texts: What function would っての have in these contexts?

texts:
亜衣麻衣美衣が壁を作るようにして、士道の進路を阻んでくる。 「ちょっと待てゴルァァァァァ！」 「乙女を辱めておいてどこに行こうってのよ！」
「現行犯よ！逃がさないんだから！」

2.「馬鹿にすんじゃないわよ！ジェットコースターの制限って一一〇センチとかじゃない！さすがにそんなに小さくないっての！」(the sister
wanted to ride the roller coaster but the brother was afraid she was
too short)

Hi. Do the two bold ってのs have the same function? If they do, what would the function be? It seems these ってのs are not equivalent to というのか.
よろしくお願いします。


texts:
現在はごちゃごちゃしていてあんまりいいこともなくて、と思っていると、そういうふうになるので、そうじゃなくて、追憶というのは未來に対してすべきなんじゃないでしょうか。

May I know what does the bolded sentence mean?
Does it mean that  If I think that I am messed up and there are no good things at present, the situation will become so?
But I have no clue about the そうじゃなくて that comes after. そういうふうになる means it will become but そうじゃなくて means it is not like that. It seems the two are contradictory to each other?


texts:
What does this って actually mean? I've got 2 translations in my head:

というのは
と(quotative) but I can't translate this. I only know that 「犬が驚いたらしくって」means the dog looked surprised.

And why has it changed from らしい to らしく?

Thank you in advance.


texts: Etymological Connection Between 帽子, 眸子 and 牟子

texts:
In Ryunosuke Akutagawa's short story "In a Grove", the monk talks about the girl on the horse wearing a type of hat called a 牟子 with the furigana むし. However, this word is not in the dictionary. But I have seen other readings of it as ぼうし。
Could this be the origin of the word 帽子? Or, perhaps 帽子 just overtook 牟子.

I did find the word 眸子 read ぼうし, but it means 瞳孔.

Is there any real connection between these words? Since, 眸子 is written similarly to 牟子 and has the same pronunciation as 帽子. And, both 帽子 and 牟子 basically mean "hat" or at least a type of hat.


texts: Use of kana iteration marks (ゝ, ゞ, ヽ, ヾ)

texts:
Kana iteration marks are are rarely used today, and hence there is not much online information on it besides this Wikipedia article, which leaves me with a couple questions.

Is there any kana that cannot be expressed with an iteration mark? What about digraphs used in yōon, long vowels, or ん and ン?
Can a kana with handakuten such as ぷ be expressed with iteration marks? Presumably, ぷゝ with an unvoiced mark would be equivalent to ぷふ, but what about ぷゞ with a voiced one? Would it mean ぷぷ with handakuten or ぷぶ with dakuten?

Hoping someone will be able to help me better understand these unique symbols!


texts: さまよう vs ぶらつく vs うろつく for the sense of "to wander"?

texts:
I thought I might add a word to my Japanese vocabulary that means as close to "to wander" as possible in English.

In the English Wiktionary three Japanese words are mentioned but only one has an entry:

彷徨う / さ迷う - both read as さまよう
ぶらつく
うろつく

Are there some subtle differences between these words? Is one better as a general translation of the English word? If there are multiple senses or connotations I'm most interested in one with positive associations of exploring aimlessly without a plan, mostly on foot.


texts:
I see this all the time, but I don't know that I've heard it spoken.

For example: インストール中

Is it simply "なか"?


texts: To be polite, say "おいくらですか" and not "いくらですか"?

texts:
"いくらですか？” seems like a common phrase taught to all students of Japanese? But, instead of saying "いくらですか？", I always used to go honorific and say "おいくらですか？".

Is adding 美化語{びかご} to "いくら" wrong? Could it ever be wrong? After all, you cannot ask yourself questions. Why is the honorific "おいくら" not really taught? "それはいくらですか？" sounds aggressive and "in your face"?


texts:
I've seen in subtitle of a tv show "ただ飲み足りないだけ"

I know there is に足りる form to mean "to be enough" but it should have been 飲むに足りない.

Is there any other grammar point I am missing?


texts:
What is the difference between 今 and 今の？ For instance:

今の僕にその言葉はないだろう　- This word does not exist to me now.
今、僕にその言葉はないだろう  - This word does not exist to me now.

I hear 今の a lot in musics and tv shows, but I could not get when I should use it over 今, what are the different nuances it brings to the sentence and so on.
Also I'm not quite sure if it is possible to say:

今の僕は朝ごはんを食べる - I will eat breakfast now.
今、僕は朝ごはんを食べる - I will eat breakfast now.

Thanks!


texts: I saw a dakuten used on a る, but it doesn't seem to exist in basic rules. My assumption is it's some sort of slang or implied definition as opposed to "proper" Japanese (it was in a manga). Does anyone know the meaning?


texts: Is there a traditional Japanese kana song or otherwise how are babies familiarised with kana?

texts:
I have a newborn son from my Japanese wife. I try to sing to him. I sing the alphabet song (English). Japanese kana and their order is the same value for dictionaries. My wife says there isn't one but she isn't traditionally trained. Is there a kana syllabary song?

I found this- I don't think its based on Hakushū Kitahara song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBfb4UK4-MM


texts: How do you read the double 々々 and what does this symbol ／＼ mean in the book?

texts:
I have been reading this book and from time to time I come across these double 々々 and also this symbol ／＼ oftentimes within it.
From what I know, this 々 means repetition of the previous character. But in this book there are many instances in which it is used doubly: 々々 after aa double kanji. For example:
1.『さよう、女というものは、手遅れにならんうちに懲らしめておかんと、すっかり滅茶々々になってしまいますて。』
2.『なに、大した悦びでもありませんよ。わたしはポズドヌイシェフです――ちょうど今あなたのいわれた際どいエピソードをおこした男です。つまり、自分の女房を殺したというエピソードをね。』すばやくわたしたちを一人々々見廻しながら、彼はいった。
3.恐らく彼も茶が利いたのであろう。次第々々に興奮の度を増して、その声はだん／＼と音楽的に表情が強くなっていった。
4.ペトロフさんのところではお医者の勧めで、早く方々の病院へ別れ々々に入院さしたので、子供らは命拾いをしましたが、別々に離さなかった子供は死んでしまいました。
5.妻の一言々々は毒を含んでいて、しかも彼女はどこがわたしの最も痛いところかよく心得ているので、そこを狙って刺をさすのです.
6.そんなところに一人で寝て待っているのも、馬鹿々々しい話ですからね。
7.『すると、不思議なことではありませんか！　わたしが書斎を出て、見馴れた部屋々々を通り抜けて行くとき、またもや「何事もなかったのだ」という空頼みのこころが起りました。
Personally, I think they are read doubly: 滅茶々々 (めちゃめちゃ）、一人々々（ひとりひとり）and so on, but it is number 4 that I have my qualms for: 別れ々々, as to how to read it. Is it わかれわかれ？ (That is the only word that has not aa double kanji before 々々).
And about this symbol ／＼ (like in number 3, and there quite aa lot within the book). How does it work within the paragraphs? Because frankly it is kind of annoying to come across it while one is reading.
前もってお願いします。


texts:
The question

何か楽器をひけますか

appeared in ISBN-13: 978-4828867588 on page 102.

Question 1: Is the kanji form of the verb 弾く【ひく】to play (a stringed or keyboard instrument)?

Question 2: If the answer to Q1 is yes, why is it conjugated ひけます?

a) Because it is "Non-past, polite: 弾きます"? (jim breen)
b) Because it is "Potential, polite: 弾けます"? (jim breen)

Question 3: Does one read the first kanji as 何か【なにか】or as 何か【なんか】?


texts: Japanese localization for the common phrase "powered by x"

texts:
There exists a common English phrase;

  Powered by x

Meaning something along the lines of;

  This thing is (made possible by/built upon/built with/runs on) (x)

Use case examples:

This website is powered by WordPress
Powered by Google

What would be a suitable Japanese localization for this phrase?

I can only think of more literal translations, such as;

このサイトはワードプレスで作成しました
グーグルで創造しました

And variations to this effect.


texts: What kind of grammar is it in 調査に調査を重ねて?

texts:
I did not find any resources explaining the following grammar.

  N に N を V

For example,

  調査に調査を重ねて事故の原因を究明した。

What kind of grammar is it? What does it mean?


texts: Possible conjugations on certain grammar patterns

texts:
On "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar", when a grammar pattern works with the informal form of a verb, they only talk about the positive present tense and the positive past tense. (At least until page 131, which is where I'm currently in). I think it's just the way this book works, but I'm not absolutely sure.

For example:

Could...

  雪子さんとはデートしただけです。

...be...

  雪子さんとはデートできないだけです。

?

Or could...

  あの人はよく勉強するだけではなくよく遊びます。

...be...

  あの人はあまり勉強しないだけではなくあまり遊びません。

?

By the way, when we use informal adjectives, could I write...

  この家は大きくないだけです。

...or can't I use the negative form?

The same question for な-adjectives. Can I say:

  このお菓子は色がきれいじゃないだけです。

?

Basically, my question is: whenever I see "Vinf" (informal verb) or "Adj (i) inf" (informal い-adjective) on this book, can I assume it's every informal form?


texts:
A powerful man who is pursuing Tomoko has helped her brother who thanks him profusely.  He says:

  知子の頼みだ。私に、できないことなどない

My translation:

  知子の頼みだ

It was at Tomoko’s request.

  私に、できないことなどない

?

How do you translate the last sentence? Is it:

There is nothing I cannot do (like it is boastful)

or

There is nothing I would not do (for Tomoko)

or something else entirely?


texts: Why isn't the verb "to have" common in Japanese and how do people phrase things without using it?

texts:
In any previous language I have studied (mostly European languages), the verb "to have" is always one of the top 5 most common verbs alongside others like to be, to go, to come, etc. In Japanese, this doesn't seem to be the case, judging from word frequency and suggested lists of "most important verbs." Apparently motsu is simply not as common in Japanese as to have is in English, or avoir in French, and so on.

This is very counterintuitive for me. How do people phrase simple common things such as "Do you have five dollars?"


texts: 「楽しいでした？」- clarifications about this conjugation

texts:
I browsed around this website (here and here) as well as around the internet but could not come up with a satisfactory answer, or at least well related to my case (though I might have missed that point).

Simply, the other day a quite old lady (over 70 I think) asked me 「楽しいでした？」 at the end of a shodou class.

My question is, is this just a polite version of 「楽しかった？」that somehow confuses me? In such case would that be more polite than 「楽しかったですか」?

Or is it just a way older people might talk sometimes? At the moment I heard it my first thought was whether she thought I could not speak Japanese and put it in a wrong but easy to understand form (as if she thought I might not know how to conjugate an いーadjective properly).

Maybe it's just a silly question but right there on the spot it confused me a bit and I would like some clarifications. Thanks.


texts: What does 未鑑定の為、模写として出品致します mean?

texts:
The description says

  未鑑定の為、模写として出品致します。

Does it mean the artwork being auctioned is not authentic and only a copy or does it mean because it is not identified the owner can not guarantee the authenticity?


texts:
時計の数字から影が漏れ出た瞬間、狂三の左目の時計が恐ろしい速さで正方向に回った気がしたのである。
だが、その疑問は、すぐ頭の中から追い出されることになった。
「な......」
真那の怪訝そうな声が、士道の耳に届く。この位置からでは真那の表情は窺い知れないが、恐らく士道と似たような顔を作っているに違いなかった。
狂三が、左手に握った短銃の銃口を、自分のあごに押し当てたのである。
「一体何をーー」
真那の言葉の途中で、狂三はニヤリと笑うと、何も躊躇うことなく引き金を引いた。
ドン！という音が辺りに響き、狂三の頭部がぐわんと揺れる。どう見ても、自殺したとしか思えない光景だった。
だが。士道と真那は一瞬あと、その感想を強制的に訂正させられることとなった。

Hi. Do the two bold parts indicate cause/reason? Are they the same usage as the ことになった in this sentence そんなことをしたから二度と人前に出られないことになった。? It’s just that the reason or cause is implied in the context in question.
1) is like “because of some reason, it caused the situation ‘this question was quickly driven out of his head’.”
2) is like “because of some reason, it caused the situation ‘Shidou and Mana immediately corrected their way of thinking’.”

Am I on the right track?
If not, how should I understand the two ことになった?
Thank you.


texts:
睡眠薬を飲ませ眠ったところを、カツラと服で姿を変え、親子連れを装い密かに遊園地を抜け出そうとしていたのだ。

Context: a child was abducted, they made him take a sleeping pill, they changed his hair and clothes in order to disguise him. Eventually the parents　and the park staff managed to save the child.

ところを: my main issue with this sentence. What does it mean?
抜け出そうとしていた: could it be here "[they] were about to sneak away"?

ディズニーランド側は「最近よく起きている」と説明した。

Also, I noticed in many text this use of 側. Does it mean here something like "the people of Disneyland", namely the staff?


texts: Confused over 「ろうそくが置かれている」

texts:
I encountered this sentence.

「ろうそくが置かれている」

I can tell from context it means something like "Candles are placed", but I'm confused about the usage of ている　with a transitive verb. Genki tells me that ている goes with intransitive verbs, yet 置かれる is the passive form of 置く which is transitive. What am I missing?


texts:
I've read that several bits of Japanese come from contractions with ある:

だ comes from で + ある (source)
なる comes from に + ある (source)
たり comes from て + あり (source)
たり comes from と + あり (source)
Adjective forms like たのしかった come from inflecting たのしく + ある (source)

(My apologies if I've made any mistakes in the above list!)

Because contraction with ある seems to have occurred quite a few times, I started wondering if the suffix 〜がる (as in たがる or ほしがる) was a contraction of が + ある.  I realize this is baseless speculation, but it sounded plausible to me, so I tried to look it up to see if it was right.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about the etymology of がる online, and my dictionaries don't say anything on the subject either.

Is this possible?

Is there a better explanation?


texts: Why are police boxes labeled Koban (in roman letters) in Japan?

texts:
I understand that the word for police box is Koban or 交番 in kanji, but why is the signage always in roman letters - Koban.

My guess would be to make it easier for foreigners to read, but wouldn't they just put the English word instead - "police box"?

Just wondering if anyway knows of a real reason for this.


texts: How to translate ‘the least + adjective’

texts:
The idea of superlative is easy to convey with 一番, 最も or even 最強, 最高, etc. But I have been wondering for a long time how to express the opposite idea: the least something. I often lack in ways to express this when I’m talking in Japanese.

For instance, how would one translate things like the least risky agreement, the least bad option, the least important clue?

Obviously it is possible to replace least bad with best in most cases but the meaning is not really the same. So translating least bad by 最良and least risky by 一番安全, while it’s basically what I’m doing right now, would not be the kind of answer I expect.


texts: "A様がおられますでしょうか？" : Isn't おる 謙譲語?

texts:
I heard a very polite employee say to a customer over the phone:

  A様がおられますでしょうか？

Most people would say いらっしゃいます instead of おられます.
The use of おる here surprises me because I have been told it is 謙譲語.

Is it a mistake, or some advanced usage, or something else?


texts: What's the difference between kyōshi and sensei?

texts:
I am looking up the word for teacher and I see kyōshi and also sensei.

Can someone tell me the difference between these two translations?


texts:
Take the verb 座る. As a punctual verb, it appears as 座っている when describing a person who "has sat down and remains sitting." When using the negative, there are two options: 座らない and 座っていない.
Given the question, "Is Tom the guy who is seated?" and the response "Tom is not sitting, he's the guy doing jumping jacks", which form of the negative matches the intended meaning? What would the other form mean?
This question was prompted by learning that the appropriate negative of 知っている is 知らない, and none of my learning resources describe anything about 〜ている forms in the negative.


texts: What is the difference between 反日 and 日本たたき?

texts:
I apologize in advance if I cause offence with this question, but I am curious about these two terms.

反日 can be translated as “anti-Japan(ese)”. I have seen one example of this term being used to refer to the education system of South Korea. I have never lived in South Korea or Japan, so I don't know if the South Korean education system is truly anti-Japanese. Also, I have seen a question on a Japanese Q&A site asking what 反日 meant, because the questioner was accused of this for advocating the abolition of the death penalty. I suppose the death penalty is a sensitive topic for some people.

日本たたき can be translated as “Japan-bashing”. It seems that if you criticize something in Japan on the Internet, someone will accuse you of this. Personally, I think there is a difference between pointing out an issue in a country and using a country as a punching bag.

Like I said, I would like to know if there is there is a difference between the two terms. They seem to have a connection, but is it possible that they are used for different things? Thanks in advance!


texts:
I found myself thinking about how to refer to the English language in Japanese.

I realise of course that English originated here in England, and then by colonisation was brought into America, but would that distinction be made in Japanese as in English?

Put simply, should I refer to イギリス語 or アメリカ語, even if the first is the name for the English language?


texts: What are the description of the following Japanese company leaves? (交通遮断休暇、予防休暇)

texts:
I tried to look for the description of these Japanese company leave but I can't find any internet site that gives a direct description. (交通遮断休暇, 予防休暇)

I found the meaning of the following words in my electronic dictionary:

交通 = traffic
遮断 = cut-off, shut out
予防 = prevention

From these, I derived the equivalent English terms as:

交通遮断休暇 = Road Blockage Leave
予防休暇 = Preventive Leave

However, I still can't grasp the meaning by just the definition alone. Can you please give me a description of these company leaves?

Or are these leaves a unique term, created by a specific company, and not used by all companies?


texts: Are there some cases where みたす could be spelled as 充たす? 「充｛み｝たす」という書き方はどんな場合で使えるか？

texts:
Since 充 can be used to spell 充｛あ｝てる it can have the meaning of "to match". Therefore, the only place where I think 充たす fits is to say something like ある条件を充たす. Nevertheless, according to the 漢字漢和辞典 I looked up, 満たす can cover all the senses of みたす.

In what cases 充たす can be used?

「充」という漢字は「充｛あ｝てる」という単語に表れているから「一致」という意をも持っています。したがって、「充」は「ある条件を充たす」といった場合に使うことができると思ったが、調べた漢字漢和辞典によると、「満たす」という綴り方が「みたす」のすべての意を満たすから、かなり迷っています。

それで、「充たす」を使える場合を教えてもらえませんか。


texts: Meaning of しなくていいやって

texts:
A while ago as part of another question I asked about the bold part of this sentence:

  山田みたいに、ぜんぜん勉強しなくていいやって、...

  Like 山田 I don't study at all and ???...

I was told that "いいや can be divided into いい and や. いい has a meaning of I don't mind, and や is just an auxiliary verb", and that って was the quote marker. So the sentence meant "(I don't mind if I do not study at all (like 山田)"

Whilst the translation seems to make sense I still don't understand the grammar and how to use it in other sentences. Can someone please provide further clarification?

Surely や isn't a verb on its own it has to be やる doesn't it?
..which means that って is just the te-form rather than the quote marker?
If って is the quote marker then what is the ellipted verb?
Is いい 'good' or the stem form of 言う or something else. I'm assuming 'good' makes most sense, but I've never seen an adjective modify a verb before.?

Basically I haven't got a clue how to make sense of this grammar. Please help.


texts: What's the meaning of も and また in 「これほど無駄な本というのもまた珍しい」?

texts:
I saw this scathing review of KY式日本語 on Amazon JP. This is the full sentence I'm asking about:

  出版する意味を感じられない本は多数世に出ているが、これほど無駄な本というのもまた珍しい

Ignoring the もまた part, what I get from this is

  While a lot of books where I don't see the point of publishing has come out, a "book" of such pointlessness is rare.

When used together, もまた seems to be used a lot of times in the sense of "too" or "again", but it seems a bit odd if I interpreted it that way here.

I'm wondering if perhaps this definition from 大辞泉 is a better fit in this context.

  ④ （上にくる副詞を強めて）驚きいぶかしむ気持ちを表す。それにつけても。 「よく－そんなことが言えたものだ」 「どうして－そんなことをしたのだ」

(Side question: does 上にくる副詞 mean the adverbs that follows また?)

Though that would still leave me in the dark about も's function here.

Thoughts?


texts:
はい、こちらサービスセンターです。

  すみません。コンピューターが壊れてしまったんです。

  どこが壊れたんですか。

  わかりません。

As far as I understand, the manager is asking what exactly has broken (which part of the computer is broken?). If we said 何が壊れたんですか in this situation, would the answer be the computer?

When shall we use どこ　and 何　in subject questions?


texts:
In the textbook "Japanese For Busy People I" (which uses only kana, not kanji), on page 161, there is the following sentence.

  ごぜん １０じから ごご ３じまでです。かいぎの あとで さっぽろししゃに いって、さとうさんに あいます。

Using kanji, I think it would look like this:

  午前１０時から午後３時までです。会議の後で札幌支社に行って、佐藤さんに会います。

However, a native Japanese speaker is suggesting I drop the "で" after the "の後" from the following sentence (I think to make it more natural):

  チェックインの後で、衣料品店に行きました。

Is having a "で" rather formal and textbook-ish Japanese?


texts: Is it possible to "be confident in" without using 信 and implying having "faith"?

texts:
In academic fields, particularly in science, practitioners are often careful to to say they have confidence in something rather than saying they believe in it. Example: "I am confident the theory of evolution" instead of "I believe in they theory of evolution". This distinction is important, because having confidence imputes having a body of evidence that leads the speaker to find the idea probable; belief implies having faith, which requires no such evidence, and no empirical means to estimate how likely the idea is or not.

In Japanese, it seems that 確信する is the closest means of communicating "to have confidence in". But this phrasing uses 信, which means faith or belief, and has strong (?) religious connotations.
Canvassing Japanese L1 speakers I've found no way to avoid using 信 and no way to avoid communicating some degree of (blind) faith.

So my question is: Is this (pedantic) degree of precision possible in Japanese?  Is anyone aware of examples where this distinction is made?

Corollary: Am I mistaken in associating 確信する with 信じる?


texts: Foreign Language Translation for Hamlet Act 5, Scene 2

texts:
I'm currently translating this Japanese article, which quoted Hamlet Act 5, Scene 2.

The following are the original Hamlet context and its Japanese translation.

  If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be
  now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the
  readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he
  leaves, what is't to leave betimes?

  来るべきものは、今来なくともいずれは来る。今来れば、後には来ない。後に来なければ、今来るだけのこと。 肝腎なのは覚悟だ。いつ死んだらいいか、そんなことは考えてみたところで、誰にも判りはしない。所詮、あなた任せさ。 (ハムレット、第5幕第2場)

It appears that they reordered/rearranged the sentence. My problem is that I'm not sure which English sentence correspond to the English translation of the Japanese one.

English

  Sentence 1: If it be now, 'tis not to come

  Sentence 2: if it be not to come, it will be now

  Sentence 3: if it be not now, yet it will come

English Translation from Japanese (word-by-word)

  Sentence A: The thing which must come, even if it doesn't come now, eventually it will.

  from 来るべきものは、今来なくともいずれは来る。

  Sentence B: If it comes now, it won't come later.

  from 今来れば、後には来ない。

  Sentence C: It it's not coming later, it should come now.

  from 後に来なければ、今来るだけのこと。

Some suggest that sentence 3=A, 1=B and 2=C, but I want to try asking in this forum.

The only reason I decided to ask in this forum, is because I could not even match English with English(translation). I can simply leave out the detail about Japanese, but I decided not to since I found that it is better to give as much detail as possible.

Thank you


texts: Asking for advice/suggestion "should I...?"

texts:
みなさん,こんにちは。

I was wondering what gramatical structure is best to use when asking for advice as we would in English with 'Should I...?' Or 'should we...?'.
I've come across two possible choices but I'm not sure what nuance each structure brings to the sentence. ' ーた ほう が いい です か'  and 'ーたら いい です か'

What's should I use if I want to say these simple phrases for example:

Should I take of my shoes?
Should I open the window?
Should we go to the cinema?

My attempts:

(私は)靴を脱いだほうがいいですか。
窓を開いたらいいですか。
(私たちは)映画館へ行ったらいいですか。

Thanks in advance guys.
よろしくお願いします!


texts: Want to be sure I understand the nuance of 払{はら}う

texts:
払{はら}う has a number of meanings, but to summarize, it means to chase away or brush off. I often see it used in combinations like 追{お}い[払]{はら}う, "to chase off", or "to drive away".

I recently came across the term はらって描{か}きます in a book about drawing. The whole sentence I saw it in can be read here.

I assume this はらう is 払う and not 祓う, "to exorcise, to purify". But what exactly does it mean? I'm pretty sure it isn't "to chase away and draw".

I think it might mean "to draw out", in the sense of "to flesh out" - to fill the drawing out by progressively adding detail and adjusting lines to achieve a finished picture.

But I'm not totally confident in that because the dictionary doesn't include any definitions that support a "to fill out" or "to flesh out" definition.

So to confirm whether my guess is right or not, I'd simply like to ask, what exactly does はらって描{か}きます mean?


texts:
When I listen to Japanese people speak, I usually hear them say ないで{HLL} and なくて{HLL}, with the pitch drop always placed on な, no matter the verb. But I might just be hearing things wrong.

However, I would assume that the pitch accent pattern for these forms change depending on the verb you use, depending on whether it's accented or not.

For example, for unaccented verbs, it would be ないで{HHH} and なくて{HHH}.
And for accented verbs, the pitch drop would be where it
usually is when the ない form is used (e.g., for the verb 食べる{LHL}, you would say, 食べないで{LHLLL} and 食べなくて{LHLLL}).

So, what exactly is the rule for these forms?


texts: What is usually written at the end of a slides presentation to imply "Thanks for listening"?

texts:
I've seen this phrase a couple of times but couldn't read the Kanji so I don't remember it.

Otherwise, what phrase would be good to include in the last slide to imply "Thanks for listening!"?

For example, after giving a presentation about project that you are working on, after finishing talking at a seminar.


texts:
痛みを伴わない教訓には意味が無い・・・
人は何かの犠牲なしに何も得る事などできないのだから

I usually see など used like "etc. / things like / and others", I was wondering if it's the same word here, though it sounds kind of odd if I put it this way.. I don't really understand what it adds to the sentence.
Speaking of humans, that is why without something as a sacrifice, nothing etc.. is able to be obtained.


texts:
I am trying to read ぼのぼの vol 1, where the very first page of the comic has this:

I managed to translate it to:

森は楽しい
森は楽しい
水の音聞こえる
水の音聞こえる
ハナをかむ音も聞こえる
ハナをかむ音は
どうするんだろう
__からどうするんだろう
森は楽しい
森は楽しいったら

The forest is fun
The forest is fun
You can hear the sound of water
You can hear the sound of water
You can also hear the sound of a nose being blown
I wonder What we can about the sound of a nose being blown
What will we do about it ?
The forest is fun
The forest could be fun

But I can't work out what the characters before the second どうするんだろう are meant to be. I was thinking これから, but it is not very clear. Does anyone have any idea what this might say?

Also unsure about the last line 森は楽しいったら. I read that たら is conditional/hypothetical form, but not sure how that makes sense here unless it reads the forest **could be** fun or just **if** the forest is fun, but the latter doesn't seem to make much sense.

Any general feedback is also very welcome!


texts:
There is a character, an older male,  in this manga that I'm reading who uses this phrase twice しないとな and the two lines are like this：

  お礼をしないとな
  お別れをしないとな

The first line, he is referring to himself (I should show my gratitude)-->I understood it more like "It wouldn't do if I don't show my gratitude" "I have/must...(among these ideas). It was more clear when the character said his 2nd line which I interpreted as: Say your goodbyes/Say farewell (note, he was directing this to another character that was with him).
I hope I made sense...What exactly is the usage of と here? What does it express? And does the 1st line sound okay with the interpretations I gave?Thank you!


texts: Does わかる carry more implication of assent or agreement than the English equivalents?

texts:
The dictionary definition of わかる is usually "to understand" or "to know." But in everyday life it's sometimes used by service staff in some of the same situations as the more formal かしこまる, e.g. "to obey respectfully." This isn't too hard to understand.

But recently I encountered a JLPT N4 listening practice question that went something like this:

Two people, a man and a woman, are in a car, arguing using informal language. There seems to be some implication that the man is driving. The woman first asks if they can stop at a restaurant, but the man says that they can't because they need to get to the airport. She then reiterates that she's really hungry and asks if she can get something at a conbini, and the man says that she can, but they need to stop at a gas station first. It then ends like this:

  Woman: Refueling people is more important than refueling the car! (This line may have ended with an imperative to go to the combini first).

  Man:　(in a very irritated voice) わかっている！

The audio then ends; the question is, where will they go first?

My feeling was that it was impossible to know, but given how annoyed the man was, he probably wouldn't go to the combini first. To me, he was saying something like "I heard you the first time!" and in the absence of further explanation, I had no reason to believe that his plans had changed at all. I guessed that he would go to the gas station first.

This is apparently the wrong answer. According to the test, they go to the combini first.

As an American speaker of English, I would never end a conversation with this kind of ambiguity. I would feel obligated to either say "I understand [that you're hungry], but we have to get gas first" or "I understand, we'll go there first." I think this is normal for English, although I can't be sure.

Does わかる always carry with it an implication of assent or obedience? If so, is there another term that would mean "I understand," but doesn't carry that extra implication? Thank you.


texts: Does indirect passive allow for the を in "四方を海に囲まれる"

texts:
My textbook has this example:

  四方を海に囲まれる。

Is it the indirect passive that allows for the を direct object marker to be used in that passive voice example?

This sentence matches my understanding of passive voice grammar:

  四方が海に囲まれる。

Is it also correct?


texts:
I’m having trouble understanding what 何か means in the following sentence:

今のチンさんの発言に対して、何か意見がある人は手を上げてください。

For the most part I understand the sentence, just not 何か


texts: Is the phrase 僕も私も used in ordinary speech?

texts: It seems common in advertising, but is it used in speech?


texts: The sentence reads ここにあるレストランはどれもおいしくない, and the translation given was "Any and all restaurants that are here are not tasty." When the word ある is used here, how is it able to modify restaurant so that it means "the restaurants that are here"? Is it just because of where it is placed in the sentence? Could this work with other verbs, like saying ここで食べる人 to mean "the people who eat here"?


texts: What's the difference between the kanji forms for わかる?

texts: The verb わかる can be written using either 分かる, 判る, or 解る - what's the semantic difference between these forms, if any?


texts: Confusion about meaning due to spacing and で particle

texts:
I'm playing a game and came across the following:

彼女が自然と人を惹きつけるのは
きっと．．．．．．
あなたの　誠実で大きな背中を見て
育ったからなのでしょう。

For some reason I cannot understand the meaning of the second chunk due to the space after 「あなたの」 and the で particle in 「誠実で大きな背中」
I want to read it as

She attracts people naturally
Certainly......
Due to your... sincerity she looks at your big back and
it's probably because she has grown up

Generally I have treated spaces like this as a slight pause. As if the person it trying find the words to say. But in this case I'm very unsure as the second sentence seems very wrong
So what is actually trying to be conveyed here or am I right?
Context:
There was a man who was known to be very honest and sincere. Him and his daughter get into an argument one day. She ends up saying "I wish you were big and cool! I hate you!". Unfortunately, soon after the man immediately dies from an accident. He then becomes a ghost that takes a gigantic form
After defeating him in battle and before going to heaven, your party has a conversation with him. His daughter is mentioned by one of your teammates. The teammate says his daughter has many friends and lives her days in good health. Then the teammate says the above


texts: Clarifying だから use at the end of a sentence

texts:
I was given this sentence:

ここが、きみの クラスだから。

The explanation I was given is that the から at the end is used when giving information. What is the だ used for? What are other examples of だから usage?


texts: Use of です after plain form verb conjugation

texts:
はい、先生。家はあらかた壊されっちまってたですが、マグルたちが群れ寄ってくる前に、無事に連れ出しました。
  No sir. The house was almost completely destroyed but I took him out safely before the muggles started to crowd around.

I'm assuming that 壊されっちまってた is simply colloquial for 壊されてしまっていた, but I'm puzzled by the です part. It was always my understanding that you could not add です onto a verb to make it polite. I would have expected to see 壊されてしまっていましたが.

What is implied by this use of です? Is it someone realising that they used the wrong verb ending to add politeness and then compensating by adding です? Is it a regional variation? Something else?

If it helps, the character speaking is Hagrid from Harry Potter. He uses pretty colloquial speech in the original book.


texts: How do say "They use X to mean Y." in Japanese

texts:
For example, let's say I want to say:

  The French use "sushi" to mean "nigirizushi".

Is the following Japanese translation correct?

  フランス人は「握り寿司」という意味で「スシ」を使用します。

Thanks in advance!


texts: How do you say "beware the cats" in Japanese?

texts:
The Italians have the famous phrase "Attenti ai gatti". Is there something similar in Japan?

Would be good to have both the kanji and kana versions, since I am still a beginner. I can work out the romaji from there. Thank you.


texts:
Question about this sentence :

 tシャツなどの服を着たままプールに入らないでください。

Why do we need の? What is its use in the sentence given? Isn't など a particle so it is ok to be followed by a noun?

I checked the Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar for の and I still do not understand the use in this sentence. Pleasw help. Thank you.


texts: Fully understanding the difference between もう and －たことがある

texts:
I my understanding, the difference between もう and －たことがある is as follow:

もう is for "already" like in:

I've (already) eaten my sandwich
I've (already) been shopping yesterday

ーたことがある is for experiences as in

I've been to / I visited Spain
I used to play / played football

The form you choose is very important it seems, as you can say a very different thing with the other one (I have eaten a sandwich once is not the same as I've eaten my sandwich)
But in my book I found these sentences, for which I would have used the ーたことがある form:

もう びじゅつかん に 行{い}きましたか。
もう かんこう バス に のりましたか。
もう 日本{にほん} の りょうり を 食{た}べましたか。
もう さくら を 見{み}に 行{い}きましたか。

Therefore my question is:

Is it just possible for some cases to use both form that would mean the same thing?

Did I miss something? Is there something I did not understand (properly)?

Bonus:
Would the sentence below be better translated by either one of the propositions? If not, what would be the difference?

I've read this book:

この本{ほん} を もう 読{よ}みました。

この本{ほん} を 読{よ}んだことがあります。

And is もう properly placed either at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence?


texts: i've recently bought a japanese scroll, for decoration, with a famous quote from " the last samurai": 吐く息一つにも生命が宿り . but i think this is incorrect: in the film this was part of a speech, and there was another phrase after, so of course it finish in "り". but if i'm gonna write this as a single phrase shouldn't  i end it in "る"? so it should be:吐く息一つにも生命が宿る  . am i correct?


texts: Are ～つ and ～り the only two counters that can occur with the native Japanese numbers (ひと～, ふた～, etc)?

texts:
Please go easy on me if this seems too basic and obvious, I'm a beginner.

I always had the impression that there were counters that went with the native Japanese numbers and counters that went with the Sino Japanese numbers.

But now I'm wondering if I'm wrong and that only the Sino Japanese numbers are used with all counters except for some exceptions:

～つ always uses native Japanese numbers:
ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ
For counting people, only "one" and "two" use native Japanese with ～り and all other numbers use Sino Japanese with ～にん:
ひとり、ふたり、さんにん

For some reason I find it hard to search for this and what I do find seems to be poorly worded and convoluted such that I can't extract this little fact from the discussions easily at all.


texts: What does the sentence ending particle や mean?

texts:
Out of all sentence ending particles, I cannot really pinpoint what や means. I don't meet it often (or maybe I don't have enough experience or exposure) and in situations which don't really explain themselves. Also, is it a real particle anyway?
Some examples I recently found (from books):

「くつろいでくれや」
「それが実はアイロンではないからや」

I hope those examples make sense without the context. I know that those kind of particles are hard to explain but any explanation is welcome.


texts: What is the meaning/nuance of ~ことになる in this context?

texts:
少し前のことになるが、私は或る評論家がインターネットのウェブサイト上に。。。

Generally, when I see ことになる, it means something along the lines of "it is/was decided". But here, that meaning doesn't seem to apply. What is the nuance being communicated here (if it helps, this is the first sentence of an essay)? Why not use 少し前のことですが ?


texts: Difference between の and から for denoting a reason/explanation

texts:
So I remember that back in the day I learnt that things in Japanese were explained by using から or an explanatory particle の and then the more formal version of から is ので.

Ever since then I've just ran with the fact that から says that you're going to give a reason and の simply makes it sound like you're stating a fact or explaining something but I'm curious if there are any specific grammatical differences or nuances that specifically distinguish the two and how ので fits into all of this. Is it merely a more polite から or is different from both of them?


texts: Express the idea of something being suitable for something: "a Baby friendly hotel"

texts:
I'm just wondering how I can use Japanese to express the idea of something being suitable for something.

In my specific case, I was trying to express to a friend that I found a "baby friendly" hotel. I can't seem to find any grammar guides on how to express the concept of something being suitable for babies.

I already know 子供向け (intended for children), but I don't think that works for this situation.

How could someone say "a [noun] friendly [noun]"

e.g. a dog friendly shopping mall.

e.g. a train service suitable for children.

Thanks!


texts: This particular 四字熟語 is exactly the same as the proverb in English, "kill two birds with one stone." I find it to be a strange coincidence that both would have this phrase independently of each other, unless killing birds by throwing stones was just a really big thing back then. Did the Japanese copy the English? Did the English copy the Japanese? Did they both copy some Chinese proverb or something, or did it come from somewhere else entirely? Etymologically speaking where did 一石二鳥 come from?


texts: `What is the difference between 上がります and　増えます


texts: Can 複合動詞{ふくごうどうし} ever not have [送]{おく}り[仮名]{がな} placed between the 2 kanji？

texts: Can 複合動詞{ふくごうどうし} ever not have [送]{おく}り[仮名]{がな} placed between the 2 kanji in the compound verb？


texts:
The slogan of the 2020 Olympics in Japan is

  未来{あした} をつかもう (Discover tomorrow)

Why is it read as あした？ I did not find a standardised dictionary with that reading, however I found あす as a reading in a dictionary for names. It seems it would be the same if it were 明日, but I still don't understand.

If it's for an aesthetic reason, does that mean I could put 'beautiful' readings onto Kanji I like? (Of course, only to a degree that is)


texts: Use of に in 金色の血に染まる前に

texts:
The translation I received was 'Before my blood was dyed golden'

How does the construct of No-verb + noun + に + verb works?

Does the に particle take the verb and puts it between the no adjective and noun
so that it basically describes how the noun is affected by the adjective?

Basically 'blood that was dyed golden' instead of 'be dyed by golden blood'?


texts: How does さっきまで = "as before" in さっきまでと同じ部屋

texts:
As the title explains, how does さっきまでと in

  さっきまでと同じ部屋 .

mean "as before" in English?

(I know that all together from the context of the sentences that come before and after さっきまでと同じ部屋 that the sentence roughly translates to "[It was/is the] same room as before." but I don't know where the "before" comes from).


texts: Is there a difference between に伴う and を伴う?

texts:
In a report I handed in earlier this week, my professor corrected my sentence to

日本において、金融政策の目的に関する考え方が時間を伴い、変わってきた。

from 「に伴い」. Is there a practical difference between the two? ALC shows a bunch of examples with essentially identical usage.
Here's the definition from 大辞林：

一緒に行く。引き連れて行く、またつき従って行く。「秘書を伴って行く」「父に伴って博物館に行く」

ある事柄に応じて生ずる。「危険を伴う手術」「人口増加に伴う住宅問題」

It seems like に and を are being used interchangeably. Is there a rule of thumb for when to use which?


texts:
I read this sentence in another post:

  でも貝のかんじにもうひとつのいみをつけます。
  But we will assign another meaning to the kanji 貝.

Putting aside any other problems with this sentence, I feel that もう一つ isn't the right word to use for 'another' in this context. I may of course be wrong, but I would have gone with 別の or 他の instead, but I can't explain why (maybe because I'm talking nonsense).

Anyway, I'm now wondering what the difference is between もうひとつ, 別 and 他 when used to mean 'another'.


texts: Help with translating a certain sentence ending: ～なくしろ

texts:
Context: Translated lyrics, (source) English -> (content in question) Japanese.

Stanza context:

English (source): Put him in the back of a squad-car / restrain that man.

Their translation:
彼【かれ】をパトカーの後部座席【こうぶざせき】に押【お】し込【こ】めて／身動【みうご】き取【と】れなくしろ

Part of sentence ending in question:

身動き取れなくしろ

...

From what I've gathered on jisho.com,

身動き is a noun

取れなく from 取れない from 取れる is a verb

しろ from する is a verb

...

It's clearly a a cluster of verbs, but how do they fit together?

...

みうごきとれ＋ない = not able to have movement? movement not obtainable?

ない -> なく = change from meaning い-adjective to く-adverb

しろ = casual imperative of to do

=== "Do it in a way that inhibits his movement." ...?

...

Is this really a good consistent way to parse the language? Is this example parsed correctly? Are there any nuances going on here, things that logically follow because of the line before?

Thanks in advance


texts: The difference between　「楽しいです」、「楽しみにする」 and 「楽しみにしている」

texts:
I'm very confused, I thought that all these forms had the same meaning, but I read somewhere  they are not exactly the same, since the nuances differ. However I didn't get it in which situations they can be used.
Can anyone tell me the difference between these 3 forms and some example sentences?


texts: What is the basic underlying idea of ～がある?

texts:
As the time goes, I find so many grammars in Japanese end with ～がある. For example,

～ことがある
～必要がある
～傾向がある
～可能性がある

I know the ～がある  means "there is" and they are so powerful. However, what I don't quite understand is why Japanese says the following?

私はアレックスだ。rather than 私はアレックスという名前がある。
この料理はおいしい。 rather than この料理はおいしい味がある。
プレゼントを買ってもらって、うれしい。 rather than プレゼントを買ってもらって、嬉しい感じがある。
彼は態度が悪い。 rather than 彼は悪い態度がある。

Furthermore, are there alternatives for

experience
necessity
tendency
probability

without using ～がある?


texts:
I am having a hard time express the concept of striving to achieve something. I found a video of a monk online using the word 励む, but I am not sure exactly how to use it.

It seems it pairs with nouns as in

  勉強に励む

But what if I want to pair it with a verb? Is this acceptable?

  目的を達成するに励ます

Or, I was thinking perhaps:

  目的を達成するために励ます

Or else, how would you express this concept?


texts:
There is a whole video describing the grammar but its in Japanese .
How would you explain the difference between:

彼がリーダーとなった

And

彼がリーダーになった


texts:
In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime, Stardust Crusaders arc, episode 3, a person （花京院｛かきょういん｝）　who JoJo (the protagonist) just saved, asks JoJo why he did that, to which JoJo replies

  さあ、そこんとこだが、俺もよく分からん.

Later on, JoJo asks 花京院 why he decided to join him, to which 花京院 also replies

  そこんところだが。なぜ同行したくなったのかは 私にもよく分からないんだがね。

What does it mean? "This and that" (no particular reason)?


texts: When can or should I substitute other particles with 「の」 during nominalization?

texts:
When talking about hobbies, interests, etc. it's pretty usual, I think, to nominalize string of words chained by particles. For example drawing pictures is 「絵を描く」or playing soccer is 「サッカーをする」. If one of my hobbies is drawing pictures, I can say, for example (please correct the sentence if it's wrong):

  絵を描くのは一つの楽しみなんです。

However, I noticed that for such patterns, particles can usually be replaced with 「の」like:

  絵の描くのは一つの楽しみなんです。

I can't think of more complex examples that I'm very sure of but, for example when speaking about drawing using pencils, we say 「えんぴつで絵を描く」. However, when speaking about drawing with pencils, if I understand correctly, we can also use the pattern 「えんぴつの絵の描く事は〜」.

What are the grammar rules behind these? To be honest, I'm not sure if this question even has basis (because I'm not so sure about my examples), so please enlighten me on this.


texts:
This sentence is from a grammar website:

主人公が犯人だったというのが一番面白かった。

Why is という necessary?

What does it add?

And what meaning is lost in writing the sentence without it? For example, as in:

主人公が犯人だったのが一番面白かった。


texts: Help understanding Noun Phrases/Relative Clauses

texts:
My question is about understanding the two relative clauses in the below.

「良い顔になってきたねぇ。あたしの大好きなお顔、半泣きで頑張る健気なキミの顔。ふふ、ぱくって食べちゃいたいくらい」

I always get confused with the way relative clauses etc are used in Japanese narration or even just in conversations.

Take for example, the above two  noun phrases

あたしの大好きなお顔

半泣きで頑張る健気なキミの顔

These are both said in the same sentence (ok it's not strictly a sentence but bear with me) and to a learner it feels rather weird, as to what is actually trying to be conveyed in the sentence. Can anyone help with what is being expressed (and why it is phrased like that). I know what the words mean, but the noun phrases as a stand alone just sound very strange and don't really provide me with anything but a description of his face, and what she feels about that face (in a very strange way to read for a non-native). Is there anything that I am missing, or anyone can clear up to help me understand?


texts:
Does it mean Tch or does it have another meaning ??

Like in here.


texts: Inferring subject/person spoken to from 嵐のあとで lyrics

texts:
In the lyrics for Galileo Galilei's 嵐のあとで, there is a line:

バイバイって言{い}った、バイバイって返{かえ}した

which a translation online says "You said 'Goodbye', I replied, 'Goodbye'". Could this be also read as "I said 'Goodbye', you replied, 'Goodbye'"? How do you determine who is the speaker and who is spoken to?
The lines up to this point are, if you'd like them for context:

あの日{ひ}歩{ある}いた道{みち}を、 君{きみ}は覚{おぼ}えている?
砂{じゃ}利{り}っぽいアスファルトと、 頬{ほお}撫{な}でていく風{かぜ}

Please correct the lyrics if need be, especially the kanji: if I could written something in kanji or something should not be written in kanji etc.


texts:
What are the nuances when an intransitive verbs becomes a passive verb. Is not it just duplication:
Example

窓が開いた

And

窓が開かれた

Isnt 開かれる and 開く both mean "to be opened".


texts: How do Japanese people use -substitution, if at all?

texts:
A common internet meme is to use  as a replacement for B's in a word, such as "oneless" or "troule". Sometimes it's additionally done for C's, such as "oa ola". Is this a thing ever done in Japanese text, and if so, is there a convention as to how? It's not as straightforward, since B's won't occur individually.

For instance, I could imagine "バス停" being rewritten as "ァス停", or as "ス停", or "ａス停" (with either a fullwidth or ASCII a), to name a few options. I could also imagine it just never being imitated because of the awkwardness.


texts: Usage of 申し上げない and 申し訳ない in contrast with すみません or ごめんなさい

texts:
I got usage of すみません versus ごめんなさい from here: Usage of すみません (sumimasen) versus ごめんなさい (gomen'nasai).

I heard Japanese people use 申し上げない (or 申し上げません) while talking on the phone. I would like to know the proper usage of 申し上げない and 申し訳ない in contrast with すみません or ごめんなさい.


texts: Is the word マガ a shortened form for マガジン ?


texts: What's the difference between 近々 and 間もなく?

texts:
I checked the Weblio sentences for 近々 and I saw this:

We are to start shortly.
近々に出発の予定です.

This reminded me of 間もなくwhich I often hear in trains. What is the difference between the two?
I checked some links here and here. What are your thoughts on this?


texts: How do I translate this small passage about make-up, depression, and Alzheimer?

texts:
Can somebody help me with the translation for

  実際にうつ病やアルツハイマーの治療として、女性患者に化粧やヘアチェンジを実践することもあるくらいです。お化粧はテンションをあげてくれるお薬でもあるんですね。

I came up with this

  Did you know (or truthfully), as a treatment for depression or Alzheimer's, female patients will practice using make-up or change their hair colour? Cosmetics are a medicine that can heighten your tension

I'm really not sure about the second sentence.


texts: Why is 高いです acceptable but 高いではあります not acceptable?

texts:
This interesting thread got me thinking about the various forms of the copula and how です is a contraction of で（は）あります. I am wondering why the standard X は Y で（は）あります does not seem to work for certain words, like i-adjectives.  Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the following examples show what I mean:

  (1) これは高いです。　O

  (2) これは高いではあります。 X

  (3) 彼は元気です。  O

  (4) 彼は元気ではあります。O

(2) is the only one that feels unnatural to me but I'm not sure why.


texts: What does かける mean in 人類の宇宙にかける夢はとどまるところを知らない?

texts:
Consider the following sentence.

  人類の宇宙にかける夢はとどまるところを知らない。

人類 mankind
宇宙 universe
かける ?
夢 dream
とどまるところを知らない when it stops is unknown (lit. it keeps on happening)

As there are many meaning for かける, my translation below has not been completed yet.

  The dream of humankind かける in the universe never stops.

Question

What does かける mean in this context?


texts: What are the different use cases for 家 vs. 自宅

texts: So far, in my very simple conversations I've used 家{うち} to talk about my home. Now I've seen 自宅{じたく} as well and I'm wondering about the differences, nuances, and use cases of these two words when referring to my own home.


texts: Using honorifics when talking about others with friends (indirect speech)

texts:
I couldn't find the question already being asked, so please redirect me if it was already answered.
The honorific suffix －さん is always used when directly speaking to another person. It is also used when talking e.g. about the father of person referring to them as 田中さんのお父さん.
However, if I talk with a friend about some other friend or person they know, do I also use an honorific suffix for their name? Or do I just go with the name alone?
Example: 田中さん、昨日私は竹山（さん）と話しました。


texts:
I was asked by my teacher to read a kid friendly manga, something easy to start with.

I am not having issue with the vocabulary and I understand the general gist of a sentence but I am having issue with "why" is the sentence constructed that way.

  そういえばほかのボールがどこにあるかもわからないのにどうやって探すんだ？

So what I get from this is :

  Come to think of it how are we going to find the place, that I don't
  know, where the ball is.

But I am a bit confused grammar-wise with two things :

  あるかも

and

  わからないのに

These are my best guesses :

あるかも -> か　is to show that the character is asking where is the place of the ball

も is used here to say the character doesn't know anything about it

わからないのに -> に say that the previous part of the sentence is where they need to look

の I really have no idea why a no would be here

Thank you for your help !


texts: I'm reading a text that has the word 決{けっ}する, and so far I've only seen 決{き}める to mean "decide". I've searched a few dictionaries and couldn't find the difference between the two. Is there a difference or nuance I'm missing?


texts: Why is は pronounced as わ when used as a topic particle?

texts: The particle は is pronounced similarly to わ (unlike the rest of the ハ行 kana) when used as a particle; why is this? What historical shifts went on to cause this irregularity?


texts:
I've just started my journey through Tobira and I would like to know how to make a native style answer, like what conjunctions do they usually use. For example, how would you answer this in Japanese:

"Where would you like to go in Japan? Why?" (more than 1 place).

The main problem that I'm having is whether I should use the reason first or after I mention the place.
For example is this the best way to answer it:

アニメが好きですから大阪に行きたいです。それと街が知りたいですから東京にいきたいです。

Should I use that order using から or should I use something like:

東京に行きたいです。それは街が知りたいですから。

I would like to know which one sounds more natural? Or is there another way to answer it, that sounds more natural?
Thanks, Nickzus


texts:
Consider the following sentence.

  日本の料理{りょうり}ほど微妙{びみょう}で、繊細{せんさい}なものはない。

Is 微妙で繊細な a redundant phrase?


texts: What are the most prominent features of Yamagata-ben?

texts:
I'll be visiting Yamagata City soon and would like to ask:

as an armchair linguist what features of the local dialect to look out for?
what are some common words, phrases, pronunciation differences that I could try to effect to make a nice impression on the locals?


texts:
What's the difference in post fixing a てから and たら　to a verb. For example:

家に帰ったらテレビを見る

家に帰ってからテレビを見る

They both mean "After going back, I will watch TV"


texts: Difference between はもとより and はもちろん and their respective usage

texts:
I would like to know if there is some difference between　はもとより and はもちろん　in the sense of "let alone" , "not only ... but also".

On a side note, I would like also to know their respective usage (oral/written, normal/formal, modern/archaïc)

  今の子供たちは学校はもとより塾へも通わせられている。
  Children nowadays are not only forced
  to go to school but also scram school.

  わたしが生まれた村は、電車はもとより、バスも通っていない。
  There are no buses in the village
  where I was born, let alone trains.

  わたしの学校は服装に厳しい。制服の着方はもちろん、ヘアスタイルやスカートの長さに至るまで注意される。
  My school is
  very strict about clothes. They even warn us about our hairstyle and
  the length of our skirts, let alone how we wear our uniforms.


texts: When does 感謝 happen in 分かるように分かりやすく説明してあげるから感謝しなさいよね！

texts: Does 感謝 happen before 説明 or after? It's possible to write "分かるように分かりやすく説明してあげるから後で感謝しなさいよね！" so I feel it might be ambiguous, but I'm not sure.


texts:
To describe the context...Girl A and a boy arrange to go to an amusement park to find some clues about...something. Or that's what she says to him, but the girl is actually tricking the boy into going on a date with her. With this in mind, the boy then goes to girl B and asks her to come to the amusement park as well, thinking that she might help. He doesn't explain the situation, so girl B thinks that he is asking her out on a date. They all meet at the amusement park and the girls get upset because there are 3 people when there should only be 2 and they don't want to talk anymore. The boy goes to buy some juice.

So now, girl B complains to the other girl: あいつはクズよ！！今日だってもう少し説明しろってのよ！！
At the same time, the boy, now alone, talks to himself: 早く家に帰ってゲームしたいのに・・・さっさと話し合いしろってんだ。

To me it feels like the sentences would translate as "He is garbage!! Today too, I mean, explain a little more, damn it!!" and "Even though I want to get back home sooner and play games...I mean, get talking already." So then, is the subject of ってんだ the speaker?

Someone told me that it's actually similar to というのは but I don't understand how it is possible when the imperative is used.


texts:
I would be very thankful, if someone could help me figure out the meaning of the second part of the sentence below

  これは地元住民とT大OBの反対によるもので、業者としても手のだしょうがなかったのだ。

The sentence is the explanation why despite other new shops Pachinko Salons cannot open in the area.
I would loosly translate it as

That was due to the resistance of the local residents and alumnis of T university, so that even if someone wanted to he had no chance

but I am mostly guessing the second part. What is the meaning of 手 in combination with のだ and what function does のだ have here? としても means even if right?


texts:
キスってやつしてみたかったな

I've never read this expression before. I just know that やつす means to be absorbed, to lose yourself to, so I was gessing that maybe in this case it could mean:

"I wanted to lose myself in a kiss"

I am I right? Or does it have a different meaning?

Thank you a lot.


texts: Looking up the words, I get [日本]{にほん} and [異世界]{いせかい} but don't get anything matching こつち or むこう. Is the furigana used here wrong?


texts:
Does「自己紹介を短いようにする」mean "I will make my introduction short".

I want to say "I can only speak a little Japanese, so I'll make my introduction short".

「日本語が少ししか話せないので、自己紹介を短いようにする。」

I'm not sure what the effect of 「ように」is. Or is it alright to just say 「短くする」


texts: Apparent reversals of conjugation patterns in classical 形容詞 and 動詞, origin?

texts:
We observe the following peculiar apparent relations between the conjugation patterns of 形容詞 and 動詞 (using 赤し and 行く as examples):

連体形: 赤き / 行きし (past recollective)
終止形: 赤し / 行きき (past recollective)

連用形: 赤く / 行き
連体形: 赤き / 行く

In both of these cases we have an apparent reversal of two endings across the two parts of speech: き←→し and く←→き.

Is there any explanation/etymology behind this, or is this thought to be a coincidence?


texts:
When joining い-adjectives and な-adjectives, you simply put them in 連用形 + て:

この料理は美味しくて安いです。

田中さんは綺麗で親切です。

However, I have a bit of trouble with たる-adjectives. I couldn't find any resources on it.
If I wanted to say something was 堂々たり and 平然たり, would I:
Use って 音便 as would be expected out of a ラ変:

堂々たって平然たり

Or would I ignore 音便 and stick with pure unchanged 連用形 + て because たり is a Classical Japanese auxiliary:

堂々たりて平然たり

I couldn't find any resources on the web at all on this, so I'm stumped right now. My IME seems to like たりて, whilst if I write たって it tries to auto 変換 to something like 立って・経って・建って.
Thanks very much in advance!


texts: Combining a noun phrase with an adjective

texts:
How do you combine a noun phrase with an い-adjective? For example:

red house: 赤い家
house [I] went to last week: 先週に行った家
red house [I] went to last week:

赤い先週に行った家?
赤く先週に行った家?
赤いに先週に行った家?
赤くて先週に行った家?
先週に行った赤い家?

Note in particular that I don't want 赤い to apply to 先週, which might be glossed as "house I went to last red week". It's not clear how to make the distinction here.


texts: Less-approximate and more-approximate forms of loan words

texts:
When Japanese incorporates a Western word, especially English, often the spelling rather than the pronunciation is respected in the transcription, thus, ending up with a transcription that is not the closest possible within the limitation of Japanese phonology. And then, later on, on some occasions, (often young) people start to use a form that is closer to the original pronunciation, and there arise two forms. What examples can you think of for such cases?

Examples

Michael

  マイケル (traditional)
  マイコー(recent slang, especially referring to Michael Jackson)

Volley ball

  バレーボール (traditional)
  バリボー (recent slang)

People

  ピープル (traditional)
  ピーポー (recent slang, as in 一般ピーポー)

Apple

  アップル (traditional)
  アポー (recent slang, especially referring to Apple computer Inc.)

The following are examples of different forms both respecting the original pronunciation, and are not examples of what I am asking:

Benjamin

  ベンジャミン (as with the American president)
  ベンヤミン (as with the German philosopher)


texts: What is the difference between なっている vs なった。

texts:
What exactly is the differences between these two? To me, they both describe a change and would translate to "has become" in English.

I haven't been able to find any sources of questions about this so I would appreciate some help.


texts:
もちろん、きっと、必ず、ぜひ。

どうやって区別しますか?　ところで、似たような言葉がありますか。教えてください。よろしくお願いしますm(_ _)m


texts:
I was told that in romaji the long vowel of o would be ō (see this tutorial)
However, I am confused by these two words.  In Google Translate they both were romanized as Tōri (see here), but their 平仮名　are different

通り　とおり
東リ　とうり


texts: What is difference between 熱を出す and 熱が出る

texts:
I know that 熱が出る (netsu ga deru) means to have a fever.
Example:

風邪を引いたら、39℃の熱が出た。
Kaze wo hiitara, 39C no netsu ga deta
When I caught a cold, I had a fever of 39C.

What does 熱を出す (netsu wo dasu) mean?
These are the examples I have:

でも熱出して寂しいって言ってた。

Demo netsu dashite sabishii tte itte ta

彼女は体が弱いので、何かあるとすぐに熱を出す。

Kanojo wa karada ga yowai no de, nanika aru to sugu ni netsu wo dasu


texts: Does 「鳴く」 give any nuances about the sound being made?

texts:
When we say "birds singing", there is a positive connotation.

When we say "birds crowing", there is a negative connotation.

"The birds are making some sound" seems to be objective, and thus neutral.

I was wondering is it true that 鳴く is absolutely neutral?

In other words, would the sentence 「小鳥が鳴いてる。」 have a positive connotation, negative connotation, or is it an absolutely neutral sentence?


texts:
I would like to know if Noun+でいる is grammatically correct, and when to use the sentence structure. Here is how I analyze the sentence:

勝った + つもり(N, thought) + でいる + やがる(inflection, showing contempt)

And the meaning of the sentence is "(He) thought he won."

But "Noun+でいる" is not a legal 接続 as far as I know. Is "つもりでいる" an exception?


texts: Verbs joined with くて and modifying a noun

texts:
I understand that くて joins verbs but what happens if they modify a noun? For example:
お金がなくて食べない料理 - I don't have money and hence this is food that I won't eat
見た目がなくて届かない想い - I don't have the looks and hence it is an unreachable feeling
Is this a valid sentence grammatically?


texts:
Using this Wikipedia article here, I learnt that words in Standard Japanese may encounter something called sonorant gliding while converting to Kagoshima dialect. For what is written here, these are the rules that I gathered:

This occurs when there is a kana starting with the 'r' consonant not at the start of the word.
If the kana came before a kana ending in the vowels /a/ or /o/, the former kana changes the /r/ to a /y/ sound, or if no such kana exists, the whole thing becomes い.
If the kana came before a kana ending in the vowels /i/, /u/ or /e/, the former kana changes the /r/ to a /y/ sound, the former kana becomes い.

Can someone please advise me on any mistakes I have made here?


texts:
I'm curious what 元本払戻金 means (in a financial/investment context), if there is a corresponding single English word, and how it is pronounced.

Thanks!


texts:
I found a phrase that contains 昼間から but I am not sure if I understand the から function correctly:

またこの子は昼間からゴロゴロして

I believe that it should roughly translate to "This child is being lazy all day again".
But when I tried to understand all the parts of this sentence, I can't make anything else out of 昼間から other than "from daytime", and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
What am I missing?
Edit: Is this meaning/use documented anywhere?


texts: What are the rules regarding "mute vowels" ("u" after "s" and "i" after "sh")?

texts:
When you first begin to learn Japanese you are taught that Japanese has no stress and each syllable should be pronounced equally.

You also learn that certain vowels are not pronounced, or only pronounced very slightly, such as the "u" in "desu" and the "i" in "deshita".

But it seems that sometimes these vowels are pronounced if they occur in the first syllable of a word such as "sugoi", "subarashii", "shiro", "shimbun".

Is this a kind of exception to both rules or is it just something a foreigner might think they hear which is not really there?


texts: Both かねない and 恐れがある mean that there is the possibility that something bad can happen. However, I would like to know if there are some differences that make them apart. Thank you!


texts:
詩の生命は暗示にして単なる事象の説明には非ず。かの筆にも言語にも言ひ尽し難き情趣の限なき振動のうちに幽かなる心霊の欷歔をたづね、縹渺たる音楽の愉楽に憧がれて自己観想の悲哀に誇る、これわが象徴の本旨に非ずや。されば我らは神秘を尚び... full

Is it (syntax-wise) correct to take（かの筆にも言語にも言ひ尽し難き情趣の限なき振動のうちに幽かなる心霊の欷歔をたづね、縹渺たる音楽の愉楽に憧がれて自己観想の悲哀に誇る）as a clause that describes これ, and the whole sentence (in 口語) as something like ～るこれは　わが象徴の本旨ではないよ。? I can't make sense of it, because taking it this way contradicts the idea in the previous sentence (or seems to me this way)...


texts: What is this kanji ? Looks like 七 three times

texts:
Tonight I went to a sushi restaurant. It's called かね喜{き} as is visible on their inkan and in the company name.

However, on their website it seems calligraphied differently but maybe I am just bad at identifying handwriting.

Even more strange is the sign there that does not look like 喜 at all. According to the website it seems to be the way the sushi bar of the chain are called, but that does not help with why it is written this way.

Can anyone help me ? I have looked around in my phone (Aedict) on on Weblio, to no avail.

Thanks a lot !


texts: Would 私は怖い mean "I'm scared" or "I'm scary"?

texts:
Or does it mean both? If so, is there any way to explicitly distinguish between "I'm scared" and "I'm scary"?
If it only means one and not the other, how would you say the other?


texts:
For a long time I have roughly approximated 例えば to 'for example' and thought of 例え as a word to emphasize ～ても and similar constructions, but in the lyrics to Ash like Snow by The Brilliant Green, 例えば seems to be used like 例え.

  例えば光が消え失せて　この地球{ほし}が堕ちても

Is 例えば really being used like 例え, or am I misinterpreting it? Is this poetic licence? Does this 例えば belong to one of the meanings here?


texts:
In a comic book I am reading, Inuyasha – 1st book – I found this sentence:

  面倒だ、この体。 […]玉ごとを食ろうてやる。

The monster saying this is about to attack two other people that are in possession of the bead. One of them is a lively normal human, the second one has been dormant and considered virtually dead for a long time.

As I understand it, the monster wants to devour the two along with the bead, that will give it some power. What is puzzling me is the use of 体. Even though technically speaking every person has a body, I am not sure that I can use it this way to refer to a living person.

My guesses are:

The monster considered the people unworthy of being referred to as living beings. In its eyes they are merely containers for the jewel.
The word 体 can be in some cases used for a living being and not only for corpses.
The monster is referring to the person that was almost dead for a long time. This seems unprobable to me, as the one holding the bead is the other person and the monster knows it.

And of course I may be completely wrong with all of these. This I’d like to ask, what can the 体 actually mean here?

Update:

The power of the aforementioned jewel will help the monster throw away its partially human body, effectively replacing it with a completely monster-like one. In the panel, where it says the provided sentence, its face starts to slightly shift to the non-human form already. This might hint that この体 refers to the body of the monster itself, being a nuisance since it’s less powerful without the bead.

What is still puzzling me though is the usage of 〜ごと. As I understand it, this suffix makes the jewel only a part of some bigger lump of things to be devoured. Maybe the monster is referring to the humans: “I’ll eat them along with the jewel.”, but it’s not stated explicitly and this information is conveyed by the 〜ごと itself?

Another update:

Uploading the panel with the described scene and sentence and some more panels for the context. I skipped the unrelated panels and panels with other scenes, since the situation is scattered through a few pages.


texts: What is the most accurate (literal) translation of でしょう?

texts:
I understand the concept of でしょう. All my books say that it is like saying "probably". I have also been told that it is more accurately a means of adding doubt to a statement to seem less assuming and confrontational...

If this is the case however, why would a statement like "うそでしょ!" be possible? It sounds as strange to me as emphatically yelling "PROBABLY!" as an answer

I need more details. For example, it stems from であろう/でありましょう doesn't it? If you interpreted that literally would it give any clues to how to understand the phrase in the same way Japanese understand it?
Furthermore, how is it different to 多分 or かもしれません?

Please provide your insight!


texts: When to use 丁寧語 and when to use 謙譲語　when talking about myself

texts:
Like probably everbody I have a hard time with Keigo. I get the basic concept of in-group and out-group and neutral-group but I am really confused about switching between 丁寧語 and 謙譲語 when talking about things that I would count to in-group matters because the concern me in some way.

For example I was told that if you introduce yourself in a job interview, you wouldn't use 謙譲語, so you would just say 来年卒業します instead of 来年卒業致します。Is that because you would lower your university with you? But if I google it, I find results saying 卒業致します... x.x

Also when my boss asks me about where I went for holidays, to answer スペインに行って参りました。sounds "good, but very polite" according to a Japanese friend of mine and he meant that just スペインにいってきました。 would be better. But he couldn't tell me why... x.x Is it because, if my boss asks me a somewhat personal question or wants to have small talk with me, it's already a signal that he wants a more relaxed atmosphere and I am allowed and supposed to answer in just 丁寧語？

And one last situation. When asked by my boss if I could finish something until noon, I was told it's fine to just answer はい、できます。or はい、間に合います。 instead of something like はい、お仕上げできます。 It's not considered belonging to the neutral group if someone asks me if I am capable of doing x, is it? But then why…

I am so confused ... x.x


texts: Does 凝{こ}る mean "absorbed in" or "artistic" in this sentence?

texts:
My JLPT textbook gives me this example sentence to explain the meaning of 凝{こ}る:

  釣{つ}りに凝{こ}る

The book provides a translation, which is, "be absorbed in fishing."

Later, in a test question, there is this sentence:

  あの建物{たてもの}はかなりこった造{つく}りをしている

(The question in the book does not use the kanji for 凝{こ}る.)

This really confused me until I looked in a dictionary and saw that 凝{こ}った can also be defined as "elaborate, refined, artistic."

I notice, when I use Rikaichan to double check the definitions as I write this, that the "artistic" definition only comes up for the こった form of the word, and the "be absorbed in" definition comes up for the こる form of the word.

I don't understand how I was supposed to get the meaning in the question from the meaning in the example. Perhaps the book just made a mistake? Or maybe there's some other way of looking at this that I'm just not seeing. The varying forms of the verb and the use of hiragana versus kanji is confusing me to the point where I can't sort it all out.

What is the relationship between the meanings, the kanji versus hiragana use, and the two forms of the word?


texts: What is the usage of these 12 kanjis (彁, 墸,壥,挧,暃,椦,槞,蟐,袮,閠,駲,妛)+18 more in modern Japanese? How to read it?

texts:
I read from this interesting article that it's included in 幽霊文字 (yuurei moji/ghost kanji (character). I tried to look up each of those kanjis:

I use these sites to look up those kanjis:

a.jisho.org

b.yahoo.jp

c.goo.ne.jp

d.alc.co.jp

Here are the results:

  1.jisho: 彁 = (no known meaning; S&H uses jabberwocky words?)

  じゅんこ 【彁】 (Junko - unclassified name)

  yahoo: none

  goo.ne: none

  alc: none

My own observation: it might relate to: 謌 (uta/ka, sing or recite) ** and **彊 (彊 (kyō/tsuyo(i)) and 歌 (uta/ka, sing); which is カ、セイ?

  2.jisho: 墸 = hesitate [ On: チョ ] (no sentence example)

  yahoo: none

  goo.ne: none

  alc: none

My own observation: it might relate to: 堵 (mistaken character) = fence, railing, enclosure.

  3.jisho: 壥 =  fine residence, shop, store  [ On: テン ] (no sentence example)

  yahoo: none

  goo.ne: none

  alc: none

  4.jisho: 挧 (Japanese horse chestnut?) [Kun:とち] [On:ウ]

  yahoo: none

  goo.ne: none

  alc: none

  5.jisho: 暃 (be separated)  [On: ヒ]

  yahoo: none

  goo.ne: none

  alc: none

  6.jisho: 椦 (wickerwork) Kun: まげもの On: ケン

  yahoo: none

  goo.ne: none

  alc: none

My observation: A mistake of 橳 ? or 群馬県に自生する妖怪というが、見つかっていない。

  7.jisho: 槞 (cage)  On: ロウ (or ru)

  yahoo: none

  goo.ne: none

  alc: none

  8.jisho: 蟐 (mantis, toad?(kokuji))

  related: 蟷螂 (かまきり) = praying mantis (esp. the narrow-winged mantis, Tenodera angustipennis). In kotobank, it's: カマキリ類の総称.

  yahoo: none

  goo.ne: none

  alc: none

  9.jisho: 袮 (ancestral shrine, embroidery) [On:デイ、 ネ、 チ]

  yahoo: none

  goo.ne: none

  alc: none

  10.jisho: 閠 (intercalation, illegitimate throne) (Kun: うるう On:ケイ、 > ギョク、 ジュン). A mistake of 閏?

  11.jisho: 駲 (horse's buttocks, horse's tail)  (On: シュウ、 ジュン)

  12.jisho: 妛 (despise, contempt, ugly, same as)  (Kun: あなど.る、 おろ
  か、 みにく.い、 みだる) (On: シ)

  All last three also don't have clear examples/usages.

Others:

垉     ホウ     (Break; collapse)

汢     ねた     (Marsh)

穃     ヨウ     (No meaning??)

粫     ジ、メン、うるち   (Gluten-free grain)

鍄     キョウ、リョウ        Clamp

垈     タイ、ダイ、ぬた   Wetlands

恷     キュウ、ク      Be contrary; nice

熕     おおづつ       Cannon

粐     コ、ロ、ぬか     Rice-bran (pieces of grain husk separated from flour after milling.)

糘     すくも        Chaff

鵈     とび     Kite (bird)

岾     はけ、やま      Mountain

橸     まさ     Straight grain

碵     いしずえ       Cornerstone

粭     すくも        Chaff

膤     セツ、そり、ゆき、たら    Snow

軅     たか、やがて     After all       (A mistake of 軈?)

靹     ケツ、とも      Archer's arm protector  (A mistake of 鞆?)

I find that these 'Japanese-only' Kanji fascinating. I can only take a glimpse of its meaning through the parts. I take that these must be obscure characters since it's included in "Ghost Kanji Characters". I couldn't find these characters in Chinese Dictionary either even though these are considered "Kanjis".

Here are my questions:

  1.What are the usages and word-pairs/collocation or sentence example that represent the meaning(s) of these Kanji? How do you use it? How
  often?

  2.As a native Japanese or a foreigner who lives for the longest time in Japan, have you used (or at least tried to use) these kanjis?

  3.Is its usage only limited to research or linguistics study?

  4.What does "S&H uses jabberwocky words" mean? Does it mean a **
  nonsensical language aka nonsense word**? (what is 'S&H?')

  5.Are all my assumptions correct? I mean the misintended character? Did I miss something?

Additional references

Notes:

Please help me to answer as thorough as possible so that we can contribute to this se. Short answer may suffice if you can summarize all the points well.

Thank you very much for all your answers!


texts:
I'm wondering how you would use parenthetical statements in Japanese. In English, commas are used, as in the sentence:

Tanaka-san is, for obvious reasons, a good person.
He took the train to work, as most people do.

How would I make this type of addition to a sentence in Japanese where it doesn't change the overall meaning, but rather sits as a side comment? Are commas still appropriate, and where in the sentence should I put this?


texts:
My studies taught me there's two ways to say each mora in Japanese, with the way you normally talk and when you put a bit more emphasis on a mora, i.e. when someone says なつかしい, the word would be sounded out as na-tsu-ka-SHI-i.

I know only one dictionary that shows the way the words are emphasized (the Pocket Kenkyusha Japanese Dictionary), and I feel it uses overly complex terminology to get the point across.  I want to able to put the principles into terms ordinary folks can understand, but every resource I have is either too complicated or tells me that the language doesn't put any emphasis on individual mora, which I know is totally wrong.

So, how does pitch accent work in Japanese?


texts: I can only think of formal occasions when I have heard "thank you" spoken this way. Is this the case? Could it perhaps also be spoken sarcastically to have the opposite effect?


texts: When I went to check the kanji for なくす (to lose something) I saw that tangorin.com offers 3 different possible characters. I've seen the first one (無) in some mangas and that's the one I knew, but there are 2 alternatives (亡くす,  失くす). I was wondering if there was any difference in meaning/usage between those characters.


texts: What does アタマ mean in reference to food/portion sizes?

texts: I came across this at a Yoshinoya and I've never seen this before on a menu. I can't figure out what this is supposed to mean; all I can infer from the pricing is that maybe it's a size in between 並 and 大.


texts: Why does くださる have an irregular infinitive form (ください)?

texts:
I may be using the wrong term, but I understand the infinitive form of a verb in Japanese to be the form we add ～ます to. In the case of ichidan verbs, we take away the ～る and add ～ます、and for godan verbs we change the ending う-line to an い-line and add ～ます. Why then, is くださる not conjugated as くださります in infinitve form, and instead conjugated as くださいます? Additionally, why do we only use ください most of the time?

EDIT: To clarify, I'm interested both in the functional purpose of this, and any historical or cultural purpose of this if they exist. Thank you!


texts:
What's the correct way of answering よくえいがをみますか。with "No, only sometimes."?
I am guessing it is incorrect to say いいえ、ときどきをみます。as いいえ should follow by negatives instead of affirmatives?
How about いいえ、よくえいがをみません。ときどきみます。?


texts: How do we call the 3rd group of verbs in Japanese?

texts:
Japanese language have 3 groups of verbs nowadays and they are called

  GROUP #1 = 五段動詞
  GROUP #2 = 一段動詞
  GROUP #3 = "Irregular Verbs"

I realised that in the past were two other groups but in a modern japanese class how do they called the irregular verbs in japanese 来る and する?


texts:
伸ばしてんのか？髪。。。

I was under the impression that the て form followed by ん was a contraction of ～てるの. However, in this sentence we have a のか following it. The のか sounds like it's supposed to nominalize and question the previous phrase, though I'm not sure how that works, even having read a few past posts on the subject.

My attempt at translation is:

You're growing it out? Your hair?

I don't see any pondering going on there, though, so I'm not confident.

Edit

伸ばしてのか？

Seems basically the same to me at this point, which may help explain my confusion.


texts: What grammatical strucure is behind 唱えにゃならん and what does it mean?

texts:
In the sentance below, what is the grammar behind 唱えにゃならん?

  これ小僧や、お前は、いずれはわしの代りにお寺でお経を唱えにゃならんのだぞ。

(I thought it was verb stem+にはならない with sound changes but I coudn't find such gramatical structure)


texts: how much use of カタカナis good or bad in Japanese?

texts:
While learning Japanese we students have a secrete weapon called カタカナ。We use katakana words even though there are perfectly fitting Japanese words which we obviously don't know. Just because we understand English better than Japanese we cant use English words written in カタカナ as means to overcome the hurdle at the moment.

So my question is how much カタカナ is acceptable by Japanese people?


texts:
I was wondering the difference between the two words since both mean to walk.

When to use verb 歩きます and when to use 散歩します。


texts:
I'm not sure if it is a nuance of the word 「ごねる」 which means to make difficulties or to grumble.

Here is the sentence containing the word.

  なんせ... 青山が五人の選手の中に入れてくれってごねだしたのは知ってるんだ


texts: What is the correct romaji/kanji for a phrase that sounds like “fui cabaru”

texts:
A japanese Aikido master used the term that sounds like “fui cabaru” or the “up” position of the a sword. I also believe it means something like “the place your hat goes”.

Can you tell me the correct romaji and kanji for this phrase?


texts: I know that ただ一度 and 一度きり both mean "only once". However, does the expression ただ一度きり have any special meaning (my feeling is that it doesn't sound like good grammar normally)? My intuition is that it's just added emphasis.


texts:
Consider the conjunction ども, e.g.:

行けども
言えども

Formation rule:

Verb Hypothetical form (仮定形) + ども

This leads me to hypothesise that the conjunction けれども (meaning "but; however; although") is built from けれ + ども.

I am unable to find a verb that is けれる. There is 蹴る though.

What is the composition of けれども? Or is it impossible to break it down further?


texts:
I've been checking out some japanese music videos lately and stumbled upon some videos of Miyavi, a japanese guitarist. In all his videos he seems to receive quite a lot of criticism in the comments, most likely because he was featured in a movie directed by Angelina Jolie not so long ago, in which he played a sadistic japanese general during World War two.
Anyway, a particular expression is systematically used to qualify him : 「在日」。
For example in the sentences :

雅は在日だけどね
プレイヤーが在日だろうがテロリストだろうかレイプ魔だろうがその曲がカッコよかったらヘビロテっすよヘビロテ。

I looked for the word in the dictionary and found two definitions likely to be appropriate : "Korean living in Japan" and "Foreign living in Japan". I assume the first definition is the right one, even though the fact that he sings in english could motivate an ironic use of the second definition, but my question is as follows :
Is this word originally neutral, but is, in the context, derived as an insult, or is it by nature an insult ?
Thank you for your answers.
Source : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uek2blSn_vE


texts: What is the difference between 詰まらない and 詰らない? Are they both valid words? Are they pronounced the same and do they have the same meaning?


texts:
I would like to know how to say the terms "oneirism"* and "oneiric film" in Japanese.

I've been searching for these terms in several dictionaries ENG-JAP, but the only result I get is "not matches have been found".

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

*Oneirism = Alteration of consciousness characterized by the appearance of fantasies similar to those of dreams, with loss of the sense of reality.


texts:
Hi all I understand that つもり means "intention" like say 夏休みにはゆっくり休むつもりです。 = I intend to rest during the summer vacation.

But what does 分かっているつもりだ。 means?

Well if I translate directly, it seems to be "I intend to be in the know" ?

However the translation (not by me) was "I know that."

I'm just wondering how did it work out to be that way? What is the significance of that つもり in that question?


texts: What do 「し」and「あった」mean in this sentence?

texts:
I'm a beginner Japanese student using Yu-Gi-Oh subtitles translations with the original in Japanese. I don't understand explanations in Japanese mostly, or it takes me a long (believe me, long) time to understand them yet.
Well, I've spent a good - I mean good - time researching about the following sentence. Only I couldn`t understand two words of it. The rest I could painstakingly happily understand very well thanks to dictionaries, web and patience - yay. So, could somebody give me a hand?
Here it is:

  古代｛こだい｝におけるゲームは人間｛にんげん｝や王｛おう｝の未来｛みらい｝を予言｛よげん｝し運命｛うんめい｝を決｛き｝める魔術的｛まじゅつてき｝な儀式｛ぎしき｝であった。

Something I thought was that maybe the 「し」 worked as a sort of conjunction to connect both sentences. 「あった」, I thought maybe was a sort of collocation with the idea of "They met the decicions of their fate through the magical ritual".

Thanks in advance for the help.


texts:
I'm facing this sentence

  お父さんがまだ生きてる頃はね...

I think I'm able to guess the meaning which may sounds as "When my father was still alive...." but the "ending" はね is gonna puzzling me. I suppose there's some ellipsis (copula omitted) or it's just an emphatic expression (maybe the same)?

Many thanks in advance.


texts:
Right now, I'm reading the Japanese translation of Catcher in the Rye.

This sentence has been puzzling me:

奴さん、ジャガーをもってやがんだよ。

I know that the author is saying that his brother owns a Jaguar, but I'm not sure what 「やがんだ」 means exactly.

So my question is: How is やがんだ used and when is it used?


texts:
Here is a quote taken from the Genki 1 textbook, it is one of the expression notes (page 141):

  遊ぶ means "to play," "to spend time pleasantly" or "to pay a social call."

  私のうちに遊びに来てください。　Please come and see us.

In the textbook "うち" isn't written using kanji and I can't tell which うち it is referring to (内 or 家). If it is "家" (which I'm guessing it is), then does that mean "私のうち" means "my household" which then kind of means "us"?

Thanks.


texts: About a proverb students have on their diaries

texts:
The students I have keep a diary. The two sentences below are written on those diaries.

小さな積み重ねが、大きな差となる
Small stacking makes big difference.

That English sounds awkward to me. It is absolutely google translated and copy/pasted. But since my Japanese and knowledge of their proverbs(if that sentence is one) is limited, I was wondering if the below proverbs would mean what they meant with the Japanese sentence.

Many a little makes a mickle.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step.

Apart from these two, are there any other proverbs that can convey the meaning of that Japanese sentence? Or if I am wrong, what could be the correct proverb? I don't need a direct translation like;
Many small amounts accumulate to make a large amount.


texts: Describing personalities, saying colourful

texts:
How would I describe characters as being colourful ?

Would this be fine?:

とうじょうじんびつはいろがおおいです。

Also when describing a characters growth, would this sentence be fine?:

もじのせいかくはせいちょうするがいいです。

If it helps, I'm trying to say that the characters display good character growth.

Also what is the difference between とうじょうじぶつ and もじ


texts:
In Japanese what would be the correct way to say something along the lines of this expression which would be common in English.

For example if you try to say some people like dogs and other people like cats.

What immediately comes to mind for me would be 人は犬が好き、けどほか人は猫が好き。But...though the second part seems OK to me the first part feels...too absolute.

某人は犬が好き？

Basically I'm trying to wrap my head around more advanced comparisons.


texts: How to say: (one) month through (another) month

texts:
I'm working on my Japanese homework, and we're practicing describing weather. We're given charts on temperature to say things like:

カイロは九月が一番あついです。Or, "In Cairo, September is the hottest month."

However, my book does not include how to say something like
"In Cairo, June through (the end of) November are the hottest months."

I was wondering if anyone has any solutions on this.

Thanks!

Edit: Addressed a question as the specificity of the phrase in English.


texts: When is it appropriate to begin referring to 明仁 as 平成天皇?

texts:
The upcoming abdication of the Chrysanthemum Throne, the enthronement of [徳仁]{なるひと} and the start of the [令和]{れいわ}[時代]{じだい} presents a specific and unusual conundrum:

It has become customary to refer to former (i.e. dead) emperors of Japan by their era name rather than their given name, and impolite to refer to the sitting emperor by their era name.

The question then: Is this custom tied to enthronement and abdication (making [明仁]{あきひと} [平成]{へいせい}[天皇]{てんのう} on May 1st), or is it tied to 明仁's actual death (date TBD)?


texts: Natural way to understand 景気の善し悪しが影響するという

texts:
So I was working through my textbook and I come across an example sentence, which goes:

  流行する色はその時の景気の善し悪しが影響するという。

I went through the dictionary to look up the words I didn't know, but I just can't seem to comprehend this sentence in a natural way. The way I would translate this sentence would be:

  It is said that colours that become popular are influenced by the quality (state?) of the economy at the time.

Is this a good way of interpreting the sentence? Any help will be appreciated!

Also, could someone please explain the meaning of 景気? I feel like dictionary definitions are very vague about it. For example on the EJJE weblio dictionary, it includes phrases such as 景気よく飲む, which apparently translates to "going on a drinking spree", which I can't get my head around as I always associated 景気 with a business-economy meaning. Are these simply figure-of-speeches?


texts: Is 翻す a former compound verb that merged into its current form?

texts:
The verb ひるがえす feels like it is made of two part ひる and かえす but I could not find any references backing this interpretation. And I can't figure out what would be ひる.

@snailboat also mentioned くつがえす whose meaning is very close to ひるがえす. If an answer could solve both cases it would be much appreciated.


texts: Difference between particles に and　は in　あげます/もらいます sentences?

texts:
I know 私は田中さんにプレゼントをもらいました means "I received a gift from Mr/Mrs Tanaka" and 私は田中さんにプレゼントをあげました means "I gave a gift to Mr/Mrs Tanaka".

What I'm wondering is, can もらいます・あげます sentences work without the ni particle?

In that case would 田中さんはプレゼントをもらいました mean "Mr/Mrs Tanaka received a gift" and 田中さんはプレゼントをあげました - Mr/Mrs Tanaka gave a gift? Or is it all wrong? And does the person who receives/gives this to/from Mr/Mrs Tanaka is always implied to be us, or can it be anybody?


texts: What is the difference between 気がする and 気はする?

texts:
What would be the difference in meaning between:

  富と名声とか、そういったのを求めている人達と中身は変わらないような気はちょっとするんだけど。

and

  富と名声とか、そういったのを求めている人達と中身は変わらないような気がちょっとするんだけど。

Thanks!


texts: technical term for "形容動詞{けいようどうし} + にする"?

texts:
A subset of Japanese nouns is the サ変名詞{へんめいし} nouns such as:

  勉強{べんきょう}する
  運転{うんてん}する
  残業{ざんぎょう}する

A subset of 形容動詞 words can be appended with "にする" such as:

  静{しず}かにする
  大切{たいせつ}にする
  無理{むり}にする

What is the English, and Japanese, technical grammar term for this class of 形容動詞 words?


texts:
Could someone please explain what function the 落ち着いて is serving in the below? What is its subject?
CONTEXT:
One character is musing out loud about the recent murders (it's a mystery manga) and she just observed that the birds in a bird cage are restless and the nest seems to be upended.

カナリヤの親鳥があんなに暴れてる｛あばれてる｝
こんな事件が続いて
みんなピリピリしたから
落ち着いて卵も
あっためられないのね

ROUGH TRANSLATION: "The canary parents (not that you'd ever say that in English) are really flailing about wildly. Everyone's on edge because of this case. The birds aren't even warming their eggs."
I really don't see how the 落ち着いて fits in the sentence (assuming of course I didn't make a critical error in the translation) at all. It doesn't seem to be simultaneous/sequential action, state, cause, or means and definitely not a command.
I have two other less important (and somewhat unrelated) questions about the above as well that I figured I'd ask here. I'd be happy to ask them separately if told.

I believe that there are two causes listed in the above (～続いて、～したから). If that is a correct interpretation, do these causes have an order? In other words, is 「こんな事件が続いて」　the cause of 「みんなピリピリした」 or are they both causes of 「卵もあっためられない」?

Is it clear what form あっためられない is in? It seems to me that both 受け身 (passive) and 可能形 (potential) could work and I was wondering if context made it clear. Further, though I'm not sure if the distinction exists in Japanese, JSL classes teach that there are both direct and indirect passives. Is it clear which is used here (I assumed indirect)?


texts:
What is the difference between「取り除く」and standalone 「除く」? In the case of similar phrase like 「取り戻す」and「戻す」, it seems that the difference is clearer: there is something about "taking back what was yours" in the former, while the latter can be just returning something to its original state, among other things.
Is there a common theme among verbs that has 取り appended before the verb?


texts: Why are there so many sound symbolic words?

texts: Wikipedia states that "sound symbolic words occur more often in Japanese than in English..." Indeed, Amazon.jp has a 4500-word dictionary just for these words. Is there any research or solid understanding of why Japanese is such a sound symbolic-rich language?


texts:
In English, when we wish to write a non-strict mathematical inequality, we will write something like this:

  x ≤ 3 or y ≥ 5

In Japanese writing, however, I have also seen the symbol ≦ used to mean "less than or equal to". Which of ≤ and ≦ is more common in Japanese usage? I would be interested to know about any differences that exist across various media/genres of writing, e.g. news reports vs. scholarly papers vs. textbooks.


texts:
I've come across this sentence quite a few months ago, but I never understood the meaning of "ことがないように", I've searched and found about ことのないように, but I think it has not the same meaning.

This is the sentence:

  松野の家名を汚すことがないようにお願いしますよ。

The translation I found is:

  "Please, do not do anything that can dishonor the name of Matsuno family"


texts: Is there any difference between 交替 and 交代 or are they completely interchangeable?


texts:
Can someone explain to me the difference between the following forms?

思った
思ってた
思っていた


texts: How would you express the sentiment of "Happy New Era"

texts:
Something like 良いお時代を。? Or would you specifically say 令和?

If not that, what would be a literal English translation?


texts:
I was reading and I somehow got confused on what is the best way to say something like:

  She cooked 10 grams more of rice.

I have some ideas but I would like to know which one is the correct one.

In Japanese you go from the [Background information]>[Important information], that is what I read in a book, at least.
So:

  米１０グラム大きく炊いた
  米を１０グラム大きく炊いた
  米を１０グラムで大きく炊いた
  米１０グラムで大きく炊いた

I am not sure which one is the correct one, but could I have an explanation why?


texts: What is that thing yelled in Japanese when starting something?

texts:
When starting some activity, I've heard something like 'Se..inou... ' (I'm not sure what are the specific words for this). The context for this word I'd think is pretty much the same as when saying 1,2,3 start! in English.

Actually, is it just some sound or is it a word? Is there a story behind this?


texts: Is あたんなはれ in Kansai-ben "get yourself warm"? What verb does it come from?

texts:
Someone lights up a fire and tells the other person (reading from the situation) to get warm by the fire:

  あたんなはれ

んなはれ is Kansai-ben for imperative なりなさい, but where does the first part come from?

Is it shortened from 暖かくなりなさい? If so why the second た of あたた is lost?

Or is it another verb/word? It looks more like a shortened あたりなさい, but this does not make sense to me in the context.


texts: Why are English words ending with -ing often transcribed with ング? For example, timing = タイミング, morning = モーニング, and diving = ダイビング. My guess is that グ is formally pronounced with 鼻濁音｛びだくおん｝  , i.e. pronounced like /ŋu/. Therefore, is this the case?


texts: Is it (AとB)のC, Aと(BのC), or (AのC)と(BのC) ...?


texts:
I have looked up in an online dictionary and found out that

「いつの間にか」　means before one knows.

For another question, when I have came across 「いつの間に通信」 in an instruction manual, I'm not sure if I can translate it as 'when communication' or 'before communication.


texts: How to know who is the subject and obejct in sentence when there are two particle は and が

texts:
確かに妻が「ついていてほしい」と言った看護婦さんは、仕事の仕方が他の人とは[一味]{ひとあじ}違っていることに気がついた。->

I'm a bit confused with は and が in this sentence and I can't guess which one is the subject or object.

I cut the sentence like this:
妻が///////「ついていてほしい」と言った看護婦さんは

妻 が is subject

「ついていてほしい」と言った看護婦さんは -> it's like the person who said 「ついていてほしい」 is 看護婦(？)(？)

Or:

妻が「ついていてほしい」と言った/////看護婦さんは
妻が「ついていてほしい」と言った adverbially modifies 看護婦

A nurse that my wife wants to take care of her.

Which one is correct?


texts: 文法について "とを" はどういう意味ですか?

texts:
Mekong Rest Stopはハイグレードなサービスエリアで、自然や『緑―清潔―美』と言った自然の特徴とを建築に取り入れるように設計され、旅行者が移動する際、休憩したりリラックスしたり、飲食したりします。

上記の"特徴とを建築に取り入れるように" には 分からないことがあります。
"とを" はどういう意味ですか?
よろしくお願いします。


texts: What is this character saying? [Video/Listening]

texts:
In this video clip the girl says something as she attacks the oncoming monsters.

I cannot even make sense of what she's trying to say other than "嘘" at the end. So I'm guessing it's along the context of either:

"I won't hit you" or "I'll let you hit me," and thus proceeded by "it's a lie" and her slaughter.


texts: Difference between くださって and いただいて and when you should use it

texts: I'm having trouble using these two to my higher ups. Which is more polite?


texts: trouble translating/parsing sentence with katakana that is confusing

texts:
I'm reading a manga and am stumped on what this sentence(s) is saying:

ロッカーを棲家としているわけでもなく殺人鬼のはずもなく普通の正社員

The previous sentence talks about someone at work who is like a Grim Reaper.

I don't even know if this is one long sentence or two. Is the first half talking about lockers? or maybe rockers? Is the second half saying something like the grim reaper/other employee (not sure who the subject is as I can't parse the sentence) isn't homicidal, but a normal regular employee. I can't infer much as this is literally the second sentence in the manga.

The sentence following this one states that there is a man called the Grim Reaper (pretty much the same information as the first sentence).

Please note, I spelled the katakana as ロッカー but in the manga, it looks more like ロツカー。I couldn't come up with a word for the second one so I think it's actually spelled the first way.


texts:
I saw [一点]{いってん}で used a handful of times in examples like [一点]{いってん}で[撃ち抜く]{うちぬく} or [一点]{いってん}で[討つ]{うつ} and while I know what the word itself means, I don't understand how it's being used with these verbs.

Could anyone explain?

Thanks.


texts: What is the difference in usage between 闘う and 戦う?

texts:
I would like to know the difference in usage between these two godan and intransitive verbs :

  闘う{たたかう}

  戦う{たたかう}

When is one chosen over the other? Is 戦う more related to the war and 闘う to the fight?


texts: Perhaps specific context is required but what is the real meaning behind this phrase?


texts: AFAIK , hoshi 星 means both star and planet (except for the sun and the moon), when 惑星 means only planet. is there any word to refer to stars only?


texts:
Is it okay to separate adjectives with a comma? Since my sentence has three adjectives, I added them just like how we would in English to separate a list containing three or more items (no comma if the list contains only two).

彼の彼女は綺麗で、親切で、背が高いです。
His girlfriend is beautiful, kind, and tall.

Is there an equivalent rule regarding comma usage in Japanese?


texts: Can someone elaborate the structure and the changing of the verb in the sentence? Thank you