平均身長は栄養状態と相関している。

I would want to say:

  国民の平均身長は栄養状態と相関だ。

I'd probably ask:

  Windows 10はRaspberry Piと対応ですか？

  Windows 10はRaspberry Piと互換ですか？

instead of:

  windows 10はRaspberry Piに対応していますか？

  windows 10はRaspberry Piに互換していますか？

In the Windows 10 example, I see there could be an implication of Microsoft providing something. But at times, as in the first example, it's not clear why there's the emphasis on dynamicity (continous form 〜ている).

Are things as I'd do it in fact less natural?


texts:
Which one sounds more natural? I'm trying to learn when to use verb+くる but it's not that intuitive. It's very easy to understand the meaning, especially when it's なってくる but for some reason I find it difficult to naturally translate something using that form.

What it's the difference (nuance) between them? They both express something that it's happening at this moment. Maybe using 見えてきた is more abrupt?

Thanks


texts:
It's hard to tell where the following breaks up as it's in one bubble.

  まあまあ
  せっかくだから[買]{か}いに[行]{い}ったらどうだ
  [山田]{やまだ}だって[必要]{ひつよう}だろ

Anyway. My attempt at (somewhat literal) translation here is:

  Now now,
  Because it's troubling, how about if we went to the store?
  It is necessary, 山田 having existed.

The last part makes no sense.

I'm not sure what the connective だって or the せっかく are doing here. Or the last だろ, for that matter.

EDIT

A new translation based off information provided in the comments:

  Because it would be a shame not to, how about about if we went to the store? I guess 山田 needs to as well.

The character is responding to one a question from another character who is wondering if everyone has a certain item.

P.S. I've avoided mentioning the source because of the absolutely humiliating nature of the translation assignment (the same one as my classmate's from other posts, it turns out). I'll give a link to on one image, but caution you against reading the series. Unless you have morbid tastes.

http://mangamatome.tv/view_9995_3.html


texts: Is it okay if I say 'sukoshi matte kudasai' instead of 'chotto matte kudasai' ?


texts: Can なければなりません apply to previous clause joined with て

texts:
気象庁は「まだ火山の活動が続いているので、これからどうなるか気をつけて見ていかなければなりません」と話しています。
  The JMA said "Because volcanic activity is still continuing, we'll have to pay attention to what happens from now on, and go and look at it."

I'm not 100% confident in my translation. My assumption is that なければなりません applies to both clauses 見ていく and 気をつける. If not, then I can't make the two clauses link together in any logical way.

Assuming my assumptions are correct would it also be natural to swap the order of these clauses:

  見ていってこれからどうなるか気をつけなければなりません。
  We have to go and look at it and pay attention to what's happening.

In English this order feels more natural, but I have no idea about Japanese.


texts: How is かっこいいな used individually as its own sentence?

texts:
I am having trouble understanding the second sentence below.

  ぼくのせいふくです。かっこいいな。

I understand that ぼく is "I / myself" for a boy, and adding a の to it makes it a "my". I also know that せいふく is "uniform", and understand that the first sentence means "This is my uniform." However, I do not understand the other sentence.

かっこいいな means "cool" but how is the word used individually as a sentence? Is this a typo, or am I misunderstood? Is the っ supposed to not be small, but rather it's normal size to mean a different word of some sort?

This is my first question on the Japanese Stack Exchange. I am familiar with the Stack Exchange, and am a student learning Japanese who desires to go to Japan and perhaps live there. I am highly interested in their culture, and I also really love mathematics, for which I also post questions on the Mathematics Stack Exchange.

Anything that I need to know, please tell me in comments or answers.

Thank you in advance.


texts: What's the (real) difference between 飲む and 食べる?

texts:
When I first started learning Japanese, I learned that 飲む meant "drink" and 食べる meant "eat".  These translations seemed to work for a while, but then I learned that you could 飲む things that you can't drink, like 息, タバコ, or 錠剤.

While going through various definitions for 飲む, I found one in particular that caught my eye (which I've abridged here, taken from the 集英社国語辞典):

  １。（液体や固体を）かまないで、口から体内に取り込む。「ミルクをー」「薬をー」

  ２。（気体を）吸い込む。「たばこをー」

It got me thinking: is the fundamental difference between 飲む and 食べる whether you chew before you swallow?  Can I express these words as:

飲む "to pass something through the mouth and into the body without chewing"
食べる "to pass something through the mouth and into the body with chewing"

Or is there a better way to explain the difference?


texts:
Can someone identify this stamp in a Bible that allowed my roommate's Grandpa to keep it in a POW camp in WW2?

Normally Bibles would have been forbidden but apparently this stamp that was inspected regularly allowed him to keep it throughout the war. He never knew what it said only that it let him keep it. I'd like to be able to tell him what it means before he passes on.


texts:
Is 写真, the word for photograph, in any way a form of onomatopoeia? That is to say, is it at all based on the sound of taking a photo?

I'm aware of the meanings of 写 and 真, but when said aloud I always pictured "shashin" as perhaps an imitation of an old camera shutter. Are my suspicions rooted in reality, or is it just a coincidence?


texts:
人間は普通ここに来れんのになあ I Know it means Humans Cannot Come here usually.

but doesn't 来られます　Means can come Potential Form But 来れ Then ん Confuses me.


texts: What is the role of imperative form in this sentence?

texts:
「ケガはないかい?」ハリーを引っ張り上げて立たせながらケンタウルスが声をかけた。

Please help me understand why they used imperative form (立たせ) in this sentence. I thought it is only used to give out order, request... and rarely used in writing language ?


texts: Can I use my Chinese name as a Japanese name?

texts: my name is 黃湞鈺 (Huáng Zhēn Yù) with 黃/Huáng as my surname and 湞鈺/Zhēn Yù as my given name, and I'm wondering is it possible to "translate" my Chinese name to a Japanese one? I'm well aware the characters in my name aren't the most common characters Japanese use so is it possible or would it be better to use ステファニー which spells to my English name?


texts:
I have the following sentence to translate for class.

森田さんは、
ヴァージニア州立大学を卒業してから
日本の映画の会社に就職することになっている

So far I have the following.

Morita-san
after graduating from Virginia State University
became getting a full time job at a Japanese movie company.

That することになっている seems strange to me. I would expect するようになっている which is a structure we recently learned.

Can anyone explain and maybe give a better English translation?


texts:
I'm reading some practice articles written in Japanese; not sure if they're based on real articles, but no matter.

The title in question is 村上ファン集うカフェで発表待つイベント, and I'm not 100% sure
 what the 発表待つ part is saying, thus I thought I'd ask.

It looks grammatically incorrect to mean, and I'm not sure what the title is saying as a result of this.


texts:
士道は慌てて首を振った。いらぬことを言ってへそを曲げられてはことである。
Context: The boy 士道 was trying to persuade a girl. The girl hated men and didn’t want to talk with 士道. If 士道 said anything amiss, the girl would get sulky further.
Hi. What is the function or meaning of the bold part? Is it some fixed kind of grammar pattern?
Thank you.


texts:
I've come across a construction, こそ...め, that I don't know how to translate.
Specifically, め, which I know is the [已然]{いぜん}[形]{けい} of む, since it comes after [未然]{みぜん}[形]{けい} inflections, is being used terminally. I don't know how to interpret this.
I have a few example sentences from classical literature:

[千年]{せんねん}を[過]{す}ぐすとも、[一夜]{いちや}の[夢]{ゆめ}の[心地]{ここち}こそせめ。

「[我]{われ}こそ[死]{し}なめ」とて、[泣]{な}きののしること、

「とくこそ[試]{こころ}みさせたまはめ」など[聞]{き}こゆれば、

[恥]{はぢ}かはしてありけれど、[男]{をとこ}はこの[女]{をんな}をこそ[得]{え}めと[思]{おも}ふ。

As well as from the [仰]{あお}げば[尊]{とうと}し:

[思]{おも}えばいと[疾]{と}しこの[年月]{ねんげつ}　[今]{いま}こそ[分]{わ}かれめ　いざさらば

What exactly does こそ...め mean? And also, can the [已然]{いぜん}[形]{けい} always be used terminally for any verb, or is this just a quirk of む?


texts:
This word 「決着」 (settlement/conclusion) is read as けっちゃく. Though lately, I've been digging into some more comics and noticed that there's another reading being used: ケリ.

For example:

これが最後【さいご】だ。決着【ケリ】を付けよう【つけよう】じゃねぇか。
いくぞ。ここで決着【ケリ】を付けて【つけて】やる。

Is this a new reading because I don't see it in any JAP to ENG dictionary I reference


texts: Using stem (ます) form when linking sentences/ideas?

texts:
I was taught that when て form is used to link sentences and ideas, it shows succession in action.
For example, 起きて、歯を洗いました means I woke up, and AFTER that, I brushed my teeth.

But lately, I've been noticing that ます form can be used to link sentences as well. However, I'm pretty sure that when ます form is used, it does not necessarily show succession. I think it either means '-ing' or 'and,' but I'm not sure.

Question 1
For example, given
僕は道を無くし、言葉すら無くしてしまう,
(無くし being the ます form of 無くす - to lose)
do I translate it as
"Losing my way, I lose even my words" or "I lose my way, and I even lose my words."

Question 2
Also, would it have the same meaning if the sentence was
「僕は道を無くして、言葉すら無くし**て**しまう」？
In that case, when do I use て form versus ます form, and what is the difference in nuance?

Thank you!


texts:
馬鹿だからって知らないわけじゃない

I translated this sentence as "It's not like I don't know that I'm stupid," while my friend who wrote it translated it as "I'm stupid, but I know that." So I feel I understand the meaning adequately, but on closer inspection, I am confused by だからって. Is it two words, だから and って, or one word, or a set phrase?

WJD provides this definition: だからって (exp) even so; all the same; nevertheless; yes, but ...

So I suppose a better translation would be, "I'm stupid, but it's not like I don't know it," where だからって is equivalent to "but." However, does it mean more than "but" here? Is it also acting as a copula? What is the etymology of this expression and, if it is made up of two words, how do they act upon each other?


texts:
何さ、いやな人たちだね。こんな家に生まれてきたのが運のツキだよ。
  What!? I'm an unpleasant person am I? To be born in a house such as this ...

Bit confused by the part in bold.
運 means "luck" and ツキ can also mean "luck". So is this "luck of lucks"? Is it a sarcastic comment "Lucky me, to be born in a house such as this"?

If so, do Japanese people tend to use sarcasm often?


texts:
「カッコイイのやってみたいと思ってます」
What's meaning of の here? How I understand: (I think) I wanna try to do something cool? (I'm not sure about カッコイイの) Thanks for your answer


texts:
For instance, if I say the following as the first phrase in a conversation:

おはよう！ピクニックでリナさんを探していましたが、どこもみえませんでしたね。
Hi! I was looking for you at the picnic, but couldn't find anywhere.

Is it OK to construct the sentence without a particular topic? Is I as the topic implied in this case?


texts: Particle に to enumerate things / to list items?

texts:
I encountered several sentences where に was used—from my deduction of the context—to enumerate things. For example a character about to go somewhere, checks his bag if he has everything he needs :
2:「忘れ物は？」
1:「大丈夫ー」
1:「－だと思うけど確認しておこう」
1:「バンデージにタオルに」
1:「トランクス」

I tried searching this grammar but couldn't satisfy my curiosity. Why and how に is used to enumerate things? I understand that it is basically used to tell the time, place, directions, cause, ect... But I'm lost on how to understand it used in that way.


texts:
A teacher was too nice, lost control of her class and then slapped one of them. Another teacher is trying to comfort her:

  私も少し甘やかしすぎる方だから、子供たちにはいいクスリになったんじゃないでしょうか。
  Because I also spoil them too much the children learnt a lesson, didn't they?

I always get confused with endings like んじゃないでしょうか. My translation makes no sense. I assume he is saying that the kids didn't learn a lesson because he spoils them too much, but I don't see how this can mean that they didn't learn a lesson.

What is the actual meaning of this sentence and how do I parse it correctly?


texts: I recently came across a sentence mentioning 'ジャパニーズデザイン'. What would be the difference between calling something 日本のデザイン verses ジャパニーズデザイン?


texts: Asking "Do you speak Japanese?" in Japanese

texts:
So, in English, we tend to use phrases like "Do you speak English?" when what we're really talking about is ability -- i.e. "Can you speak English?"

My question is, does this work in Japanese? The impression I get is no, but I want to make sure. Like, if someone were to ask "日本語しゃべるの?", it wouldn't be "Do you speak Japanese?" as in "Can you speak Japanese?", it would be "Do you speak Japanese?" as in "Do you ever speak Japanese?", or possibly "Are you going to speak Japanese?", right? To ask about ability, I have to actually use a potential form of the verb -- しゃべれる. Right?


texts: why the まったく in the sentence implies negative, instead of positive

texts:
「道歩いてんのに人影がまったくね..」

In the manga, the quoted sentence above is shown with an image of deserted road, and I guess the meaning should be something like this:

「I'm walking down the road, but not a single person in sight.. 」

But without the picture, I would have mistaken it as:

「I'm walking down the road, but so many people in sight.. 」

Please help me understand the grammar of the sentence, because to me it seems like a positive sentence.


texts:
I haven't been able to find a good source online, so I'm asking you guys. What is the pitch-accent rule for numbers? Is 十五 (じゅうご) a 0 or a 1 or a 3 or what? Is there a general pattern?

I realize that numbers in Japanese are a whole can of worms that I haven't completely understood just yet, but I think I understand the basic forms, though just not their pitch-accents.

In terms of my level, consider me an absolute beginner. Thanks!


texts: Meaning of 私は　ひらがなが　書けるように　なりました

texts:
As the title states, what is the meaning of  私{わたし｝は　ひらがなが　書｛か｝けるように　なりました？

I thought it meant "I felt like writing hiragana", but I am not sure.


texts: When can I get away with implying the の possessive?

texts:
I was reading the bible in Japanese a bit and came across this bit of Jonah 1:

  アミタイの子ヨナに、主から次のようなことばがありました。

Notice how the noun-phrase "Jonah son of Amittai" in the NIV became "アミタイの子ヨナ" in the Japanese JLB. From what I can tell it could also have been written "アミタイの子のヨナ" but instead the second possessive is implied by word order.

I've seen this in other instances as well, and I'm really curious: when exactly can one get away with implying the possessive like this? I'm really curious as whenever I try to, apparently I can never get it right and still have no clue what I'm doing wrong.

PS. If asking when can you imply the possessive is to much, feel free to answer when you CAN'T imply it if that would make it more answerable.


texts:
Firstly, I apologise if this has been asked before or if I have asked this in the wrong place (should I have asked on the meta site?).

I've studied Japanese for (going on) 5 years, now. It's been mostly classroom based, but I gained a lot of experience and confidence when I travelled out to Japan (Fukuoka, Hirado, Sasebo and Nagasaki for those interested) that I don't think I'd ever have gotten in the classroom. But I've never studied the linguistic side of language study. By that, I mean terms like those found in the example provided in this question (over on meta).

I really want to study Japanese and take it to the next level, and I'm left wondering whether it would be worth studying linguistics in an effort to further my knowledge or whether it would just be worth studying more vocabulary, grammar and such.

I am very serious about my study of Japanese and it would definitely help in my current job, and I'm planning on visiting my Japanese friends again, soon. So, in the opinion of the fellow users/learners, would it be worth my time studying the field of linguistics? What are the advantages and disadvantages of studying linguistics?


texts: What is the difference between 鋼{はがね} and 鋼鉄{こうてつ} (two ways to say "steel")?

texts: From Jisho.org, both 鋼{はがね} and 鋼鉄{こうてつ} mean steel. Are there any differences between them?


texts: Why is particle で used instead of particle と in 家族で出かける (Kazoku de dekakeru)?

texts:
I have found this sentence:

  家族で出かける。(Kazoku de dekakeru.)

Why is the particle で used instead of と?


texts: て form of past negative sentence with ちゃう

texts:
So I know that to use ちゃう we use the て form a verb and delete the て and add ちゃう, however; how would this work for example with 話す as in
話す->話さない->話さなかった
If to say "I'm not speaking" is 話さなくている then to use ちゃう in here, do I say 話さなくちゃた to say "I didn't speak"?


texts: Are there verbs that simply cannot work alone under any circumstances?

texts: Some verbs, like 過ぎる can be added to the stem of other verbs to alter the meaning, (食べる>食べ過ぎる), can 過ぎる be used alone in specific circumstances? Are there verbs which are either grammatically incorrect when used alone, but still are classified as a verb, or verbs which can never be used alone in any context, despite being usable alone without being grammatically incorrect?


texts: Can "AはBに影響されない" and "AはBに影響しない" ever have the same meaning?

texts:
In a conversation, I wanted to say:

  A does not affect B.

We'd been discussing A and B for awhile, and I said:

  (1) AはBを影響{えいきょう}しない。

I was stopped and told to say:

  (2) AはBに影響されない。

then she mentioned that I also could say:

  (3) AはBに影響しない。

I'm really puzzled about that exchange. Maybe I completely misunderstood her Japanese.

Can #2 and #3 ever have the same meaning?


texts: What is the meaning of 過ぎる in this sentence?

texts:
The verb 過ぎる shows up in the following sentence:

  二年間の景気後退期を過ぎれば、この国の経済は最悪の状態を脱するかもしれません。

I think I understand the sentence but the problem is that I'm not sure what 過ぎる exactly means. It is in its ば conditional form, right? What would be the meaning of 過ぎる in this sentence?
助けてください


texts: I think してて　is していて, but I can't figure out what くるんて could mean.


texts: How do you respond when someone knocks on the toilet door?

texts:
If you were using the toilet and someone knocked on the door what would be the common response to indicate it was occupied?

I noticed some Japanese people knock back, but it is not always possible, so how do you answer verbally?


texts: Fun with synonyms - "shine/sparkle/glitter/glimmer/glisten/gleam/twinkle/flash"

texts:
Been thinking about these for a while.  I see that we already have Difference between 光る, 輝く, and 光り輝く?, but I'm including a lot more.  What are the differences in meaning (ignoring conjugations) of the following words:

光る・ピカピカ
輝く・輝かす
光り輝く
[閃]{ひらめ}く
[煌]{きらめ}く・キラキラ・ギラつく
瞬く
てかる・テカテカ
ちらつく・ちらちら
照る・照らす

Which ones are interchangeable?  Which ones imply a definite "brightness", and which ones don't (I'd say even in English, "glimmer" and "flash" do not necessarily imply brightness—even a dim light could glimmer (as its intensity grows and fades) or flash (off and on) )?


texts: te form negative vs negative form (HW: やっていない, why not やらなかった　or　やっていなかった)

texts:
I've been studying Japanese here in Tokyo from scratch for a good 2 months now. I've been struggling with daily conversation but I try to improve each day by studying.

Lately, I am trying to understand when to use ~te form + iru/inai vs masu/masen. Don't get me wrong, this post is not about asking help for conjugation techniques, but rather which one to use especially for conversations. To ~te or not to ~te, that is the question.

For example:

When people ask if I did homework, I know the correct way of saying "I didn't do it" would be やっていない. I was wondering why, or rather, what would be the difference if I responded with やりませんでした/やらなかった or やっていなかった? Because the way I see it, I was not able to do my homework which was given in the past (probably like yesterday for example), therefore I should use past tense. Also, why not plainly use やりませんでした/やらなかった. Why does it have to be in ~te form?

Another example I have is:

What would be the difference between けっこんした vs けっこんしていた? I know the first one means "I got married in the past", does the second one mean "I was married in the past.. but now I am not!" ~ kind of nuance?

I know this might be something very basic, but for someone like me, it's hard to grasp it. Any feedback is much appreciated. Thank you!


texts: What is the nuanced function of 何ひとつ in a negated sentence?

texts:
I'm translating the following sentence, and am stumped on how to translate 何ひとつ in a negated sentence.

  名前も、家族も、友人も……何ひとつ思い出せません。

  my name, my family, my friends...I cannot remember x.

I know it can mean ("(not) at all", "(not) a thing") according to this answer, but this leaves me with a issue of possible double negation.

Therefore, does the 何ひとつ indicate a negative, or does it indicate what is not being negated via 何ひとつ? For example, does it function as the 'not' in "(not) at all" or does it refer to what is not in the ()?


texts: What does the phrase "日本アニメ、米中が爆買い　ネット配信の覇権争い過熱" mean?

texts:
Recently, as a way to test my Japanese comprehension, I've been attempting to read articles in Japanese. However, my knowledge of the language is still quite limited and so I have trouble with some phrases and words, and the such.

I saw the title "日本アニメ、米中が爆買い　ネット配信の覇権争い過熱" for an article and have not been able to get a very good grasp on the meaning. Please help?


texts: How do you say "of good stock" vs. "of weak stock" in Japanese?

texts:
I'm trying to translate into Japanese for an academic paper a quote from a 19th century eugenics book into Japanese. It contains the phrase "Those with lower ideals will continue to restrict their families, and, with the weaker and unsound stocks, will weed themselves out of the race."
I found 虚弱体質である、身体が虚弱である、身体が弱い、病身である for "have a weak constitution"; 体質が健全だ、体格がいい for "have a good constitution"; and よいしつけ、正しい作法、育ちの良い for "of good breeding".
However, none of these include the English nuance about animals that are in the words "stock" (as in "livestock") or "breeding," which I think should come across in a book written by misled eugenicists who considered some human families to be quality stock and others to be low quality stock. I'm looking for a word in Japanese that could be used to refer to humans but is largely associated with the idea of animals as a lower species. To refer to the people who the authors thought should die off as 方、者、or 人 seems like the demeaning nuance would be lost.
My translation so far is as follows, with the spots for "stock" marked by blanks:

"[T]he realization of the power of limiting the birth-rate . . . [means] [t]hose who, sound in body and mind, possess a high moral tone and a clear appreciation of their social responsibilities . . . will produce many offspring.  Those with lower ideals will continue to restrict their families, and, with the weaker and unsound stocks, will weed themselves out of the race."
「出生率を制限するの力が実現される意味は心身ともに健全である、倫理的に高い基準を示す、社会的責任をはっきりと理解するは多くの子孫を生み出すことになる。理想が弱く者は彼らの家族を制限続けると、身体が虚弱である____と精神障害を抱えている____とともに、自分自身が人類から一掃する」

(There are probably various grammatical errors in the translation at this point [1st draft] so I apologize for that [any tips on improving it as a whole would be gladly welcome as well].)


texts: What is the difference between 発行する and 作成する when talking about documents?

texts:
What would be the difference between 発行【はっこう】する and 作成【さくせい】する when talking about documents?　I will use both of them in the next sentence, could you please tell me if there is any difference?

不良品【ふりょうひん】の返品伝票【へんぴんでんぴょう】を作成【さくせい】する。
不良品の返品伝票を発行【はっこう】する。

Great thanks is advance!


texts: Understanding the grammar phenomenon that たことになる is not always 反事実

texts:
「さて、二人とも。今日来てもらったのは他でもない。ーー宇宙空間を漂っていた先の精霊が<ラタトスク>の手に落ちたことで、彼らの元には累計一〇体もの精霊が集まったことになった」(Date
a live, novel)

家出初日にして、僕は四日分の食費を知らないオッサンのために遣ってしまったことになる。(天気の子, novel)

I know たことになる is used to talk about something counterfactual (反事実) in the sense of “pretend”. https://nihongonosensei.net/?p=8279
But the above two examples I quoted are not 反事実. The context for 1 is that <ラタトスク> has 10 精霊 in fact, and the context for 2 is that the speaker in fact spent a quarter of food expenses on the stranger.
So how should I understand this grammar phenomenon, if these たことになるs can’t express 反事実?


texts: I was in class the other day and my せんせい was teaching us about using ぐらい (gurai) as in ...どの ぐらい かかりますか (how long will it take), and mentioned another form of ぐらい being ごろ (goro), and never elaborated on how or when to use it. Can anyone explain it to me?


texts:
This question is prompted by the earlier question on the use of 書ける. Initially I thought the answer might explain the difference between these two (eg 彼は頭がよく切れる|
he is (very) sharp) but in most cases, including this one the adjective seems unnecessary. (For reference, I have made a list of common examples below.)

(Also, as an observation, because I don't want to over-extend the scope of the question  切れる also seems to be used in compound verbs while 切り is used in compound "masu-形 nouns" such as 締め切り/deadline or　思い切り/to one's content.)

Examples of 切れる：

  ひもが切れる|
  the string breaks

  電池が切れる|
  the battery dies

  たばこが切れる|
  be out of cigarettes

  賞味期限が切れる|
  past best before date

  しびれが切れる （＝足がしびれる）|
  legs have gone to sleep

  彼は頭が（よく）切れる|
  he is (very) sharp

Examples of 切る：

  電源を切る|
  switch off

  野菜の水気を切る
  drain water from vegetables

  スタートを切る|
  start off

  １００メートル競走で１０秒を切る|
  run 100m in less than 10 secs

  ハンドルを右に切る|
  turn the wheel to the right

  カードをよく切る|
  Please shuffle the cards well. ｜

  キレて、犯罪を犯す若者が増加している|

  The number of young people committing crimes as a result of rage is increasing.

Examples of compund verbs with 切れる：

  チケットが売り切れる|
  tickets are sold out

  だれがそれを言い切れるだろうか｜
  who would dare to say that with (any) certainty?

  会話が  途切れる （とぎれる）｜
  the conversation comes to a halt


texts: Don't undestand this particular use of ない form

texts:
This is the example sentence from one of my textbooks.

時間があるから、昼ごはんを食べて行かない？

Textbooks translation - "We have some time so how about we grab a bite to eat and then go?"

I don't understand why the ない form here doesn't translate to a present negative like 'grab a bite to eat and don't go" hence my confusion over its meaning. Either the translation is somehow off (unlikely), this sentence  is simply incorrect (unlikely) or theres some rule I'm forgetting or don't know about (very much likely). Please help.


texts:
What does のそ mean in this picture?

A friend of mine said that it was "a moment later...", but I'm not really sure if that's the real meaning. What does this annotation mean?


texts:
I pretty much couldn't find this とこに in my dictionary so I was wondering what it means.
Here's the context:

  あんなとこにタオル落ちてる

Also, is あんな a slang for あのな?

Edit. I forgot, my translation would be:

  "The towel has fallen"

But yeah, I don't get the meaning of anna tokoni.


texts:
Since my flight home from Japan is soon approaching I thought I had better learn the word for "flight".

It seems to be one of those words that has several Japanese equivalents. I'd like to know the usage and nuance differences between them, and which is most practical to learn first for a beginner (not too difficult, rare, technical, outdated, etc)

Here are the terms I've found so far:

飛行{ひこう} - My intuition is that this is the one I should prefer, but I could be biased against loanwords from English.
便{びん} - Wiktionary says this means "booked flight", which doesn't rule it out. Being a single character it's harder for a beginner to look for examples. Single character words usually have other readings and other senses.
フライト - This is obviously a loanword from English, does it convey anything new that the more traditional-looking kanji terms don't?
飛{とび} - Being a single character makes this hard for a beginner to look into, but my impression is that even with this reading it's too ambiguous and probably isn't used so much for people talking about air travel.

I would be looking for a term that I could use in sentences equivalent to:

I've booked my flight.
I have a flight home on the 22nd.
I hope I don't miss my flight.


texts: Grammar interpretation of 来た人をごはんにして食べるんだ

texts:
The sentence 来た人をごはんにして食べるんだ comes from this source as N4 reading. However, I find some higher-level grammars appear in these N4 lessons so I have a confusion here.

Is にして here にして of N1 grammar or にする of N5 grammar?
Does を support して or 食べる?
What is the literal translation of the sentence?

Thank you very much in advance.


texts:
WWWJDIC says that both 迷宮 and 迷路 mean "maze / labyrinth".

Google Images suggests that they are about the same thing: link1, link2

However, what may be the differences in nuance and usage between 迷宮 and 迷路?


texts: Why does the following sentence contain など?

texts:
If you have read Japanese Wikipedia articles such as this one, you will have come across sentences like the following.

  この項目を加筆・訂正などしてくださる協力者を求めています

My translation of the sentence goes like this:

  We are looking for collaborators who would be so kind as to improve and correct this item.

What stumps me about the sentence is that it contains など. My research indicates that など is attached to nouns. If I try to make a literal translation, I will get something like this.

  We are looking for collaborators who would be so kind as to make improvements, corrections and so on for this item.

If I didn't add “for”, the sentence would be grammatically incorrect in English. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but does the sentence really need など in it?


texts: Research on かのように, and other よう constructs

texts:
I wanted to learn more about よう constructs, in particular the かのよう(な)(に) and かのようだ constructs, so I did some research. The following is what I've found so far.

  よう - a noun that can turn into a modifying noun or a adjective depending on whether a の or な exists on either end (see below). source 1

  のよう - modifies previous noun in “noun + のよう” construct as の “links” the よう to the noun. - source 1

  ような - the な-adjective version of よう, from my understanding of this

  のように - "Noun A のように" is used when describing an action which is "done in the same way as A" or a characteristic "which is comparable to A". Source: Genki II Second Edition Textbook, page 239

  のような - "Noun A のような noun B" means "a B like/similar to A." "A のような B" means that "B" has the same quality(ies) or appearance as A, or A is a example of "B". Source: Genki II Second Edition Textbook, page 239

  かのよう - Found nothing so far.

  かのような　　"Verb Phrase + かのような + Noun" = "(Noun) as if (Verb Phrase)" and forms a metaphorical expression or simile Source

  かのようだ translates as ‘(seems) as if...’ or ‘(seems) as if perhaps...’ Source: this answer here

I am stumped as to what かのように means in comparison to かのような, and かのようだ are, as I don't have a possible translation for かのように, possible grammar functions, nor have I been able to find any questions asking about かのように specifically other than this question. Unfortunately, the asker claims to already "understand fine how to use 〜(の)よう{に・な・だ}". thereby leaving me in the dark as to how it is used. (Any clarification/explanation/rant on かのように alone will be much apricated.)

Is the above research correct as far as to what each construct means, and what they are used for/as?

Edit:

Some example sentences shown below.

1) 自分の技術を自慢するかのように、　嬉しそうに話す銀髪の男。

2) 自分のことなのに、まるで他人{ひと}のことを思い出しているかのようだ。

3) 軍隊で使うような、重くて厚みのあるサバイバルナイフ。

4) 品定めをするかのような, 射貫{いね}くような眼差{まなざ}をこちらに向けながら.


texts: Is マスカット an accurate translation for "green grape", and what foreign word is it derived from?

texts:
I'm new to Japanese so I'm working my way through Human Japanese, when I was adding the vocabulary to Quizlet I realized I didn't know how to type マスカット because I'm not used to seeing ツ used like that.

At this point I resorted to using Google translate to see it spelt out in romaji. As I did that I saw Google says that マスカット means muscat. When you enter green grape, it gets translated as midoriiro no budoo.

So my question is:

What foregin word is マスカット derived from?
Is マスカット an accurate translation for green grape?
What is the most commonly used word in Japanese for green grape?


texts:
I'm curious what the relationship is between む and ん.  I have the feeling that sometimes, む is pronounced more like ん:

むむむ: is this really /mumumu/?  Or does it become /mmm/?
うむむ: is this really /umumu/?  Or does it become /umm/?

I've spent more time reading than listening, and I'm not sure where I picked this idea up.  I did see on Wikipedia that ん was formerly written む.  Unfortunately, the article doesn't say anything about the two being related in modern Japanese.

I'm also aware of うむ, which is apparently an older version of うん.  Perhaps this is an example of something similar?

Here is an example context for むむむ, in which I suspect it is not actually pronounced /mumumu/:


texts: The difference between 解説 and 説明 (and 解釈)

texts:
How does one distinguish the three words? I checked several sites.

First, I checked Weblio which told me that there's really a relationship among the three. Next, I checked HiNative links here and here which suggested that 解釈 is the odd one out (which has a meaning close to interpretation), and that 説明 is a more general term and gives a more objective explanation, while 解説 can include a more subjective (and/or expert) opinion.

I would like to check if these statements are true.


texts: This has been on my mind for a while with nowhere to really ask it. What does the "N" in the JLPT levels (such as N1-N5) stand for? My current theory is [能力]{のうりょく} since these denote the level of skill one possesses, but I'm not certain. This isn't really a burning question either; I just like knowing weird facts like this.


texts:
I think I understand when you would use 箸にも棒にもかからない, referring to someone who is hopeless - but what situation does the phrase describe?
Is there a story behind it? What is happening with chopsticks and sticks?


texts: So, I looked up in a dictionary that the suffix「う」can indicate will. So, could this possibly indicate future tense? If so, is there a special case?


texts:
According to jisho.org, だって has these meanings:

after all; because
but
even
too; as well; also
they say; I hear; you mean

In my opinion, "because" and "but", and "as well" are completely different things. I understand that the actual meaning of だって is inferred by context, but having so many distinct meanings is kind of weird.

I know that だって is short for だという, which means roughly "[some pronoun] say". That is the meaning number 5 of だって.

How does "[some pronoun] say" turn into "because", "but" and "even" etc?


texts: 心身を病んでいるが兵団から立ち退くことができないのだ

texts:
I have some doubts about the meaning of this sentence and in particular about the verb 立ち退く and the expression 心身を病んでいる.

This is the complete sentence.

  心身を病んでいるが兵団から立ち退くことができないのだ.

心身を病んでいる

Does this mean: to be ill in mind and body?

兵団から立ち退くことができないのだ

I think it means: Is impossible to leave (?) the army.

Thank you for your precious help.


texts: Understanding トイレの方が来たらいいのに in these song lyrics

texts:
I've been listening to a song called 布団の中から出たくない recently and tried to translate some of the lyrics, since my Japanese is still on a beginner or lower intermediate level. I stumbled over one particular sentence while translating:

  トイレの方が来たらいいのに

I found out that it says something like "I wish the toilet would come", but I'm not sure about some parts of that sentence. Could someone please divide the sentence up into its grammatical components? The ending of the sentence is what confuses me the most, I don't really get what kitara ii no ni is supposed to mean.


texts: Use of 掛ける vs する for 眼鏡 or サングラス

texts: Which is more common in spoken Japanese? 眼鏡【めがね】を掛ける【かける】or 眼鏡をする? I've heard both verbs used, which is why I'm curious. Would the answer be different if it's サングラス instead?


texts: What is the official word for compound syllabaries in Japanese Hiragana?

texts:
I am learning Japanese, and of course my first step has been to learn the Hiragana and Katakana. I am at the point to where I feel comfortable writing and reading in Hiragana and I understand that the "mudded sound" characters are called dakuten and handakuten. However, I am not entirely sure that I know the official word for the "compound Hiragana."
Such as きょ、ちゃ、 じゅ
All I have been seeing it labeled as online or in books is compound Hiragana. So I guess my question is, Is this the correct term for this or is there a more official word for it in Japanese?
Any help is of course always appreciated. ありがとう！


texts: Is it natural to say もしもし to start a conversation in chat? How about in a business setting when you want to start a conversation in chat (example: Skype)?


texts: I need some help understanding the grammar of しのげそうな in この寒さをしのげそうな防寒服を手渡され

texts:
I can understand the gist of what the below sentence is saying; but the part in the first section that's only hiragana (bolded part) is confusing me.

  この寒さをしのげそうな防寒服を手渡され、それを着込みながら僕は彼女に質問した。

I think that the そうな is a そう+な-particle, but seeing as how I don't know what the しのげ that comes directly before it is, I could easily be wrong in my understanding of what the そうな hiragana in the above sentence actually means.

I am unable to tell if the の is a particle の, or is a part of a しの-stem/しのげ-stem, which presents another issue. I've tried looking up the 'usage of げ' under the assumption that しのげ is a しの-stem + げ, but nothing I found helped me. I did find this answer, but I believe it served to only confuse me more as the first answer says that "...this makes 〜げ more subjective whereas 〜そう is more objective..." which means that in my sentence they are contradicting each other?

Looking on Jisho.org gave me no results for しのげ, and a few for しの; but I still don't know what the げ is used for?


texts: Does 彼女は私と一緒にいればよかった mean wish she WAS with me or wish she HAD been with me?

texts:
彼女は私と一緒にいればよかった

Does it mean

I wish she was with me (right now), or
I wish she had been with me (in the past)?


texts:
I was watching the news > link and I think the MC said

at 1:23

  先週オープンしたアミューズメントパーク「トンデミ」大人も子供も汗だくで楽しめるその正体に注目

According to Jishou, 正体 = true character; true form; true colors; true colours; identity.
Thus I was confused how to translate this.


texts: Since I watch a lot of anime, I end up hearing these two particles a lot, but I've never been completely certain of their distinction, only that there definitely is one. My dictionary listed them as a single entry with the definition of adding emphasis, which seems to fit well with ぞ, but not quite as well with ぜ from my observation. It also doesn't help that as far as I'm aware, almost nobody says these in real life, or at least much less frequently.


texts:
いいからトムを一人にしておいてあげなさい。

I've found this sentence on tatoeba.org and the furigana they use for 一人 is いちにん。
Isn't it wrong? Shouldn't it be ひとり?

Same doubt with this sentence:

  いい人です

with which they use the furigana じん

Shouldn't it be ひと? Is it a matter of soud? I have to admit that いいひと doesn't sound so fluent...


texts: Why is the term オナニー written in katakana?

texts: I know what the term means, just curious about the katakana spelling.


texts:
I am reading 幽霊塔 by 江戸川乱歩 and I'm having trouble interpreting the following dialogue sentence:

長崎からここへ来ていた人が、宿を取らないで打ったものでしょう。打ちにきたのは、本人ではなくて、どっかの薄汚ない小僧でしたよ。

I find most of the sentence confusing. Anyhow here is my attempt at a sound interpretation:

The person who came here from Nagasaki, without choosing the inn, sent it. As for the thing of coming to send, it was not that same person, but it was some dirty looking kid.

I am mostly confused about

宿を取らない.

Since 取る means to pick, take or choose, I think the last option makes the best sense here.

Shall greatly appreciate any help and warm regards to you all.

UPDATE

As chocolate mentioned, the speaker is talking about a telegram. Here are the preceding two sentences for some context:

K町につくと、私は叔父から例の電報紙を借りて、すぐにK町郵便局へ行き、発信人を聞き合わせた。すると局員は親切に調べてくれたが、頼信紙の発信人住所氏名欄には長崎市の聞いたこともない町名と、くるすじろうという名が書いてあった。

If 宿を取らない　means "to not book hotel", then we can read the sentence as:

A person from Nagasaki sent the telegram without booking for the inn. As for the thing of coming to send, it was not the same person, but it was some dirty looking kid.

Most likely I guess 打つ here means "to transmit" or to "send".


texts:
I'm currently watching terrace House boys and girls next door and heard came across this line;

Daiki: てっちゃんには言ったじゃん、俺出るって。

Tecchan: うん、きいてたね 俺はね。

Daiki :でもちょっとまだお世話になろうかな。

I looked up 「お世話になる」 and got sth like "to be indebted to someone". Now I would like like to know what it means in this context.

Thanks for reading.


texts:
For instance,

日本に来たら、毎日寿司を食べました。

Does this make sense grammatically? I tried to translate: "Ever since I came to Japan, I've been eating sushi everyday."


texts: whats the different usages of interjections ちがう, いえ, いや?

texts:
I understand the meaning of interjections   (ちがう, いえ, いや, え？, ん？,何だ？, は？). But i dont really know in what kind of situation i can use those words. Especially i would like to know the different of usages between ちがう, いえ, いや, and the differences between え？, ん？,何だ？, は,
Here i give you the examples of the conversation, i found this in "One Piece"

  シャンクス：でたな“宝払い”！お前そりゃサギだぜ
  ルフィ：違う！！ちゃんとおれは海賊になって宝を見つけたら金を払いに来るんだ！！

The other one

  ゾロ：すぐに逃げろ。あいつらが下りてくるぜ。
  コビー：いえ！！はっ。。。そうだあなたの縄を解かなきゃ。。。！！

other one

  海兵１：動くな！おとなしく捕まるんだ
  ルフィ：いやだ –

So whats the nuances and can those word being substituent for one and another?


texts:
What is meaning of "TIME TO HEAD BA-" in English version of Japanese manga?

Whole English context:http://mangahasu.se/onii-chan-wa-oshimai/vol-5-chapter-14-mahiro-and-a-little-adventure-c551795.html

Whole Japanese context:https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=manga&illust_id=68003729


texts: Three grammatical questions about Japanese Manga

texts:
The following is an exercise I do daily to better understand grammar.

I’ll claim A and the title.

Title: 第3話75歳の値段

第 is a prefix to form ordinal numbers. In this case, it precedes 3, so third.

話 is a counter for stories, so 3rd episode in this case.

75歳 is something we’ve seen before, the age of the patient Saitou’s in charge of and this is connected with the possessive 『の』.

値段【ねだん】is the cost.

So: Episode 3: the cost of 75 years (of age).

A

Saitou is sitting by his patient, lost in thoughts.
先生まだ残ってらしたんです『か』?

先生【せんせい】can be teacher or doctor;
まだ: yet, still;
Then comes 残る. 残る is a godan verb and it has the meaning of “to remain, to be left”. It is conjugated in the 〜て form.

Regarding the 〜て form:

  It does not indicate tense by itself, however, it combines with other verb forms to create other tenses.

So that’s clear so far but we’re still missing information. Let’s keep reading:

  Additionally, the ~ te form is used in Japanese to connect verbs in a sentence in order to list out successive actions. Used to connect two or more verbs, the ~ te form is used after all but the last sentence in a sequence. The following are examples of this particular ~te usage in a sentence.

So maybe here it is to represent a sequence of action since there’s no いる・います to indicate the progressive state. Sequence implies a minimum of two actions. I don’t know where the second action is, it could be in the next bubble perhaps.

です『か』at the very end is asking a question. The ん which precedes it is a colloquial version of $\color{blue} {の}$ です if I recall correctly.

Questions
①Am I right about my interpretation of 残る?

②Am I right about my interpretation of んです?

③What is the purpose of 〔らした〕in the sentence?

Sources
Say Hello to Black Jack Manga: Episode 3

Article quoted on the -te form


texts: Fun with synonyms - "evaluation/investigation/etc."

texts:
Explain the differences in the following vocabulary.  They all essentially mean some form of investigation, inspection, etc.  Please don't just write the definitions; I'm lost on how they differ, when to use one over others, what they apply to, and so on.  After much study, a lot of them still seem to overlap in my mind (and maybe they do).  Here they are.  Good luck!

監査【かんさ】
鑑査【かんさ】
検査【けんさ】
検討【けんとう】
審査【しんさ】
捜査【そうさ】
探査【たんさ】
調査【ちょうさ】
査察【ささつ】
視察【しさつ】
監察【かんさつ】


texts:
For full context, see the document:
https://www.docdroid.net/qteAJpo/img-20170628-0002-new.pdf.html

The sentence in question:
成功した自分と雑誌の記者を一人でやるのです。
I understand it as follows:
"I do on my own

my successful self with a journalist from a magazine"

I set the second part apart because I didnt use any connective structures in my translation now. I did it because there are none in the japanese original and I don't know which extrapolation might be correct here.

I interpreted the part before the bold を basically as one sentence element, which on the level of the complete sentence would be the direct object of やる.
However, this probably would require some other elements in the sentence right?
Maybe someone could show me what would have to be put in?^^

Here's how I think the sentence could be translated as well:
"I do/act on my own as if my successful self was with a journalist of a magazine."


texts:
In the English alphabet, each letter has a pronunciation (or many) as well as a name (that is used when referring to the letter as an entity, when spelling, etc.). As far as I know, in Japanese, the kana have a pronunciation only and each kana's name is its pronunciation.
So my question is, "How do you verbally refer to a specific kana in Japanese?"
Specifically, I'm particularly interested in how to refer to ん (given that it represents a nasal sound and has no pronunciation by itself) and を (given that it sounds the same as お).
For example, how would one speak the following sentence:

「ん」と「を」の[読み方]{よみかた}は何{なん}ですか？
How do you read "ん" and "を"?

By the way, if the above sentence is not grammatical or unnatural, please correct me.


texts: より in this sentence. When より standing in front?

texts:
より寂しい雰囲気が漂っている

Why より standing in front?


texts: I need help on the meaning and translation of 絶賛不登校

texts: I came across this word in a manga that I'm translating. I understand that it has something to do with not attending school, but I can't for the life of me figure out what "絶賛" means when placed in front of 不登校. I haven't found any dictionary entries for it either.


texts: Nine pronouns... how to distinguish them all?

texts:
So there are nine related pronouns...

kore kono koko
sore sono soko
are ano ako

The first kana tells you where object is, and the second kana tells you whether it is a thing (re and no) or a place (ko).

My question is... what’s the difference between “re” and “no”? How do you decided between “kore” and “kono”?


texts:
I think I understand the meaning of the following passage, but I'm non really sure about the usage of というのに in this case. Can you help me?

環境に影響の大きい自家用車での来場を減らす努力をしないというのに矛盾を感じるんです。


texts: Can と be used with verbs other than 思う to imply a thought process behind the action?

texts:
Following hot on the heels on my other question about と and 思う, I know と can be used with 言う, but can it also be applied to verbs that imply some kind of thinking process other than 思う?

Do these make grammatical sense?

あそこに行くと決めた【あそこに　いくと　きめた】 (I decided, "I'll go over there")

あそこに行くと考えた【あそこに　いくと　かんがえた】 (I considered, "I'll go over there")

あそこに行くと感じた【あそこに　いくと　かんじた】 (I felt, "I'll go over there")

If so, are there other verbs that might take と to imply a thought process behind the action?


texts: I found this in a video game. It says 「殺しても【ころしても】殺したりねぇ【ころしたりねぇ】」. So, my rough estimate was "Even killing (you) won't kill you". Is this correct? Also, what type of sentence is this?


texts: How to get the right meaning of particles

texts:
Since Japanese is a left branching language, do you have trouble getting the right meaning of words or particles like the particle で in the next sentence (which can indicate location of action and means of action too)

  ところで、みなさんは　“ほぼほぼ”という言葉を　聞いたことがありますか？ 実は、この言葉は、辞書で有名な三省堂が主催した今年の新語大賞に選ばれました。

I assume that seeing it at first, you wouldn't know if it's talking about "being in/at the dictionary" or "because of the dictionary" (in this case "because it makes dictionaries/famous for its dictionaries")


texts:
I have always pronounced the word [実父]{じっぷ}, and it seems the dictionaries agree. (jisho.org. Also WWWJDIC, I would put a link here, but it seems the link I get on WWWJDIC is dynamic and the content can't be reproduced with a link.)

However, I just heard this word said in an anime as [実父]{じつふ}. I have not heard this pronunciation before. How common is it? I found this page with a list of pronunciation variants including じっぷ、ちち、おやじ、じつぷ with their textual usage percentages, but じつふ　is not among them. (The semantic nuances are not within the scope of this question.)

This 知恵袋 thread seems to confirm [実父]{じつふ} as a possible pronunciation. But is it regional?


texts: How can I apply た form to -すぎ for conditional clause?

texts:
I want to say the following:

  "Please excuse if there was too little context."

I am wondering about two things now.

First, whether -すぎ is a suitable means to express "too little".

By now, I only encountered cases where it marked that something was too much, not too little.

Second, it seems to turn a word into a verb.

  夕べお酒を飲みすぎました。

But I have no idea what class it enters into. That said, I also don't know how to properly bring it into non-polite past/た-form to use it in a conditional clause with (た)ら.

I have to add that I only know the "three textbook" verb classes right now.

I heard that Japanese grammar uses more classes usually, but for foreign language learners it's often simplified into three.

So I know class one, where い based ます stems turn into んだ、った and so on.

Then class two like たべる and finally the third class made up only of する and くる which inflect very irregularly ^^


texts:
Look at this conversation from Twitter. Do you know what dialect it is?

  shohei110h: やっとdead stock手に入りました(´ω`)田舎にはなかなか無くて東京で購入しやしま
  mao_sid: おれもど田舎だったから気持ちわかるなぁ。ありがとう。

The part I don't understand is しやしま at the end of the first sentence. What does that mean?


texts:
他方、成績評価の甘い授業が高く評価されたり、人気取りに走る教師が出たりし、成績の安売りや大学教師のレベルダウンという弊害をもたらす恐れがある、などの反省意見もある.

i really dont understand this sentence meaning, anyone knows?
on the other hand, by focusing on evaluating lessons which students weak(?), teacher who has popularity who cheapening grades

can you give me advice how to understand japanese long sentences? although sometimes i know the meaning of each kanji and words but when it comes in a sentence, sometimes i dont get the main point of the sentence and become more ambiguous.


texts: I need some clarification with でも as particles!

texts:
Here is my question:

I started to learn particles and one of the lessons is that when a location is the topic I can attach は and も to the particles に, へ and で.

I understand most of it, except when I have も attached to で. Could I have an example of how this would be used with location?

And lastly... Is でも as in "but/however" related to these particles or it is a non related word?

Disclaimer: I'm still not good with kanji, so if possible add the kana.


texts: ~どこに書いてあるか探しながら読む why here is ながら-from?

texts:
Good day, I read in a Japanese textbook the following sentence:

  ものの歴史と良さについてどこに書いてあるか探しながら読む

The meaning is clear "search whether it's written [by somebody] somewhere about merit and history of a thing and read it".
But there are ながら-form is using, what means that one at the same time is searching and reading what he/she is supposed to find, how can it be?


texts: Arimasu is used for things that aren't living. are there exceptions to this?

texts:
My learning program gave me this sentence:

私 は 彼女 の 考え 方 に 就いて 興味 が 有り ます。

Translated as "I'd be interested to know what she thinks."
However i've been lead to believe that should be imasu at the end and no arimasu, as the person is in reference here.
Is it just one of those "rules" that isn't really that important in real life? If not, can someone explain why it was used here?
thanks!


texts:
I was trying to understand some news on the NHK site, but I am having a little trouble with this sentence:

  一方、幅広い作品を集めたパノラマ部門では、東日本大震災後の福島県を舞台にしたドイツ人監督の映画で、俳優の桃井かおりさんが出演した「フクシマ・モナムール」が、国際芸術映画評論連盟賞など２つの賞を受賞し、高い評価を受けていました。

The 幅広い作品 here would refer to a general category or would it be a category with a large number of works?

PS: It's about the Berlin International Film Festival

Source:http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20160221/k10010416661000.html


texts:
Here is an excerpt from a manga I'm trying to read: http://i.imgur.com/enTK4Fx.png The context is that after a date this girl comes to the guy's house.

I'm having troubles understanding the sentence in the bottom right balloon. It says:

  「探訪終わった…　このあとどうすれば」 "After 探訪 is over... What am I gonna do?"

Why would she use the word 探訪 here? From what I understand, it usually means researching or looking into something, especially with an entention to write a news article. What does that have to do with coming to a boyfriend's house?

Here is the full page if you need more context: http://i.imgur.com/rItzQVw.jpg


texts:
The meaning of 「酷い言われようだ」 seems (to me) to be something not very different from 「酷いことを言われた」.

e.g. それが今やサラリーマンとは「会社に飼われる家畜」なんですってよ。まったく酷い言われようです。

My questions:

Is my interpretation correct? Did I miss any nuance?
If the 「酷いこと」 has already been said, why was the 「よう-form」 used?
「言われよう」 seems to be treated as a noun phrase here, since it's modified by 「酷い」 and followed by 「だ」. I've never seen a 「よう-form」 used as a noun phrase elsewhere. Is it a common usage?


texts: What is the form of "売らん" in the sentence "ウランは売らん。"?

texts:
I'm not sure if "売らん" is acting as a verb in the dajare, "ウランは売らん。". If it is, please explain what conjugation or form of the verb that this is. If it isn't, can you tell me where "売らん" comes from and what part of speech it is? Can all verbs be put into into this form and what are the peculiarities of their usage?

At first, I thought that "売らん" was only shorthand for "売らない", but I wasn't able to find any information about this on the internet or in any of my books. Afterwards, I tried to do this same kind of modification to another verb in order to see if this form is used with other verbs and "売らん" was not just a single exception. I found the verb "言う" used as "言わん" in many sentences on ALC but it doesn't seem like it is being used directly as a verb by itself. Now, I'm very confused about just what "売らん", "言わん", and other verbs that seem to fit this pattern exactly mean and how they are used. After another bout of search attempts, I still was unable to find any external information about it. Sincere thanks to anyone who can provide me with any information.


texts: Does マシ come from English? Or is it a semantic emphasis?


texts: Pronunciation of bird counters: 三羽 and 四羽

texts:
We have:

一羽　いちわ
二羽　にわ

but it seems the pronunciations of the counter for 3 and 4 are irregular.  In each case, are both pronunciations acceptable, or we must use the former?

三羽　さんば、さんわ
四羽　よんば、よんわ

Similarly, the counts for 6, 8, and 10 also seem to be irregular.
Should we memorize these by rote?  Or is there a rule/pattern that can help us memorize these?


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

texts:
I am trying to translate this song for practice, and am wondering how 理 (ことわり) is being used in this particular line.
According to Jisho 理（ことわり）means, "reason; logic; sense; natural way of things."
Here is the line and the one that follows it. In the line just before these two, the speaker basically says, "What will X wish for?"
「招かれざる理なら/ただ、「在るべき」に返すだけ」.
Translating this literally I got:
"If it is uninvited logic, I will just restore it to 「the way it should be」"
"If it (the wish) is uninvited logic, I will just restore it to 「the way it should be」"
Now this translation sounds odd (but honestly the whole song has very out there lyrics) and so that's why I am wondering if it means something else.
If this literal translation is correct, I would assume it means that the people doing the wishing (who are presumably bad) want the world to run on chaotic logic; i.e. logic that no one wants, that did not get invited. I am assuming this because of Jisho's "natural way of things" definition (So literally something like "If it (the wish) is for an uninvited/unwelcome natural way of things, I will just restore everything to 「the way it should be」"). If my interpretation of this literal translation is correct, I would then translate this line closer to that meaning.
According to a Japanese dictionary, the second meaning of 理 is わけ and 理由 (reason; pretext; motive), so is it possible for 理 to be more figurative using a わけ-like definition?
It's also important to add that  this line is repeated in different forms in the song, which include "許されざる理" (unforgiven logic) and "紡がれざる理" (unspun/unassembled logic).
So what is your take on this line. Again, please note that this entire song is very ethereal/figurative, so there is a lot of possibility that this line is just odd to begin with.  Thank you for any help.


texts: What are the pronunciation differences between speaking and singing Japanese?

texts:
I've noticed that some pronunciation is different in singing than in speaking.  For example, I often hear を pronounced as /wo/ rather than /o/.

What other pronunciation differences are there?


texts: What's the difference between 落す and 落とす?

texts: Both 落す and 落とす seem to be pronounced おとす and have the same meaning. Are they variants? Different words? Is one of them technically wrong?


texts: I think this what the women's soccer team is called, but I'm not clear on it.


texts: How is a word like 風雨 (ふうう) distinguished in pronunciation from ふう?

texts: Is the word separated out at all (as in ふう + う)? Or is that extra う simply drawn out longer?


texts: How to say after (verb) (ex. after eating, after running) in Japanese?

texts:
How do you say after (insert verb here) in Japanese?

like after studying, after drinking?
would after studying be benkyotte kara? (べんきょうってから）


texts: What are the detailed grammatical rules for using ゆえ?

texts: I remember first hearing it in the Japanese catchphrase for Kino's Journey, as "世界は美しくなんかない。そしてそれゆえに美しい". I was curious to look up that part of the sentence in my resources, and turned up a translation for "I think, therefore I am(我思う, ゆえに我あり)", along with a few bits I gleaned from its grammatical uses. I think I have a good idea on how to use it, but I want to be sure before I go forward with it


texts: ておく → とく in other contexts; similar 2-kana to 1-kana shortcuts?

texts:
Recently I learned that おいておいて ("leave it there") can be shortened in casual speech (or speech to subordinates) to おいといて. (ておく → とく).

I also learned that this can be used for any verb attached to ておく (つけておく → つけとく; "leave it on").

Can the てお → と shortcut be used for contexts other than ておく (for example: お世話になっております → おせわになっとります)?
Are there other 2-kana to 1-kana shortcuts? (ていう to って, い抜き言葉 and ら抜き言葉 are interesting shortcuts, but the idea of shortening 2 kana to 1 kana sounded interesting to me for some reason.)

Edit. Both answers were great. :) I chose the one with a bit more detail.


texts:
I read だいがくせい as "daigakusei"

But when I hear a recording I hear "dainaksei".


texts:
I don't get what 少しでも and と mean in this sentence (from a manga) :

  人々の多くは少しでもターゲットになりにくそうな僻地に身を隠そうとムダな努力を始めていた。

I remember reading that the conditional と couldn't be use with the volitional form so I guess it relates to 始める, but I have no idea what AとBを始める would mean...

My guess as to a translation (eluding 少しでも):

  Many people started to make useless efforts to hide in remote places that looked like they couldn't easily become targets.

Thanks for your time.


texts: When are foreign language based words written with kanjis?

texts:
I was reading the wikia of an anime and I found this,

Red Riot Unbreakable 烈怒頼雄斗安無嶺過武瑠
                    (レッドライオットアンブレイカブル)
                     (Reddo Raiotto Anbureikaburu)

The name of a technique "Reddo Raiotto Anbureikaburu" based in the english words "Red Riot Unbreakable" are written with the kanjis 烈怒頼雄斗安無嶺過武瑠. I thought foreign words were always written with katakana but this isnt the case. When are foreign language words written into japanese using kanjis?


texts: I see  as part of more than one kanji. I looked for its meaning in tables and dictionaries and I couldnt find anything. Does this symbol  have a meaning of its own?


texts:
I've started to program for android recently and one of my side projects is to make a simple app for learning basic japanese vocabulary and I've been wondering what's the correct way to display furigana between these two.

1.

2.

Is one more standard than the other, or are both just as fine?


texts: The written word ぴえん seems popular lately, but does it sound childish? I feel like only people under 20 might use this, or someone trying to appear cute. Is this impression accurate?


texts:
Im reading up again on how particles should be used properly in Japanese.

Writing this sentence: 「私の車を壊れてです。」I am trying to say, "my car is broken."

Now, using the guide in the link given here it states:

  The 「を」 character is attached to the end of a word to signify that that word is the direct object of the verb.

If that is the absolute truth then that means that my sentence given previously 私の車を壊れてです。」is incorrect as the を particle only works on direct objects of a verb, in this case I do not have a verb, rather I have an adjective: 壊れて (Broken).

Am I correct in thinking that the proper way of writing this sentence has to use either:

The は particle「私の車は壊れてです。」
OR
The が particle「私の車が壊れてです。」

In place of を in order for the sentence to be correct? I'm still learning about proper particle use, so any guidance on the limitations of the を particle would be super useful here.

Thanks.


texts: In a song, if somebody wanted to say to their deceased mom, "We loved you so much." what form of love would you use?

texts: Would I use "Aishita" or something else? The child is a 16 year old.


texts: Potential form of 言う - 言える - an ichidan verb?

texts:
The potential form of the godan verb [言]{い}う is [言]{い}える. I searched [言]{い}える in an online dictionary today, but it listed [言]{い}える, the potential form, as an ichidan verb.
It even gave a conjugation table for [言]{い}える - and lists [言]{い}えられる as the potential form of [言]{い}える.
I'm puzzled by this - if [言]{い}える is a potential form conjugation, why is it also listed as an ichidan verb? And would [言]{い}えられる be the potential potential form of [言]{い}う, and would it literally mean something like "to be able to be able to say"?


texts: For usernames, etc., you usually see like ユーザ名 or something similar.  Or like on my Skype, it says Skype名.  How is the 名 pronounced in these situations?  I've never been able to conclusively find this anywhere.  My instinct tells me it's な because these seem like compounds nouns (like 星空【ほしぞら】, etc.) that use kun-yomi.


texts: Can 〜んとする mean "to pretend, to act as if"?

texts:
I'm trying to understand the meaning of the first sentence:

  刀の力で日本を牛耳らんとする玲爾{れいじ}たち。その企みを見抜いた晴馬{はるま}たちは...etc.

My translation would be "Reiji and his men are not trying to control Japan with the power of katana". But in the manga where it is taken from, Reiji and his men actually ARE the bad guys trying to control Japan with the power of the katana. Since in the next sentence the author is speaking of a 企み (a plot), I thought 〜とする could mean to pretend, to act as if. Is my guess correct? Thank you for your help!


texts:
European languages seem to name things after people (or people-like things) on a very regular basis. We have everything from 'Mount Everest' and 'Washington, DC' to 'Robert A Welch Hall'. Places named after people are absolutely everywhere.

Japan, on the other hand, seems to do this much less frequently. I've seen some buildings named after people, but rather fewer proportionally than I expect - I think my local university campus here in the US has a person's name on more than 90% of the buildings, but looking at maps of Japanese campuses, I see one or two here or there. I've never seen a city or a mountain or any other sort of actual toponym that I found out or could tell was named after an actual person.

Am I right in drawing this conclusion - that naming things after people is much rarer in Japan, and naming places after people basically never happens?

Is there some other naming strategy that 'makes up the difference', as it were? E.g. Spanish and French have a lot of saint-based or other religion-based placenames (or did historically) when English rarely does (or did) that - is there something that Japanese does (or did) instead?

(To be fair, toponyms in Japan are on average a lot older than toponyms in North America, where a lot of these personal toponyms are, so that might affect things significantly.)


texts:
Can anyone help explaining the nuance in difference between:

私はまったく分かりません。

私にはまったく分かりません。

With expressions such as ヨーロッパには行く (versus は) I can see what affect including the に particle within the scope of the sentence has (i.e. I will go to Europe (specifically, likely not anywhere else).

I don't see any difference with 私には, however.

Cheers,

Luke