texts:
I have trouble understanding these 2 sentences below...
Note: There is no further context provided.

  発車{はっしゃ}のベルが鳴{な}っているので飛{と}び乗{の}ったら、反対方向{はんたいほうこう}の電車{でんしゃ}だった

My attempt: Because the departure bell is ringing, if you hop (to the train), you will get into the opposite direction.

The sentence doesn't make sense to me... :(

  就職{しゅうしょく}試験{しけん}の結果{けっか}の連絡{れんらく}だと思って急いで電話に出{で}たら、間{ま}違{ちが}い電話{でんわ}だった

My attempt: If you are thinking about the notification result of the employment examination while make a phone call in a hurry, you will end up with calling a wrong number.

I'm not sure if I understand 急いで電話に出{で}たら correctly.
Since isn't make a phone call "電話をかける"?  But it would be strange to end up with a wrong number if you were receiving a phone call...


texts:
Full sentence:生者は死なないあの兵士に意味を与えるまで
I read it as : The living won't die until those soliders are given meaning

Is it okay or is it about a single solider?


texts:
I found this sentence on jisho.org:
税制改革はの圧力が高まっている

The pressure for tax reform is growing.

And I'm wondering if this is a typo. Having both は and の together somehow sounds a bit odd to me. I would expect it to be either
 税制改革の圧力が高まっている

or
税制改革は圧力が高まっている

Can someone please tell me which forms are correct?


texts: What’s the correct Hiragana/Kanji for ‘nokuseni’

texts: I don’t know how to write or pronounce it but I was watching a Japanese movie and one person goes ‘nokuseni’ which I think roughly translates to ‘even though’? Or something negative? I know it’s vague but I watched the movie long ago and I don’t remember the whole sentence. And I remembered the word last night and I’ve been trying to figure out what it means.


texts: An i-adjective immediately before 「ください」?

texts:
Does it make sense to have an i-adjective (in て-form) immediately before 「ください」?

For example, when asked to choose between hot and cold coffee, can I use 「温かくてください」, or must I turn it into nominal phrase (温かいのをください)?

Another example, is it fine to say 「優しくてください」, or must I insert a て-verb before ください (優しくしてください)?


texts:
Can よ be replaced by ね in some cases? For example, in this sentence I read I think ね is interchangeable with よ: "A:で、男役はお好きで らしたんですか 。
B:いやあ、あんまり好きじゃないですね 。" If so, in which cases can you do it?


texts:
I read the following sentence in an exercise:

私たちの目標は競争に打ち勝つことでもなければお金を儲けることでもありません。可能な____すごい製品を作ることだ。
A. あまり、B. ほど、C. はず、D. かぎり

The correct answer was D, but I picked B.
I understand the sentence as:

Our goal is neither to beat competition, nor to earn money. It is to craft products as great as possible.

To me, both ほど and かぎり mean "to the extent of ~", but かぎり, due to 限る, feels to me somewhat negative, like a limitation.
But if I understand this sentence correctly, I suppose my understanding of ほどand かぎり is wrong.
Why is かぎり the right answer here?
In addition, what is the meaning of でもなければ in 競争を打ち勝つことでもなければ?
I'd say it literally means "if it was not to beat competition", but is it right to translate it as "is neither to beat competition, nor..."?


texts: What does "との" mean in the following sentence?

texts:
Unfortunately the sentence was written in romaji so i'm not sure if との is supposed to be written in hiragana or if its written in kanji but the sentence goes like this (the translation is also taken from the example) :
Person A: どこが違うと思いますか？
What do you think is different?
Person B: 日本人との違いですか？
Different from Japanese people?
Tried searching Jisho but couldn't find anything that would fit the meaning of the translation.


texts:
I encountered a Shogi saying:

  三桂あって詰まぬこと無し

And I'm pretty confused about the ぬ there. If it was る I'd expect the meaning to be something like:
"If you have 3 knights, you can't be mated"

But looking at it's explanation here and here it looks like they are talking about mating (attacking) and not getting mated (defending).

Well, while typing this I suddenly realized I can just search google for ぬ instead of る, so I'll guess I'll be answering my own question as I was encouraged to do on other StackExchange sites.


texts:
A few minutes ago Anthony was talking about 思い and 想い on chat, and he asked a question about them.  I looked up the verb 思う in 明鏡国語辞典 since I thought it was relevant.  It has this bit:

  「想う」は、主に心にイメージを描く意で「幼少のころを想う」「想う人はもういない」などと使うが、今は一般に「思う」でまかなう。

I'm not familiar with this use of まかなう.  The definitions I'm familiar with are more or less the dictionary definitions: providing meals for someone, paying for their expenses (covering living expenses, medical costs, etc.), or things like that.  But that doesn't really make sense to me here.

I think this is saying something like 「思う」 is now used generally while 「想う」 is usually used in the more limited manner the sentence describes.  But I don't really get まかなう.  I'm having trouble finding a dictionary definition that fits.  Is it talking about 「思う」 generally being used in place of 「想う」 ?

What does まかなう mean here?


texts: Dear sir or madame.... Japanese Mail Etiquette

texts:
I am trying to conduct business with a company located in Japan. I am trying to buy a kimono to complete a set for someone dear to me...(who may or may not be on the site so I am keeping this part intentionally vague.)

Anyway on to what I am asking...

For years, I have been opening blind inquiries with "Sir or Madam:"

While お早うござします　is fine for a friendly meeting or a second letter somehow this seems like it might be a bit of a put-off for an initial inquiry.

Would it be better to use 皆さん or 御中 皆さん？

Second: Is it preferable to use 私 or 僕　when addressing oneself in business correspondence?

皆さんにありがとうございます


texts: Translation of the word "informational" and "orientational"

texts:
I wonder, how could I express the same meaning for "informational" and "orientational" in Japanese?
I used 有益的【ゆうえきてき】 to mean "informational" and おおよその/近似の【きんじ】 to mean orientational. But, I am afraid, that I am too far from the right usage, as I use this words mainly for the gauge=meter, which is not calibrated. So I say:

  Informational/ orientational gauge

Also, I would be glad to know, if the offered translation for these two words will be same, in case of changing the context in a next way.

  Orientational/Informational notes

Hope I haven't complicated the question too much. Hope to hear your opinion and thanks to everyone in advance!


texts: What's the difference between ～てある and ～た (past form)?

texts:
As I understand it てある is rather different to ている in that it refers to a resultant state rather than an ongoing action.
However I wonder, what then is the practical difference between a resultant state and a past action?
For example,

昼ごはんを作ってある (昼ごはんは作ってある?)
昼ごはんを作った

both mean “I made dinner” right? Is there any major difference or is it some small nuance?
Would てある not apply if you were speaking of something you did last week and thus the dinner has since been eaten whilst it would work if you were speaking of the dinner you're about to eat?


texts: How to translate "once" and "every" in Japanese? 一度 or いつも

texts:
[一度]{いちど(ひとたび)} means once, but [一遍]{いっぺん} also mean once in sentences like once I did something or once I am a something.

常に means always in sentences like I always am a something or I always do something

But idiomatically, Once bitten twice shy is translated as [羹]{あつもの}に[懲]{こ}りて[膾]{なます}を[吹]{ふ}く in Japanese.

So if I want to say Once a thief, always a thief, is this phrase grammatical 盗人一度, 常に盗人?

What if I want to say Once a X, always a X? and X is a noun/noun phrase?


texts: アイランド or 島 when translating an island name from English?

texts: There's an island called Bainbridge Island near me. I'm wondering if it would make sense to translate "Island" as 島, or if it would be better to translate it to katakana directly. Which is the better translation or should it differ based on the context? ベインブリッジアイランド or ベインブリッジ島.


texts: Natural way to ask what project/work someone has been doing lately

texts:
What is a natural way or ways to ask about what project(s) or work someone is doing lately at a job? In English I'd say:

So what project have you been working on lately?
So what have you been working on lately?

I am not sure if these translate well literally or there is some other expression I should use.

最近、どんなプロジェクトをしていますか？
最近、何の仕事をしていますか？


texts:
Context: Mecha anime soundtrack.

I know that 天 is akin to "heavenly," but I've never seen 吼 before, and I can't find a translation -- or even another use in Japanese -- online at all. In traditional Chinese it means "roar," and all-in-all that makes some contextual sense, but I'm not comfortable just mashing the two together like that. Is this actually a Chinese title in the middle of a Japanese soundtrack, or is this a kanji I need to be educated on?


texts:
What does ご理解いただけた はずでは？ mean here?
構いませんが すべては手紙に記した通りです... ご理解いただけた はずでは？


texts:
Consider the following categories of bus numbers:

Number only - 11
Number suffixed or prefixed with a character - 11E or E11
Character only - A

(Question) How common are buses with letters/characters in Japanese? Do letters come before or after the number? Can the characters be English letters or hiragana/katakana/kanji?

I am familiar with _番のバス where the blank is for the number of the bus.

(Question) How frozen is 番のバス? What happens if the blank is not a number. Do I change 番 if it is not a number and say A字のバス? What about the combination cases for bus 11E or E11?


texts: What does 「～の　ほうが」 mean in this sentence?

texts:
サッカー　と　やきゅう　と　どちらが　おもしろいですか。

  ....サッカーの　ほうが　おもしろいです。

What is the meaning of the answer here?


texts:
I understand that えらい is an adjective which means distinguished/famous etc.
Then I came across this conversation

「おいらよりマシかぁ、なぁんだ、じゃあえらいなぁ。」
「別にえらかァないよ...」
"Preferable to me!? What! Well, I'm distinguished."
"You're not particularly distinguished."

(all the extra あ and ア are supposed to be in small font. Any one know how to do that?)
The second sentence led me to think that there must also be a verb えらく -> えらかない. But I can't find it in any dictionary. What's going on in the second sentence?


texts:
彼の本は赤いです。

His book is red. What is the topic? Is it him or the color red, since 赤い is after the は?


texts:
how often is さ used as a filler like our “like”? is it very common?

for example, could i say 「私さスタバへさ行ったさ…」？


texts:
I have learnt 手を出す　from watching Anime. In the context it was 子供に手を出したりしないわよ (if I heard correctly) and it means that she wouldn't make a move on a child.

  Can I use this word without any sexual connotation?

For example, can I use it to say I don't really use Facebook in the following way:

Facebookにあまり手を出さない。

Or is it unnatural and the proper way to say this is

Facebookをあまり使わない。

Hm... or perhaps I'm getting the verb tense wrong and it should be

Facebookをあまり使っていない。


texts: Which character set are typically used to transliterate "roman abbreviations" in named entity?

texts:
When translating named entities (for example, a person name), phonetical translation (known as transliteration) is used to make Katakana characters sound like its roman characters equivalent. This allows Japanese speakers who cannot read roman characters, to pronounce correctly named entities.
What is the best way to deal with acronyms? For example:
O.J. Simpson:
Version 1 (leave acronym in roman characters): O.J. シンプソン
Version 2 (transliterate everything): オジェ・シンプソン


texts: 万引き etymology. Why does 万引き mean shoplifting

texts: I have just watched the Japanese "Shoplifter" movie and wonder why 万引きmeans shoplifting.


texts:
I've tried Voicetext.jp and Google's text to voice service to read this

  四中の

It reads something like

  Yon-chū no

But Google suggested this romanization, which left me doubtful

  Shi-chū no

So, I have been redirected to a similar question discussing why there is different pronunciations of the numbers 4, 7 and 9 (maybe there's more).

From the given answers, I can't decide how to read things like

  足立区立第四中学校

Because none of the examples addressed there were close enough to school names, rankings and such...


texts:
Here is the full sentence.

  いったいなにをさわいどるんかの？

What does the bolded part mean?


texts:
What is the difference between ni and ni wa, when talking about a person?

Ni has many meanings, but it is often used as a marker for direction.
Wa is often used as a topic marker.

In my textbook, it has the following example:

Kanojo ni wa takusan no keiken ga arimasu.
She has plenty of experience

Why is ni wa, used for Kanojo (she). How can you have a person as a direction?

There is also this:

Kouhosha erabi ni wa motto sentakushi ga aru beki dato omoimasu.
I think there should be more choice in candidates

Again, ni wa is used for Kouhosha erabi (Candidate selection). Again, how can you have people as direction?

This answer for a similar question, says that ni wa helps to indicate an embedded subject, but I don’t understand how that differs from plain wa on it’s own, and what is gained by using ni wa.

Would the above examples sentences be wrong if they omitted ni?
If not, then what does ni add to the meaning?
What is the rule for when to use ni wa in place of wa?


texts:
早い話が堀川のお邸の御規模を拝見致しましても、壮大と申しませうか、豪放と申しませうか、到底私どもの凡慮には及ばない、思ひ切つた所があるやうでございます。中にはまた、そこを色々とあげつらつて大殿様の御性行を始皇帝や煬帝に比べるものもございますが、それは諺に云ふ群盲の象を撫でるやうなものでもございませうか。あの方の御思召は、決してそのやうに御自分ばかり、栄耀栄華をなさらうと申すのではございません。それよりはもつと下々の事まで御考へになる、云はば天下と共に楽しむとでも申しさうな、大腹中の御器量がございました。
  　それでございますから、二条大宮の百鬼夜行に御遇ひになつても、格別御障りがなかつたのでございませう。

http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000879/files/60_15129.html

I could find was entries on 二条大宮 or 百鬼夜行 but no hint as to how these two may be related. What was the author's intention in mentioning how a meeting of his (fictional?) お殿様 and 二条大宮の百鬼夜行 might resolve?

お殿様 vs. 融 is rather clear, by contrast:

  又陸奥の塩竈の景色を写したので名高いあの東三条の河原院に、夜な／＼現はれると云ふ噂のあつた融の左大臣の霊でさへ、大殿様のお叱りを受けては、姿を消したのに相違ございますまい。


texts:
The 少し and は I'm referring to is from the lyrics of a song called Don't you see!:

Don't you see!　願っても祈っても　奇跡　思い出
少しは気にかけて

I don't quite understand why the 少し is followed by は because 少し is not a noun and cannot be the main topic of a sentence for は to indicate.


texts: What is nuance of using 外来語 for simple nouns?

texts:
I've been wondering lately about the usage of 外来語 that seem especially redundant, such as ドライバー instead of ねじ回し, ヘア instead of 毛, or マップ instead of 地図. I understand many of the purposes of 外来語 when a native word exists, such as distinguishing between a Japanese and foreign version of an item, advertising and stylistic reasons, and offering a way to distinguish between similar objects that use the same word in Japanese (such as ヘルメット and かぶと or 針{はり} and ニードル). However, when dealing with a simple object, especially an object that is unlikely to have cultural differences and is simple enough to negate the need for synonyms, where do these words fit in?

To be more specific, is there a nuance in the usage of 外来語 versus perfectly well-known and functional Japanese terms in daily speech? Would the usage of such 外来語 potentially irritate some people? Does this nuance change when the native word in question is 大和言葉{やまとことば} as opposed to 漢語{かんご｝? Are these sort of 外来語 mostly common among younger or more trendy crowds, or would they enter the daily speech of, say, a middle-aged housewife?


texts:
This sentence is from a song's lyric 歌に形はないけれど (Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CV5wVHjMfQ&feature=youtu.be&t=136).
How to understand that?
There are two Chinese translations:

你为我做过的一样 (It's just like you did for me)

你是这样的温柔 (You're so tender)

They're not same and both can't correspond to the original Japanese sentence directly.
What's the real meaning of that? or how to interpret that?


texts:
For example:

  なぜなの？
  なぜなんですか
  なぜなんだ？

Do those sentences have the same meaning?

I also learnt that there is an even more formal way to express the んです and is with のです and のだ.

And I also hear that なの is a female expression, is that true? Does a male version exist?


texts: その方法までは解読できません the role of まで and the meaning of the entire line

texts:
I have the following situation in some fiction I'm reading. Person B comes to a world looking to do something. Person A arrives afterward looking for B. As soon as A arrives she starts monologuing about probable B's intentions. Something along the lines "She'll first go for 'group of people' and after contacting them she'll go for 'Plot relevant thing' that somehow ended up here and try to acquire and bring it back home."
After recounting what she thinks B's plan/objective (目的) is she says the following line:

その方法までは解読できませんでしたが
こんな遠い世界の情報収集なんて
B独りでは無理でしょうし…

As of now it seems she is saying:

Up until that method/plan it's undecipherable (the rest of the data) but it seems plain that it B couldn't have gathered this much info on so far away a world alone...

The thing that bothers me is that その方法までは because I'm not sure what that is supposed to convey. I'm assuming that その方法 is the plan she just described. And so she is basically saying that everything before that plan in the database is unreadable. But it kinda feels strange to say UP UNTIL in this kind of context.
So, am I right oooooorrr.....


texts: Which verb can I use with the word "散文"?

texts:
So basically, what I want to say is something along the lines of, "He begins his story with a rhyme" or, "He tells a poem and begins his story". What's the word for "tell" here? Is there a verb phrase for this in Japanese?

(By "rhyme" or "poem", I mean something like a "言い習わし" (short Japanese saying), but in the form of a poem. The closest word I could find to it was "散文" and that's why I am using it, but I am open to any suggestions.)

Edit: Can I use,

  彼は散文で物語を始めます。

???


texts: What do you mean, "In Japanese there are no words for "I’m suffering""?

texts:
Today I noticed this article about eating disorders in Japan, which I got to via the News on Japan site.

The first line jumps out at me. Supposedly, in an interview, a 25 year old Japanese woman named "Hachiko" says:

  In Japanese there are no words for “I’m suffering” or “I’m sad”. I
  can’t share my feelings with anyone. Needing help is seen as failure,
  something to be ashamed of.

Maybe needing help is seen as failure, but I can think of a few ways to say "I'm suffering" or "I'm sad". Just off the top of my head:

  私{わたし}は悲{かな}しい

  あたしは苦{くる}しんでいます

  自分{じぶん}の置{お}かれた状態{じょうたい}はきつい

So I'm wondering, is this just a reporter's ham-fisted attempt to inflate the human drama by painting a picture of a cruel and uncaring Japanese culture that exacerbates eating disorders?

Or is there any logical justification at all for claiming that the nuances of the Japanese language don't accurately convey the suffering someone with an eating disorder might feel?


texts: Why is こおり spelt with an お rather than an う?

texts:
I thought that syllables with an "お" sound get lengthened by an "う" rather than another "お".

I've seen this question asked on hinative, which mentions 遠い（とおい）, 大きい (おおきい), 多い (おおい), 通り (とおり/どおり) and others, but the answers haven't received many upvotes, and aren't awfully long.


texts: I want to mention that replying in Japanese is ok

texts:
I will post an ad about an item for sale. I mention everything about the item in English, but at the end of the ad I want to say, "It's ok to reply in Japanese."

Is it proper grammar to say "返信は日本語でも大丈夫です!" if an ad is posted online and you are referring to people responding to the ad?


texts:
These are some lyrics to a song:

陽炎ゆらめいて
追憶の彼方に見た
うたかたの夢はぜ
火の粉は大空へ舞う

And this is supposed to be the translation:

After heat haze flickers.
It was seen in the other side of the reminiscence.
Transient dream explosion.
A spark is danced to the sky.

I'm having trouble with the third line, specifically with 「はぜ」. The dictionary translates it as gobby (fish)/wax tree/drying rice on a rack, and obviously none of these make any sense given the context of the song as well as the suggested translation. Outside of these meanings and the song itself, I couldn't find any reference to 「はぜ」 at all. Could it be just a typo, or am I missing something here?


texts:
しかし、幼くして彼女はどこか醒めているところがあり、真里亞が上機嫌に魔法のことを語るのを聞きながら、そんなものが本当にあるわけがないとも思っていた。

Why is it 幼くして, not 幼い彼女は・・・ ? What about 醒める here ?


texts: is this the correct translation of the english sentence

texts:
死体の沈黙 (Shitai no chinmoku) meaning "silence of the corpses"?
would you translate it differently to japanese?
any help woulda be highly appreciated as my japanese isn't really great :)


texts: What is the grammatical form for the ungrammatical 昨日雨が降ったそうだ?

texts:
Consider the situation in which when I left my house in the morning for working, I found the street was wet. I think the following expression is ungrammatical.

  昨日雨が降ったそうだ。

Because ～そうだ (conjecture) must represent event that will happen in the future or represent the current state of something or someone.

  昨日雨が降りそうだった。

does not make sense as well, right?

Question

So what is the correct expression to say the following?

  There might be raining yesterday.


texts: How important is one's pitch when speaking Japanese?

texts:
I'm aware of some words in Japanese that have the same reading but different meaning depending on the pitch of each syllable. The canonical example is はし (hashi), which can mean either chopsticks (HAshi) or bridge (hashi or haSHI).

However, most Japanese language books I have come across ignore the concept of pitch completely, and vocabulary lists never tell you the pitch you should use.

How important is it to speak with the correct pitch? Can I be understood without knowing the pitch sequence for each word?


texts: In Japanese, how do you say you will skip ahead past one section for time's sake while reading aloud to an audience?

texts:
How do you succinctly say that you are going to skip ahead past the next section or paragraph for time's sake and tell the audience which spot you are picking up again when reading a paper aloud at an academic conference?

I believe that there is a Japanese phrase that's a sort of set phrase (though different people might word it slightly differently) of about 1 sentence long, which includes the word 「飛ぶ」or「飛んで行きます」 ("fly past" or "jump over" the next bit) and tells the listeners the first couple words of the sentence where you will start up reading aloud again. I think the phrase translates to something like, "I'm going to 'fly past' the next section and resume reading at [the 2nd paragraph of page 3, starting from, 'さらに、']." I heard it used 2 years ago so my memory of how this was expressed is fuzzy.

If there is not a standard phrase for this, how can I say it very succinctly (and quickly)?


texts: Would a japanese say "このジョルノジョバーナには夢がある"?

texts:
This sentence has become famous lately as the catchphrase of Giorno Giovanna in the JoJo: Golden Wind anime series. Literally, it's translated as "in this Giorno Giovanna there is a dream", but subtitles render it as "I, Giorno Giovanna, have a dream", maybe because the original sentence's construction is pretty weird, at least to me as a beginner.

What I wonder is: is this the normal way of saying someone has a dream in japanese? If not, is it some kind of way to form a sentence which is used to express something in particular? Or is it just Araki making things up to sound weird?


texts: As I have known, 格助詞 is not 体言.That is what I cannot understand.


texts: Is これはなまえをなにか correct?

texts:
If I need to ask something's name, like how is this called? or what's the name of this?, would it be okay to ask これはなまえをなにか?

I also would like to know if I should use です in this type of questions? Actually my first thought was about saying これはなまえをなんですか instead of これはなまえをなにか.


texts:
I've come across a few examples before, but never quite known what te-form used on its own means. I know that te-form used on its own can be an indication of omitted ～ください, but these examples do not seem to be that. For example:

  うん、アメリカで留学してみたいなと思ってね。

Does this mean 思っている with いる omitted? Or perhaps another subsidiary verb omitted?

Also another example is:

  ディズニーランドに⾏ったんだけどさ、なんかさ、すごい込んでて…

Where I'd assume 込んでて is a contraction of 込んでいて, but what is then assumed to be omitted after the final て?


texts: What do you say to welcome someone into an organization?

texts: I help run a 会話アワーというイベント　at school and I'm always boggled by this simple question: How do I welcome someone inside the room? Do I say ようこそ？ I know いっらしゃいませ would only be for a restaurant or shop.


texts: Japanese counter for exercise repetitions

texts: Recently, I've been attempting to incorporate Japanese into my daily life more frequently. As I went through my morning exercises, I realized that I wasn't sure if simply counting 一,二,三... was correct, or if there was a specific counter for exercise repetitions (one pushup, two pushups, etc.). In looking around, the closest I've been able to find have been 度,回, and of course, つ. Does anyone know which is correct?


texts: When is the particle "に" redundant in the phrase "ために"

texts:
Compare the following two sentences, "ため" is used to express 原因 in both sentences:

寒さのために死んだ。
日本は島国のため、陸上には国境がない。

I wonder if I can choose to add the particle "に" as I want,
but one of my Japanese friend told me

寒さのため死んだ。（✕）
日本は島国のために、陸上には国境がない。（✕）

don't sound natural.
Does anyone know the rule when we should add "に" or not?


texts:
I'm having some difficulty with the various verbs that exist for bending and turning and could really use some insight into them:
曲がる - Intransitive
曲げる - Transitive
回る - Intransitive
回す - Transitive

JDIC additionally lists 転じる, which I'm not familiar with.

I get the feeling that the 曲-based ones are more of a "bending" or "one-time turning" concept while the 回-based ones are more of a turning/rotating/spinning concept.  More cyclical, you know?


texts: Scope of negation in 「カラオケはいちばんお金を使いません。」

texts:
I came across this sentence in みんなの日本語　I.

  カラオケは　いちばん　お金を　使いません。

I now understand this sentence means:

  Karaoke is the cheapest activity. (or Karaoke is the activity that spends least money).

However, I originally thought this sentence meant:

  Karaoke is not the most expensive activity.

I now know the second meaning is not the right answer, but if I encounter similar sentences in the future, how can I know the ません negates only the お金を使い, but not the entire いちばんお金を使い?

「みんなの日本語I」の教科書に、こんな文がありました。

  カラオケは　いちばん　お金を　使いません。

これは次のような意味だと理解しています。

  Karaoke is the cheapest activity. (or Karaoke is the activity that spends least money).

（訳: カラオケはいちばん安い遊び（活動）です or カラオケはいちばんお金を使わない遊びです）

しかし、はじめに読んだとき、私は次のような意味だと思いました。

  Karaoke is not the most expensive activity.

（訳: カラオケはいちばん高い遊びではありません）

今は、これが二番目の意味ではないと知っていますが、もしこれから同じような文章を見た時、「〜ません」が「いちばんお金を使い」全体ではなく、「お金を使い」の部分だけを否定しているということをどう見分けたらよいでしょうか。


texts: How should I understand the ありそうなものだったが?

texts:
だが、タイミングの悪いことに、お菓子の類が全てなくなってしまっていた。琴里の部屋に行けばチュッパチャプスのストックくらいはありそうなものだったが、それに手を出そうものなら、あとでどんな報復が待っているかわからなかった。

Context: 士道’s friend played “trick or treat” with him but 士道 didn’t have any candies at that time.
Hi. How should I parse or understand the bold part? I know if 士道 went to 琴里’s room he would find some candies. But isn’t it enough to just say ありそうだったが (it seems there are some candies, but...)?
By the way, why is ものだったが rather than ものだが used here?
Thank you.


texts: What's the difference between 済む, 終わる, 出来る and 上がる

texts: I've seen all four used in the context of something being finished. What's the difference between them?


texts:
What does と right after 乗り込もう mean in the following sentence?

  一人で原始林へ乗り込もうとは君はなんて勇ましいんだ。


texts: the use of 園地（えんち）、庭（にわ）

texts:
I have problem with word use again:)
there are these two words 園地 (enchi) and 庭 (niwa)。
as far as I know 'niwa' refers to a garden around the house right?
What about 'enchi' does it refer to a house garden as well or maybe to the garden of a shrine or temple?
Thank you for your help!


texts:
Recently I found an intereseting sentence pattern "てもいない".

聞いてもいない in
聞いてもない話を聞かされる

やってもいない in
やってもいないことを出来ないと言わない

話してもいない in
いきなりマイナス!?話してもいない相手への印象を悪くする行動

思ってもいない in
思ってもないことを平気で言える女

The question I want to ask is, is it possible to omit the も, or it would sound wierd？


texts: Meaning of ついて when issued as a command?

texts:
I was watching a video of people in Japan getting yelled at and stopped by police, and several times I'd hear them yell「ついて！」.
I was unsure of the meaning, and after looking it up I couldn't figure out if it was 着いて e.g. "sit down" or 付いて e.g. "come here". I know that 付いて来て would mean something like "come with me", but I am not sure which one of these would be correct in that situation.

EDIT:

For clarity, it was a skateboarding video. Someone would do a trick on private property, and when the police/guards saw this happen they yelled「ついて！」, directed at the skateboarder.


texts: I've read that 日本人の知らない日本語 translates to: "Japanese (language) that Japanese (people) don't know". But I don't understand how or what the の does in that sentence. If I'm not mistaken 知らない日本語 could mean "Japanese language that (x) don't know" or "even unknown Japanese". But I don't get how the 日本人の fits into the translation.


texts: How do you express "it's getting colder" in the past tense? I.e. "It was getting colder."

texts:
As far as I know, "it's getting colder" is 寒くなってきた.

The way I'm understanding this is you're saying that the state of the weather becoming colder has come, similar to how something might "come to pass" in English.

What confuses me is that this expression already uses くる　in the past tense, so how would you phrase "it was getting colder"? Do I need some sort of temporal noun or reference to a past time period, like "last month"?


texts: What is the function of と when it's not quoting, or doing exhaustive listing?

texts:
Consider these two sentences:

　(1) 母はついてくるようにアリスに合図した (Mother signaled to Alice to follow her)
　(2) 父は手で私に部屋を出ていくようにと合図した。 (Father gestured to me to go out of the room)

And another sentence which I suspect has the same use of と　as (2) but I cannot exactly say what it does:

(3) この本は子供を対象とした本です。(Unnatural: This book is a book that is done in order for children to be targets) (Natural: This is a book for children)

Now I deconstruct the use of AをBとC in (3) to mean "Do verb C to achieve state B in direct object A"
(Question) How would I understand the use of と in (2)? Since (1) does not require と yet has a similar structure involving ように. But XようにY means "to do Y so that X can happen". What happens when と is added to the mix as in (2)?
(Example sentences taken from WWWJDIC)


texts:
This sentence is from a light novel. Right after the character has defeated a dullahan, one of the characters starts praying and says this:

  「祈りを、捧げている。 デュラハンは不条理な処刑で首を落とされた騎士が、恨みでアンデッド化するモンスターだ。こいつとて、モンスターになりたくてなった訳ではないだろう。自分で斬りつけておいて何だが、祈りぐらいはな....」

I don't think I've come across 「何だ」in this 'mid-sentence-like' manner yet,  but judging from the definitions here: https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E4%BD%95%E3%81%A0/#jn-165822,
this 「何だ」 can just be used to express doubt or some kind of uncertainty of the speaker.

All in all, it still looks a bit weird to me, so I want to ask what really stands behind this here.


texts:
The sentence in question:
早速園内をのぞいてみました。

For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/web_tokushu/2018_0521.html?utm_int=news_contents_tokushu_004

My attempt at translation:
"At once they cleared inside the garden."

I dont really know how else to translate this sentence, however, I also have difficulties connecting with the context from before. I could see the aforementioned nursery school having "cleared" their garden of children. Basically calling them in after letting them play for some time in the garden.
However, this comes pretty much out of the blue and therefore I find it rather improbable.

So maybe I just misunderstood the whole thing and someone can tell me what they actually tell us there ^^


texts: 自然から得られる生産に役立つ要素。 Parsing

texts:
自然から得られる生産に役立つ要素。

Can someone help me with this?
自然から得られる=You can obtain from nature
生産に役立つ=Useful for production
要素=Components

  自然から得られる生産に役立つ要素。
  Components you can obtain from nature which are useful for production.

Is it correct?
So the parsing would not be:
((自然から得られる)>生産に役立つ)>要素。
but
(自然から得られる)--->要素。
(素生産に役立つ)-->要素.
They both refer to 要素.


texts:
佐藤：ところで、前田君、すごいよね。今年も優秀社員に選ばれて、ボーナスもアップだっ　て。うらやましい～。
ワン：前田さんって、完璧ですね。入社してからトラブルを起こしたことなんて、一回もないんじゃないですか。
佐藤：いや、優秀社員とはいえ、トラブルはあるよ。彼だって最初ワンさんと同じような新人だったから。入社してまだ三年目のときだったかな、彼が担当したプロジェクトが大失敗したこともあってねえ。
ワン：ええ。
佐藤：そのプロジェクトが大失敗してからというもの、彼はすごく努力してね。朝一番に会社に来たり、自主的にセミナーに行ったりして。

Reading this, I was thinking, the typical use of て-form ending a sentence is to show imperative mood, but here is definitely not the case. I suppose 大失敗したこともあって=大失敗したこともある, 彼はすごく努力してね=彼はすごく努力してきたね, セミナーに行ったりして=セミナーに行ったりしている.
If my understanding is correct, then under what situation do Japanese prefer to use "te form" instead of an ordinary form if imperative mood is not intended? Or it is simply a peculiar speaking style?


texts: I just saw the word "goodbye" spelt as さよなら. Having clearly heard the long o sound before, I thought the word was misspelled. However, a quick online search shows both さよなら and さようなら being used. Is there any semantic or usage difference between the two words?


texts: I have no idea what this is saying. Can you have two topics in a sentence?

texts:
白い箱はカウチの上に緑のランプは机の上にあります。

This sentence looks like it has two topics in it. But when I try to translate it, it doesn't make sense (to me obviously). My direct translation is: A white box on top of the couch a green lamp is on top of the desk. Obviously, that's not gonna work. To me, it's like the first phrase is missing a verb. What am I missing?


texts: What is the difference between の中に and の中で?

texts:
I have two sentences having の中に (no naka ni) and の中で (no naka de), and I want to know if they are correctly framed.
If yes, then how does the meaning change?

日本{にほん}の食{た}べ物{もの}の中{なか}に寿司{すし}が大好{だいす}きです。
Nihon no tabemono no naka ni sushi ga daisuki desu.
日本{にほん}の食{た}べ物{もの}の中{なか}で寿司{すし}が大好{だいす}きです。
Nihon no tabemono no naka de sushi ga daisuki desu.

Please let me know if there are any grammatical mistakes.


texts:
I encountered this sentence which I'm not able to parse/read (in bold):

また恋愛中の相手の恋人に、本の話など仕掛けてはいけない。たとえば遊園地に行って黙って恋人とジェットコースターに乗って遊ぶことに比べたら、ずっと不毛な喋りに過ぎないからだ。
だが同じ本を読むことでも、同じ本の話でもいいからやってみた方がいい。もしも恋愛が峠を越えたと思えたり、これは失敗だったと思えたりしたときには。

The first part can be translated as:
もしも恋愛が峠を越えたと思えたり → If you think that your relationship is going through a difficult part
But then, I don't know what これは is referring to and what is the meaning of ときには at the end of the sentence. My translation for that part would be something like "in times in which you think that this (the relationship?) failed".


texts: Usage of の and に in 弟のもっといいお手本になりなさい！

texts:
So, there's this sentence:

  弟のもっといいお手本になりなさい！

And the translation given is:

  Set a better example for your brother!

But I simply cannot understand why it is composed like that.

Specifically:

Why is there の in there? Isn't it expresses possession or relation?
Why is there に at the end? I'd think that に should be precisely where there is の currently. Although, the only way I can see it could work is "you should become better example" so the に there. Doesn't explain の, though.


texts:
「……別に琴里は、狂三を軽視しろと言っているわけではない。むしろこちらからも、可能な限り彼女の援護を行うつもりだ」 「え？」
士道が目を丸くして琴里を見ると、琴里は大仰に肩をすくめてみせた。
「そりゃあ、ね。いくら狂三でも、DEMと正面切って総力戦っていうんじゃ分が悪いわ。もちろん士道が生き残るのが前提だけれど、そのあと狂三を封印できるのが最良だもの。助けられる場面で助けないような真似はしないわよ」

Context: 狂三, a girl and a 精霊, was fighting a war with an evil company called DEM to prevent the company from killing 士道. 琴里 was going to help 狂三 because she wanted protect 士道 too.
Could you please explain why there is a っていう before んじゃ? What is this usage? I know のでは is a fixed grammar construction meaning “if”. But I would use 総力戦なんじゃ.


texts: Is there any difference between 意外に and 意外と?

texts:
I hear　意外に and 意外と used frequently to mean "moreso than I thought." They seem to be interchangeable. Example:

意外と簡単でした = Easier than I thought

Are they both grammatically correct? Is there a difference in nuance or usage using ni vs to? I don't recall ever hearing them used with a present or future tense verb. Can you think of an example where they might be used outside of past tense?


texts:
I am trying to learn about pitch accent, and I have heard that there are rules for suffixes regarding pitch accent. Are there any resources where I could learn about those rules ?
I am not yet able able to really understand all in Japanese sources, which may be why I have been unlucky with finding out more about it.
I know about ojad, weblio and u-biq which can be useful for looking up individual words of even counters in the case of the last one ; however I have yet to come across a place where I can learn about rules and suffixes.
I'd be grateful if anyone could tell me how or where I can learn them !
by suffixes I mean things like 方、屋、的 or even counters such as 日、つ、or　個.
ps : if you have any other useful resource for pitch accent than the ones I have cited, even unrelated to suffixes, please feel free to share them as well !


texts: Is it rude to ask a Japanese person using keigo to speak less formally? How to do it politely?

texts:
This has mostly to do with me not understanding Keigo well, so when I enter restaurants or other service-based businesses, and they talk in Keigo to me, I hardly ever understand, which is why I always struggle my away around the convos somehow.

So, would it be rude to ask the staff, which actually has to talk in Keigo to you, to change to Teineigo, so I understand?

And to further generalize: Is it even ok to ask the conversation partner to change the speaking form he's using?


texts: Evolution of が (ga) particle: How did use as conjunctive arise from use as a subject marker

texts:
As mentioned in this post,

が started as an attributive case particle, became a subject particle, and then turned into a conjunctive particle.

and in modern Japanese it has its main uses as both a conjunctive particle and a subject marker.
While the answer in that question covers its evolution from an attributive particle to a subject particle, how did the use as a conjunctive particle arise? If anything, I would expect "wa" to have evolved as the conjunctive particle instead of "ga" since it already plays a role in contrastive nuance.


texts:
兄さんをエサにホムンクルスを引っ張り出します

Is there an implied verb after に, or not? Is this sentence more along the lines of the situation when you have two verbs connected with the ～て form, or is it more along the lines of "兄さんをエサに" being an element of the verb 引っ張り出す in the same way that ホムンクルスを is?
Could you replace に with として here? If so, how would it compare with the sentence using に? If not, why not?
I know I asked a lot of questions; just address whichever ones make the most sense.


texts: Meaning of 方 in 「質問のある方はどうぞ」

texts:
In the sentence

質問のある方はどうぞ

what is the meaning of 方?


texts: Difference between using a に particle with a noun

texts:
What's the difference in these 2 sentences?

禁止します

禁止にします


texts: What is the difference in meaning between 練習, 訓練 and 実践?


texts:
How is 百にも足らぬ used here?

「算え｛かぞえ｝十九の若さで御供頭の大役を仰せつかるとは、冥加｛みょうが｝な話よのう」背戸｛せど｝の畑から戻ってきた叔父は、野良着のまま囲炉裏端に座りこむと、まるきり他人事のように言った。
「お言葉ではございますが叔父上、冥加と申されるのもいかがなものかと」
一路｛いちろ｝は憮然として抗った。武士だか百姓だかもわからぬ叔父は、百にも足らぬ御家来衆の典型である。しかし頼りになる親類がほかにいないのでは仕様がなかった。

Is it 取るに足らない, 成句 sense
Or 百（の数）にも足らない（達しない）, literal sense?
Or something else that I'm missing?


texts: Parsing potential phrase modifying a noun

texts:
From Hirameki Hatsume-chan Vol 1, chapter 71
How does the sentence in the third panel translate, and who is doing what to whom? Is it a potential and the どうぐ is "enabling" him to have good dreams or is it passive and the 見る verb used to mean "show"?


texts: "If I have done that" in the continuous form?

texts:
I saw this sentence on TV:

  日々心によぎる「あのとき こうしていれば」という言葉。。。

and I wonder why していれば is used here and not すれば.

When I asked my teacher he said it is an N1 grammar point, he tried to explain it to me but I didn't get it.

I'm looking for more info on this to understand why it is like that, I didn't find it on a quick google search.

Here is one more example sentence that he gave me:

  あの時、ポケモンを見ていなかったら、日本語を勉強していなかったかもしれない。

Edit:
The suggested duplicate questions don't answer why it is like that, they just state that this is the right way.
I still don't know why they are using ていれば, if it is just like that - fine. But if there is a reason for a western mind to understand I will be glad to hear it.


texts: How do you say "hello" properly in Kyoto?

texts: Rosetta Stone, which I use for learning, uses konnichiwa (こんにちは?) as a generic "hello". But when visiting Kyoto and places around there, I have never heard anyone actually saying it, not even a single time. Do they use another standard phrase instead? I would like to use a natural phrase to initiate conversation with strangers, for reasons like asking for directions and such.


texts: purpose of の in 人の嫌がることをするな

texts:
In this phrase 人の嫌がることをするな why is の used? Is it acting as a noun modifier?

嫌がる is the  garu form of iya as far as I understand, so it would be a verb right? can a verb be treated as a noun?


texts:
I'm wondering how 馬鹿も一芸 should be translated into English. EDICT-based dictionary sites list this phrase with the following translation:

  馬鹿も一芸
  even a fool has a talent

Is this translation correct?


texts: Meaning of 娘が心配しちゃいますので

texts:
「お礼に一杯おごろう。実は今日、給料が入ったんだ」

「そうですね、嬉しいお誘いなのですが……」

「……娘が心配しちゃいますので」

Context: The above two characters have been out for a while and the guy offers to treat her with his pay. She declines because:

1) Her daughter will be worried about her
2) She is worried about her daughter

I believe its 1) as I think 心配なので　would have been used for the other meaning but I am unsure.


texts: What is the ki used for in this sentence? 懐かし き 故郷

texts:
I'm translating a song as part of a project.
What is ki used for? Is it a prefix for kokyou?
Natsukashi ki kokyou

  晴天の日の少々、感傷に浸る午後
  懐かしき故郷 夢見な理想郷
  忘れがちな嘘 あるまじきEmotion
  企みし今生の消せぬ怨霊の炎


texts: Differences in usage between 撮る{とる} and 写す{うつす}、写る｛うつる}?

texts: Differences in usage between 撮る{とる} and 写す{うつす}、写る｛うつる} ?


texts:
The following sentence is from "A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar" p.127:

すみません。これでも一応大学教師なんです。 Sorry, (I know I don’t look like one,) but I am
in fact a college professor.

I'm having trouble understanding what 一応 is doing in this sentence. Usually it means "tentatively", "for the time being", or "roughly". But it seems to have the exact opposite meaning here.
Is this the equivalent of "kind of", in English when it's used humbly ("I'm kind of a big deal")? Or is something else going on?


texts:
I was watching karakau jouzu anime and I found this sentence. I know how everything works except 風. A girl was looking at an ice cream fridge and said

焼き芋風アイス 売り切れだ


texts:
I would like to know the pronunciation for these following expressions:
i) (1, 2日), (6, 7日), (7, 8日), (8, 9日), (8, 10日), (18~20日)
ii) 第2日, 第3日, 第4日, 第5日, 第6日, 第7日, 第8日, 第9日, 第10日, 第20日


texts: What nuances do the も…ば…も structure carry?

texts:
In the book that I'm reading and a few other occasions, I saw the も…ば…も sentence structure.

For example:

  俺には特殊な力もなければ秘められた才能もない。

I searched ば on jisho.org and it says that も…ば…も means "and". This is not very helpful because there are other constructs that also means "and". This, for example:

  俺には特殊な力がなく秘められた才能もない。

Does the も…ば…も structure sound more literary/archaic/cool?


texts: Usage of より in 今まででいちばん多かった前の年より１５人少なくなりましたが

texts:
from this article: https://nhkeasier.com/story/4248/
As I understand it, より has the following usage:
Nより　= rather than/compared to N
so that in this sentence it would be something along the lines of:
"Compared to last year, which up until now had the highest, it (this year) decreased by 15 people."
But from the context of the article, I don't think this is right, as this year should have the highest number of people.
Would appreciate if someone can explain where I am going wrong with my understanding of this grammar.


texts: How to say “in English, X is called Y” in Japanese

texts:
I’m in the midst of a conversation with some Japanese friends online, and I’ve run into a bit of a problem. I want to tell them the English names of certain characters, since the names are different in Japanese, but I’m not sure how to phrase it.

If I wanted to say “In English, A is called B”, would 「英語でAの名前はBです」 work? Thanks!


texts:
These are part of the lyrics of the fifth ending theme of Hunter x Hunter (the 2011 animation).

朝{あさ}をむさぼり 夜{よる}を吐{は}き出{だ}し
生{い}かんとする 我{わ}が性{さが}

It seems 「生かんとする」 means 「生きようとする」:
生く(archaic form of 生きる) → 生か (未然形) + む(ん)とする

but I'm not sure whether it is a relative clause here.
Does the second line mean "my nature of trying to live", like, as part of my true nature, I try to live? Or maybe 「生かんとする」 isn't a relative clause at all? Since it's a song, I'm not sure.
I don't understand what "to try to exist/live" means exactly, either. Especially since volitional + とする is supposed to carry the nuance of being unsuccessful.
It seems 生く can also mean 生かす (to keep alive), so could 「我が性」 actually be the direct object of 「生かんとする」? Can I use volitional + とする as a relative clause modifying the direct object of the verb in volitional form if I'm the agent? Like:

使おうとしたパソコン
the computer I tried to use (and failed)

Related question about んとする: What is the difference between ～んとする and ～とする?


texts:
I've came across a sentence

悪手【あくしゅ】といえば悪手【あくしゅ】にも見える

in a manga, but I can't find any explanation on this pattern, so I don't see how "speaking of" makes sense. A "bad move" isn't mentioned previously.
The character thinks "The last move was pretty interesting", and continues thinking on the next panel with the mentioned sentence.
The official English translation is

"Most would consider it to be a bad move",

but I feel like there's more to the original.


texts: Is there a difference between マジ and 本当?

texts: Is there a difference betweenマジand 本当？　I know that both terms mean really.


texts: Why did the author briefly jump to present tense in this article?

texts:
The first sentence of the second paragraph of the article titled モンテ、ナビスコ初戦快勝  in Yomiuri Shinbun is written in the present tense (or possibly the future tense I guess):
序盤、何度も相手ゴールに迫るが、得点に結びつかない。

But, the article is describing a past event. And, all the rest of the article is written in the past tense.

What is going on?


texts:
I would like to know what the word 「他」means in the following sentence.

引火性のもの　（ガソリン、ベンジン、シンナー他{ほか}）の近くで使用しないで下さい。

Does it means '...and other things that are able to catch fire' or 'besides gasoline, Benzin and thinner'?


texts:
I'm stuck in this paragraph :

  叫び声を上げようと口を開いた瞬間、こぼれ出たのは絶叫ではなく血塊だ。
  　せき込み、喉からこみ上げる命の源を思うさまに吐き出す。ごぼごぼと、口の端を血泡が浮かぶほどの吐血。

I don't fully understand the following sentence :

  せきこみ、喉から込み上げる命の源を思うさまに吐き出す。

What I understand is :

  He cough violently, and threw out at the fact he was thinking at the 命の源 which was making him wanting to throw up.

It might seem like gibberish but I don't want to translate, I just want to understand

What does 喉からこみ上げる really means ? I understand it as something that makes up have 吐き気, is it right ?

How to read the 源 ? みなもと　？　げん？

What is the meaning of さまに exactly ? I saw on the dictionary that it means a "state", but how is it different to "思うことに吐き出す" or something like that ?

Is 吐き出す "vomit" or "say frankly" in this sentence ? I understand it as vomit, but a japanese friend told me that it mainly meant "思いをぶちまける"..

Thanks!!


texts:
佐々：「それなら、もう一つお前に聞くが、お前の願いを聞いてやったら、お前たちはすぐに殺される。父の顔を見ることはできないが、それでもいいか。」
いち：「それで、結構でございます。」
いちは、冷たく静かに答えたが、何か心に浮かんだらしく、すぐその後に
いち：「『お上』のなさることに間違いはございませんでしょうから。」
佐々は突然冷たい水を浴びせられた時のように、驚いた顔をした。

This sentence sparks my curiosity that why the author inserted "時" before "よう".
Could the author simply put it as

佐々は突然冷たい水を浴びせられたように、驚いた顔をした。

If not, what is the difference between the two sentence?
(I forgot to put 顔をした in the first edition, sorry.)


texts: Japanese phrase for "Eyes wide open in surprise"

texts:
So I'm a bit confused because I'm still learning Japanese, and I have learned there are shortened words or small phrases that take a lot more to say in English, so I was wondering if there is an actual saying in Japanese for when someone's eyes are wide open in surprise. I used google translate, which I don't fully trust so it's not an official reference, but I got a very literal answer so I'm wondering if that would be preferred.

Google Translate:

English: I open my eyes wide in surprise
Japanese: 私{わたし}は驚{おどろ}いて私{わたし}の目{め}を広{ひろ}く開{ひら}きます

I don't trust this answer of course, so I usually use the Japanese Dictionary, Jisho.org, as a more trustworthy source, and it shows a phrase that seems to be what I'm looking for:

目{め}を見{み}張{は}る/me o miharu

(Link: https://jisho.org/word/目を見張る)

So would it be right to try and say the sentence (sounds like a fragment in English, but it's for a song), "I open my eyes wide in surprise" like this:

私{わたし}は目{め}を見{み}張{は}っている

PS: Also, the phrase, "I open my eyes wide in surprise", is meant to mean something more like the person is doing the action, thus, the te-form of the phrase in Japanese. Sorry for the long question, and hope it wasn't too crazy, thanks!


texts: Use of と in 亡くなった人と亡くなっていたことがわかった人

texts:
I'm reading this article about a peace ceremony held in Nagasaki.

There is a sentence that uses a と, but I do not understand the meaning entirely. I believe the と is being used as an "and" but I don't know why or how. I have only seen と used as an "and" when its is between two nouns like

  猫と犬

  Cat and dog

If I am correct is it because the と is between two relative clauses?

  Sentence: 去年からの１年に亡くなった人と亡くなっていたことがわかった人は３５１１人です。

  My Translation:
  Since last year, people that have died in the year and people who understood the event that were dying are 3511.


texts: Please help me understand this sentence: あなたに、私の両親に会ってもらいたいんですが。

texts:
some things are not clear to me in the following sentence

あなたに、私の両親に会ってもらいたいんですが。

It's translate to "I would like you to meet my parents", but as far as i know the word あなた mean you. So its not suppose to be "You want to meet my parents?"

Also, I don't understand the purpose of the word もらい. From what I found out:

もらい　－ to get somebody to do something (follows a verb in "te" form)

but it's to vague, I don't have any idea what does it even mean.

Thanks a lot, Or


texts: に to indicate the role you want something to play?

texts:
In Chapter 11 of the Genki textbook, it's stated that に can be used to indicate the role you want something to play. The example sentence given was:

お土産に絵葉書を買いました。

However, I am a bit confused as I was unable to find this particular usage of the に particle elsewhere. Could someone please clarify this issue for me?

Also, I was under the impression that the で particle is used to give context to things. So is it possible to replace に with で in the example sentence above?


texts:
Here is the sentence including the word.

  そのドヤ街｛がい｝に住む｛すむ｝子｛こ｝どもたちをそそのかしてかれらを部下{ぶか}となし


texts: Use of 方 in sentence (かた or ほう?) + translation

texts:
Context (although probably not relevant): Last sentence of the preface to a short manga sidestory. The rest of the preface talks about how the mangaka ordered rubber coasters and they didn't turn out like she wanted them to, but people wanted to have them, so it's all good.

In the following sentence is the 方 used as 'かた' or as 'ほう'

  このぺーパーの方が圧倒的に多いので何言ってるのか分からない方も多いと思いますが…。

I think the second part means something like "...I think, there are many people who don't know what to say..." in which case 方 would be read as かた. But I can't really make sense of the first part. Usually, I'd assume "の方が" was being used to establish that something is more than something else, but there is nothing in the text to compare to.

Any help is much appreciated! :)


texts: What do the words 「ことに」, at the end of a sentence, and 「を巡り」mean?

texts:
Here is the sentence relating to my question.

院生たちに慰問に現れた葉子を巡り、再び力石とジョーは拳を交えることに。

1) For the word 「を巡り」, does it mean 'concerning' which similar to the meaning of 「を巡って」?

2) For the word 「ことに] , is it a colloquial short form of 「ことになる」?


texts:
I have received an email that begun with this:

  その後、お元気にお過ごしですか。

My immediate thought was その後ってどの後, after which I proceeded to be further confused by the rest of the sentence. I'm guessing it means something like "How have you been (since I last sent you an email)", but the lack of a past tense throws me off.

What does this mean and what would be a polite response to it? And if it does refer to the past, why is there no past tense?


texts: かれはまどをあけますか。How to convert it to “Why did he open the window?”

texts: I am a beginner Nihongo learner. I know Did he open the window? - かれはまどをあけますか。I just don't know where to insert the "why" in the sentence. Actually, I was a little disappointed that this question is put on hold, thinking that people here is not that helpful to people like me.


texts: Why do TV subtitles use spaces (instead of commas)?

texts:
It looks like Japanese text don't use spaces between words, not even in informal messages (yes perhaps in textbooks, but I digress). This page claims that a sentence with spaces inbetween just looks weird, example:

  私の名前は ゆかです。

But it seems like Japanese subtitles in Jdramas / animes etc use spaces, not just once or twice, but all the time.

On the contrary, the comma 、 is almost non-existent. It's almost as if each comma in a subtitle is replaced with a space instead.

I'm using the subtitles posted on d-addicts as an example. Out of over 2000 Japanese sub files, only roughly ~5%* contain the 、 character. In some files, the comma actually only appeared once or twice.

Some threads like 東野圭吾 and 秘密諜報員 エリカ did not state the original source of the subtitles, but others like 医龍 3 and ちりとてちん do claim to have the subtitles extracted from the TV broadcast:

  These subtitles were extracted from the corresponding TV broadcast. Text wasn’t edited in any way. Due to some technical reasons there might be several missing characters and/or lines. Timing is not perfect but still good (at least not worse than original timing for TV).

D-addicts' examples of using spaces instead of comma:

Anime mkv files also have "built-in" subs using spaces instead of comma, for example the movie Mugiwara Chase:

Why is it that instead of using commas, Japanese subtitles use spaces instead?

What is the reason for this oddity?

==

*List of d-addict files with comma:

１リットルの涙 # 1-2
1 Litre of Tears # 8
Aishiteru # 1
Ashita no Kita Yoshio # 11
Atami no Sousakan # 3
Bara no nai Hanaya # 1-4
BOSS # 4-8
Buzzer Beat # 11
Cat Street # 1-5
Celeb to Binbo Taro # 7
Fuyu no Sakura # 9
Gakko ja Oshierarenai! #2
GM Odore Doctor # 9
Gokusen 3rd ep06, # 8
Haken no Hinkaku # 1
Hanayome no Chichi # SP
Hayami san to Yobareru Hi # 2
Honboshi ~ Shinri Tokuso Jikenbo # 2
Innocent Love # 3
Isshun no Kaze ni Nare # SP part 3
Kaeru no Ojou sama # 4, 5
Kamen Rider Double # 1-17
Kansahojin # 5
Keibuho Yabe Kenzo # 4, 5
Kimi Hannin Janai yo ne # 8
Koukousei Restaurant # 5
Kurumi no Heya # 1-6
Last Friends # 8
Last Money ~Ai no Nedan~ # 1
Lost Time Life # 1
Lotto 6 de 3 oku 2 senman En Ateta Otoko # 5
Maou # 5, 11
Marumo no Okite # 4
Monster Parent # 1
Nanase Futatabi # 8
Nihongo de Kurasou # 1
Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo # 1-2
Nemureru Mori # 1-12
Ohitorisama # 7
Ohsama_no_resutoran # 1-3
Orthros no Inu # 1-3, 5, 8-9
Piece Vote # 6
Ryoukiteki Na Kanojo # 4-5
Saigo no Kizuna
Shanghai Typhoon # 4
Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi # 1-2
Soredemo, Ikite Yuku # 6
Stand Up!! # 7
Sunao ni Narenakute # 4
Tenshi no Wakemae # 1-3
Tomorrow # 8-10
Umareru # 10
Unfair the special ~Double Meaning Nijuu Teigi
Zettai Kareshi # 5-6
デカ黒川鈴木 # 4
MR. BRAIN # 6-8


texts: What is "確かにコレじゃあな" supposed to mean here?

texts:
The scenario:
Two people looking at a picture of their deceased relative.

Person 1:

  はぁーあ、こんな遺影じゃおちおち感傷にも浸れない

Which I believe translates to:

  I shouldn't get sentimental so carelessly over something like a picture

Person 2:

  確かにコレじゃあなー

This response is confusing me, if 確かに means "certainly", コレ means "this" and  じゃあなー means "isn't it/right?" then that would would mean it literally translates to "certainly this isn't it", I know I shouldn't think of things too literally but I'm at a loss as to what it could mean in a more contextual sense, can anyone please explain what it actually means?


texts: How to say "including" or "it follows" for schedules and holidays etc

texts:
How do you say something along the lines of "my class schedule follows the holidays of the year" or "my class schedule is dependent on the national calender, including holidays.

授業の定刻は国の休み日をついて is the best I can come up with for the first one. Not even sure if tsuku is the correct word.

I have no idea what dependent would be. よって？


texts: Why does そう in 「美味しいそう」 not mean "seem" the way I think it should?

texts:
Here's another habitual mistake I make. I'm looking at a sign for a restaurant with pictures of great food. So I remark to my friend:

  美味{おい}しいそう、ね？

... intending to mean, "that looks good, don't you think?" (more literally: "[that] seems delicious, huh?"). I'm going to make "good" synonymous with "delicious" for 美味{おい}しい in this question, by the way, because it's more natural for me to say food is "good".

My friend laughs, though, and tells me that by using そう in this case, I'm saying that I've heard or been informed that it is good. It does not mean that I am directly assessing the picture for myself in that moment.

Yet, when I look up in the dictionary, one of the definitions of そう is "seems" or "looks like". There's no mention of hearsay.

I've also looked at some related questions on this site, but I'm still left confused. In the answer to that question, it says "そう emphasizes evidence of the senses rather than general seeming." Well... if that's true, then shouldn't my eyes looking at the picture be the evidence of the sense I need to justify using そう?

First, what should I say if I want to say "that looks good"? 「美味{おい}しいみたい」? That seems like I am saying that the presentation might be deceptive, as in "that might be good, but that's just the way the picture is, and who knows about the real thing." 「美味{おい}しいかな」? That makes it sound like I'm seeking confirmation, as in "I wonder if that's good?" 「美味{おい}しいだろ」? That sounds to me like I'm asking the question "does that look good?"

Second, I feel like I hear Japanese around me saying 「美味{おい}しいそう」 all the time. If it involves some hearsay, then is it only used as a confirmation after someone has made a previous statement? Like so:

  昨日{きのう}、めちゃうまいビーガン店{みせ}に行った！　("Yesterday I went to an
  insanely awesome vegan restaurant!")

  美味{おい}しいそう！私{わたし}も行{い}きたい！　 ("That sounds good! I want to go
  too!")

Please help me kill this bad habit.

Please no technical linguistic terms. Thanks!


texts:
Is there a general meaning for 切る on the end of verbs?

I think it might have to do with "completely doing" something. If that's the case, how does ～切る on the end of verbs differ from ～てしまう, for example how do 成り切った and なってしまった "turned completely into" differ in meaning?

Additionally:

How does the meaning of 支え切れなくなる differ from 支えられなくなる "become unable to support"? Can 支え切れなくなる mean "will go past the point of being able to support"?
How does 疲れ切った differ from 疲れた "exhausted"? Does 完全に疲れた "completely exhausted" have a similar meaning to 疲れ切った?
What is the relationship between 割り切る and 割る?


texts: What is the Equivalent of Adding -er to a verb to make it "One who does x"?

texts:
In English, to make a verb into "someone or something that does x" we add -er to the verb. Examples:

crush → crusher
teach → teacher
run → runner
spin → spinner

Is there a similar rule or pattern in Japanese?


texts:
As the title says, I would like to know differences between 貯金{ちょきん} and 節約{せつやく}.
Both mean "saving money" and have the irregular する verb ending:

貯金する{ちょきんする} : To save money
節約する{せつやくする} : To save money

From what I understand by reading example sentences, 節約{せつやく} has a more general meaning and can be used with anything to save like water, food, money...
Is 貯金 only usable with a money context? Are there any differences between the two of them when they are used in a money context?


texts: What are the best ways to convey the idea of getting to a destination?

texts:
To express to get to or to reach a destination I see a few options:

到達{とうたつ}する

達{たっ}する

到着{とうちゃく}する

届{とど}く

And variations.

I have found 到達する as having clear examples with physical destinations (e.g. 公園に到達する - get to the park), but the rest seem to be used, for the most part, with figurative ideas/destinations (e.g. to reach a point, to reach a level of expertise).

What are the nuances of each and how would I best express getting to a destination?


texts:
For example :日本語を勉強します.

Do you pronounce ni hon go wo or ni hon go---


texts:
How can you express something like "Tomorrow I will have finished my work" or "Because I have to do hard word tomorrow, I will be very tired in the evening"?

明日、仕事を絶対終えたようとする。　？
明日、にくい仕事があるから、夜にとても疲れしまっているようになる（なりそうだ？）。　？


texts: How to modify nouns which are present affirmative?

texts: If I want to say "Tanaka, who is a doctor, drinks cola". Is "Isha da Tanaka wa koora o nomu" the correct saying or not?


texts:
I am trying to read the text from a Nintendo DS game, but have encountered a kanji that's (at least for me) difficult to recognise because of the very low resolution of the screen:

I have tried to narrow it down by parts/radicals, since the right hand side looks like it should be 申, but that didn't seem to get me anywhere and the left side seems even less obvious (at first I thought it might be 有 because of the top left part, but that doesn't seem to be the case either).

Here is the whole sentence where this appears (unknown kanji is marked with ◯):

  ひとり霊前に◯をささげたこのひとの心中を思うと…

Hopefully somebody can see here what I'm missing!


texts:
I was surprised to see this Tumblr post describe ～んだった used to mark regret. I can only assume it's true, but I'm not sure (1) how much of a colloquial expression/slang is it? (2) what does it come from, grammatically?

I'm familiar with のだ → んだ, but that doesn't seem like the past form (past+んだ) so is it maybe some kind of abbreviation of んだったらいい？ It doesn't really make sense though... and I couldn't really find anything anywhere else!


texts: Can を be left out for this phrase 文句をつける?

texts:
In the light novel that I'm reading, the protagonist says

  「人の趣味に文句つけるなよ！」

After performing the research, I've finally worked out this translation,

  "Don't complain about a person's hobby!"

Unfortunately, it relies on 文句 being a direct object...possibly.  I couldn't find any examples for translating 文句をつける without breaking the phrase apart.

Here are some of the examples that I found when を was included.  (src: http://www.mahou.org/Kanji/3667/?example)

  彼は何でも僕のすることに文句をつける。 He finds faults with everything I do. [M]

  彼はいつもあれこれと文句をつける。 He is always complaining of this and that.

I'd like to know if the を particle is missing because it's a casual conversation.   Or does the above-listed phrase have a different meaning altogether?


texts: Translating “Walk your own path. Let people talk.”

texts:
After all this time I think I finally have my translation of "Walk your own path. Let people talk." But before I put it in my CAD program, I would like to get an opinion on the word usage and grammar. Here is my translation:

  汝の仁道は歩く。許すを放語。

I think the words are right but I am not sure about the grammar.


texts:
So I'm working through Makino and Tsutsui's Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar, and I came across this sentence:

  ソウルにいるのも今夜きりです。
  This is my last night left in Seoul.

The entry is about teaching きり, which I understand just fine.  What I can't work out is how も is being used here. 'Being in Seoul'も'This is the last night'.  I can't see how this can mean 'even' or 'also' or any other definition I've looked at.  I was thinking it must be a typo for もう, which would make sense.

I'm sure I'm going to kick myself here, but any help would be much appreciated. :)


texts:
散歩＿＿立ち寄った公園は、ダンスをするお年寄りたちで賑わっていた。

  １．かたわら　　　2．かたがた　　　３．がてら　　　４．ついでに

I chose かたがた but the correct answer is がてら. I could not understand the difference. Any idea?


texts: What is the word to convey the same meaning as the replacement money?

texts:
Consider the following scenario.

I go to a shop and buy many electronic components using my own money. Later, the company will give me money with the same amount as a replacement.

What is the Japanese noun to describe this replacement money?
I found a word 再調達原価{さいちょうたつげんか} but it means replacement cost rather than replacement money.
Applying it in a sentence:

会社が再調達原価としてお金をくれます。
The company will give me money as the replacement cost.

But I actually want to say

The company will give me money as the replacement money.

Edit
Probably the following conversation might make it easier to understand.

ボス：どうぞ。(The boss gives me money)
私：このお金は何ですか。(I pretend I don't understand what that money is for)
ボス：（Replacement money） です。(The boss explains that that money is given as a replacement money)
私：ありがとうございます。(I thank the boss as a closing word)


texts:
According to a grammar book I'm reading, the sentence "宿題をしないで、学校に出掛けてしまいました" translates into "He went off to school without doing [his] homework." However, I do not understand either why (or even if) the しまいました is needed, nor do I understand why the -まい- is present.

So my questions would be

(1) Why is the しまいました needed?

(2) What function does the -まい- stem serve?


texts:
I am curious about the etymological history of 万年筆{まんねんひつ}, whose actual meaning is a fountain pen in Japanese.

If we separate the kanjis we have :

  万{マン}: ten thousand

  年{ネン}: years

  筆{ヒツ}: brush

So, literally it means a ten thousand years brush, isn't it ?

Why is it called that way ? Is it because this item made its appearance at some point in History ten thousand years after another event ?


texts: I was wondering what the literal translation really means. I've seen it translated as I'm home but I've also seen it in a few situations where the person wasn't arriving home.


texts:
I read online about different usages for あなた and how it can convey meanings and it's best to be avoided as it can come off as rude.

so I got into a situation where I was referred as anata by an older Japanese guy who knows my name and calls me by it. I got confused.

He was complimenting my Japanese and followed it up with: あなたはとても、すごいです。I'm not sure if あなた here conveys distance?

appreciate any explanation!


texts:
ある日、アリババがロバをつれて森へいくと、たくさんの馬の足音が聞こえてきました。

Can anyone explain to me what つれて and いくと mean in this sentence, I'm having a hard time understanding..

Thanks


texts: What does 『なのよさ』 at the end of a sentence mean?

texts: I am currently playing a Visual Novel, and there's a character who ends all of her sentences with that 『なのよさ』(This is 蒔菜{まきな} from the Grisaia VN series). From what I understood that has to do with 関西方言{かんさいほうげん}　(Kansai dialect), but I can't find anything on the Internet concerning that...


texts: Equivalents of Google Ngram for Japanese

texts:
Are there any equivalents of Google Ngram for Japanese?

Google Ngram doesn't currently cover Japanese, and the only other thing I could find was http://www.ldc.upenn.edu/Catalog/catalogEntry.jsp?catalogId=LDC2009T08 , which seems to be a paid-for service.


texts: "筆順" sounds more scientific / formal than "書き順"?

texts:
I just read the word "筆順" in an article about linguistics. I'd never seen this word before. I've always said "書き順" for "stroke order".

"書き順" is the natural way to say "stroke order" in daily conversation?
"筆順" is the natural way to write about "stroke order" in a more scientific discussion about linguistics?

Not a big deal. I am just curious.


texts: comparison of 受身形 and 受動態 both meaning "passive voice"?

texts:
(.) Both Japanese and English can construct sentences such that the main verb is either active or passive. There are two words for "passive voice" in Japanese 受身形 and 受動態.
I know that 受身形 means "passive voice as is constructed using Japanese grammar" such as:
私の車が田中さんに盗まれた。
So, I am guessing that 受動態 means "passive voice as is constructed using English grammar" such as:
My car was stolen by Mr. Tanaka.
How are 受身形 and 受動態 used differently?
(.) I know that 能動態 is the antonym of 受動態, and so what is the antonym of 受身形？


texts: What does "舐め取られてる" mean in this sentence?

texts:
何者かによってチョコが舐め取られてる

Found it here where people talked about the pocky snack.http://ogiri.doorblog.jp/

Is this "舐め取られてる" just another way of saying 舐める as in "to underestimate"?
Does it mean lick or taste here because of the subject?


texts: the difference between じゃん (jan) and だろう/でしょう (darou/desho)

texts:
I would like to know what's the difference of じゃん and だろう／でしょう.
the meaning I know it's similar, but when I should use each of them?
Is it same to say:

これはすごいじゃん！　＝　これはすごいでしょう！　＝　これはすごいだろう！
昨日、楽しかったじゃん？　＝　昨日、楽しかったでしょう？　＝　昨日、楽しかっただろう？
できるじゃん！　＝　できるでしょう！

thanks


texts:
In the song 深い森 by Do As Infinity, this comes up:
僕たちは 生きるほどに
失くしてく 少しずつ
偽りや 嘘をまとい

Is this 失くしてく a short-form of 失くしていく?
Or is the く after the て-form of 失くす　something else?
Thanks a lot!


texts: What are colloquial phrases for "really?" or "seriously?"

texts:
On Terrace House there is a word that is often translated as "really?" or "seriously?" It isn't hontoni, but something that sounds like "maji".

So for example a character tells another that, surprise, he's made bentos for the two of them. She says "maji de?" which is translated as "Did you really make lunch?"—I know this isn't an exact translation.

Second example, a guy says he's going to eat ramen late at night and someone responds, "Ramen? Maji?" This is translated as "For real?"


texts: 「。。。であるのも」は「であるし」の意味ですか？

texts:
朝の時間が、思考にとって黄金の時間であるのも、頭の工場の中がよく整頓されて、動きやすくなっているからにほかならない。

外山さんの「思考の整理学」から。

タイトルの通りに、ここの「であるのも」は「であるし」のかたい言い方ですか？後、この「であるのも」の「の」は説明する意味ですか？


texts: What is the grammatical function of 好感度さえ in 好感度さえクリアしていれば?

texts:
秋葉さんのルートは他のルートとは違っていて、好感度さえクリアしていればグッド・トゥルー、共に特別な条件を必要としません。

さえ.

This is the particle which always give me problems.
How can I translate this sentence?
I can't really grasp it.

I tried to and my translation would be:

  Akiha's route is different from the others and as long as you clear it favorably the true and good ending, together they do not require necessary conditions.

Still makes no sense.


texts:
In this story, the speaker is trying to figure out the nature of a stranger's powers, he makes comparisons with the powers of an acquaintance but comes to the conclusion they're quite different. But before he comes to this conclusion he says:

  似てる似てない以前の問題だ。

I'm not sure what the speaker is saying here, is someone could break it down for me that would be awesome.


texts:
Page 79 of Fluent Forever's "Awesome Word List" for Japanese gives 僧侶 as the Japanese word for "priest", listed just after "教会" for "church". How suitable is it for "priest", if at all?

Doing a google image search for "僧侶" mainly gave Buddhists (though that could be because more Chinese-speakers and Japanese-speakers are Buddhists than Christians), the English language Wiktionary translates it as Buddhist monks, while jisho.org says "priest; monk - Buddhist term" (seemingly saying that both "priest" and "monk" are Buddhist terms). The Japanese language's disambiguation page for 僧侶 has mention of Christianity.


texts:
すみません, I am trying to adopt a Japanese name. I have a Chinese name written as 吳虎威。 In modern standard Japanese orthography, it would be written as 呉 虎威. I understand that typically, Chinese names are pronounced with the on'yomi readings. For my name, it would be ゴ コイ . However, would it be possible for me to modify the pronunciation of my name?

I know that there is a city in Japan called Kure City (呉市), and 呉 is pronounced くれ. I also know that たけひろ is sometimes written as 威宏, where 威 is pronounced たけ. I also know that 虎, the word for tiger, is often pronounced とら. Could it be possible for me to adopt くれ as my surname? Could it also be possible for me to adopt とらい or こたけ as my given name? What do you think? Do any of those names sound strange to you? Thanks in advance! お願いします!


texts: Help with お逃げになられるとは

texts:
I began reading manga (To Loveる) and I saw something I don't understand or rather why it is used there.

The sentence is:

  まさか　こんな“辺境”にまでお逃げになられるとはねエ・・・

I mostly understand but there's the ending part that makes me confused.

Why is と even used there?
And what's with は?  Is it like ending-particle わ?
And one more: why is there used passive form of なる (なられる)?

Sorry for asking a lot! It would be great help if you could help me get it right.


texts: Polite phrase apologizing for irregular (written) correspondence

texts: What is the set phrase used to apologize for not corresponding regularly?


texts: After looking online, I found a counter supposedly for grams: 匁(monme). Is this  right? Also, would I just use it with the noun + particle + counter + verb form? Like 食べ物の一千匁をもって来る.


texts: な adjectives with い always end with -ei?

texts:
According to the "Oxford Japanese Grammar & Verbs" book, "There are some words which end in い even though they are な adjectives, not い adjectives. Such words all end in -ei.".
But what about 嫌い? It ends with い (not -ei) but it's still a な adjective, right?
It just doesn't really make sense to me but maybe I'm misunderstanding something.


texts: Does 'かわいそ' in this context mean 'is pitiful' or 'I feel pity for'?

texts:
This ties in to the dialogue in a previous question I'd asked, although the subject is different, so I thought it best to separate it into another question.

For context, the series is in the middle of a tennis competition. Makoto did very impressively during his match, but ended up losing and giving up towards the end. Makoto's friends cheered him on fiercely until he lost. Arata was the next person to have a match, and one of Makoto's friends started cheering the moment he appeared (she likes Arata). Another one of Makoto's friends looked at her, frowning, and thought:

  あんだけ頑張ったのにもうアラタ。。。マコトかわいそ

The context here has given me cause to translate the first part of the sentence as "Even though you put so much effort into cheering for Makoto, you're already cheering for Arata?"

My question is about the second part. Should that be 'I feel sorry for Makoto' or 'Makoto's become pitiful'? I've seen both used as translations for かわいそ, so I'm left rather confused.

If someone could tell me which version would fit this context, along with an explanation of why/how the meaning for かわいそ ('I feel pity for' vs. 'is pitiful, i.e deserving of pity) changes with different context and/or grammatical cues, I'd be very grateful.


texts:
I've been reading some japanese and encountered this sentence:

  アメリカでは、犯罪人を収容する刑務所のための場所以上に犯罪人がいるのでいつも刑務所は定員オーバーの状態である

I'm having trouble with the 「のための場所以上に」 and 「のでいつも」 parts.


texts: what's the difference between 話をする and 話す?

texts:
I'm trying to understand the nuances between 話をする and 話す. When is one used over the other?

I'm reviewing A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, and it has the following example sentence:

  私は山田さんとしか話をしない。

Would it mean the same thing if the example sentence were:

  私は山田さんとしか話さない。

Thanks for your help!


texts: When and how did USA and UK come to be written as [米]{べい}[国]{こく} and [英]{えい}[国]{こく}?

texts:
I know of four countries with a specific kanji besides Japan: China, the Netherlands, the USA and UK. The last two must be quite recent (I presume 19th century) but I wonder on the details and context of the selection.

There is of course 蘭, abbreviated from 阿蘭陀　(o-ran-da/holland)  used in 蘭学, dutch learning.


texts: What is the accurate meaning of そうですね／そうですか?

texts:
I was told that 'そうですか’ has two basic meanings according to the speaker's accent.  One is 'Really? I understand', the other meaning is 'Yes, it is, I know that'.

But what about 'そうですね'?  Does 'そうですね' have the same meaning with the second meaning of 'そうですか'?  What is the accurate meaning of these three sentences?


texts: もらう and もらって when used with various forms of verbs

texts:
What happens when I post-fix a って to もらう. Example:
手伝ってもらって.

I know 手伝ってもらう means I receive the favor of someone helping me. But what does conjugating もらう to its て form does?

Also, in its causative form,
手伝わせてもらう - A made B help me (as a favor for me)

If I am to conjugate this to 手伝ってもらって, what does it mean?

And finally, its passive form:
手伝われてもらう - Same meaning as 手伝ってもらう possibly?

Again, conjugating this to 手伝われてもらって, what does this mean?


texts:
In いっすんぼうし, a very popular fairy tale, this line appears:

  だいじんは　からだは　ちいさいけれど　げんきな
  いっすんぼうしを　たいそう　きにいり
  じぶんの　いえで　はたらかせることにしました。

Is 「だいじんは　からだは」 grammatically correct? What would be done to make this more correct?


texts: What is the difference between NをNとする and NをNとして/に?

texts:
maybe a really simple question, but I am very confused on when to use とする vs. として/に.

I am working on the Try book for N2 and in one of the practices it's asking to pick between とする, として, and に in example sentences.

For example:
企業は利益を上げることを目的(として/とする),日々、経済活動を行っている。

Thanks for looking!


texts: Is ペンキ塗り立て a common expression for "Wet Paint"?

texts: Is ペンキ塗り立て a common expression? If not, what will be a typical sign warning of wet paint?


texts:
How do もう and けど work in the bold sentence?

  ー日本のガイド・ブックはありませんか。

  ーはい、こちらです。

  ーもう少しくわしい本の方がいいんですけど。

  ーそうですか。それでは、こちらがいかがですか。

  ーじゃ、これをおねがいします。

I think it means something like "but a little bit detailed book would be better" but I'm not sure.

Also, I don't understand how もう works here. According to this post もう has 2 meanings, and the one that fits here is "additional". So, the sentence would be something like "but additional a little detailed book would be better". To me it looks like the customer was not satisfied with what the seller shown him, therefore he wanted to get another book. Or did he want to buy 2 books (the one that the customer offered and another one)?

Also, I would like to know whether けど is really a thing here and has to be translated or not. As I read here, sometimes it can be used as a softener.

I think I get the general meaning of the sentence but I would like to know how it works.


texts: Action : differences between 行動, 活動, 動作, 作用 and 仕草

texts: I'm currently learning some vocab through wanikani, and they have these two words 仕草 and 作用 both meaning "action", but no nuance is explained, and when checking on jishou for a more proper word for action that could fit everywhere, and found three more to add to the list. So could anyone shed some light on the different usages of these words please ?


texts: Do story/literature need to be written politely?

texts:
Vary quick question. But i have vary little in the way of available Japanese reading material in the form of stories, but i thought it might be fun to try translating one of my short-stories into Japanese.

To that end, i must ask, while i know the characters dialog needs to be appropriately polite, does the describing text of the story itself need to be so?

I mean, the story itself isn't a person, it's just text, description, etc. So is it expected to be written without use of things like 「です」or must it?

ps. How much does poetry effect this? If at all?


texts: How to call this framing problem in Japanese?

texts:
How to call a picture where due to a camera handling error or inopportune subject move, the subject is not at the intended place (for instance center of the picture), but instead at the edge of the picture, or even out of the picture.

For instance, I take a picture of someone but the camera slips in my hand and the resulting picture has the head of the person cut off.

In French it is called "erreur de cadrage".

If there is no such word, how to call the action of rotating the camera to place the subject at the intended place in the picture?

I would say "フレーミング失敗" but I guess it does not sound natural.


texts: My teacher who practices haiku told me that in haiku they still use the traditional names for months. I was wondering which other words are still used in haiku.


texts: Looking for words with alternative kanji choices

texts: I've noticed that in fiction a writer will sometimes use an unexpected kanji for a word. For example, instead of 見せる I have seen 魅せる several times. If you know any other examples of this kind of 'poetic license', can you comment and write the standard kanji / alternative kanji pairs? Thanks!


texts:
Can someone explain the differences with these kanji 落ちる、堕ちる、墜ちる. I've seen them used in manga.

Looking at Jisho.org and get a bunch of definitions. Googling and I can't find an English explanation. There are ones in Japanese but my Japanese is not good that I can clearly understand.

This is what I seem to get...

落ちる - The most common and the one most people know. To fall down. So like お皿がテーブルから落ちた。 The plate fell from the table.

墜ちる - to crash, to fall? From what I understand it has to be a large object to fall. So like 飛行機が空から墜ちた。 The plane fell from the sky.

堕ちる - ??? This is the one that confuses me. The only example sentence I saw was like a "fallen angel". Is it like going from good to bad? Does it have to be a person?

Can someone provide a more detailed explanation of the differences and provide some example sentences with English translation.


texts: Help with showing lack of a 'because' construct in translating the bolded sentence?

texts:
Two characters are having the following conversation:

  A:「あなたにも殺し屋になってもらうの。ツヴァイ」

  “You too will become a assassin. Zwei.”

  B:「馬鹿言うなよ……。なんで僕が、そんなことやらなきゃならないんだよ⁉」

  “Don’t say something so ridiculous……. Why me, why do I have to do that sort of thing!?”

  (TL note: reason why I went with 'have to do' instead of 'must' for やらなきゃなら is because 'have to do' in my mind gives a better sense of being forced to preform or do something than 'why must I do...').

  A:「生きるためよ」

I know that the final bit in Japanese is a relative-clause structure, with the verb 生きる (example def: to live/to function) modifying the noun ため (example definitions: good/benefit/result/etc).
So far, the translations I've come up with that are closest to the Japanese are the following two:

  a) You’ll get to live.

  (I'm doubtful of the above translation's representation of the relative clause in the original)

  b) Because you will live.

  (I'm also doubtful of my second translation as it uses the word 'because'; although it seems to be more faithful to the relative clause structure in the original)

What I'm stumped on is how to represent the relative-clause structure without using the word 'because' in English; because as far as I'm aware, there is no 'because' (other than a possible omitted one?) in the original Japanese. Which translation is more accurate in comparison to the original, and what would be a better possible translation that achieves both (1) and (2) of the TDLR below?

TDLR: Context: Character A says something to which Character B asks a 'Why' question, Character A answers without a 'because' clause. Translator (me) is stumped on how to show Character A's answer in English while (1) remaining faithful to the Japanese relative-clause sentence structure, and (2) not use the word 'because'.


texts: "The earlier we leave, the earlier we'll arive"-type construction

texts:
Was not sure how to title my question because I don't know who to explain such grammar pattern.

I came across something like that in Tae Kim's guide:

  勉強をすればするほど、頭がよくなるよ。 (The more you study, the more you will become smarter.)

But it seems it only applies to verbs, "the more you do something, the more something will happen".

I was wondering how to say something like "the earlier we leave, the earlier we'll arrive", "the faster you run, the faster you'll get tired" etc?

Those grammar patterns are similar in English but I have a feeling they're not that similar in Japanese and I have no idea how to find something like that.


texts:
というわけで、僕は六歳にして、画家というすばらしい職業をめざすのをあきらめた。
  For that reason, at six years old I abandoned my goal of having a wonderful occupation as a painter.

I don't really understand how にして works here. Literally I read "making into six years old". So might "having reached six years old" be a better translation than "at six years old"?


texts:
Two characters are insulting each other there, one of them said this.

  どうせ陰湿に纏わりついてるだけでしょうよ

The "陰湿に纏わり" is tough for me to understand. I know "陰湿" means shady/underhanded. But I don't what the function of 纏わり here


texts:
This headline in today's zakzak news, related to actress Miho Kanno getting married.

  堺雅人＆菅野美穂、“大奥婚”！ 電撃ゴールイン

What is the meaning of 大奥婚? I know 大奥 and 婚 by themselves, but not together. I checked Space ALC website, but no results. Google search mostly pointed to this news, and other search engines were no help.


texts:
The entire line is:

  私の子よ…精々足掻け

Is it saying to "Struggle at most"? If it is, what would be a more natural way to say it?


texts: Does そう imply vagueness in this JLPT question?

texts:
I have this question in my JLPT practise book:

  明日{あした}は雨{あめ}が降{ふ}りそうな_____がする。

  A 予報{よほう} 　B 予知{よち} 　C 予感{よかん}　D 予測{よそく}

I chose A, mostly because of seeing 予報{よほう}  used a lot when talking about weather. The dictionary backs me up on that by defining it as "forecast."

But the book says the answer is C. Is this because the use of そう means that the prediction of tomorrow's weather is a vague feeling? 予感{よかん} seems to me a sort of vague notion.

I'm not clear on this, because I thought そう could mean "appear" in a more neutral sense, in which case, 予報{よほう} should fit just as well, shouldn't it?


texts:
I want to know if my understanding of the term やっちまった is correct. Could you please help me out?

The word used is やっちまった, this is the past form of やっちまう which means "to do something one regrets". It is a colloquialism built from やって, the -te form of やる (to do), and しまう (to finish).

However, colloquially, やる can mean "to harm; to injure; to kill" and しまう, after the -te form of a verb, means "to finish ...; to do ... completely", indicating completion (and sometimes reluctance, regret, etc.).

So やっちまった can mean "to completely kill" or something alike.


texts: What would be the difference between 書こう and 書きよう when used in this sentence?

texts:
EDIT: Apparently I read the answers wrong, and the correct answer is actually the one I chose, i.e. 書こうにも.
Then my question would be focused on the difference between these two forms. I guess in this fixed usage 書こう would be the grammatical one to use, while  書きよう would be used when the speaker wants to make a proposal in general, even though both are "volitional forms"? Or is my understanding incorrect.

Question from Shin Kanzen Master N1 Grammar:
手を怪我してしまった。これでは急ぎの書類を＿書けない。
I chose 書こうにも but the answer was 書きようにも
However, there was a real question from the 1995 N1 exam that was:
こう毎日レポートや試験に追われていては、国の両親に手紙を書こうにも書けない。
which used 書こうにも
Therefore this question was quite confusing to me.
I guess a more general question would also be, is there any difference between these two forms for any word, or are they both volitional forms which are interchangeable in most situations?


texts: 「～について説明する」と「～を説明する」は　どう違いますか？

texts: 「～について説明する」と「～を説明する」は　どう違いますか？　私はベトナム人ですので日本語で説明したら良かったです。英語で説明したらちょっと難しいですが頑張ります。よろしくお願いします。


texts:
In Issunboushi, there is a line that goes like this.
"Issunboushi wa hari wo katana ni shite koshi ni sashi"
I found a translation that says "He made use of a needle as a sword", but I have no idea why. True, hari=needle, katana=sword, but I couldn't find any grammar to help me understand the form of this phrase. Where does the "made use" come from? What does "koshi ni sashi" mean?
Thank you in advance! :)


texts: Use of から　which means "from", for i-adjective

texts: I have learned about two uses of から which is for "from" and for "because". But for using of から for "because" that is warning that you have to use　だから for Na adjective and unconjugated verb because it will be mistaken for から for "from". What I want to ask is how you use から to mean "from" for other than Na adjective and unconjugated verb (I adjective and verbal clause) without it being mistaken for から which means "because"?


texts:
I have been encountering this word kakemawaru 駆け回る a few times. It means running around, If I understand well.
Does it mean only physically running around?
For example: kids are running around in the park.
Kodomotachi wa kouen de kakemawatteimasu.

Or can one also use it to express 'having a lot to do, I have been running around the city to do errands.' so that we are busy and we "run here and there" the whole day.

Thank you for your help in advance^^


texts: What's the difference between 三角 and 三角形?

texts:
I just had this terrifying conversation:

What is "triangle" in Japanese?
me: 三角 right?
Then what's 三角形?
me: Uhh... triangle?

I've confirmed both of these translate to "triangle". Apparently they refer to different aspects of the triangle in Japan? Is 三角 a symbol and 三角形 a geometrical form?


texts: What is the proper translation for と続いた後で?

texts:
ｘやｙなどと続いた後で、ｚという答えがあった。

Literally it means something like:

  The answers were x, y followed by z.

What is the better translation for this?


texts:
(first post, correct me if anything X))
I'm having trouble relating the parts of this sentences:

エリナ:
窓の外に見えるの
皆シットル？

Erina:
Couldn't the rest of people look out of the window?

タダシ：
そうだろう　たぶん

Tadashi:
Yeah, maybe.
CONTEXT: After taking a flight and stopped in a station Tadashi is looking at a bunch of people in that station, then Erina ask him -what I guess- is something like "the rest of people did look out of the window?" then Tadashi answers "yeah, maybe", but I'm not sure how 皆 is related to シットル.
(rough translation attempt)

タダシ：このディスク。。。
やっぱ　このフライトレコーダーのじゃないかな

Tadashi: This disk...
It seems that it didn't belong to the black box.

エリナ：うーん。。。　でも何でわざわざわかりにくい所へかくしてあるわけ？

Erina: Yeah... but why they wanted to be this disk hard to read? did they have something to hide?

タダシ：フライトレコーダーのだったとしたらさ　こう何か　とくべつなひこうきろくが　のこされてるとか！ (what does こう何か mean?)
。。。　っていうのは？

Tadashi: If this were a black box (...) this special register left here!
don't you think?

エリナ：タダシにしては　まあまあの　せんね
タダシ：あのさ。。。！

Erina: Being mad is not like you.
Tadashi: Sorry...!
CONTEXT: after looking inside a war robot, Tadashi and Erina founded a strange disk and an empty black box, then Tadashi says that that disk may not be for the black box, then Erina ask about the purpose then Tadashi gets mad. I can't relate the third sentence because of the こう何か.
I hope you can help. Thanks in advance!


texts: Meaning of の in the の、の と pattern (どうのこうの)

texts:
日本人の小学生向けのちびまる子ちゃんの満点ゲットシリーズの文法教室という本を読んでいるんですけれども、

In the chapter on 助詞, under the meanings of の, I found these two sentences used as examples of the いわゆる「並列」の使い方・働き:

  死ぬの生きるのと騒ぐほどではない。

and

  どうの、こうのとうるさい。

Now, I'm guessing どうの、こうの is the same as the どうのこうの mentioned here and here, but I'm more interested in the first sentence (although I'd like to call attention to the fact that どうの and こうの are separated in the above sentence).

I don't fully understand the function of の here. I've searched all over, but it seems to be such a niche usage that, unless I suck at Googling and searching stackexchange, a decent explanation just won't come up. All my book says about this function is:

  並列（二つのことを並べて示す）

I'm thinking this usage might be this definition in 広辞苑第六版, but I'm not sure:

  2.￼(並立助詞)(室町時代以後の用法)

    1.￼事物を並べあげて問題にする。同類を集めたり、反対のものを比較したりする。史記抄「日本には、裳―、ひの袴―なんどと云て」。浄瑠璃、大経師昔暦「宿賃―、米―、味噌―と算用したら」。「貸した―借りない―と言いあっていた」「行く―行かない―、迷って決められない」

    2.￼ある活用語とその否定形とを重ねて上の語の意味を強める。「いやもう、面白い―面白くない―って」「走った―走らない―、ものすごい勢いだった」

So my questions are:

Could a native speaker please rewrite these two sentences for me, replacing the の with another, perhaps longer/more common pattern so I can see what other patterns this is equivalent to/what this is an abbreviation of? This is what I'm most interested in.
Can someone give me a better explanation of when/what situation you would use の like this?
When do you use と in this pattern, and when do you not? And which use of と　is it? Is it the quotative? Is it the「そうすると」の「と」？
If there are cases where you don't need と、could someone give me a 自然な例文 where you would use の in this way but without と (without using どうのこうの, please; if you want, I'd appreciate a less idiomatic example like 死ぬの生きるの or anything else)?
How common is this use of の, really? Is it usually only found in a certain type of text, like old writing, or certain idioms?


texts: Difference between わかってる　and わかっている , two ている forms in a sentence

texts:
I am reading a manga and I'm going to try a bit of context in hopes that you can tell me how some particular sentences sound like, because I do get the gist of them but a few things got me stumped.The context is, there is a battle between a boy with a special power and a demon like character. The boy is chanting a spell that goes like this "私は法で汝は悪魔" "歪んでいるのはわかってる"
As a very rough translation I came up with this "I [the boy] am (the) law, you are a demon."
The one distorted is clear (or understandable). So, 歪む means distorted or crooked (as in views, or a crooked mind and this is the meaning that I want to go with, because it describes a character that is evil, the demon).The verb seems to show the condition/state of being and because of the の particle that acts as nominalizer, I concluded that makes the whole thing to mean "The one [between the two characters] that is crooked is...(which I assume is the demon).
But what about the わかってる　part? Does it make sense with the following translation? "I understand what is the distortion" (The boy wants to eliminate the evil one, the crooked being). I went with the words clear/understandable to somehow make it as vague as the Japanese version, at least to my understanding).

What about わかってる instead of わかっている Is the first one just colloquial? (The way the characters speak does change quite a lot from impolite to polite)

It would be a great help if someone can enlighten me with a proper translation and more in-depth explanations if possible. Thank you in advance and apologies if I made things hard to understand.


texts:
There are several things i don't understand in the following

テーブルの上には布地の見本が包みをといて拡げられていたが

Translated by

Above the table, on which an unpacked collection of sample cloth goods was spread out

For context the narrator wakes up and looks around in his bedroom. The whole sentence being

テーブルの上には布地の見本が包みをといて拡げられていたが――ザムザは旅廻りのセールスマンだった――、そのテーブルの上方の壁には写真がかかっている

Why using the potential form in 拡げられていた ?
Could the progressive form be used instead of the past progressive in 拡げられていた ? I suppose it's past progressive to suggest that the "spreading out the sample" thing was done the day before and left out like that since. Could i be guessing right ?
About the て form. I suppose in といて拡げられていた it's a connective て. Could we use て form + past or て form + past + progressive ? I find it disturbing in that context that とく and 拡げる are not in the same forms (apart for the connective て). Or maybe we consider that since とく is connected to 拡げる they "share" the same form / have the same nuances of a passive past action ?


texts:
My dictionary says that けいえい  【経営】 is pronounced in one syllable with one really long vowel. Is this how it really is pronounced? Is there a tone change or a brief pause between the kanji? Or do you just hold the ei vowel for an extended period?

Edit: it’s 白檜辞書。It uses Siri’s voice to simulate pronunciations, which is why I have my doubts if it’s accurate here.


texts: Should I use the particle に for 学校＿行きます？

texts:
学校＿行きます。
がっこう＿いきます。

I assume that it does, because で or を doesn't really makes sense. Since で indicates that I'm going in school, and 学校 isn't really a direct object. Or is it?


texts:
Can someone tell me what the notation "ー・" means?

It's all over this article: 大辞林「いう【言う・云う・謂う】」


texts:
口下手で料理好きの父親を主人公に、家庭や会社の人間ドラマをほのぼのと描いた漫画 「クッキングパパ」が昨年末、「週刊モーニング」（講談社）で連載千回を迎えた。

What is the first に particle doing?


texts: Share your list of stock phrases / phrase templates

texts:
Do you keep a list of set phrases that you use often, or phrases that you'd use someday? I do. Here's mine, a list of phrases I've collected from work emails since three years ago.

Such a list, while seldom shared, can help us learn useful phrases from real world examples.

If you care to share, great! Please post your list as an answer, or a link to your list if it's more than a few. Also please add a word or two about its usage context. Something along the line of:

Example >

My list of conversation openers (childcare industry)

Most used:

おはようさぎ... - Morning rabbit
こんばんわに... - G'night alligator

Note to future readers: those lists should tend to be void of actual context. If you're unsure about its usage, it's a good idea to post a question about it!

Suggestions welcome if this question itself needs reframing.


texts:
In email communications, I have seen use of 申し訳ございません when saying sorry.
How this phrase has been constructed and how it is different from すみません。


texts:
So from my understanding, プレイ generally means play, but can also mean prey or pray? I was reading something, and I couldn't quite figure it out (actually, I read it as puree initially).

The line is, "おかゆプレイ　してえのに．．". Given the later line, "病人で遊んで　ませんか的な", I'm given the impression that the first line is supposed to indicate something like playing with your food.

Anyways, some help on understanding this would be quite appreciated.


texts:
The みたい and に I'm referring to here are from a song called Don't you see! The first two lines of the lyrics are:

友達に手紙を書くときみたいに
スラスラ言葉が出てくればいいのに

If I understand it correctly, the に is used to link the two lines. But I'm not sure what kind of grammar it is. Although there is a grammar that a な-adjective can be converted to an adverb by appending a に to it, the みたい doesn't seem to be a な-adjective.

P.S. Here is the shorter version of the song, if by any chance it can help interpreting the meaning: link.


texts: むやみに equivalents : 勝手に vs よく考えないで

texts:
Working on practice problems for JLPT N1,

had the following sentence:

むやみに　知らない人に話しかけないほうがいい。

Correct answer per the book is よく考えないで.

Incorrect answer per the book 勝手に

Can someone tell me why the former is to be preferred?


texts:
What is the actual common reading of その他? Is it そのほか or そのた? Are there differences in social or grammatical context, or a nuance in the actual meaning?

スーパー大辞林 doesn’t list その他 as a word. There is an example with その― for ほか, but not for た.
ウィズダム和英辞典 lists そのほか only as a link to そのた.
Yomikatawa simply says そのほか.
Weblio contains some entries beginning both with そのほか and そのた, some of them with the other as a variant and others without it. By itself it is listed as そのほか with そのた as a variant.

I wasn’t able to abstract any rule, but I’m still not sure whether they’re freely interchangeable.