texts:
For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20180127/k10011304581000.html

The sentence in question:

  厚生労働省は「人手不足や景気の回復を背景に、留学生のアルバイトや技能実習生の活用が進んでいる」としています。

My attempt at translation:
"Concerning the ministry of health, labour and welfare, they decide that the application of foreign students side-jobs and technical trainees for the labour shortage and support of business recovery is voluntary."

I asked about a lot of と constructions recently and Im already a bit paranoid that I stumble across the same mistakes again, but I cant help it. I think that I got it right here, since I looked up "to decide to" on jisho and I think that it fits the context. But Im not sure ^^ A と B する means "make A into B", as far as I remember, so this one "to decide to" is kind of contained in this more general interpretation. But nevertheless, Id like to confirm wether I got it right.^^


texts:
Follow up question to this one :

Sentence structure and meaning

About this sentence :

  「ただしお前達の相手は私一人でいい。」

It seemed to me that in Tokyo Nagoya's answer, でいい sounded a lot like でもいい :

  " Meaning-wise, however, 「でいい」 adds much more [than だ]. It expresses the speaker's agreement to the fighting rules that could possibly be disadvantageous to him. In other words, the speaker is already very confident of his victory as he speaks. "

So I did a bit of research and found these :

Is 「でいい」 the same as 「でもいい」?

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/must

The first link says that でもいい has a sense of "something is better out there, but you settle for less" that でいい doesn't have.

The second link says that "In casual speech, 「～てもいい」 sometimes get shortened to just 「～ていい」."

So is でいい just the familiar abbreviation of でもいい or are they 2 distinct (though similar) structures with different nuances?


texts:
What's the reason for writing あやまち  過ち  and not for instance  誤ち ?
Wouldn't that make more sense since it means to err, be incorrect...?　I can see how one would get from exceeding/overdoing a mistake, but really, isn't 誤 the better fit here?
Is there perhaps some historical reason or anything that could explain it?


texts: Meaning of "べつにパリパリ健康だよ"

texts:
(it might be バリバリ)

I know what べつに　and　健康　mean individually, but I don't know how to translate this phrase....


texts: How do 確認したところ and 全長15メートルほどの古い木造船が見つかり relate here?

texts:
The sentence in question:

  青森海上保安部によりますと、巡視船２隻を出して確認したところ全長15メートルほどの古い木造船が見つかり、外国人とみられる男性２人が乗っていました。

For full context, see here.

My attempt at translation:

  "According to the Aomori Coastal guard office, they sent out 2(?) patrol boats and the moment they confirmed that a boat of about 15 meters overall length was found and two men were aboard."

The problem is that the only way I can interpret 確認したところ so far is the way I did above. However, it's obvious that I can't really make a meaningful attribute to 木造船 of it anymore...


texts:
The phrase in question comes from 「カタカナ英語と和製英語：最近の傾向を中心として」からの抜粋. The text describes words in Japanese that appear similar to English words and are written in katakana. I am having trouble understanding this:

  マイブーム(英語{えいご}で言{い}えば「私{わたし}のにわか景気{けいき}」の意{い}。

What specifically does 私のにわか景気 mean? It sounds like My unexpected condition. But that seems like a strange translation.

Any help?


texts: For furigana, can katakana be used instead of hiragana?

texts:
From the first day I started to learn Japanese, I saw people use hiragana to help read kanji, they are usually written on the top of those kanjis.

But recently I also saw some Japanese use katakana, to not only spell and mimic the sound of the foreign words, but also write them on the top of kanji to aid in their reading, instead of hiragana.

Is this also okay or common practice? Are there any differences, or does it not matter?


texts:
I've read in this article that の can replace が when used in a subordinate clause.

For example, 耳が長いエルフ is the same as 耳の長いエルフ, evidently. However, this article doesn't describe any difference in nuance between these two options. Is there any?


texts:
What would we call a person who in ungraceful, clumsy in movement?
Is there a Japanese adjective or noun with the meaning?


texts:
I've looked up the 「たら〜のに」grammar, and the site says it means "would have/could have" but I'm having trouble with the potential verb 食える. I know it means "can eat" but I don't know the English equivalent. Also I know that 「別に」when paired with a negative verb it means not particular/not necessary. But how do you use with 「たら〜のに」+ potential verb? I came across this sentence reading today and I don't know what it means...

別にミーティング終わったら、一緒に食えるのに...

It would be super helpful if someone could help me with this!


texts: What counter words are used by animals for humans?

texts:
In Happy Feet 2, I noticed that the penguins used the hitori, futari, ... counter words for themselves, rather than 羽.

In fiction involving talking animals where the humans are regarded as somewhat "outsider", what counter word do they use for humans? Do they still use hitori, futari, ..., or would they use something else such as 頭 (if a penguin were speaking) or 匹 (if a shark was)?


texts: Do 山人 and 仙人 have the same meaning of they mean different things?

texts: I find that the compounds mean "mountain people" or "hermit". Do these words have some difference in meaning or do they actually mean exactly the same?


texts: How to write a bulleted list in Japanese

texts:
What's the correct way to show a bulleted list of items in the Japanese language? Considering the fact that interpuncts are often used to seperate and idenity foreign words, I'm not sure of the correct way to do this as I want the English translation to be shown alongside the Japanese. Do the Japanese use a symbol other than a bullet point?

English

・Science Museum (London)

・Science Museum (Miami)

・Science Museum (Minnesota)

Japanese

・サイエンス・ミュージアム (ロンドン) - Science Museum (London)

・サイエンス・ミュージアム (マイアミ) - Science Museum (Miami)

・サイエンス・ミュージアム (ミネソタ) - Belleville (Minnesota)


texts: How do you translate the English phrase "Is this guy for real?" into its Japanese counterpart? The statement is uttered in a tone of disbelief. And preferably in an informal and colloquial setting, like the conversation between two friends, etc.


texts: What does 氏 mean after a name, how is it different from さん or 様?

texts:
If you look in the dictionary for the definition of 氏 you'll find it defined as: family name; lineage; birth.

However I have seen it used in such a way that it is doubtful that it means any of those things in certain contexts.

Here's an example sentence:

今日はマオ氏のアーバンカーで送ってもらった♪(´ε｀ )

What does 氏 mean here?

Note: Mao is a very famous Japanese singer.


texts:
What does the grammar form of 知るin the below sentence mean?

闇の世界とは関わるはずがないと知っとったんだろうな

The sentence is from the Japanese version of Harry Potter I


texts: Will he be a great hunter when he returns, or could he become one but not come back as one?

texts:
絶対立派なハンターになって戻ってくるから！

Is he saying that he'll come back AS a great hunter, or is it possible that he could become a great hunter, then stop being a great hunter, and come back not a great hunter? The difference seems minuscule but it's important in the work I'm doing right now.

Basically,
"I will become a great hunter and come back!"
or
"I will come back as a great hunter!"

Or could it mean either one? Thank you.


texts: How do you politely apologize to a professor for unintentional rudeness?

texts:
I received an email from a new professor in my department asking for a native English speaker's check of his paper. Since no one had ever asked me to check their English before, whereas I had previously asked fellow grad students to check my Japanese, I assumed the email was from some student who I didn't know personally. I had only met this professor once in person, so I didn't recognize it was him from his name in the email. Thus, I did not refer to him as 「先生」 and instead replied with:

  宮嶋様

  ご電子メールを受信しました。

  学会発表のため東京にいます。１６日に北海道に帰りますので、その後、9月末の締め切りまで宮嶋さんの英語論文のネイティブ・チェックができます。

  この論文の目的は何でしょうか（例えば、日本での発表、海外の発表、海外の学術誌）。
  宮嶋さんの希望は、英語の文法などのチェックだけでしょうか、または、西洋の論文の構成やスタイルもチェックでしょうか。私にとって両方とも大丈夫ですので、宮嶋さんの選好にします。

  よろしくお願いいたします。

When I found out afterward that I sent that to a professor, I felt terribly embarrassed!!

How can I write an adequately polite and humble email that apologizes for not realizing it was him, and for my rudeness?

What is the most polite way to express that I had not recognized his name?

I found some nice apologetic phrases at ビジネスメールの書き方, but I'm not sure which ones are most suitable for this case, such as:

無礼千万なことと、謹んでお詫びを申しあげます。
とんだ失態を演じてしまいまして、まことにお恥ずかしい限りです。
大変失礼いたしました。
誤解を与えたようでしたら、謝罪いたします。
今回の件を厳粛に受け止め、陳謝いたします。
配慮が行き届かなかったと、自責の念にかられております。
不注意であったと、反省いたしております。
私の不徳のいたすところと、猛省しております。
弊社の不注意でこのようなことになり、本当に申し訳ありません。


texts: What is the meaning of 不器用で (Bukiyōde) when describing a person?

texts:
I found that it means "awkward, clumsy". I was wondering if it may has other meanings?
I would also appreciate giving examples on how the word is used. (The more, the better.)
Thank you

edit: Can it be used to say that a person is hard to deal with?


texts:
I noticed many i-adjectives ending with く. I need to know why that happens.

いつか、あなたは背が高くなるでしょう。


texts: Feeling unsure about the connection of the two sides of the comma

texts:
地図は普通、北を上にして掛かれる。
(From line 7: https://www.docdroid.net/847v2dg/img-20170413-0001-new.pdf.html)

=> "The map is normal, it can hang with the north attached to the top."

I feel very unsure about this one since there is no copula and no connector (like for example 地図は普通で), but I can't make sense of it otherwise.
I'm also not sure whether the potential form expresses an ability here or makes an objective statement (I think there was something about that with potential form, please correct me if I'm wrong, I also don't feel like I understood it).


texts: The word なし, of course, means ない, and it is defined as such in dictionaries. But why does this word exist? Are there even any situations where you can say なし but you can't say ない? Is it a remnant of something from classical Japanese? It seems similar enough in use and meaning to ない that it doesn't seem that it can be dismissed as its own word entirely and etymologically separate from ない. I checked etymology sites and dictionaries and tried googling, but I can't find any explanation for this word.


texts: What is the difference between the nominalizers こと and の?

texts:
As Derek mentioned in his postscript, both こと and の are nominalizers that can turn a verb into a noun.

ピアノを弾く【ひく】。 I play the piano.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】のが好き【すき】です。 I like playing the piano.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】ことが好き【すき】だ。 I like playing the piano.

I had always thought こと was just a more formal version of の, but it seems that's not the case:

As a quick rule, の is generally used when the outer action happens at the same place or time as the inner action, while こと is generally used when the two can be considered from a removed standpoint lacking immediacy.

Can someone elaborate more on the distinction between こと and の?
Which version is more appropriate when the outer verb is an emotion verb such as 好き【すき】、思う【おもう】、考える【かんがえる】, etc?
Is こと generally more preferred in formal writing?


texts: What type of romanization is "Hatchōbori"?

texts:
I found somewhere on the internet that the romanization of 八丁堀{はっちょうぼり} is written as "Hatchōbori".

Given that scheme, how could you write "しゅっぱつ"?
Given that scheme, how could you write "しゅぱつ"?
What is the name of that romanization scheme?


texts: What's the difference in usage and nuance between やはり and やっぱり?

texts:
I know that we say にっぽん instead of にほん when we want to inject a little national pride into the word, but I've never had a good understanding of the difference in meaning/nuance/usage between やはり and やっぱり.

I would guess that there is some variation in some combination of politeness, formality, familiarity etc, but I haven't had enough experiences with them to pin down where they sit on that graph.


texts: 「ありがとうございや」 - Dialect? Train Station 言葉？

texts:
Today as I was transferring trains in Nagoya the station attendant was shouting repeatedly「ありがとうございや」. Doing a search on the internet revealed that this seems to be a shorted form of ありがとうございやした but I have never heard of this before.

Is this from a specific dialect/age group/group
Is it's usage just a simple replacement of 「ま」in 「～ました」
Can this be done to any verb, or is it limited to 「る」ending verbs that conjugate to 「い」in 丁寧語 (polite speech)?


texts: The translation of the 11th sentence of chapter 31 of Assimil "Japanese With Ease" makes me wonder about が and も

texts:
あら, この 水色【みずいろ】 の 縁【ふち】が ついた ガウン も 安【やす】い です ね。

So the sentence is part of a dialogue in which two women are shopping. It is translated as:

  Oh, this gown with the light blue border is cheap as well.

Since 縁【ふち】 is followed by が , I want to translate it as:

  Oh, this light blue border attached to the gown is cheap as well.

Now I do not know about womanly shopping, however, that anyone would buy just the border not the gown seems strange to me. With my limited understanding of Japanese grammar however, I keep translating it as the light blue border attached to the gown being cheap, not necessarily the gown. What type of shop lists the price of the border and the gown separately?

If I look hard and long enough, I can group it in my head as {この} This {水色【みずいろ】 の 縁【ふち】が ついた ガウン} gown to which the light blue border is attached {rest of sentence}, and then も being the "stronger" or "structurally more divisively" particle for the sentence. So が just being part of a subordinate clause and も being part of the main clause. Is that correct? Did I make up the rule of thumb in my head that が marks the more important part of a sentence and that is not applicable here?


texts:
I want to say the phrase "I can understand about 60% of the content of this video" in japanese. I translated it to:

このビデオの内容は６０％ぐらい分かれます。

Is this correct?


texts: Why are い-adjectives often used as nouns?

texts:
I can't really understand why sometimes い adjectives are transformed to nouns instead of just being used themselves.
I.E.

  白い鳥 has 300,000 google hits while 白の鳥 has 4 million.
  近い家　has 113,000 google hits while 近くの家 has 150 million

I tried searching but I didn't really find any explanations for this.

Is it just a matter of knowing the correct form to use or is there a meaning difference which makes one use popular and the other not?


texts: I have seen the poem title 君死にたまふことなかれ spelled 君死にたもうこと勿れ. I'm assuming given the poet's reputation, that まふ is some antiquated word analogous to the modern もう. What is it's use and meaning?


texts: Does a word for vending machine shorter than 自販機 exist?

texts: My Japanese teacher told me there is no shorter way to say 自動販売機{じどうはんばいき}. However, I found 自販機{じはんき} in my dictionary. Does a word (including slang) for "vending machine" shorter than four morae exist?


texts: What is the difference between に and と with 間違われる?

texts:
このうち、イギリスの新聞「デイリー・ミラー」は「マフィアに間違われるとして、スター選手たちのタトゥーに警告」という見出しで伝えています。(source)

  彼は背が高いのでしばしば大人と間違われる(EJJE weblio)。


texts:
I am having some trouble with kore, sore, are, dore, dore no, kono, sono, ano, dono, koko, soko and doko. I know what they mean but I am trying to put them into sentence and the order of the particles is feeling like crap shoot. Not sure if this question fits this site but if does not; feel free to down vote it and ill go look somewhere else for help.

  あれはわたしのペンてす。

I am assuming in this case わたしのペン can be thought of a noun meaning "my pen" then depending on kore sore or are wa
we have "this is my pen", "that (near you) is my pen" and "that (over there) is my pen"

Can we also say あれはまちんのペンてす. or あれはあなたのペンてす.
meaning "that is ma-san's pen (over there)" and "that is your pen (over there)"

What do we use このペンは for?
How do we form だれのペンですか into "whose pen is this?///is this your pen?"

Would also like an example of how to use dono and dore for peoples.


texts: Does 「来ていません」mean “hasn’t come” or “isn’t coming”? Or both?

texts: Would the sentence 「田中さんはまだ来ていません」translate to “Mr. Tanaka still is’nt coming” or “Mr. Tanaka hasn’t come yet” or are both translations possible?


texts: Question: Japanese scientific article on satoyama

texts:
I need to read this article for my class, and I can't seem to get past this sentence:

  つまり、政治的にも巧みに利用されがちな「ふるさと」や「原風景」と接続する既成概念としての 「里」が喚起する感情・感傷に無批判に安住するのではなく、私たちが位置する所与の場所の意味を内省的に深く洞察し、暮らしの形を新たに構想してゆく過程が求められるのである。

The words are not the problem, the grammatical structure however is killing me. Can anyone help me translate it?

EDIT: Oh aha I'm sorry, I'll try to explain it better:

I can't decide to where dewa naku refers to (i know it belongs with 無批判に安住するの) but does it belong with the rest of the sentence, or is the part behind the point (・) to the (,) a sentence on its own?


texts:
I just stumbled across an expression that basically goes like:

X という名のならず者

(X being the name of a group of people in the story)
I can see what ならず者 means ("bandit", "scoundrel" according to this) and have a good guess of the general meaning of the sentence, but I have trouble parsing the use of 名 here.
Is 名のならず者 a variant of ならず者, or is this a specific expression involving 名 itself?


texts:
I'm trying to translate the following sentence,
八世紀の「養老神祇令」散斎条に、唐の令にはみられない肉食禁止条項が挿入されていること
, but can't figure out the meaning of 散斎条.
Searching the almighty google didn't yield any results either.

It's referred to as 「養老神祇令」散斎条, so apparently a part of, or law in,
the Yoro-Code (which is a revision of the Taiho-Code from 701)

Sadly I can't find any translations or explanations about this, or a list of
laws from that code. Even a japanese friend of mine couldn't help.

Update: While the meaning is now more or less clear, I am still strugling to find a fitting translation for "散斎".
Also, do you think, 養老神祇令  can be translated as "The Law of the Gods of Heaven and Earth during the Yoro period"?

Thank you for your help and suggestions in advance.


texts: How should I understand the といこう in お手並み拝見といこうかしら

texts:
『ええ、もちろん。お手並み拝見といこうかしら』

Hi. How should I understand the といこう? I know it comes from といく. What does it mean? And what is this grammar phenomenon of 「と+いく」?


texts: Its a term used in English to describe an erect penis. Thank you.


texts: Do native speakers think of prolonged vowels as one long vowel, or two vowel sounds following each other?

texts:
In a native speaker's mental model, are long vowel sounds - for example the おう in 「教室」 the ああ in 「唐揚げ」, the えい in 「先生」 or just 「いい」 (I chose these examples quite deliberately, since they represent fairly different "categories" of long vowels; please consider them all) - a long vowel sound or two vowel sounds following each other? In other words, when they say a long vowel, are they deliberately saying one long vowel sound or two of them directly following each other?

Does it perhaps depend on which vowel it is? Does it depend on the word? Perhaps neither, or something else entirely? This is something I've been wondering for a while now, and I feel knowing the answer would help my latent understanding of the language and pronunciation.

I realize there's probably no definite answer, at least not without conducting some scientific research, but having the input of some native speakers or someone who's talked to native speakers about this would be invaluable.


texts: 五年ぶり、ぶり返す、。。。What does ぶり mean?

texts: Where does the ぶり in 五年ぶり (Five years ago?) and ぶり返す come from, does it have a kanji, and what does it mean?


texts: Is causative form appropriate in the following usage (悪事に加担させるようそそのかす)?

texts:
The following is an example sentence from "Tanaka Corpus" used in many free dictionaries (for example down below).

  彼は罪のない若者を悪事に加担させるようそそのかしていた。
  He was egging an innocent young man on to join him in his crooked deal.

そそのかす is "to tempt"

加担する is generally defined as "participation" and I assume it should be the "young man" who participates.

Why then is causative form 加担させる used in this example along with よう?

Is it a mistake, or do any of these expression have a different meaning?

Would 彼は罪のない若者を悪事に加担するようそそのかしていた。  be incorrect?

Alternatively maybe it's 悪事に加担させる which takes direct object 若者を, is it really something that one can tempt someone else to? A tempts the young man B to let himA involve himB"?


texts:
I have to use the grammar ようによっては in the following sentence. The meaning in English is

  Depending on how you treat me, I can be a gentleman or not.

My attempt is as follows, but I think it is partially incorrect.

  僕は、君が扱いようによっては、優しくなるかどうか

How to fix it?


texts: Understanding 心を開く開けないを話し合う

texts:
そもそも士道はまだ、映像越しでしか六喰と話をしていないのである。これで心を開く開けないを話し合うのは滑稽というものだ。

Source: 「デート・ア・ライブ」
Could you please explain the grammar of the bold part? Why can two verbs be connected directly like that? And why is there not a の before を?


texts: Prohibition in Japanese depending on level of formality

texts:
I have learnt two variants for prohibition:
-ちゃだめ
-ではいけません
depending on the level of formality…

But does an intermediate form of
-じゃいけない or
-ではいけない

exist as well?


texts: How to say a sentence without repeating the word?

texts:
I'm sorry if this is a duplicate question (I bet it is), I didn't really know what to search for.

猫を描く、犬を描かない。 (I draw cats, I don't draw dogs.)

How do you say that sentence without having to repeat 描かない? So it would be 'I draw cats, not dogs.'


texts:
This was from a test prep book:

  A: この間の本貸してもらえないかな。
  B: ええ,明日持ってきてます

I'm thinking that the V てもらえない form is often used for requests.

My literal parsing of 貸して　＋　もらえない is:

  'Can I not receive the favor of your lending (it) for me?'

Which then translates to

  'Can you lend it to me?'

Is my translation correct? I'm not sure why there is かな at the end. I thought it is used to indicate uncertainty.


texts: Difference between 送信【そうしん】 and 通信【つうしん】

texts:
I understand that they both mean to transmit or communicate, but I am having a hard time understanding how they are used. I have seen them both used, for example, on cellphones.

  メッセージを送信【そうしん】 in one messaging app

  メッセージを通信【つうしん】 in another messaging app

Is there a difference in the feeling, or is one more "correct"? Can they be used in different contexts, instead of only being used in the same way?


texts:
Today I saw this sentence:
イラクで戦争がある。

I didn't understand why that would be the case instead of イラクに because if it is で I feel like it could be rewritten:

戦争はイラクである。 which just sounds like Iraq is war.

Is there a reason for this? Is it an expression or something like that, can it be rewritten the way I wrote it and if so could you say 戦争はイラクです?

Thanks for your help


texts: Children's audio books good for listening practice?

texts:
I'm looking for a website with free audio recordings of Japanese children books. I found one a long time ago but alas I lost my bookmark to that site. I'm planning to go through those books since it'll be easier to follow the japanese they speak as opposed to listening to japanese talk shows and such for adults. Is this a good way to work on my listening?

Anyone have a recommendation?


texts: Use of 抱く in "聞かせていただいてありがとうございました"

texts:
In my textbook the sentence:

  聞かせていただいてありがとうございました

is translated as

"Thank you for telling us about all these things"

I know:

色々 is "various" so probably means "all these things"
聞かせていた means "Letting me hear"
But 抱く, here 抱いて, means "embrace"?

I'm not really sure how to understand this. Is it simply an expression?
Any help would be appreciated.


texts:
I cannot differentiate the meaning of 特有 and 固有. The following 2 sentences seem to be (roughly) identical in their meaning.

A: 合気道は日本特有の武道である。
B: 合気道は日本固有の武道である。

Both means:

Aikido is a martial art that is peculiar to Japan.

Question
What are the main differences between 特有 and 固有? Please give me some examples.


texts: Difference between どこですか and どこにいますか/どこにありますか?

texts:
(1) 本はどこですか。
(2) 本はどこにありますか。

Unless I'm mistaken, both those sentences mean something like "where is the book", what's the difference between using です and あります to indicate position?
I wouldn't have said (2) for "where is the book" but in an exercise where the question was "where is the switch" and the answer "next to the door", the answer used にあります so I assumed it was also in the question. It made me wonder when it was better to use どこですか instead of どこにありますか.
(Also, if there's an error in my sentences don't just correct them, also give an explanation to my question please)


texts:
I was leisurely scrolling through a Facebook page, when I saw this post:

It featured でも and I'm 100% sure the English translation is wrong. My question is, will removing も from でも change the meaning of the sentence? How can でも be translated to English accurately in such a way that it's distinguishable from a sentence which just uses で.


texts: What are the differences between 女子{じょし}, 娘子{じょうし} and 女{おんな}の子{こ}?

texts:
Apparently there are many ways to say "girl / young woman" in Japanese.

I've learned the differences between 女の子, 少女 and 乙女 from other question in this SE, where 女の子 seems to be the most common way to say "girl", but recently I noticed that yet another two words exist for "girl": 女子{じょし} (joshi) and 娘子{じょうし} (joushi).

So, my question is, what's the difference between 女子, 娘子 and 女の子?


texts:
I've heard the じょう being pronounced as some kind of voiceless fricative in multiple works of entertainment, especially in the case of 激情. Is it some kind of remnant phoneme from old Japanese or is it just an artistic stylization? I'm pretty sure it doesn't appear in the modern standard phonology, or does it?

Examples on YouTube

Example 1
Example 2


texts:
I don't understand the meaning of ダッサ in the following sentence:

  なんだこいつらダッサ面白れえ！

The context is a fight between two enemy factions. I think it is a contraction of ダサい "uncool" but I don't understand its meaning when used before an adjective, as in the sentence above.


texts:
In Miyazawa Kenji's 銀河鉄道の夜 I came across this:

たくさんの輪転器がばたりばたりとまわり、...

What is the meaning of ばたりばたり here? 輪転器 is a rotary printing press, I believe.

バタバタ comes to mind, so maybe something close to that?


texts: How does the なら particle work in the sentence [地獄なら知っている]?

texts:
A recent episode of Re: Zero is titled 地獄なら知っている, when I watched the preview I could not understand exactly what it meant but  when I finally saw the translation, they translated it as "I know hell" but the literal translation is as far as I know: "If hell, I know". Furthermore, in the context of the episode, the main character says the phrase "地獄なら知っている" in order to indicate that he has been through hell/knows what suffering is.
How does the なら particle work in this scenario?
Thanks


texts: Why are a high proportion of basic Japanese words written in hiragana?

texts:
Sometimes it seems like a lot of basic Japanese words are typically written in hiragana rather than kanji.

By "basic", I mean pleasantries that are probably the first thing non-native speakers learn in Japanese: "おはようございます", "こんにちは", "ください", "ありがとう". Some of these can be written in kanji, for example "ください" can be written as "下さい". One pleasantry that isn't typically written in hiragana is "お願いします".

Are a disproportionate amount of such words typically written in hiragana, and if so, why?


texts:
So, I have this sentence:

"つまりパスポートもビザもない、と"

The first part is pointing out that someone doesn't have a passport or visa (since they threw their bag at someone earlier). But what is that 「と」 doing there by itself?

I went back and reviewed my explanations of 「と」 as a particle, and my best guess is that it's meant to be quotative, referring to what the other person said about throwing their bag. This seems reasonable in conjunction with the 「つまり」, which I usually see defined/translated as "in other words," but I really don't know. I have a bad habit of fudging things in favor of sense-making. >.>

Can anyone tell me if my assessment is at all right, and what semantic purpose is served by keeping just the 「と」 instead of making a full statement?


texts:
I don't think us getting together tonight is such a good idea.
やっぱり今夜、よりを戻すのは止めておこう。

I would like to understand this sentence better, specifically the (idiomatic?) expression, "よりを戻す." I will parse the parts I am not sure of below to see if I grasp it correctly:
"やっぱり"  "after all."
"よりを戻す" is an idiom(?) meaning "get back together."
"止めておこう"  "Should let pass/should let the matter drop/let's quit"
If these are acceptable, how does "よりを戻す" express "get back together"?
And does the おこう in "止めておこう" derive from 置く?


texts: Does the Japanese equivalent of a lengthy combination of hyphenated English words exist?

texts:
I was reading this question on English.SE
Is a lengthy combination of words with hyphens like “the worst not-technically-in-a-recession year in American history” a new fashion of writing?.
Surely, the combination could be called and used in nominalization or inversion (source), but the combination is very long and usually it's intended as a form of light sarcasm or irony.
I'll cite the example

... The year’s second-quarter growth rate was just downgraded to an anemic 1.3 percent, real household income dipped in the month leading up to the two political conventions, and the American Enterprise Institute’s James Pethokoukis suggests that 2012 might turn out to be the worst not-technically-in-a-recession year in modern American history”.
(same source)

If I wanted to do a verbatim translation, my first method would not be to translate the combination directly but to make it standardized and straightforward. This method is used by Mitch's answer in the English.SE question.

... 2012 might turn out to be the worst year in modern American history not technically in a recession:

Why? Because translating it like this is NG and could be ambiguous or doesn't even have any meaning and is hard to pronounce in Japanese:

... 「最悪+[not technically in a recession]+年」 ...
This is simply bad "nominalization" in Japanese.

My questions are:

Does this "nominalization" exist in Japanese?
If you were to translate it from the start, would you do it like I did in my first method (making it standard)?


texts: Are there many occurrences of elongated syllables throughout the language?

texts:
I've been studying Japanese through Duolingo and I wouldn't say I've progressed very far. I've learned some of the basics of Hiragana and it's beginning to transition into Kanji. While learning Hiragana I learned that House is pronounced Ie or いえ. When I began to transition into Kanji, I learned that no is pronounced Īe or いいえ with an elongated I syllable. When I translate House using Google Translate, a new character is presented: 家. I would assume this is correct, as the pronunciation sounds the same to me.

Are there a multitude of instances where this elongation of syllables occurs forming new words?

What is a good rule of thumb for remembering such differences?

Is it difficult to differentiate in rushed conversations?


texts: Can I use ～にすぎない for something not getting past some (low) level?

texts:
So the ～にすぎない grammar is used when you mean something doesn't get past some (high) level.
Can I use it to mean something doesn't get too low, in a phrase such as 「自分の国の冬は、低温が15度に過ぎない。」? (meaning, the minimum temperature never goes under 15 degrees)


texts: Recognizing Japanese handwriting and translating

texts:
I have found an old Japanese note that I would very much like to translate. Background info: I found it in an old gaming console where you're supposed to scan barcodes (barcode is at the back of the note) and it most probably has to do with that.

However, it's handwritten (and my Japanese is extremely rusty), therefore just recognizing the characters (especially the kanji) is very hard for me.

I have attached the photo of the note, and I am trying to transcribe it line by line. So far I have (and might still be very wrong):

小 _ 生のじいちゃん (I believe じいちゃん means 'grandfather')
( _ のう _ _ のみ木丑 _ の _ _ _ そ _ 土じろ )
_ いババ
(not even trying this one yet)

I was wondering if there are any tips on recognizing handwritten Japanese? Or if anyone could help me translate this?


texts:
I came across this sentence in the basic kanji book

  くつを一足とくつ下を四足買いました

The sentence has two を particles even though I thought the を particles can only be used once in a sentence.  I thought since the と particle connects two nouns together it would look like this:

  くつの一足とくつ下の四足を買いました

Is this not possible or is the whole grammar wrong?
Why is it like that?


texts: Can もとい be used as a noun describing the correction or the fact of correction?

texts:
Can 元い{もとい} be used as a noun for actual correction (or the fact of correcting oneself), or does it imply actually saying the word もとい literally?
If someone describes their conduct using その時、元いを言った can it be used in both of the following situations:

あなたは４０歳もとい３０歳になって、〜

あなたは４０歳、失礼しました、３０歳になって、〜

or only the first one?


texts: Do native speakers learn consonant and vowel length easily, or is it difficult?

texts:
Just want to ask if this is normal or I am just fighting the wrong way.

かっこいい say this word has the final 2 い which shall take 2 length of the i sound.

I am struggling to keep trying to speak with 2 length letter period. I think this is crucial to the meaning also to grow some sense of awareness about this.

Will this be ever a problem for local Japanese to learn to speak? I mean if with this type of word with 2 consecutive length of same sound, when you teach how to say word without knowing the spell, is it even detectable by the child or student? Is it some issue as well so you need to remind them that this needs to pay attention?

I am not sure if I need to use my head for this because it becomes such distraction as well. So it needs to become a habit for sure or sub-conscience coordination of my brain and my mouth.

Anyways, just wondering how local Japanese teach this kind of word to children.


texts:
I've seen in an anime (tsurezure children, episode 1, minute 2:00) a boy who was saying this in his mind: "でも、それじゃ こいつ の 告白 を 横取りする ことに…", and I would like to know what that "ことに…" with that ellipsis means. Also, what omitted words would be following that "ことに…" ?

Thank you so much for your help in advance!


texts:
In the sense of 'mildly offended/annoyed'. Is there a single word expressing this, or would it just be 少し + adjective?

Example sentence:

  I'm miffed that he suddenly hung up yesterday.


texts: What does Mr. Driller say when he picks up an oxygen tank?

texts:
I think many people remember the Japanese game series, Mr. Driller. There was an arcade machine and several console games, and they were pretty popular. The idea was to drill through coloured blocks, periodically refilling your air supply with oxygen tanks.
However, does anyone know what Mr. Driller says whenever he picks one up?
Here's my attempt:

He always says something like 「えき！」
Since "air" is 空{くう}気{き} and "oxygen" is 酸{さん}素{そ}, I tried searching for other things.
「てき！」made no sense, meaning "opponent" (敵), etc.
「へき！」means, among other things - "barrier" (壁).
Other games in the series have similarly unintelligible (to me) quotes upon picking up air tanks.

Here's a link to some gameplay, and the first two oxygen tanks are picked up at 0:15 and 0:25:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeSEoA1JKJA


texts: {～もあり、～もあり} vs {～もあって、～もあって}

texts:
One thing I notice is that {～もあり} can follow an adverb, such as:

  良くもあり、悪くもあり

Other than that, when do we use {～もあり、～もあり} clause pattern instead of {～もあって、～もあって}? Is using {～もあり} considered more stylish than {～もあって}?

  自転車もあって、バイクもあって

vs

  自転車もあり、バイクもあり

Disclaimer: my own examples so they might not even make sense ..


texts: Difference between the many words for son and daughter

texts:
There are three words to refer to somebody else's daughter (According to my dictionary): 娘さん、お嬢さん、令嬢。
There are also three words to refer to somebody else's son: 息子さん、子息、坊ちゃん。

What are the differences between these words? I'll assume politeness, but in what order, and when is each more commonly used?

Similarly, what about 夫 and 主人 for your own husband? And possibly more family terms that are similar like this?


texts: Why is a verb in the past (た形) contradicted with ～ていない?

texts:
In the episode of the anime Sora no Otoshimono linked below, the following exchange occurs several times (beginning at 3:06):

A: 呼んだ？ You called?
B: 呼んでねええ No I didn't!

Could someone please explain why B chose to contradict A with 呼んでいない rather than with 呼ばなかった? From my native English perspective, it seems odd that B changed aspect and tense.
To cement the understanding, how (if it makes sense) would the response's meaning have changed if B instead used:

呼ばなかった or

呼んでいなかった

Sora no Otoshimono Ep.2.
(watch at one's own discretion... it's not too bad but certainly not completely clean.)


texts:
In my textbook, there is the following exercise:

だれでも「大勢の人の前で話すとき、緊張してうまく話せない」という経験があると思います。
あなたはそのような時どうしていますか。

First, I have a bit of a problem with the subject in the first sentence here. I guess the subject of 思う in the first sentence is indefinite:
"One thinks that anyone has the experience: 'When I talk in front of a lot of people, because I'm getting nervous, I can't speak skillfully'."

Second, it just seems weird to me that という　is used here.
The way its being used here, I'd rather expect constructions like this:
昔ここは海だったという話を知っていますか。
But the fact that it is coupled with this quote confuses me, especially since it is in tandem with "experience".
If we are talking about the experience of thinking this in front of a crowd, then I wonder why there is this temporal clause included.
You dont stand there thinking "Oh when I'm standing in front of a crowd...", you'd rather think "I can't do this!" or "I can't do this in front of a crowd" or in this case "I can't speak in front of this crowd".

To me this sentence feels like it is talking about the experience of hypothesizing about standing in front of a crowd in an internal monologue, and that is what makes it really weird for me Oo
That's why I wanted to ask wether that's just another oddity about japanese communication habits or if I misinterpreted something.


texts: Comparison of 4 different ways to ask something

texts:
I'd like to understand the nuance differences between the following three ways to ask a question. Let's say I am with a friend and thinking of going of the beach. I can ask the following 4 ways.

  海へ行く？      [Standard way to make a suggestion]
  海へ行かない？  [Similar to the above but feels more aggressive]
  海へ行こう？    [Not sure if this is natural with a question mark. Removing the question mark turns this mostly into a statement which is somewhat forceful, though it would depend on tone of voice]
  海へ行きたい？  [This feels a bit too direct and not sure if it would be actually used in Japanese, or maybe only among close friends]

Above each I've written my comments about each of these, but they are just my intuitive guesses.

If someone can tell me if I am on the right track and provide any more details on the differences between these, I'd appreciate it.


texts: What is the difference between 搾る and 絞る?

texts: According to JMDict both 搾る and 絞る mean squeeze.  Is there a difference in their usage? I noticed that 搾る is used to describe the process of beer making, can 絞る be used alternatively in this case?


texts: How to translate this 点だった知識が線につながることを経験していただけたら幸いです

texts:
How should I interpret this?

点だった知識が線につながることを経験していただけたら幸いです

In my mind,  mostly it seems like, based on -tara:
If 《 condition 》, then you are fortunate.
Or: when 《 condition 》, I am fortunate.
On the other hand, I've also thought of it as, in a literal translation:
When you have come to experience the point of knowledge as connected by the line,  you are fortunate.
Google translate gives:
I hope you will experience that the knowledge that was a point leads to a line.
Is there a different reading to 幸いです?
Also should I view koto as こと( 点だった知識が線につながる) or こと(線につながる)? As in,  to what extent does koto nominalise the phrase?


texts: What's the substitute word for missing/unimportant part of sentence?

texts:
Sometimes there are situations when you'd like to describe someone saying something, but what exactly he says is less important than the rest of sentence and it can be easily ignored. Or in case when someone is saying some long and tedious speech and in your sentence you're just using "bla-bla-bla" instead. What's the word Japanese would use in such cases?

Other situation is when part of sentence is missing. In most cases during lessons or exercises. (Or when you heard something all but one word missing and describing it to someone.) Teacher then uses some substitute word like "something-something" instead, just to keep the pace when reading. What's the word Japanese would use in such cases?


texts:
I learned that shi is used to connect two or more sentences. But sometimes I hear it at the end of the sentence. What does it mean? Can you explain on these sentences?

  濃くなってきちゃったら、部分レーザー脱毛に通えばいいし。
  穴があいた後ろから好きな当て布してもいいし。
  「ねえ、マッギー」「わたしマギーだし…」
  簡単にYou're right.とかHe's right.で良いと思います。または、論争していて相手の言うことを認めるみたいなときはOK, you win!でいいし。
  あんな人のことは忘れたし！
  せっかく来たんだからゆっくりしてけし。


texts:
When conjugating an adjective to its causative form, the way to go about it is as follows. For example, 寂しい

寂しくしない (Won't let/make you lonely)

Question is, what happens if I use させない instead?

寂しくさせない

Doesn't this also mean "Won't let/make you lonely"?


texts: 町｛ちょう｝、町｛まち｝、街｛がい｝、街｛まち｝ - how to pick the correct pronunciation?

texts:
I've grown accustomed to enunciating both 町 and 街 as まち in my head but it turns out this may have been totally incorrect, as 三省堂｛さんせいど｝ lists two possible pronunciations for 町 and only one (がい) for 街 - even though IME returns まち as a 街 next to 町. It's clear-cut in constructs like 町並み｛まちなみ｝ or 街道｛かいどう｝ (consult a dictionary - problem solved), but what about meeting these Kanji by themselves?

This came to head as I tried speaking through this sentence:

  わたしたちの住んでいる街、冬木市｛ふゆきし｝は大きくわけて二つの町で構成｛こうせい｝される街だ。

There is no further context to see what the narrator meant by these things, except that she goes on to describe the two 町 that 冬木市｛ふゆきし｝ is divided into. Please help!

よろしくお願いします


texts:
The words [夫]{おっと}and [主人]{しゅ・じん} both mean "husband".

What's the difference between them?


texts: What is the difference between によると and によりますと?

texts:
What is the difference between Aによると、B。　and 　Aによりますと、B。?

In the texts I'm refering to both structures seem to mean 'According to A, it is B'. However, the first was used in simplified articles, whereas the second was used in the original articles. So, is it just the case that the second one is used in more formal situations than the first one or is there something else to it?


texts: What is the difference between 〜て and 〜の？

texts:
Sometimes when I see verbs in a sentence that uses it as a subject or noun rather than an event or verb which explains what happens in a sentence.  E.g.:

  私は食べるのが好きです。
  金曜日、日本へ行っては思う。

In the two examples,the verbs are expressed in different ways but both are treated as nouns. In the first example 「食べる」 is expressed as 「食べるのが」 but 「行く」 is expressed as 「行って」 in the second example.

What is the difference between these two sentences?


texts: Are there any common Japanese words which were borrowed from Ainu or other indigenous languages?

texts: I know plenty of Japanese words that came from English and a few from other European languages (obviously tons from Chinese), but what about words from Japan's indigenous languages such as Ainu? Also if there are any are they all written in kana like the newer borrowed words?


texts: What is the difference between ～気もする and ～気がする?

texts:
I encountered the following line in a visual novel.

Context: Somebody says that a person is very expressive (in countenance) by using the word 表情豊か. Then, somebody else says the following.

  豊かとはちょっと違う気もするけど

I am assuming that ～気もする is ～気がする with も substituted. I was unable to find a question (or answer) here covering any change in meaning when using も. I was also unable to find any explanation of 気もする (but I did find many for 気がする). However, according to this question's answer, it appears that using も, as opposed to が, expresses "multiple opinions." If this is the case, then how is the above line different than the following?

  豊かとはちょっと違う気がするけど
  (I feel that it is a little different from rich. [uncertain tone])

I am guessing that も makes the statement more emphatic.


texts: Zaseki - Is that a Japanese word for "seat"

texts: My Japanese book refers to it when talking about airplane seat.  But I cannot find any references to the word.  Is it the correct spelling?


texts: Use of はじめて and どれだっけ?

texts:
I don't really know where to ask for help; usually I get the meaning of a sentence on my own, but well, this sentence is giving me a hard time. It seems easy but I can't figure out the uses of はじめて= Hajimete and どれだっけ= doredakke

This is the sentence:

  はじめて
  食った具だ
  どれだっけ

  Hajimete kutta gu da doredakke

I know that Hajimete can be adverb and means "first time", and I know it is a intransitive verb as well.

However my translation is:

"What was the first time I ate such ingredients again?"

But I don't know if this translation is right because as I said I don't really get the use of hajimete and doredakke in this case.
Could anyone help with a proper translation and explanation please?


texts:
もしも僕に心があるならどうやってそれをみつければいいの

I understand the sentence translates along the lines of "If I had a heart, how would I find it?" And I know "いい" means "good/fine/etc" but I'm not sure how to fit that into the translation. Unless it's serving as another word I don't know.

Thanks for the help!


texts: What is the difference between それでは and それなら

texts:
My grammar book says they both mean ‘if that’s the case...’ but it doesn’t clarify the differences.

Thank you!


texts:
これには砂糖が含まれていますか

I don't see a reason for this to be passive. Isn't it just asking if a grammatical subject is performing an action? I don't see that anything is being done to the subject marked with が.
Shouldn't

これには砂糖が含んでいますか

work just fine?
If they're equally valid, what's the difference in meaning/nuance?
Edit: DeepL and Google give an identical translation for both: "Does this contain sugar?" My question is why would that require passive?


texts: Is there a standard for where to put spaces in kana-only Japanese?

texts:
I've noticed that when Japanese is written mostly or entirely in kana,
it's often written with spaces.  For example, a lot of old video games had spaces.  I've also seen this in children's books:

Is there a standard or official way of choosing where to insert these
spaces, or at least a common convention?  It seems to be done quite
differently than in romanized Japanese.  I'd like to be able to do this correctly, if there is such a thing as correctly in this context.


texts: In which terms, if any, is へつ used as an On-reading of the character 閉?

texts:
Just now in the chat room we came across a reading of the kanji 閉 that seems to be either rare or erroneous.

In the English Wiktionary's entry for 閉 there is the following "Readings section":

On: へい (hei), へつ (hetsu)
Kun: とじる (tojiru), しめる (shimeru), とざす (tozasu)

None of us in the chat room at the time could come up with anywhere the へつ is used?

Is it a correct reading? What is/was it used for?


texts: Why does "Rendaku" not apply in 少々 お待ちください?

texts:
I'm thrilled to finally read about Rendaku (連濁) in my learning journey of Japanese, and to realise that ときどき is a simple example of this phenomenon!!

However, "少々" in 少々 お待ちください still remains as "しょうしょう" instead of "しょうじょう" (with tenten on the second "少")

a) Is there any specific reason why Rendaku is not applied in this case?

b) I read that the exceptions to Rendaku are sometimes due to unpredictability and also due to sound-words.


texts:
I've found this question across my JLPT N4 practice

  1) 楽しかったですよ。参加（できなくて/できないので）、残念でしたね.

The answer is できなくて
What are the differences between ので and て in usage for reasonings?


texts: Question about interpreting an NHK news article, 子どもに話しかけたり

texts:
In an article, I was reading:

  子どもが学校へ行く途中や帰る途中に犯罪の被害に遭う事件が毎年なくなりません。警察庁によると、おととしは６４４の事件がありました。去年は新潟市で７歳の女の子が殺されました。

  警察庁によると、事件の前には、歩いている子どもの近くに怪しい人がずっといたり、子どもに話しかけたりしていることがあります

I'm a little bit confused about the meaning of なくなりません in the first sentence first paragraph, as well as the meaning of 子どもに話しかけたりしていることがあります in the second paragraph.

Does なくなりません imply that these crimes have not stopped every year?
Also does 子どもに話しかけたりしていることがあります simply mean that the suspicious people were making conversation / talking to children?

My translation:

  Crimes that children have fallen victim to have not stopped every year
  while children have been going to and from school. According to the police
  department, there were 644 incidents two years ago. This year in
  Niigata-shi, a seven year old girl was killed.

  According to the police department, Before these incidents, there were
  suspicious individuals hanging around and talking to kids.


texts: Questions about the phrase 「きっとおなががすいているだろう」?

texts:
I'm attempting to translate the story 「花咲かじいさん」.

I want to understand this sentence better:

きっとおなががすいているだろう

I believe it is:

きっと -> certainly
おなががすいて -> from お腹が空く, having an empty stomach
いるだろう -> (you) are probably

So, "Certainly, you probably have an empty stomach" or maybe "I'm sure you're likely very hungry".

How common is the か -> が in おなががすいて? That really threw me off.

Am I correctly translating きっと? It seems to be in contrast to いるだろう.


texts:
For full context, see this document.
https://www.docdroid.net/a1B7uAr/img.pdf.html

The sentence in question is on Page 2, first sentence from top:
いいえ。健康のために少しは外へ出かけてくれたらいいんですが。

The placement of すこし and the function of すこし as a topic (I guess) kind of makes my head spin xD
Maybe the は is a contrastive marker?

Here's how I would interprete the sentence, or at least the only way I can think of right now ^^
"No. It should be good for the health to give going outside a little."

EDIT: This sentence, page 1 sentence from the very bottom, also puts a few questionmarks over my head:
ご主人にもっと働いてほしいんですか。

It is again に that confuses me. I'd rather expect a は or が here to mark ご主人 as topic or at least grammatical subject.
However, I could make sense of it if I was sure that a passive voice is meant here. Like this:
"Is it wished from Mr. Clerk to work more?"


texts: I know のみましょう but I was wondering if the above was legal japanese as well.


texts: Why is そんなに the best answer in「（いくら・そんなに・どんなに）笑わなくてもいいじゃありませんか。」?

texts:
Consider the following question from 新完全マスター文法 (N3):

  （　）笑わなくてもいいじゃありませんか。

  a いくら

  b そんなに

  c どんなに

According to the theory associated with the exercise:

いくら should be followed by ～ても／～でも

そんなに should be followed by ～ない

どんなに should be followed by ～ても／～でも

However, when we look at the question above, the example sentence includes both ～ても and ~ない. According to the answer key, そんなに is the best answer... but why?


texts: I've been trying to google some Japanese pages for health retreats. I've tried a few different combinations, but all I seem to get are yoga class studios or beauty salons. What term best describes the kind of accommodation where you can stay and have healthy food in a beautiful and peaceful environment?


texts:
I've normally seen it being used in past tense, e.g.

  「我慢した―があった」

However, I'm not sure how to correctly interpret a sentence like:

  「生きている―がない」

I've come across this definition:

  期待できるだけの値うち。 (sense two in 大辞泉)

Assuming 期待できる is used to express a strong possibility or hopeful feeling and だけの + 値うち is used to gauge the worth of the attached rel. clause (I've only seen だけの being used to express sufficiency before, so I'm not sure if that's correct), does a sentence like 「生きている―がない」 mean 'there is no value in expecting/hoping to live'?

If I stumbled badly at some point (or numerous points, probably) in this chain of logic I'd be grateful if you could point out where it happened.


texts: Why should I use わけだ and not ものだ in this sentence?

texts:
今日一日だけで、人類は新たに二十五万人をこの地球という惑星に加えている。そしてそれは毎日繰り返されている。現状では、毎年ドイツの全人口と同じだけの人間が増えている _______ 。

1.わけだ
2.ものだ

The answer is 1.わけだ

But I think the last phrase is a statement of fact, which fits ものだ's usage.


texts: How can I distinguish the using of both on a sentence? Please, can you give me an example of sentence that use both? Do both have similar meaning?


texts:
I'm enrolled in Japanese at my university, and we recently had a review of personal pronouns. The professor encourage us to understand and practice casual speech, and as part of that, to try finding personal pronouns that we feel comfortable with in different situations.

I identify as male, and I want to use 僕 (boku) as my personal pronoun, but my professor said that it's totally inappropriate, and said I need to use 私 (watashi) or あたし (atashi). I was a bit offended by that, because I don't identify as female.

I don't like to call my professor out as wrong, but this seems totally wrong.

Is 僕 (boku) only appropriate for cisgendered men?

What are the ramifications of using 僕 (boku) when you are male, but not cisgendered?


texts:
I know that based on the title it might sound a bit odd, but thing is, there's a video game I like and it only has an English dub and Japanese subtitles.
There's a line (which is spoken by a guy), which at least for a part, I think the final な used in the sentence is an emphatic particle which I hear most in case of guys.
This is how the quote sounds like in English:

  Now, get out of my way or there will be some consequences!

A lot of lines were adapted and don't always have a close meaning, sometimes they differ a lot. Here is the subtitle for this line in Japanese:

  力ずくでここを通りたいくらいにはな。

He is saying this to someone that wants to interfere with his plan, does the Japanese subtitle retain a similar meaning like the English one? I think it's saying "I'll get through here (or get out of here) by force" (since they do engage in a fight. But the part about 通りたいくらいにはな baffles me a bit. I feels like colloqual speech, which I'm not very good at. Can someone tell what kind of nuance is there and how should that phrase sound like better?
 Thank you!


texts:
I've found this sentence on alc.co.jp

  食事でもどうですか

and I am puzzled as to meaning this でも conveys. How does it differ from

  食事はどうですか

which would be my first choice; however, according to google, is used less often ?

Thank you for your time.


texts: What is difference between 「振り替える」 and 「振り込む」?

texts: I have a confusion to understand the difference between [振]{ふ}り[替]{か}える and [振]{ふ}り[込]{こ}む. I would be glad if someone point the difference between them. Thank you in advance.


texts: ~くて on a verb? How do you indicate desire?

texts:
「右手【みぎて】で描【か】いた、今ここに避難所【ひなんじょ】はないんだ。息【いき】を吸【す】いこんだ。つまらない世界【せかい】壊【こわ】したくて。」
Translation: Drawn with my right hand, here, now, as for the shelter, there is none. I inhaled. The boring world wants to be destroyed/broken.

How does one indicate desire correctly if both "~kute" and "tai" indicate it? It would make sense if "~kute", like i've heard, is an ending to an i form adjective, but why is it on a verb like "kowasu"? I provided context as well as the phrase in question because it's such a context based language.

I'm sure I'm just confused somewhere, but I really want to clear this up.


texts:
当時を知る者があれを見て、本人とは思わないだろうからのう

The sentence is taken from a visual novel. I am wondering what the ending "のう" means in this context. I've tried searching it but the only thing people were asking was "のいう" and I am not sure if that is the same thing.


texts: How to write 'I'm emailing you in regard of [topic]'

texts:
I'd like to ask whether my writing is correct or not; I'm trying to write a formal email following up my previous email in regard of topic X. The way I write it is like this :

Xデモ依頼について,メールをお送りします.

I was wondering if this is the correct way to say it - it make sense in English but seems awkward in Japanese.

In general this is what I'm trying to write :

Xデモ依頼について,メールをお送りします. 突然のメール失礼いたします。

先日送らせていただいたメールですが,ご確認いただけましたでしょうか。

Xに関連するご質問がございましたらお気軽にお問い合わせください。

お返事をお待ちしております.

Any suggestions to improve my awkward email is very much appreciated, thankyou!


texts: What machine are they talking about here?

texts:
For full context:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10011281951000/k10011281951000.html

The sentence in question:
式の話を英語で聞くことができる機械も用意しました。

My attempt at translation:
"They also prepared a machine which can hear the ceremonys speech in english."

First, I am really skeptical of my translation "a machine which can hear...". I'd rather think that this is a machine with which YOU can hear the speech in english too, although this is indeed somehow included in the statement that "the machine" can hear the speech in english.

Second, What machine are they talking about? I think they offer interpreters broadcasting simultaneous interpreting on a channel or something the like. But why is this expressed through the term "machine"??? Or are they talking about a kind of machine I simply have no clue about???^^


texts: ちゃう, ちゃおう and ちゃおう的な

texts:
My ultimate goal is to translate the following sentence one by one:

  ユリアン**の優しさに乗っちゃおう的な

What I know is that ちゃう/じゃう is the informal form of しまう. As far as I know, I can express two things with しまう:

Do something completely and finish it: 例: 本を読んでしまいました。
Do something by accident: 例: 花瓶を割ってしまった。

Again I can conjugate ちゃう/じゃう as usual. So ちゃおう/じゃおう is like しょう. (Let's...)
So in my opinion I could translate 本を読んじゃおう with "Let's read this book completely.", but the 2nd case does not really work, isn't it?

My quesions:

Is the stuff above correct?
What does the 的な at the end of 乗っちゃおう do? How do you translate it? As far as I know I can use 的 to change a noun to an adjective (個人 -> 個人的), but thats it.
優しさ is the noun of 優しい. I have never seen 優しさ乗る bevor and my dictionary does not know it as well. What is this? Do similar things exist? For example 長さ乗る?
What is the translation of the sentence from above and how does it change, if I would say ユリアンの優しさに乗っちゃおう or ユリアンの優しさに乗っちゃう的な.

Thanks a lot!
I am sorry for this many questions in one question but I don't really know how I could split this up...

** my name


texts:
Below is the lyrics from the song "letter song"

好きな人と歩いた場所も
その時見た景色も
振り返らず
今を駆け抜け
私は何と出会うの
立ち止まるほど
意味を問うほど
きっとまだ大人ではなくて
今見てるもの　今出会う人
その中でただ前だけを見てる

I want to know what does ほど mean here? Does it mean "the more ... the more ..."?


texts: Does the particle に in に作られた mark the agent or the location here?

texts:
I'm confused about 「に作られた」 in the following sentence. Kindly explain this part to me.

  「Central Base」とは、旧「アクアポリス・中央エアポート」に作られた、「ASDF」の陸上（？）基地のことだ。

Some sort of translation:

Central base is, created by the old Aquapolice - Central airport, ASDF's land(?) base.
Central base is, created on the old Aquapolice - Central airport, ASDF's land(?) base. (However in this case I think that で would be more suitable)

The "（？）" is part of the original text.


texts:
In the answer to the thread What's the difference between 腹切{はらき}り and 切腹{せっぷく}? in the 1st paragraph, 2nd line, the author mentions "Sino-Japanese pronunciation and word order".

I assume that "Sino-Japanese pronunciation" is 音読{おんよ}み。

So, what is "Sino-Japanese word order"?


texts: Use of に in 「私には本物の若殿様がわかります」

texts:
English
What function is に serving in this sentence (the speaker has been asked to pick out the real lord from a group of people):

私には本物の若殿様がわかります
I know who the real young lord is

It seems to me that the sentence would make perfect sense without に.
Japanese
この文の「に」の役割はなんですか？（話し手は少数の人から本物の若殿を選び出すように言われました）

私には本物の若殿様がわかります
I know who the real young lord is

私には、「に」がなくても意味は変わらないように思えますが、どうなんでしょうか？


texts: At work, when is it not ok to finish an email with どうぞよろしくお願いします?

texts:
Whenever I communicate with my Japanese coworkers, I always finish my emails with どうぞよろしくお願いします。I guess in the context of an email in English it could be akin to saying "Cheers" "Regards", so I unless I write どうぞよろしくお願いします, I will be worrying that I was being too informal to that person.

When writing an email in Japanese, is there an scenario when finishing with どうぞよろしくお願いします would be considered as being out of place or context?


texts: Can 〜てもいい indicate you are giving yourself permission?

texts:
I saw this picture online and it was of someone giving their business card to a girl (presumably to become an idol). The girl says in the picture:

  う〜んどうしよかなぁ
  今キスしてくれたらアイドルになってもいいよ

Attempt at translation:

  Hmm, I wonder what I should do? If you kiss me right now, it's okay for me to become an idol.

When I was first learning it seemed that when it was 「〜てもいい(です)か？」it was asking for permission for yourself and when it was just 「〜てもいい」it was for giving permission to someone else. It seems like the girl in the statement above is giving permission to herself or is my interpretation of the sentence wrong?


texts:
……隠し事が苦手そうでおられますから。

I'm a bit confused about the end of this sentence. I would have thought that 隠し事が下手そうですから would be the only way of closing this particular sentence. I usually understand おる as a polite subtitute of いる but in this case I'm not sure how to interpret it. How does that work ?


texts: Meaning of って in レニーって男が来て脅されたんだよ

texts:
Does the って in the レニーって男が来て脅されたんだよ refer to Lenny being the party who threatens the man?

Lenny is a thug

I think the sentence reads Lenny threatened a man who came.


texts:
Did I hear it wrong? And should it be 彼女は亡くなり に なりました?

I am watching Japanese movies to improve my listening. In a movie a character said:

  彼女は亡くなりなりました

Mentioned that I know the rule:

  Na-adjective/noun: ~ に なります
  I-adjective/nai: ~く なります

My listening is not good yet.


texts:
In a manga I am reading, I came across the following sentence. 注目集めてるな。早くミクを探そう。

The speaker just crashed on his skis and a crowd of people started to gather around, thus garnering a lot of attention to what just happened. The speaker is somewhat stealthy leaving the scene and saying that it seems he should look for ミク.

My question is that I believe this to be a case of そう where it should be connected to the verb steam in order to mean seems or like. Is that not how this is working here? If this is the case I suspect it to be, why did the し get dropped off of 探しそう?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks


texts:
Me and my friend were talking about death and the universe and ect. But I tried to write:

  瀬間は死でした。

He then corrected me by writing

  瀬間は死んでいます。

I don't understand the ～んでいます at the end of the sentence. Also what's wrong with what I originally said? My friend can't really give me a good answer to why I should write the second one.


texts: アップは? バッチリです。How to understand this exchange?

texts:
アップは? バッチリです。

The above sentence is taken straight from Haikyuu!! S01E07.
The subs translate to:

アップは? > Did you get warmed up?
バッチリです。> Perfectly.

The context is a coach asks his player if he's warmed up so he can swap him into the ongoing match, to which the player responds that he did.
I am having trouble understanding アップは? Can someone break it down?


texts:
Amongst native speakers of English, "sayonara" is one of the best known Japanese words, at least for words that don't fill a semantic gap ("sushi" is derived from a Japanese word but fills a semantic gap). It's sometimes used in English when saying goodbye, usually in a casual context.

And yet, I haven't really noticed the Japanese word さようなら being used in real life, with a couple of exceptions.

One is when Japanese people are talking with English-speakers. One case I can recall is a Japanese teacher using it at the end of most of her lessons.

The other instance seems to be when Japanese has re-imported the word from English, and written it in katakana. For example サヨナラゲーム, or the English "Sayonara sucker" in "Wreck-it Ralph" being subtitled in Japanese with "サヨナラ[something]" (if I recall correctly).

One possibility is that in Japanese, the word さようなら is only used in formal contexts, which I haven't encountered.

Is さようなら still used in real life? If so, when is it used?


texts: 五女二男 read as "ごじょになん”？

texts:
In がばいばあちゃん, the phrase 五女二男 crops up. Given the compact nature of the expression, I'm assuming 男 and 女 are read with their alternate readings なん and じょ respectively while the numbers remain unchanged. However, this is the first time I've encountered a phrase of this kind, hence my question. The full sentence is as follows.

  昭和十七年（一九四二年）、戦中に夫を亡くし、以来、厳しい戦後を佐賀大学とその附属小中学校の掃除婦をして、五女二男、合計七人の子供を育てて生き抜いてきた。

I translated this as:

  In the 17th year of Showa (1942) she lost her husband in the war, and afterwards during the harsh postwar period worked as a cleaning lady in the combined primary and middle school attached to Saga university, and having five girls and two boys, with a combined total of seven, she successfully brought up her children.

よろしくお願いします.


texts:
What is the difference between:

書店 and 本屋

Are there any specific places where you can use one over the other? Or is it simply like the English Bookstore/Bookshop, and are perfectly interchangeable?


texts: A verb or noun for a 始発電車 arriving for passengers

texts:
Is there a name for a situation when a train departing from a source station (始発電車) arrives empty and waits for passengers?

For example, is there a way to ask if the train is already waiting on a platform, or when it will be ready for passengers? Like:

  豊岡行はもう◯◯していますか
  新宮行は発車の何分前◯◯しますか

I guess 到着 does not apply in this case, as the train does not formally arrive at the departing station. 準備していますか sounds too general on the other hand.


texts:
Here is the sentence said by Kansai speaker who was capturing 2 boys who were chasing another guy.

まちいな　あんさんたち。

I think the word would mean 待つ with particle な emphasizing the emotion but I would like to know what the exact Japanese standard dialect form of the word really is.


texts:
それに意味を持たせるかはアナタ次第ということです

I can understand "アナタ次第ということです" as "is up to you."

I'm not sure what the first half means.

nihongomaster.com/dictionary/entry/63184/motaseru

so "to hold meaning"? Is it "Whatever meaning you find"?


texts: Meaning of とか and こう in context なんかお店とかに、こう歩ってて

texts:
なんかお店とかに、こう歩ってて、なんかっす、こう、スベッ、スベッて転んだことが。痛い！

What is the meaning of こう how it’s used in this context? And what is the purpose of とか？I know なんか is similar to “like” and っす is short for です so it seems like this is a pretty informal sentence.


texts: Choice of シティ and 市 in translating "Mega city police"

texts:
I'm trying to get a stylized translation without too complex kanji for "Mega city police".

The kanji for police for example is too complicated for what I need so I was trying to get the Katakana translation but I did this online and I'm not sure how right or wrong it is.

メガシティポリス (this is the one I would like to use)
メガ 市 ポリス (Unless a version with a kanji in between will make it better)

Which option is better and why?
Can you help me decide or tell me a better way?
Thanks in advance :)

Edit: Not sure why I got downvoted :( a comment telling me what I'm doing wrong will be helpful. Didn't I came to the right place to ask this maybe?


texts:
どうした、反撃はしないのか？

  そう言うならさせてくれ！

  冗談を言うな。お前は隙を見せると的確に狙ってくるからな

  さすがにずっと相手をしてるだけあってよく分かってるなあ。隙は見せてくれそうにないか。しかたない

As we all know many a time in the Japanese language things are left out because they are left for the listener/reader to fill in the blanks and guess what's being said without being directly told, or because it's "obvious".

Occasionally you would sometimes see the part that would come after から in a small sentence before a sentence that ends in it. But, in this case that isn't what is going on. Is the rest of it just not being said because it's "obvious" e.g.  お前は隙を見せると的確に狙ってくるから隙を見せないように努力している


texts: In the same way that "Nihon" (日本) means "origin of the sun" how would you say "origin of the moon" in the same way?


texts: I recently bought some apples and the term was written in hiragana.


texts:
I have a question about the following sentence:

  お母さんが、八百屋で長いこと、何を買うか決まらず迷っています。

Is it possible to replace "か" with "のか" without misunderstanding in this sentence? Namely,

  お母さんが、八百屋で長いこと、何を買うのか決まらず迷っています。


texts: Are という and って the same? and what does it mean?

texts: Can someone explain to me what does という and って mean?


texts: How to appropriately display the day of the month by itself? Is 日 required, optional, or undesirable?

texts:
I know that an acceptable way to display (this is in a computer program) a full year/month/day date is like so:

  2013年5月19日

What If I wanted to display the day only? Does the following look right, OK, or weird to native Japanese user? Is the 日 character required, optional, or undesirable in this case?

  19日

In other words, would it look better if it was just the number?

  19


texts: How does atsui (あつい) sound like English 'hot'?

texts:
McWhorter, J. PhD  Linguistics (Stanford). The Power of Babel (2003). p. 293 Bottom.

    For example, the words in Thai for fire, die, and rim are faj, taaj,
  and rim, just by accident! Long lists have been composed of correspondences like this between hopelessly disparate languages; it can
  be almost funny. According to the Proto-World advocates’ modus
  operandi-allowance for stark differences in word shape and a permissive position on what constitutes related meaning— English and
  Japanese could be shown to have a historical relationship according to these words I have always noticed:

Please see the red arrow for あつい. I can't  replicate tables quickly with Markdown.


texts: I am confused the difference between バス[停]{てい} and バスターミナル. I would be glad if someone point the difference between them. Thank you in advance.


texts: How would the meaning of this sentence change if ものだから becomes から (or ことから)

texts:
I saw this Anki card today:

家が狭いものだから、大きい家具は置けません。

For a long time, the mediocre learner in me has brushed off this sentence as just an equivalent of

家が狭いから、大きい家具は置けません。

But I have been thinking of including it in my active grammar inventory, and I don't know how it is different. I also saw this regarding ことから so I'd like to know how ことから also affects the feel of the sentence.

家が狭いことから、大きい家具は置けません。


texts: Recently, I found a nickname, 青水庵 on the internet. How do you read this?


texts:
Question: How is the 艶肌 in 艶肌メイク ("glossy skin make-up") pronounced?
Context: An Instagram influencer used 艶肌メイク in one of their posts.
Background: I struggle with newly coined Japanese terms on social media - whether or not they are accepted by the larger Japanese population - because I haven't heard them pronounced and they are not typically accompanied by furigana. The 艶肌 in 艶肌メイク is one such case.
My two attempts at an answer: 艶肌 is read as either 「えんき」 (音読み) or 「あではだ・つやはだ」 (訓読み).
How I landed at my answer: A 漢語 word often (but not always) dictates an 音読み pronunciation, does it not? If so, then Japanese words that are not native 大和言葉 might possibly follow such a rule. In the case of my question, the presence of メイク, a non-native word, might force the reading of 艶肌 to be 音読み rather than 訓読み. The other possibility is that Japanese youth (like the Instagram influencer mentioned above) might use 訓読み more often for words that they themselves coin, hence my second possible answer.
Thoughts: I once asked a native if there was a way to guess the reading of an unfamiliar word. She replied something to the effect of 「やっぱり慣れしかない」. I suspect this is the case with my question.
Final note: This is my first post. I'll apply any criticism related to question formatting/phrasing or doing ample research beforehand to my future questions. よろしくお願いいたします。


texts: Does 大さじ always mean 1 Tablespoon, even for tea?

texts:
Jim Breen's edict translates 大さじ simply as (American) tablespoon, but I'm reading directions on a green tea package that says 一人大さじ一杯 and it seems like a lot of tea for a single 湯のみ.  I know there are special utensils used to measure tea for the tea ceremony, but this is normal green tea and not matcha.  Might 大さじ have a different meaning in the context of tea?  Teaspoon sounds more reasonable.

For example, weblio.jp gives the following definition for 大さじ:

  容量15ミリリットルの計量スプーン。または、ティースプーンのような比較的大きな匙。大匙。

which I translate as:

  A 15 mL measuring spoon.  Or, a fairly large spoon (匙) such as a teaspoon.

Now that second definition is nerve-wracking.  Does common sense dictate that when measuring tea, you reach for a teaspoon as your 大さじ?


texts:
There are many many controversial topics in Japanese linguistics. And I believe that the "Because" is also one of them. Recently, I've been struggling between から and ので so hard...But I think I've got them a little bit from the former topics. And boom, today at class, my teacher gave me another not-really-new "Because"- 理由のて型 - "Because" of te-form.

Can anyone give me some ideas how can I use it when we've got a lot of troubles with から and ので? And I've also heard that ために also has the meaning of "Because" too... But I haven't learnt ために yet...So please, just focus on the "Because" of te-form. Thanks in advance!


texts: Is その always or only occasionally a demonstrative adjective?

texts:
The following Japanese sentence was translated with その as "the":

  その 仕事の一部を誰かにやってもらったほうがいい。
  You should get someone else to do some of the work for you.

while I translated it with その as "that":

  You'd better get someone to do part of that job for you.

When その is translated as "the," will it be ignoring some part of it's meaning?

Furthermore, if その is deleted as:

  仕事の一部を誰かにやってもらったほうがいい。

would it be ungrammatical? By intending 仕事 to mean "job/work in general" as opposed to specifically "that job/work," would the meaning become too vague to be adequately comprehensible?


texts:
あなたの私生活についてとやかく言うつもりはありません。

I don't give a damn about your personal life.

I have also seen についてとやかく言う translated as "quibble over".
Could another translation of this sentence be:

  あなたの私生活についてとやかく言うつもりはありません。

I really don't want to bicker about your private life.

Is についてとやかく言う normally understood as metaphorical rather than literally "bicker" or "quibble over"? There was no other context for this quote, so I am also wondering if とやかく is that harsh of an interjection.


texts: Is there a specific term that refers to female sword fighting?

texts:
The "Lonely Planet Tokyo" iPhone app describes female sword fighting as a bygone form of male entertainment:

  Surprisingly, striptease almost failed to catch on due to the popularity of a rival form of risqué entertainment, namely female sword fighting (to modern ears, the idea of scantily clad jousting females might sound a bit strange, but at the time it was the height of erotic entertainment).

Is there a Japanese term that refers to this phenomenon, as opposed to legitimate fighters who just happen to be female?

I tried googling and had no luck, but I heard from "worst jobs in history" that it was a form of entertainment in the United Kingdom.


texts: Humble language for other people as an insult

texts: In fiction, I've occasionally seen humble language used for other people - it seems to be an insult, and is most common as a command (申せ！). Is my perception correct, and is the insult sense restricted to verbs that don't follow the お（連用形）する・いたす form? (I assume, of course, that this is more common in the past and fiction than present real Japanese.)


texts: What is the difference between ～すぎ and ～すぎる?

texts:
When I was playing a video game a few months ago, I noticed that some of the characters (mostly young teen females, in case it matters) kept saying ～すぎ instead of ～すぎる.

For example, when one of the characters was being kind of rude, another character said to them:

  言いすぎ！ (You're saying too much!)

I think I heard the exact same line from a young adult male in an anime too.

Why was すぎ used instead of just すぎる? When would it be better to use one or the other?


texts: Saying "Only I [do X]", "Only I [like X]", and "I am the only [Y] who [does/likes X]"

texts:
I've been digging through my reference books and Google searches, but I'm not getting anywhere with this.

For "Only I [do X]", can the subject of the sentence simply be 私だけは?

  私だけは電車で魚を食べます。
  "Only I eat fish on the train."

And could that be done with an adjective like 好き or ほしい?

  私だけは天ぷらピザが好きです。
  "Only I like tempura pizza."

For my final act, I'm going way out on a limb here, but how would I say "I am the only [Y] that [likes X]?" This is the mess that I came up with:

  「ドルアーガの塔」のことが好きなアメリカ人は私だけです。
  I am the only American who likes The Tower Of Druaga. (Or more literally, "As for Americans that like The Tower Of Druaga, it's only me.")

How wrong is all of that? Because I'm pretty certain it's not correct.


texts: Is 〜た / だ (where 〜 a verb) a grammar pattern?

texts:
I am a newbie to this language. When I was trying a paper, I have found this sentence.

  わたしの あげた ほん を よむ まえに こばやしさん は ユリンさんに かりた ほん を よんだ。

If I take your attention to bold faced words, those are verbs in dictionary form, which ends up with either た or だ.

The questions I have is whether this is a grammar pattern. If so, can anyone please explain it briefly?

Would the following be accurate for a translation:

  Mr. Kobayashi read the book (that he borrowed from) Mr. Yurin, before he read the book I gave.


texts: Can you transform "[wanter]-wa [wanted thing]-ga hoshii" to "[wanter]-ni [wanted thing]-ga hoshii"? Or anything else?

texts:
So a normal way to say "Bob wants a burger" might be:

bobu-wa     hanbaaga-ga         hoshii
bob-TOPIC   burger-NOMINATIVE   is_wanted
as for Bob, a burger is wanted

[I'm only vaguely familiar with the standard conventions for grammatical glossing; feel free to edit that if you want.]

But wa is really just the topic marker.
Technically, it doesn't actually explicitly establish the grammatical role of bobu within the... hm, "predicate structure" of hoshii.

Is it possible to actually explicitly connect bobu to hoshii like that?
(Neverminding the question of a context where it would sound natural.)

Maybe something like this?:

bobu-ni     hanbaaga-ga         hoshii
bob-DATIVE  burger-NOMINATIVE   is_wanted
a burger is wanted by Bob

(Or maybe with a different order like:

hanbaaga-ga         bobu-ni     hoshii
burger-NOMINATIVE   bob-DATIVE  is_wanted

if that sounds better. Not the main point.)

Or maybe another way of asking this question:

If someone told you:

hanbaaga-ga         hoshii
burger-NOMINATIVE   is_wanted
a burger is wanted (by him)

They're assuming you understand from context who the implicit "wanter" is.
But if it's actually not clear, and you have to ask:

"*Who* wants a burger?"

then how do you do that?

(In a complete sentence!
Of course pragmatically you would prolly just use a fragment like "dare?" or something,
but there must be an implied complete sentence,
right?)

I assume this would be wrong:

dare-wa     hanbaaga-ga         hoshii      ka?
who-topic   burger-NOMINATIVE   is_wanted   QUESTION
as for who, a burger is wanted?

So how about this?:

dare-ni     hanbaaga-ga         hoshii      ka?
dare-DATIVE burger-NOMINATIVE   is_wanted   QUESTION
by who is a burger wanted?

(Or, again, flip the order:

hanbaaga-ga         dare-ni     hoshii      ka?
burger-NOMINATIVE   dare-DATIVE is_wanted   QUESTION
a burger is wanted by who?

if that sounds better.)


texts: word search: voluntary pause between desire and action

texts:
Some years ago, I read that Japanese has a word (or idiomatic expression) that means roughly:

The action of voluntary interposing a pause between the
moment you desire something and the moment you start
to do something to acquire it.

I was never able to find it again. Does it really exist? If yes, what is it? Is it some jargon word (e.g. religion, philosophy)?

As @Sawa suggested, I'll try to better define my request. Imagine this sequence:

I see a beautiful thing in a shop window.
I desire it.
I decide to sit down and wait.
After  some minute, I get up and, in case, I go inside the shop to buy the thing.

I am searching for a word that describe the 3rd step of this sequence.


texts: What are the bars placed outside of windows called?

texts: Apartments and buildings have bars placed on them outside of the windows and I wanted to know what they are called. Thank you.


texts: How egregious a mistake is it to use the wrong reading for a number when counting?

texts:
I've learned that the readings for numbers in the context of counting have many irregularities to them (like 二十日 for example).

I'm wondering how noticeable it would be to get them wrong. For instance, if someone learning English were to say "He run outside!" that would be a mid-level mistake-- the sentence still makes perfect sense. If someone were to say "How me go up?" that'd be pretty broken. We can make sense of it but it's a heavily misworded sentence; they sound like they only know a few words of the language. And then something like "Me and Jon love chocolate" is an almost irrelevant grammatical mistake that many native speakers make constantly without anyone noticing.

So, I'm curious, with a sort of scale like that, to a native speaker's ears, how bad is it to get the pronunciations wrong of the many irregularities explained on this page?

E.g. ふつにち instead of ふつか, or にじゅうか instead of はつか....there are so many possible examples of ways to mistake pronunciations of dates, times, and counting.


texts: Why do road signs have 止まれ, not 止まる, 止める or 止めて?

texts:
From what I know ending verb in え makes it sound rough and very casual. I checked in tangorin.com online dictionary - it's said there it is actually a noun. To me, though, it looks like a rough intransitive version of 止まる.
Why 止まれ?


texts: What does 波 mean at the end of a sentence?

texts: Here are some examples where I saw 波 at the end of a sentence :


texts: What で is the で in the expression 「朝寝坊した、それで仕事に遅れたんだ」?

texts:
There are a few expressions in Japanese where particle で is used but I don't really know which で that one is. それで (translated as and then; after that; due to that) is one of those cases. I basically understand there are two particle で; one used to indicate means of doing something, the use of a tool, and the other で used to indicate a state, condition or form as in である. Probably, most other uses stem from these two categories, so which of these two で is the one used in それで?

  朝寝坊した、それで仕事に遅れたんだ。

それで would be like saying "being that (the reason)"....? If so, in my mind this で is the one used in である.


texts: Difference between Japanese words for illusion with 幻

texts:
I was reading about the kanji 幻, which I take to mean illusion or vision(not 見 vision), and looked at words with it. I saw the words:

[幻滅]{げんめつ｝-disilusion
幻想｛げんそう｝-illusion
幻覚｛げんかく｝-hallucination
幻影｛げんえい｝-phantom
幻｛まぼろし｝-illusion
夢幻｛むげん｝-fantasy/phantom

Is that the correct translation of the words? Are some more common than others? What are the different connotations of each word for an illusion? A lot of them, like 幻影 and 幻 look similar, but the first seems to be more of the ghost kind, but I'm not too sure. What's the difference between 錯覚 and 幻覚?


texts:
もう一度やり直した

In this sentence, what is the minimum number of times やる was done, two or three times? At first, I thought it was three times because もう一度 means to do something again, and if you were to do the action of repeating again, that would imply you have done the action at least twice because the act of repeating requires you to have done it at least once. So it would go:

やる
やり直す
もう一度やり直す

and もう一度やり直す would require doing something three times. However, I have seen a lot of sentences where もう一度やり直す or something similar to that mean to do something a second time, not a third or higher amount of times. For example,

我々は一度その家にペンキを塗って、またそれを繰り返した。
私は電話を切って、もう一度彼女にかけなおした。

How does this work? If もう一度やり直す means to do やり直す again, that would imply you did the action of やり直す in the past before, which further implies that you did the action of やる even farther in the past, which would mean もう一度やり直した would require doing an action a minimum of three times. However, many sentences imply もう一度やり直す as only doing やる a second time, and I am confused on why this is the case.


texts:
Which is more normal in Japanese, "OK", or "オーケー", assuming either of them is in common usage?

I tried using the corpus on jisho.org, but the results were messed up by "OK" appearing in the English version. Tatoeba didn't get many matches for "オーケー", and many of them seemed to be false hits, and also got few hits for "OK" — is neither form commonly used in Japanese?


texts: Can you help me understand this sentence please?

texts:
I just came across a sentence about the National Flag of Japan. I don't think I fully understood it. So here it is:

  話題の旭日旗です。長野県1滋野村2(現3ｰ東御市4、小諸市5)にあった軍6の後援7組織8「滋野軍友会」の旗9。戦前、軍関連の場合は旭日旗を使うのが常識だったのでしょう。そして旭日の光房は16あります。皇室の菊の紋章の16弁に合わせてあるのです。天皇直属の軍隊の象徴であったことを、明確に伝えています。

What I understand is this:

  The topic is The Rising Sun Flag. The rising sun flag used by army support organization in the Nagano Prefecture's Shigeno Village (now Toumi and Komoro city).
  Before the battle and in case of the battle(軍関連の場合?), this flag was used commonly. There are 16 shining lines around the rising sun flag and the armada of Imperial Household is a gold chrysanthemum consisted of 16 petals. This chrysanthemum is in correlation with the 16 shining lines in the flag. Because this symbol symbolizes that the Emperor has a direct control over the army.

Did I understand it well?

  旭日旗を使うのが常識だったの ''でしょう''

And does this phrase grammatically state a probability because of ''deshou''?

Like, Probably the flag was used commonly...


texts:
In the lyrics of a song by Utada Hikaru I came across two lines (starting from 0:40) saying:

開いたばかりの花が散るのを
見ていた木立の遣る瀬無きかな

My questions:

How to explain the 「の」 in the second line?
I guess the 「かな」at the end is sort of an exclamation, then how can the 「遣る瀬無き」right before it be not modifying any noun phrase as in 「遣る瀬無き恋」?　Why was「遣る瀬無し」or「遣る瀬無さ」not opted for here?


texts: /h/ sound changing in some Japanese counters

texts:
I just noticed that the quantifying words that have an initial sound as /h/ such as 本、匹、分

For example: 本 hon
/h/ becomes /p/ : 1,6,8,10
/h/ becomes /b/ : 3,?? and ん sound before /b/ becomes /m/ (is it assimilation?)

1 [一本]{いっぽん}  ippon
2 [二本]{にほん}  nihon
3 [三本]{さんぼん} sanbon
4 [四本]{よんほん} yonhon
5 [五本]{ごほん} gohon
6 [六本]{ろっぽん} roppon
7 [七本]{ななほん} nanahon
8 [八本]{はっぽん} happon
9 [九本]{きゅうほん} kyuuhon
10 [十本]{じゅっぽん} juppon
？？ [何本]{なんぼん} nanbon

some words have sound  changing but other words, that have similar characteristics, do not.

For instance
"さんぼん" ; /h/---->/ b/
But
"よんほん"
sound does not change

I would like to know that
1. "Is there phonological explanation that can explain about changing of these sound?"
2. "why doesn't it occur in every words which have similar characteristics?"

Thank you for taking your time to answer my question!


texts: Why use kana rather than kanji (and vice versa)

texts:
I hope this question actually has an answer and is topical to this site. I was wondering if anyone could explain why (in general) an author might choose to use kana/kanji in circumstances where kanji/kana are more commonly used. Can it convey some additional meaning maybe?

If this question is too general (as I suspect it might be), I'd like to specifically ask about the title of the game ひぐらしのなく頃に. It seems strange to me that the author would use kanji for 頃, which I commonly see written in kana, while at the same time leaving なく, which I usually see written in kanji (泣く), in hiragana.


texts: Purpose and meaning of やること in correction

texts:
I'm trying to understand a correction in a sentence. I wrote:
ことをやるクエストがありすぎます。

There are too many quests to do.

But it has been corrected to
1. やるクエストがありすぎます。

2. やることクエストがありすぎます。

3. やることがありすぎます。

I can understand correction #1 as the こと appears to be redundant. But I don't really understand correction #2 or #3. Why is やること used? I read the やること as A thing which is done, but I don't really expect the こと at all because クエスト is the specific noun being used. But then also in correction #3 クエスト is completely removed.
So what does やること mean? What's the difference between the corrections?


texts:
Two native speakers were chatting about what kinds of 風邪 can be cured by 抗生物質 (antibiotics). I linked to an English-language study showing that common cold can not be cured by 抗生物質. To which their answer was that 風邪 is different from common cold:

  日本語の風邪という言葉はだいぶ意味がひろいような気がする。
  風邪は病気の名前じゃなくて症状の総称みたいな感じだね。高熱、咳、鼻水、みたいな症状は全部風邪って言われる。

So, does 風邪 differ in scope from the disease known as common cold, and if yes, how?


texts: I can't understand the use of と in 新しい政策はあまり良いとは思えません。

texts:
I'm a beginner with Japanese, also I'm not a native english speaker, and I'm struggling with things like this since long ago: I learned basic use of particles and currently I can understand several sentences when I know the vocabulary they use, but I can't understand the meaning if use と or even に before は in some sentences like the one I use here：

新しい政策はあまり良いとは思えません。


texts: Meaning of たァ after verb in dictionary form

texts:
「入浴剤まで置いてあるたァ、なんだか今日はかあさんの奴、気が利くじゃねぇか。」
  Even bath salts have been put out. Somehow, today, mother's (things?) are thoughtful aren't they?

I'm reasonably happy with てある: something has been done by somebody and the state remains. But what is た doing on the end here?

Also stuck on how to translate 奴. I fear I've got this translation quite wrong.


texts: What is the rule to write furigana (ruby)?

texts:
I am confused in determining the correct way to write furigana.

Is a furigana only allowed to be attached to a single kanji character? In other words, can a furigana attached to more than one kanji character? If a furigana can only be attached to a single kanji, how to write furiganas for, e.g., 今日?
Where should the　っ which is the small つ be positioned in furiganas for words, e.g., 一緒? Which one is the correct one?  一{い}  緒{っしょ}　or  一{いっ} 緒{しょ}?
Is it correct to write　居{い}所{どころ}　instead of 居{い}所{ところ}?


texts: What are some sentences that exhibit わがまま

texts:
わがままはもう言わない gets translated as "won't say anything selfish anymore." However, this doesn't really make sense. If I google "say anything selfish," what I find are sites that have translated わがままはもう言わない into English. It's not a phrase that is normally used in English and the phrase itself doesn't even seem to really make sense. I don't think that English speakers really understand what わがまま is since they always translate it directly into something that is grammatically correct but doesn't really make sense.

So what does わがままはもう言わない actually mean?

Can someone give some example sentences that exhibit わがまま?


texts: What is the sense of 気配がする (けはいがする) versus 気がする?

texts:
I'm (trying) to read a Japanese spy novel at the moment.  It could just be the author's style, but I see lots of sentences end in 〜気配がする。
The more I read, the more I wonder - is there any difference between this and 気がする?

一人で公園のベンチで本を読んだら、隣にだれか座ってきた気配がする。
一人で公園のベンチで本を読んだら、隣にだれか座ってきた気がする。

The above example is mine, but it was the context of the book (I am too lazy to go find the page now).
A cursory look in the dictionary tells me that 気配 is more like "sense" whereas the latter may be more like "feeling" - anyone care to help?


texts: How does the derogatory term "小便芸者" work?

texts:
In Liza Dalby's book "Geisha", while talking about onsen geisha, she mentions various pejorative terms from the general public. She mentions "korobi" (roll-over, presumably 転び) geisha, and "Daruma" (a doll that tumbles down, presumably だるま) geisha, both of which I understand the imagery of.

But how does the term "shomben geisha" (小便芸者, I assume) work? Dalby translates it as "toilet geisha", and jisho.org describes 小便 as a colloquial word for urine. I understand that it's a derogatory term, with the same ultimate meaning as the other two terms, but not the imagery involved. Is it because of the male anatomy used with 小便?

(By the way, Dalby also notes that skilled artists exist in the onsen towns, sentiments that I'd echo)


texts: What's the differences between おかず and 食べ物

texts: I'm confused about how to use two words おかず and 食べ物, which all defined "food" as I search. What's the differences about them? Really thank you if you give me some examples.


texts: Japanese terms for an attribute and adverbial (part of a sentence)

texts:
What are the correct terms for:

attribute (a part of sentence) as a word or phrase that is syntactically subordinate to another and serves to limit, identify, particularize, describe, or supplement the meaning of the form with which it is in construction?

adverbial (or adverbial modifier) - a word or phrase functioning as an adverb.

For an attribute I could only find 属性{ぞくせい} and 限定{げんてい} and for adverbial 副詞句{ふくしく} and 副詞節{ふくしせつ}. Are these terms commonly used in the linguistic community?

Also, what is a term for "part of sentence"? I know part of speech is 品詞{ひんし}, but cannot find how to say "part of sentence". Is 文の部分 an appropriate term?


texts: I've noticed the particle よ appearing in songs occasionally with a meaning that is unfamiliar to me, e.g. in the lyrics of Shima Uta "島唄よ風に乗り届けておくれ私の涙". What does this mean?


texts:
I've just found out that there's a couple of words for milk, and that they have slightly different meanings. Which one would I have with my Weetbix in a "viking style" breakfast in Niseko?

Based on the following links: JREF and Japan forum page 1 and Japan forum page 2 it seems that:

牛乳 refers to cow's milk in particular, and the kanji for cow and milk appear in it.
ミルク is the gairaigo term. It's used for baby's formula, coffee, tea, desserts, powdered milk, or to mean "milk flavored".
According to Berlitz Earworms (not any of the links mentioned), the Japanese for milk tea is ... "milk tea". Presumably the concept is so foreign they don't even add vowels to it or use cha!
お乳 is baby-talk for breast milk, and is also used for breasts. (I'm not sure if it means the breasts of a nursing human mother, or can mean the breasts of any woman, or whether it used to be innocent baby-talk for a nursing mother's breasts and is now used in a vulgar sexual way for any woman's breasts)
おっぱい is another childish way of referring to breasts and breast milk - perhaps without it being used in a slangy sexual way?
[母乳]{ぼにゅう} means mother's milk, non-babyish and non-slang.

Would I be correct in concluding that apart from breast milk or unprocessed milk, 牛乳 is used for traditional forms of milk, and ミルク is used when modern technology is involved and/or the milk is being used in a way that's untraditional (akin to the second paragraph of this answer on "Why was ライス borrowed from English")?

If so, would I use ミルク as having cereal and milk isn't native to Japan?

(Warning: googling only for miluku chichi produced some NSFW results)


texts:
I know that both of them mean "In 10 minutes" but I don't understand the difference between them.

I have some examples which kind of tell me which one has to be used in different situations but I saw an example when both options can be used.

Here are the examples:

  本を1日で読みました。
  本は後10ページで終わります。

I can assume that 「後」can/must be used when talking about the end or the beginning of something.

Sentences where both options were used:

  車で15分で着く。
  車で後15分で着く。

So, what is the difference between with and without 「後」?


texts: Writing style of Imperial Army signal messages

texts:
I'm doing some research into battles during the Pacific War and want to include as much as I can from Japanese sourcs. The Senshi Sosho contains valuable accounts, but I keep coming across an odd style of writing when the writer quotes text from original signal messages. It's obvious from first glance that katakana is being used in place of hiragana, but there are also some strange grammar and verb suffixes that I'm having trouble understanding.

I've attached an example segment I'm trying to understand at the moment.

Here is the same text with the katakana replaced with hiragana:

西地区警備隊長は飽く迄「モシゲタ」周辺の地区を確保するに勉むべし。面して敵軍「プリアカ」河口付近より有力部隊を前進せしめ「モシゲタ」の背後を衝くの勢必至となるに至らば「プリアカ」河左岸に転進することを得るも此の際と雖も他の警備地区内に一歩と雖も入ることを禁ず。

I think I get the first sentence, 'Commander Western Sector Guard Unit must put all efforts into securing the zone around Mosigetta.' The only real question I have is whether べし means べき?

The next sentence is full of confusion:

Who is doing the 面する (facing?)
せしめ means させ? What is め doing in there?
There seems to be a particle missing between 衝くの and 勢必至
How does 勢 affect 必至?
No idea what's going on with 勢必至となるに至らば except it probably talking about reaching モシゲタ.
得るも = 得ても?

My fragmented attempt at translation: "Move your forces from the vicinity of the mouth of the Puriaka where [where the enemy is], do you utmost to thrust at the rear of Mosigetta; (勢必至となるに至らば) get them to shift to the left bank of the Puriaka; [even at this time you are not permitted to take even one step into other guard sectors"

I'm not looking for someone to translate it for me, but if I can get some guidance on these confusing points I'll hopefully be able to put it together myself. Thank you in advance.


texts: Can I make a noun from a の adjective in general?

texts:
Today I wanted to say that a book was 'colloquial'. I went to my dictionary and found:

colloquial adj. 口語の；

Is it correct to just remove の and write:

  この本は口語です。

Or must this word always be used as an adjective? Is there a general rule for の adjectives?


texts: distinguish between grammar patterns and how to remember them

texts:
Suppose we take おそれがある, we can use it with either noun or a verb:

  V る ＋ おそれがある
  N ＋ の ＋ おそれがある

and on the other hand if we take に違いない, we can use it with everything(noun,adjective and adverb)

Plain Form Whatever ＋ に違いない must be [whatever]; (I'll)

I feel that somehow I can also construct おそれがある along with an adjective but the sentence will be grammatically wrong as it's mentioned that おそれがある can only be used with nouns and verbs.My question is, how can I remember which grammar forms I can use with noun-verb or noun-adjective-verb or only verb ?? Do I have to memorize everything or is their any logic


texts:
私も行かないと。

I understood it as "I also won't go." But according to Tae Kim's guide and Google Translate it is read as "I have to go too." Why is that? I assume と has something to do with it since removing it gives me what I understood of it in the first place or so sayeth Google Translate.

For the full context:

Ａ：行かなくてもいいよ。

Ｂ：だって、みんな行くって。私も行かないと。

Yeah. What I understood of it does not make sense in this context.


texts:
本当に仲のおよろしいことで

What is this ことで ?

About the context, the person said to two people that their relationship looked good. That is the sentence I provided.


texts:
Is there any significant difference in meaning between 便利な安い物 and 便利で安い物?

便利な安い物: handy cheap thing
便利で安い物: handy, cheap thing


texts: What are the differences between すぐ、もうすぐ、すぐに?

texts: As far as I am aware, すぐに means "immediately", but in which contexts can you use もうすぐ and すぐ？