texts: Where's the missing い in ありがた迷惑【ありがた　めいわく】?

texts:
One of the most useful turns of phrase in Japanese is  ありがた迷惑{めいわく}, which is that of being helpful in a way that is not helpful. It can cover situations where one is being helpful to semi-deliberately cause guilt (Hi mom!), or situations where the helper is sincere but causing more harm than good.

For a long time I pronounced it as ありがたい　めいわく, because I assume it was a combination of "grateful" and "troublesome".

Since learning the correct way of saying it, I've always wondered, why is there no い at the end of ありがた?


texts: What's the japanese word for "take off" which in romaji sounds similar to "hashin"?

texts:
In many japanese sci fi series (Yamato, Macross, etc.) when a spaceship is going to take off they say something similar in romaji to "hashin!" . When I look for how to say take off in japanese I find words like 飛び立つ (Tobitatsu ), 踏み切る (Fumikiru ) , but nothing similar to "hashin". How does exactly this word sounds (romaji/hiragana) and how do you write it with kanjis? You can listen it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4phT2Vukvn0&t=1m16s


texts: what are kanji that can be flipped, but not rotated?

texts:
Plenty of kanji are symmetrical on the y-axis and x-axis. Plenty of kanji are symmetrical only on the y-axis.

What are some kanji that are only symmetrical on the x-axis? I don't know one.

What kanji change into another kanji when they are rotated and/or flipped? Here is one that I know:
 干 -- flip --> 士


texts: What is the Japanese equivalent of "at the back of one's mind"?

texts:
In the context of one being aware of something deep down but choosing to ignore it or lie about it to themselves. Example sentence:

  At the back of his mind he knew that his words would never reach her. [But still he stood in front of her grave and spoke as if she could hear.]

  ＿＿＿＿＿彼の言葉は彼女に届くことがないと分かっていた。

I was googling 心の後ろに and 心の裏に, and while they seemed to be valid phrases they weren't actually used in this context. What would be the right way to say this?


texts: kimasu, shimasu, imasu, and mashite, and deshita

texts:
I am just starting to learn Japanese, and with close to no knowledge whatsoever, other than about the spelling system, I have noticed so many words seen to end with the patterns suggested in the title of this post.

Can someone, in as brief and concise an explanation as possible, explain to me why this is? Are these declensions of done nouns, adjectives, or verbs, or other grammatical constructs I am observing?

Thanks.


texts: Causative passive form vs. Passive causative form: Both are grammatically possible, but is there a citation to prefer one over the other?

texts:
The "causative passive" form is very well documented. It's easily made possible because the a causative verb is a valid ichidan verb, and therefore compatible with the passive conjugation.
However, in the resources I have on-hand, there is nothing to suggest the inverse is commutative. To be specific, does a "passive causative" verb have a meaning equal to that of the "causative passive"?
Furthermore, is the "passive causative" conjugation ordering even used? Or is it unconventional?
Hypothesis

❌ The conjugations have a commutative property ("causative passive" is semantically identical to the "passive causative");

❌ This hypothesis is disproved on the basis that conjugation ordering matters. Thank you, @naruto !
❌ Furthermore, the final component/conjugation suffix is the main function of the verb. Thank you, @aguijonazo !

❌ The "causative passive" is euphonically preferred (「聞かせられる」 is easier to say and more pleasing to hear than 「聞かれらせる」 「聞かれさせる」);

Therefore the "passive causative" is unconventional and never used.
❌ This hypothesis is disproved on the basis of being dependent on the first, disproven, hypothesis. This hypothesis doesn't have a leg to stand on! Thank you, @Jun Sato !

If my speculations hold true, then I'm seeking a citation to support these claims (which is actually the aim of this question).
Edit:
There was a typo (ら instead of さ), which confused some of the people who tried to help in the answers.


texts:
What is the difference between 減量 and 減少? What about 増量 and 増加?

I found these following examples on my workbook, but there is no explanation whatsoever about how to use them.

  人口が減少する。
  甘くしたいので砂糖を増量する。

Thank you in advance!
I'm new to the site, but I've learnt a lot from this community. Thanks!


texts:
I'm translating a children's chapter book for language practice, and came across a phrase I didn't get. The context is that these two kids find a quarter on the ground and are asking a woman on the street if she dropped it. Her response is:

  落としてなんかいるもんか！

I get that the もんか means like no way, definitely not, right? And that なんか usually adds emphasis. But it looks like it's in the middle of the verb, おとしている, which confused me. Also that she's using ている, when shouldn't it just be past tense if she's saying no she didn't? I'm not sure if I'm missing something obvious? Any help would be appreciated!


texts: The different meanings of "life"? 生気／生活／ライフ／生命／一生／人生／命

texts:
I was looking through a dictionary and came across 生活. My original question was

  Is this the difference between 生気／生活?

  生気 would be like an idea of life. more abstract

  生活 would be concrete. So like something/one's life.

My new question is can you help me to understand the different ways "life" is said in Japanese? I actually forgot about 人生 and 命 when I wrote the question. I didn't know about ライフ／生命／一生 (and others?). I think 人生 would usually be when talking about a person's life right?


texts: Meaning of 「そればかりか、〜Vーるというようなことさえ、始めはしない。」

texts:
I am struggling to grasp the meaning of this expression 「そればかりか、〜Vるというようなことさえ、始めはしない」It comes up in the following sentence. The English translation is my best effort but I am guessing from the context.

障子では、一箇所破れたと言っても全部取り替えるようなことはしない。そればかりか、破れた枡の１５センチ角ぐらいの紙全体を切り取ってそこに新しい紙をはるというようなことさえ、始めはしない。まずは破れた所を元に戻し.....
Even if you tear part of a Shoji (sliding door) this never means that you have to replace the entire sheet of paper on one side. On the contrary cutting out the torn piece as a 15 cm square and pasting over a new piece is just the beginning of the story. First restore the torn  area to its original state [ready for repair]....

[The piece then goes on to explain how after  covering the hole with a new patterned piece of paper the Shoji is not just repaired it is improved.]
I think そればかりか is equivalent to だけではなく but my problem is  〜ことさえ、始めはしない：My guess is ballpark but at best clumsy.


texts: How do you say "Celestial Shogunate" in Japanese?

texts: I have seen the use of 天の, 天体, 天界 or 天空 but what would be the most appropriate word to use when we wish to use "Celestial" in a way that conveys "outer space" or "astronomical" properties as opposed to "heavenly" or "angelic"? More specifically, which terms are more "physically" related and which ones are more "heavenly"?


texts: What does いくつか mean in the phrase いくつかの種類?

texts:
I know いくつ means 'how old', but what does いくつか mean in the following sentence?

  緑茶、紅茶、ウーロン茶などいくつかの種類に分けられる。


texts:
Kinda out-of-topic.

I know that old Japanese books are written in Classical Chinese (or Written Chinese), like 日本書紀/Nihon Shoki. As I have known, Chinese people learn Classical Chinese quite well and many of them can understand books written in it.

So, do Japanese people learn or write in it? How well will Japanese people learn? :-)


texts:
'Hikarian' (full name '超特急ヒカリアン') is a Japanese anime that I was in fond of when I was a child, but I have no idea what does 'hikarian' mean. Oxford dictionary tells me that 'hikari' has only one meaning - light, and in wiki I found that 'hikari' is a kind of train service in Japan, which makes lots of sense for me to understand 'hikarian'. Now the issue is that what does the ending 'an' mean in 'hikarian'? Does the word 'hikarian' make any sense?

P.S. As you may notice in the full name that 'hikarian' is the only katakana, is it supposed to be a name of a character?


texts: 1人ではできなかったので友達に手伝って______。

texts:
Could you please explain why the correct answer is 「もらいました」 and not 「くれました」？

Multiple choice answers are:

①やりました

②もらいました

③くれました

④あげました

Thanks!!!


texts: Pronunciation question for consonants k/g and t/d

texts:
I was wondering if someone could help me clear up some confusion

Sometimes when I hear people speaking Japanese in videos, I hear them swap the k/g consonants, as well as the d/t consonants.. Like よろしく sounds like exactly what it looks like alone, but adding おねがいします makes the く sound like ご.. I get that the u turns silent but I don't get the consonant switching.

The same goes for なかった where it sounds more like ながっだ in the audio provided here https://elon.io/learn-japanese-hepburn/lexicon/26888/anata-wa-heta-ja-nakatta-desu.

Is this something to do with phonetics and is there a specific spot where the tongue touches when Japanese people pronounce these two to make them sound very similar? I know t/d make use of the back of the top of your teeth.


texts:
The use of より/のほうが for comparisons seems straightforward when comparing like with like (e.g. "私の方が彼より英語が上手く話せる"). But I have trouble finding a non-clumsy way to express more complex comparisons, e.g. constructing as phrase like "a person who speaks English better than I speak Japanese".

What are some natural ways of expressing this kind of comparison, where we're not directly comparing the same quality/attribute between the two sides?


texts:
I am struggling to find a definition via my usual sources/google searches for the meaning of the term 氣現 in the following context:

  創世の湧水に生まれし、蒼き神よ！ 氣現にして穢れた大地を清めんとする、いと高き神よ！ 今こそ、ワレの肉体を依代に、一族に救いを！

This is a prayer from a fish-man creature (Sahagin) who is summoning a giant fish god (Leviathan).

So far I think it's translated something like:

  Oh blue god, born in the spring of the creation of the world! Oh
  utmost god, who will ??? and purify this corrupted earth! Now inhabit
  my flesh and save my tribe!

I can see that 氣 is a variant of 気 but am still struggling to find a definition online anywhere. Is it perhaps akin to coming back to life?

Many thanks in advance.


texts: Meaning of 自身に重ね合わせて (自分に重ね合わせる vs 自分を重ね合わせる)

texts:
Looking for help understanding the 3rd line below. I've put two example sentences below to try and understand the difference in meanings as I think I normally see usage similar to the second sentence more than the first.

xを自分に重ね合わせる - This implies putting x "on" yourself

xに自分を重ね合わせる - This implies putting yourself "on" x

Slight adjustments in ordering of particles, but I guess sound like different things to me(do correct me if I am wrong)? I guess if I was to use an example from acting, 1) would be like actually becoming the character and understanding their motivations, emotions, behaviour, whilst 2) would be like putting yourself in the character's position but still thinking/experiencing things from your perspective. If that made any sense...
Anyway, on to the line below.
醜女の容姿を嫌悪し、自身に重ね合わせて未来に怯え、一歩踏み出すことすらままならぬ
For context, the 醜女 is referring to the mother of the person that is being talked about. Is this line implying that she is scared of becoming "ugly" like her mother as she grows up?


texts: Kanji radicals: Question to the radical assignment in dictionaries

texts:
I was browsing through the webpage of Japanese radicals on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_Japanese_kanji_radicals)
I noticed
74 - 月
and
130 - 肉
bot entries are referencing in the most right column to the respective other radical
I looked furthermore into the KANJIDIC2 kanji-lexicon file and it seems like these two kanjis-radicals are seemingly randomly assigned to kanjis.
According to this dictionary, the Kanji 育 has 肉 as radical (which it obviously has not, its 月). I made this observation in many places (I assumed all open dictionaries rely on the same public Kanji dictionary?)
<literal>育</literal>
<codepoint>
<cp_value cp_type="ucs">80b2</cp_value>
<cp_value cp_type="jis208">16-73</cp_value>
</codepoint>
<radical>
<rad_value rad_type="classical">130</rad_value>
<rad_value rad_type="nelson_c">8</rad_value>
</radical>

Does anyone know the (historical) background of this 肉／月 radical interchangeability


texts:
What would one use for the equivalent of the "inter-" and "intra-" prefixes in English?

e.g. intercity, intracity, inter-server etc

I did a fair amount of looking around. 間 looks like it might be usable for some of the inter- words and 内 for a fare few of the intra- (intramural soccer = 校内サッカーリーグor学内サッカーリーグ？）but I was hoping there would be something more consistent.


texts:
If I understand correctly, the main usages of ことがある seem to be the following:

Verb(plain)+ことがある: There are times when (I)
Verb(past)+ことがある: (I) have experienced (something) before

But after this question, I'm starting to wonder when ことがある means "there is a thing/there are things" instead of "there are times when".
When looking through Space ALC and Google searches, I'm thinking ～たいことがある might mean "there's a thing I want to (do)" and ～たくなることがある "there are times when I want to (do)" based on the way they're used, but I can't be sure.

書きたくなることがあります "there are times I want to write" (?)
書きたいことがあります "there are things I want to write" (?)

What are the different usages of ことがある? When does ことがある mean "there are things" rather than "there are times when" and how can they be told apart?


texts:
English
In the compound verb 手伝う, we see the following sound change:

て＋つたう→てつだう

Unexpectedly, the た from つたう turns into だ. 連濁, at least with the 手+伝う analysis, can't account for this, because it's not the first consonant of 伝う.
What happened here?
Japanese
「手伝う」の発音についての質問です。

て＋つたう→てつだう

意外なことに、「つたう」の「た」が有声化されて「だ」になります。「手＋伝う」という解析であれば、「た」は「伝う」の最初の子音ではないので、連濁が原因にはならないと思います。
何が原因と考えられますか？


texts:
I have a translation question:
Below sentences are from a longer text about doctors, their patients and those "declaration of consent" forms that patients often have to sign to receive treatment.

身近な家族や友人、知人の経験から自分の病気に対する取り組みを決める患者も非常に多い。患者本位の診療をしたいと、自分の理想とする医療の実現を目指して一生懸命になってインフォームドコンセントを得ようとしながら挫折する若い医師は珍しくない。

I am not quite sure if I understand the second sentence correctly. The first one is clear I think i.e. patients (tend to) ask their friends etc. for laymen-diagnosis and treatments.

Does the 2nd mean smth like "Despite of those declaration of consents many doctors are frustrated about patients trying to push through their self-diagnosis"?
Thx for help :)


texts:
I looked at two different sentences:

六時半に母とばんごはんをつくりました。(At 6:30, I made dinner with my mother.)

よるごはんのあと家族とえいがをみました。(After dinner, I watched a movie with my family.)

In both sentences, they mention the word dinner. I know that breakfast, lunch and dinner end in ごはん (gohan), so the only words that must mean dinner in these sentences are,

ばんごはん

よるごはん

What is the difference between ばんごはん and よるごはん? If there is no difference and they mean the same thing (although different words), when and when not is it used in a sentence?

I asked my teacher, and my teacher said that they do mean the same thing, and we can use either word in any case and/or scenario in a sentence. If that be, why are there two different words? What is the history behind that? (I know the "gohan" history, but it did not include the development of these two words meaning the same thing.) Is my teacher correct?
ありがとうございます。 Thank you in advance.

This post and this one and this one, too are all related, but do not answer my question. (There are countless other posts like this, but when typing out my title, the possibility of a duplicate post did not show.)
I would like an answer that is descriptive and detailed like the answers in the links.


texts: Katakana words with Kanji. How did that happen?

texts:
Some words are written with katakana, but also have kanji. For example:

コーヒー　珈琲
ページ　頁

How did this happen? They are loanwords, but no doubt had Japanese equivalents before these variants were imported. Is that the case? And are these original words now forgotten?


texts: What is the meaning of 「ため」 in the following sentence?

texts:
I understand that ため means "in order to" or "goal".

I don't understand how it works in this sentence though. Could someone please explain.

  バスの事故が続いているため出発前に警察などが調べ

This is how I interpret it:

  The bus accident | in order to continue being | before the departure | Police etc investigate


texts:
In an essay I'm reading called 料理, the author says the following (note: the full sentence is very long, so I've omitted a few of the clauses while keeping enough to get the general point across):

  料理中の男に、このように特殊な事情はまったく無関係、かたわらで私が青白い顔をしていようが、とにかく、時間をかける。

The explanation in the back of the book says:

  Kakuta could have used で after 無関係, but that would have weakened the statement. The clause sounds strong precisely because で is not there.

I have a few questions about this.

In what way does omitting で make it stronger? I.e. can anyone explain the nuance exactly?
Would omitting で always be understood to strengthen the statement? Or does it depend on the situation and context?
Does this apply to any other conjunctions or particles as well? Or is this something unique to で?


texts: Can kanji-heavy Japanese be easily translated into Chinese?

texts:
How much is changed or lost in translating (say) an old Japanese text that's mainly written in kanji into hanzi? How does it compare to translating into a completely foreign language like English? I'm curious if I should pick up a Chinese translation instead of an English translation of an old work because it would be more faithful to the original, and I'd like to practice my Chinese. But really I'm just plain curious; I'm not even sure if I will find a complete translation, so it's just theoretical for now.

(I know close to nothing about Japanese, and the Dunning-Kruger effect is keeping me from knowing how ignorant this question is.)


texts: Why is it that the っけ suffix  can only be attached to a question-sentence

texts:
Why is it that the っけ suffix / け particle (indicating that the speaker is trying to recall some information) can only be attached to a sentence when the sentence itself is a question-sentence?

Because all 10 example usages i see in WWWJDIC does that, hence the question.


texts:
If I was to put the suffixes 流{りゅう}, 風{ふう}, 的{てき}, 式{しき} and 様{よう} on the end of a noun etc, what would be the difference between them?

I could be wrong, but the following all seem to me to mean something similar to "Japanese style" and I'm having trouble telling the difference between them:

日本流
日本風
日本的
日本式
日本様

(I'm not sure whether 日本様 is used or not, but I think 日本様式 is.)


texts:
So, I have an exercise which has 3 sets of sentences. The 1st one is supposed to be translated using ことになる, the 2nd - using ことになった, and the 3rd - ことになっている. The construction itself is pretty understandable. It means that something was decided not by a speaker, but by circumstances or by somebody else. I get it and there's nothing difficult but... let me show you 3 sentences, 1 from each set so you could get the idea:

  1 The time difference between Moscow and Tokyo is 6 hours which means that it's now 11 p.m. in Tokyo.

  2 It was decided that we all go to Kyoto.

  3 Classes last until 2 p.m.

2 and 3 are easy to translate but I can't understand how to translate the 1st one

  1 -------

  2 私達は京都で会うことになった。

  3 授業が午後２時までつづくことになっている。


texts:
I know that か is the 'question marker particle', and can use it confidently in formal sentences.

However, when it comes to casual speech and very short sentences, what is it's usage?

For example, if you wanted to ask 'Why?' - 'なぜ' - leaving the subject of the sentence assumed - would you need to add 'か' at the end to mark that it's a question, or is an intonation in pitch enough?

Or, say, you're communing in Japanese and you don't know the meaning of a word spoken - 'みず', for example. Would repeating the word as if it were a question, without adding 'か' be correct?

TL;DR can you ask short questions without using 'か' if it can be assumed that the word is a question anyway?

If 'か' IS needed in these circumstances, please specify if it's an issue of being correct or being polite.

Thanks!


texts: Alternative form of a Western name in Japanese

texts:
This is quite a specific question, and may make no sense out of context, but the context may be hard to explain.

If you have a name such as Tertius, which is Latin for "third son", what is an alternative to translating that name to Japanese rather than simply converting the syllables?

To put it another way, what is the Japanese equivalent of a name which means "third son"?

The closest I have got so far is "San-nan", but I'm not practiced enough to know whether this is usable as a name or merely a description.


texts:
I searched jisho and they gave me 句 and 文. Bun seems way too generic and has so many other meanings that I'm not sure people will understand it. So is 句, a one-worded syllabus which also seems to mean 'phrase'. Is there a 2 kanji word that only has the single meaning of sentence?

I'm trying to use it in this context. "I cannot string long sentences together in Japanese." or "I cannot make long sentences."


texts: I think it's incorrect: 小さいのより大きい方がいいです。 is it?

texts:
Somewhere I encountered the following example sentence:

  小{ちい}さいのより大{おお}きい方{ほう}がいいです。

It's supposed to mean "The big (one) is better than the small (one)." If I understand correctly, より should directly follow a noun (or a noun-like construction, ), and 方 shold be attached to a noun using the の particle. So in my opinion, the above sentence should be more like

  小{ちい}さいより大{おお}きいの方{ほう}がいいです。

or

  大{おお}きいの方{ほう}が小{ちい}さいよりいいです。

To make it more confusing, 小さい and 大きい are not nouns, and even as adjectives, they behave specially (sometimes they are treated like い-adjectives, sometimes they require な).

So my question is, what is the correct way to say "the big (one) is better than the small (one)"?

Edit: now that I think about it, 方 and より can be attached to plain-form expressions without the の, so maybe the correct version should not contain の at all:

  大{おお}きい方{ほう}が小{ちい}さいよりいいです。


texts: What is the difference between 編修 and 編集?

texts:
According to the translator, 編修 and 編集 are pronounced as "Henshū" and given the same meaning of "Edit". Also, both can be used as a noun.

So are there any specific situations to use these words?

Thank you!


texts: I understand that 教わる【おそわる】 is the intransitive of 教える【おしえる】 (to teach), however I'm not sure how to use it properly outside of possibly in an adjectival context (e.g. 授業で教わったこと).  In practice, what is the difference between 教わる and any of the myriad verbs for "to learn" (習う【ならう】, 学ぶ【まなぶ】, etc.)?


texts: How to refer to a famous writer? （-さん？-先生？）

texts: I was trying to write something about Osamu Dazai, I know that for mangakas we use 先生, but usually celebrities' names are mentioned without any honorifics.


texts: Using a く form of an い adjective with a noun

texts:
Is it possible that there just may be a verb that is being implied? The phrases are as follows (these are extracts of a song, so I've bolded the phrases in question and left the continuing lyrics as they are in case they might be of any importance):

白く 白く 吹雪のような そう出逢う前から解ってた この想い

強く 強く 願いは強く 繋ぐよ その手を

However when I look for translations, none of them ever present the く form as an adverb. In fact, one of the translations even go so far as to interpret the く forms as comparative adjectives:

Whiter and whiter, like a blizzard

Stronger and stronger, my wishes get stronger

I'm not sure why it's translated as a comparative adjective, and if it does mean something like "White, white, like a blizzard," could the phrase have been written as "白い 白い 吹雪のような" instead?
And the second line says "My wishes get stronger", but the "get" part is missing. Could it be that there is actually a になる phrase that is only implied?


texts: What is the difference between "verb＋て＋みる" and "verb＋(よ)う+とする"?

texts:
In Japanese there are words which mean "to try something or attempt at doing something", e.g. 試す, 試みる and つとめる.

However, at the same time we also have two grammatical constructions "verb＋て＋みる" and "verb＋(よ)う＋とする".

In English we just say "try to do something" or "attempt something", but in Japanese it is not that simple. So what is the difference between all these different expressions? Precisely when is each used?


texts:
I don't know how to differentiate between these 2 meanings of 控える:

  〔止める，見合わせる〕
  勝手な発言は控えてください
  Please refrain from speaking without permission.
  〔少なめにする〕塩分を控えなさい
  Cut down on your intake of salt.

In this sentence:

  少なくともそれまではお酒とたばこは控えてもらえますか？

How do we know if it's limiting or stopping completely?


texts:
I'm working on a translation.
Is my translation correct?

  それこそ ハイエロファントグリーンを使えば苦痛を感じる間もあたえず一瞬のうちに。

My translation:

  If I used Hierophant Green, pain would not last more than a moment.

The context is: a character wondering about another one sleeping near him after they fought each other and he wanted to kill him, but the other not only stopped him, but saved his life too. Now he's thinking how much easy would be to kill him with his own power.

I'm not sure about that も and the double を.
And: あたえず is negative?

Thanks!!
I've a pic, if you want to see it.


texts: What is the conjugation in the word 「起たんか」and what does it mean?

texts:
The full sentence is「おい起【た】て。起【た】たんか」頭の所に立っていた伍長が怒鳴った。
This is older Japanese by the way, so 「起て」and 「起たんか」are pronounced 「たて」and「たたんか」。
Anyway, I was wondering what the conjugation in 「起【た】たんか」means. I'm guessing it's a command or something, but I'm not sure.


texts: Which ones are the primary and secondary actions in 「Xしながら、Yする」 grammar?

texts:
Up to now, I don't understand well how I should translate

  テレビを見ながら、朝ご飯を食べる。

to English.

Some people translate it as

  A: I have breakfast while watching television.

and some other people translate it as

  B: I watch television while having breakfast.

I think there should be two actions here, one is the primary action (or job or task) and the other one is the secondary action (or job or task).

Question

Which ones are the primary and secondary actions (or tasks, or jobs) in 「Xしながら、Yする」 grammar?


texts:
In mails these are usually written when it's a personal/private matter.

But is there any difference in usage? Like in Case X you should use 私用 or in Case Y use 私情.

What would be the proper usage for each term?


texts:
そのときの俺は、子供なりのつたない言葉で、自分まで父親を見捨てるわけにはいかない、とかなんとかのことを言った。

At that time, in a childish way, I said something along the lines of I can't abandon my father.

Normally まで is following some action or description, but in this case:

自分まで父親を見捨てるわけにはいかない = I can't abandon my father (i'm not such a person) ?


texts: なら or たら - what is the difference when saying “if”

texts:
I am still a bit confused as to when to use なら or たら in a sentence for an “if.....” question.

For examaple, if I want to say - “if there is a problem, please speak English” - what would be the most correct:

もし問題あるなら英語で話してください

Or

もし問題あったら英語で話してください

And what would be the difference?

Thank you..

N.


texts: Can「確立する」function as an intransitive verb?

texts:
Was casually browsing through the Wikipedia page on modern Japanese literature and came across this line that has been bugging me for a bit. For context, I've included a bit of the beginning of the sentence, followed by the part I'm interested in bolded:

  言文一致の結果、日本語の書き言葉は、それまで日本文学において重きをおかれていた漢文の伝統から切り離され、明治中期には現代の日本語の書き言葉に直接連なる文体が確立した。

Any time I've come across the verb 確立する, it's always been presented as a transitive verb (他動詞), with を specifying what is being established. One example would be something like 「方針を確立する」.

Yet in the quoted passage above, it looks to me as though 確立する is functioning as an intransitive verb (自動詞). I understand the passage to read as:

  As a result of the unification of written and spoken Japanese, written Japanese was separated from the tradition of kanbun, which, up until then, had held significance in Japanese literature; and a formal writing style directly related to the modern Japanese written language was established during the middle of the Meiji period.

Once again, I've bolded my translation of 確立する. I've translated it as "was established" (even though I appreciate it's not a passive verb in this context) mainly because I can't figure out how to make the verb work as a transitive verb in translation.

Can this verb function as either an intransitive or a transitive verb given specific contexts? I know that's not necessarily true of all する verbs. I also wonder if perhaps I've mistranslated as a result of assuming that 確立する must be an intransitive verb in this context.


texts: Why is の所 used after ドア in this sentence?

texts:
Here is my sentence,

ドアの所にかさを立てておきます.

I've seen this の所 usage where it didn't quite make sense in other readings as well. This specific reading is from the tango n4 book and they have the english translation as, "I stood my umbrella by the door." 所 can mean place or spot. Is it common in Japanese to add this on to specific locations? So while ドアにかさを立てておきます may be acceptable, the usage of の所 in ドアの所にかさを立てておきます is the more common way of saying a target location in certain situations. Would that be correct?


texts: "Formal" Japanese and "honorific" Japanese, are completely different, right?

texts:
My understanding is that, strictly speaking, "honorific" Japanese 敬語{けいご} is completely different from "formal" Japanese 丁寧語{ていねいご}. Yet, I sometimes hear even native speakers conflate them:

ex:
「する」の尊敬語{そんけいご} --->「なさる」
「する」の丁寧語 --->「します」
「する」の謙譲語{けんじょうご} ---> 「いたす」

「書く{かく}」の尊敬語  ---> 「お書きになる」
「書く」の丁寧語 --->「書きます」
「書く」の謙譲語 --->「お書きいたす」

formal (not honorific) escalation:「だ」-->「です」-->「である」-->「であります」
honorific (not formal) escalation:「です」 -->「でございまさう」

Strictly speaking, am I right about this? But, is the reality that the usage of honorifics necessarily means you are speaking formally? For years now, I've heard the phrases "honorific Japanese", and "formal Japanese", often used interchangeably. Isn't there a distinct difference?

Indeed, I've read a little Mishima, and he writes formally, but not honorifically. So, there must be a clean difference, and it's just that some people carelessly interchange those two phrases, right?


texts: How do I translate the word "Town's End"?

texts:
I'm trying to figure out the proper way to translate "Town's End" (a play on my last name of "Townsend", like someone living at the end of town).

I've found the word for "town", which is: 町

I think the appropriate match for end would be 端, but I'm not sure.

But would it need の in between? Such as 端の町? Would that be correct? Is 端 the correct word for what I want to convey?


texts:
Can someone tell me the meaning of ガンアゲ? It's giving me a hard time

The sentence is 気分になると一気にガンアゲになっし


texts: How is 大船 most commonly read?  jisho.org shows three readings, おおぶね, おおふな, and たいせん. There is apparently a place name where it is pronounced おおふな, and that is the pronunciation given by many automatic audio generators, but the meaning it had when I saw it was "big boat."  Is one of the other readings more common in that context?  Or is it still おおふな?


texts: Use of が vs を with transitive verb, 受け入れる（＋もらえる）

texts:
This is probably fairly basic but, not being a native speaker, I'd like to confirm if my understanding of grammar of the following sentence (from 中上級日本語, Feb'14) is correct and what is natural.

In the following sentence I would have expected the subject to be the speaker and the object of the transitive verb 受け入れる (to requite), to be their feelings (気持ち), however their feelings take が and are therefore the subject:

  失恋：私の気持ちが相手に受け入れてもらえないこと。

Is this possibly because もらう is in potential form (?) or is it possibly because the sentence is nominalised by こと (?) what is the norm here and when would を be appropriate?

Notes:
1) "An Introduction to Adv Jse Spoken Jse" tells us that for expressions of desire，mentioned in the comments,  for the ~たい construction が is "normative" but "を" is also used in actual conversation.
2) Makino's Dictionary of Basic Jse Grammar tells us that for ~たい　form of transitive verbs either is fine but が is preferred if the degree of desire is high (perhaps a similar principle applies here?).


texts: What is the difference between てください and てくれます?

texts:
I've come across 2 ways of asking someone to do something for you: てください and てくれます

I'd like to know the difference between them


texts:
At the end of an anime the next episode is advertised with a recurring joke where the character メロ says:

  みんな見るメロ

It's supposed to translate as 'Everybody watch Mero.'. But surely it actually translates to the incomplete sentence 'Mero who everybody watches...'. Wouldn't 'Everyone watch Mero' actually be

  みんなメロを見て下さい

or something similar, which, admittedly, is less cute.
So my question is, does the original sentence actually translate to 'everyone watch Mero' and if so, why? Or is it funny because it's a word for word translation of how an English person who didn't know Japanese would say it. Or is there a big hole in my understanding of Japanese grammar?


texts: How to properly pronounce コップ (meaning: cup)? Should it be コ + short and quick ツ + soundless プ or something different？  BTW, is there a good online source where I can look up word with proper Japanese pronunciation?


texts: 「を大好き」と「が大好き」の違いは何ですか？

texts: What's the difference in usage and meaning when using を with 大好き or 好き versus using が? I would think that using が is stating that the subject that you are talking about is loved, while using を is suggesting that they are being loved, despite the fact that 好き is an adjective, not a verb. However, I read elsewhere that using を is actually less strong. What's the difference?


texts: In a story, a hated character comes into the room. The narrator says 嫌{いや｝なところ見｛み｝られた The literal translation doesn't make much sense, as I can't see what "bad place" she's talking about. I tried to research it, and it seems to be some sort of colloquialism. My best guess is that it could translate to "I just stepped into hell," or "this is like hell." Of course, I would like to be certain. Thank you.


texts:
Context:

  このお祭りは、３８０年以上前、神社の場所が移ることを祝って木の車に太鼓をのせて町を歩いたことから始まりました。
  Over 380 years ago this festival originated from celebrating the move of the shrine and walking through town carrying a drum on a wooden cart.
  ７日は、馬に乗った武士や昔の人の格好で歩く子どもたちに続いて、１９台の山車が引かれて行きました。
  On the 7th it continued to children who walked in the guise of people from olden times and warriors on horse back, and 19 parade floats were pulled along.

When I started to ask this question I had no idea how to understand に続いて.
My current guess is that に続いて pairs with 始まりました from the previous sentence, i.e. the festival originated (始まる) from doing X but continues (続く) to this day by doing Y.

Have I understood this correctly? If I'm right it feels a bit strange that a specific date is given rather the just 今 or この頃 or something like that. Obviously I can understand that they want to tell us what date the festival was, but my English translation seems awkward. I wonder how natural the Japanese is?


texts:
In the following sentence:

知りたい こと も、後で ちゃんと 教えてあげる…

The first part: 知りたい こと, I understand as: what (you) want to know, because of -tai and koto combination.

The second part: 後で ちゃんと 教えてあげる…, means I think: (I) will properly inform (you) later.

The above seems to make sense when put together, but I think I'm not capturing the meaning of も. The first part seems like a noun and with a single も in the sentence my guess would be too/also.

Considering this, could the sentence be translated as:
(It is) what (I) want to know too, (I) will properly inform (you) later.? Am I at least close?


texts:
Is there any difference at all here?

(I read one of them in a Wikipedia article and the other one in my textbook)


texts:
I am a very beginner in Japanese and not very good in English, so I hope my questions will be clear enough.

I'm learning some kanji and I've been through a reflection when comparing some kanji between them, with French and with English. I need your help to understand how it works - it's about something like "what is a word" in Japanese. Yeah I know I'm not very intelligible but I'm still thinking about it, so it's not even clear for me.

I'll drop my reflection here and hope you will help me making all this understandable.

I'll start with French-English comparisons.

In English there is the word hound which is a dog for hunting. In French, we don't have a word for that. We have a locution: chien de chasse which means hunting dog. That means in an English-French dictionary, you will find "hound = chien de chasse", but in a French-English dictionary you won't find "chien de chasse = hound". You will find "chien" then somewhere in the description you will find "- de chasse = hound, hunting dog ; - d'aveugle = guide dog ; d'arrêt = pointer ; etc.". Keep that in mind.

Another thing: in French we have the word gendarme which is sort of a policeman. It comes from gens d'armes which means something like "people with weapons". But nowadays it's a single word, you could say "un gendarme sans arme" (a policeman without any weapon) without anyone being like "it's nonsens, don't call him gendarme if he has no arme!", because the origin of the word does not matter. Keep that in mind too.

OK so now let's talk about Japanese.

Niwatori is for chicken. It was made, before Japanese had writing, from niwa (garden) and tori (bird), because basically a chicken is a bird we keep in a garden. Questions start here:

is niwatori a word like gendarme, which was made from two words but nowadays it doesn't matter, or is it a locution like hunting dog and chien de chasse?
if it's a locution, why is it not niwa no tori? I thought it wasn't possible in Japanese to create locutions like in English.
can you make words like yamatori, kawatori, niwaneko or whatever you want to do?
can you say niwa no niwatori?

I heard someone saying hana no hanabira:

isn't hanabira already a flower petal or is it only a petal so you can say hana no hanabira and you could say yume no hanabira (I'm such a poet)? Or would you say yumebira?

After that, I saw the word yagi, which is a goat. This word is made with two kanji: yama and hitsuji. So the same questions apply to yagi, but do the same answers do?

does it really mean goat or does it mean mountain sheep which can be understood as goat (slight difference)?
is it really a word, can we call it a word, or is it more like a locution?

Can we create new words with many kanji or do we have to use no if we want to express new things like "a sheep from a mountain is a goat"? Example: I want to say a cat from a forest is a tiger, can I say morineko or is it mori no neko?

Thanks, I know it's hard to understand, plus with Japanese it's never the same between "saying" and "writing" (it's like you write chien de chasse but read it hound so you write three words but pronounce one, wow, does the question "is it a word?" still have any sens?).


texts:
I struggle to understand what 交差点 actually means. When I look it up in Weblio for example I see:

2本以上の道路などが交わる所
A place where two or more roads meet

This is what I, as a UK native, would call a junction.
But I often see the word translated as 'crossing'. To me this means a place where pedestrians cross the road. And when I look on google images for 交差点 I mostly see pictures of junctions that also have zebra crossings.
Perhaps it's my failure to understand US English. Maybe crossing is simply US English for junction? Is it just a coincidence that most of the pictures I see also contain a pedestrian crossing? Or is a 交差点 a Japanese concept that incorporates both a junction and a pedestrian crossing?


texts:
In this Wikipedia article, in the table of i-adjectives, I noticed that some of these adjectives were completely different in the Kagoshima dialect compared to Standard Japanese in a way that these phonological processes, which affects all words used in the Kagoshima dialect, doesn't explain.

For example, 熱【あつ】い (hot) in Standard Japanese becomes ぬっか in the Kagoshima dialect, and 恥【は】ずかしい (embarassed) in Standard Japanese becomes げんなか.

I understand that certain parts of Kyushu use -か instead of -い for the plain and plain negative forms, but what I don't understand is the change in the stem.

Can someone please tell me if there are specific 'irregular' i-adjectives which undergo this or if this is typical of i-adjectives in the Kagoshima dialect?

And if these are typical of Kagoshima adjectives, is there any way of predict these changes?


texts: Preparing for a fight in Osaka (dialectal んやったなぁ)

texts:
Subject: ironic story; place: Osaka; time: pre-mordern; situation: a boy is threatened with a sword-fight. More threatened than really called for a duel, so he has time.

The hero of the story says to himself:

  こんな事になるんやったら何か得物を持って来るんやったなぁ。

And starts to search through his belongings for something to use as a weapon.

The situation is clear and the meaning is easy to deduce or at least I can imagine what I would say in such a situation...

...except for the latter んやったなぁ. Either it leads to the next scene (searching the belongings):

  1 Gee, things turned bad... I wonder do I have anything for a weapon...

or is just a statement of resignation:

  2 Now that things turned that way, I should have brought some weapon with me...

that can be said before running away (as well as before searching for a weapon).

How shall I interpret 持って来るんやったなぁ here (as 1 or 2 or maybe something else)?


texts: Help with subject identification and conversational grammar

texts:
いや あいつがさ 不可視境界線だっけ... それを探すって聞かなくってさ... 付き合ってただけだって

I have trouble understanding the grammar in this informal conversation (all said by one person). What I could process (whether correctly or incorrectly) was:

いや あいつがさ 不可視境界線だっけ = No, that person (sa as an emotive particle), 不可視境界線だっけ (<-- joggling of speaker's memory)
それを探すって聞かなくってさ = (that person) says she will look for that, but i didn't hear it (???? this is where it starts to make no sense to me)
付き合ってただけだって = (someone, i don't know who it's supposed to refer to) only accompanied

As you can see, I am really confused as to how this conversation breaks down and also how to identify the subject/object properly in conversation.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thank you!


texts: Help with tense/aspect (past vs. non-past in Verb and Verbている）

texts:
I'm having difficulty with this sentence:
Tense appears inconsistent to me. I need help understanding the correct use of verb forms.

冬休みにずっと九州に [Fill in the blank] おばあさんのうちにいました(past)

住む

住んだ

住んでいる (Correct)(non-past)

住んでいた

Based on the bold portion above, I would choose option 2 or 4 for tense consistency. But I'm wrong and I don't know why.


texts: Dictionary entry and derived forms, were they equal at some point?

texts:
I will first state the dictionary entry, and then other formations that also yield the dictionary entry.

Consider the following :

思える　- to seem/appear,

potential form of 思う - can think

合わせる　- to join together,

potential form of 合わす - can join together
causative form of 合う - to let suit/match/agree with

解ける - to come untied / be solved

potential form of 解く - can untie/solve

空ける - to empty

potential form of 空く - can become empty

As above, there are words that in their potential/causative form that already have a dictionary meaning that is different from their conjugated forms.

(Question) Were they equal in meaning at some point in time? Or are they completely different words and should be treated as such?


texts: 小鳥のキス is this an expression or does it mean something else?

texts:
ただ小鳥のキスように.

This is the whole sentence.

What is a 小鳥のキス?

Is it a kind of kiss? Or is it referreing to a kind of birds?

Thank you.


texts:
I found several から quite confusing for me.

The context is about a boy and a girl, and she's trying to ask him out, but she eventually can't do so, and asks him to meet the next day:

Girl: あ…明日も会ってくれる？

Boy: やっぱ俺から言うか  --> Why から is used instead of は/が ?

Girl: あ…明日は言うから   --> Which use has から here?

Boy: ああ　いいよ。でも、その前に　俺から...... --> Why から is used instead of は/が ? Which are the omitted words?

Girl: 本当に？会ってくれるの？

(This conversation is from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7xM_NVn5Vc from 3:02 till 3:25)

Thank you so much in advance!
I really appreciate your help!


texts:
Can the following expression be used to express shock of person's actions or statements:

  気が変になったか。

What are the equivalents to "Are you nuts?"


texts:
In response to the question 「もう昼ご飯を食べましたか。」how do the following replies differ in meaning?

  いいえ、まだ食べていません。
  いいえ、まだ食べません。

I tried to understand the differences through this website where it's written entirely in Japanese. http://www.alc.co.jp/jpn/article/soudan/028.html
Unfortunately I don't understand much of what they're saying and so I've turned to you guys for help :)


texts: "高{たか}くっても" vs. "高くとも"、"低{ひく}くっても" vs. "低くとも", etc. usage?

texts:
I'm really confused about the meanings of these two similar adjective inflections:
高い ---> 高くっても
高い ---> 高くとも

難{むずか}しい ---> 難しくっても
難しい ---> 難しくとも

"っても" might possibly be less formal(? because of the "っ"), but I known that there is a fundamental difference in meaning. And, I don't understand. What are some example usage sentences that contrast the meanings, as well as a good explanation in English? thanks.


texts: How do you say 'He said that he went there' in Japanese?

texts:
Konnichiwa.

Just a beginner here ; how do you say that sort of sentence wherein it involves a that-phrase that follows a verb?

Arigatou !


texts: As it says in the title, I'm hoping to find out where the adjective ending -っぱい comes from (like in 酸っぱい 'sour'). Is it related to -っぽい (X-like, X-ish) at all? I can't seem to find an etymology for it if there is one known, but I really only have access to free resources like wiktionary and anything I can find on a google search and isn't behind a paywall, and that hasn't brought up anything.


texts:
一団は種族がてんで統一されていない冒険者で、見るに全員が全員、生半可じゃない実力を漂わせているような....。

I'm not sure how to interpret this phrase. What does the に do in this phrase?

Thanks!


texts: How to you say "song cover" in Japanese. When I see song covers in youtube, the titles have 歌ってみた which, I believe, translates to "tried to sing". So is there no native Japanese way of saying "XYZ song cover" instead of "XYZ 歌カバー"?


texts:
I am just translating the Japanese wikipedia chart of the servants in the Ooku of Edo Castle. I have been doing okay until I got to the omote-dzukai part. This is the original:

  表使 (おもてづかい)    外公役。御年寄の指図で物資調達を広敷役人に要請していた。

I just need help with 外公役 as I am not too sure how I would translate that. Is it public servant or is it something like "role of outside relations"? It just does not sound right in this context (The sentence afterward being "Under the orders of the o-toshiyori, in charge of requesting the Hiroshiki official to procure supplies")


texts: Meaning and usage of 引き- in compound verbs

texts:
I see a lot of words starting with 引き, for example 引き下げる, 引き出す.

引く has many meanings but I think in these cases it means 'to pull'.

My question is, for example in 引き下げる, what is the purpose of 引き? How does 引き下げる differ from 下げる?


texts:
As background, I haven't really focused on learning kanji. I've mainly focused on learning words, and just using the correct characters for those words (purely typing, I don't write kanji by hand). However, I want to be a little more proficient with kanji, by learning a kanji and its reading whenever I encounter a new kanji or a new reading, by learning at least one other example of that kanji with the same reading.

I can look up a kanji with jisho.org, and find examples of a given reading by clicking on a reading. For example, if I'm interested in 相 from the word "結婚相談所" and the on-yomi "ソウ", I can can click on "ソウ" and it takes me to 相 そう. However, while jisho.org mentions which words are "common", I'm worried that some words given might be words I should avoid at my stage of learning, because they're less common than other words with a similar meaning.

Are there any resources (preferably online) that I can use to look up a kanji and its reading and get well curated examples of that reading being used?


texts:
I have one more problem with the song 俺はやる by Wanyudo.

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

  高校を中退して赤落ちに入り
  前科者に囲まれた酒盛りの毎日
  20歳の元旦には包丁握ってた
  腹にマガジン巻いて東京で生きてた

I don't get what he wants to say by 腹にマガジン巻いて. Otherwise I translate as:

  Dropped out of school, went behind bars,
  Drank everyday with ex-cons,
  With a knife in my hand I came of age,
  Living in Tokyo ...

Is it some kind of jargon, or is it a direct meaning of putting a magazine (as a "booklet")  to protect one's abdomen?


texts: Have I placed "itsu" correctly in the sentence?

texts:
きょう の パーティー は いつなんですか。

Is placing "itsunandesuka" correct when I'm trying to make a sentence which means "When is today's party" while using the grammar pattern "ndesuka"?


texts:
Context: The title of  This video by Megwin.

The title of the video is:

  トゲ抜き老人が腰抜かす!?急停止集団巣鴨に現る

The second part is confusing me.
Too many kanji in a row for me. I understand it's probably a name, but google gave no results and I have no idea how to even try translating it or searching for it's reading.


texts:
I have a doubt in regard to the use of てくる, while marking motion of an object.
Among other things, てくる can be used to mark motion of an object, and the fact that you received that motion.
E.g. 田中さんが手紙を送ってきた (Tanaka-san sent me a letter and I received it)
So, my question is, can any verb be used, with this てくる, or only verbs which indicate a sense of motion can be used:
As, in お母さんがシャツを買ってきた (Can mean, my mother bought shirt, and I received it), or お母さんが本を読んできた (My mother read the story, and I received it (i.e. listened it).
Also, can てくれる be used for verbs (which do not have inherent sense of direction) these to use of てきた. Like お母さんが私にシャツを買ってくれてきた、and お母さんが本を読んでくれてきた.
My second question is, does the object need to be tangible in nature, can it be abstract things like an idea, words etc. E.g. 君の考えを聞いてきた
Lastly, I want to just ask you about this example sentence that I read somewhere - "E.g. 田中さんが手紙を送ってきた". Over here is 私に implied?, or does in this usage we only talk about the act that is done by the person e.g. like 友達は長い手紙を書いてきた.
ありがとうございます. Sorry for the big question. でも、教えてください


texts: What's the meaning of "若者の価値観は社会的な影響が強いです。"?

texts:
I have been learning Japanese for about 9 months and can understand the basic grammar in this sentence well, but the meaning of it seems ambiguous to me, and I wonder which meaning below is right, and how can I adjust the sentence to express the other meaning?
(1) The young people's value has a strong influence on the society.
(2) The young people's value is strongly influenced by the society.
Or, neither is right?
P.S.
I have used google translation and it tells me the first one is right, but my teacher has a different idea.
Any thought will be appreciated. Especially IF you are a native Japanese speaker, your answer will be more convincing and may you tell me about that.


texts: How does the use of いかんによっては in this question determine one answer over another?

texts:
In my JLPT practise book, in a section explaining the use of いかんによっては, which roughly means "depending on", they have the following question:

  学生{がくせい}：先生{せんせい}、台風{たいふう}が近{ちか}づいていますね。明日{あした}のゼミは休講{きゅうこう}ですか？

  先生{せんせい}：そうですね。台風{たいふう}のコースいかんによっては______

  A: 休{やす}みです。　B:　決{き}めましょう。

I chose the answer B, thinking it roughly meant, "We will decide depending on the course of the typhoon."

However, according to the book, the correct answer is A, which is translated as, "depending on the path it might be a holiday." (The English translations in this book are not so smooth.)

Both make logical sense to me, but, despite what the book says, I can't help but feel that B makes more sense because the path of the typhoon is uncertain, and therefor so is the decision about the seminar. Thus, "let's wait and decide."

Why is A the correct answer?


texts:
I want to say that I am visiting a place (= Japan) for the first time.

The sentences that I am thinking of are:

これは私に日本中を始まるです。
私が日本を始まるです。

Which one sounds more correct? I am only one year into Japanese but I'm trying to learn as much as possible.


texts:
I am a beginner in Japanese and learning Kanji through Anki (Kanji Damage deck). I came across a word 助言{じょげん} while learning 言.

I want to know from where does the 助 kanji come from?

I searched for etymology and what I get is, 力 clearly stands for strength. While 且 stands for one of the two things, altar or erect penis.

If I go with the former origin for 且, does the Kanji mean, saving someone from death (altar symbolising death, saving someone from death using strength).

Am I correct to interpret it that way? Or does the it have some other meaning?

When I searched for etymology of 助 on Wiktionary, it gives me:

  Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *zras): phonetic 且 (OC *sʰjaːʔ, >*ʔsa) + semantic 力 (“strong arm”) – to help with one’s strength.

When I searched for etymology of 助 on ChineseEtymology, it gives something similar:

  From strength 力 (to help with) and phonetic 且. Meaning to help.

Does this mean, "saving" as a spoken word borrowed sound from 且 and used usual sound for 力? If I am correct in assuming that, is this common?


texts: How would you express "sphere" or "world" in the Japanese language?

texts: How would you express the concept of "sphere" or "world" in Japanese? For example, "Anglosphere" or "Indian speaking world". Is there a repeating pattern or suffix for this purpose, or are there just specific words for these terms?


texts:
I'm going to say a word on peace,  participating in contest at university,  and I have literally no one to check what I've written, and it's tomorrow.
I think of putting this quote from Ibn El Romi:

Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there.
Ibn El Romi からの有名引用いんようは "
直訳は、
間違った行ないと正しい行ないを超えたところに野原が広がっています。そこで逢いましょう

意訳は、
私達の（凝り固まった）固定観念で（物事や相手の）善悪を判断しないで下さい。
その善悪（の決め付け）を超えた所（field）で、私はあなた達に出逢うでしょう。
右も左も超えた所で、私達は出会うでしょう〜
So do you think the translation and grammar is right?
And to share with you the rest of it, if you have any comment I would be grateful to know,

平和を目指すためには、どちらかが強制したり無視したりしてはいけません。話し合い、許し合って、前へ進まなければなりません。

And i think of adding the phrase live and let live, would it be 生きて生きる?
About Rumi's quote, ithink from comments thats a little not clear or わかりやすい、so i'm thinking of not saying it at all. What do you think?


texts: Meaning of プレミアついて２０万

texts:
Context: two high school girls talk about an expensive ring.

  Girl A:　 花江！そのリングどうしたの？それ　今　全然手に入らなくてネットでプレミアついて２０万くらいするんだよ。

  花江:　 知り合いから転売してもらったんだよね。30万で。

I found on dictionaries that プレミアついて means at a premium, at a higher price. What I don't understand is: 20万 is the final price or the amount to add to the original price? Thank you for your help!


texts:
This question is posted exactly because it's been answered a few times and various other sources describe it differently as well - varying degree to which one is preferred and why.
So far I've come across 7 different explanations (as I understood them):

With たい you use が (I don't think this is frequent)
With たい you should use が, but sometimes people would use を
With たい it is preferred to use が, but を is fine
With たい you sometimes change を to が (no specific criteria)
With たい you can use either, no preference no criteria
With たい using が focuses the target of desire and を focuses the desire itself
With たい there are various criteria that you use to decide between が and を, those outside can use either? Source: https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-grammar/how-to-express-desire/ - haven't found anything as specific elsewhere

What is the ultimate take? Is it one if these? A combination of them? Something completely different?
I feel like I do hear が comparatively more often, but haven't been able to infer a specific ruleset
Thank you


texts: Understanding the kanji 相 as "government minister"...?

texts:
One of the on'yomi readings of 相 is しょう.  If I'm doing my legwork right, when it's read this way, it has an indication of government involvement, in words like (and here, I'm relying on my dictionaries—I have no idea if these words are commonly used?)

丞相　じょうしょう　"emperor's assistant"
首相　しゅしょう　"prime minister" ← I thought the word for this was 総理大臣　そうりだいじん？

Apart from my prime minister question above, I'm struggling to understand what is really meant by "government minister".  Is this a government minister of old? (China, even?)  Is this contemporarily used for ministers in the government?  What level of minister are we talking about?  Any old minister, or is it for special ones?


texts: What is the difference between プログラム and 日程 in the context of a スポーツ大会?

texts:
I was doing some JLPT N2 practice and got this question wrong:

スポーツ大会のプログラムはさておき、（　）。
a 日程を決めよう
b 準備はすべて整った
c わたしも参加したい

When I saw option "a", I immediately thought that it was wrong, because I thought プログラム and 日程 are the same thing. I thought they both refer to "what happens at what time during the スポーツ大会".  さておき connects two different topics of discussion, with the latter being the more important one. Therefore, I concluded that "a" couldn't be the answer.
But "a" is the correct answer! I concluded that プログラム and 日程 must be different somehow. After looking up images of スポーツ大会のプログラム, I found schedules that says what happens at what time, which is expected. But when I google "スポーツ大会の日程", photos of all kinds of sports events come up, making the meaning of 日程 even more mysterious.
Jisho says that 日程 means "schedule; program", which doesn't help in understanding why 日程 and プログラム are different things.


texts: Best Bible translation for my Japanese grandmother?

texts:
I will also be posting this in the Christianity site but I don’t feel like it fits very well in either category. If you can think of a better stack exchange site please let me know.
Some background:
My grandmother was born in Japan just before WWII but married an American sailor in her youth and moved to the US, where she has lived for the past 60 years or so. She is a devout Protestant Christian, but as far as I know she converted when she moved to the US or shortly before then (I have never asked) and has therefore never seen the Bible in her native language. I want to get her one for Christmas, as I think that would be very special for her but I don’t know anything about Japanese translations of the Bible.
The problem:
I’ve read that there are two main translations, the 新共同訳聖書 (NIT) and the 新改訳聖書 (NJB). The NJB is supposed to be more widely used among Protestants, but it’s also apparently a more literal translation and I don’t want to give her a Bible that’s clunky or obscures the meaning. I also don’t want to give her a Bible that is Protestant because of a bias in translation.  On the other hand, I like the idea of a the NIT because it is more ecumenical, but not if it was made that way by deliberately translating it more ambiguously. I also know that translating to Japanese always requires some interpretation, so I like the idea of a less literal translation, but I don’t want to give her one like the Message which is very heavily interpreted to the point where it is more of a commentary.
Thanks for you help.


texts: What is the meaning or usage of the に at the end of the following sentence?

texts:
あなたもできる対処法とは? 不安から日常安心できる生活に 。

So what does the に here refer to? Is it になる?


texts:
彼は川へ泳ぎに行った。
In this sentence, the 連用形 of 泳ぐ is placed in front of に, with the action verb 行く/行った, thus indicating the verb (to swim) for which the action (to go) is taken. My first question is if this construction (連用形＋に＋V) only works for action verbs (i.e. V must be of the likes of 行く, 来る, 帰る, etc.). I believe I read somewhere that that's the case, but on Japanese products I tend to see [連用形]に a lot—for example, a coat hanger might advertise itself with the phrase 「コート掛けに」. This seems to indicate to me that the use of [連用形]に to mean "to V" is not exclusive to those of such constructions followed by an action verb. If there really is requirement for an action verb in this construction, what's the difference between it and V1ためにV2?

Secondly, I have thought that whatever precedes に must be a noun (or 連用形, which—forgive me for my illteracy in grammar—I view as a pseudo-noun, if not a true noun). However, I've recently come across numerous examples of verbs in their dictionary forms being placed before には directly, e.g., 野球をするには寒すぎる. Is this a peculiarity of には or does the generality hold that plain-form verbs can come before に?

(Example sentences taken from ウィズダム英和・和英辞典.)


texts:
I often hear "あせた" as in:

  パスワードわかんなくてあせた
  作れなくてあせたわ
  久々すぎて全然できなくてあせた

Is it only oral usage?
How should I write it in an email?
Does it make sense to ever spell it with kanji?
I always hear it as "あせた", can it be used in other tenses as well?


texts:
A:一人で海外行きたいけど。。。反対しても行くよ！！

B:ダメだよ！！何かあったら知らないよ！

When this kind of nuance is used for the verb 知らない, why is the verb 知らない used even though it means "to know" and how do you translate it exactly...?


texts:
This is a small part of the dialogue of Fate/stay night:

  あれ一体{いったい}だけで 他{ほか}の六騎{ろっき}を敵{てき}に回{まわ}せるぞ

Why they use 騎 as a counter for Servants?

Many times I have seen this construction:

  AをBに回せる

What is the meaning of that?


texts:
As the title says!

How would a grammatically correct sentence sound if you would want to say something like this?

"Did A tell you to do/say X?"

edited to be put off hold

"AさんはXを言ってって言ったの？"

or

AさんはXをしてって言ったの？

Thanks in advance!


texts: Basically, か , its pronunciation is 'ka'. But I hear 'ga', が , in this expression which is in the end of a question. So which one should we choose here? And when do we choose 'ka', when 'ga'? Thank u !


texts:
A mother is scolding her daughter. The uncle (Tomozou) speaks first:

「おかあさん、お歳暮の広告見ちゃダメ？」
友蔵が頼んでもおかあさんは首を縦に振らなかった。
「ダメですっ。」
"Mother, is looking at year-end adverts not allowed?"
Even though it was Tomozou who asked, mother didn't nod in agreement.
"It's not allowed."
(my TL attempt)

My main question is what is the meaning of ちゃ (in bold).
If I were to say this I would write something like お歳暮の広告を見るのはダメ。So my first thought was that ちゃ could be a contraction of のは but that doesn't sound likely.
My secondary question (possibly related) is why does it say that the mother didn't nod in agreement? I guess this is something to do with how you answer negative questions in Japanese, but even then it seems like a strange thing to say.


texts: We were asking for seats at a restaurant in Kyoto and were unsure whether to ask for nimei or futari. Which would be more appropriate? What are the distinctions in usage between these two counters?


texts: How to choose adjective or noun with color

texts:
I know this question has been asked before but I remain confused about the use of nouns or i-adjectives in predicate position for colours, i.e. 海は青です versus 海は青いです.
I have received the following advice in comments to a post:

More importantly though, 青くない and 青ではない are not interchangable. 海は青ではない kinda sounds to me like 海 is being used as the name/label of some color, which happens to be different from blue.

and

The thing is, 青 does have an explicit adjective-い form, so when the speaker nonetheless chooses to use the non-adjective form, I tend to expect a grammatical reason for that choice of words (in the absence of context at least). I guess there could be other stylistic reasons to prefer the non-い-adjective form that I'm not aware of; but at least, I think it deserves mention that 青ではない is less common/usual/natural than 青くない in most scenarios.

I cannot find consistency in the answers in this site as to what the truth is here. If I look at this question, for example, one answer seems to back up the above quotes and the other does not. In this question the answer claims that the noun form should be used if available, which contradicts the above.
I also see sites on learning Japanese (which, granted, are not necessarily a reliable source of natural Japanese) that show basic 'X is colour' sentences using the noun form e.g. this site.
This all leaves me very confused. Is there a distinction at all? Is there a distinction, but one that mainly only exercises purists? If there is a distinction could someone please elaborate on when it is correct to use each form?
A final thought: perhaps the fact that this sentence is in negation affects the most natural choice. Maybe 海は青です is natural but 海は青ではない is weird. Could someone comment on this?


texts:
I have a sentence in a book that goes like 甘い匂いのするまっきいろな花です。It is a kids book, so everything is in kana. I'm having trouble figuring out the bolded part. It talks about a dandelion in the context, so I assume that きいろ is 黄色(yellow), what is this (まっ) then?

Google suggests that it might be following 甘い匂いのする真っ黄色な花です。and translates this (真っ) part as "straight". Can someone explain how this truncation happens?

Also, where to look up the grammar for "のする"?


texts:
Speaker A: こんなバカげた仕事はさっさと終わらせて一服したいね。
Speaker B: まあ、おまえらは人に使われていくらだからなぁ。
Speaker B: 少し苦しいかもしれないけど、しっかり頼むぜ。

I don't understand the second sentence, いくら is "how much?" and だから means "it is because..."
Can't make sense of it...


texts: 島人{とうじん} vs 島民{とうみん}

texts:
I was looking for a word to say islander, i.e. someone that lives/was born in an island.

I've come across 島人 and 島民 and asked two native speakers about their user meaning. While they both agreed that the second one is the more common option, I didn't quite understand the usage of the first.

Is 島人 simply rare/less used or is it actually wrong? It appears in my dictionary just fine but I'd like to look more into this.


texts: What to say at the cash register in the convenience store

texts:
I just came back from Japan, it is my first time, so I found myself in the situations, that I wasn't prepared for.

At the convenience store I noticed natives tend not to say much to the staff at all, but I just want to confirm that I understand it right.

First when I come in everyone shouts いらっしゃいませ - I know I'm not supposed to answer, but I still throw some こんにちは, since I just feel strange not to answer.

I walk around and workers occasionally say いらっしゃいませ again and bow, so I say こんにちは and bow too, but native buyers seem to ignore いらっしゃいませ + bow combo. Is this fine and polite?

Then I bring products to the cash register and say こんにちは again and I really want to say something more, but can't find words and keep silent. I get some polite phrases thrown at me and presented with a number to pay. I say ちょっと待っててね and look for coins. So my coins are lying on the plate and I want to say "that's it", "I'm done", "please take my money" or something, but I really can't find the words and I just make some gestures waving the wallet and hands...

I can go on, but in short I really felt I'm not following some predefined step-by-step actions and not using common phrases, I say too much hellos and bow all the time.
When I leave any form of "Goodbye" seem not appropriate, looks like past-tense "Thank you" is what natives say or not saying anything and just silently walking out is good.
In your answer I would like to see an example of a common dialog, tips when to bow and when to say nothing.
よろしくお願いします。


texts:
I was playing Fire Emblem yesterday and this came up:

Some context: Odin is Leon's retainer, but they have been sent on separate missions, hence the worry of the retainer towards its lord.

I simply don't understand the answer by Odin, especially why he uses 心配で心配で. I am also unsure as to which words he is using in second line : 煩慮{はんりょ} and 慮無｛りょむ｝? They are not present in the JMDict based dictionaries, and my input method does not propose them, are they common ?

I understand the global sense as expressing a lot of worry: it will take Odin a long time to get rid of his worry. I would like help to understand it more precisely.

Additional question: what kind of "style" is Odin using here ?

Full transcription:

  レオン：後｛あと｝は好｛す｝きにしていいってさ。
  だからこれからは、僕｛ぼく｝も一緒｛いっしょ｝に闘｛たたか｝うよ。

  オーディン：俺{おれ}もうお傍｛そば｝を離｛はな｝れている間｛あいだ｝心配で心配で
  煩慮の念｛ねん｝が永{なが}き慮無｛りょむ｝に廃{はい}されるのではと…！


texts: What's the meaning of 通じづらい, and how was it conjugated?

texts:
I was wondering what the meaning of 通じづらい is, and how it was conjugated.

I know づらい means "difficult" or "hard to" but I can't find the exact meaning of 通じ.

Here is the sentence. The context is that they are talking about how a person didn't use their phone. Someone remarks:

  携帯あんだろ？ 通じづらいんだよ。

Please explain how this was conjugated.


texts: Why are Japanese song lyrics often so seemingly ungrammatical?

texts:
For example, Natsukawa Rimi's 島唄 has this has most of the verbs in plain 連用形 with no apparent reason:

でいごの花が咲き　風を呼び　嵐が来た
でいごが咲き乱れ　風を呼び　嵐が来た
くり返す悲しみは　島渡る波のよう
ウージの森であなたと出会い
ウージの下で千代にさよなら
島唄よ　風に乗り　鳥とともに　海を渡れ
島唄よ　風に乗り　届けておくれ　私の涙  etc etc

君をのせて from Castle in the Sky has English word order:

父さんが残した 熱い想い /
母さんがくれた あのまなざし

The way I understood that line it is equivalent to

父さんが熱い思いを残した / 母さんがあのまなざしをくれた

though I might be wrong and this is just two noun phrases standing by themselves.
The most weird song that I often listen to is いつも何度でも from 千と千尋の神隠し. The first stanza:

呼んでいる　胸のどこか奥で /
いつも心踊る　夢を見たい

I understand it as follows:

胸のどこか奥から　よんでいる。いつも心が踊ってる。夢を見たい。

Though I might be wrong.
Some of the lines are half-grammatical but have weird meanings (Words I filled in to understand in brackets):

繰り返すあやまちの　そのたび（だ。）ひとは
ただ青い空の　青さを知る

(Yeah right, knowing that blue sky is blue.)

果てしなく（い？）　道は続いて見えるけれど
この両手は　光を抱ける
さよならのときの　静かな胸（がある）
ゼロになるからだが　耳をすませる

(Why would a "body tending to zero" "fill up ears"? I'm reminded of http://what-if.xkcd.com/50/ ...)


texts: Why is this sentence ungrammatical? 「お寺が公園のとなりです。」

texts:
I wrote this sentence (meaning "The temple is next to the park") in my Japanese course and my teacher said it's wrong, because I was supposed to use a は instead of a が.

My understanding is that there is always a が in a sentence, which may or may not be visible/dropped (zero-ga pronoun) and the subject marked by が may or may not be additionally marked with は. So I asked my teacher for clarification, what the subject of that sentence is and why using が was wrong, but the only explanation I got was "This sentence pattern uses a は", which doesn't really start explaining anything.

I tried to clarify, if using が here is merely unnatural (and that is what my teacher meant by "wrong") or actually grammatically incorrect, but my teacher assured me, that using が is ungrammatical in that sentence.

Can someone elaborate as to why が is indeed ungrammatical in this sentence? And if so, what is the subject of the sentence if not お寺?


texts:
I was listening to lastfm.jp the other day, and happened across this line in an artist bio:

14歳の頃にギターを、17歳で作曲を始める。

I've often read here on JLU that a phrase particle should only appear once per sentence for a given particle meaning. (Presumably this is more specific, and tied to the predicate verb?)

Is this substandard/casual Japanese more appropriate to mixi than a biographical snippet?
Is this an exception to that general rule/theme? Are there any rules for how to put together a multiple を sentence?
Is this simply an elliptical phrase joined to a complete sentence?


texts: subjects/objects of 代替する in 彼らは水や空気、エネルギーの循環を代替し人間が生存可能な環境を提供し続ける都市を築きました

texts:
How does 代替する operate?

I checked a few dictionaries and most of them list examples like

路面電車を廃止し、バスで代替する
代替エネルギー

which don't really involve an を.

According to the dictionary it's a 他 verb. Am I correct to say that XがYを代替する means X replaces Y? And in a sense it's a 他 verb because X as a subject is doing the action of replacement onto Y (albeit with itself)?

  一部が破壊されてもすぐに他の部分がその機能を代替する。

他の部分 replaces その機能 (the broken part)?

What prompted me to ask this question was this line:

  彼らは水や空気　エネルギーの循環を代替し人間が生存可能な環境を提供し続ける都市を築きました。

I don't think I fully understand the relations in this sentence. I feel like I know 彼らは人間が生存可能な環境を提供し続ける都市を築きました, meaning "They built a city that continues to provide an environment possible for humans to exist in", but I don't quite understand how 水や空気　エネルギーの循環を代替し relates to the subject and various objects in the sentence　(ie who did the replacing, what was replaced with what).


texts: the difference among "開く（あく）、開く（ひらく）、開ける（あける）"

texts:
i know that "開ける" involves subject and object, like :

  "窓を開けました"( windows opened, & implied someone did it ),

and "開く（あく）" only involves the subject, like :

  "窓が開きました" ( windows opened, & implied no one, maybe by wind blow ),

but i can't make it very clear if "開く（ひらく）" is similar or equal to "開ける（あける）" which i found only very few examples says so.


texts: What is the difference between ので and のために?

texts:
When I looked up these two terms, I found the following translations:

ので: as, because (of), since, owing to, on account of, by reason of, the reason is, given that, that being the case, etc.

のために: for the sake of, in favour, for the cause of, for the purpose of, due to, because, etc.

It seems that there is overlap between the two terms. So let me try to give an example:

  I was despised for speaking English.

  私は英語を話すので軽蔑された。

  私は英語を話すのために軽蔑された。

For this example, is there a difference between using ので and のために? If so, what is it?


texts: て form of causation form when used with もらう/くれる

texts:
I previously asked a question regarding causative form of verb (Using もらう with に/を particle and passive/causative forms)

Looking at example sentence 5 (AさんはBさんに病院に送らせてもらう), this translates to "B let/made (someone/A) send (something else/ someone else) to hospital (as a favor for A)", or at least is what I wrote, and it seems from the answer that this translation is indeed correct.

Upon reading further on japanese causative forms, I stumbled upon https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-grammar/japanese-grammar-proper-particles-with-the-causative-form/ which states that the action taker is marked with the に particle (or sometimes を). Assuming that's the case, wouldn't the sentence translate to "A let B send (someone/A) to hospital"(normally used as first person), where the てもらう/てくれる only serves as a more explicit marker that A "let" instead of "made" B.

What went wrong with my understanding here. Any pointers would be appreciated.


texts: Ai oboete imasu ka, what does "imasu" add here?

texts: "Ai oboete imasu ka" is translated as "Do you remember love?", now Ai is love, oboete is remember and ka is the question marker, why do you need to add "imasu" to this phrase?


texts:
At some point in history, ない replaced *あらない as the negative of ある, at least in the Kantō dialect (Kansai seems to have あらへん; あらん is also apparently attested in some dialects).

When did this happen? That is, when did なし and its descendants replace あらず and its descendants? Were なし and あらず coexistent in the Heian period, or was one preferred over another? I see both used in later CJ texts, but it feels strange that there are two words with exactly the same meaning for such a common idea (not exist).

Currently, in polls etc you often see あり・なし as choices, rather than あり・あらず. Is this a Modern Japanese influence, or is this usage idiomatic (i.e. なし rather than あらず was seen as the obvious opposite of あり)

Additionally, does なし and あらず have different nuances?


texts: What is the Japanese equivalent of "to pick up a girl" or "to hit on girls"?

texts:
How do you say "to pick up girls" in Japanese?
I would like to say: I'm going to go and pick up some girls!
I tried: 女を持ちに行くぞ！
But I don't think 持つ is the right verb to use here


texts: What does this Kanji mean in this historical book?

texts: I was at a bookstore looking at some old books and saw the following weird Kanji between 表 and 主. What is its reading and what does it mean?


texts:
Hello fellow inquisitors of Japanese. In my classroom today - in Balamb Gardens of course - my students and I were gleefully reading through Shiwon Miura's latest novel あの家に暮らす四人の女 when we - to our great  befuddlement I must add - encountered the following sentence:

  稼いで、いい車乗って、いい女抱きてえなと身の内をたぎらせていたのか。

The problem you see is the てえな. We were unable to ascertain its meaning, despite burrowing through several dictionaries.

Any ideas on what it means?


texts:
I know that "一日おきに" means "every other day", but wanted to double check the meaning of "それから1日おいて〜".

I have seen this translated as "a day later" but wouldn't "two days later" be more fitting? For example, if something occurred on Monday, two days later would be Wednesday, right? And that would be "two days later".

If this does mean "a day later", then doesn't this conflict with the "every other day" interpretation which also uses the same verb?


texts: A while back in high school my classes watched "My Boss My Hero," in which the main character says ほんや, it was translated as "What?" (I think.) In any case, I've never heard anything stylistically similar, so I was wondering where it came from.


texts: Jikoshoukai for Interview. 「My Strength and Weakness are...」

texts:
I'm kinda new here so please kindly tell me if have broke any rule.
I'm currently doing my Jikoshoukai for my upcoming interview and kinda stuck on some part of my translation. Note Im just N5 when it comes to my nihongo level. I want it to be sound more simple and natural but acceptable for an office base job.
Here is what I have so far:
始めまして！
「Full Name」と申します。
「Age」さいです。
「City」に住んでいます。
「Year」年に「University」大学をそつぎょうしました。
せんもんは機械工学科です。
そつぎょうご、「Company」と言う会社でしごとをしはじめました。
しごとは「Job title」です。
This part is where I'm stuck:

I want to say:

"My strength are Keen observation and Logical Reasoning".    長所は、鋭い観察と論理です。 (ちょうしょは、するどいかんさつとろんりです。)
"My weakness is I'm too strict at checking" 弱点は、厳しい確認すぎます。(じゃくてんは、きびしいかくにんすぎます。)
"My weakness is I don't know when to quit a Project"    弱点は、止めるの時プロジェクトを知りません。(じゃくてんは、やめるのときプロジェクとをしりません。)

日本で仕事がしたいます。新しくて凄い技術を習いたいですから。
それと、私のデサインは前より上手になります。
This is all what I got so far. Feel free to correct my Jikoshoukai.
ありがとう。


texts:
hi i was wondering why なくwas used in this sentence
例えば これが俺ではなく　葉山なら


texts: I found out that 古希 / こき can mean a 70 year old person, or the occasion of turning 70 years old. Apparently its etymology derives from an ancient song where this line occurs:七十古希 【しちじゅうこき】 which means "Men seldom live to be seventy" (Du Fu (c.712-c.770)); (Few people live to be seventy). Was 古希 a chinese word meaning rare or uncommon? Is it used mainly to describe the special occasion of someone's seventieth birthday or is it used to describe one's seventieth year in the same way as はたち?


texts: My Teacher just had a baby, how do I congratulate her

texts:
My Japanese teacher just gave birth and our long-term sub is having us make cards to congratulate her, we need to write something in Japanese, and I want to write something different than what she supplied us with, to spice it up or whatever. What would be appropriate to say in my card?

Edit: I'm not exactly sure what I want to say, but the phrase the sub gave us was the same thing for the entire class:

  あかちゃん おめでとうございます

She said we could do something different, and I want it to be something that an actual Japanese student might say to their teacher had a baby to congratulate them. I'm only in Japanese 1, so I know hiragana and some words and phrases, but not nearly enough Japanese to write anything that would actually make sense in this context.


texts: What does する mean when it does not mean "do"? （血のにおいがする）

texts:
What does する mean when it does not mean "do"?

Like:

  あなたも血のにおいがするな


texts: What is the difference between 「何を...ましょうか」, 「何を...ますか」 and 「何を...ませんか」?

texts:
What are the differences in meaning between these three sentences?

  えいがはなにをみましょうか。
  えいがはなにをみますか。
  えいがはなにをみませんか。

Does the last sentence even make sense?


texts:
If someone tells you

(your name), お前は...

what are they trying to say?


texts: Is "げえしゃ" a valid pronunciation of "芸者"?

texts:
I've read on various web sites that in English, some people pronounce the word "geisha" as "geesha", and that it's a mispronunciation.
For example, from Wikipedia:

They almost exclusively serviced American GIs stationed in the
country, who referred to them as "Geesha girls" (a
mispronunciation).[79][80]
...
Shortly after their arrival in 1945, some occupying American GIs are
said to have congregated in Ginza and shouted, "We want geesha
girls!"[81]

(I haven't checked the citations, as they seem to be books about history, not language)
and from a blog post at Nubui Kuduchi:

mispronounced, as it often is today by the average person on the
street, as gee-shah, not gay-shah

Whether "geesha" is a valid pronunciation in English is outside the scope of this stack exchange, but I'd like to know whether it's a valid pronunciation in Japanese.
The hiragana of "芸者" is "げいしゃ". According to How 「えい」 should be pronounced in the words like 英語, 先生, etc? , Sino-Japanese words can have a pronunciation of えい or ええ. According to jisho.org, the hiragana "げいしゃ" of "芸者" is based on on-yomi readings of the two kanji characters, which according to this comment in another question means that "芸者" is a Sino-Japanese word. This would suggest that "げえしゃ" is a valid pronunciation in Japanese.
However, I'm not 100% sure, partially because some people explicitly claim that "げえしゃ" or "geesha" isn't a valid pronunciation in Japanese. From a discussion page on Wikipedia:

I think to regard Geesha as a mispronunciation is not correct. In modern Japanese written "ei" is quite frequently pronounced as ee (i.e. long e) by Japanese native speakers. True, the Furagana based pronunciation as "ei" is also heard but the GIs stationed in Japan picked up the Geesha-pronunciation from native speakers.

No, it's not pronounced "geesha." Remember, basing pronunciation off of romanization is never a good idea.

And likewise, from the comments section of the blog post mentioned above, which seems in the first sentence to be talking at least somewhat about the pronunciation of words in Japanese:

Ditto Toranosuke here–Americans often don’t understand the “ei=ay not
ee” rule. Similarly, my elementary schools think it’s hysterical when
I teach them the American English pronunciation of words that came
from Japanese (SUmo vs. suMOU, “kerry-okee” instead of “karaoke”), but
I always tell them that an American will likely not understand what
“suMOU” is…

Also, is there any difference in tone or nuance between the two pronunciations?
One blog post, Words that are different in Japanese and English, claims that in English, the word "geesha" has a different meaning to the word "geisha". The English-language Wikipedia article on geishas also claims that. I used to believe that, but now I regard it as unlikely. I suspect that it's more that people who pronounce it one way have a slightly different mental image of what a geisha is to people who pronounce it another way. However, is there any difference in Japanese between when it's pronounced "げえしゃ" or "げいしゃ"? The Japanese SE post on えい pronunciation claims that えい is more formal than ええ, which would be consistent with the difference between "geisha" and "geesha" in English according to the blog post.
To summarize: is "げえしゃ" a valid pronunciation of "芸者", and is there any difference in tone or nuance between it and "げいしゃ"?


texts: Origin of ずんぐり（むっくり）

texts:
Is ずんぐり（むっくり） at all related to/derived from [栗]{くり}?

Here is a screenshot of the Google Image results when I searched for 「くり　キャラ」:

As you can see, most of these characters fit the description of ずんぐりむっくり.

So is there some kind of etymological connection here, or is this just an adorable coincidence?


texts:
In one episode of 「BSマンガ夜話」, a TV program on comics, one guest used the "phrase" 「おいおいまた」 as below:

  あんな美人{びじん}じゃあ、赤名{あかな}リカは務{つと}まらない、っていう様{よう}な印象{いんしょう}が、おいおいまた。

It seems to me that 「おいおい、また」 is usually used in the sense of "what? ... again?" as in 「おいおいまた言論｛げんろん｝統制｛とうせい｝か」.

But it is used as a predicate(?) in the context above and the "what?...again?" reading doesn't seem to fit in that straightforward.

So, how should one interpret the 「おいおいまた」 here?


texts: Is it rude to ask a question that ends with だ?

texts:
I'm going over the entry for のだ in my grammar dictionary, and I pretty much understand the meaning, but I'm unsure about casual question forms:

んだ   (male) / の (female)　　　 んだい? (male) / の? (female)

Two examples:

  「今行くの？」(f)

  「今行くんだい?」(m)

The female form I am okay with. But I have never heard だい before, and I remember being told that it's very uncommon. I think males might simply say

  「今行くんだ？」

Am I correct? But I've read that this can sound too interrogative or accusatory if the intonation is not right, so how would I say it properly?

Finally, I've seen のか, what is the difference? Is it feminine?


texts: Can you separate clauses using ついて/ use a clause ending with ついて as an entire subject/topic?

texts:
Here's the sentence I've composed.
すしを買うことについて、母を尋ねる。 The meaning I intend is something like, "I'll ask my mom about buying sushi," like I'm telling my friend I'll be asking her for permission to do so.
I'm unsure if this is grammatically correct in multiple respects-- can I use 買う as I did or does that require a different conjugation, like the potential, and does the について serve the purpose of blocking that whole idea off as what I will ask my mother?
My logic in composing it was like, "The idea of buying sushi, regarding that, (I will) ask my mother."
Thank you in advance.


texts: What is the correct grammar for "neither x nor y"?

texts:
I have searched on the web and found about 4 patterns (probably more) to say

I am neither a student nor a teacher.

in Japanese.

A: 僕は学生でもないし、先生でもない。
B: 僕は学生でもなく、先生でもない。
C: 僕は学生でもなければ、先生でもない。
D: 僕は学生でも、先生でもない。

The x parts in A, B, C use negation but the x  part in D does not. It sounds confusing, right?
Shortly speaking, what is the correct grammar for "... neither x nor y ..." in Japanese?
For the sake of generalization, other examples that I want to translate into Japanese:

I neither smoke nor drink alcohol. (verb)

I am neither smart nor diligent. (adjective)

He works neither fast nor slowly. (adverb)


texts: Is there a way to find words for less popular readings of kanji?

texts:
Let's take  文  kanji for example:

I can find words for its most popular readings -　もん、ぶん、ふみ：

文字、文化、文、文人【ふみひと】

But here  it says there are two other readings -  あや and  かざる - but i can't find words for them!! (google, wiktionary, jisho.org do not help!)

Or kanji  局 - wiktionary mentions this reading  しきる

But where is it used that way??

The question is  How can i find words for these less popular readings?


texts:
Full text: さらに検索エンジンの内部では、ユーザーがこれまでにサービスを利用した履歴を集めて興味の範囲が似ているユーザーを類型化しておいて、類型化された好みを検索結果の並べ方に反映します。
My understanding: Furthermore, the search engine's internal system collects the user's previous use of service, personal history to categorize it with similar ranges of interest, and then reflects these categorized preferences in a similar order of search results.
My Issue: 類型化しておいて. Should we translate this as "categorize" or "classify"?


texts:
What does 一色 mean in the first part of the first sentence of this article (about Abe's dissolving of the Diet's lower chamber in a snap election)? I don't quite understand what its trying to say?

世間は衆院解散一色だが、内閣改造を受けた安倍晋三首相の８月３日の記者会見を思い出してみよう。「結果本位の仕事人内閣」と語り、森友・加計（かけ）学園問題では透明性向上や野党が求める臨時国会への対応を約束した。北朝鮮の脅威も強調した。解散すれば仕事の結果はゼロ、約束はご破算、政治空白も生じる。究極の自己都合か、老練な宰相の勝負手か－－。【岸達也、和田浩幸】
あの日、首相は「原点に立ち返り」「謙虚に丁寧に」「真摯（しんし）に受け止め」と森友・加計疑惑への反…

Now, I THINK what "世間は衆院解散一色だが" means is "Society generally understands the lower chamber's dissolution, but...", but I still don't quite get it, with the 一色 part especially throwing me off.


texts: Vans with cute girls, loud speakers, and political candidates.


texts: A lot of times, endings to sentences are omitted for some reason. For example, "konna ni ooki na tatemono no naka ni ita to wa" may be completed by something like "omowanakatta". I can't fully remember other ones but there are times sentences end in "wo" that would be completed by ending something like "inorimasu" or "[...]te kudasai". I know the endings should be obvious in most cases but is this kind of a thing more formal speech or casual speech, and is it more common in speech than in written Japanese? Is there a linguistic term for this?


texts: What is the difference between 仲間 and 友達?

texts: I've seen nakama used in One Piece a lot, but I've learned tomodachi in my text book. Is there a different in usage?


texts:
Currently I am studying the ~ので,。。 grammar and, according to the book, I should use the short form before it, such as in もっと勉強したので、頭が痛いです。
Then, when I have a な-adj or noun, can I write it as follows for  the  presente  tense  ??:
元気だので、外に行きます。instead of 元気なので、外に行きます。which is the correct form according to the text book? or is it wrong?


texts: What is the difference between ではありません and 〜くない

texts:
I am not sure when ではありません and 〜くない are used.
I was given the sentence この赤いかばんは大きいではありません (as in "this red bag is not big") and I am not sure why この赤いかばんは大きくないです was not used. Could anyone explain? Thanks!


texts: Nuances between the different kanji spellings of あける：明ける vs. 開ける vs. 空ける

texts:
開ける, 明ける and 空ける are all read as あける.

From their kanji, it is obvious that 開ける has to do more with opening (a door etc), 明ける with dawning and 空ける with emptying...

However, JMDict gives the exact same senses for all three of them (in fact, lists them as the same word):

  開ける(P); 空ける(P); 明ける(P) 【あける】 (v1,vt) ① (esp. 開ける) to open (a door, etc.); to unwrap (e.g. parcel, package); ② (esp. 開ける) to open (for business, etc.); ③ (esp. 空ける) to empty; to clear out; to make space; to make room; (v1,vi) ④ (esp. 明ける) to dawn; to grow light; ⑤ (esp. 明ける) to end; (P)

OK, not quite the same senses for all (each sense is given a "preferred" kanji), but still seems to claim that there might be cases where one kanji spelling could be used instead of another.

Is this an error in JMDict (and should all three have separate definitions), or can anybody think of cases where the above spellings are used instead of one another?

Edit: to clarify, my question could be summed up as:

Does your dictionary disagree with mine?

if not:

Can you give me one situation example where any two of the above spellings could be used interchangeably (with or without minor differences in nuance)?


texts:
I was able to identify 弐 (alternative form of 二 used on legal documents, according to Jisho.org), but I still can't identify the others, in order to know what is written there

Full-size


texts:
can someone please explain となる ?
I read it everywhere but still don't know what it exactly means.

Here's just an example sentence:

  この世界が心つなぐ鍵となる


texts: What are the meanings of 「って」, 「とこ」, and 「ねえで」 in this sentence?

texts:
Here is the sentence I found these words in.

  ここ数日って とこは 夜も昼もねえで つづけたんだから むりもねえが...

Especially the 「とこ」, I'm not sure if I should translate it to be 'bed' or 'room' or something else.


texts: もうすぐだ -- Which would be best translation?

texts:
this is my first question asked here.

Translating a bilingual version of Yotsubato! and I've got a question right off the bat. Three questions actually.

もうすぐだ translates in the manga as "we're almost there"
Google translates it as "coming soon"
And Jisho.org has it as soon; shortly; before long; nearly; almost

So did the manga add the "we're" for English context?

The context pertains to Yotsubato and her dad almost having arrived at their new home, but is もうすぐだ ever used in the context of something like a movie 'coming soon' like it often is used in English?

Finally, it's actually written as もうすぐだぞー
I am to understand the ぞー at the end is some sort of exclamation like to signify Yotsubato is excited to have almost arrived?

Thanks for the help!
David


texts:
http://www.hattoris.net/info/akb48の高橋みなみさんの自前エプロンかわいいです/

Like, a personal apron? An apron for business?


texts:
As I understand it, most foreign words in Japanese are written in Katakana. However, I am curious as to whether in contemporary written Japanese, hacker is written as a literal adaptation of the western word, or whether a idiomatically Japanese character/concept is substituted in its place.

For the purposes of this discussion, what I mean by hacker is "Person who attempts to subvert the security of digital systems" rather than the wider meaning of the term.

Is this even a concept in contemporary Japanese outside of its status as foreign word?


texts: The reason why I ask this question is because of the pattern I've seen with Japanese numbers. Once you have to repeat a number to describe itself, you get a new unit. For example, 十十 =　百,　百百 =　万, 万万 =　億. So it seems that 千 is a number that had some Western influence in its creation. Implying that it was a number that created in more recent times (ie. the last 200 to 300 years). Am I in the right direction with this pattern I'm seeing? Or is this just coincidence?


texts:
かたい帯を上手に結ぶことができない若い女性が多いため、柔らかい帯を去年より３０％増やしたと言っています。

From
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10010984931000/k10010984931000.html

I would translate it as follows (without ため):

  They say that there are many young women who can't tie a hard Obi, from last year the number of soft obi has increased by 30%.

I can't find an entry on jisho on ため and I can't remember having seen it on my textbook either :/


texts:
I came across this interview, where the speaker mentioned both ご縁 and 縁
and this is from this particular clip -> https://clyp.it/v1uobgr2

I managed to transcribe it (I believe?), but I'm not sure how would I go about translating the first part, especially to distinguish between ご縁 and 縁.

What I heard was

  それから、Staffさんとの沢山のご縁があって
  作品の中でも沢山の縁があって
  素晴らしい方々と色んな縁でこうして出来たのが
  舞台Haikyuu!!だと思ってます。

I know that 縁 has such a deep meaning in Japanese, so I was wondering if there is any way to make it easier to understand?

PS. Yes this is an interview related to the manga called Haikyuu!!

Edit: The audio link has been fixed.

Also I struggled to transcribe this particular bit from the same interview.

-> https://clyp.it/ibxy43to

I could only hear

  本当にxxxx良かったです。ありがとうございます。

so I was wondering, if anyone can help me shed some light on this.

Thank you!


texts:
Here is a sentence said by a little boy.

ジョー兄いも気の毒になあ　見ろよ　目にはいるものといえばつめたい石のかべと鉄ごうしばかりじゃねえか

I would like to know if it is a colloquial form or alternated form from a certain word or it just has specific meaning by itself.

Supposed that it is a combined particle consisting of「に」and emphasizing particle 「なあ」, is the purpose of the word just to emphasizing the word 「気の毒」?


texts: How would my Chinese name be translated into Japanese?

texts: My name in chinese is 金辰 (pronounced Jin Chen in mandarin),would I be able to use it properly in Japanese? I know a lot of Chinese names don't work at all, but I'm pretty sure the kanji for mine exists in Japanese, so would it just be converted to Japanese pronunciation, or does that not work? Would it be translated in katakana?


texts:
明治【めいじ】時代【じだい】における学校【がっこう】教育【きょういく】について

Please help understand the use of ～における.  Is it a form of において?

Why wouldn't it be a past form then?


texts:
I'm wondering what 人よさちあれ means in this line:

我がためにガラス戸張りし人よさちあれ

I think さちあれ is 幸あれ, which I've seen translated as "good luck" or "bless you," etc. But how does it work here with the 人よ?
Thank you for your help!


texts: What form of suru is the "されていた" part of 支配されていた?

texts: I understand that 支配する　means to rule. So I'm guessing the "されていた" in 支配されていた is a weird form of する. Is it in passive past te-form?


texts: Can tokidoki only be used in a negative sentence?

texts:
I heard that ときどき can only be used in an affirmative sentence, and never in a negative sentence. Is that true?

If anyone could please provide an example of ときどき in a negative sentence, that would be great too!


texts: What's the meaning and the usage of ことだし？

texts:
I found two examples, and I think that I got the meaning but I'm not sure of its grammar. One is:"明日はお父さんも休みのことだし、 みんなで買い物でも行かない？" since tomorrow your father is free too, why don't we go all together to do shopping?

The other one is the following:"来週は客様が来ることだし、家のなかの大掃除をしなくちゃ". Since the next will be coming a guest we have to do the big cleaning in the house"


texts: Can the 歳 counter be used for architecture, furniture etc to tell its age?

texts:
While I understand that the 歳 counter is used to indicate ages of people and animals, I was wondering if it could be used to also talk about ages of inanimate things like architecture or furniture.

For example,

sentence: That castle is more than 500 years old.

According to me, it should translate to:

  あの しろう わ ５００さい より おい です
  (which is: Ano shirou wa 500-sai yori oi desu)

However, the answer I get from google translate is:

  あの城は500年以上前です。
  (which is: Ano shiro wa 500-nen ijō maedesu.)

I am completely new to the Japanese language and this has completely confused me. I'd appreciate it if you could help me out please.


texts: What purpose does はめ serve in this sentence?

texts:
ふたりではめあいしておかしいですね笑。

I know that
ふたりで means Two of us.
あいして means love.
おかしい means amusing, funny or comical.

But I'm not sure what purpose 'はめ' serves in the sentence and as such I can't really make sense of it.

Any help is greatly appreciated and thank you in advance.


texts: Why can 九十九 be read as "tsukumo"? I don't understand how those kanji could be read that way.


texts: How to order pizza or dinner on the phone

texts:
When you call say a pizza delivery service they pick up the phone with something like "Tanaka's pizza delivery service, XYZ branch, this is Sato speaking". (I'm sorry, I'd reproduce it in Japanese but it was so fast that I didn't really understand it).

What do I say in response to that? In England I'd say, "Hi, I'd like to order a pizza". What would be better for me, in Japanese, something more generic like, "Hi, I'd like to place an order". But do Japanese people really say this when they order food?

I'm pretty sure that "こんばんは。注文をしたいのですが。。。"is not what Japanese people say when they call a restaurant. What's natural?


texts: What is the difference between 急ぐ{いそぐ} and 急かす{せかす}?

texts:
The verbs 急ぐ{いそぐ} and 急かす{せかす} both seem to mean to hurry. Is there any difference between them?

Also, Jisho.org says that 急ぐ can be both intransitive and transitive, but doesn't mention the transitivitiy of 急かす at all, which I find particularly weird (for all other verbs I've seen on Jisho, their transitivity was always mentioned). Is 急かす transitive or intransitive (or both)?


texts:
今後もお客様との対話の窓口として、より充実していくべく努力してまいります
Given translation: We are working from here in an effort to provide a more fulfilling window for customer interaction.
Does 窓口として mean that someone is working from the 窓口?