texts: Different ways to ask help from strangers

texts:
1) Offering help to strangers in Japanese is te form shimashouka ( o tetsudaishimashouka- Shall I help you / Do you need any help ?)

2) What are the different ways to seek help ( one I know is eki no juushou o oshite moraimasuka ? )


texts:
Well, generic questions like these are found aplenty, so I apologise in advance. That being said, I've spent the last hour trying to find the kanji in the image below (sadly, to no avail).

Here is what I've tried so far, and my assumptions:

The first thing that occurred to me was to use a finder by radicals (like Jisho, for example). Based on my knowledge, I've tried using the radicals ⽊ and ⼧ but nothing came up that resembled the last part.

I've also tried to write it down (hard as it is on a pc), but nothing relevant came up either.

Finally, I've also tried looking at every 9-stroke kanji there is. Nothing came up.

At this point, I'm assuming that one of three things happened:

I misinterpreted one of the radicals

I don't know how to count anymore >.< (jokes aside, maybe I mistook a stroke for two or vice-versa)

The one I'm hoping it's most likely (for the sake of my pride and sanity), there is a digital variant of this kanji that looks quite different from this (possibly less common or handwritten) version.

It is bothering me quite much not being able to find this kanji, specially because it does not even seem to be that hard...


texts: What is なん in そうなんですか

texts: I understood roughly what sou desu, sou des ka mean. But I'm having difficulty in understanding the word nan in sou nan des ka. If Sou des ka can literally be translate as "correct/it seem so is it?" How does adding nan "what" fit in this sentence? If anyone could explain would be much appreciated.


texts: What's this strange use of non-past 〜た in a question?

texts:
I've come across a character in a show wondering:

...っとは言った物の...どこから手を付けたものか

This was translated as:

But after all I said, where do we start?

I generally view the 〜た form as past tense, but here the latter does not seem to be translated this way. Why is that, and what are the rules behind that?
Is it possibly related to Usage of doubled non-past tense "た"?


texts:
外国人に質問を聞かれたが、答えられなかった。

Can anybody analyze the grammatical structure of this sentence? Is this an indirect passive sentence? Thanks.


texts: Which is used more / is more natural in speech? 突然 or どっと?

texts:
As far as the translation of the word 'suddenly' my dictionary has these two^. Are they any different or is one more common than the other?
ありがとう


texts:
I read a manga named 神様の御用人.
https://www.cmoa.jp/title/116209/
(page 28)
I don't understand 厄払いや節目のご祈祷も行っております. I searched the vocab in jisho but it doesn't make any sense.
Please enlighten me.


texts:
I am not sure what ごと means in this context and I am also not too sure about what's exactly the topic in this later sentence.

A.彼を見捨てろってことか？
B.あくまで客観的に見て．．．今後の状況危険性を考えたら…という話。もちろんその危険ごと面倒見てこその本当の友達なのかもしれないけど。

I would have translated it as
A.You are saying, we should abandon him?
B.Well, yes. If you look at the things objectively, if you think about the futur risks, than... Of course, you might also say, a true friend will stay by your side because of the risks.
I am not to confident in the last part of my translation...
So ごと would add nothing new? Is it just a roundabout way to say risky "things"?Which kinda get's lost in translation? Another meaning for ごと that I found was "including" but I couldn't find a site that explains how you would use this kind of ごと and I am not sure if thats what the sentence is conveying.


texts: Could you explain why に is used with もらう?

texts:
I know we use に to indicate from whom we receive the favor/thing. I don't see any common sense for that. Naturally, I would use から instead because に expresses a direction "to/toward" not "from".

=> Could you explain to me the root cause?

  友達にお菓子をもらった。 => I received candies from my friend.
  友達にお菓子をあげた。 => I gave candies to my friend.


texts: 新完全マスター(N3)　ぐらいきれいな　vs　ぐらい高い

texts:
『新完全マスター(N3)』に出てくる問題「日本で富士山ぐらい＿山はないと思う。」の答えは「きれいな」ですか。

(１・きれいな　２・高い　３・ほかの)

Why not 高い?

Could you please explain this in detail?
(I was looking for an answer here but did not find)


texts:
I found this sentence in an article about japanese swords

日本刀と他の刀との違いは、どれだけ波紋と鉄が美しいかにこだわっているかです

The translation is

The difference between japanese swords and other swords is how much the ripples and iron are particular to their beauty

But since か is used to carry a sense of questioning shouldn't it be more like

The difference between japanese swords and other swords could be how much the ripples and iron are particular to their beauty

Any help on how to parse and understand どれだけ波紋と鉄が美しいかにこだわっているかです would be appreciated :)


texts:
私は誰に言うともなくつぶやいた。

I came across this sentence over at yourei.jp and I'm not sure whether I understood this sentence correctly.

My translation is:

  I muttered "to whom will you tell"

The reason for my confusion is that I've never seen a sentence that has a verb+adverb+verb construction. Maybe I just didn't parse it correctly?

I was also wondering if there are more cases like this.


texts: Is there a list of popular surnames organised by region/prefecture?

texts: I've seen a lot of 'Top 100 Japanese surnames' sorts of lists, but obviously some names are much more popular in some regions than others. Is there a resource (preferably in Japanese!) that would take this into account?


texts:
I have a sentence from page 39-108 of Lake and Ura's Learn to Read in Japanese.

  食べてばかりいないで少し運動したほうがいいですよ

The book gives a somewhat inscrutable:

  Eating only not being, it would be better to do a little exercise, for sure.

Google Translate gives the translation as:

  You do not have to eat, you had better exercise a little

The second half of the sentence (運動したほうがいいですよ) is pretty straightforward; as I understand it from here, the first half of the sentence describes habitual eating.  I don't know how it interacts with いないで.


texts: What is the meaning of キリ in this paragraph?

texts:
Reading in NHk I came across this paragraph, and I cannot make out the meaning of キリ：

さらに堀埜社長は、7月、異例の値上げに踏み切りました。といってもほとんどは1円から数円の値上げ、中には値下げした商品もあります。看板メニューの「ミラノ風ドリア」は299円から、300円に。
値上げのねらいは、「釣り銭を減らす」こと。すべてのメニューを50円単位のキリのいい金額にすることで会計がスムーズになり、客と店員との接触の機会が減って、安心につながるというのです。値上げ後、釣り銭を6割削減する効果があったそうです。

Personally, I think it could be related to 切り　which means END, STOP, BOUND, so when I broke the sentence down it resulted in this:
すべてのメニューを50円単位のキリのいい金額にすることで会計がスムーズになり。。。
all  menu を 50 yen unitの END, LIMIT? のgood amount of money に doing  で accounting が smooth に becomes.
But I am not sure.


texts:
いいかと聞かれたら、いいわけないと答えるな

The second part of the sentence is bother me. If いいわけない must mean "no excuse", then the rough translation will be: "When you asking "It's ok?" don't answer "no excuse". So, how the second part is translating?


texts:
I have a query about how to say "there is no enough space for it?" and "it's in the way."

Unfortunately my japanese is not good enough to create a natural sentence, and all I come out with is

  それのために場所がありません。

which I believe doesn't really explain what I'm trying to say and might be actually wrong. (I apologize in advance for it).


texts:
Unlike ゑ and ゐ, を actually still exists. However, I've never heard of this letter actually being pronounced fully as 'wo'. It's kind of weird that there aren't any words with that letter, isn't it? And if it was just was replaced with お over time, why does it still exist as a particle?

Sorry if it's a bit broad, but I'm genuinely interested in knowing more.


texts:
What does また mean here:

  車は右、左、または、まっすぐに行ってもいいです。


texts: What is the difference between 乗り越すand 乗り過ごす?

texts: I don't understand the difference between these two words. In my textbook they appear like "miss the stop" (norisugosu) and "pass my station" (norikosu), but they both sound like you don't go out the train when you should.


texts: What is the origin of the theatrical intonation used by Tokyo Disneyland's cast members?

texts:
When I had the chance to go on a Jungle Cruise at Tokyo Disneyland, I noticed the skipper talked with sprinkles of prolonged vowels and uncommon rising and falling intonation patterns.

Is this "dialect" original, or was it borrowed from existing profession/region?

Edit: you can check video recordings of the ride on Youtube:

By a male captain
By Captain Sato: Part 1, Part 2
By a female captain


texts: What is 量 referring to in this sentence?

texts:
This is the first sentence of the article:

  ヨーロッパでは日本料理の人気が高くて、だしを作るためのかつお節を使う量も増えています
  Japanese cuisine is popular in Europe and the amount using katsuobushi to make dashi is increasing.

Amount of what? Is 量 referring to the number countries in Europe that use katsuobushi? The number of people in Europe that use it? Or have I totally mis-parsed it?

My other thought was that だしを作るための might modify 量 rather than かつお節. So we have だしを作るための量も増えています "The amount (of katsuobushi) for making dashi is increasing", and かつお節を使う量も増えています. I couldn't make much sense out of this part so I discounted it.

Is there any difference if I say:

  だしを作るためにかつお節を使う量も増えています

so that だしを作るために adverbially modifies 使う?


texts:
それだ　隼人君達が 駅近のライブハウスとってて
sentence
I asked a native and they asnwered that とってて is
とる(取る・予約する・確保する)+ ～してて→とってて
but i am still confused does anyone understand what is going on?


texts: Is the object uniquely determined when using は in the following sentences?

texts:
卵は私が食べた。Speaking of the egg, I ate.

Is what I ate the egg? Is it possible that I ate something other than the egg?


texts:
I am told that ご連絡します for “I will contact you“ is not more polite than 連絡します but simply wrong because the honorific ご should qualify actions done by the interlocutor, not by myself. To make it polite I must use 謙譲語 and say 連絡いたしますinstead.
This makes perfect sense to me, but wouldn’t it also apply to お願いします, where the お is honorific?


texts:
In the anime Haruhi Suzumiya there is a main character called Kyon [キョン].

The wiki page for Kyon mentions:

  His nickname, Kyon, was created for him by his aunt and then spread by his little sister. This is an "unwelcome twist" on his real name.

Originally I thought it would be Kyou [杏], with the u replaced with a N to make it sound like a female nickname. Although the answer here describes that'd be ん and not ン.

Leaving me curious as to what キョン could unravel to as a normal boys name.


texts:
The full text is...

  この魔剣があれば…　メルヴィンの言うとおり　竜すらも恐るるに足らない…

Is this a double negative? "Even dragons to be not afraid is not enough" = "Even dragons are [will be] afraid".


texts: 腸が痛い: How do you know when your intestines hurt?

texts:
I am a foreigner working at a company in Japan. My native language is English but I believe I can converse somewhat moderately well in Japanese. After dinner one evening, I heard the following exchange between two of my coworkers, who are Japanese natives (this may be not the exact wording, but this is the best I can recall):

A: 「うっ…なんか胃が痛い」
B: 「え、腸じゃなくて？」
A: 「うーん…分からない」

On another occasion, I have also had the following exchange with a different Japanese friend who does not work at the same company (again, the wording may not be exact):

Me: 「さっき食べたらちょっと胃が痛くなってきた気がする…とりあえず胃薬飲んでみた」
Friend: 「え？それ胃じゃなくて腸じゃないの？胃薬じゃなくて整腸薬飲めばよかったよ、それ」

As someone who was raised in another country primarily speaking English, I can not once recall ever thinking, "Gee, my intestines hurt." So my question is, under what circumstances would a Japanese person think specifically that their intestines hurt as opposed to their stomach? Or does 腸 include some other part of the body in the abdomen where you would feel pain?

I suppose I could understand if the person were suffering from constipation or diarrhoea for example, but I've never personally regarded either as a "pain in my intestines", nor have I ever recalled experiencing any kind of sensation that I could pinpoint as coming from my intestines, so the idea that "自分の腸が痛い" seems unusually specific to me.

Is this some kind of cultural difference, or am I just weird, born without feeling in my intestines or something?

Edit:

I realize now that I don't recall actually hearing the specific expression "腸が痛い", so I believe my original premise may be flawed. As naruto's answer suggested, both cases were most likely a case of informal "diagnosis", which I admit seems obvious to me now in retrospect.


texts: Meaning of 法律の定めるところにより処罰する

texts:
This is an example sentence from 大辞林's definition of 定める.

  法律の―・めるところにより処罰する

I think this means something like "punish according to the law". But couldn't you just say 法律により処罰する? What does 定めるところ add? What does ところ refer to?

Is 法律 the subject of 定める? Maybe not, because in another example sentence, 規則 is marked as the object:「規則を―・める」


texts: I'm half and a Japanese man said to me: 「ハーフ憧れる」What does it mean?

texts: I understand that 憧れる is "to respect, long to be like." Are there such connotations associated with being "half" in Japan?


texts: How to say "I hope to be back in Japan sometime next year"

texts:
I'm very much a beginner so I'm still learning grammar, but I want to translate "I hope to be back in Japan sometime next year".

日本にかえりたい来年といいですね
nippon ni kaeritai rainen to ii desu ne

Is this correct? Or is there a better way to translate this?


texts: Explaning the phrase 「注{ちゅう}目{もく}特{とく}集{しゅう}」

texts: I want to know exactly what the phrase 「注目特集」 means. Part 「注目～」 means "attention, focus" and 「～特集」 - "feature, special issue". I can understand the meaning, but how can I combine them - what is the correct translation?


texts: Different ways to show intention to do something

texts:
How can one say "I am going to", express intention to do something in the future. I know some expressions such as:

たいと思う    - 　I'm going to/ I want to
ましょう    - I will/ Why don't I
しようと思う　- I think I will
しようとする - I'll try to
するところ - I'm about to
つもり - I plan to
する予定がある - I have plans to
する気がある - I feel like
ことにする  - decide to
まいとする　- I'll try not to
まいと思う - I think I won't

Do I understand what they mean correctly? Which are better to use when? What is the difference between similar expressions (予定　and　つもり) ?


texts:
It is easy to find inside out in a dictionary: 裏返し{うらがえし}, but I have difficulty translating backwards in the expression

  to put a T-shirt on backwards


texts: When to use ＸはＹより vs ＸとＹとどちらが……？

texts:
If I wanted to ask, Which is faster the red car or the blue car? I could phrase it as:

  赤い｛あかい｝車｛くるま｝は青い｛あおい｝車より速い｛はやい｝ですか？

　or

  赤い｛あかい｝車｛くるま｝と青い｛あおい｝車とどちらが速い｛はやい｝ですか？

But when would I use 1 (wa...yori) instead of 2 (to...to dochira ga?) or vice-versa? Can I use either form interchangeably or can I only use one of them certain situations?


texts: What's the difference between あって vs ありまして?

texts: I was taught that the て form of the verb ある is あって, but I sometimes see the word ありまして acting in the same way. What's the difference and when would you use one or the other?


texts: What does ～と見てよい/～と見ていい mean? How did it have its meaning?

texts:
I found these sentences using SPACEALC:

The content in parentheses and bolding are my own:

  まず勝ち試合と見ていいが、成り行き任せでは駄目です。
  You'll probably win the game, but that's not automatic.
  ゴドフリィ・ノートンはこの件に深く関与していると見ていいだろう。
  "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter.
  ＜that以下＞は間違いないと見てよい。
  It appears certain that
  例えば、「おはようございます」と言ってみて相手の外国人が「はあ？」と不思議そうな顔を見せたら、日本語を話せないと見てよい。
  If, for example, you say, "Ohayo gozaimasu," and they look at you perplexed and utter, "HUH?", it's pretty good bet that they don't (speak Japanese).
  勇気は人間の資質の中で最も重要なものと見てよい。なぜならそれは他のすべての資質を保証する資質だからだ。
  Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

First I would like to draw attention to sentences 1 through 4. I gathered that と見てよい means something along the lines of "appear to be"
Then consider sentences 2 and 5 where it seems to have the senses of "evident" and "rightly esteemed" which is like my previous conclusion of "appear to be" except much stronger.
Then consider sentence 2 that ends in だろう, which weakens the assertion.

This makes me a little confused.

(Question) What does と見ていい・よい mean?  How does this link back to what we know of て-form + いい?


texts: What does Kenneth Henshall mean by "X is used phonetically to express Y"?

texts:
Henshall seems to have a quite specific idea about how many phonetic elements end up in characters, which diverges from explanations I find online, but I'm not sure I'm reading him correctly. Essentially, I'm wondering if he takes the view that for many characters, the sound was not strictly indicated by the 'phonetic component', but instead that a semantic link (a kind of ideograph) was created using a phonetic substitute.

An example from the list would be 映, where 日 is semantic and the radical, while 央 is said to be "acting phonetically to express bright". He says it is probably also lending its meaning, i.e. "centre" ('centre of sun' being especially 'bright'). This implies a distinction between "acting phonetically to express" a meaning, and "lending" a meaning.

In the introduction his explanation also implies this distinction. He says that the character 注 is made of 水 as the radical and 主, where 主 is a "phonetic element which expresses the sound of a word meaning continuous (specifically 続)".  He then glosses the character elements as signifying 'continuous' combined with 'water' (writing: "thus continuous (flow of) water").

To me this suggests that 主 is not to be understood as giving the sound for 注, but instead as providing a semantic element, "continuous", normally written as 続, using a simpler character which at some point had the same sound as 続. This is not because it couldn't be the case that 主 is both phonetic and semantic, but because of Henshall's actual phrasing of this explanation, which seems carefully set up to suggest that 主 is being used to mean continuous, by sounding like continuous, rather than give the sound for 注.

I'm not at all read up on scholarship around this of course, just curious to find this quite distinctive understanding of phonetic characters in this relatively standard book for helping learners understand Kanji origins. Does anyone know if I'm reading him right, and if so - is his an orthodox view of these phonetic elements?


texts: Different ways to refer to oneself (2-in-1 question)

texts:
I have two questions about ways to refer to oneself in Japanese. Since they are so closely related I am posting both in the same thread but if anyone here strongly disagrees with this please let me know and I will split them up into two threads.

So here goes:

(1) I know one does not refer to oneself as XY-さん but rather as XY. But does this rule also apply to ちゃん? I'm asking because some of my friends call me ナッちゃん but using the general rule of just using my name this would leave me saying stuff like ナは今帰る。Since this sounds wrong to me I have been saying stuff like ナッちゃんは今帰る。

  Is it normal/okay/natural to refer to oneself as XYちゃん?

I don't absolutely have to use ちゃん since I could just use my full name but that's more of a mouthful.

(2) I'm female and usually male individuals refer to themselves as 僕 when talking to me. Once I did a homestay and the host father referred to himself as 俺 when talking to me.

When someone says 俺 it makes me think that they are kind of common and I don't like it.

  Is 俺 really a rough word to use when talking to someone of the other
  gender who is not an extremely close friend? Or is it good practice and I should not mind at all?


texts: Are there kanji which are NOT words by themselves (written standalone)?

texts:
In other words, are there kanji, which can only be used as a part of a kanji compound and/or with okurigana?

For example:

見 - standalone kanji, a word which means "view", "outlook"
見物 - kanji compound: "sightseeing", "watching", etc.
見る - kanji + okurigana: "to see", "to look", etc.

Is there a kanji where (1) is not an option?

If there are such kanji, do they have some special name?


texts:
From early on, I've used こら and ほら somewhat interchangeably. They both mean "hey!"

I picked them up from friends early on without really having a sense of the difference.

Now, after some time, I've come to understand that ほら is simply "hey!", as in just getting someone's attention, and こら is "hey" with a flavour of "dude, what the hell?" mixed in.

The thing is, I still tend to slip and use こら when maybe I should say ほら, and vice versa. Old habits die hard.

My question is, when I mix up and say こら instead of ほら, how bad is it?


texts: What does one call words or phrases that cannot be or rarely refered to with kanji

texts: I have found that many words are only used in hiragana and because of this i can't seem to find a good way to learn them as i am studying words that use kanji due to the site i am using. Like-ごめんなさい, そうか, etc. are these type of words given a type of name?


texts: Do Japanese people tend to be vague even when talking about people their listeners know?

texts:
I've noticed that a couple of my Japanese friends, when talking about their plans, might say something like 「友達に会う」, "I'm meeting a friend", even though the unnamed "friend" is someone we both know. It's a little jarring when I know from another conversation exactly who they're meeting, or if I find out later who they were meeting, and it's a mutual friend.

What I expect from my own experience as an American is, for example, for them to say something like 「ゆかちゃんに会う」, "I'm meeting Yuka", because to me "friend" or 「友達」 sounds like someone I'm not expected to know.

The effect is that it ends up feeling like the people they're meeting is being deliberately kept secret for some reason I can't fathom. But, is it simply normal to leave out the names even of mutual friends as unnecessary information?


texts: Is there a good explanation for the forms 大きな, 小さな and 多くの?

texts:
Is there a good historical/etymological explanation why 大きい and 小さい can take the な ending in attributive position?

Also, is there a good historic/etymological explanation why 多い in attributive use turns into 多くの-?


texts: What is the difference between 遠い and はるか?

texts:
I am looking for a way to express the concept of (physical) distance. Searching jisho.org yields two possible results:

[遥]{はる}か (Na-adjective, Adverb, Noun): far; far away; distant; remote; far off
[遠]{とお}い (I-adjective): far; distant

Both are marked as a "common word", so I believe that "London is far away from here" could be translated as either:

ロンドンはここよりはるかです。
ロンドンはここより遠いです。

However, many of the WWWJDIC examples for はるか seem to be for metaphorical distance:

  彼の出費は収入をはるかに上回っている。 His expenses exceed his income by far.
  計算機があれば計算ははるかに楽だ。 Calculation is miles easier if you have a calculator.
  光は音よりはるかに早く伝わる。 Light travels much faster than sound.
  鉄は金より遥かに役に立つ。 Iron is much more useful than gold.
  新しいデザインの方が古いデザインよりもはるかによい。 The new designs are much better than the old ones.
  我々ははるか前方に他の船を見た。 We saw another ship far ahead.
  彼は誰よりもはるかに良く出来る学生だ。 He is by far the best student.
  彼女は、一昨年よりもはるかに暮らし向きがよい。 She's far better off than she was the year before last.
  飛行機の速度はヘリコプターのそれよりはるかに速い。 The speed of an airplane is much greater than that of a helicopter.
  数そうのヨットがはるか沖合を並んで航行していた。 Several yachts were sailing side by side far out at sea.

...whereas the examples for 遠い are generally more literal:

  駅まで歩くには遠すぎますから、バスに乗りましょう。 It's too far to walk to the station, so let's take a bus.
  たとえあなたが遠くへ行ってしまっても、電話で連絡をとりあいましょう。 Even if you go far away, let's keep in touch with each other over the phone.
  スコットが元気になるのもそう遠くないでしょう。 It will not be long before Scott gets well.
  北海道はたいへん遠いですね。 Hokkaido is very far, isn't it?
  私の車はここから遠くないところに止めてある。 My car is parked not far from here.
  遠い灯台のかすかな光を見た。 We saw the gleam of a distant lighthouse.
  どのくらい遠い？ How far?
  彼がその家を買わないと決めたのは、第一に高すぎることと第二に会社からあまりにも遠かったからだった。 He decided not to buy the house, because in the first place it was too expensive, and
  in the second place it was too far from his office.
  子供が親から遠く離れていたら、彼らの安全や幸福に関して親がしてやれることはない。 When parents are far away from their children, there is nothing they can do about their
  safety or welfare.
  彼は私よりも砲丸を遠くまで投げた。 He put the shot farther than I did.

I'm not sure if this is because はるか is more "flexible" than 遠い, or if the examples for はるか just happen to include more varied usage by coincidence.

My question is therefore twofold:

Are my suggested translations for "London is far away from here" correct?
Are 遠い and はるか equivalent, or do they have different connotations / usage patterns?


texts:
The entire sentence is たまに人見知り、気まぐれで人懐っこくなります、懐けばとことん懐きます。

It was written on the profile of my friend who's from Osaka. And I think there maybe some slang in this sentence.


texts: is "と” always needed for when saying "with?"

texts: can I say しごとがんばってね for saying have a nice day at work? do I need the particle と to make it "with work"  しごととがんばってね


texts:
I wrote ブラジルの国立博物館の火事のことを聞いて、とても悲しいと思います

A Japanese person changed it to とても悲しいです

It seems that 悲しいと思います has a nuance not suitable here, but they didn't tell me why. Can someone explain it to me? Thank you.

Edit: And can I assume that other expressions of feelings, like 嬉しい, 怒っている and 驚いた, shouldn't be followed by と思う, either, otherwise it will convey a different nuance?


texts: this is probably a silly question, but since words with multiple kanji are usually read with on’yomi would that effectively make most japanese vocabulary loanwords? like 森林 or 図書館？i understand differences like how 本 does not mean book in chinese but it just makes me wonder about how japanese these multi kanji words are


texts: How to write down sound of laugh in speech

texts:
I'm listening to some dialogues in Japanese and I write them down.
I need to write down sound of laughter in sentence (speech) like in English for example

  Ha ha

What I need should have notion of laughing at someone. Is it just simple

  「ハハ」


texts: Word for the boundary between multiple kanji in one word?

texts: I'm not sure what this word is, but like 私 has one kanji but 発音 has two kanji, and there is like a boundary between the two kanji for the 読み方、a boundary between はつ and おん.  and this can affect the way things are pronounce like 発見 the boundary causes the つ　to be pronounce as っ before voiceless consonants like the け. but only at those kanji boundary's, so like 使う (which has one kanji) isn't affected by this phonetic rule.


texts: Difference between 妬【ねた】ましい and 羨【うらや】ましい

texts:
Considering "How to define 羨ましい?", it does not seem that 羨【うらや】ましい conveys a strong intensity of jealousy.

How does 妬【ねた】ましい compare to 羨【うらや】ましい then?

Does 妬【ねた】ましい convey a stronger sense of jealously than the "I wish I were you" kind? How is 妬【ねた】ましい used differently from 羨【うらや】ましい?

Also as an aside, has Shakespeare's concept of the green-eyed monster influenced the Japanese language for 緑【みどり】の目【め】 to be considered as a concept for jealousy?


texts: these two words came up when I was looking at a vocabulary list that I'm supposed to study. I'm having trouble with understanding the difference and the usage of the words. If possible would someone please provide a couple of examples using both of the terms? I would appreciate it!


texts: Why is では (dewa) necessary in the following sentence? And what does it mean?

texts:
This is the sentence:

  私は韓国人ではありません。

  Watashi wa kangokujin de wa arimasen.

  I'm not Korean.

I was expecting something like:

  私は韓国人ありません。

  Watashi wa kangokujin arimasen.

Why is the では necessary? And what does it mean?


texts:
When writing an email to a person I would add 様 or "sama" at the end of the name in the email opening. However if I'm writing to a company and don't know the recipient's name would I add "sama" as well at the end of the company name?

For example, if the company is called "Wasabi" would I open the email with "Wasabi様" ?


texts:
I am trying to understand whether the ruby text in ancient scripture is essential to the meaning of a verse, or if the scripture can be understood without it.  For instance, can this verse:

be understood equally well without the ruby text, like this:


texts: What is the etymology of がらんと, an adverb meaning empty or deserted?


texts: Use of ni or wa for " I always eat with my older brother on monday"

texts:
In my textbooks solution it says

  getsuyoubi ha itsumo ani to
  isshoni tabemasu

I thought it would be

  getsuyoubi ni

Thank you in advance


texts: What is the word or phrase that means "art" (as a general aesthetic quality of something)

texts:
In reference to a video game, I might say:

  "Braid is a rewarding puzzle game with beautiful art."

In this sense, I don't mean art as in a specific piece of art in the game, I don't mean art as a skill or craft, and I certainly am not referring to "the" arts. However, those definitions are all I could find in dictionaries.

So, what can I use to refer to something's own general style or visuals?


texts:
My question is probably closely related to this one but I wasn`t able to successfully apply the explanation to the grammar of （もう少し/危うく）...ところだった
On this site it is stated that ところだった is formed with 動辞形＋ところだった  or 動た形＋ところだった to express the same thing, namely that something almost happened. What I am struggeling with is when to use which one and why 動た形 can be used at all since it normally implies that something just ended...
Also they only example sentence they actually use 動た形 is
もう少しブレーキを踏むのが遅れていたら死んでいたところだった。

Could 死んでいた here be replaced with 死ぬ？
Would the meaning stay the same?
Is the usage of 動た形 somehow connected to ～たら
or could it be also used in a sentence like
目覚まし設定し忘れて、あやうく寝過ごすところだった　making it 寝過ごしたところだった?


texts: ～ば良い方だった meaning in this sentence from IAIJ

texts:
I'm stuck with this sentence (from An Integrated Approach To Intermediate Japanese):

  その頃、私は金がなく、昼の中華料理で、三十セントと三十五セントの定食のうち、せいぜい月に一度か二度、高いのにありつければ良い方だった。

My attempted (literal) translation is the following:

  At that time I didn't have money (and), at the chinese food lunch, between a 30 cents or 35 cents fixed price lunch, at most once or twice a month, it would have been the right choice if I
  managed to eat expensive things.

I translated the のうち as equivalent to の中 (I think it is correct in this case). What I'm struggling with is the 高いのにありつければ良い方だった part. My current understanding of that portion is that "～にありつく" means "to get/eat with difficulty" so "高いのにありつければ" means something like "If I manage to eat something expensive..." since I'm treating "高いの" as "高いこと" and ありつければ is the conditional form of the potential form of ありつく. Finally I translated "良い方だった" as "It was the right way/thing to do".

I think I'm missing something since the translation I provided is not very cohesive.
Could you please help me getting a better understanding of these sentence?


texts: 'Decontamination' - word that doesn't imply radiation

texts:
I already found '汚染除去' or '除染' for the English 'decontamination' but it seems, both imply cleansing from radiation. Radiation can be, but is not automatically implied in 'decontamination'.
I'm looking for a word in Japanese that doesn't automatically imply radiation.
Specifically, I'm looking for a medical term to decontaminate instruments, implants and such after usage in surgery.
Hope, someone can help!

Edit: A colleague of mine mentioned '蒸気滅菌', does anyone know whether that's used for 'decontamination' when radiation is not involved?


texts: Difference of using と and と一緒に as "taking action with someone"

texts:
In Lesson 4 of Genki 1, it states that one of the meanings of と is "together with".
e.g. メアリーさんはスーさんと韓国に行きます。
However, the adverb of "together" is 一緒に and when と is added it has a nuance of "taking action together with someone".
e.g. 私は彼と一緒に学校にいきます。
What is the difference between using just "と" and using "と一緒に"?
よろしくお願いします。


texts: "よねんせい" vs "よんねんせい" for "fourth-year student" in Genki 1

texts: I've been learning japanese for a couple months and recently started to include the Genki textbook along with my WaniKani studying. Near the beginning of the workbook, there is a question that asks to basically describe Takeshi, a 4th-year student, with the beginning "たけしさんは..." and the workbook answer key says the proper answer is "よねんせいです" as opposed to what I initially thought it would be, "よんねんせいです." Why does the word for four (よん) get shortened like this? Obviously using kanji it would be 四年生 (which feels like it would be pronounced in a very similar way to both the kana readings). Thank you for any help :)


texts:
I was doing my daily dose of reading and I came by this particular sentence, which I had a little bit of trouble finding the meaning for.

「このあたりからまた意識が虚ろになってしまいました」

The context is a patient who had brain surgery and is struggling to get his thoughts together. I roughly translate it to "Once again my consciousness has faded from these effects".

The 虚ろに has been the main problem I have with this particular sentence. I know the 虚ろ is a way to address something hollow, or give a sense of emptiness thats different from 空; but I'd like some confirmation on the usage of that 虚ろに in this sentence. Also, the「あたり」is written in hiragana, so I'm not 100% sure on it meaning "effects".

Once again, thanks for anyone taking their time to answer this question!


texts: Is 「お元気ですか」 an acceptable/common greeting?

texts:
English (and other languages) speakers often use "How are you?", "What's up?", "How's it going?" and similar phrases as greetings. Other language speakers and cultures will refrain from asking such a question unless they are genuinely interested in the answer and have a reason to ask, so typically not as part of greeting someone.

Is 「お元気ですか」 acceptable to use in a similar way, such as greeting someone with 「おはようございます。お元気ですか。」?

If it is, how common is it?

Does it sound weird to native speakers?


texts:
I don't understand how 仕掛け is used in on the second panel:

仕掛けはもう竿に付いてるから
針にエサつけて放りこみゃいい

My attempt at understanding this:
Because 仕掛け is already attached to the rod, (you just need to) attach the bait to the hook then cast.
I would think 仕掛け = gadget = hook, though 針 is used to refer to hook right afterward, so I'm a bit doubtful that's it.


texts:
私には あなただけ がいます。
私には あなただけ います。

Hello, can anyone tell me if there is any difference in meaning for the above sentences?  Which one is more natural?


texts: How to say "lose a friendship/drift apart"?

texts:
I want to say that "as A becomes closer friends with C, B gets jealous and A and B drift apart".
What I have so far is　A-さんは C-さんと仲良くすればするほど、B-さんがうらやましくなって、A-さんと_____てしまう。


texts:
Sorry, I've been on reddit...and found the eighth definition here:

  回す
  まわす 1: to turn; to rotate; to gyrate;
  2: to circulate; to send around;
  3: to surround;
  4: to put something to a new use (e.g. leftovers);
  5: () (after the -masu stem of a verb) ... around (i.e. to chase someone around);
  6: to dial (e.g. telephone number);
  7: (Godan verb with su ending) to invest;
  8: to gang-rape

Is this definition ever used? Is it slang? If it is not asking too much, would someone provide an example?


texts: Concatenating an i-adj with a no-adj/noun

texts:
I have a question regarding concatenating i-adj with a no-adj/noun.

This is the sentence I'm attempting to translate: Those are black lenses to protect your eyes against sunlight. My try: 暗くて目を日光から守るのためのレンズです

However if I read I would be a bit confused because i would think that 暗くて might define 目 even if it's not ending in い


texts: Do the Japanese actually use the word "Hentai" to mean "Anime Porn", like in English?

texts:
The English word "Hentai" likely came from 4chan. Thus, like a lot of Japanese loanwords that come from 4chan, I have to ask whether the Japanese actually use the word to mean "Anime porn" like in English.

If it isn't, or if a different word is more often used, could someone share what that word is? The Japanese people I communicate with always find my use of it confusing or wrong.


texts:
Why do we use particle に in the following sentences?

  試合に勝つ・負ける。
  試験に合格する・失敗する。
  試験に出る。

In case of 「試験に出る。」 is it because of the explanation 「に」は入る場所を表す。?


texts:
What's the difference between 言わないでほしい and 言ってほしくない ?
If the intended message is "I don't want you to say it" which of the two above would be more suitable?


texts:
for example, I'd heard many times 入力中 but also 入力しています and now I'm very confused.

Also, can someone give me examples?


texts: Is there a term for "the one that got away"?

texts: I'm thinking of something like 失恋対象 or 失恋相手, except 1) I just made those up off the top of my head, and 2) on the off-chance they're real words, they don't really capture the essence of "the one that got away".


texts:
I'm trying to figure out what is the meaning of "いなくない" in this sentence:

  "あんなすごい事でできるの、シャリオ以外いなくない?"

May be something like this? "With the exception of Chariot (it's a first name), there isn't (in the world) another person who can do such amazing things, don't you think?".

"いなく" should be the negative form of iru, right?
And about that final "ない", I have to see it like a "じゃない"? (As in this case:"この文、おかしいんじゃない?")


texts: In the sentence "忘れられない夜にする" does the verb "忘れる" have the function of an adjective? What is the meaning of the phrase? Is there any way to make verbs have a Japanese adjectival function?


texts: "causative of negative" vs "negative of causative"?

texts:
Wikipedia (Japanese Verb Conjugation):

  Negatives [verb negative-conjugations] are not normally made into causatives. Instead, a negative ending is added to the causative of the verb. Thus, for example, Tabesasenai: "Do not let eat".

From the quote above, we can see that although negatives are not normally made into causatives, they can be made into causatives.

What is the difference between a causative-of-negative and a negative-of-causative? How do we decide when to use which?

For example, what is the difference in nuance between「これを食べさせない」and「これを食べなくさせる」?


texts:
This sentence translation is given as: He has been asked to sit on the committee. I can see the meaning, except with the と after ように. Can anyone explain why　と is used in here?

彼はその委員会のメンバーになるようにと依頼を受けてきてきた。


texts:
I've needed to use a word "to ask" recently, and the word I decided on was [尋]{たず}ねる. But I have strong doubts that this is actually the right word to use in a situation such as this:

  I would like to ask you something. (e.g. about my name, about what time it is)

Is there a better word to use than [尋]{たず}ねる for "ask" in this case? I've heard of [質問]{しつもん}する, but in both cases I can't find anything on how to use either of them in an actual sentence.


texts:
Studying for the JLPT and this practice question shows me something novel that I don't think I've ever heard:

it's a sequence problem and the correct sequence the book tells me is:

彼女は　新人　ながら　ベテランか　かと思うような落ち着きぶりだった。

Something seems off about the repeated か to me. What is the repeated one doing?


texts: Learn kanji or just furigana for a vacation in Japan

texts: I am trying to learn Japanese with Rosetta Stone for a vacation in Japan. Is it important to learn all the kanji or are there always furigana?


texts: How can a friendly person be "hard to approach"?

texts:
I have this phrase in my JLPT textbook:

  私{わたし}の上司{じょうし}は気{き}さくで近寄{ちかよ}りがたい

My translation, which must be incorrect in some way, is, "my superior is hard to approach as he/she is friendly." It seems to me that で implies some kind of connection or causality. It's not that the superior is friendly and hard to approach, there is something about their friendliness that results in how it's hard to approach them.

I'm reasonably sure about the definitions of individual words, but it seems to end up as an illogical assertion. How can someone who is friendly be hard to approach?

What am I not understanding about this sentence?


texts:
I wanted to say:

  "As best can be predicted, economic conditions will continue to worsen"

I tried:

見{み}える ほど、景気{けいき}が悪くなっているようです。
分析{ぶんせき} できるほど、景気が悪くなっているようです。
推測{すいそく} できるほど、景気が悪くなっているようです。

A native speaker offered this as the best translation:

  "目に見えるほど、景気が悪くなっているようです。"

The "目に見えるほど" phrases seems very strange to me.

"目に見せる" seems possible.
"目で見えた" seems possible (but redundant).

I don't understand the sense of "目に見える".
Is this phrase really a metaphor?
What are some contexts in which "目に見える" can be used?


texts: Common 四{よ}字{じ}熟{じゅく}語{ご} that use/are 当{あ}て字{じ}

texts:
Are there any commonly used known 四{よ}字{じ}熟{じゅく}語{ご}　that use/are 当{あ}て字{じ} besides the following?  Just crossed my mind, and now I'm curious.

滅{め}茶{ちゃ}苦{く}茶{ちゃ}, 夜{よ}露{ろ}死{し}苦{く}, 無{む}理{り}矢{や}理{り}


texts:
食べないようとする

食べようとしない

Both the sentence above means "I will try not to eat". What's the difference


texts: Is this "Tayō-sei no naka no tōitsu" a correct translation of "Unity in Diversity"?

texts:
Can someone let me know if this is the proper way to say the sentence "Unity in Diversity"?
I know that the literal translation would be "Diversity in Unity". Just wanted to know is correct wording and grammar for the sentence.

Thank you


texts:
I'm reading a beginner book with short stories and simple sentences. I'm having trouble understanding the translation of this sentence.

In the story a girl is walking down the street and then:

  歩道のわきにタンポポがたくさんさいています。

I understand that:

歩道 - sidewalk
の - possessive particle
わき - ?
に - location particle
タンポポ - dandelion
が - subject particle?
たくさん - lots
さいています - blooming (from context)

From this, I understand that are lots of dandelions blooming 'on someplace' on the sidewalk. My problem is with the わき part, I did find the word 脇 (near, by), but my dictionary doesn't says that it is usually written in kana alone.


texts: In the sentence 「なんて優しいんでしょう！」what is the purpose of adding んでしょう？


texts:
This is from a Manga, and I don't quite understand how the soredake in the 2nd bubble fits into it? But maybe I am completely off with the meaning of the sentences as a whole - so I've put what I think they mean in italics as well.

Bubble 1:

俺はどっちかって

いうと

そういうのは

鈍い方だけど

I'd say I am a reserved (quiet/solemn) person, but

Bubble 2:

それだけ　俺も

航を見てたって

ことだ

I also watched Kou

Does the soredake simply add an "only"? i.e. I also only watched Kou.

Any pointers are much appreciated. Thank you!


texts: Can I replace X with an adjective in 「ＸはＹです」?

texts:
I have been learning Japanese for a month now, using various online sources and the Genki I textbook. In the textbook, lesson 1 introduces the 「ＸはＹです」sentence structure and although I'm way past this lesson, I always return to this concept because it's simple, yet confusing for me.

The grammatical explanation given to me was "X is Y. As for X, it is Y." Unlike the other sentence structures mentioned in the book, for example noun1のnoun2 (to express possession), there was no indication whether the X and Y variables in 「ＸはＹです」were supposed to be a specific part of speech.

I know I can replace the variables with nouns, for example 私はがくせいです to say "I am a student." And that they are interchangeable, for example がくせいは私です to say "The student is me.

If nouns are interchangeable, can a noun and an adjective be interchangeable as well? For example, 私はかわいいです (I am cute) to かわいいは私です(Cute I am). If not, is there a sentence structure where I can state the adjective first before mentioning the noun?

ありがとうございます！


texts: Can the kanji for writing 「書き」be used to express that one is drawing something, like a picture「絵」. As in 絵は書きます read as えはかきます.


texts: '旅行に**行った**つもりでお金をためている。' why is 行 conjugated in the past rather than being 行く?

texts: In '旅行に行ったつもりでお金をためている。' why is 行 conjugated in the past rather than being 行く??


texts: What are the different nuances of saying 変{へん}?

texts:
I recently came across the term 変{へん}てこ, which, if I understand it, means "strange", but is softer than saying 変{へん}な.

Is it similar to 変{へん}なちょこ? I think this also means strange, but also in a softer, possibly cute way.

In short, can someone clarify the different nuances of 変{へん}てこ, 変{へん}な, and 変{へん}なちょこ?

Also, are there other examples of ～てこ, or is it only used with 変{へん}?


texts: What are the meanings of the words 「えぐりこむ」and「べし」?

texts:
Here is the sentence I have seen them from a boxing Manga.

ひじを左{ひだり}わきからはなさない心{こころ}がまえで.....
やや内{ない}角{かく}をねらい

えぐりこむようにして...打{う}つべし！

Especially 「べし」, I don't know the purpose to use it in the context.

Another question: As my understanding to the content, am I correctly translating?

Translation: From the left armpit, keep the elbow close to the front of the chest and aim to the inside corner (of the opponent) then move forward (to him) to punch/hit.


texts:
I quite like the expression "... eludes me" (or in French "... m'échappe"). I can express this with something like 分からない, 理解できない but this is not faithful to the expression "... eludes me".

Indeed, "... eludes me" describes something that you can't catch, the thing itself try to not come close to you so as not to be caught. That is the thing eludes you on its own. On the other hand, 理解できない or わからない only tells that you can't understand but misses the nuance that the thing tries not to be caught.

Is there a word in Japanese that matches this nuance?


texts:
I’ve put ⻏ in the search function but got no result.
There are two ⻏radicals. Their origins are different but they are visually identical.
On Jisho:

But in a different dictionary (an app I got for my iPad) the two ⻏ radicals are listed differently. One as having 2 strokes while the other 3 even though they are visually identical:

Also, while for Jisho the kanji listing is coherent depending on whether the ⻏is on the left or right side, the one from the application dictionary has kanji listings where the ⻏is in different positions.
So my question is: why? AFAIK dictionaries are frontends for the same database. Why are they listing that radical differently? Which one is right? Is the app one faulty in its radical classification?


texts: であるので and であるのだ vs なので and なのだ

texts: In these pairs, are the ones containg である simply more formal? I think I've seen both in writing.


texts:
選挙カーも走らない静かな選挙戦だったが、投票率は何と８９・４１％。
飛び地の村の不思議な選挙を追った。

Source: https://www.sankei.com/premium/news/191209/prm1912090002-n1.html
An enclave town with a quiet election campaign without any cars running had a voter turnout of a whopping 89.41% following the somewhat strange election.
I haven't seen 追う used like this before. Can I translate the 「選挙を追った」part as "following".


texts: Talking about contextual things... Which Pronouns to use?

texts:
Apologies is this is an easy to answer or hard to explain question...
In English we often use demonstrative pronouns to reference what we just talked about.

For example:
The busiest stations in the world are in Japan.  Such as Shinjuku, Shibuya, or Umeda.  Everyday, millions of people use these stations.

Now I've always had issues with trying this in Japanese.
世界に一番忙しい駅は日本にあります。例えば、しんじゅく駅やしぶや駅やうめだ駅です。毎日、数百万の人は「何々」を使います。

Initially, I feel like I would just drop the は and just do 毎日、数百万の人が使います。Is this the only way to get the same meaning?


texts: Don't understand the structure of 「夕方アパートの山田さん宅の玄関で」

texts:
I've just stumbled upon a phrase:

「夕方【ゆうがた】　アパートの山田【やまだ】さん宅【たく】の玄関【げんかん】で」

If I understand it correctly, the meaning is:

In the evening, at the front door of Yamada's apartment.

What I don't understand is the way the phrase is constructed. It reads like:

In the evening, at apartment's Yamada's front door.

It feels like there's an ambiguity whether it's the "apartment's Yamada" or the "apartment's front door". Why not:

「夕方【ゆうがた】　山田【やまだ】さんのアパートの玄関【げんかん】で」

This might not be a good analogy, but if I decide to stick to the original phrase's structure and unwind the sentences from the end, then the following:

猫【ねこ】の山田【やまだ】さんの鼻【はな】

could be translated as:

Nose of Yamada's cat.
(cat's Yamada's nose ~= apartment's Yamada's front door)

But I feel that the correct translation would rather be:

Nose of cat's Yamada.

Which doesn't make sense... I'm confused.


texts: Does the term 絵本 refer only to children's books?

texts: I am reading a book with pictures and I am referring to it as an 絵本.　Is the term used for all types of picture books or is it limited to children's books?　I am reading an autobiography with pictures.


texts:
冬休{ふゆやすみ}みはどこ [か] 行{い}きましたか.

In the above sentence, I learned [か] can be used to express uncertainty, which means the person asking this question has no idea if the person being asked went to some place or stayed at home/school.

And I think [へ] and [に] can also be used here to replace [か], to describe destination/location, as though we don't care the uncertainty problem. Also, I somehow think [が] cannot be used here, because it's kind of weird.

Am I right in the above guess, especially [が]?


texts:
I think from looking up ありき that it means "based on", but it's usage is unclear to me.

I've come across it in these two examples:

  まずは結論{けつろん}ありき

Which I think means "the conclusion is based on the premise." Or, in other words, that the question is begged.

  初{はじ}めに言葉{ことば}ありき

"In the beginning, there was the word." I believe that's a more or less standard translation of the phrase from the Bible. But it doesn't say "based on," so would it be accurate to say a more literal translation is "the beginning is based on the word"?

Assuming I'm right about the meaning, then are the phrases above complete sentences? Does ありき acts in the same way です or だ does? It's not a verb, so what is it?

Note that my goal is not so much to classify it and give it a name, as it is to understand how to use it so I can make my own sentences with it. So an answer that gets marked as correct would contain instructions for usage.

Here's my attempt to create a sentence using ありき:

  合格{ごうかく}は動力{どうりょく}ありき。

Does that mean "success is based on effort," like I think it should? Is it a complete sentence?


texts: How should I translate the sentence 僕がかわりに殴ってやろう

texts:
I'm hoping you can help out with this sentence 僕がかわりに殴ってやろう, which I am not sure if I translate properly because of the が particle and also the imperative (is that right?) of the verb やる.

If the sentence had been written like this 僕のかわりに殴ってやろう I think it would have translated like: "Hit (them) in my place". Breaking it down in the literal sense, it should be  "Do the action of hitting for me". Is that it?
I have encountered the かわりに construction more with the の particle and because this time it is with the subject marker が, should the sentence be translated as: "Hit me instead" ?
Also, by having that imperative form, for example, if I would say to someone "Hit me!"  I feel that in Japanese it would sound like "僕を殴ってやれ！"
(would やろう work as well?)As a command/order towards someone, in a context when you want to sound harsh, just having the verb in て form would count as an imperative? I think I heard it in anime sometimes.
I hope I explained right and that you can help me out with a proper translation.
Thank you!


texts:
あんた、だって、懐かしいっていうのは昔行った場所に久しぶりに行くから感じるんやろ

Came across this sentence while playing a visual novel and just had a small question.
Would I be correct in saying there is a ということ omitted just after the 感じる? I just can't really wrap my head around the っていうのは and the sentence ending with a verb in 感じるんやろ. Is the ん in 感じるんやろ the same ん as in んだ, or is it the same as in say 赤いのはこれだ?
Any help is much appreciated.


texts: What is the difference between 何だと and 何ですと?

texts: I noticed that in some anime (specifically, the Ace Attorney anime), the characters often switch between 何だと, 何ですと, and a few other slight variants. What is the difference between them?


texts: I wanted to describe that 「えっと」 was similar to "Ummm" in English when someone is trying to think about what they are going to say, but I wasn't even sure if that was correct. Is that just a generalization? What does 「えっと」actually come from? Can it be considered to be a word or phrase?


texts:
In my understanding :

もちろん = of course
はい = yes
うん = yes

When is each of them more appropriate to use, or is it basically just preference? Are other options more casual than the other options?


texts:
I have a "Fairly" simple paragraph that I have written.
Hello, Im Kyle.
こんにちは、カイルと申します。
Im 29 years old and (そして) my favourite music is Rock and (とか) Classical.
二十九歳だそして好きな音楽はロックミュージックとかクラッシックだ。
As for your favourite music, what is it?
あなたの好きな音楽は何だか.
Im curious about two things here:

The use of そして for connecting the first sentence with the second, I had heard that そして can sometimes be used for comparing sentences?
The use of とか for a simple list (of things like or for example).

For such a short list, is there a better way to write this sentence rather than using とか?


texts: What is the difference between なる　ｖｓ　なす?

texts:
While I have seen なる being used a lot, that is not so for なす。 What is the usage of なす? The two have similar meaning which in its most simplest form means "to become" i.e change in state of something.

Now here is a line, that I am having trouble dissecting:

大いなることをなすには犠牲は付き物だ。

It uses なる、then なす then it uses は twice. It appear to be rather strange from grammatical perspective.


texts: Since I learned おまわりさん and けいかん I always wondered if the first has a "children language" nuance, or if it is just a friendly/respectful way to call a police officer. Is this the case?


texts:
I came across the following example sentence and translation in a dictionary:

母の喜びようったら大変なものだった。 Mama was too pleased for words.

I don't understand how that meaning arises, especially with "喜びようったら大変なもの".
I suspect it might have something to do with ったらない being used to intensify the degree or extant of something, but here the ない is replaced with 大変? Really unsure.
EDIT:
After some thought, can I break it down as:

母の喜びよう mother's way of being glad
...ったら as for ...
大変なものだった was great/immense

Still unsure if this is the correct parsing.


texts: Why did Asahi Shinbun write "子{こ}ども" instead of "子供{こども}" in this headline?

texts:
I just happened across an Asahi Shinbun article with a headline that reads:
日本{にほん}の子{こ}どもの幸福度{こうふくど}は６位{い}　豊{ゆた}かさの一方{いっぽう}、深刻{しんこく}な貧困{ひんこん}

(-) Compacting articles as much as possible is a standard practice in every newspaper in the world. Yet, the 3 character long "子ども" was written instead of the 2 character long "子供".

(-) My understanding is that "ども" in "子供" is not 送{おく}り仮名{がな}。 If somehow it is, I hope someone can elaborate? "送り仮名" does not happen after tangible nouns, right?

The writer of that headline absolutely has a reason for writing "子ども", but I cannot imagine what it is. Conserving space in a newspaper is paramount, and "子供" looks good to me.

thank you.


texts:
貝獣

Does this work out of context? Do these kanji even go together? Would it need furigana to make the pun apparent? Does it have any unfortunate implications?


texts:
What does the 「にも」 after the volitional form 「作る」 do here?

  死んだら食べ物は必要ないし、死んでるんだから、物は当然産まれない。作ろうにも材料も何もないし。 がっかりさせて悪いけど、天国にはね、何にもないのよ。

I would assume it means something close to "in order to" but I'm not entirely sure.

I would assume the sentences together mean something along the lines of:

  When you die, there's no need for food, because you're dead, so it's natural things are not produced. There's not even any ingredients to make anything. It's difficult to feel so disheartened but that's heaven, there's nothing.

I feel like I'm missing quite a few things here but there one thing I know I don't understand is the 「作ろうにも」材料も何もないし.


texts: Are there any websites that not only list Japanese names in kanji, but also lists them in hiragana or romaji?

texts:
Anyone who has spent time translating between Japanese and English will know how difficult it is to translate Japanese names into English.
Not all Japanese names are hard to translate. If you're lucky, all you have to do is copy and paste the name into Google and a Wikipedia article will appear.
For example,

畠中 洋 (はたなか ひろし). This actor's name is Hiroshi Hatanaka.
大竹 しのぶ (おおたけ しのぶ). This actress's name is Shinobu Ōtake.

The above names are quite easy to find, because they have Wikipedia pages. Now let's try some tougher ones.

猪尾 仁. 猪尾 can be pronounced as いお or いのお. 仁 can be pronounced as あつし, さとし, しとし, しのぶ, じん, じんこう, じんじ, ただし, にん, ひさし, ひとし, ひとみ, ひろし, まこと, まさ, まさし, ますし, めぐみ or やすし.
東 嘉和. 東 can be pronounced as あがり, あきら, あず, あずま, あづま, こちざき, たかとう, とう, とうあ, とうはま, とうふく, とん, はじめ, ひがし, ひがしつる or やまと. 嘉和 can be pronounced as よしかず.

As you can see, these two people's names are very hard to figure out. They do get a mention on Wikipedia for being given the Video Award by the Hōsō Bunka Foundation (放送文化基金), but that's about it.
So are there any websites that not only list Japanese names in kanji, but also list their pronunciation in hiragana or romaji?


texts: i-adjectives used as na-adjectives: is there a difference? (e.g. 大きい versus 大きな)

texts:
There are at the very least several i-adjectives can be used as na-adjectives by dropping the final い and adding な in its place. The most common examples of this, as far as I am aware, are 大きい and 小さい, which become 大きな and 小さな, respectively. For quite a while, these were the only examples I was aware of, and so I was able to accept them as just "an exception to the rule." However, as I was just watching an anime, I came across おかしな, which I'd not heard previously.

Update. Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams pointed out in a comment that 暖かい can also be used in this way (i.e. 暖かな). I guess that means I have to take back my claim that only the three above can be used as na-adjectives. I will continue to search.

Update 3. It's been quite a while since I originally asked this question, and it appears that in the interim, dainichi has found two more instances of where this is possible. Specifically, やわらかい → やわらかな and 細【こま】かい → 細【こま】かな. So maybe there are some criteria to determine which adjectives can be used in this way, after all.

In the interest of getting a definitive answer, I've decided to offer a bounty on this question. The best answer will address the following points fully, with sources cited where possible (academic research or dictionary entries / grammar resources are preferred):

It has been suggested that the ～な usage adds a higher level of subjectivity; is confirmation of this assertion available?
We have determined a list currently of six adjectives which can be used in this way, outlined below. Are there any other i-adjectives which can be used as na-adjectives in this manner?
Is there a system or set of criteria which can be used to identify adjectives which can be used in this way?

a. If YES, what is that system or set of criteria?

b. If NO, why can this set of adjectives be used in this way?

If you would like the question to be clarified further, please leave a comment and I will be more than willing to do so if possible.

  Currently Identified　i→na Adjectives

  大【おお】きい ⇒ 大【おお】きな
  小【ちい】さい ⇒ 小【ちい】さな
  おかしい ⇒ おかしな
  暖【あたた】かい ⇒ 暖【あたた】かな
  やわらかい ⇒ やわらかな
  細【こま】かい ⇒ 細【こま】かな

Related question: Why does Japanese have two kinds of adjectives? (-i adjectives and -na adjectives)


texts: What are some Japanese euphemisms for death and dying?

texts: Could you list some euphemisms on death and dying used by Japanese people in everyday speech? I'm writing a paper on Japanese language euphemisms and would like to know more about expressions used by native speakers (not enough time to do a full survey, unfortunately). Would appreciate your help!


texts: Who is it referring to in this sentence?

texts:
「鈴木を、壊しちゃった…

なのに、お前のこと護ろうとして、

余計に傷つけて」

"I broke Suzuki ...
Nevertheless, in an effort to protect you,

The second sentence, who does it refer to?

Context: A girl (Lisa) says those lines to her boyfriend. Previously she had been talking with his exgirlfriend (Susuki), who had entered into a deep depression because the boy had chosen Lisa. Lisa tries to confort Suzuki but ends up hurting her more. At the same time Lisa was worried because Suzuki kept saying that she will win him back, to which Lisa says that she will always be with the boy, so that's impossible.

My question: In the sencond sentence who was Lisa protecting? The boy (making it clear he's hers) or Susuki (who she wanted to console and make amends with her). She's talking to the boy when she says that.

If you have a better translation of the paragraph I would also appreciate it.


texts: Is it true that a polysyllabic verb ending in iru or eru whose e/i syllab is written in hiragana ichidan?

texts: I read long ago that verbs containing more than two syllabs and whose syllab before る containing the sound e or i is written in hiragana are all ichidan. Is it an actual rule or just a useful trick with possible exceptions ?


texts: What does 「きみをしたって きたというが」 mean?

texts:
I have found it in a manga in a situation that there is a news reporter asking the following sentence to a boy whom the reporter thought that he is living in a ruin building with a group of little kids.

ここにいる少年たちは　みんな　きみをしたって　きたというが　ほんとうですか？


texts: Translating English names to Japanese: to elongate the vowel, or not?

texts:
Would the English name "Cody" (pronounced normally, k OH - d ee) be translated into katakana as コーディ or コーディー?

I understand the dash is used to elongate vowels so I'm not sure if the "ee" sound would require it or not.


texts:
The kanji 買　（buy) contains the kanji 貝　（shellfish).

Is it because the origin of the kanji  買 lies in the process of buying shellfish?

Does anyone know the story behind the kanji 買?

Thank you!


texts:
Once again I have some examples from a Death Note episode [10].

The main character says:

  しかしおどろいたよ流河{りゅうが}。親睦{しんぼく}を深{ふか}める為{ため}に、突然{とつぜん}テニスなんて。[Note, Ryuuga is a character's name, the one he's speaking to here.]

Later the same character, thinking to himself:

  アイツのこのテニスでプロファイルなんてするわけがない。

I think I grasp the overall meaning of these sentences, but would like to understand how なんて operates in them and how it connects to the other verbs, specifically する and ある in the second quote and the omission of a verb in the second sentence of the first quote. I would also like to understand what なんて means generally, as dictionary entries haven't really helped me figure it out.

How I understand the quotes:

  I was surprised, Ryuuga, that you asked me to play tennis so that we can get to know each other better.
  He will not be able to profile me with this game of tennis!


texts: How did 革 "leather" come to mean newness?

texts: How did the character for "leather" - [革]{かわ ／ カク} - come to also convey the meaning for "newness"?  広辞苑 lists one of the definitions (under かく) as あらたまること, あらためること, and we can see this in some of its associated 熟語: 変革, 改革, 革新. Anyone know how this came to be?


texts: What does "なぜって‥‥‥ それは おかあさんには ないしょなの" mean?

texts:
I've been learning Japanese through phone apps and am now trying to read a Japanese children's book called ふんふん なんだかいいにおい. The first page is:

  さっちゃんは おおいそぎで あさごはんを たべました。
  おかあさんは いつも 「ゆっくり たべなさい」 と いうけれど、 きょうは
  ゆっくりなんて していられないの。
  なぜって‥‥‥
  それは おかあさんには ないしょなの。

I think the first two sentences mean:

  Sachan ate breakfast urgently. Mom always says "please ate slowly"' but
  today it cannot be helped"

I can't figure out that the last sentence. It starts with なぜって‥‥‥ which I didn't recognize at all and apparently just means "why". Then それ means "that" and おかあさん means "mother" but I dodn't know ないしょ or なの. Apparently ないしょ means "secrecy" or "privacy" and なの is an informal version of ですか?". Both Google Translate and Microsoft Translate give different translations of that sentence, neither has a word like secrecy or privacy in it and neither seem to make much sense in the context so I'm still not sure what that sentence means.


texts: What implication does 臨まれた mean in this context?

texts:
同日午後に「退位礼正殿の儀」の実施を告げる「退位礼当日賢所大前の儀」に臨まれた。

Source: https://www.sankei.com/life/news/190430/lif1904300016-n1.html

I understand this as, on the same day, there's going to be an announcement of abdication and ＜some other ceremony and　臨まれた＞

I do not understand the part between ＜＞. What does it mean ?


texts: The difference between my translation and native Japanese`s translation

texts:
so I was asked to translate something and the sentence was

  Wear like mirror surface is found in wide area where top, second, and oil ring
  slide"

(Quite technical I know)

I translated it too:

  トップとセコンドとオイルリング所に広い摩耗の鏡面が見える

After I explained the English sentence to my Senpai, he then corrected it to be:

  摩耗して鏡面のようになっている部分がトップとセコンドとオイルリングスライド所の広い
  範囲である

I know hes right and used more natural Japanese than I did but I want to know your
opinion. Was my sentence hard to understand that it had to be corrected?

And what`s the difference between his and my sentence? Cause I still think my
sentence is more understandable (too me anyway). How do I change my way of thinking
so I can imitate his sentence structure more?

Thank you!


texts:
I never knew the differences between 「～かかわらず」 and 「～かまわず」 and assumed they were more or less the same until I tried saying

  *「ソフトの機能にかまわず、。。。」

and was told to use 「かかわらず」.

What am I missing?


texts:
Someone else asked this question in another Japanese learning space I'm in and I attempted to research it to find an answer for them, but I didn't quite get a conclusive answer.
On goo, they define 卓 as 物を置く台 and they define 台 as 物をのせるもの
I also found this article which I briefly skimmed through, and while it doesn't specifically address the difference between the two words/kanji in this question, there were mentions of them throughout, but it didn't seem like there was any clear difference, that I could find at least.
All I've been able to guess so far is that 台 is maybe broader in meaning in regard to tables than 卓, since 卓 is defined as a type of 台. I also noticed from my brief research that 卓 doesn't seem to be used by itself very often. All I was able to find was 卓を囲む when it came to that. Otherwise it was mostly just compounds like 食卓. Where as with 台 it seemed that it could be used by itself or in compounds, either way.
I am assuming that there is perhaps a way to distinguish between the two based on the characteristics of any given table at hand whether it would be more appropriate to refer to it as a 卓 or a 台, but I was not able to find anything covering this.


texts: Can You Explain the Particle Usages For These Sentences Involving 雨の中＿?

texts:
I'll preface this with my understanding of particles that I think are relevant in this context.

「を」 - point of departure, or movement through a location.

「に」 - specific point in time, or direction of motion.

「で 」- point of action.

For the motion related verbs (e.g. run, walk). It's seems straightforward.

「雨の中を歩く」"Walk in (through) the rain."

For the verb 「出かける」. Normally it is used with 「に」 to indicate where a person leaves to. e.g. 「買い物に出かける。」

However, the only instances of 出かける being used with 「を」 instead of the usual に is in the phrase: 雨の中を出かける

Which usage of 「を」 is this? It certainly does not mark the point of departure. Maybe it's the second usage? You leave and "go through" the rain? I'm not too sure.

「彼は雨の中を出ていった。」

Similarly, 「を」 is not being used to mark the point of departure in this sentence.

Lastly, the sentences that confused me the most.

「雨の中に長い間立たされた。」

「私は雨の中を１０分も待たされた。」

「客たちは外の雨の中で、数時間待たされた。」

「気がつくと僕は雨の中を公園に立っていた。」

Not only are none of these motion verbs, all 3 particles seem interchangeable? In particular the last one, which uses both 「を」 and 「に」 . I'm very confused as to how these particles were chosen.

Evidently I seem to be ignorant of some grammar that would explain all this. Would very much appreciate an explanation. Thanks!


texts:
それは彼の身に応えだした。   [ex #4531]
It is beginning to tell on him.

can anyone explain this sentence? is it useful or archaic?

is it related to this?

骨身にこたえる


texts: Genki question. Translating a roleplay conversation

texts:
I'm "learning" Japanese and I need a bit of help regarding an exercise from the Genki I Textbook.

Lesson 6, Question 6, Example 3. I need to make a conversation between 2 people (A and B).

This is what I'm given for A:

You are asked to return your friend's video today, but you forgot to bring. You want to return it later.

Description for B:

You asked your friend to return your video today. You need it today because you want to watch it with another friend.

This is how I made the conversation.

A: Video を わすれました. あした に もってくる

Now regarding the response with B.. I don't know what is the right way to say it.

I would start with something like でもきょうは but I don't know what is the right word to continue with. Hopefully someone can help me.

On another note, is it okay if I ask questions like this? There is no one I know that can help me with this and on the one forum I found it always takes a while to get a response.

Is it okay if I make more questions about translation? Or will it be considered spam?

EDIT:
B example.
でもきょうがvideoをもている. ともだちとoみています


texts: How to say 'I just wanted to check...' formally?

texts:
How to say the following in a formal way?

  I just wanted to check...

Is it kind of like this:

  参考までに伺いたいんですが、新しい求人が出ましたか？


texts: Which translation of "Mongolia" is most suitable for everyday use?

texts:
Which translation of "Mongolia" is most suitable for everyday conversation?

The Japanese edition of Wikipedia's entry on Mongolia has the article title of モンゴル国, Wiktionary translates it as "モンゴル" and "蒙古", and weblio has amongst others "モンゴリア", which is also what someone suggested I use.


texts:
The dictionary says that the antonym for 失意 is 得意. But at the same time, the antonym for 得意 is 不得意.

Any idea?


texts: How to address someone in an email who referred to themselves as part of a department

texts:
Recently I received an email from someone in the editing department of a literary magazine. Specifically, they ended their email with:

[Magazine name] 編集部

For when I write them a response, how should I address them? How about this?

編集部の方、


texts: 「原因{げんいん}」の熟語{じゅくご}の成り立ちは？

texts:
Remembering when to use [原]{げん} and when to use [源]{げん}?

をみていて疑問に思った点です。例えば、「原因」の熟語には、「原っぱ」という意味は全くないにも関わらず、「原因」という熟語として成立しています。これは、何故でしょうか。語源は何なのでしょうか。


texts:
In English, we have a construction like

  Yeah, I would never let him in. If you were to ask why, well, I guess I'd say because he's too young.

My sense of the nuance is that it admits that what you just said may result in a "why?"; that what you said is perhaps a little hard to understand without a reason. Sort of a way of softening a strong statement. (The "guess" softens it even more in that example.)

I was trying to think of an equivalent in Japanese, and first, I thought of 「なぜなら」, but that seems to have a completely different nuance to me (rather stilted, and certainly not softening; perhaps like "As to why," in English).

Then, I thought of perhaps the more syntactically similar option, 「なぜかというと」. I think this might have a similar softening nuance to "If you were to ask why", but I'm not entirely sure since I don't hear it too often.

Is 「なぜかというと、〜」 a reasonable equivalent to "If you were to ask why, ..." in English (i.e., similar nuance)? Is there a better equivalent?

英語では、こういう表現があります：

  Yeah, I would never let him in. If you were to ask why, well, I guess I'd say because he's too young.

この表現は、「なぜ？」と思われるだろうな、理由をつけないと分かりづらいだろうなと思っているということを伝えるようなニュアンスがあると思います。強い言い方を和らげるような使い方があると。（この例文は、"guess"によって更に和らげられていますね。）

日本語で言おうとして、最初に頭に浮かんだのは「なぜなら」だったのですが、「なぜなら」は全く違うニュアンスを持っているような気がします。（とても堅苦しい、けして和らげはしないニュアンス。英語の"As to why,"に似てるような。）

次に思いついたのは、「なぜかというと」だったのです。考えてみるとこの方が構文的には英語に近いですね。"If you were to ask why"と同じ和らげるニュアンスがあるような気がしますが、あまり耳にしない表現なので、よく分かりません。

「なぜかというと、〜」は"If you were to ask why"に相当する日本語ですか？更に相当する日本語はありますか？


texts: Sites/ways helpful for learning internet/slang lingo?

texts: As the title says- I'm wondering if anyone is aware of a website used for learning dialects and internet lingo?


texts: How you would say combination in Japanese?

texts:
Someone is trying to open a safe, a briefcase, or padlock, and that person says, "What's the combination?". Referring to sequence of numbers to open said lock. What's the Japanese equivalent for combination when used in this way?

EDIT: Someone put this as an answer earlier then deleted it:

  組{くみ}み合{あ}わせが何ですか？

Was this wrong?


texts: Is nominalization necessary in 「彼が戻るのか知らないんです。」？

texts:
Do we need to nominalize 彼が戻る with の to create an interrogative clause? Is B not enough?

A: 彼が戻るのか知らないんです。
B: 彼が戻るか知らないんです。


texts: What is the precise etymology of the word? Was it borrowed at the time when it was pronounced [hwait] or they just perceived it like that?


texts:
this is my first question on this site and i going to use romaji because i didnt configured my keyboard. So... i use a book that dont have answers-key, then i dont have sure if i doing right.

[ですから]{Desukara}、[鈴木]{Suzuki}さん{san}　[は]{wa}　[６]{roku}[時]{ji}[半]{han}　[に]{ni}　[起]{o}[きます]{kimasu}。
[会社]{kaisha} [へ]{e} [７]{shichi}[時]{ji}[１５]{juugo}[分]{hun} [に]{ni} [行]{i}[きます]{kimasu}。

Thanks everyone.


texts: Do 以上 and 以下 include the number preceding them?

texts: I was having a discussion with a colleague and we couldn't recall how they both worked. Does 一人以上 mean a) 1 or more persons or b) more than one person?


texts: The meaning of どちらが割に合うんだかな

texts:
「そんな顔をするな。これで何かあったら、さすがに寝覚めが悪いだろう？　それにワシはお前が嬢ちゃんくらいのひよっこの頃から面倒見てるんだからな。恩人の頼みは聞くもんだ」
「連れ戻してきたら、ご馳走するぞ。今朝いい肉が入ってな」
「ったく、銀貨５枚とどちらが割に合うんだかな」
他の探索者は面倒ごとに関わるまいと散会している。断れる雰囲気ではなさそうだ。

My question is about the meaning of 「ったく、銀貨５枚とどちらが割に合うんだかな」.
Context: A young boy came to the adventurers guild with a request but only had several silver coins(edit: if you read on much further you find out it was 5 silver coins). The guild master told the boy that he wouldn't send his members for such a small reward.
Before the young boy leaves an aspiring members of the guild accepts his request. The guild master (worried about the potential impact on the guild if the member dies, or is found out as this member has not yet received their license). He then tells someone else to go and save her, and the above conversation begins.
割に合う from what I understand (in this context) means "to be worth it". However, I don't quite follow what is meant in the excerpt above. Can anyone help?


texts: Resource for looking up particles for verbs,

texts:
I will give an example; 出る is a verb where its unclear what you use as the particle depending on circumstance. if you are to say something like "Bill appeared on stage." you would use the particle に to however if you say are going to say "after that i left the theater" you would use the particle を to mark the place you are departing from.
I realize alot of verbs its not all that complicated to determine as you can simply determine the appropriate particle for the direct object and then muddle your way through from their. However, in the example above normally you would use a に or　で particle to mark a location yet this verb uses を and に and if anything the appear being に makes less sense of the two. For example someone on stage behind the curtain standing still and then opening the curtain, you would still use the particle に even though the person did not actually move.
Their are quite a few exceptions to the norm like my example above probably around 50 of them in total; but i don't have a good resource to look them up. I mostly use jisho.org which does on occasion give example sentences so you can try and glean what to do but i would love a resource i can type 出る into an it would say に　(appear) を (exit) etc for the majority of verbs.


texts: Verb+Noun Combination // なる to "describe landscapes"

texts:
I stumbled upon following sentence:

  至る所に水路が張り巡らされ青が際立つ街並みになっている。

I wanted to ask which grammatical construction lies behind 「張り巡らされ青」. The context it appears in is the description of a (fictional) Onsen-town.

Further I am unsure how to interpret 「なっている」. I can image that (judging from it being the description of an Onsen-town) meaning something like "the scenery changed into...".


texts:
I was in Japan recently and am trying to remember the name for a small towel the Japanese may use to wipe the sweat off their faces in the summer. I was hoping to buy one for myself in the U.S.

Do these towels have a name in Japanese? If so, what would be the transliteration in English?


texts: What is the etymology of the word 杜撰（ずさん）?

texts: Can this word be derived to original Japanese words or is it maybe, like the kanji might suggest, of Chinese origin?


texts:
The title of the film 害虫 (2001) was literally translated into English as "Harmful Insect".

It is clear to me that the original title is a figure of speech. Is it a established metaphor (and how would you translate it?), or did the creators of the film just use that word creatively?


texts:
I’ve stumbled upon the sentence これからのお話を, which was translated “a story from now on” but why is を in the end and what is it’s meaning here?
As far as I know を is used to indicate direct objects but I don’t see any in this sentence.


texts: If こわれかけのオルゴール was 壊れかけのオルゴール, 壊れ would be the stem of 壊れる, and かけ would probably be a noun. Since I'm just learning Japanese, I don't understand where かけ comes from. What meaning does かけ have in こわれかけのオルゴール?


texts: Is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) a good measure of my Japanese language ability?

texts: Given that there has been discussion by the Japanese government to use the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) as one of the measures by which permanent residences or citizenship might be granted, how good of a measure of it of actual real world Japanese skill? Does passing the level N1 test mean that you are on par with a native speaker or does it just show that you have advanced knowledge of the language?


texts: What does “水着勿体ないんでよかったら今度のお休み” mean here?

texts:
水着勿体ないんでよかったら今度のお休み

Context: this girl sent this guy a picture of her in her swimsuit while she lay in bed because she just bought it and thought it was cute and just found out that her vacation trip to the beach was canceled because of a typhoon. The guy she sent the pic to was going to have to work while she was on vacation and was sad he couldn’t go with them.  I imagine she was going to send him pics from the beach.

What’s she saying here? The translation provided says “ The swimsuit will go to waste so, this weekend”  but I feel like this translation is incorrect/missing something because お休み doesn’t mean weekend.


texts:
I found this sentence in a manga and I can't understand what it means.
どアップ (or ドアップ) should mean close up, while しんどい means tiring, bothersome, hard etc., but what do they mean when they are put together?

The scene goes like this: Two girls are nose-to-nose , one of them is completely enthralled by the beauty of the other, and in her inner dialogue she says "“どアップしんどい" before praising the eyes and the eyelashes of the other girl.

I've seen it used as a hashtag on Instagram (on close up pictures) but that didn't help me at all. Can someone help me out?


texts:
I know there are already a few questions about this topic on this website, however none of them seemed to really help me with the issue.

The ~てほしい contruction is used to express that someone wants someone/something else to do something. Now, my problem is with the particle that is used to mark the person/thing that is supposed to carry out the desired action: Should it be が or に, or can it be both?

In most examples I saw, に was used. For example:

  あなたに幸せになってほしい。

But occasionally, there were also examples with が. So I tried to think about a solution, and I came up with the idea that maybe が was only used to avoid misunderstandings, such as in the following example provided by Toshihiko in the answer to the question てほしい particle usage:

  私はあなたが彼に英語を教えてほしい。
  I want you to teach him English.

But then I found another example sentence:

  冬が早く来て欲しい。
  I want winter to come soon.

Here, the が doesn't seem to be used to avoid any misunderstandings because the sentence is simple enough as it is.

So after all, what determines if you should use が or に to mark the person or thing that should carry out the action when using the ~てほしい construction?


texts: Confusing translation? 「不慣れな思いをするのは私一人で十分ですよ」

texts:
Taken from the linked short passage about living away from one's family for work. I copied the trouble sentence below with the sentences immediately before and after.
https://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/n1_01_04.html

田中さんは今後おそらく３年、最低でも２年は家族と離れ離れの生活を余儀なくされることになるわけだが、本人は至って前向きだ。「そりゃあ、本音を言えばさびしいですよ。でも、受験生の娘や病気がちな母のことを考えれば、不慣れな思いをするのは私一人で十分ですよ」と笑っている。家族の心配をよそに、一人暮らしを満喫しようと、早速料理の本を買ったそうだ。

I can't figure out the meaning of "受験生の娘や病気がちな母のことを考えれば、不慣れな思いをするのは私一人で十分ですよ."  Part of it is that I can't exactly define "不慣れな思い".  He feels "inexperience" being a father, since he's not a part of his studying daughter's or sick mother's lives?  But why would he feel OK suffering such a depressing feeling alone (私一人で十分です)?  He feels good avoiding the difficulty his daughter/mother would impose on him? That seems like a dark and selfish mentality for a neutral passage. I'm lost here.

Thanks in advance.


texts: How do I parse this sentence? （年中行事について）

texts:
The sentence in question:

  年中行事の生ずるのは季節のうつりゆきが農業などの上にすぐ影響するし、それが国民生活の上に現れて種々の行事が生ずるのである。

My attempt at a semi-literal translation:

  As for the arising of annual observances, changes in the seasons not only directly influence agricultural matters; they also spring up in various observances which appear in peoples' lives.

I made a lot of guesses in that translation, and I'd appreciate it if you could help me turn those guesses into right or wrong answers.

I think that the antecedent of それが in the second half of the sentence is 季節の移りゆき, which means that it's the subject of the entire sentence (with the predicate being である). Is that correct?
The structure of 国民生活の上に現れて種々の行事 really baffles me. My best guess is that the whole thing is a relative clause describing 行事. Or, more accurately, one relative clause 「国民生活の上に現れて」and one simple modifier 「種々」. Is that in the ballpark, or is the answer something else entirely?
I'm confused about the two uses of 上に in the sentence. At first glance I thought they meant "On top of that...." or "Not only..." but that interpretation doesn't seem to work for the second 上に, which I kind of thought of as functioning as "...appearing on top of people's lives." And if the second 上に can be interpreted that way, then I figure, why can't the first? (I.e., "Changes in the seasons directly influence-on-top-of agricultural matters.") But as far as I know I totally invented this interpretation of 上に, cause it didn't really show up in the dictionaries I looked in. Please let me know.

I think I got the gist of the sentence down, but I'm asking for a really detailed breakdown of all the grammatical things happening inside it, to make sure I really understand it (and also so that I don't come away from this with completely wrong assumptions).

I'd really appreciate it if you could break it down entirely and not just give me your own translation!


texts:
I found a page in Japanese with title "世界でもっとも汚染された10の都市". Having encountered the phrase 「もっとも」 for the first time, I looked it up on WWWJDIC and found two entries:

尤も 【もっとも】 (adj-na,adv,conj,n) quite right; plausible; natural; but then; although;
最も 【もっとも】 (adv) most; extremely;

Since the page is about world's dirtiest cities, I assumed that the もっとも used in the page title is the second one 最も that means "most, extremely". However, should I have not known what the page is about, I think I would have not known which of the two もっとも is the one used in the title since both of them can be used an adverb. Since WWWJDIC example sentence for 尤も is using it as a noun, I tried to look for sample sentences that use 尤も as an adverb with not much luck.
Are there scenarios where 尤も is commonly used as an adverb? If it's rare, is it safe to assume that if もっとも is used as an adverb in a sentence, it is most probably 最も, otherwise if it's not used as an adverb it is most probably 尤も?


texts:
安定のシリーズ四作目。前回で微妙だった部分をすぐに修正してきたのはさすが

about a the 4th game of a series

feels very unintuitive to me, compared to 前回の微妙だった部分 for instance


texts:
I am setting up a new company.  Is the name 岩圭 a good choice or does it make sense as a name ?  What is the meaning of 岩圭?  I found somebody with that name in the internet. Is that a common or popular name.

For your information, my company is selling live fish.

Thank you


texts:
I have come across this a few times when reading: 悪ぃ(わりぃ).

I have seen it used as an expression and as an adj.
from the context it looks like it carries a meaning of "sorry" or "my bad".
is this a different dialect or shorter form of 悪い(わるい), or does it have some other significance?


texts: Do I need to use の or が in this sentence

texts:
先生の言ったとおりにやってください
or
先生が言ったとおりにやってください

I'm trying to say "Please do as the teacher said"


texts:
I have recently reached the の particle in my grammar book and it really confused me.

Question #1:
When we attach の to a verb clause like this,

  毎日勉強するの大変

does it mean I'm talking about the act of studying everyday and that it classifies as hard, and if so, can this form only be used for dictionary form verbs?

Question #2 :
When I'm using の for explanation.
This sentence was present in my book:

  その人が買うんじゃなかったの?

First of all, why is there another の at the end of the sentence? Isn't it already conjugated as ん? The main question here is:
what is the difference between that sentence and this one?

  それ人が買ったんじゃない?

If I got it wrong and they're not different could someone tell me what they mean?
I know I'm asking a lot and I'm really sorry for that, but both questions got me confused.
I'd appreciate any help.


texts:
I know the following words that all mean a road of some kind:

道
町
街
路
道路
街路
街道
通り
通り道

What's the difference between all these words? I'd assume size would be one of them, but what is the order if this is true?


texts:
Please help me. I can’t understand the sentence below:

お前がいてくれればいい。お前さえ…

For context: These are words spoken by a woman who is about to move somewhere far away from her brother, whom she’s very close to.  Her brother is upset they will be so far apart and told her that their bond is unbreakable just before she spoke the above line.
Parsing the sentence:

お前が – You
いて (is this 居て?) – to stay
くれれば (is this 暮れれば?) – if in the end
いい – does this describe a hope or wish?

Does it say something like: I hope you continue to stay (here) in the end.

お前さえ – does さえ mean even as explained in the answers here: Does さえ mean "even" in the following sentence?


texts:
In　桜桜 what do "いざや" and "見に行かん" mean, or rather why do they mean what they mean.
I've never heard a term like いざや, and I've never seen 行く written as ゆく, nor have I seen an あん  ending unless it was going to be あない.


texts: What is the difference between くらい～はない & ほど～はない?

texts:
リーさんぐらい動物好きな人はいない。
リーさんほど動物好きな人はいない。

What is the difference between these two sentences.


texts: What are the differences between 選ぶ, 選択, and 選定, if any?

texts:
In Japanese, I have encountered 3 words for selecting or making a choice (so far).

選ぶ

    彼はよい奥さんを選んだ。

  He chose a good wife.

選択

    それでも、早期の退職を選択する人は多い。

  Nevertheless, many are choosing early retirement.

選定

    例文の選定がまずかったです。

  The choice of example sentence wasn't wise.

(Sample sentences are from JDIC:ED)

Are there any differences between the three? Or are they generally interchangeable?


texts: Levi is trying to clean the room with the vacuum cleaner


texts:
鳴神の 少し響みて さし曇り 雨も降らぬか 君を留めむ

Heard this in a movie.
Really can't make sense of this grammar, to be honest. Can anybody break down what's going on here?

Thanks :)


texts:
I am able to understand できるもんなら作る, but I don't understand the way ってのが is used, which I've come to learn is the contraction of というのが
So, in which way is ってのが being used?


texts:
I have a question regarding this kanji: . Is it the same kanji with this 發 or 発?

  The kanji of the Green dragon tiles in Japan is usually  which is slightly different from 發 since it includes the kanji 矢 instead of 殳." (Wikipedia - Japanese Mahjong).

On last summer Japan trip, I was looking for some calligraphy stuffs near Asakusa, then I asked the Obasan to make me 發 word. She asked me whether that is 発 "Hatsu" because she said she doesn't know that word (發) exists in Japanese. But she did not tell me this kanji: .

I know 發 word from Chinese 發財 and HK Mahjong.

I hope native/Japanese expert could explain this to me.


texts: What's the difference between 思う and 考える?

texts: These two words both seem to mean "to think", but is there any difference between them? Is it related to the difference between 言う and 話す by any chance?


texts: I am beginning to study kanji and while reading a wiki I noticed only the ordinal numbers first (初), second (乙), and third (丙) are listed. Which brings me to ask whether there are symbols for fourth, fifth, and so on or if these are the only ones available; I am not knowledgeable on ordinal counting in Japanese.


texts: Is するということであります speaking in the past, or present?

texts:
This is from a commercial for Hermie Hopperhead:

長官:大変お待たせいたしました。
それでは、現時点で分かっている事実を発表いたします。
まず、名前はハーミーホッパーヘッド。
記者A:すいません。もう一度お願いいたします。
長官:ハーミーホッパーヘッド。全部カタカナです。
エ、これが、ある惑星から脱出するということであります。

Translation

Secretary: Thank you very much for your patience.
Now, let me announce the facts that are known at this time.
First, it's name is Hermie Hopperhead.
Reporter A: I'm sorry, could you repeat that again?
Secretary: Hermie Hopperhead. The name is all in katakana.

My question is below, above was context:
So, basically, what we know is, they've escaped from some planet.
or
So, basically, what we know is, they're trying to escape from some planet.


texts: What's the exact meaning of とする in this sentence?

texts:
I'm trying to understand the construction もうろうとしてる in this line from Mob Psycho 100 Episode 12:

  もうろうとしてるようだけど。

It's translated as "he looks like he's about to pass out"。

I found a usage of もうろうとする on eow.alc.co.jp which matches the meaning "to zone out", but I'd like to understand how to deconstruct this form, if that's possible. (for example, my dictionary doesn't know the above construction, so I imagine it's a compound of some kind).

I thought this might be とする, meaning "to be about to ...", as that matches the translation, but according to jisho, that form must follow the volitional form of a verb, whereas here, it follows a と-adverb (or たる-adjective, depending how you look at it).

I've also found 必要とする in the wild which seems like a similar construct, but here 必要 is just a regular noun (and that word actually appears in the dictionary too).

Does anyone know if there is some rule that could explain this construct?


texts: Can おまかせ be used to mean "random" in things like video games?

texts:
I understand what おまかせ means in the context of a sushi restaurant, where you let the chef decide what's to be served, but I've also seen it pop up a few times in Japanese games.

For example, the most recent Mario Kart uses it to say you want to let the computer pick which course is gonna be played on next, and is thusly referring to random selection. Is this a common practice? As I can't find enough instances of it to tell given my limited selection of Japanese translated games.

And if it is, what are the nuances of it? And is it meant as a pun by referring back to it's original meaning and extrapolating from that to fit it's new context, or is that not the case?


texts: What is the meaning of putting あれ at the end of these statements?

texts:
I saw an ad for Indeed today that had a couple tag lines with an あれ at the end, and I don't understand their use:

求人募集【きゅうじんぼしゅう】にサーチあれ。

仕事【しごと】、バイトさがしにサーチあれ。

Normally I'd assume that あれ would be something like して, since サーチ is a n-する verb, but that's obviously not the case here. I know あれ has several meanings, but usually it just means "that". Are these sentences saying "That with which jobs are searched," or is this a separate meaning or colloquialism I'm not familiar with?


texts:
I have learnt the pattern Noun + のような. My question is よう is a Noun or an Adjective. If it is an Adjective, then why it is preceded by a の. If it is a Noun then why it is followed by a な.
What is behind this pattern?
Thanks for your help.


texts: Name of the food in the picture in Japanese and i can't identify it in English, either

texts: What is this food? It looks like Taiyaki, however, I can't identify it.


texts: What is the correct veritable meaning of 水無月 and 神無月?

texts:
This question is the result of a conversation with Chocolate in chat, and also this Japanese calendar I have that lists the months according to the traditional Japanese names.

For some reason, there exists some discrepancy about the literal meaning of 水無月 and 神無月. What is the correct meaning verbatim as it relates to the Japanese language other than that these are specific months? (I am not asking for names "June" and "October").

One translation due to the 無 character acting as a "negative identifier"(?) (否定の接頭語) meaning "nothing/non/un/not" and such:

  神無月 - "the month when there are no gods"

  水無月 - "the month when there is no water"

A second translation exists stating that 無 acts as an ateji (当て字, 宛字) for 「な/の」. This would result in a slightly different meaning:

  神無月 - "the month of gods"

  水無月 - "the month of water"

It seems that there are a variety of sources that take either side. What would be the appropriate literal meaning for each of these words? In addition, does 無 act as an 当て字 or as 否定の接頭語?


texts:
On Wanikani I've long since learned "entrance" as 入{い}り口{ぐち}. However, in my textbook, I just came across the vocabulary word for "entrance" and it writes it as 入{いり}口{ぐち}. I note that the pronunciation is the same in both cases 「いりぐち」 but what's the difference between the two kanji writings?

I looked it up on jisho and only found 入口 (though 入り口点 on jisho uses the い reading of 入). Does this mean I should normally be writing this as 入口 and wanikani is wrong, or is this a matter of preference?


texts: What's the difference between [四]{し}の[五]{ご}の言う and 文句を言う?

texts: As far as I'm aware, they both mean to complain or grumble. When would I use [四]{し}の[五]{ご}の言う as opposed to 文句を言う？


texts:
僕は20歳大学生。

I feel that 20歳 is used as an adjective here. Is there any special conjugation?


texts:
I'm translating this:

  Duplicate question and answer type selection is not allowed, i.e. the question
  cannot contain the answer, and vice versa.

as:

  同じ質問と回答のタイプを選ぶのは許可されていません。
  すなわち、質問には答えを組み込むことは許可されるわけではありません。
  その逆の場合にも、同じことだ。

From the English Cambridge dictionary, "vice versa" is defined as:

  used to say that what you have just said is also true in the opposite order

and I'm translating it as:

  その逆の場合にも、同じことだ。

or, alternatively:

  その逆も同じです。

I'm also using the more formal "すなわち" instead of "つまり", and translating this:

  許可されるわけではありません

as

  I doesn't make sense to allow it

and I also realise that

  組み込むことは許可されるわけではありません

sounds a bit too heavy. A Google search gives hits on "許可されるわけではない", but not on "ことは許可されるわけではない".


texts: Particles in the Passive form causing me confusion (を、に、が)

texts:
Sometimes, I dont know what particles to use in the passive form に、を、が。

ワインを飲まれた

ワインに飲まれた

ワインが飲まれた

I REALLY dont understand the difference between those three. Is the first one that uses を　indicating that there is a subject that drank the wine? Do all of them mean that the wine has been drunk?

Thanks!


texts: How should we understand the plain form when used in novels set in the past?

texts:
I am trying to understand how the plain form is used in novels set in the past through the explanations in the paper referenced below. I wonder if someone could explain how we should understand the Japanese version of the following examples:

  Example 24:

    (1) 広田さんは髭の下から歯を出して笑った。
    (2) わりあいきれいな歯を持っている／??持っていた。

    (1) hirota-san wa hige no sita kara ha o dasite warat-TA.
    (2) wariai kireina ha o motte-i-RU/??motte-i-TA.

    (1) Mr. Hirota SMILED showing his teeth below his moustache.
    (2) He’D GOT good-looking teeth.

  Example 25:

    (1) 「お出になりませんか」と聞くと、先生は少し笑いながら、無言のまま首を横に振った。
    (2) 子どものような所作をする/??した。

    (1) “odeni narimasen ka” to kiku to, sensei wa sukosi warai nagara, mugon no mama kubi o yoko ni hut-TA.
    (2) kodomo no yoona syosa o su-RU/??si-TA.

    (1) “Wouldn’t you like to go out?” asked Sanshiro, and then Sensei smiled faintly and SHOOK his head without saying a word.
    (2) That WAS a childlike gesture.

  Example 29:

    (1) 「おしだ。」と信吾はつぶやいた。
    (2) ぎゃあっと言った蝉とはちがう。

    (1) “osida,” to singo wa tubuyai-TA.
    (2) gyatto itta semi to wa tiga-U.

    (1) “This one’s mute,” Shingo MUTTERED.
    (2) It WAS different from the one that had sung so loudly.

My limited understanding is that:

ta-form are main sentences about the foreground, plain form are about the background.
In each case the English translation places the plain form sentence in the past tense and makes it part of the author's narrative but, as the paper explains, this is wrong. You lose the perspective of being there, conveyed by the plain form.
In sentence 2 of example 24 the past tense does not work, but I am not sure why.
Again in example 2 of example 25 past tense does not work, but I am not sure why.
Sanshiro seems to be "thinking" sentence 2 of example 25 but I am not really sure.
English translations do always help. Sometimes they feel unnatural. For example, in the second sentence of "Example 25", I am not sure why the author has used "That" instead of "It". "It" (as used in sentence 2 of "Example 29") would have been more natural if the sentence was written from the author's perspective. "That" would fit if sentence was from Sanshiro's perspective, but if it his unspoken observation or the narrative has switched, how are we supposed to tell?, what is the convention? There is a bit more to it than just: background, plain form = time of utterance.
In example 29 we are told that sentence two is the "voice" of Shingo's: Are these his actual thoughts or observations, or even just what he could observe? I am confused.

My guess is that:

Possibly this writing can be likened to the frames in a US-Comic book(?) where:
- The authors narrative appears in the rectangular boxes?,
- the ta-form sentences represent the words appearing in speech bubbles?
- The plain form sentences refer to the images/pictures and the thoughts appearing in the "thought bubbles"?

But, I don't really know if this works.  I have struggled with explanations in the paper (link below) but if somebody could explain in simple terms how to interpret the plain form sentences above I should be grateful.

Paper: TENSE-ASPECT CONTROVERSY REVISITED: THE -TA AND -RU FORMS IN JAPANESE
Yoko Hasegawa; Link to paper: http://hasegawa.berkeley.edu/Papers/Hasegawa99.pdf