texts: Nuance of マスター vs. ご主人 when referring to a cafe owner

texts:
I'm reading a story where the main character debates whether he should call an cafe owner マスター or ご主人. At first he says the former doesn't fit this person, so he uses the latter, but after a conversation the owner asks him to use the term "マスター"

I looked up these two words in a dictionary, and マスター seems to correspond to "barkeep" or "master" and "ご主人" with "owner". However, none of these words in English are something you commonly use to address someone when speaking to them.

If someone can tell me the nuance between these two words, and any suggestions to map these to appropriate terms in English, I'd appreciate it.

(The story is here if you want to see the context)


texts: relative clause with Causative-Passive Verb

texts:
In this grammatical construction:

  X (doer)-は/が + Y (place)-で\に + Z (causer)-に + W (direct object)-を + Causative-Passive Verb (transitive verb)

What particles are used if the following relative clause is formed (hypothetically)?

  Causer-( ) + Direct Object-( ) + Doer-( ) + Causative-Passive Verb + Place

I think that the most normal and understandable construction would be a causative-passive verb modifying the doer, but given this answer passive verb modifying a noun... I wonder the arrangement of the sentence with this verb conjugation.


texts: How extension names is handled in Japanese (Sr, Jr, III, IV)

texts: I have an extension name (III) and i have trouble converting my name to japanese. Please help.


texts:
How would you naturally say that something is "under threat"? For example:

  The delivery is under threat
  The contract is under threat
  The agreed deadline is under threat

There are verbs like 脅かす｛おどかす｝and 脅迫｛きょうはく｝する, but I think they are used in cases of physical danger like natural disasters for example.


texts:
次こそは... 完璧にこなしてみせます。

This is a speech from Shikamaru, a character from Naruto manga.
The nuance is, his very first mission as a leader ended in a giant failure with the rest of his team severely hurt and he only got a broken finger.
The above image is the moment that he vows to not fail again, which can be translated as something like:

Next time for sure... I'll carry out the mission perfectly!

But what makes me confused here is the phrase:
こなしてみせます
（熟して見せます?）

I was taught that, 物を見せる means show something (to somebody), but what does Shikamaru show here?
I have also looked up 熟す (こなす), which means mature, but こなしてみせます just does not make any sense to me.


texts: 心配でたまらず - what is the verb and its form?

texts:
Could someone explain the grammar/words behind this and similar phrases? I did some research and probably found the explanation, but I am not sure if this is correct.

The phrase may be found in a variety of places (e.g. here) where it is usually translated as "can't stop worrying" or just "so worried"

心配 means "worry", this is clear.
The meaning of たまらず is not this clear, though. My dictionary says that あず is the archaic negative form (same as in in the phrase "Vずに"). This means that the verb should be たまる. The closest verb I found is 堪る which means something like "to endure", "to bear", "to resist" (see goo jisho). So the phrase would literally mean "Cannot resist worrying". Does this explanation make any sense? Is there some other, better, explanation?


texts:
Composite number is translated as 合成数 (by google translation to Japanese),  which makes sense.

Prime number is called 素数, but what does 素 means here?

I am trying to trace the source of it.  We borrowed the translation of it decades ago, so it does not very conceivable to illustrate it by the Chinese dictionary items.

I would appreciate it very much if answered in English.


texts: Can a contrast be implied without using けど for example?

texts:
Recently I've come across this sentence in a book:

貴様……面倒すぎて若干自棄になっておらぬか……?

If I've translated this correctly, then I believe it means something like:

You……are too troubled (but) have not become somewhat distressed……?

貴様 Is derogatory but the person speaking it is actually talking respectfully to her superiors so in this context it should mean the archaic 'you'.
The おらぬ is also interesting I believe it's a humble version of いる with the ぬ being equivalent to ない.

Assuming all the above is correct, I've translated the sentence as if there's a 'but' there, however as you can see there is no word like けど in that sentence, so my question is, is it.possible the 'but' is being implied? Or have I mistranslated the sentence?


texts: What is the etymology of the expression 「そんな」?

texts: If its original meaning is "that kind of", which is what I think it is, why is it used to say "it can't be"? Is that the same word or is it just a coincidence?


texts: Recently I have been watching the World Cup, I wanted to know how to say Nutmeg (as in kicking it through the other players legs) in Japanese. I figure it's not ナツメグ...


texts: The word 心底 has 2 readings which are しんそこ and しんてい. Both seem to be interchangeable with one another. Searching online has this page popping up. https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q10112707945. To quote it directly, the difference is explained as, "「しんそこ」 は思っている状態、「しんてい」 は思っているそのこと。". So to phrase it differently, しんそこ is used to describe a state of thinking whereas しんてい is used to emphasize a thing about thinking? Forgive me if I got it wrong or misinterpreted it but the answer doesn't really seem to explain the proper usage or reading of the word to me.


texts:
The context of the question is the lyrics of a song 『小さな手のひら』by Chara.
The very first two verses of the song begins with,

あわせて あんな風にちゃんと
抱いて 抱いて 抱いてちょうだい

I am confused on the significance of あわせて in this instance. The best interpretation I have is to understand あわせて as "also," as in "Also, please give me a hug (in that way)." However, this does not make much sense to begin the sentence with "also." I was thinking maybe あわせて could also mean "according to (something)" in this instance. But I'm not sure if that's even grammatically correct. Any ideas?


texts:
I was recently listening to someone talk about a game called “初音ミク Project DIVA MEGA39’s”. The English localization is changed to “MEGAMIX”.

They actually noted that 3 and 9 can be pronounced as ミ and ク respectively, but I’ve never heard these numbers pronounced this way.

What kind of reading is this to produce those sounds?


texts: what is the relationship between 人間多様性,, 人格 and 由来 in this sentence?

texts:
「人間多様性は本来、人格の多様性に由来している」

Human diversity is the basis, (which makes something) diversity of personality??

Having particular difficult with 由来 にする。　由来 = origin/source... put する on it to make it a verb and it means originate.

would 'human diversity is fundamentally the basis of diversity of personality' be a correct translation?

Does Aに由来する mean, originates from A? these are my best guesses, would appreciate any clarification


texts:
ずるいずりい、うちのほうが上やったのに上やったのに

Taking 「やった」 as 関西弁の「だった」, does this basically mean:

  [Not fair! I was above you.. I was above you...]

or does わたしは「X」のほうが上です。 have another meaning?


texts: I have read in many grammar books that the te-form of a Japanese verb is the equivalent of "and" in English. However, the problem is that "and" has many meanings such as how it can mean consecutive action like in "he got shot and died" or simultaneous action like in "we talked and walked." Most grammar books I've seen have examples of the te-form being consecutive action like in sentences such as 葉を磨いて寝た, but I am curious if the te-form can also mean that both verbs started at the same time. In this case, can 話して歩いた mean the same as 話しながら歩いた where talking and walking occur at the same time?


texts: What is the meaning and etymology of the (slang?) word まめ?

texts:
私はあまりまめに書きませんが、ことばを学ぶのは大好きです。
I don't write that well, but I love learning the language.

What is the etymology of the word まめ here and what specifically does it mean?
My friend gave me this explanation:

「まめに書きません」＝そんなによく書きません、あまり書きません、規則正しく書きません.
まめに働きます＝まじめに一生懸命働きます」という言い方もあります。

I guess まめ is a colloquial word meaning to do well or do diligently?


texts: Difference between みたいに and みたいな in this sentence

texts:
この写真みたいなヘアースタイルにしてください。

Why in this sentence I cant't use みたいに instead of みたいな?
And how this sentence should be changed to make usage of みたいに relevant?


texts: I can't seem to find any information on this. You know how people in the west have names like James Smith IV, is there something along that line for the Japanese?


texts: Unknown Japanese saying: 世に孵ることを拒む卵はなく、　芽吹くことを拒む種子もあり得ない

texts:
I'm having some issues translating the first part (bolded) of this metaphor/saying(?) into English.

  世に孵ることを拒む卵はなく、　芽吹くことを拒む種子もあり得ない.

How does the verb 孵る work on the こと part of the sentence, and does the full sentence end in the adjectival phrase "あり得ない" or does it end with a nai-form "得"?

The two possible translations I have at the moment are:

  In life to hatch out is a circumstance that to prevent the infant’s
  cries, is impossible as the seed denys its circumstances to bud.

and

  In society to hatch out is an occurrence that to prevent the infant’s
  cries, is as impossible as the seed rejecting its circumstances to
  bud.


texts:
I am stuck trying to explain that "I got accustomed". I would like to use the same grammar as in:

  寒くなる

But with

  慣れる

Could you point me to the right direction and also share other patterns to express the fact to get accustomed/used to something over time?


texts:
「お断りの連絡でしたら引き受けます。
あんまり無茶するようでしたらお注射の出番ですからねっ」

Why is よう after the dictionary form of the verb?


texts:
I have an Android application called MySpyPhone.  I want to translate it to a meaningful Japanese name.  The application takes pictures on a user defined schedule.

Any naming suggestions?

Thank you for your help.


texts: Under what circumstances does Japanese read from right to left?

texts:
In The Global Soul: Pico Iyer, (disclaimer: the depiction of Japan may be offensive) Iyer says:

  Rather perversely I live in Japan, which, as you know, is the most
  alien science fiction place on earth for those of us from other
  countries.

  When you get there they read from right to left and back to front.

So far, I've only experienced horizontal writing being from left to right. I've heard that vertical writing is top to bottom, and the next column is on your left, though I've never tried reading any vertical text with more than one column.

Wikipedia states that when there's only one row of text, writing in columns consisting of a single letter can result in text going from right to left.

Are there any other cases where Japanese reads from right to left?


texts: What is the difference between 「と」and 「時／とき」? Are they interchangeable?

texts:
From what I've seen, when 「と」or「時／とき」are used to express "when", they seem to be interchangeable, and I can't seem to find any differences between them. I've looked at other questions that were answered, but it didn't really clarify things for me. I'm wondering if anyone would be able to explain the nuance, and how it may slightly alter the meaning of a sentence. If they aren't interchangeable, is there a way to determine the best option that a native speaker would most likely use?
仕事から家に帰る時に、日本語を勉強する。
VS.
仕事から家に帰ると、日本語を勉強する。
How different would each sentence be?


texts: Which verbs have 辞書形 (dictionary forms) that look like ~ます conjugations?

texts:
I recently confused 励{はげ}ます for the ~ます form of 禿{は}げる.

Although this actually lead to a rather amusing conversation, I'm wondering if there are other examples of this to watch out for?


texts:
Here is the sentence including the word.

このドヤがいの西{にし}のはずれにりっぱな総{そう}合{ごう}病{びょう}院{いん}をぶったてること!


texts: どこでも vs. どこにでも vs. どこも

texts: What is the the difference between どこでも vs. どこにでも vs. どこも? I thought どこでも was anywhere, どこにでも was everywhere, and どこも was also everywhere... but then I didn't know what the difference would be between the latter two.


texts: If Japanese rice wine is called Sake then why is a liquor shop called a Saka-ya?

texts: Or is it just my dictionary that made a mistake?


texts: Could someone help me understand this sentence

texts: Can anyone help me understand this sentence?  太郎は春子にたばこを吸われた。 I’m having a really hard time understanding the translation given: “taro had a cigarette smoked by Haruko on him.” Is there another way to translate it into English that makes a bit more sense? I’ve tried searching for the sentence online to hopefully find someone who had the same question, but I couldn’t find anything.


texts: Attempting to Translate a Game Instruction Manual

texts:
I am currently trying to translate a game manual. Right now Im struggling with the story part of it. Most of the grammar is at least somewhat familiar to me. I think my confusion may be due to the syntax. Here is an excerpt:

プレイヤーの皆さんは、魔法が使える不思議な世界の住人です。強い力を秘めた瑪瑙の剣が眠っている古代都市が発見されたため、剣を手に入れようと各地から集まってきました。

The first sentence seems pretty straightforward. I translated it as "Players, you are the inhabitants of a mystical and magical world." It is the next sentence, and much of the rest of the the paragraph, that is confusing me a bit. I can more or less translate fragments of this sentence. For example:

強い力を秘めた瑪瑙の剣- a sword of agate imbued with a strong power

眠っている古代都市- a sleeping (lying dormant?) ancient city

剣を手に入れようと- in an attempt to obtain the sword

I am having a hard time putting them together in a coherent sentence, though. In this section "強い力を秘めた瑪瑙の剣が眠っている古代都市が発見されたため" I'm not sure if the sword or the city it the subject of "発見された." Also, while I know the usual function of "ため" is to give the purpose of an action, I'm having a hard time making that work here. Perhaps it's serving a different function?

In the next section "剣を手に入れようと各地から集まってきました" I am not sure who/what the subject of "集まってきました" is but I suspect it might be the players mentioned from the previous sentence.

Any help with the above points would be extremely appreciated! :-)


texts: Is ほんの一瞬【いっしゅん】だけ redundant?

texts: When using the phrase ほんの一瞬, I somehow feel compelled to insert だけ afterwards. This seems to be somewhat common (over one million hits for "ほんの一瞬だけ" on Google), but does it seem silly in terms of redundancy? Since ほんの and だけ seem to have the same meaning, I'm not sure if I should actually say ほんの一瞬だけ, despite the Google results.


texts: The difference between douyatte and douyattara

texts: What is the difference between douyatte and　douyattara?


texts: What is the difference between 類義語, 類語, 同意語, シノニム?

texts:
What are the differences between these words?

1.類義語

2.類語

3.同意語

4.シノニム

In English we say 'equivalent word' or 'synonym'. How about in Japan? As I investigated it further, there is called 'quasi-synonyms' (類義語/るいぎご or 類語/るいご) and (同意語 or シノニム).

Here are my research to these words:
類義語 = is a quasi-synonym which are words with similar meaning/ideas, but not interchangable. ( = similar word?)

類語 = is the same with above, only one Kanji difference.

同意語 = is the true synonym with identical meaning/ideas, and interchangable as well.

シノニム = is the English loanword of synonym. (thus, has the same meaning as どういご).
->Is my conclusion correct?

Relating to the questions above, when do we use 類義語, 類語, 同意語, シノニム properly?

If possible please add furigana to the answer and please explain with English as much as possible while pertaining the Japanese equivalent.

Thank you very much!


texts: How to refer human and animal as "both of them"?

texts:
Situation: Your friend shows a picture of her child playing with a dog and you want to say you have a soft spot for both of them. Is there any equivalent word for "both of them" in Japanese? I think I might say this 私はふたりに目がない
but I'm not sure. Any suggestion?


texts:
A train in japanese is 電車. Precisely an electric train.

電 means electricity and 車 means car/vehicle.

Which means that the name for fully electrical cars should be 電車 or 自動電車 right?


texts: How would you ask ''are you there ?'' on social media?

texts:
I have a Japanese friend whom I chat to from time to time on a software called Line.
Let's say their name is Haruto.
Sometimes I like to start by saying something like ''Haruto san, are you there ?''.
How would you say that in Japanese ?
I found the following phrases online but I have no idea what kind of nuance they carry. I'm just looking for a casual friend-to-friend way of expressing it.
Haruto san, soko ni imasu ka ?
Haruto san, iru ?


texts: What is the role of 空書 (writing kanji in the air) in modern Japanese?

texts:
What is the role of 空書{くうしょ} in modern Japanese?

空書 is tracing characters in the air with your finger (or on a flat surface), a phenomenon which apparently develops only in users of Chinese characters.  It's something I've found myself doing, as well.  (My self-study has a heavy emphasis on writing by hand.)

I've read that 空書 functions as a memory aid for kanji, allowing you to recall characters via kinetic memory.  Personally, I often find it's easier to trace a character than to picture it in my mind.  It also seems to help me remember readings when I trace a vaguely familiar kanji, though I'm not sure whether that's confirmation bias--did I remember because of kinetic memory, or because I spent extra time focusing on the character in question?  I'm not sure I should trust my own judgment.

With that said, the research I found on 空書 does seem to be a bit dated, and I've also read about the development of character amnesia, which makes me wonder if what I read is still valid.  I'm curious if 空書 continues to play a role in modern Japanese, with the advent of typing replacing writing by hand.  Are people losing the ability to access characters by kinetic memory?  Is 空書 disappearing?

If it still does play a role, what is that role?  Is it useful when typing?  Reading?  Communicating kanji in speech?  No longer useful at all?


texts:
A 'fill the gap in the sentence' is as follows:
外国に行くときは、その国のお金（　）　知っておいたほうがいい・

where options include:
についてさえ、
についてぐらい

What's the difference between them here, and which one would be best?
I understand they both refer/emphasise a degree here, basically meaning 'at least', or 'in the very least'


texts: Addressing other members of the same great family when everyone shares the same surname

texts: Hypothetical situation, let's say we have a great familly meeting, where everyone have the same surname but some members of the familly see each other for the first time. Of course, introductions are made, so everyone knows each other names. Here goes my question: How would one person address the other when they barely know each other? I mean, they can use the surname, but that would be confusing, since everyone has the same. Will they make an exception and use their names instead, even though they see other members of the familly for the first time?


texts: What's the difference between 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい}?

texts:
Both 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい} seem to mean "world" in the sense of "a sphere of human activity or interest", or "a particular way of life", and that sort of thing. (As opposed to 地球{ちきゅう}, the literal globe of a planet we live on.)

What is the difference between them, though?

Bonus question: When looking up the above words, I came across this odd variant: 浮世{うきよ}, which also means "world", but also means "this fleeting life". It conveys the temporariness of being in this world. Is it interchangeable to any degree with the above words, or is it strictly poetic and reserved for flowery ruminations?


texts: Na-adjective in attributive form before という?

texts:
I have trouble with the last part of the following sentence, starting from the last 私 (bolded):

  その読まれる作品は、たいてい私のものと、川添と云う少女のもので、私の作品が、たいていは家庭のことを書いているのに反して、川添と云う少女のは、森の梟{ふくろう}とか幻想の虹{にじ}とかいったハイカラなもので、私はその少女の作品から、「神秘的」なと云う愕{おどろ}くべき上品な言葉を知った。

(I've left the original furigana; source: http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000291/card47785.html )

Is the な in 「神秘的」なと云う the attributive marker for the na-adjective 神秘的? It would make sense but I always thought you had to have a full clause before という (not just the attributive form of a na-adjective). As I understand it, this particular instance seems to be quoting from the girl's repertoire, as if saying "in her own words, she would call it mysterious."

Also, I am a bit confused as to what is being qualified here since 云う, 愕くべき and 上品な are all in their attributive form. I'm reading it as 愕くべき上品 ("a wonderful elegance") and simiarly 「神秘的」なと云う上品 ("one that could be called mysterious"), but please correct me if I'm wrong. (By the way, is there a reason why 云う is not in the continuative form? Both 上品 and 言葉 already have qualifiers in the attributive form so I thought a second qualifier should come in the continuative form.)

Tentative (rough) translation:
From her work, I learnt words whose surprising elegance could be called "mysterious."

Thanks!


texts: About the correct answer to a reading test

texts:
I'm having difficulties understanding why, in a reading test, one answer is marked as correct instead of another.

The full text can be found here. In this post I will only paste the sections relevant to the answers, and the answers to choose from.

  日本人に個性がないということはよく言われていることだけれど、今世界的に、1 週間、或いは年間にどれだけ働くか、ということについて、常識的な申し合わせが行われていることには、私はいつも違和感を覚えている。

  [...]

  人間が週に何時間働くべきか、ということにも、ひとりひとりの適切な時間があると思う。労働時間を一律に決めなければならない、とするのは専門職ではない、未熟練労働に対する基準としてのみ有効である。未熟練労働者の場合は、時間あたりの労働賃金をできるだけ高くし、それによって労働時間を短縮しようとして当然である。

The question and answers to choose from are below:

  違和感を覚えているのはなぜか。

世界的に労働時間が決められているから。
適切な労働時間は人によって異なるから。
日本人は時間にきびしいから。
日本人は働きすぎるから。

Answers 3 and 4 are plain wrong so nothing to discuss there. At a first reading I was quite sure the answer would be 1. However, number 2 is what given as correct.

My question is, why is that? Or equivalently why is number 1 wrong?

I certainly understand why number 2 is true as a statement itself, but I thought that number 1. indicates more precisely what the 違和感 refers to.

This because it quite clearly says: [...]ことには[...]違和感を覚えている, and that ことには, which is what the "uncomfortable feeling" generates from, refers what came just before, that is, to the fact that in the world nowadays there it is common to believe that there should be a right/fixed amount of working hours (very loosely translated here). Which is just answer 1, isn't it?

Maybe I'm missing something trivial here, I would appreciate some help. Thanks as usual.


texts:
I learnt that it means dialect. During a presentation at university, someone asked a question about whether my topic was possibly influenced by a misunderstanding of the word "hougen" i.e. that it could also mean regional variation, or something else. He even said that Korean had been called a hougen.

How accurate is this?


texts: How translators translate polite Japanese conversation?

texts:
I am asking about translation of written conversations between two or more persons in Japanese language, that we can find in books, novels, manga, etc. As we know, in Japanese language there are polite forms such as 丁寧語、敬語 and so on. In a conversation, from how the speakers speak/converse, we can guess the speakers's personalities and how good their relationship are with each other.

Since English language probably does not have the polite forms to the level of the Japanese's, what do translators keep in mind during translating as not to lose the original nuance?


texts: 様子見くらい いいっしょ? I can't make sense out of it

texts:
Mother:当分ここに住むから｡
Son:えっ!? 何だよそれ｡
Mother:カワイイ一人息子が頭 打ったんだ｡
Mother:様子見くらい いいっしょ｡
Here's the question: What does 様子見くらいいいっしょ｡ mean?

様子見 = wait-and-see
くらい = about?around? dunno
いいっしょ = it's good, isn't it? it's ok, right? dunno

I'm quite confused
I can't make sense out of it.


texts:
Just trying have some fun with Japanese grammar, but the sentence in the title has me stumped. I just don't understand Japanese particles enough to even know where to begin. Here is my best attempt at something resembling this sentence, but its gotta be wrong, so please help understand how to construct this sentence in the best way.

  I think that she thinks that I think she is dumb
  私は彼女が私は彼女がバカとおもうとおもっているとおもう。(LOL, there is just no way...)


texts: Why do some Japanese people write parts of their name in hiragana?

texts:
I have recently noticed that one of my coworkers writes his surname partly in hiragana when writing by hand.

This strikes me as odd, because his surname doesn't have multiple readings (to my knowledge) and is made of relatively simple kanji. He always writes it in kanji when typing.
(For reference, the name is 桑野 and he writes it as 桑の)

Is there any reason someone would do this, and is it common? Or is he just being lazy?


texts:
I believe the general grammar for 「ないことはない」 means "can; it is not impossible". However, I am having hard time trying to translate this example sentence:

  「どうしても話してくれと言われれば、話さないこともない。」

Mostly I cannot figure out who the subject is. My tentative translation is "You can speak if you are asked to do so." Pretty sure this is not correct and would be grateful for a more accurate translation!


texts: Why does this phrase use "de" and not "o" "te wo furu hito ni egao de kotae"?

texts:
This phrase "te wo furu hito ni egao de kotae" is translated as "Smiling back to the people who waves their hands"

"te wo furu hito ni" I suppose it's "to the people who waves their hands" , kotae is "to respond" and "egao" is "smile". Then why it's "egao de kotae" and not "egao o kotae" . With "egao de kotae" isnt it trying to say "respond a smile" or the literal translation would be another? Does this verb simply work with "de" instead of "o" or is there any other explanation and I'm getting it all wrong?


texts: I understand that both 呟く and 囁く mean "whisper", but are there any subtle differences?


texts:
While stumbling across Lucky Star episode 15 (26-second clip, from 8:51 - 9:17), I found that there was a scene where the characters were watching a quiz show, where one of the questions asked was on keigo:

Ｑ：「行く」の謙{けん}譲{じょう}語{ご}はなんでしょうか。
Ａ：正{せい}解{かい}は「参{まい}る」でした！
(The characters were all certain it was 伺{うかが}う, but they all agree with 参る later.)

Now, if I am not mistaken, 伺う is used when the act of going to a place involves the listener (eg. saying はい、うかがいます！ to one's boss, when asked to go to him) and 参る is used when the movement is not related to the listener (eg. not the boss' company, country, home, etc.). I think both verbs are humble forms of 行く.

Why, then, is 参る preferred as an answer to 伺う? Is there a nuance I am missing here?


texts: I understand that である is the "written" form of だ/です. Because it's a "written" form, doesn't that already imply a certain level of formality? So when would one use であります as opposed to just である? If you can, please give examples.


texts:
Probably a stupid question, but I would like to clear up any doubts...
For a native speaker, is there a difference between the word お祖父さん and the word 祖父さん? The first one, simply, is more honorific?


texts:
Passing a verb to its past tense conjugation and adding ら makes the sentence a condition, right? Like

  暇だったら、遊びに行くよ  - If I'm free, I will go to play.

But in the ももたろう tale the たら form is used differently in the sentence:

  ある日、 おばあさん が 川 で せんたく を して いたら、
  ももがながれて きました

The translation I found states that "one day, WHILE the old lady was at the river doing the laundry a peach came floating by" so my question is: Is this translation any good? Can the たら conditional be used to relate two actions taking place at the same time? Can it be interpreted as 'while'?

Further ahead there's a sentence that says:

  ひろって たべたら、
  なんとも おいしくて ほっぺた が おちそう。

Which translates as: She picked it up and ate it and, it was so delicious as if to make her cheeks fall.

So what is the role of たら here?

Thank you very much.


texts: Why does [小っ酷い]【こっぴどい】 mean "very ひどい" rather than "slightly ひどい"?

texts:
デジタル大辞林 gives the definition of [小っ酷い]【こっぴどい】 as

  非常にひどい。手厳しい。

But I find this strange. Why would 小っ酷い mean 非常にひどい? Isn't prefixal 小【こ】- sort of a diminutive? At least, that's how it works in words like 「小雨」＝少し降る雨, 「小柄」＝体格が普通より小さいこと, and even the similar-looking 形容詞 「小恥ずかしい」＝ちょっときまりが悪い.

Is there some rhyme or reason as to why the 小 in 小っ酷い doesn't seem to behave like a diminutive, or is this just one of those things that merely is?


texts:
A：この本を読んでみてください。
B：これなら難しくないから、私にも読めそうです。

Google translator said "This is not difficult, so I can read it."
It's somehow convincing translation but I don't yet get the meaning of なら and から here in this sentence.


texts:
What is the difference between "何も" and "何でも"?

I have commonly heard that "何も" means "everything/nothing" and "何で" means "anything" until my Japanese teacher (a native speaker) told me that the difference between these two is that "何も" is only used in negative sentences and "なんでも" only in positive sentences.

But then both "何でもいい" and "何でもない" seem to be common grammatically-correct expressions. One is positive and the other is negative.

Could someone please clarify what the actual difference between "何も" and "何でも" is?


texts:
When said in English, this sentence means that you have class in the near future, despite using now. Is it okay to omit から in the sentence below, or does that change the meaning?

今から授業があるので、行かなければならない。またね。


texts:
These are the lyrics

  でも　全部わかってしまったらどうすればいいの.

My question regards the ii no at the end. The translation I found was that it means "But when I know everything, what do I do then?"
So what does it mean exactly?


texts:
If a native Japanese does not know how a kanji is pronounced and want to ask about its reading over the phone, how would he 'spell out' the kanji?

Maybe this is why faxes are still popular in Japan, but let's imagine they don't have access to a fax machine.


texts: A handheld video game device E.g. PSP, DS


texts:
Please look at the 2nd kanji in the 熟語 that starts with 陰:

That 熟語 means "grimly" and looks like a 形容動詞. Example usage:

  「もう一度、JLPT不合格です」家庭教師は陰＿にいった。

Using New Nelson I looked under 陰 and did not find that 熟語.

What is that kanji (音、訓、画数、部首)?
I'm using a Mac. How can I input that character into a document? I'd be happy to cut/paste from a web page.
Why would a translator use such a crazy 熟語 to express the feeling of "grimly"? For me, a non-native, I look at that 熟語 and actually feel "grim" because it reminds me that kanji are a never ending nightmare for me. But, what about native speakers?


texts:
In a book about introductory Mandarin Chinese written in Japanese, one of the first sections lists some special characteristics of Mandarin not familiar to Japanese speakers (e.g. usually only one reading of kanji, no distinctive male/female language, etc). One of the sections is written below:

  ２字熟語

  ２音節、つまり２字熟語が多いというのが中国語の特徴です。２音節は音のすわりがいいと好まれる傾向があるのです。

The first sentence seems to be saying that words in Mandarin are commonly formed from two syllables, and thus two kanji (what is strange is that it's mentioned, since two-kanji words are common in Japanese too). The second sentence's "すわりがいい" is preventing me from figuring out the meaning, though.

TL;DR: what does "すわりがいい" mean?


texts: Does the nominalizer 〜の require the adnominal form before it? If yes, why?

texts:
A while back I was trying to break down 〜なの, and this is what I decided on (with the help of some of Bart Mathias's posts on mailing lists).

My hypothesis is that the nominalizer 〜の requires everything before it to be in adnominal form (usually meaning, 連体形{れんたいけい} for inflectable words).

In the cases of 形容詞{けいようし} (-i adjectives) and 動詞{どうし} (verbs), the 連体形{れんたいけい} is of course just the 終止形{しゅうしけい}:

形容詞{けいようし} (-i adj): 熱{あつ}いの
動詞{どうし} (verb): 切{き}るの

In the case of 形容動詞{けいようどうし} (-na adjectives), the 連体形{れんたいけい} is simply adding 〜な, which works out great:

形容動詞{けいようどうし} (-na adj): 変{へん}なの

And finally, in the case of 名詞{めいし} (nouns), although they are not inflectable, we can consider both 〜の (possessive) and 〜な as ways to make them "adnominal" (I guess 連体詞{れんたいし} is the right translation into Japanese):

名詞{めいし} (noun): 車{くるま}なの

To confirm this theory is actually true, I think the only avenue would be to look in historical texts to see if things like 大{おお}ききの, 死{し}ぬるの, or しずかなるの show up or not. Unfortunately, I am far from being able to do this myself, so I haven't been able to go confirm.

If it does happen to be true, I wonder why the nominalizer 〜の would require things before it to be adnominal. Is の really acting so much like a noun? It seems to be doing so syntactically, but really not so much semantically (from my beginner perspective). The only time it seems to semantically act like a noun is with 形容詞{けいようし} (-i adj) where you can kind of translate it as "thing" into English.

This is my theory, but I'd be happy to hear about a 国文法 explanation if there is one, or an analysis which looks at historical texts.


texts: Is this translation correct? Or is it saying "Even with that, we can't do this" instead of "Without that, we can't do this"?

texts:
Is this translation correct?

Or is it supposed to be "Even with genetic manipulation and posterior education, creating a Level 5 is impossible?"


texts: Comparison of two Japanese Bible translations of Genesis 1:1

texts:
Japanese Contemporary Bible:

まだ何もなかった時、神は天と地を造りました。

Shinkaiyaku Bible:

はじめに神が天と地を創造された

(The 2017 ed. of the Shinkaiyaku is not in the public domain, so the following is a screenshot from my purchased electronic version.)

To clarify my question:
Most English translations have “God created...” “Created” is a simple past tense verb in English. In Japanese, 造りました (tsukurimashita) is the polite past indicative conjugation of 造る. In my head, this seems like a relatively straightforward translation of “[he] created.”
When I look up 創造された, if I am not mistaken, it is composed of 創造 (which may be a noun or suru verb), and [去]{さ}れた, which again, if I am not mistaken, is the passive plain past indicative conjugation of する.
Why does the Shinkaiyaku translation use a verb conjugated in the passive voice? I admit I may simply be ignorant of a fundamental aspect of Japanese verb conjugations.

References
リビングバイブル (Japanese Contemporary Bible). Tokyo: Word of Life Press Ministries, 2016.
聖書 新改訳2017. 東京: 新日本聖書刊行会, 2017.


texts:
I have come to the conclusion that to the beginner it is useful to equate the particle は with the article ‘the’ in English. Even more so for a Swedish speaker since the Swedish article is an ending.

A difference is that we say あなたは but not “the you”. However あなたは is short for an old あの方 and not a true pronoun. Similar ways of avoiding a true ‘thou’ were common in Sweden 50 years ago (and forced an article). English examples are rarer but we can say “the other side” instead of “they” when referring to another political party.

Thus I propose は as the definite form nominative case ending and が as the indefinite form nominative case ending.

On the whole I think that the distinction between Japanese postpositions and endings in Germanic languages is misleading. Why is の a postposition and ‘s an ending? Presently I see は, が, の and を as case endings and I would appreciate to see examples where it does not work out.


texts:
SO my name is Janosch (a German name).
I'm not really sure how to write it. Is "ヤノシ" right?


texts: What is the relation between the two verbs 思われる and 思う?

texts:
If 思われる is "its own verb," meaning "to seem;  to appear," and is independent of the separate verb 思う, meaning "to think," is there a conceptual relation between the two? I ask because I initially thought 思われる to be the passive form of 思う. Would it be wrong to think of 思われる meaning "it is thought" rather than "it seems"?

  意外に思われるかもしれません。
  This may surprise you.

  このことは、私たちにはとても不思議に思われる。
  This appears very strange to us.

  そのようなプロジェクトを経た後では、すべてがはるかにたやすいように思われる。
  Having come from something like the project, it seems like everything is a lot easier.

  それは私には奇妙に思われる。
  It seems strange to me.

  彼女はとても年をとっているように思われる。
  She seems (to me) (to be) a very old woman.


texts: Difference in usage/nuance between 厚生, 福祉, 福利 and 生活保護

texts:
厚生［こうせい］
福祉［ふくし］
福利［ふくり］
生活保護［せいかつほご］

Translating "welfare" into Japanese seems a bit complicated. Could someone maybe provide for context the most typical phrases/chunks that use these words?

I'm aware that 厚生 is used in the name of the Ministry for Health, Labour and Welfare (厚生労働省), but am a bit confused as to why it isn't 福祉, for example.


texts: Why is で used instead of に alongside ある？

texts:
I am wondering as to why で was used after 間 instead of に as I would expect because it is talking about popularity being present. What is the general definition for this usage of で？

  そのホテルは安くて清潔なので、旅行者たちの間で人気がある。


texts:
I get that どうか alone means something along the lines of "please", but what happens when you add じゃない as a suffix?
I've seen this being used before but I can't quite place my finger on what it might mean.
The full sentence would be それでもやれるかどうかじゃない.


texts: Is it customary to say いらっしゃいませ in a corporate setting?

texts:
Related: Is it appropriate to use irasshaimase when welcoming someone to a private office?

In the related question, the target is "someone", which brings me to the conclusion that OP there means "if anyone other than people working in the same office arrives, should いらっしゃいませ be used?".

For example, when clients of a software engineering firm you're working for visit your office, is it customary to say いらっしゃいませ since they are customers, or is いらっしゃいませ usually just said in a service-oriented environment (such as restaurants, hotels, and shops)?

Context: We have a Japanese HR Officer who happened to be in the same room as us when the clients arrived and she greeted with いらっしゃいませ, which perplexed me a bit because I thought it was only used for restaurants and whatnot.


texts: In the following sentence, 最近、宿題をしてこない生徒が多いです which means "Many students come to school without doing homework." why doesn't this mean "Many students don't come to school or do homework." or even "Many students do homework and don't come to school"?


texts: How should I understand the use of particle に in the context of 受身形 and 自動詞 in these sentences?

texts:
夕焼けに染まる
夕焼けに染められる

I got both examples from here and here respectively. I understand what these sentences mean, but I'm a little confused as to how sentence particle ’に’ works in these sentences. If both of the 自動詞 and 受身形 make use of particle に, does that mean 自動詞 and 受身形 are exactly the same? If so how could we differentiate the use of 自動詞 or 受身形, or to be clear, why would there be two different forms? Shouldn't there at least be like a difference in nuance?

Is there a difference in nuance for both these sentences? Is it that one is more commonly used than the other? Any difference in meaning for both of them?

Also, how would you understand the use of 'に' here? If we were to translate them literally, do they both mean "by" in English? Or is there something else I don't know about?

Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question, but this has been troubling me for a long time.


texts: I see this used but I can't figure out what it means.


texts: why is ni in "kinou watashimo wakaranakatta kara, sensei ni kikimashita" the particle?

texts:
The book didn't cover a lot about ni but I know that it is used to tell what time it is or where you are going. but nothing like this.
the best explanation I found was that it could also be used as an indirect object marker. but how and why that works I don't understand. As said before, we didn't cover a lot about ni.
Thank you in advance


texts: How can I tell wether this pronoun points forward or backwards in context

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

最近、いろいろなところで開かれているビジネスマナーのためのメンタルトレーニングでも、これと同じようなことを行います。

I'd like to know for this これ　in bold: Is there a way to tell wether it points forward or backwards in context?
It could mean
"...similar to this (what I said before)" or "similar to this (what I'll say now)".

Both would make sense in this context imho.
But is there any grammatical indicator like the position of これ to tell what is meant with certainty?
Or is it a rule that これ as a pronoun can only point backwards in context (which I somehow doubt though).


texts:
There are two readings of 人, as in these two examples: 恋人【こいびと】 and 素人【しろうと】

Why is 素人 (among others) the way it is and not しろひと or しろびと?

Furthermore, 狩人 is かりゅうど. Why is the final mora voiced here?


texts:
For verbs:

  授業があるんじゃない(ですか)

  授業がないんじゃない(ですか)

For -i adjectives:

  その映画が面白いんじゃない(ですか)

  その映画が面白くないんじゃない(ですか)

For nouns and -na adjectives, the negative is 「じゃない」:

  彼は学生なんじゃない(ですか)

So if I want to ask "isn't that he is not a student?", can I use this:

  彼は学生じゃないんじゃない(ですか)

I saw a question that said 「その人が買うんじゃないの」 in plain form. If I change it into polite speech, will it be 「その人が買うんじゃないんですか。」?

Does that mean : verb/i-adj(na-adj/noun) + の(なの) + じゃない + の + ですか existed?


texts:
いつまでに送ればいいかっていうことですよ。

I can kind of get whats going on here. Forgive me if I'm mistaken but I think it means "When are you expected to send this thing, is what I mean".

I don't understand how かって fits here; the dictionary came up with a lot of words similar to かって, but none of them would make sense if I applied them here.

I also went to Google Translate and it decided to group かっていう together and translate it as "I mean" but isn't that implied with いう in the sentence?


texts: Is there a story behind drawing a face with の as eyes, も as a nose and へ as a mouth?

texts:
In the first episode of the Zatoichi series there is a scarecrow whose face is drawn using various hiragana.

When I seen it it occurred to me that I've seen that done somewhere else before.

Is there a story behind this hiragana face ?


texts:
Say I want to talk about my own ability in some area of expertise or at some activity. What would be the appropriate word choice? Assuming a casual to polite context.
Would 「できる」 sound pretentious?
What about trying to express that one is "okay at" something (not good, but not bad either)?
What about other degrees of ability (terrible, bad, "can do a bit", passable)?
To give a concrete example of what kind of sentence I'm thinking of:

I'm quite good at reading, but I'm not good at writing.

読むことがかなりよくできますが、書くのは苦手です。(?)


texts: Should も　be used twice here, or is it an error

texts:
This is a conversation in my Japanese book:

John: I like Brad Pitt.

Mary: I like Brad Pitt too.

Mary's response is translated as ...

私もBrad Pittもすきです。

Is this correct?
I feel like the second もshould still be a が.
If the translation is correct then why is the が　replaced by a も?


texts: Can I explain the idea behind a Velcro tape using the name of these plant seeds? (photo)

texts:
Introduction: Long time ago, when I had no idea Velcro tape was called マジックテープ in Japanese I tried to suggest using it to my Japanese colleague. He had no idea about the word "Velcro", so I tried an example of bur, but I found Japanese people think of food when they hear ゴボウ (burdock) rather than its seeds.

Now I have found these stuck to my jeans:

(in reality they were greener, about 5 mm in size).

Question: What is the plant (or seeds) called in Japanese and is its feature of sticking to animals/human known well enough to use it as an explanation of the way Velcro tape works?


texts:
I've been watching a few videos and reading up on how the の particle is used in explanations (along with だ/です for statements) and I've come across this video.

It explains how you can use の for seeking explanations at the end of a question and how you can conjugate the の particle as a noun however I don't understand the nuance in the following questions:

If someone asks this question to me

  学生じゃないの？

Or

  学生なんじゃない?

My understanding is that the first one means "You're not a student?" But the latter I'm unsure about because I think it means the same thing as the first sentence.

As it stands , If I am not a student then I would reply

  学生じゃないんだ

to both questions.

I asked my Japanese friend what is the difference and she told me that the first one is a negative question and the second one means "(S/he) is maybe a student." and that it's more of "guessing"

I'm quite confused by this given that the negative conjugation is used in the second sentence.

My question is what is the difference between those two sentences and what is the actual meaning?


texts: Does this sentence with ことになる make sense?

texts:
I am trying to check my understanding about ことになる, so I came up with a sentence:

  日本語を勉強することが好きなことになった

The meaning I intended is "I came to enjoy studying japanese".

Does the sentence mean this ? And is it grammatically correct ?


texts: How did 逸 come to feature in pleasure/idleness words?

texts:
I can't judge the reliability of http://www.kanjinetworks.com (and it is probably controversial), but there the speed, movement meaning of 逸 is linked to its claimed origins in 兎{うさぎ｝. Hence 逸する, 逸らす and such that involve some form of movement.

However, there are also words like 逸楽, 安逸 that are linked to pleasure, idleness etc. Where does this meaning come from?


texts: I would like to know because this Kanji is part of my name.


texts: How to say 'also', but in different contexts?

texts:
I am trying to work out how to say 'Today is also my birthday', but I can think of three different situations and wondering what is the best way to say each of them in Japanese.

[Not only is it Christmas but] today is also my birthday.

[I heard it's your birthday, and] today is also my birthday.

[I have two birthdays, I had one last month but] today is also my birthday.

In no particular order, here are the sentences I have made but I don't know what goes with which, if they are the best for the sentences of even if they make sense.

今日も私の誕生日です。
今日は私も誕生日です。
今日は私の誕生日でもあります。

Thanks for any help!


texts:
How can I tell whether 捻る is read as ひねる (P. ・ N.C.) or ねじる (P. ・ N.C.)?

I assume the answer is "based on which verb is appropriate", so I've been trying to learn the difference between them.  Based on the links above, here's what I've got so far:

They both generally refer to twisting.  There are cases where it could be read either way, because the meanings overlap:　「体を捻る・水道の栓を捻る・足を捻った」
When you put a lot of force into twisting, it's ねじる.  So you use ねじる when you're opening a bottle by (forcibly) twisting the cap off:　「びんのふたをねじって開ける」
If you're twisting something with your fingers or fingertips, you use ひねる: 「ひげをひねる・スイッチをひねる・鶏をひねる」
Metaphoric uses appear to use ひねる: 「頭をひねる・ひねった質問」

Does this seem correct?


texts: I have some problems with understanding what is the difference between these two. According to 初級日本語, 間 refers to certain time frame whereas 間に refers to certain time frame within that time frame. Is it correct or am I missing something?


texts: What's the difference between 根気【こんき】, 我慢【がまん】, 辛抱【しんぼう】 and 忍耐【にんたい】

texts:
Recently i found these four words and have no idea what's the difference between them. They all mean "patience" and "endurance". Here are some sentences:

僕【ぼく】は、あいつには我慢【がまん】できない。
I can't abide that fellow.
もう少【すこ】し根気【こんき】があったら成功【せいこう】していただろう。
With a little more patience, you would have succeeded.
辛抱【しんぼう】しなければ成功【せいこう】することはできない。
You must persevere before you can succeed.
忍耐【にんたい】は成功【せいこう】への鍵【かぎ】であるとよく言【いわ】われている。
Perseverance, it is often said, is the key to success.


texts: How to choose between "よん" (yon) vs "し" (shi) for "四" (4) and "しち" (shichi) vs "なな" (nana) for "七" (7)?

texts:
Two numbers in Japanese have two pronunciation alternatives.

四 / 4 can be pronounced either "よん" (yon) or "し" (shi)
七 / 7 can be pronounced either "しち" (shichi) or "なな" (nana)

I know that "し" (shi) can be avoided because it has the same pronunciation as "死" which means "death" but how strong is the taboo and how does it relate to factors such as formality and politeness when choosing which form to use? Is it just a matter of superstition or should speakers be more sensitive?

"しち" (shichi) vs "なな" (nana) seems to be less discussed since it doesn't involve taboo or superstition as far as I know but again what about formality and politeness etc?


texts: 「のに」と「ので」の使い方についての質問です。

texts:
下記の文では、「のに」のかわりに「ので」が使えるでしょうか。使える場合、その意味は同じでしょうか。違うでしょうか。

  みんなが頑張っているのに、私が頑張らないわけにはいきません。

お答え、ありがとうございます。


texts:
I can't seem to get a good grasp of it. I found a few example sentences and read on weblio that it means: to think (something) is improper; to question; to have a problem with.
From the sentences I read, most of them were translated as "I doubt that..." or "I'm not sure about that".
There is this line that I found in a manga, with 2 boys having a banter:
A says: 死ね。
B replies: すぐ死ねって言うのどうかと思う~☆ (yes his line has those symbols, which I can only think that he has a playful tone and is mocking A)

"I doubt that I will drop dead right away"/ " Die quickly? I'm not so sure about that"
Do these translations make sense?


texts:
A dictionary search for verbs related to cooking pulls up many examples.

炊く
炒める
煮える

etc.

The differences between them seems to be related to the method of cooking (boil, fry, etc), or what you are cooking.

But in Japanese chats, I see the good old workhouse verb 作る mostly being used when referring to making something in the kitchen.

So, what is a natural choice in Japanese conversation? And how often do these other kinds of verbs get used?


texts:
I've often seen and heard the expression 〜と知る（知っている）.  When I think about it, it makes sense in the context of the quoatation-と, like with 〜と言う or 〜と思う.  It seems like it means "Know that 〜".

  ミユキちゃんが結婚したと知ってる？　→　Did you know that Mikyuki got married?

However, the few times I've tried to use it, I was told I was using it incorrectly, and that I should instead use 〜こと／のを知る.

  ミユキちゃんが結婚したこと／のを知ってる？

So what are the rules for using 〜と知る?  Do 〜と知る and 〜こと／のを知る have different meanings and rules (they seem the same to me)?

Update:  I've found quite a few examples from my Bible.  It's the 新共同訳 version, and I was able to search it here.  I searched for ～と知る, ～と知って, and ～と知った.  Here are a couple examples:

  「群衆は、イエスも弟子たちもそこにいないと知ると、自分たちもそれらの小舟に乗り、イエスを捜し求めてカファルナウムに来た。」　－　ヨハネによる福音書 / 6章 24節
  「けれども、人は律法【りっぽう】の実行ではなく、ただイエス・キリストへの信仰によって義とされると知って、わたしたちもキリスト・イエスを信じました」　－　ガラテヤの信徒への手紙 / 2章 16節
  「ヨナタンは言った。『そのような事は決してない。父があなたに危害を加える決心をしていると知ったら、必ずあなたに教えよう。』」　－　サムエル記上 / 20章 9節


texts:
I would like to say "It is written half in English and half in Japanese."

When writing this myself I came up with:

  これは半分英語で半分日本語で書いていました。

but I think that

  半分英語で半分日本語で

does not sound very natural?


texts:
I often hear a particular sentence about taking a shower.

  私がシャワーをしています。

Is this the correct way to say "I am taking a shower"?


texts:
How do Japanese people hand-write the Japanese Quotation Marks (「　」)? Is there a correct stroke order?

I am asking specifically about those used in horizontal writing, although I wouldn't mind knowing about the vertical ones too.


texts: How is this passive and this 不思議に思った meant?

texts:
The following is an instruction for writing a small composition:

  日本に来て、または外国に行って、次のようなことでカルチャーショックを受けたことがありますか。
  1) それまで聞いたことがない音を聞いて、びっくりした。
  2) 国でよく聞いていた音がほとんど聞かれないので、不思議に思った。

First, my attempt at translation:

"Have you experienced culture shock from the following things while coming to japan or going to a foreign country?
1) Hearing a sound you haven't heard so far, you were surprised.
2) Because

...you mostly don't get to hear sounds you often hear in your country...
...sounds which you often heard in your country mostly aren't (to be) heard...

...you think it's strange.
...you think strangely (like "feel" strange?).

So, obviously my problem lies with the two bold parts.

I think the passive construction could be an indirect passive? I asked about the indirect passive before but I still feel very insecure about it. I also don't know whether I translated it correctly, should it be an indirect passive (version 1 of my translation shall represent the case where I assumed that it is an indirect passive.).

Second, the 不思議に思った gives me a little headache because I'm not sure what effect 不思議に has in this case ^^ It could mean that "I think of something as strange" (which I think is very likely here) or it could mean that "I think strangely", which would be the most direct/closest relation between the adverb and the verb here, but I think it isn't very likely that this is the case here.


texts: Is there a difference between んがため and ために?

texts:
My JLPT textbook has a section about the use of んがため, which they define as "making an effort in order to realize the intended purpose."

Which to me sounds like plain ol' ために.

For example, they have this example sentence:

  祖父{そふ}は１００歳{さい}まで生{い}きんがために、食生活{しょくせいかつ}にはとても気{き}をつける。

Isn't that the same as saying:

  祖父{そふ}は１００歳{さい}まで生{い}きるために、食生活{しょくせいかつ}にはとても気{き}をつける。

...?


texts: How to say "Evaluation of practical experience (=internship) and it's contribution"

texts:
This time I wonder how to say in japanese:

  "Evaluation of practical experience (=internship) and it's
  contribution"

I would use something like this:

  「実習【じっしゅう】評価【ひょうか】及び【および】その貢献【こうけん】」

I could be relatively satisfied (but just partly) with 実習【じっしゅう】 as for "practical experience" and 評価【ひょうか】 as for "evaluation", but I feel uncomfortable by using 貢献【こうけん】 as for "contribution". I haven't used 貢献【こうけん】 before and haven't used yet any other alternative meaning for the word "contribution".
Could you please make an advice for me?

Thank you very much in advance!


texts: Meaning of 修士論文として提出しました論文を遅らせて頂きます

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

  修士論文として提出しました論文を遅らせて頂きます。

My best guess is "Please allow me to be late (sending?) this essay that I submitted as my thesis."

I think where I'm getting tripped up is that I sense there is a verb lacking in this sentence, and I think it might just be because I'm not understanding something that is maybe insinuated in the original Japanese? The person who wrote this sentence is asking for permission to do something late regarding this essay, and I'm not sure if I'm just mistranslating something or am not understanding something else.


texts: What's the meaning of 遺る and 強くなんない in the context of drinking?

texts:
I asked a question here recently regarding the same material and thanks for that. I have a different question this time though.

For context, 3 people (Uncle and Nephew + Nephew's friend) are drinking beer at home. After some time, they stop drinking. The son goes to sleep due to being drunk. The father then cleans the dishes, and the friend cleans up the table. This was the dialogue that followed:

Father: 毎週飲んで遺れてるのにちょっとも強くなんないの

Friend: テコでも起きませんもんね

Does the 遺れてる here refer to the son passing out? or something else being left behind (like beer or something)?

I assumed that "ちょっとも強くなんないの" translated to "When is he going to be come a little strong (against beer). Is that right?

Thanks to anyone who takes the time, in advance.


texts: Concept of using だ and sentence structure

texts:
I'm fairly new to learning japanese but I have the basic grammar down. The main thing that's confusing is the sentence structure. For instance, I sent this message to my friend who is native to Japan for him to check over it
あなたはたべるすし？
I attempted to say "do you eat sushi?" In my mind this worked perfectly, anata=you, taberu=eat, sushi=sushi. So he responds with this
No, it's "あなたはすしたべる?"

This leads me to wonder if there are any specific rules on where in the sentence the subject, verb, direction, direct object, etc have to come. I am currently learning japanese in addition to full time school work including Spanish classes. The only resources I have are the internet and my friends.

Please explain in simpleton terms, if you need any extra clarity please notify me. It's late and I'm typing this on my mobile device. Thank you very much

Part 2(I didn't want to make another question for this simple question):

If you were to say you like someone, would

わたしはあなたがすき
Be correct? I don't fully understand when to use the particle だ. My gut is telling me that I should put だ after suki, but I don't know why


texts:
I am trying to translate basic combat to Japanese, but find myself struggling as to which form of "x of this" to use.
I am currently trying to figure out how to say "single," as in "single punch," with the following ones:

  単(たん）-OR-
  一重(ひとえ）-OR- 単一(たんいつ）

What is the rule of choosing between the (kunyomi number) + 重 and other forms?


texts: I am in my fourth online Japanese class at UMUC Asia and we just started learning about potential form of verbs. I was wondering if there is an easy way to explain what it is? My teacher's explanation was not helpful and I cannot find any easy way to explain so I am stuck. Any help is greatly appreciated!!


texts: Best practice height/character count for text in tategaki format

texts:
On a web page, what is the maximum good practice height (in pixels) for text written in tategaki format?

A height of about 500px looks good to me, which is about 40 characters.

Are there heights either are too long, or too short, which make reading uncomfortable/difficult?


texts: やることもなく ; "doing nothing" or "doing nothing but/except"

texts:
Attempting to make some flashcards from the dialogue in Dad of Light on Netflix.

Near the very beginning of Ep1, we have the following:

夏休みにやることもなくフローリングの床に寝そべって足の力でクルクル回るという

English subtitles read:

I had nothing else better to do during summer vacation than lie on the kitchen floor and turn in circles using my legs.

my question is about やることもなく -- I can think of two ways this could be:

"During summer vacation I did nothing.  I was lying on the floor, turning in circles using my legs."

--or--

"During summer vaction I did nothing except lie on the floor, turning in circles using my legs."

Can anyone point me toward a resource to understand this usage?  I found something close from user Chocolate here.


texts: Is repetition of words in questions, such as the 番 in 電話番号は何番ですか common in Japanese?

texts: In this other question, the answers say that  電話{でんわ}番号{ばんごう}は何番ですか is a common way of asking for someones number. I was thrown off by the repitition of 番, but the answers say it's commonly used. So it got me thinking, is this kind of repeatition common and are there other phrases or situations like this where, a word is repeated?


texts: How to say "serve" in "The server serves the request"?

texts:
In the computers field, a server serves a request (ex: web server).

How to express that in Japanese?

English example documentation for a method that serves a request:

/**
 * Serve the request.
 */
public Response serve(Request request)

I want to translate that documentation to Japanese, so I write リクエストを____


texts: Why does "fu" changes to "pu" while it's not started with "h"?

texts: Supposedly, if the consonant starts with "h", it changes to "p", right? But "fu" doesn't have an "h". Then why does "fu" change to "pu"?


texts:
In 'All About Particles', I have come across the sentence

  朝の台所は、コーヒーの香りがします。

which translates as

  The kitchen smells of coffee in the morning.

How do I interpret the phrase 朝の台所? I would normally translate it as "the morning's kitchen", which doesn't make sense. With regards to the English translation, why isn't the first part of the sentence 朝に台所は?


texts:
Please help understand the difference between まさか and まさに.
A look-up for meanings seems to indicate them to exactly opposite to each other.

まさか - not at all

まさに - surely

However,i have not been able to find an easy example to highlight the difference.
Do I understand this correct?


texts:
Here is the sentence :

  てめえの罠にまんまとかかってやる。

Does まんまと means that the speaker fell into the trap easily or voluntarily? Or is the idea that he is willing to fall into the trap only contained in てやる?

Thanks for your time.

EDIT : The speaker says that after being convinced by the hearer (which he just beat) to let him evolve in order to make the fight interesting. Taking the risk of becoming weaker than his opponent in the process.


texts: Help identifying a handwritten character

texts:
I've had trouble identifying this certain character:

I find it pretty difficult to discern the individual strokes and components. Is it uncommon or are my eyes just bad?

EDIT: The sentence goes 合同⭕なんてイミなくない？


texts: Would it happen to be something roughly like "Even if I'm not busy"?


texts:
I need help to understand some grammar in this sentence

何度ゃったって
結果は同じだ
それが世界の真理なんだ

So I translated it for "no matter how many times I will try, the result will be the same. that's the truth of this world"

But there are two things that I don't understand here:

ゃったって? where it came from? te iru form of やる (to do)? Because I know there is どうゃったって - what do you saying
なんだ? is that to explain ton or something?

Thanks,
Or


texts: I was told 眠たい was an adjective, and that it is an exceptional case. How does it work as an adjective and what is its relation to the verb 眠る?


texts: What is the meaning of 流し when talking about swordsmanship?

texts:
What is the meaning of 流し方 in the following sentence?

  知ってると思うが、剣は腕力より流し方だぜ、力の。

Since it is opposed to 腕力 (brute force), I suppose it has something to do with spiritual force. The context is a fight between two samurai. This is where it's taken from: i.imgur.com/Yaz1eQr.jpg
Here's my attempt:

  I think you know, but in swordsmanship, more than brute force, it's the way you make it circulate that's important.

Thank you for your help!


texts: Use of 都合の良い (tsugounoii) in text of Akutagawa Ryuunosuke "藪の中"

texts:
I am a little bit nonplussed about the meaning of a certain sentence in Akutagawa Ryuunosuke's "藪の中" where the robber is telling his version of the events.
The sentence is:

  わたしの仕事をしとげるのには、これほど都合の良い場所はありません.

I understand this as:
"To the extent (これほど) of carrying out/doing (しとげるのに) my deed わたしの仕事を, this place (場所) is not (ありません) suitable (都合の良い)".

However, the translation, which I have in the book of "Breaking into Japanese Literature" by Giles Murray this sentence is translated as:

  "It was the ideal spot for me to do the business."

Frankly speaking, from the overall context, Giles Murray's translation makes much more sense than my interpretation, however, I don't see where I'm going wrong in the sentence. I could comprehend something where it would be comparing this place to other places and stating that other places don't suit as well as this one, but I don't detect any "pointers" here that would give at least a slight hint toward the meaning of Giles Murray.

Is it probably a literal error, as it should be あります instead of ありません?

Thanks for your help!


texts: Adding honorific prefix in a compound construction? (E.g. 買ってくれになる)

texts:
I'm currently learning how to use くれる/あげる correctly, and I want to practice using 敬語 in my sentence. However, I am not sure where I should put the pre-verb honorific prefix お used in おVERB+になります as I have several verbs combined in my sentence:

  お隣りが父にお土産をお買ってくれになりました。

First off, 買う is done on the neighbor's part. Yet, it is "my father" who is receiving the お土産 with the verb くれる. I am uncertain whether I should even use お+連用形+になる in the sentence at all. Perhaps I'm getting the subject all wrong?

Question:

How does one turn a compound verb into 敬語?
Am I wrong in using 敬語 in this sentence at all?

*Terms such as "compound verb" are used provisionally, since I'm not familiar with linguistics. If wrong, please correct me.

Edit: In another related question asked on HiNative, a native speaker suggested that 贈ってくれる (贈る+くれる) was redundant. Thus, 買ってくれる. Also, apparently が is better than は to mark the subject according to the kind person who offered correction.


texts: What is the proper way of writing the first stroke of 言?

texts: I am wondering why is it that 言 looks different in different fonts. In Gothic, the topmost part is just a horizontal line while in Google Search, it is a drop. I am really confused about what is really the proper way of writing this kanji.


texts: Can ば conditional form be interpreted as a conjunction?

texts:
I was just introduced a new grammar point, the も~も construction as shown on https://core6000.neocities.org/dojg/. I understand the main function of も and how it is the inclusionary particle and I can follow along with most of the examples for the grammar point that the site provides, but I can't make out how sentences with ば (I've only known the form to be the conditional. Haven't done grammar lookups in j-j dictionaries) are working.

One of the samples sentences provided is

彼は親戚でもなければ友達でもない。

and the english interpretation is "He is neither a relative nor a friend." My question is how does なければ, what I would think would be the ば conditional of ない, work here? Literal English translations aren't doing me much good here if I try and translate this taking ば as the conditional. Can someone help me understand how this is working?


texts:
I have heard that not only can people outside of Tohoku have trouble understanding the dialect, but I have also heard that people from different regions of Tohoku can't understand each other either. To what extent is this true?
The common example I hear are between Aomori dialects like Tsugaru-ben, but would people between regions like Miyagi and Yamagata have this same difficulty? After doing some research, it seems that the sound changes are fairly similar, or at least known between dialects, so is this unintelligibility due to the accent or due to vocabulary and grammar differences?


texts: Difference between volitional +と思う and volitional+ と思っている

texts:
I've looked around the site for anything related but i couldn't find any clues.

My take at it is that using the volitional form with と思う you're expressing your plans in the near future as in

  今晩は薬を飲んで早く寝ようと思います。

you think you'll take your medicine then fall asleep probably said on the same day or even a few hours before doing the action.

whereas volitional form + と思っている you're expressing your plans probably a few years in the future

  来年、フルマラソンに挑戦しようと思っている。

you're thinking about taking on the challenge of a full marathon next year and probably saying that you've been thinking of taking on the challenge is correct too because you're still thinking, probably haven't even started preparing for it or probably even still considering it?

I'm not really sure about this, it's just a speculation, is part of what i said correct?


texts: What is the nuance of この + [first person pronoun]?

texts:
For example, from the song Fare Well by L'Arc~en~Ciel:

あなたは いつまでも この僕のこと 愛してくれたのかな

and countless examples from manga, like:

だが このオレは 死なん...
こんどは このオレが きさまを 滅ぼす
このオレに 勝てるわけがない

My guess is that it この + first-person-pronoun is just emphasis, but is there anything more here?


texts:
What is the aspect in  the following example for the word 窺う?

  to await (one's chance) usually written using kana alone

  彼は発言の機会をうかがった。

  He watched for an opportunity to speak.

Does it mean:

He watched for an opportunity, but it did not happen.
He watched for an opportunity and he got one.
Whether he had a chance to speak or not, cannot be inferred.

Is it possible to form sentences distinguishing between the situation 1. and 2. using the verb 窺う? What form would it take?


texts: Both seem to mean contest, resists. Is あらそう more about verbal protest? And あらがう related to action such as rebellion? Is there an overlap?


texts:
When modifying nouns, if the noun you're modifying is a person, can the noun modifying clause be past tense? So if I wanted to say:

The person I saw yesterday is here again today.

Which is correct?

私が昨日に見る人はまた今日にはここでいる。

私が昨日に見た人はまた今日にはここでいる。


texts:
Can きっと be used as “for sure” as in..

  きっとこの状態でみんなは毎晩家でゆっくりお酒を飲んでいますね。
  For sure in these circumstances everybody’s drinking every night in their house.

If the grammar is wrong please let me know and feel free to provide alternative correct sentences.


texts: What does 御用の向きとは mean + usage of うぬ in the meaning of "you"

texts:
I have two questions:

What's the meaning of a phrase: 御用の向きとは? Is it a set expression? I found a few examples where it was ended with a question mark, in some cases preceded by addressing an interlocutor by his/her name. Is it always used that way?

Originally I found the phrase in a manga, it's said at the beginning of a new scene, so it's hard to provide the exact context. The situation looks like an audience, the speaker is saying the words to his host (and probably superior):

「小太郎様、御用の向きとは、」

After which the host speaks, offering him some wine.

2.What's the usage of うぬ in the meaning of "you"? Is it an obsolete form? Does it imply some difference of status between interlocutors?


texts:
Lately ふう has been on my mind. Often it seems interchangeable with よう:

これを｛こんなふう／このよう｝にしてください。 Please make it like this.

あれを｛どういうふう／どのよう｝に解釈しますか。 In what way do you interpret that?

家を出るとき、帰りにケーキを買ってきてという｛ふう／よう｝に言われました。 When I was about to leave, I was told to pick up some cake on the way back.

Questions
When ふう and よう are used in this way to mean "manner" or "like":

Are they always interchangeable?
Is there any difference in nuance?


texts: Rules for emphasizing by lengthening sounds

texts:
Sometimes, sounds are lengthened for emphasis.  For example, see "とっても versus とても".

What are the rules governing this process?

Are there restrictions on where lengthening can be inserted?
とっても or とてえも or とても～?
すんごい or すご～い or すごいー?
Is it predictable which sound is inserted?
すんごい rather than す～ごい or すっごい?

I've given examples, but I'm hoping to learn if any general rules exist.


texts:
According to the dictionary, 吹く is a transitive verb (e.g., a verb that needs an object).

However, the following sentence does not have an object. So what should I  translate it?

  風が強く吹いている。


texts: What is the difference between the pronunciation of 「休校【きゅうこう】」and「急行【きゅうこう】」?

texts:
「休校【きゅうこう】」と「急行【きゅうこう】」の発音はどう違いますか。

よろしくお願いします！


texts: Difference between よく + verb, and verb + ことが多い

texts:
アザラシは寒い海にいることが多い動物です。
  The アザラシ is an animal that often lives in cold seas.

I'm not entirely sure that 'often' is the right translation here. How does this sentence differ in meaning/nuance from:

  アザラシは寒い海によくいる動物です。


texts: In informal speech is か used or omitted?

texts:
I've heard different things - on the one hand saying things like 高いか, きれいか, or 飲むか is too aggressive, but in my grammar book it says that か is used with informal forms. Furthermore I'm told that instead of using か with informal forms, one should simply slightly raise one's voice.

Finally, I've heard questions simply asked by using だ, such as in それがどういう意味だ? or 何だ?

I'd appreciate some clarification. Thanks


texts: I've often seen 'read the air' (literal translation) or 'read between the lines' but is there a better rendition of this concept in English? Or does it just not exist?


texts:
I've been trying to figure this text out in NHK news easy:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10010447431000/k10010447431000.html

There is a part when it says: トラックなど１２台の車がぶつかる事故がありました。
I couldn't understand this トラックなど１２台の車 exactly, the order of the words are confusing me I think. I'm reading "truck 12 cars", and I don't know what this など is doing. I think the overall meaning is "one truck and twelve cars", but I want to know exactly which role each word is playing. Could someone explain this part to me?


texts: What is that expression used to generally mean "...is what I would say, but..."?

texts:
Forgive me if this is a bit anecdotal, but I often hear a sentence pattern in speech which basically is of the form "[statement]...is what I would/want to say, but..." I usually hear this when the speaker is trying to lead the listener on as a joke or to be sarcastic. It sort of sounds like 「...て何と...」, but I can't be sure. There's a definite pause between the first expression and the て何-whatever I hear afterwards.

EDIT: An example might be helpful. "You're really funny...is what I'd like to say." Possibly followed with an explanation: "You're really funny...is what I'd like to say, but I just can't lie."


texts:
I have been wondering if Japanese language include letter P.
I have actually seen words like Pan in Japanese which means bread, but then I found out it was borrowed from Spanish.
Then is there any Japanese words (not borrowed from other languages) or verbs has letter P?

Sorry for my English, am still learning...


texts: How to situationally respond to 「お元気ですか」?

texts:
I'm curious about how native speakers actually respond to the simple question of 「お元気ですか。」 I'm currently going into my third year of studying Japanese. My first-year Japanese professor impressed upon us that no matter what, always respond with 「ええ、おかげさまで。」 That always seemed very formal to me. In fact, my second-year professor often responded with just 「はい、元気」 and a Japanese friend of mine seemed surprised when I used 「おかげさまで」 to answer him.

I've done a fair bit of searching around on the internet, and I've seen mixed responses, so I'm assuming it's a very situational type of thing. When would you use 「元気です」 vs 「おかげさまで」 vs some other response?


texts:
Here's the line I'm trying to understand:

  責任をもって調きょ…指導してあげるのよ

I've gotten a bit over my head reading a comedy yuri manga written by one of those big Twitter authors... It's chock full of slang, and I assume this is either one of those instances or it's some shortening of another word I don't know. I've searched in different dictionaries and tried typing it directly into Google, but no useful information is forthcoming.

Here's the panel for context:

I gather the gist of what she's saying... "It's my duty as student president to correct the behavior of my classmates. [Part I'm not sure about]... I'll give you some guidance."

I'm think it's something to do with holding an important responsibility? Even if that's correct, I'm still interested in what exactly this 調きょ is doing in the phrase. Thanks in advance for any insight!


texts:
I have only recently started learning Japanese and was wondering if my handwriting is easy to read.

手伝ってくれてありがとうございます


texts: Why does も move in sentences involving だれも etc

texts:
丸尾君はだれに頼まれたわけでもないのに、ひとりで教室の拭きそうじをしていた。
  Although it's not the case that Maruo was asked by anyone, he did the classroom cleaning by himself.

...わけではない = It's not the case that ...
だれも = anyone

I'm confused as to how these merge together into the above sentence (assuming my translation is correct).

Naively (and no doubt wrongly) I would have tried だれにも頼まれたわけではないのに. Is there a way to understand what is going on here?

Also, If I simply wanted to say "I wasn't asked by anyone" (without all the わけ stuff) how would I do that? Again, naivley I'd try だれにも頼まれなかった、but something tells me I'm wrong.


texts: 言っていました vs 言いました when saying 'someone said ...'

texts:
If you wanted to say. 'Keiko said xxx,' why is けいこさんが「ｘｘｘ」と言っていました better than  けいこさんが「ｘｘｘ」と言いました?

Thank you, and happy new year!

(Also is は better than が in this instance?)


texts: I've found this expression on a manga and I don't know if the correct translation be Absolutely strong 絶対強い


texts:
a friend just sent me this message but I can't understand, especially that last one character, can someone help me plz

強いとこｷﾀ----------


texts: 「雨が降っているぜ」の「ぜ」の意味について

texts:
さっき、お弁当を買ってきた三十代の男性同僚が、入室したら「外雨が降っているぜ！早く弁当買っといた方がいいかも！」と勢い良く言った。

その「ぜ」の意味はなんだべ？

「行くぜ」ならなんとなく分かるんだが、今の文脈だとさっぱり迷ってしまうんだ…


texts: I mean the sense of the word used for education and lack of pressure in the job world.


texts:
What is the difference between 約款{やっかん} and 契約{けいやく}?

As per dictionary the following are the meanings

  約款 - agreement; article; clause
  契約 - contract; agreement

These words are used in the Insurance domain. So please explain the differences with examples?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I recently came upon a number of adjectives ending in 「〜やか」that can be paired up with other adjectives:

  「緩い」 and 「緩やか」
  「涼しい」 and 「涼やか」
  「軽い」 and 「軽やか」

What is the meaning of this 「〜やか」and where does it come from? According to the dictionary, the paired adjectives have the same meaning. Is there a difference in tone between the adjectives?


texts:
In programming is very common to say things like "create an issue", "open a ticket", when you are asking for help or want to create a "topic" about the problem you wanna solve.
I realized that here in Japan people say things like:

イシューを切る。イシューを切ってください。イシューを切っておきました。etc

Reference
I assume 切る here means something like "Create" or "Open", is it correct? I tried looking on Jisho but the meanings there do not seem to fit.
Also, are there other words that take 切る with a similar meaning?


texts:
After hearing the pronunciation of the word ブラジン, I'm very confused about the sound for ジ, is it [d͡ʑ] or [ʑ] followed by [i]?
Also, I did some research and found this sentence on wikipedia.org:

Before /i/, /s, t/ are alveolo-palatal [ɕ, t͡ɕ], and /z, d/ are either neutralized as free variation between [ʑ] and [d͡ʑ] or distinct as [ʑ, d͡ʑ]. Before /u/, /t/ is [t͡s], and /d/ is either merged with /z/ as free variation between [z] and [d͡z] or always [d͡z] distinct from /z/. When geminated, however, /z/ is always [d͡z].[3]

But totally don't understand what it means here. Does "before" here mean in the past or it means to put [ɕ, t͡ɕ] before /i/, /s, t/. The later is weird though. Also what's the point of grouping /s/ and /t/ inside a single pair of slashes /s, t/.


texts: When asking 'What is your name?' or 'What is your job?', why is it 'は' not 'か'?

texts:
As per the title, when asking 'What is your name?' or 'What is your job?', why is it 'は' not 'か'? For example, we are taught this:

  おしごとは。
  'What is your job?'

But I don't understand why it isn't this?

  あなたはしごとですか。
  'What is your job?'


texts: Does 「ビールをたくさん飲まないほうがいい」sound right?

texts: I'm trying to say "you shouldn't drink a lot of (much) beer" and i'm wondering if I can use たくさん in this way to mean "a lot" (i.e. much).


texts:
I came across a statement in my Japanese book and wondered if someone could help me out with it.

  (　　)の中からより適当な方を選びなさい。

I reckon this translates to from the ( ) choose the most appropriate option.

But why is からより used? Shouldn’t it be one or the other as they both have the same meaning?


texts: What is the order of importance of 重大 重要 大切 大事

texts:
What is the difference in order of importance and contextual usage of the following:

重大 重要 大切 大事


texts: Does "入ってみたい家庭" this mean enter the family specifically or enter the clan?

texts:
Nuance-ish question, there was an event for an anime with their voice actors answering questions (all 6 present were the voice actors for parents/children in the Nakamura, Watanabe and Nakashima families) where this question was asked:

「中村家・渡辺家・中島家の中で、入ってみたい家庭は？」

'Between the Nakamura, Watanabe, and Nakashima households, which household would you want to enter?'

I'd like to ask if 家庭 here refers specifically to the family we see in question, or to entire clan. To elaborate, the series has, for example, an entire Nakashima clan (中島一族) in the background, but mostly concentrate on one family made up of a father, mother, and two daughters. Does the question refer to entering the Nakashima clan, or entering the Nakashima family that's concentrated on? Or could it be either? I'd like to understand the nuances/usage behind the word 家庭.


texts: What is the difference between 時々and たまに？

texts: I have been chatting online and both terms seem to mean the same thing. Thank you.


texts: 晟. Is this kanji used in compounds? I saw it in the dictionary but there isn’t much info on it except that it is an old JLPT 1 kanji, means “clear”, and has kun reading “akiraka”. Is this a common kanji?


texts: Could someone please check if this translation is accurate?

texts:
I'm trying to translate these two sentences:

  Question: "D-BOYSで仲良いのはやっぱり、あらやんですか？"
  Answer: "ベタだけどやっぱり仲間が1番しっくりくるかな。"

Is it OK to translate them like this?

  Q: Among the D-BOYS, the person closer to you is Arayan, after all?
  A: It's a cliché but I guess all my friends are the best match for me.

Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you very much!!


texts: Why do the singular first person pronouns 俺{おい}等{ら} and 俺{お}等{ら} involve the plural affix 等?


texts: Onomatopoeia for a long, intense scream - "AAAAA!!"

texts:
How could you describe a very long, very intense scream - one that expresses extreme anger or pain? So far I've only been able to find examples of short gasps, or screams with happier connotations.
In particular I'm looking for the equivalent of reading the word "AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" in a comic strip, which can be stretched out as long as you like by adding more A's. Does Japanese have a version that can also be infinitely-repeated like that?


texts: What do this pattern mean and how do I use it?

texts:
I came across two sentences:

  前回も雨なら今回も雨か。。。僕たちの旅行はいつも運が悪いね。

  そんな人、会ったこともなければ名前聞いたこともありません。

The form should be [~も~なら/ば~も] and it should mean も~も. But can somebody provide me more examples and further explanation, I'm not sure I'm getting it right?


texts: どんな危険 vs どんな危険も Confusion

texts:
Why does

どんな危険 - what danger

どんな危険も - any danger

Is this a grammar point, this is the sentence that confused me:

ここはどんな危険もないよ = There is no danger here

も is after the noun of 危険 , is the も still linking with the どんな?


texts: What's the difference between ようこそ and いらっしゃいませ?

texts:
Both "ようこそ" (yōkoso) and "いらっしゃいませ" (irasshaimase) seem to mean "welcome" but what are the precise circumstances under which each should be used?

"いらっしゃいませ" (irasshaimase) is uttered in unison by all the staff whenever you walk into a restaurant or shop
"ようこそ" (yōkoso) was used in a recent "Welcome to Japan" advertising campaign

But this is just based on my very limited experience so I'm obviously missing lots of subtleties and insights.


texts:
Found a sentence,

  人間の身体能力は吸血鬼の7分の1しかありません

Is this how you write ratios in Japanese?


texts:
I'm working on a paper about media science and in one of the Japanese papers
the author talks about　"新聞の民主性". I do know the general meaning of the word, but I struggle to put it into proper English or struggle to find the corresponding English term.

Here's is one of the sentences for context:

井口の新聞学では、彼はマス・コミュニケーションの一つとして相対化され、同時に「新聞の民主性」というイデオロギーが成立した。


texts: Question about に and には in terms of emphasis

texts:
I read the post on here from 2011 about the difference between に and には, but I came back still a little confused (especially with all the non-layman grammar words like transitive/nominative/etc).
I have two examples and I think I know how to use には, but I'm wondering if someone could double-check or expand on the subject.

日本語はアメリカ人には難しいと思います。
I think Japanese is (more) difficult for Americans (as opposed to other nationalities).

So, in a way, I'm implying that I'm taking into consideration other nationalities compared to Americans in terms of English being difficult, putting emphasis that it is much harder for Americans compared to others.

日本語はアメリカ人に難しいと思います。
I think Japanese is difficult for Americans.

This would be just saying that Japanese is hard for Americans, not comparing it to any other country/nationality. So its implied I could also think Japanese is equally as hard for, say, Russian people and that Americans don't necessarily have a harder time.
What do you all think? Would love some feedback to properly understand には better.


texts: What word is used for an enemy in a Video Game?

texts: What is the most common Japanese word to use when referring to any kind of enemy in a video game. I know the word モンスター is common for non-human enemies, but is there just a general term for any kind of enemy? Thank you


texts: Adjective conjugation of 小さい and 少ない in these sentences

texts:
I’ve come across some adjective conjugation that I don’t fully understand in two separate but related example sentences, and so my translations are definitely wonky.

飲んでいるでしょう。その証拠に、ぜんぜんお腹が小さくならないじゃない.

Translation: Probably drinking? As evidenced, never stomach (something not little)….?

I know 小さくない means ‘not a little’ but this ならない is confusing me, I only know it from　なければならない meaning 'must' but that' doesn't seem to apply here. The meaning overall is eluding me.

文法のルールが説明できるからと言って、それが上手に使えるとは限らない。その証拠に、実際に作文の宿題をチェックしたら、正しく書けていないことが少なくない。

Translation: Just because I’m able to explain the grammar rules doesn’t necessarily mean I’m good at using them. As shown, in reality when I check my homework essays I’m not able to correctly read not a little?

In this sentence, both the final verb and adjective are confusing me. 書けていない I think means ‘not being able to read’ whilst 少なくない means ‘not a little/not few’ but put them together and I’m lost.


texts: Who is 本人 referring to in 本人には自覚は全くないんだがな

texts:
Person 1「ふむ……魅力的な提案だが、今はよしておこう。こちらも色々と仕事があるのでね」

Person 2「今は……ね。ああ、でも貴方に手を付けちゃうとガーネットに怒られそう。姫様にも色々言われそうだわ。　私よりもよっぽど面倒そうじゃない」

Person 1「本人には自覚は全くないんだがな――　まあ、その様子なら大丈夫だとは思うが、面倒事が起こる前に用事を済ませて帰れよ？」

I was under the impression that 本人 is third person, and if he was referring to ガーネット or 姫様 then he would have used 本人たち instead. In this case then I think it would refer to the person he is talking to, but I don't quite understand. Does anyone care to clarify who he is referring to?

Edit: Context:

Person 2 jokingly "invited" Person 1 to sleep with them.

1) Why would ガーネット get angry if Person 2 slept with Person 1?

Person 1 is an Incubus who in the past has deceived ガーネット and slept with her, she would naturally get angry if her friend sleeps with the same man she detests.

1) Why would 姫様 get angry if Person 2 slept with Person 1?

Person 1 is also technically her future husband.


texts:
I came across a sentence that I don't quite understand:

  それが物言わぬ植物であれば、どれだけ外野が騒然としようがナーバスになりようがないだけペットよりもマシ。

I think I get --please correct me if I'm wrong!-- the overall meaning (somebody compares noisy house pets to silent plants), but the bolded part confuses me.

Dictionaries say the word "外野" means "outfield", the other possible meaning is "outsider".
I don't really get how it fits here though.

So I was wondering if anyone can help me shed some light on it?

UPD to add some context.

The guy (who is not very fond of pets) rambles about how no one is caring for the plants in the garden. And then this passage follows:

  しかし。その中のひとつが学術性の極めて高い希種ともなれば、また別次元の話になる。価値観が跳ね上がるからだ。それは植物に限らず、ペットも同様であるが。
  今まで誰も見向きもしなかったものに、にわかにスポットライトが当たる。それが物言わぬ植物であれば、どれだけ外野が騒然としようがナーバスになりようがないだけペットよりもマシ。


texts: What is the meaning of "迷い" in the phrase 夜の街迷いし穢れの乱歩

texts:
This phrase is from a song the translation of

  "夜の街迷いし穢れの乱歩"

would be: Lost in a city at night, I take a random impure walk.

The question is: "迷い" in the dictionary means hesitation, perplexity, which does not look like its meaning in the sentence.
   So I was wondering where did "迷い" come from? comes from the verb "迷う"？ if yes how did it become "迷い"?  and yet how does it bind directly to 街 no particles?  I know they give a lot of questions, can anyone explain me?  my language is portuguese so sorry for any grammar mistake.


texts:
I'm trying to figure out what "こと” is referring to in this idiom/grammar point.

In the following example sentence:

彼は若いころから日本に住んでいただけのことはあって、さすが日本語がうまいんだね。

What does koto refer to here?

Additionally, is this perfectly interchangeable with だけあって

Compare the following 2 sentences

彼は若いころから日本に住んでいただけのことはあって、さすが日本語がうまいんだね。
彼は若いころから日本に住んでいただけあって、さすが日本語がうまいんだね。

Are these different? If so, why?


texts: 私はこの力を以て己れを鞭ち他を生きる事が出来るように思う

texts:
There's a sentence in the "to the little ones " story I can't understand, I searched a lot, and I don't get the writer's meaning.

私はこの力を以て己れを鞭ち他を生きる事が出来るように思う。(source: 『小さき者へ』)


texts: How do I differentiate all these terms for "illiterate"?

texts:
I looked up the word "illiteracy", and was offered many different possibilities. Here they are, with my personal take on the nuance behind their origins:

  活字{かつじ}離{ばな}れ ("removed from printing"?)

  文盲{もんもう} ("blind to writing"?)

  無学{むがく} ("no learning"?)

  無筆{むひつ} ("no writing ability?")

  一文不通{いちもんふつ} ("no comprehension of writing"?)

  一文不知{いちもんふち} ("no knowledge of writing"?)

  非識字{ひしきじ} ("no character sense"?)

I think the last one might most directly correspond to literal "illiteracy".

But, in English we use the term "illiterate" two ways. One to generally describe someone we think of as uneducated or outright stupid. Another is to mean someone who is literally unable to read.

So what I'd like to know is:

Which of these Japanese words is the most commonly used form to describe the literal situation of a person unable to read?

Is that word synonymous with ignorance as it is in English? Are any of these words used to convey stupidity (in other words, used as an insult)?

Of all these words, which are commonly understood, and which are rarely used or reserved for special circumstances?


texts: Does 青山 (aoyama) mean green or blue or black mountain?

texts:
It must be weird for being blue or black ... but is it really green?
All usages of 青 I've read so far mean blue.


texts:
If I wanted to say "The teacher who made the kids write a letter to their friend in the hospital", how should I write it?

Are 2 にs ok in the same sentence?
Would 病院にいる友達に子供に手紙を書かせた先生。be acceptable?

If there are no particles, how should I interpret a causative like 書かせた人

Would it be

The person who made someone else write
The person who was made to write by someone


texts:
Last time I have started to mix active and passive forms like 読んだ｛よんだ｝本｛ほん｝ and 読まれた｛よまれた｝本｛ほん｝.  In which case the passive is necessary and in which case not? Could you please help me to draw a fat red line between them?
Thank you so much in advance...


texts: Correct phrase for "I'm just browsing" in a store

texts:
I've been trying to figure out what the correct translation is of the phrase "I'm just browsing", in a context such as when one is looking at goods in a store (e.g. if you're walking around the shop and employee asks if you need help).

This should be straightforward, but my dictionary gives many possible translations for "browsing" (e.g. 素見{すけん}、冷{ひ}やかし、閲覧{えつらん}, etc.)  and I'm not sure which would be appropriate here. What's the most appropriate translation of this phrase in the given context?


texts:
i wanna ask you about donojiten 々. These mark's function is to repeat a word right? But when I searching まだまだ、休み休み、泣き泣き on website dictionary and replaced by 々, cant found those words meaning. So donojiten cant be used by all types reduplication words? Or maybe there is a reason why?
Thank you


texts:
迷宮都市{オラリオ}はこの魔石製品を他の地域、他の国に輸出することで莫大な利益を上げていると聞く。この場合、迷宮都市{オラリオ}っていうよりギルドなんだろうけど。

I don't understand the second sentence. Is it actually a complete sentence? Also what does なんだろうけど express?


texts:
I've read about if "z" sound is pronounced /z/ or /dz/ and found the answer here that:

Typically, though not consistently, [dz] occurs at the beginning of a word or in the middle of a word immediately following a syllable-final consonant (§5.1, §5.6), and [z] occurs in the middle of a word immediately following a vowel.

So I thought: okay I need to just remember which word uses which sound.
Then I heard native speakers saying:

絶対にだめです。with /z/ sound
そんなことは絶対できないじょ。 with /dz/ sound

So seems like the SAME word can have both pronunciations, depending on person?
My question is should I care at all? Maybe I should choose one sound /z/ or /dz/ and use it in every word? Will everyone be able to understand me?
Thanks for help :)


texts: My friend sent me an image of a bookmark and I wish I knew what it said. If anyone can help me out, that would be great.


texts:
Context: the narrative character is attempting to find a reason explaining his past behavior.

  あの時、何をどう考えて行動したんだろう？

I understand the gist of the above sentence (as seen with my translation attempt below), but I don't understand why there is a 何をどう there.

  That time, what I wonder is how to think of what my behavior was?

l'électeur says here

  「なに」 requires specific and detailed information whereas 「どう」 only requires rough or vague information. "Specifics vs. Overall Approach", so to speak.

Is the above a case of "specific and detailed information" being sought from the "vague information" the character gathered by thinking, or is my understanding of the 何をどう meaning wrong?


texts: In the japanese The legend of Zelda (e.g. Ocarina of Time), why is navi spelled ナビィ and not just ナビ?

texts: I started playing the Japanese version of Ocarina of time and noticed that navi is spelled as ナビィ instead of just ナビ. I know that you can combine e.g. フ and イ　for フィ, but the one in ナビィ seems redundant.


texts: 「Xの原始として,Y」の意味 (What does the phrase Xの原始としてのY　mean?)

texts:
Japanese
最近、日本人と共同研究しています。私の方は哲学の専門家。共同研究者は発表を作っていて、その発表の中に以下の表現を使いました：

「Xの原始としてのY」

日本語の母国語ではない私に、これは「YはXの原始」という意味をしていると思いました。それが当ていませんか。言い換えて、意味として、これはYはXの原始かXはYの原始か。またはその二つ以外の意味がありますか。
English
Recently, I've been engaged in some collaborative research with several Japanese researchers. I'm a philosopher by trade. One of our collaborators made a presentation which included the phrase:

Xの原始としてのY

As a non-native speaker, I thought this means that Y is X's origin or principle. Is that correct? Rewording it, is this saying that X is Y's principle or Y is X's principle? Or does it mean something different from either of those?


texts:
I am sending a gift to a Japanese family (friends of ours).  Rather than address the gift to one individual I want to address it to the entire family.

How do I write

  The Tanaka Family

in Japanese?

I have read a bit about the possible use of mina (to represent all) and sama. Maybe it should be "Tanaka-mina"?

Please also answer in rōmaji.


texts: Did I translate the て-form correctly in this sentence?

texts:
I'm wondering if I translated the bolded part of the following sentence correctly due to not being 100% certain on the rules of the て-form.

軍隊で使うような、重くて厚みのあるサバイバルナイフ。

I managed to translate the entire sentence as the following two possible translations, the bolded words corresponding with what I bolded above:

The knife is like a knife used by the military, not heavy,  yet profound; it is a certain type of survival knife.
The knife is like a knife used by the military, not heavy, with a certain thickness found in a survival knife.

According to the following link, the て-form of adjectives is the equivalent negative and are created by replacing the 「い」 with 「くて」.
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/compound#Expressing_a_sequence_of_verbs_with_the_te-form

Negative: Same as i-adjectives, replace 「い」 with 「くて」.

Seeing as how 重い can mean ' heavy ' or ' massive ', does this mean that the te-form changes the meaning to ' not heavy ' if the て-form turns the original word into a negative?
Site I use for 重い possible translations:
https://www.tanoshiijapanese.com/dictionary/entry_details.cfm?entry_id=32171&j=%E9%87%8D%E3%81%8F%E3%81%A6


texts:
In the following dialogue, and in general, is 奪う a synonym of 殺す? Maybe a more 'poetical' one?

  Character A: 誠士郎【せいしろう】を殺したのは鈴爾【れいじ】と雪也【ゆきなり】さんだ。

  Character B: なに？誠士郎【せいしろう】を奪ったのが鈴爾【れいじ】と兄さん…！？

Thank you for your help!


texts:
まだ梅雨にも入っとらんというのに…

I guess it just means "We're not even in the rainy season yet". However I can't figure out how "入る" becomes "入っとらん".


texts:
Here is the sentence from ドラゴンボール,  :

全世界注目の地球の運命を賭けたセルゲームが始まろうとしています。
(the Cell Game is a martials arts tournament for those who don't know the manga)

I'm not sure of what the first の means here :
Is it the の equivalent to が in subordinate clauses? But then I don't really get why 注目 would be used :

The Cell Game, on which the (attention of the) entire world stakes the future of the earth, is about to begin.

My guess is it's the same の as in :

兄のジョンだ。 This is John, my brother.

Then a translation would be :

The Cell game, center of the entire world's attention, and on which we bet the destiny of the earth, is about to begin.

Or is it something else?
Thanks for your time.


texts:
So でねえ is used in the following sentences in Great Pretender [S01E01] as a negative command and has been translated as such:

来るでねえ !

Dont come [closer] !

And here as:

ふざけるでねえ！

Stop messing around

What is it a contraction of ?
What is the formality level in comparison to Verb+な and verb-ないでください ?
What nuances does it carry ?


texts: あまり when used to answer a negative question

texts:
When answering a negative question with あまり, it will normally be the positive (by japanese rules). For example:

person A: 彼に来ないで欲しいですか？
person B: あまり

By literal translation, person A is asking person B, "Do you want him not to come". And person B reply when translated to english means "not really". In other words, person B (somewhat) wants him to come. Since the question is negative and the answer is also negative. This holds when following basic japanese rules. But I get the impression that person B　あまり might also mean "あまり来ないで欲しい" which means "I do NOT want him to come". The question is, when one answers a negative question with あまり, does it mean the former "I WANT him to come" or does it mean the latter "I do NOT want him to come"


texts: What’s the difference between yareru and yaru? Dictionaries I have compared both say they are forms of “to do”, and they seem interchangeable to me.


texts: What's the difference between おい and ねえ?

texts:
I saw this question, How is おい used?, but I don't think this would be a duplicate of any existing question yet.

There, they say that おい is a curt "hey" or "yo" that can come across strongly. But since I'm still fairly new to Japanese, the most memorable instance of おい I can recall is Link's little sister from The Wind Waker.

Similarly, I'm most familiar with ねえ from music (this is just my favorite artist and one of his songs that uses ねえ). It seems to just mean "hey" like it would in English.

However, it'd be nice to have a contextual contrast of how these are actually used beyond anime, music, and video games. Could you explain what their differences are?


texts: Intrepretation of 遠慮もしていられないか in this sentence structure

texts:
目を強く擦る。俺はひとりなんかじゃないぞ。母さんがいるじゃないか。

  母さんとは、連絡はずっと取り合っているが、あえて顔は合わせないようにしていた。あちらは新しい生活を始めているからだ。

  でももう、身内を相手に遠慮もしていられないか。

Include prior two sentences for context. Speaker is in a tough situation.

  however (now that it has gotten to this point), I cannot afford to hold back in regards to dealing with my relatives anymore can I?

I assume 遠慮もしていられない = cannot afford to hold back with extra emphasis from も

But how that interacts with 身内を相手に is very awkward for me.  Literally i would read it as 身内を遠慮しない, but towards 相手 (one person in particular within the family, his mom?). But having both 相手 and 身内 is very confusing if 相手 is also 身内 as well...

THere's also the possibility of the speaker referring to himself in 3rd person as 相手 and using the passive tense, but i feel that has issues as well

What's the proper way to digest this sentence?

Thanks


texts:
I've been using Bunpro to review grammar and came across the following example sentence:

外国人だけど、着物を着る______、日本人みたいになった。

The site is looking for だけで (just by) as the answer, which I understand in hindsight. However, my initial answer was ばかりに.

Does this answer also make sense? If so, is there a difference in meaning   or connotation between the two?