texts: Can this sentence 他人のフリ be translated like this?

texts:
I am translating some manga pages and I came across this line that one character says: 他人のフリ.To give you some context, there are 3 characters, lets just simply call them A, B and C.A and B start to behave weird and attract the attention of onlookers and C hears comments from them. C goes into another direction, with an embarrassed look on his face and has a thought bubble that says 他人のフリ, twice.
I really think that line can translated as the following: "Pretend you don't know them/ I don't know those people." (referring to A and B). That's what I got, given the situation.Literally the sentence would mean "behavior of other people", right? Please I would appreciate an opinion, and hopefully someone can tell me that it can have the nuance of what I stated above.Thank you very much!


texts: Difference between やつ and こと in those sentences 不幸な事故ということだな and 不幸な事故というやつだな


texts: What is the thing written in grey that sometimes shows up in the macOS Sierra dictionary app?

texts:
In the macOS Sierra dictionary app, sometimes when I look up a word, there is sometimes this thing that's in grey written on the right of the word that I searched. For example, 管理人:

The thing written in grey is くわんー. What does this mean?

Other examples:

I observed that sometimes the "ー" is on the right, sometimes on the left, sometimes on both sides and sometimes it does not appear at all. And I became even more confused.

I know that grey text is used to show the "old" forms of some words, like　言う→言ふ:

I thought things like 卵巣癌、更新、検討 are quite new. Maybe this grey text is something else?


texts: What are the fundamental differences between the ～と一緒に and the ～とともに fragments?

texts:
I'm accustomed to saying together with using the ~ to issho ni fragment, but I've been noticing that some people I talk to phrase this using ~ totomo ni instead.
i.e.

彼女と一緒に日本へ来た。
Kanojo to issho ni Nihon e kita.

and

彼女とともに日本へきた。
Kanojo totomo ni Nihon e kita.

seem to be fundamentally equivalent.
Are there any nuances that the two have that dictates when and where they should be used? Probably very slight meaning deviations? Or are they essentially perfect equivalents of each other when it comes to saying together with (and yeah, I'm aware that ~ totomo ni has other meanings aside from that)?


texts:
Consider the following sentence:

八引く一は七です。
Eight minus one is seven.

This doesn't seem to obey the usual grammar rules. If I think of 引く as a verb meaning 'to subtract' then I have a relative clause 八引く modifying 一, so 八引く一 ought to be 'one where we subtract eight' i.e. the grammatical answer should be -7 rather than +7.
I suppose I ought to be suspicious of this analysis since there is no を on 八. What is the correct way to think about this sentence? Should I abandon trying to think of 引く as 'to subtract' and just use a plain 'minus'?
What if I had added the を i.e. 八を引く一は七です. Would this be grammatical? Would it change the meaning?


texts:
There is a place in Hokkaidō called Saruba 去場 (さるば)

What can be the literal meaning of this place name??


texts:
In a comment on this question it was pointed out that the combination "をだけ" appears a lot in a Google search, despite my thought that it was ungrammatical. On closer inspection it seems that many of these hits are of the form をだけを. Here's an example:

  体重をだけをみてはいけない
  It's no good if you're only looking out for your weight (not sure about my translation)

It seems to occur far too often for this to be a typo.

What's going on here?


texts:
raj-san 五月雨式で申し訳ないのですが、緒方さんに実装のご説明をどこかでしていただくお願いを連絡しようと思います。取り急ぎご報告まで、

I understood that a guy is asking for some explanation of coding, but I couldn't understand what does 五月雨式 mean here?


texts:
The sentence “誰に聞いても何も教えてくれない。” was translated as “No matter who I ask, nobody tells me anything.”
 Could it also mean “No matter who you ask, noone will tell you” ? As a warning or in a sarcastic manner?


texts: Does the 2 "こぼす" here have different meanings?

texts:
This dialogue.

ジュースを零してしまうのだけど
こぼさずに全部欲しい

I'm told the 1st line would be like "I spilled the juice by accident but..."
What I want to ask is if the 2nd line also means "spill" in this case? Or does it mean like "complain"? I wondered cause the one is in kanji and other's not.
Does the 2nd line mean "I don't want to complain."


texts: Speaking in first person without saying "I"

texts:
For example:

  今日から明日まで勉強します。
  kyou kara ashita made benkyou shimasu.

How do I know that the speaker talks about themselves?


texts: Confused by apparent double-negative in literary context

texts:
Reading through my first short story by 秋田滋訳 and have gone ahead with the story and had relatively few problems with it, but I'm a bit confused by the first line:

  [新聞]{しんぶん}をひろげてみて[次]{つぎ}のような[三面記事]{さんめんきじ}が[出]{で}ていない[日]{ひ}はほとんどあるまい。

I get we're talking about 'try to spread the newspaper' amd 'the following human interest story' but I'm really not sure what 出ていない日はほとんどあるまい。means. 出ていない日 seems like it would be 'the day it's not coming out' or something along those lines, but otherwise I'm stuck. I understand enough that the rest of the story makes sense, but I can't hazard a guess of the precise meaning.


texts: Why do so many kanjis express idea of "hiding": 隠、　覆、　忍、　匿、　潜?

texts: All these kanjis have word that contain aspect of hiding or concealing in their meaning: 隠、　忍、　匿、　潜. My head is spinning. Some are used in verbs others are used in compound words. Why do we need so many characters for the same idea?


texts:
I have been translating articles from NHK News Easy for practice, and I've noticed they sometimes use 「など」in a way I'm not familiar with. For example, in an article about a train that's about to be decommissioned because of its age, this sentence occurs:

  このためＪＲ西日本などは、トワイライトエクスプレスの運転を来年の春にやめることにしました。

I don't really understand the meaning of 「ＪＲ西日本など」, since my grammar resources explain the meaning of the suffix など as "non-exhaustive listing, like "etc.". So, does this mean that "JR West Japan and others" decided to retire the train?


texts: 「七つの海商社」"7 Seas Trading Co." as formal name for a company

texts:
wanted to ask a question re:company names in 日本語.

Would「七つの海商社」work as a name for a company? Or does this combo of kana+kanji not work in formal business names?

Greatly appreciate any help. Thank you.


texts:
I came across the following exercise – I have to fill in the gap with the correct word that I have to choose from a series of 4.

  信号{しんごう}があおに（　　　　）、道{みち}を渡{わた}っていいです。

I eliminated 2 words and now I'm stuck with: なったら　and なると.  In my mind both #1 and #2 make sense.

  1.信号があおになったら、道を渡っていいです。

If the traffic light becomes / will become blue, it is ok to cross the road.

  2.信号があおになると、道を渡っていいです。

When the traffic light will become blue, it is ok to cross the road.

Which one is correct and why?

P.S. The book says なったら is the correct one.


texts: How come kanji has different pronunciation when matched with different words?

texts:
I'm confused, because the kanji for "come" have totally different pronunciations here:

  未来 = Mirai

  来る = Kuru

Why is that? (Or maybe in the second example, 来 is being counted as just one word? Or in the first example 来 is being pronounced as an adjective?)


texts: Asking about the location of an object, understanding が

texts:
どこが[病院]{びょう・いん}ですか。
Doko ga byōin desu ka?
Where is the hospital?
Sentence Note: This sentence is not a simple question about where the hospital is. Imagine a person looking at a line of buildings and wondering which is the hospital. That is a situation where this sentence would be appropriate.

Source: https://www.imabi.net/theparticlegai.htm (Example 31.)
I'm interested in the bolded statement. If this isn't a simple question about where the hospital is, then what would be a sentence to ask this?
I always thought that this was the way to ask where the hospital is (like if I approached a stranger on the street).
Why is it appropriate only in that following scenario?


texts:
I have looked up 誰  in the dictionary, and found that both

誰も
誰でも

can mean everyone and everybody.

If there is a difference between them, what is the correct way to use each of them?

It is not limited to 誰, I also want to consider other question words such as, 何、どこ、いつ、どちら、どれ、etc.


texts:
I'm translating a song and came across the following sentence:

  明日の岸辺へと夢の舟よ進め

If it was 明日の岸辺へと夢の舟よ進む it would mean "move on the dream boat to the shores of tomorrow". What changes with this conjugation?

Thank you very much.


texts:
信じようと信じまいと Believe it or not

How is 信じる　being conjugated here? I am unfamilar with the stem + まい pattern, if anyone could explain the ins and outs of that, or provide a more literal translation if that would make it easier to comprehend. Any relevant grammar terms in Japanese are appreciated. Thank you.


texts:
I've been reading into a little bit of more advanced grammar and am trying to get my head around the causative and the passive form. (yes yes N1 people. That's not actually advanced.)

The causative I think I can grasp and the passive form makes sense when English examples are given. Using them and recognising them in practice will of course be a different matter….but anyway.

One confusing thing was the similarity to the potential form. I saw a question elsewhere on this site which said you could tell the difference the bulk of the time since with the passive there will be a に。

Which is fair enough.

But then we come to the causative passive form. Which means someone made me do something (why does that need to be passive?) and it made me wonder…is there such a thing as a causative passive potential form?

What I mean is how would you get across sentences such as “It is possible that she may make you eat her cooking”? It strikes me that the double passive/potential makes this a somewhat iffy proposition.


texts: Meaning of 閉店ガラガラガラ in the following sentence

texts:
An American boxer has been living in Japan for 3 years. He lives in the Kansai area, so he speaks Kansai dialect. He complains that after 3 years in Japan he still hasn't fought against a really strong opponent, then he says this sentence:

  ちゃんと強いヒトホンマ相手頼んますわ〰　ほな前座はこれにて―――　閉店ガラガラガラ――

Here you can see the whole page. What is the meaning of the second part of the sentence, in particular 閉店ガラガラガラ? Is that Kansai-ben too? Thank you for your help!


texts: Word order in 犬のホワイトチョコレート

texts:
Some time ago I was speaking with a Japanese teacher, and to say "A white chocolate dog" she said 犬のホワイトチョコレート; I asked, shouldn't it be ホワイトチョコレートの犬, since 犬のホワイトチョコレート sounded to me like "A white chocolate of dog" or "Dog's white chocolate", but she confirmed 犬 first. I was unable to understand why 犬 goes as first element, though, I think something about 犬 being the main concept. Any ideas?

If it does is 犬のホワイトチョコレート, how do you understand if something like 男のホワイトチョコレート means "A man's white chocolate" or "A man of white chocolate"?

Edit: the meaning was - and it was clear for both the teacher and me - a edible dog made out of white chocolate; there was no misunderstading about that.


texts: What is the difference between 流体 and 液体?

texts: I'm unable to understand the difference between 液体 and 流体. Both sound like "fluid" to me, while the latter sounds like "flowing fluid" (if that makes sense). I had thought there was only 気体、液体、and 固体. What is this 流体 and how can it be explained?


texts: How to say "person who is consistent" (in romaji) ? Is it a Japanese principle?

texts:
I have seen a documentary about a mangaka who would draw her own manga from start to finish and the documentary described that she was applying a Japanese principle of doing things alone, at your own pace, from start to finish. It was described as a principle of responsibility and integrity and it was contrasted to the way in western productions usually creating something is done by several people with different skills, whereas in Japan when you do everything yourself, your spirit is reflected throughout your work and has therefore more soul and harmony.

The documentary described this principle as a principle of integrity, of responsibility, a person should take responsibility and work through things on their own. The mangaka kept saying she wanted to be a person of integrity because of this principle.

The principle in Japanese sounded like "Suji yo konsu" meaning a person who is consistent, but since I don't speak Japanese at all (I only begin), I can't find which principle it is. Do you know which principle it is and how to write it in romaji? I have looked in Google I can't find any information on the documentary or on this principle. I would really like to learn more about this principle if only I knew how it is called in Japan.

Thanks.

--
An answer from a Japanese speaker who will recognize this principle and give the word or phrase that describes this principle even if it doesn't sound like what I think I have heard is also acceptable. I suspect it is something the Japanese know and live by so maybe there is a common word for it and I might have misheard. My interest is to know more about this principle of responsibility/integrity/own path/consistency to do something alone from start to finish. From the documentary there is a strong emphasis in doing things alone in this principle.


texts: Where is the topic in a Japanese sentence?

texts:
I'm currently learning Japanese, and I realise that the language has something known as a topic, something which is unheard of in English.

According to Wikipedia,

  It is written with the hiragana は, which is normally pronounced ha, but when used as a particle is pronounced wa. It is placed after whatever is to be marked as the topic.

So, accordingly, if I say 車は新しいです, then 車 is the topic.

But, I was given this:

  佐藤さんは会社員です。
  佐藤さんも日本人です。 (X)

The second sentence is wrong. From my understanding, you can use も when the topic remains the same in a conversation. In this case, the topic is 佐藤さん, so why couldn't you use も then? My teacher told me 会社員 is the topic, but shouldn't the topic be 佐藤さん?


texts: A word to express a feeling of sudden release from intense pressure that had been building up over time

texts:
I'm failing to express an emotion in Japanese that one feels after something emotionally unnerving that had been intensifying was then suddenly released, primarily due to being resolved by the subject. I was thinking of 「圧力解放」 but it feels like a direct translation from English and might not be understood by native speakers. Is there a better word or expression for that?

I also found a question about 「解き放つ」 that might be one showing the right expression but I'm not sure.


texts: Why is 色んな an adjectival and not an adjective?

texts:
I encountered the word here:
世界で色んな人が食べ物がないから、食べ物を捨ててはならない!と子供の頃から両親
が教えてくれた。
and the 'adjectival' definition in https://jisho.org/search/%E8%89%B2%E3%82%93%E3%81%AA

Edit:
Both @Leebo 's and @Aeon Akechi 's answers did answer my question and were rich of useful information. But I accepted the longest answer.


texts: How to say “There we go!” and “Lemme think...”

texts: how would you say “There we go!” meaning you got what you wanted, it’s there, etc? and would “Lemme think...” just be 「そうですね…」？how would you translate that in an informal setting?


texts: 「に夢見る」 and translating 「こういうのドライ」

texts:
I found the picture below on Pinterest. The caption was 「松田＋幼女に夢見てる漫画」.
I don't understand the use of the に particle. I had already seen it used in the structure 「person + に夢見てる」 before.
I'm not even sure how to translate it. Would it be "to see a dream in"? I don't see how that makes sense though.
Now, on to the picture itself:
I'm having trouble with translating Matsuda's last sentence.

榛原は　案外
こういうの（は？）　ドライな

I'm thinking of "this is surprisingly dry". But what's "this" exactly? This situation? And it feels dry to Hagiwara? That's why the は particle is being used?
Or is this aspect/comment of Hagiwara that is surprisingly dry?
What does dry even mean here? Insensitive? Since Hagiwara seemed to be mocking Matsuda, I thought it could be "dry humor", but the definition doesn't seem to fit.
Maybe it's because Hagiwara was being too cold towards the little girl? I unfortunately don't have the previous pages, except this one. I don't know if it comes directly before the one I'm concerned about and it doesn't seem to help much, in any case.


texts: Can someone tell me what the second character is?


texts: Do transitive verbs require a subject when translated? How to deal with inferred subjects?

texts:
One line examples rarely have enough context to infer. What about this sentence that needs an inferred subject?

  田中さんは部屋に入ってきたかと思うと、いきなり窓を全部開けた。

"開ける" is transitive, so how would a proper translation deal with the lack of an explicit subject in the main clause?

Just as Tanaka entered the room, Tanaka opened all the windows. (given what ~ かと思うと... means this does not sound correct.)
Just as Tanaka entered the room, someone (who we've already talked about) opened all the windows.
Just as Tanaka entered the room, all the windows opened. (a paraphrase using "to open" intransitively)

For a translation, #2 makes sense to me but I don't like that empty inference of someone. For a paraphrase, #3 is better because then nothing is inferred; the missing subject is hidden. What do you think?


texts: In Doraemon what is Big G's (Takeshi Gouda) dialogue style?

texts:
In some written English translations Big G doesn't sound like he has a very standard accent. He can go from sounding almost like a hickish American to dropping British ghetto slang terms. I'm not sure if he is supposed to be cool or rustic.

What is Big G's (Takeshi Gouda) original dialogue style?


texts: Can an English video game be translated into Japanese without kanji?

texts:
I want to get my game translated from English to Japanese. Can it be done without the use of kanji (i.e. using only hiragana and katakana)?

Kanji characters seem that they will be too small to be readable at the size of the text in my mobile game. And it's a nightmare with fonts too. I want to know how it usually is in Japanese video games and if what I want can be done.


texts:
歯を何回磨いたかなどをインターネットで歯医者に知らせて、虫歯にならないようにするサービスができました。歯ブラシなどの会社のサンスターと電気製品などの会社の富士通が考えました。
  A service has been made that ensures you don't get tooth decay, by informing the dentist - using the internet - of things like how often you brush your teeth. Tooth brush making company サンスター and electrical goods company 富士通 thought it up.

I sometimes have trouble with 考える. This is one of those times. I'm not aware that 'thought it up' is a valid translation but it's the only one I can think of that fits the context. Have I got this right?


texts:
I'm translating a manga in which one character use a very slangy or contracted way of speaking while the others talk more standard-like.
I've already encountered the stem+ん as a short form the negative stem+ない. But what is the -せん attached to 苦労. I think it'd been translated as "there's no problem" but I'd like to know the grammar behind it. Thanks


texts:
In the sentence "Mr. Yamada goes to work at eight thirty." where would the に be placed? Would it be

  a) やまださんははちじはんしごとにいきます。
  b) やまださんははちじはんにしごといきます。

Why?


texts:
Just started learning Japanese again. My college offers no class on this so I am learning on my own. I have been using Rosetta Stone on and off again for a while now.

One thing I have noticed is that Rosetta Stone uses は and を in basic sentences such as:

  おんなのひとは、おちゃをのんでいます

This sentence gives the Romaji:

  onna no hito wa ocha o nonde imasu

Now I know

は = ha
を = wo

Why would they use those in place of わ and お?


texts:
A palindrome is a word or phrase that is the same backwards and forwards, such as "Bob", "aibohphobia" or "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama."

In English, as well as many other languages, this is a coherent, named concept and literary technique.

Does a meaningfully similar concept exist in Japanese, and is it used?


texts: ひとこと・いちげん・いちごん - what is the difference?

texts:
This is one of my most frequently encountered words and yet outside of specific constructs (e.g. 一言一句｛いちごんいっく｝) I am never sure if I'm reading it right. How does it stand by itself? Dictionary entries like these are a bit beyond me at the moment:

【１】三語とも、漢字表記は「一言」。
【２】「ひとこと」が、口語としても文章語としても一般的に使われる。
【３】「いちげん」「いちごん」は、「ひとこと」の改まった言い方で、用法が限られる。

【１】 I don't understand at all. All I can grasp from [2] vs [3] is that いちげん is more formal and used less frequently, is that so? Are there any hard rules?
よろしくお願いします


texts: Can I use 印象 to talk about something the subject does not have personal experience with, but has an opinion about?

texts:
I'm sorry for the weird title. English is not my first language and I'm not sure how to put it...
I wanted to say something among the lines "How Americans imagine Japan to be/What is Japan like, according to Americans" - the nuance being that I'm talking about Americans who have never been to Japan. I was thinking of using 印象, but I think 印象 is more about looking at something and getting an impression of what is it like, so it might not really be the best choice of words. Is there a nice, simple way of stating it?


texts: Why is 英語教師 possible but 英語先生 not possible?

texts: Why is it ok to say both 英語教師 and 英語の教師 but not 英語先生, just 英語の先生?


texts:
The given answer to the question I'm supposed to ask in my workbook is:

  それは　たけしさんの　ぼうし　です。

But I can't figure out if my question should be:

  このぼうしは　だれの　ですか。

OR

  だれの　このぼうし　ですか。

Thank you!


texts: 「健全なる精神は健全なる身体に宿る」のなる

texts: Is the なる　in 健全なる精神は健全なる身体に宿る just the normal 成る? I don't think I understand how 健全なる精神 means "a healthy spirit"- I would think to say 健全の精神, I think. Can someone explain how saying 「健全なる精神...」 came to be?


texts:
I was looking up the definition for [舐]{な}める and "underestimate" was one of them. However, "underestimate" can be both stative or dynamic, so I looked up the Japanese definition and got this:

  人を馬鹿にして無礼な態度をとる。あなどる。

While とる is certainly a dynamic verb, I am not quite certain if [侮]{あなど}る is one as well. Looking up the Japanese definition for 侮る leads me to an endless cycle of the following words.

見くびる
[軽蔑]{けいべつ}する
[見]{み}[下]{くだ}す
[見]{み}[下]{お}ろす
見なす
甘く見る
ばかにする

While the Japanese definitions of 軽蔑する and 見なす make them seem dynamic, example sentences make them seem stative.

  私達は、その計画を価値あるものと見なす。

  We think of the plan as of value.

  (on jisho.org)

and

  彼は社会的地位の低い人を軽蔑する。

  He despises people of a lower social class.

  (on jisho.org)

This is further complicated by how I am not sure of what 馬鹿にする means anymore. At first I thought it merely meant "to make fun of someone" but on further inspection, にする can mean "to feel A about B" and makes expressions such as 大切にする stative. For example:

  一郎は利益よりも友情を大切にする

jisho.org has got this translation:

  Ichiro puts friendship above profit.

Now I wonder if 馬鹿にする can mean to merely regard someone as stupid and not that you actively go to make fun of them.


texts: What's the difference between 威厳 and 尊厳?

texts:
What's the difference between 威{い}厳{げん} and 尊{そん}厳{げん} to mean "dignity"?

From what I can tell, the two seem to be similar, but slightly different. In what ways do the nuances and usages of the two differ?


texts: When Japanese say KY on the Internet, what does it mean exactly?

texts: This comment can be seen very often on Japanese message boards.


texts:
I'm not sure how to parse and translate まってないでつっこまないか. This is from the manga which I enclose a snippet here for context.

I think 待つ　and　突っ込む are involved here but I don't know what's the actual meaning (and the grammatical construction) of this. My best guess is something like "Don't stand still. Charge the ball!". Is this close?


texts: What's is the difference between these two forms?

texts:
So for what I knew the "potential form" of the verbs are for example:

話せる for 話す, a godan verb.

見られる for 見る, an ichidan verb.

But then I find this form for the ichidan verbs that seems to mean the same as the potential form:

見れる、食べれる... etc.

So I'm puzzled, what is the difference between these two?


texts: Is it true that only girls use うち to refer to themselves?

texts:
Is it true that only girls will use うち to refer to themselves?

So  when a guy say うち he is referring to his in-group / company / family, and not referring to himself, right?


texts: How would I respectfully disagree with a peer?

texts: This is probably related to How would I respectfully disagree with a superior? however the context is a tech forum where the thread starter is asking for someone technically advanced to help, and the culture is more concerned about solving problems than politeness. Is a plain ~違います appropriate in this context?


texts:
I am writing a short letter in Japanese. I will doubtless make many mistakes. What is a nice way to acknowledge this to the recipient?

I apologise for using the forum incorrectly. With the help of these answers and other sources as indicated in the comments, I drafted an apology for bad Japanese as follows:

  三年【さんねん】以上【いじょう】前【まえ】に日本語【にほんご】を勉強【べんきょう】する事【こと】が始【はじ】まる。学習【がくしゅう】時間【じかん】は手短【てみじ】かったら、日本語【にほんご】の表現【ひょうげん】は間違【まちが】っているかも知【し】れません。私【わたし】の日本語【にほんご】が変【へん】だったらすみません。

"I have been studying Japanese for a little over three years. As this is short time to be learning, my Japanese is not without errors in expression. If my Japanese is strange, I apologise."


texts:
This sentence comes from my JLPT practise book:

  宗教{しゅうきょう}とは何{なん}か、迷信{めいしん}とは何{なん}かを正確{せいかく}に定義{ていぎ}するのは困難{こんなん}だ。

I think it's basically saying:

  Things like religions and supersitions are hard to define accurately.

However, I get a sense that there is a comparison being made. Is the sentence simply saying that religions and superstitions are both hard to define, or that it is hard to define religions and superstitions as different from each other?


texts:
カピバラのオスの鼻には「モリージョ」という突起物があるのが特徴で、獣医師に診せたところ、バァラはオスだと確認されたということです。
  The male capybara has a feature known as a モリージョ on its nose, and it was confirmed that it was a male during examination by a vet

I'm not at all sure about the 診せたところ part. I can only find the verb 診る in dictionaries. I'm assuming it's a fancy way of writing 見せる. So 獣医師に診せた would be "shown to a vet"?

I'm also confused by how ところ works here. I understand that a verb in past tense + ところ means that the verb has just been completed, but the whole thing is a noun phrase and I don't understand how it fits into the grammar here.

Maybe I'm overthinking it. Can I add に onto the end and get:

  獣医師に診せたところに...
  At the point in time that it was shown to a vet ...


texts:
俺だけ入れる隠しダンジョン。
The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter.

The above sentence is a title from winter 2021 anime. Is the sentence grammatically correct? Why does not it written as:

俺だけが隠しダンジョンを入れる。

or

俺だけは隠しダンジョンを入れる。

These sentences I suggested is according to rules of the particle だけ . It's confusing me.


texts: According to jisho.org, グローブ seems to have a "sports" nuance to it, wherease 手袋{てぶくろ} seems to be more general. Is this accurate?


texts:
What does っつー at the end of sentence mean, I get that its a form of と言う/っていう, but still don't quite understand use of it. And it isn't quotation.
some of the sentence I came across using them

私が知るわけないっつーの

自分でがんばれっつーの


texts: What is a respectful way to say "homosexual (man)"?

texts:
Last night, I wanted to tell a Japanese person that a famous singer was homosexual. And, I wanted to say it in a respectful way. The only words I knew were オカマ and ホモ. Both make me cringe. It sounds like derogatory / harsh slang???

Now, she didn't think オカマ sounded bad, but... she is from Shikoku, Japan's analog to Alabama? In Tokyo, オカマ is not acceptable, right?

Anyway, in a daily conversation with educated adults, what is a way to say "homosexual" that is no different in connotation than saying someone is "tall", "smart", "creative", etc?

btw: We were talking about Queen's performance for LIVE AID 30 years ago this week in Wembley Stadium. Every critic agrees that was the best live performance, ever. It's on youtube to see.


texts:
I was trying to translate this sentence:

  僕はアルバイトしてはレコードばかり買っていたから、一日半働けばLP一枚買えるな、と思って働いていた。

I think I get the overall meaning as: Because I spent all my wages on records I went to work thinking "If I work a day and a half I can buy an LP."

But I'm confused by the アルバイトしては

What's going on with the grammar here?


texts:
https://twitter.com/MRko_aki___/status/1395581370328489985
A Japanese artist recently tweeted

うん、頑張ります

What is the stylistic reason for combining the casual うん with the polite 頑張ります rather than はい?


texts:
I'm playing a video game (Final Fantasy VI), in which a character is reading her lines and stage directions for a play.  The stage directions contain the following sentence:

  この芝居を間奏の間にこなしてちょ。

I don't understand こなしてちょ.   I think it's the verb こなす inflected to こなし plus て, and then ちょ added to that, but I don't know what ちょ is.  I think this is some sort of command form.

My question: what is ちょ?

Here are my guesses:

こなしてちょ　←　こなしててよ　←　こなしていてよ
こなしてちょ　←　こなしてちょうだい

I think the first is plausible because it's similar to ちゃ ← ては, and I think the second is plausible because it's similar to the な command form shortened from なさい.  However, I can't tell if either of my guesses is correct.  (I have a feeling I'm likely to be wrong...)

Sometimes 大辞林 lists colloquial contractions, so I decided to look it up.  There is one entry for ちょ, but it doesn't seem like the right answer.  It says it attaches to nouns and the roots of adjectives, and this doesn't seem like either of those.  (But maybe て can be considered a noun...?)


texts: I couldn't understand this structure 住んでいた時

texts:
私はローマに住んでいた時に子供でした。

I didn't understand "住んでいた時". I would like a explanation about this structure and a translation.


texts: What is the meaning of「もう」in this sentence?

texts:
もう一軒{いっけん}と参{まい}りましょう

I understand 「もう」to mainly mean "already" or "soon" but its usage in this sentence confuses me. Could anyone explain to me why it's natural here?


texts:
「わかりあえない」
I can guess that it is: Don't find understanding. But I'm not sure in it due あえない
I tried to find the answer and I met the verb 会える. But I could not find the word in the dictionary. I guess it's almost the same as that 会う
Thanks for your help!


texts: Grammatically correct expression similar to the {～って感じ} slang

texts:
Is there a grammatically correct expression similar to the {～って感じ} slang?

For example, I heard something like the following conversation in an anime:

  A: テストはどう?
  B: どうって? 「もう死にてぇ」って感じだぜ。
  A: アハハ。何だそれ?

What grammatically correct expression should B-san replace the {～って感じ} part with, while retaining similar nuance, emphasis and emotion?


texts:
Heard this in an anime recently, and I was unsure why the particle was used. Context: a guy has invited his girlfriend over to study, and the girlfriend finds a dirty magazine. The following exchange takes place:

  男 : 香奈さん? 今日はテスト勉強しにいらしたのでしょう?

  女 : 何が勉強だし! どうせ千秋はこういうことばかり考えてたんでしょ!

  男 : そんなこともないけど…

Why did he say も here instead of saying そんなことないけど or something similar? I can't quite figure out in what sense the particle is being used. It doesn't seem to me a case of it being used in the sense of "even," or trying to show how big of a thing something is. It also doesn't immediately make sense to me for it to be in the sense of "also"; in that case it would mean "that's not the case" (in addition to other things not being the case), but the only way I can make that make sense is if I assume what he means is "I didn't invite you over for that, but I may not have invited you over to study either." I think I'm just missing some possible sense of the particle--could someone enlighten me?


texts: What kind of inflection is occuring in passive vb + かかった?

texts:
I was using Jisho.org to help me figure out the tense of the following passive verb

  殺されかかったんだ

when it decides to combine 殺され (passive form) with かかった thereby forming "殺されかかった" as a 'recognized' whole verb (recognized meaning its fully underlined in the link thingy).

I still don't know what the two かか's mean, although my bad gut intuition is saying that the first か is a question particle, thereby making it a passive question parsed by かったんだ....
I really am confused as to what it means and how to parse the segments correctly.

  Original sentence: ……そうだ, 殺されかかったんだ


texts: A book about architecture I'm trying to read (it's a bit of a slog what with the technical jargon and such) contained this description of a temple building: 二重、初重５X4間、裳階　（もこし）　つき、上重４X3間. So it's two stories, the first being five rooms by four, with lean-to rooms attached, etc. I have a few questions about this. First, how is the "X" in 5X4 read? Additionally, I'm assuming that 初重 and 上重 are read しょじゅう　and じょうじゅう, respectively. Is this correct?


texts:
The following two sentences are from 日本語文法ハンドブック, page 116:

  移動を表す表現にはいくつかありますが、「行く」と「来る」は補助動詞としての用法を持つ点で文法的に重要です。補助動詞としての「〜ていく」と「〜てくる」（この場合は普通ひらがなで書きます）には、話し手など文中の特定の人物の視点を基準にした空間的な移動の方向性を示す用法と、特定
  の時点からの出来事の時間的推移や展開のとらえ方を表す用法があります。

My question is about など.  From context, it seems like the phrase 話し手など is modifying the following phrase, 文中の特定の人物の視点.

I'm a little confused, though. A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (p.268) states that "[a] particle normally follows nado", so when I read this sentence, I was expecting some kind of particle after など to indicate the role played by 話し手など.  Instead, など was followed by a noun phrase!  As a result, I don't know what role 話し手など plays in the sentence.

How can I understand など followed by a noun phrase?

My guesses:

N1などN2 = "N2 such as N1"
There is some sort of particle deleted after など


texts: Both on'yomi and kun'yomi in a first name?

texts:
I know that some Japanese words made of two kanjis can contain both on'yomi and kun'yomi, however, is that was also true for someone's first name?

For example, I have seen the name 雪花 or 雪華 read as 「Setsuka」, with both kanjis being on'yomi. However, would it be possible to read 雪花 or 雪華 as 「Yukika」 with 雪 being kun'yomi and 花 being on'yomi to mean "Snow flower"?


texts: For verbs with irregular humble/honorific forms, are the regular forms still used?

texts:
There are verbs with irregular humble forms, e.g. the humble form of 借りる is 拝借する.
For these verbs, are the "normal humble conjugations" still used, or considered grammatical?
Would お借りする be acceptable?

Similarly, there are verbs with irregular honorific forms, e.g. the honorific form of 食べる is 召し上がる.
For these verbs, are the "normal honorific conjugations" still used, or considered grammatical?
Would お食べになる and お食べです be acceptable?


texts: Concretely, on what scenarios should I say either お世話になっています or  いつもお世話になっております?

texts: Furthermore, what is its different in meaning between the both? When I was in training as a fresh graduate at a Japanese company, they told me to use いつもお世話になっております all the time and so I did. But after being a assigned to a department they told me to stop doing so because it sounded too weird within the team. Does it also has something to do with status?


texts:
ウソついたら、オオヤマフグリのトゲ、百万本の～ましゅ！

I know it's pinky swear - "If you lie, you'll swallow million thorns!"

But what is オオヤマフグリ?

Is it an imaginary thing, maybe 大山陰嚢, something like "high mountain pinecone"?

Edit: It's from video game "Xenogears". A dialogue with a little girl in the item shop.

ほんとの、ほんとね？
そいじゃ、ゆびきり！
ウソついたら、
オオヤマフグリのトゲ、
百万本の～ましゅ！
これで、オッケー！
ふたりの燃えるハートは、
かちゃいきずなで結ばれたのよ！


texts: What's the difference between 謹賀新年, 明けましておめでとうございます, and 新年おめでとうございます, as New Year's greetings?

texts: Aside from translation differences, I was never sure of what distinguishes them from each other. Anyone else know?


texts:
I tried looking up in dictionaries but ～ないことには is not listed, neither in the entry for こと nor in the entry about ない.

Exemples:

  一度会って見ないことには、彼にこの仕事を任せられるかどうかわからない。
  一度会って見なければ、彼にこの仕事を任せられるかどうかわからない。

Is there any difference in usage, formality or nuances?


texts: Does 今度 mean "this time" or "next time"?

texts:
My dictionary gives many meanings for 今度, they include "this time" as well as "next time". How can it mean both? Since it is 今 in it, shouldn't it only mean "this time"?
Also, I am confused between 今回 and 今度. The dictionary says that both translate to this time. What is the difference between them? I really can't get my head around this.
Finally, is this correct:

last time: 先度、先回 - dictionary gives different meaning for both

this time: 今度、今回 - dictionary gives similar meaning for both

next time: 来度、来回 - don't exist in dictionary? I wonder why


texts:
私は子供に、自分のことは自分でさせることにしている。
10時に駅で待ち合わせるということにしませんか。

So in both the two sentences above, the causative form is used. Is this because the person speaking is talking to an inferior and giving orders? What would be accurate translations?

2週目に3日ぐらい出張することになるだろうと思います。

In this one, I don’t really understand why they use ことになる instead of ことになった. Wasn’t the decision that the person would be going on a business trip already decided in the past?
Thank you very much for your kind input.


texts: What function did あり perform in classical Japanese 形容詞?

texts:
In classical Japanese, many uses of 形容詞{けいようし} had あり "embedded" in them, e.g.:

熱からず = 「熱し」の連用形＋「あり」の未然形{みぜんけい}＋「ず」
熱かりたり = 「熱し」の連用形＋「あり」の連用形{れんようけい}＋「たり」
熱かれ = 「熱し」の連用形＋「あり」の命令形{めいれいけい}
熱かる人 = 「熱し」の連用形＋「あり」の連体形{れんたいけい}

while others did not:

熱くす = 「熱し」の連用形＋「す」
熱し = 「熱し」の終止形{しゅうしけい}
熱き人 = 「熱し」の連体形{れんたいけい}

It seems that there is a plain form and an あり form for most of the conjugations:

       plain    あり
未然形  -ku      -kara
連用形  -ku      -kari
終止形  -si      missing
連体形  -ki      -karu
已然形  -kere    -kare
命令形  missing  -kare

My question is why certain usages of 形容詞 used the あり version and others didn't. Did the あり have some sort of semantic meaning?

(The original motivation for this was the question of why the past tense of 形容詞 is かった rather than くた or った or いた, while the て-form is くて.)

(P.S., the majority of my experience with classical Japanese is reading about its grammar, not actually reading old poems or stories. I suspect if I had more actual experience I'd be able to understand why あり is required in these places.)


texts: Quick question: How do I write "Discord" (the app) in katakana?


texts: Why is there an unmatched parenthesis in this title?

texts:
This Asahi Shinbun article has an unmatched right parenthesis in its title:
岩手）震災の教訓を考える　「人間復興大学」１０日開学

Surely, Japanese syntactic rules disallow unmatched parenthesis, right?
Asahi Shinbun just made a mistake (in a title no less), correct?


texts: Double negative in sentence "一人くらいは来てくれるんじゃないかな..."

texts:
I was wondering about the translation of this sentence:
(一人くらいは来てくれるんじゃないかな...)
What I see is a double negative and a question.
Does someone know if the double negative and question are used to save face, in a sense, from the speaker, or am I missing something really obvious...

来てくれるん - first negative.
じゃない - second negative.


texts: Is に okay in 「田中さんはビデオゲームに遊んでいます」?

texts:
I have a question with the follow sentence:

  田中さんはビデオゲームに遊んでいます

Is the particle に okay?


texts: What does それに伴い at the start of a sentence mean?

texts:
I have a sentence that starts with それに伴い which I'm trying to translate. I'm assuming that it's a more polite version of それに伴って. My best guess for the meaning would be "With regard to (a previous subject)" or "In relation to (a previous subject)".

Could anyone give the best way to say this in English with some example sentences.


texts: is 対する an adverb in[ 彼女は質問に対する肯定とも否定ともとれる返事が上手い。]?

texts:
Is 対する an adverb in the sentence below?

If it's not an adverb, which noun of the sentence is it attached to, 肯定 or 否定 or 返事??

Japanese: [彼女は質問に対する肯定とも否定ともとれる返事が上手い。]

English: [She's really good at answering questions in a way where you can't tell if she's agreeing or
disagreeing.]


texts: Is the "ga" in 「○○○が食べたい」 standard japanese?

texts:
The Langfocus youtube channel came out with a new video on Japanese. In it he explains that the が can be used to express focus. I have never heard (probably not paid attention) or learnt this. So, my question is: is this standard Japanese, or rather colloquial use?

ドーナッツが食べたい instead of ドーナッツを食べたい
to express focus on "donut"


texts:
彼女は食【しょく】が細い【ほそい】。
  She eats very little.

Does 細い have that meaning in that context?


texts: How would one translate or understand the word 死鬼 in English?

texts:
I'm reading a fictional book which deals with Japanese mythical/fantasy themes. One chapter describes dead people being resurrected through a complex operation in which their bodies were reworked and the procedure was referred to as "死鬼手技" by the man who conducted it.

Could someone help me understand the "死鬼" part? The only thing I can find is a Chinese definition meaning "devil" and my guess was "dead demons" but what would "dead demons" have to do with it?


texts: What is going on with 書けている? What is Potential Form+ている?

texts:
I'm having difficulty in understanding 書けている (initially observed from an answer to "パソコンが　得意だ/わかる/上手だ"). Also observed from SPACEALC:

この小説は上手に書けている。

最もよく書けている記事。

いくつかのスペルミスを除けば、その小論文はよく書けている。

I thought that the sentence would have been  この小説は上手に{書いている・書いてある}。instead.
(Q1) What is the difference between 書いている and 書けている? And what does 書けている mean?
(Q2) What is the grammatical composition of 書けている? Is it potential form+ている?
(Q3) Is this pattern of potential form+ている productive? I.e. can it be arbitrarily extended to other verbs with a similar result?


texts:
I have two questions that I think are quite related regarding the interpretation of comparatives.
1. Is it necessary to include a より or a 方 expression to convey a comparative?
Suppose you are having a conversation about how the book you just read was too long. You are then asked what you want to do later. You respond:

昨日読んだ本より短いのが買いたい。
I want to buy a shorter book than the one I read yesterday.  (Please bear in mind that I constructed the Japanese sentence above, so it could be wrong in any number of ways. I'd appreciate a correction if required.)

My question is, if you responded with simply:

短い本が買いたい。

would it be interpreted as implying "shorter" (where "shorter" is drawing a comparison to the book previously mentioned in context), or "short" (where "short" is not explicitly compared to anything), or perhaps it is unclear?
Furthermore, is there an alternate way to express the comparison without explicitly stating 「昨日読んだ本」?
2. Do なる expressions imply comparison or must it be explicitly stated?
I'd like to compare the following English sentences:

The road became wide.

The road became wider.

Sentence 1 states that something changed and now the road is wide (as opposed to narrow). Sentence 2 states that something changed and now the road is wider than it used to be. It does not actually state that the road is wide.
As far as I know, both of these sentences would be translated to:

道が広くなった

Is my translation correct for both cases and if so, how could it be altered to differentiate between the two English meanings?


texts: Does the 擬態語 word もやもや have a slang meaning of "horny?"

texts:
In an informal conversation with a new friend, I was discussing 擬態語. She offered the word もやもや as an example, meaning "to be horny (i.e.., desiring sex)." After clarifying the meaning, I left it at that. When I looked it up I see this definition:

  もやもや
  moyamoya
   · モヤモヤ

  adverb / noun or participle with aux. verb する → conjugation:
  hazy;  murky;  misty;  foggy;  fuzzy;  —Onomatopoeia.

  「あっぱれ！」天使はそういうと、稲妻が走るもやもやの煙の中へ消えていった。 "Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning.

  adverb / noun / noun or participle with aux. verb する → conjugation:
  gloomy;  feeling depressed;  feeling sad;  —Onomatopoeia.

In any case, it is apparent that Tangorin.com is making a mistake in calling this word onomatopoeia, as it is a mimetic word instead (apparently a Phenomime.)

Is it also a psychomime expressing the state of horniness or did I hear wrong? If I heard wrong does such a psychomime exist?

I would ask this friend directly, but I have a girlfriend and am wary of initating what could be a flirtatious conversation.

*Edit: Kotobank has this definition so I think I heard right:

  色情がむらむらと起こるさま。「数々の通はせ文、清十郎も―となりて」〈浮・五人女・一〉

Is this expression common and easily understandable? Is the meaning different than むらむら?


texts: Why is "さん" used as a suffix for these people's CVs / profiles?

texts:
Please look at the profile for any of these interpreters:
http://www.hicareer.jp/inter/
In the プロフィール section, underneath the photos, their names are written, and "さん" is added to the end of each name.

I don't get it. Isn't there a feeling that www.hicareer.jp and each interpreter have a connection? HiCareer is representing them; HiCareer is offering up their services (clearly the interpreters have consented to his arrangement).

Would using no suffix, or 氏, also have been ok (instead of さん)? How might it change the nuance?
More generally, does writing さん and saying さん have a different feeling / meaning? Saying さん makes it feel more personal?


texts: What is the nuance of someone pointing at you with the pronoun あの人?

texts:
Consider the situation in which you are speaking closely around the same table with two other people or more. Someone talking to another person there and referring to you in the conversation with the pronoun あの人 rather than your name plus さん (or other titles) or 彼 or 彼女.

What is the nuance of using the pronoun あの人 here?


texts: Use of で when describing survey results (or answers)

texts:
Could someone please explain the use of で (in bold) below? The line is taken from the article:
 男の子の将来の夢は「学者」　女の子は「食べ物屋さん」 and describes the results of a survey.

  女の子で１番多かったのは、２１年続けて「食べ物屋さん」で、１１．３％でした。２番目は「看護師さん」で９．５％、３番目は「保育園や幼稚園の先生」で６．９％でした。

I'm confident about what is meant (since context makes it so clear) but if I were to have constructed it myself, I never would have used で. I'd have probably done something like:
「食べ物屋さん」と答えた子が１１．３％でした
which could easily be unintelligible gibberish and would appreciate a correction is needed.

Also, I'm having a hard time finding exactly what a 食べ物屋さん is. Is this a person who prepares food at a restaurant, is it a waitress, is it just a generic term for anyone who works at a restaurant, or is it something else entirely?


texts: What is しきれてない in 理解しきれてない?

texts:
I got the following sentence from manga 五等分の花嫁 (chapter 43 I believe), 俺はまだニ乃を理解しきれてないのかもしれない.

理解 is to understand and I'm thinking it's used with する here. It's verb stem is followed by きれてない. The closest thing I can think of is that 切れる is being used here but I'm not quite sure how that would make sense.

I think the sentence translates to something like. "I may still not understand Nino yet," but I could be wrong since I don't know what helper verb(?) this is.

Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks


texts:
A news article is describing the phenomenon of lucky-dip bags in Tokyo libraries:

  どんな本が入っているかはわからないようになっています。いつもは読まない種類の本や読んだことがない作家を知ってもらおうと考えて、去年から始めました。
  It's reached the point where you don't know what kind of books will be in them. It's expected that you will come to know authors you've never read and book types that you don't normally read, and it started last year.

The usual translation of "reached the point that" for ようになる does not seem to work here. Why would we ever have known what was in a lucky-dip bag? So, what is the function of ようになる in this sentence.

Also, is "expect" a valid translation of 考える in this context? I struggled with that part.


texts: に particle and its conflicting functions

texts:
Ok, so I'm still trying to get used to the に particle and how it has many functions that make it easy for it to appear many times in a sentence and thus get confusing...

But I am specifically looking at its function in these two sentences:
１・お土産にチョコレートをもらった。
２・先生に友達を紹介した。

Doesn't that get confusing?

Like, if the first example can be interpreted as "I received chocolate　as an omiyage"  doesn't that mean the second example can be interpreted as "I introduced my friend as a teacher (As in you said "This is my friend who is a teacher")"

How do you reconcile this? If I wanted to say that I introduced my friend AS a teacher how do you do this?


texts:
In the sentence,

これまでの借金を全て帳消しに出来る…！！

What is に doing here ?


texts: How to express "and/also" in this context?

texts:
Of the various ways to express the word "and" in Japanese, I don't understand how you would express the following.

For example, how would you translate the sentence, "I play music, and/but I also write music." From my understanding, you wouldn't use a て-form construction here because the two are not happening in sequence necessarily, and you can't use も because the nouns are the same, correct? As another example, perhaps in response to the question "What are you hobbies?", one might respond with "I play music, and I also climb mountains."

Also, would the grammatical structure change if instead of "I play music, and I also write music," you said "I play music. Oh, but I also write music!" sort of as an added-on part?


texts: How does 外国人にも出てもらおうと考えて work here

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

The sentence in question:

  文京区は、新しい成人をお祝いする成人式に外国人にも出てもらおうと考えて、やさしい日本語と英語で書いた手紙を送りました。

My attempt at translation:

  "Concerning the Bunkyo Civic center, considering to get the foreigners to come to come-of-age ceremony, where one gives gifts to the new adults, one sent letters which one has written in friendly english and japanese."

First, I hope I translated the intentional form もらおう here correctly. Im also not sure wether I interpreted the second meaning for もらう correctly here http://jisho.org/search/morau.

My main issue here is 成人式に外国人に. I think 成人式に expresses a direction here in relation to the verb 出る for which I used the meaning "to come to". 外国人に is a bit harder for me, since
A) I'm not sure what particle もらう demands when it has the meaning "to get someone to do something".
B) I am always a bit confused when a complex block of verbal expressions basically acts on two nouns. Syntactically, I think 外国人 must be the object of the predicative 出てもらおうと考えて, and  would probably be categorized as an adverbial with local information. But I'm not sure, since I think that the verb 出る in the meaning "to come to" definitely requires an object, which would be 成人式. If thats true then the verbal expression 成人式に出る would be nested into the verbal expression 外国人にもらおうと考えて which itself required a verb (here 出る) to have the meaning "to get someone to do something". All these relations really make me skeptic of my interpretation, since I dont really know how to understand whats going on and therefore I cant be sure that I got it right ^^


texts: 形容詞 that end in ～しい but were not シク活用 in 古文

texts:
I know that in general, if a 形容詞 in modern Japanese ends in ～しい, then it was originally a シク活用形容詞, with 終止形 ～し and 連體形 ～しき.  I also know that in the Late Middle Japanese period, シク adjectives developed a 終止形 of ～しし, which then merged with ～しき and evolved into modern ～しい.  But I'm wondering whether there were any ク活用形容詞 that currently end in ～しい; i.e., with classical 終止形 ～し (preceded directly by another し in the adjective root) and 連體形 ～き (but again preceded directly by し in the adjective root).  It seems that just by random chance some of these could have occurred.

Again, I am not referring to the ～しし 終止形 that developed for シク adjectives in the Late Middle Japanese Period.

Thank you very much.


texts: Understanding てきている and the difference between てきた and てきている

texts:
燎子とてASTの隊長。魔術師として、それなりに修羅場を潜ってきてはいる。
＜プリンセス＞や＜ハーミット＞など、何体もの精霊との戦いに、DEM日本支社を舞台とした乱戦、それら全てを、無傷とは言わないまでも生き残ってきた。
けれど、そんな燎子をしても、この光景は異常に過ぎたのである。
いつもの戦闘とは、あまりにも様相が、規模が違い過ぎる。街の上空全域を舞台とした大混戦。

I know the bold は is contrastive は. But I’m not sure how to understand the bold てきている.

Is it a combination of てきた (something was continuing from a past time) and ている (stands for a remaining result)?
If so, how is it different from 潜ってきた? My thinking is 潜ってきた
indicates that 燎子 has gone through that until now, but doesn’t say
anything from now on. While 潜ってきている indicates 燎子 has gone through
that until now  and will be going through that in the future. Does
it make sense?

だが、それらのコンプレックスも、少し前までの七罪と比べれば、随分と改善されてきてはいた。七罪は、あれほど嫌いで仕方なかった自分の本当の姿を、次第に受け入れられるようになってきていたのである。

I have the same question for this quote.
I have read several similar threads on this topic, but they don’t seem to answer my questions fully.


texts: What is the appropriate usage of example names?

texts:
Sometimes it is the case that fake or example names will be used in place of actual names for purposes of explaining something.

For example:

  田中さんの主張には、その点において疑問があります。

  I have a question about one of Mr. Tanaka's points.

As a name, "Tanaka" is not so important, it is just a filler in this case.

I noticed that sometimes instead of a name, letters can be used like A, B, C..

  Aさんの主張には、その点において疑問があります。

  I have a question about one of Mr. A's points.

However, is it appropriate in Japanese to use "Aさん" here especially if "Bさん" doesn't exist? When is it appropriate to use an actual name like "田中さん" or a letter "Aさん"? Or is there not any distinction made in Japanese?

EDIT: What context best suits these naming conventions? Can "A,B,C" be used in the context of literature or is it only limited to Mathematics? In the example above why might "Tanaka" be a better fit compared to "A,B,C"?


texts: つけておいてください　translation

texts:
An example is the following:

  電気がついています。けしましょうか。
  いいえ、つけておいてください。

The question is, can I translate the last part as "Please, leave them turned on", so that the whole translation is:

  The lights are on. Should I turn them off?
  No, please, leave them turned on.

How would you translate the phrase "Please leave them turned on"?

Thank you in advance!


texts: What is the direct translation of ゆっくりする in English?

texts: I don't know what the direct translation of ゆっくりする in English is. Do you know?


texts: Usage of particles in 明日、日本語のクラブがあるけど、行く？

texts:
I have this sentence:

  明日、日本語のクラブがあるけど、行く？

which has the given translation of

  There’s Japanese club tomorrow, want to go? (lit: Tomorrow, Japanese club exists but go?)

I have two questions on this sentence. Firstly, since the sentence is referring to something occurring tomorrow, why wouldn't I have the は after 明日 so it becomes this?

  明日は、日本語のクラブがあるけど、行く？

Second, what's the purpose of the けど particle? In English at least, I don't feel a need to introduce any contrasting feeling to the sentence since it's just a straight question. In short, why not this instead?

  明日、日本語のクラブがある。行く？


texts:
The talk he is referring is something he was told to not let anyone know.

  琥珀{こはく}さんは謝{あやま}れって言{い}ってたけど、あんな話{はなし}を聞{き}いたあとだとヘンに意識{いしき}してしまって、困{こま}る。

  お屋敷{やしき｝のお部屋｛へや｝もそう多｛おお｝くはありませんから、使用人｛しようにん｝用｛よう｝にと建｛た｝てられたのが離｛はな｝れのお屋敷｛やしき｝なんです。

I am having trouble with this だと in the first and with にと in the second.
Can someone explain why is と used in this situations?

1) Kohaku san told me to apologize but, after that conversation if I give it away I am in trouble.

I think と makes what's before it an adverb for [意識]{いしき}して

2) Since there are not many rooms in the mansion, for the servants has been constructed a building which is a separated mansion.

I think [用]{よう}にと means do something until it's complete.

This is just my idea though.


texts: What do comma-like marks along a word mean?

texts:
What do comma-like marks along the word 捨て思い mean on book scan below?

Update: ah, seems to be duplicate of What are these furigana (or punctuation marks)? and Do Japanese writers use underline for emphasis?
Nevermind then, thanks!


texts:
I saw this sentence in a train advertisement for a job placement agency:

いまとサヨナラしなければ、出会えないあなたがきっといる。

I don't sense a future tense at all in the independent (latter) clause because the verb is simply いる rather than a "can" form like 〜える/〜れる/〜ける。The sentence feels disjointed as the tenses don't agree.

I feel that the following sentence expresses the same thing, but with a better match between the clauses:

いまとサヨナラしなければ、もう一人のあなたと出会えない。

Translating the original sentence literally to English as:

If you don't say goodbye to the present, there is a you that you will never meet.

sounds just as wrong because of the "is". It should be "there will be a you that you never meet".

I understand きっと to mean "certainly", but does きっといる here serve as a future tense?

EDIT: Inserted missing "you" in translation from dainichi's comment. Revised title.


texts:
I just went out for lunch with a friend and when the waiter asked what we want to drink, I ordered 'お[水]{みず}下さい' whereas I noticed my friend asked for 'お[冷]{ひや}下さい'.

Which expression would be more common or is there some distinction on who, where or when to use either one?

よろしくお願いします


texts:
When reffering to the school days, people often say 小学校の時, 中学校の時. Even though this may not be wrong, they are shortened forms of relatively complex (redundant) structures. Thus, they are close to the expressions:

  私が通っていた学校が小学校だった時
  'when the school that I used to attend was an elementary school'
  私が通っていた学校が中学校だった時
  'when the school that I used to attend was a junior high school'

I think that there is a much simpler way to express the same situation, such as:

  私が小学生だった時
  'when I was an elementary school student'
  私が中学生だった時
  'when I was a junior high school student'

which would be shortened to 小学生の時, 中学生の時, and I do hear people (including myself) using the latter. But still, many people seem to be using the former. Why do people use a more complicated way of saying it?


texts: "お調べいただいた上、" vs. "お調べいただき、..."

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between:

  (1) お調べいただいた上{うえ}、注文通りの品をお送り下さいますよう、お願いします。
  (2) お調べいただき、注文通りの品を送り下さいますよう、お願いします。

I understand #2.

  (2) Upon your looking into the matter, please send me the stuff I ordered.

I can't figure-out how to voice "いただいた上、" in English in my head. I want a strict translation, not a paraphrase. Nothing is clicking for me, but this is my best try:

  (1) Please look into the matter, and then based on what (I expect) you to find, send me the stuff I ordered.

Also, I am seriously hoping that "で" was dropped off the end of "いただいた上で、".


texts:
Something I have often stumbled on is the expression of "neighborhood" in Japanese.
For most uses I find that 近所 works well.
However, this usually seems to refer to a closer proximity than one would equate to the english "neighborhood".
When one describes a neighborhood of a city, for example, Shibuya, Minowa or Ginza in Tokyo, it seems that 近所 doesn't really apply.
In the common English phrase, "What neighborhood do you live in?," I have yet to find a suitable Japanese equivalent.
I was suggested that 町 would work, though the speaker told me this was perhaps a flawed translation as 町 has more of the feeling of town.

example:

  I live in Minowa.
  Do you know that neighborhood?

  みのわに住んでいます。
  みのわって町、知ってる？

So what word do you think is best in asking someone, "What neighborhood do you live in?" Or if this question would be so rare in natural Japanese as to be unnatural, why would this be the case?


texts:
よろしくお願いします。 I am writing a scene (in English, with occasional
Japanese for flavor and difficult-to-translate terms) where a rather
androgynous woman is in a Tokyo department store, speaking with a store
clerk. She is dressed in a fairly masculine fashion, and binding her
breasts; her voice is more feminine than masculine, but not
unambiguously so.

This character will be speaking with the appropriate level of formality,
customer to store employee, and wishes to make it clear, in these
circumstances, that she is a woman. I am wondering if she can choose a
pronoun toward that end.

Looking at Wikipedia’s list, I don’t see a formal first-person pronoun
used only by women. わたし is only feminine in informal speech; あたし
is always informal. Is there no good way for her to convey her gender
with the pronoun? If there’s no really good choice, is there a least-bad
choice?


texts:
This is a passage from NHK's 歴史秘話ヒストリア about Oda Nobunaga performing Noh before the Battle of Okehazama:

  信長は師匠をつけるほど舞いに熱を入れていましたが
  なぜか「敦盛一種類しか舞わなかった」と記されています。

From the dictionary the only usage of をつける with a person seems to be:

  ３ ㋒人をそばに置く。そばにいさせて世話をさせる。「ボディーガードを―・ける」

But that doesn't translate go "Nobunaga put the efforts as he was performing in front of a master", imho.

And the phrase meaning seems more like Nobunaga was achieving the performance level of a master. But it's not に着ける.

It also doesn't seem to be a set phrase for performing arts - Google returns only the old transcript of the very TV programme.

How to interpret the phrase 師匠をつけるほど here?


texts: How would I explain to a Japanese that I like to hear their rolling "R"?

texts:
Ok I've been listening to this girl broadcasting her webcam and sometimes she will start talking in a sort of a "rolling R" dialect, or like a "yakuza" type of speaking with rolling R's.  Is there is specific term for this in Japanese?

I can tell it's almost like an "alpha" way of speaking.  I just don't know how to explain it in Japanese.  She knows a little bit of English, so I tried to say "I like you how you talk almost Yakuza-style" but she didn't understand what I said.

Is there is specific way to explain a "rolling R" way of speaking in Japanese?

Please don't bother explaining how Yakuza "really talk", I'm simply asking for a specific way to reference a rolling "R" in Japanese.

How would I say "I like how you roll your 'R's" in Japanese??

Thanks!


texts: How can I ask if an English phrase is based on some Japanese phrase?

texts:
Sometimes I come across an English phrase that looks a bit odd, and I wonder if it's based on some Japanese phrase unbeknownst to me. Assuming that such a question would make sense, how can I ask an average Japanese-speaker, as opposed to a linguist, about this?

For example, if I came across "a carp laid on a chopping block", or "steel and rice coalition", and there was some reason I suspected it was based on Japanese, how would I ask them about it in Japanese?


texts: Can the phrase 不条理劇 "a theatre of absurd" be used figuratively in Japanese?

texts:
Would it be valid in casual Japanese conversation to use the term 不条理劇{ふじょうりげき} or 不条理演劇{ふじょうりえんげき} to describe a situation in which for example two parties A and B are talking to each other using nonsensical arguments or acting in illogical way in response to each other?

If not what other word might be used to describe such a situation?


texts:
what is the difference between the use of ゆっくり and おそい especially talking about adverbs, for example:

ゆっくり歩いてください

遅く歩いてください

The second one sounds weird for me, but I dont understand the reason behind or when to use one or the other


texts:
I mentioned こんこん to a native speaker, and he hadn't heard it before.

Is こんこん the standard onomatopoeia for foxes? If not, what does the fox say?


texts: I've heard the ねん ending a lot in 関西弁 but I'm still struggling to find when it's used. Can you use it with all kinds and conjugations of verbs? I've heard ちゃうねん over and over, but if I try to use ねん with e.g. 食べる I can't make it sound right in my head. And what is the standard Japanese equivalent of やねん？ だよ？　If it is, then what's the difference between やで and やねん？


texts:
What does it mean when there's a で
after a verb?

Example:
食べないで


texts: Differences between 勉強する、習う、学ぶ and 学習する?

texts:
What is the difference between 勉強する, 習う, 学ぶ, and 学習する?

I've read some explanations in another questions but It's not clearly enough. Please help me to understand these. Thank you.


texts: About 「同{おな}じ」 and 「同{おな}じく」

texts:
As far as I know, 「[同じ]{おなじ}」  is not a 形容詞{けいようし} (-i adjective) so how does it become 「[同じく]{おなじく}」? Or does 「同じく」 not come from 「同じ」?

Also, are there any other non i-adjectives that have -ku counterparts (regardless of the answer for above)?


texts:
そこで、マッカーサーが自分で作って見たのが地図Aである。
https://www.docdroid.net/847v2dg/img-20170413-0001-new.pdf.html
The sentence is from Line 5 in the above linked text.

the problem lies with のが. I don't really understand why it is there. I usually would expect the sentence to be like this:
そこで、マッカーサーが自分で作って見た地図Aである
=> "Therefore, the map A is there, which McArthur tried to craft by himself."
or "Therefore the McArthur tried to craft by himself map A is there" in a more literal way.

In this very chapter, my textbook taught me that a sentence element further determining another sentence element can be marked through both が and の, like here:
留学生  が/の  描いた絵を見ました。

But nowhere has it been said that both can be used at the same time xD
So, apart from the fact that I really don't see why が or の have to be there at all, I understand even less why both of them are there...^^


texts:
I am a bit confused with the following facts.

Is the 月-like radical in 前{まえ} identical to 月?


texts:
I got confused by these forms. The book says that -くて(pos) and -なくて(neg) have to be connected with stem of an adjective, e.g. 安い: 安 ＋ くて ＝ 安くて.

The positive form is pretty easy to understand and master, but the negative one is a trouble for me. Basically, I got confused by an adjective 「汚い」. Its positive form would be 「汚くて」. But would the negative be 「汚なくて」? The reasons I got confused are that IME did not recognize the negative form, and those multiple 「な」 sound a bit odd to me.

Even google barely helped me with any of the i-adjectives in -なくて form　except for 「おいしい」that was found accidentally here.

So, I wonder if I can add -なくて to ANY of the i-adjectives and be good with it.

And the last question. Is it actually -なくて form, or is it -くなくて?


texts:
I swear there was a certain verb clause for the actions of someone else.

Eg how do I say "He thought it was good?"

Sorry for noobishness :3


texts: Understanding of 働かせ in the sentence below

texts:
I came across the following sentence:

4000万円までは借金を膨らませて働かせ、5000万円になると自殺するのでそれ以上の借金はさせない

How 働かせ is understood in this context? It looks like an imperative form of 働かす, but the imperative form over here doesn't make any sense here.


texts: Why でも is used rather than も in this sentence?

texts:
もし時間がないなら、明日でもいいよ。

Why is the particle で used? With time expressions the で particle expresses time limit. So it's weird to see the で with 明日. 明日もいいよ seems better(?). でも here can be the "even though/even/but" meaning. But も sounds better(?).


texts:
I've recently started learning the passive form of verbs and noticed a few different usages of particles that have been giving me a lot of trouble and I wanted to clarify/confirm.

From what I've gathered from my book and this site, when を is used with the passive form of a verb it implies that a person (subject　marked with は) was affected in some way by the individual acting out the verb (marked with に）。

僕は妹に日記を読まれました。
→ My sister read my diary and it has bothered me.
僕は妹に部屋を掃除された。
→ My little sister cleaned my room.

From my understanding because 日記 and 部屋 are marked with を it adds the implication that the subject/topic of the sentence (僕) is the owner of the 日記 and 部屋 since he was affected by his little sister acting out the verb. Is this correct?

However, I have seen examples where the subject (marked with が) seems to be the object/undergoes the change carried out by the verb instead of being marked with を. (Both the subject and the direct object can undergo the change?)

日記が妹に読まれました。
→ The diary was read by my little sister.
部屋が妹に掃除された。
→ The room has been cleaned by my little sister.

In example 3 and 4, from my understanding these examples imply that the diary was read by the sister and the room was cleaned by the sister (diary and room undergoing the change), However since these are NOT tagged with 僕は(or some other individual) it is not implied that these do not belong to someone else. I.E. The diary being read and the room being cleaned do NOT affect an unnamed individual. And because of this from my understanding sentence 3.) and 4.) would be essentially the same in meaning as 5.) and 6.), basically this is just another way of saying the same thing?

妹は日記を読みました。
→ My little sister read the diary.
妹は部屋を掃除した。
→ My little sister cleaned the room.

Is this correct?

Finally there's no way that を in examples 1 and 2 can be replaced with が to make an equivalent sentence is there?

僕は妹に日記が読まれました。
→ My sister read my diary and it has bothered me.
僕は妹に部屋が掃除された。
→ My little sister cleaned my room.

Do sentences 7 and 8 make any sense or are they unnatural and grammatically incorrect? Can が and を be used interchangeably at all in these types of sentences?


texts:
ですから、一回限りの人生、かけがえのない自己を大切にしようではありませんか。
So, shall we value this irreplaceable self in this life that we have but once? (example sentence from A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar)

How did the translator make the bolded connection (に、には)? Can 読点 work here to list [predicate]人生 and [predicate]自己? That is, "shall we value this one life that we have but once and ourselves, who are irreplaceable?
What is the grammar behind this? Assuming this structure can't mean "and", how would you best rephrase it so that it does?


texts: Translating 世界中 in this context, does it literally refer to the "entire world"?

texts:
In the video game Recettear, you can buy a book with the title 仲良し姉妹の冒険記. The item description says the following:

  世界中を旅しているという姉妹に密着した, ノンフィクション作品。ドラゴンに食べられそうになったりと，結構大変な事になってます。

The book's translated title is "The Tale of the Two Sisters." The "translated" description reads as follows:

  A nonfiction work about two sisters and their travels. Shouldn't this have been released sooner?...

I believe the book is a reference to the "prequel" Chantelise, which I assume is about the two sisters of the book.

In that game, the sisters have been cursed for 5 years and are looking for the witch that cast the curse, embarking on a journey and travelling around the world.

Here's a world map from the prequel Chantelise:

As you can see, this isn't literally the "entire world", but only one region of the world.

Is there any way to translate this description of a book while preserving the meaning of the original sentence that they haven't traveled everywhere?

Like in the medieval ages, people in Europe knew about Asia and Africa, but if you've traveled the whole of Europe, you could say that you've traveled the world. Does the same apply to 世界(中)?

The game's universe too is sort of on a medieval/Renaissance level. They have got typewriters, printed books, phonograph etc.

I'm trying to keep them from walking all around the world, twice over. Or is it possible, based upon the Japanese description of the book, that the two sisters might not have traveled the world before the events of the book?

Or do I have the translation wrong and the writer of the book has traveled the world and wrote down the story of these sisters?


texts: I am having some trouble understanding the beginning of a story

texts:
i would like some help fixing my translation of a few sentences, if possible.

落語は今から三百年以上前の江戸時代に始まりました。

Our story begins over 300 years in the edo period.

この時代にたくさんの人の前で面白い話をして、お金をもらう人がいました。

In this time, in front of many people, talked about interesting thing's and people who received money existed. ( i assume this somehow means that, in the edo time period there were people who received money for telling interesting stories in front of many people.)

この面白い話を落語と言い、落語をする人を落語家と言います。
i have no idea how to translate this, it seems to say this interesting talk was about comic monologue said someone?, then it goes on about the comic monologue person says some nonsense.

落語家は一人で色々な声や身ぶりを使って、面白い話をします。
by himself various voices, gestures, etc and interesting talk.

basically the entire thing seems like gibberish to me save for the first line. oddly the story makes more sense after these first few lines.


texts: Is this phrase one sentence, or two? How can you tell?

texts:
So I'm translating this song (full lyrics here)
and this song has a lot of phrases like this:

  哲学哲学哲学ニート
  揺れる幻に酔いしれて

  Philosophy, philosophy, philosophy NEET
  (I'm) intoxicated in the swaying illusion

I'm not sure, however, if the first and second sentences are supposed to be connected with an inferred particle, i.e. "Philosophy, philosophy NEETs are intoxicated in a swaying illusion."

This patterns repeats, and most times it seems unclear, although at the end there is this phrase:

  ああ哲学哲学哲学ニート
  僕は迷い込んだ幻想ゆめの中

Here, it seems more like the first line is separate from the first, but I don't know if that's a sign that ALL of the lines should be like that, or if it's just this one - or perhaps this could be connected also, with both the NEETs and "I" being the subject.

So my question is this: Are these lines connected, gramatically? How can you tell if they are or not?

Thank you!


texts: How do you use ”～じゃんよ。” and what exactly does it mean?

texts:
At the end of sentences in casual form I know you can use ～じゃない or ～じゃん to say "~isn't it?" similar to ～ね. And I know ～よ at the end of a sentence can be used like "I tell you" or for emphasis, but what happens when you use ～じゃんよ at the end of a sentence, like in the titles of Space Dandy episodes (the examples below)? The official English episode titles all end with ", baby" so I feel like it's a speech pattern of someone who considers themself kinda cool. E.g.

流れ流されて生きるじゃんよ
Live with the Flow, Baby
幻の宇宙ラーメンを探すじゃんよ
The Search for the Phantom Space Ramen, Baby
騙し騙される事もあるじゃんよ
Occasionally Even the Deceiver Is Deceived, Baby


texts:
I know what へろへろ means "spineless" or "limp", but what is へろへろぷ?

Context - これならソラリスの連中だって、
一擊で、へろへろぷ～、ですよ！


texts: What's the difference between 向こう and 向こう側?

texts:
My textbook (An Introduction to Modern Japanese) introduced 向こう as meaning "the other side of" and 側{がわ} as meaning "side". On page 76 it states that

  側 can be added to some, but not all, of these [location-specifying] nouns to indicate even more detail

then proceeds to give 左側, 右側 and 向こう側 as examples. The first two make sense, but I don't see how adding 側 to 向こう provides any extra detail whatsoever: we already have the notion of "side" from 向こう, after all.

When would you use 向こう側 instead of 向こう and vice versa? I've studied the examples available on WWWJDIC, but I can't find any clear pattern.


texts: I am having trouble understanding the usage of に in this particular context. I've attached a picture of the sentence「定めに抗い、変革を望む者…」. Here's another sentence where I think に is acting in the same way with 「今こそ、この世の歪みの深淵に立ち向かうがいい」. If anyone can explain it or has a guide to に usages that can be helpful, I thank you in advance.


texts: What is the difference between using てしまう, 切る, and 上げる to say to finish doing?

texts:
I already knew てしまう and 切る and the difference between their uses, although I still wouldn't say I have a strong understanding of their nuances.
After going through some N3 grammar, I found that using 上げる after the masu stem can mean to finish doing.
But there surely must be a different nuance to this right?
So how would these sentences differ for example:
宿題をしてしまった (I'm right in thinking this one is unnatural right?)
宿題をしきった
宿題をし上げた
And then of course 宿題が終わった
If you can give me any help, thanks very much! It's my first time using this site so よろしくお願いします！


texts: An appropriate word for "psyllium seed husk powder" that doesn't describe it as a laxative? (Plantago psyllium L)

texts:
I'm thinking about translating a recipe in Japanese and I'm kind of astonished that there isn't a wikipedia page for psyllium seed husk powder, but there's a brief one for psyllium. I'm not sure if it's even available in certain stores in Japan but I'm just curious. Upon googling, I've seen both エダウチオオバコ and サイリウム used for the plant itself. ( Example: http://www.wakasanohimitsu.jp/seibun/plantago_psyllium/ )

But how do go about on describing it as a powder? I guess know the name of the plant but the powder is from the husks of the seed...?

This is an example of how it's sold in the US:

Although it's used as a laxative "緩下剤" - that's not what I'm really using it for. Its other use is being a water binder for gluten-free recipes: http://www.thedailydietribe.com/2013/01/5-ingredient-mondays-easy-french-bread.html?m=1


texts: Any more examples of ここ as a time reference?

texts:
I recently heard the phrases
ここ最近 ("somewhat lately"/"these recent days") and
ここ二日ぐらい（"these past 2 days or so").

I had never heard ここ used in this way before, and I was wondering if anyone knew of other phrases or examples which use ここ to mark time in this way.


texts:
From the anime Noir, Episode 2.

  Context: The husband comes home and his wife and son greet him outside.
  Wife: おかえりなさい。今日は早いのね？
  Husband: ああ、思ったより早く仕事が終わってね。

The wife's line, I get. The husband's line.....(????). Is he saying that "from thinking, my job is finished."...? I really don't understand what role より is playing in the sentence. Or even what it means.


texts: What are differences between よう, みたい, だろう, らしい, そう, and っぽい?

texts:
Bit of a long one, I know. I know that they are linked in their meanings, but I don't know when to use each one. Also, there are two types of そう, such as

大雪が降りそう
and
大雪が降るそう

What are the differences?

Also, I hear that みたい is almost exactly the same as よう, but is more informal. Is this correct?

I appreciate your help!


texts:
I have a bottle of 洗顔料(facial soap), and the instructions are:

  ご使用量の目安　ポンプ１～２回 (use about 1 to 2 pumps)

If I were to read 1~2 aloud, how would I do it?


texts:
友人主婦がディズニーランドに行った際、五歳になる長男がトイレに入ったきり姿を消した。スタッフに迷子になった場所を伝えると顔色が変わり「誘拐の可能性がある」とすぐにすべての出口でチェックが行なわれた。

I'm translating a news article for my thesis. It's about a wellknown urban legend, the Attempted Abduction. I don't quite understand the use of と in the second sentence... Is it used to make a list of actions? But that would be an unusual use of the particle... Or is it used for reporting speech? But again, there is no verb like say or tell or something... Please help me :)


texts:
I've been communicating back and forth with my host family in Japan.

We recently talked about a picture that I sent involving my backyard and my host mom used the kanji 庭（にわ） which means garden or yard.

My yard actually has a garden in it though. Is she talking about the yard as a whole or the garden in it? Is this an ambiguous case? How would I ask if she meant the garden explicitly or the yard as a whole?

EDIT 0: In the US, yard typically means the region in back of a house, whereas garden typically means a region for growing food.


texts: Leaving out particles before adjectives/verbs?

texts:
I haven't really read any guides on Japanese grammar (except occasionally looking up pages of Tae Kim's when I need something explained), so I became quite confused when I saw things on Twitter like これすごい (instead of something like これはすごい). I also noticed people seem to do the same thing with verbs, like saying アニメ見た instead of アニメを見た (that's probably a bad example, but it's the first thing I could come up with).

So what is up with this? Is there some sort of pattern behind it I can follow? At first I thought it was something done in a casual setting (like a Tweet), but I feel like I've seen the same thing done in more polite Japanese.


texts: っていうことになったんですけど - meaning?

texts:
I had just received a somewhat rushed 'transliteration' of a 1 minute video. To me, Shigeru Miyamoto speaks in a way which is extremely difficult to understand. I am adding the full transcript just for context.

Pokemon20: Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto

ポケモン、２０周年おめでとうございます。

Pokémon, congratulations on your 20th anniversary.

すると同時に、最初のポケモンに関わってたプロデューサーとしては皆さん、ポケモン、ここまで可愛がってくれて、ありがとうございます。

At the same time, as one of the producers on the very first Pokémon games, I want to say thank you for all your kind support.

こう20年になるんですけども、その6年前ぐらい前から石原さんと、ポケモン作ろうって色々テストをしていまして、これがついつい時間がかかったら実はMother2を作っていたんですね？(< I'm not too sure that this was supposed to be a question.)
で、Mother2が終わってさ、本格的にポケモンを作り始めましょう、っていうことになったんですけど僕は、任天堂のGameBoyで通信ケーブルを使った新しいゲームを田尻さんたち一緒に作ろう、ということの立場としてメインでかかっていました。

Although this year marks the 20th anniversary, I was working with Ishihara-san from about six years before that, testing out what would become the first Pokémon games.
The reason it took so long was because we were also working on EarthBound.
Once that was finished, we were able to move full speed ahead with Pokémon.
My main contribution was working with Tajiri-san and his team on creating a new way to play using a Nintendo Game Link Cable to connect two Game Boy systems.

I am assuming
で、「対談しよう」っていうことになったんですけど。 。 = So, it was decided to have a conversation.
Maybe its supposed to be:

で、Mother2が終わってさ、本格的にポケモンを作り始めましょう、っていうことになったんですけど。僕は、~

それがこう気がついたらこんなにたくさんの色は出る、20年も経つ、本当に、信じられない状態です。

Time flew by, and now there are Pokémon games in so many colours! Twenty years. I almost can’t believe it.
How does それがこう気がついたら = Time flew by ?
それが = that is
こう気がついたら = after this was realized/noticed
Perhaps Shigeru strings his sentences together too fast. So someone typing his speech out wouldn't be too sure where one sentence ends and another begins.


texts:
お、お前{まえ}ら

この変態{へんたい}を__えろ！！

I can't find a kanji that looks like the one in the image. For context, it's a guard/police officer yelling so I assume it's got something to do with arresting/capturing but even with that, I still cant find one that fits the image.


texts:
なぜか彼女の体格ーーというか主に胸部ーーを見ていると、遥か昔に受けた耐えがたい屈辱を思い出すかのような感覚に囚われた。......前世で因縁でもあったのだろうか。
(Date a live, novel)

前世で因縁のある相手に求婚されました。

https://www.alphapolis.co.jp/novel/386289103/512357378/episode/2752663

そして実は、この3人以外にも前世で因縁があった人が、現在の彼らの中にいることが判明していきます。

http://americanwhiskeynyc.com/p/4123026891530/?i=94133&fdA3Zg.donnish
Please have a look at these sample sentences. I have 3 questions.

In the first sentence, is the でも in 因縁でもあった used in the same way as in お茶でも飲みませんか。? So grammatically, this でも is almost equivalent to が? If not, how should I understand the でも?
Is 前世で rather than 前世に used in these sample sentences because 因縁があった(ある) is considered as an action? Since in the pattern 「AにBがある」, に indicates the place where B exists while で is for the place where an action takes place.
Is there any difference between 前世で因縁があった and 前世で因縁がある?


texts:
あなたの国ではどんな女性がもてると思いますか。

Is this just asking what type of girls do you think are popular (in your hometown) ?

Or is it asking what type of girls you are interested in / who you like in your hometown?

誰かにもてる to be popular with someone/type of person so the different with が makes the girl/guy specific to the subject but Idk if it means they are now popular or if if its specifying who you like.


texts:
いっせのせでふみこむゴウライン。

"Isse no se de fumikomu gourain"

*gourain here means goal line

The translation for the sentence above is "(All) together (now), make a break for the goal line." My confusion is in the first half. What does isse mean? Is it a variable form of issho? A verb maybe? The verb 'issu' doesn't exist though. Does it only mean what it means coupled with "no se"? What does that mean? If you can help, it'd be much appreciated.


texts: Subject confusion or mistranslation of 無難

texts:
A scientist is investigating a mysterious hole in the ground. His experiments have failed and I think he's a bit sulky. He then says:

  「埋めてしまいなさい」
  Fill it in.

Then the narration goes:

  わからないことは、なくしてしまうのが無難だった。

My literal translation of this is "It was safe to get rid of something he didn't understand.", but that doesn't make much sense at all.

First of all I'm unsure of the subject of わかる. Is it the scientist or is or is it a generic "things one doesn't understand"?

Is this statement the narrator's belief, the scientists belief, or what the narrator thought the scientists would think?

With any combination of the above thoughts I still can't make a sentence that really seems to fit the context. Maybe I've translated 無難 wrongly?

Such a simple sentence, but I'm so confused.


texts: Exact meaning of も (maybe emphatic?) in a sentence

texts:
I read in a Japanese Grammar(*) written in French:

  息子【むすこ】は元気【げんき】で,私達【わたしたち】も安心【あんしん】した.

  ~ "My son is healthy, and we feel reassured". (translation from the French translation given by Reiko Shimamori: "Mon fils est en bonne santé, et nous en sommes rassurés.")

What's the exact meaning of も in this sentence?

Since も doesn't coordinate propositions, this particle can't mean "my son is healthy and we feel reassured". I don't think も stands for "(we) too" as in "my son is healthy and we too feel reassured".

Reiko Shimamori writes somewhere in her book that も may have an "emphatic meaning" but I can't find the reference.

Any idea to help me?

(*) Grammaire japonaise systématique (Reiko Shimamori), I.235


texts:
I've been doing a bit of work with rendering 縦書き【たてがき】 in HTML, and was having a running internal monologue in Japanese about how things were progressing when I hit on a missing word: "line" as in "line of code".  Trying to think of possibilities I came up with 列【れつ】 or 線【せん】, but neither feels right.  Perhaps just the import ライン instead?  Can anyone shed some light on this?

For context, the sentence in question is

  余計な＊を抜くと状況が直った。


texts:
I've been reading the first Harry Potter book, and as one character's "tip of the nose" was referred to as 鼻先, another character's was 鼻の頭.

Is there a difference between the two?
When would one use one or the other?


texts:
I believe these are both grammatical, is there a slight nuance difference for not having を?:

私は毎日三十分ぐらい運動をすることにしています。

And

私は毎日三十分ぐらい運動することにしています。


texts: What's the difference between ～みたい and ～っぽい in the following sentences?

texts:
逃げたのは黒っぽい車でした。

逃げたのは黒みたいな車でした。

Why is the first sentence better than the second one?


texts:
A disaster warning app asks me whether I want notifications for 警報 or for 注意報 or both.

First I signed up for both, but it sends me notifications about inconsequential things such as air dryness. So I would like to receive notifications only for the most dangerous stuff like powerful typhoons.

Which is most critical? 警報 or 注意報?

Both translate to "warning" in my dictionary.


texts:
I write fanfiction, some of it based on anime. There is the Japanese word うん, used to casually indicate agreement, very familiar to anyone who pays attention to the audio in subtitled works.

I am wondering whether there is any common practice for spelling this word in works written in English. The only example I know of is Sara Backer’s American Fuji. She taught English at Shizuoka University for several years and is clearly very conversant with Japanese; in this novel, she spells it Ng in italics.

Does anyone know of other works in English that use this word? Has anyone noticed a trend?


texts: Does 不幸{ふこう} always carry a "stronger" idea than 悲{かな}しみ?

texts:
From jisho.org:

  不幸{ふこう}

  unhappiness; sorrow; misfortune; disaster; accident; death (source)

  悲{かな}しみ

  sadness; sorrow; grief (source)

After looking at this, it seems to me that although both words mean sadness, the presence of the other "more drastic" meanings in 不幸{ふこう} such as disaster and death contribute for the word 不幸{ふこう} to be interpreted as a stronger/deeper sadness. Am I correct? Does the word 不幸{ふこう} always carry a heavier idea of sadness?


texts: Use of も in this sentence: パブもシティーセンターも静かになります。

texts:
This is the sentence in question from one of my text books.

  学生がいませんから、パブもシティーセンターも静かになります。

My Translation - "There are no students so the pubs and city centre become quiet."

Why is it も and not と separating パブ and シティーセンター and then another も before 静か which I don't understand at all?


texts:
I have found several topics on the usage of 「全然」 following a positive term
（like this one 全然 {ぜんぜん} with positive adjective / na-adjective)

But I am still confused about the phrase 「全然わかる」

When someone tells me that they think I can understand Japanese:

「日本語全然わかる。」

What do they want to imply about my Japanese level when they say this? They think I can understand mostly (like ほとんど), or just roughly (like　だいたい??), or just a little bit?

Thanks!


texts: Please enlighten me about a haunting "が”

texts:
I came across a long sentence in a story, which I have googled around and struggled for a couple of days.  Here is what it reads:

この頃わかってきたのだが、旅人の中には用心のためか、こちらの挨拶に頷くぐらいしか、挨拶を返さないものが少なくない。

My rough translation would be:

At this time, you come to understand a fact that, in among the
travelers, for the sake of precaution, they only return our greetings
so much with a nod, and quite a few simply do not return greetings at
all.

I’m not sure if I have got the idea right.  But what haunting me most is the “が” in the first phrase　この頃わかってきたのだが.  What is “が” doing here for?  There is no contradictory sense in the sentence.  I mean, there is no need for “が” to function as a button to remind the readers that something contradictory is coming up.
Besides, I discovered that in some subjunctive sentences, they put a “が” at the end too, such as:

もし私が鳥ならば、君のところへ飛んで行けるのだが.

(If I were a bird, I would fly to you.)
There you go,  “が” is haunting again.
Please enlighten me.  Thank you.


texts:
Our teacher taught us to ask for the permission to ask a question by saying「質問してもいいですか。」. Now I'm writing her an email, and would like to say something along the lines of "If I may ask a question, ...", where (...) would be a grammar question, for example.

I would have written 「質問してもよかったら、……」, but Google returns no hits at all for this specific sentence, so obviously it's not correct.

How would you say "If I may ask a question, ..."?


texts:
As far as I know when we talking about other people thoughts in japanese we have to use something like よう、と思う etc.  But I've got a problem in the following sentence, I cannot understand と考え here about 澪, though I'm not sure if it's correct, or about 俺 ?

  俺は澪が用意してくれた問題集を前に眉を寄せている。
  それは、指定された範囲で高得点をとることが出来れば、明日の再テストでおまずまずの結果を残せるだろうと考え、澪が選んでくれたものだった。

Thank you very much for help!


texts: Difference between である and だ in the written form

texts:
My grammar book states that である is used as copula in the written form to express ideas in a neutral fashion and that だ is also used in the written form to, quote, "sound more objective".
But doesn't "sound more objective" = neutral point of view?

So, what are the different usages of である and だ in the written form?


texts: Confusion about motion towards/away from speaker

texts:
I read this question and the first sentence has been bothering me:

  1) 今日はお酒を飲むので、私は車で行かなかったが...
  Today I will drink so I didn't go by car, but ...

I would have expected either:

  2) 今日はお酒を飲むので、私は車で来なかったが...
  Today I will drink so I didn't come by car, but ...
  3) 今日はお酒を飲んだので、私は車で行かなかったが...
  Today I drank so I didn't go by car, but ...

So, I understand 行く and くる to be motion relative to the speaker's current location.
I think the original sentence is strange because with 行かなかった the 'going' is finished. The fact that he will later drink alcohol is irrelevant. Whereas with 来なかった the 'coming' is complete and he is now at the place where he will drink.

Does sentence 1) make sense? If so where is the speaker when he is saying it? Can you please explain any misunderstanding I have?


texts: What is small kanji part that is usually placed on the left of a japanese calligraphy (shodō) work?

texts:
There are generally small kanji on a japanese calligraphy (shodo) work. Sometimes they are written above an inkan or inkan set. What are these kanji for? What types of information is written like this conventionally? Is this a necessary part of a shodo work? I think they contain some meta information about the work but I'm not sure.
Example image is below.


texts: Why were Chinese readings imported along with kanji?

texts:
I have been studying Japanese for a little more than a year now,and I've been learning kanji for a few months.

I understand the basics about readings, but I don't really get the historic reason of why the Chinese readings were imported along with kanji.

If I understand correctly, back then Old Japanese was already a language by itself, only lacking a writing system which was imported from China.

Now, I understand that maybe they took some kanji which represented things for which they didn't have a Japanese word, and thus used the Chinese sounds they heard.

But seeing the huge amount of compound words which use onyomi, it's impossible to think that none of them were used before with their native pronunciation, especially since there are also a lot of words which having more that one kanji use kunyomi.
For example, some vocabulary words I've learnt recently are: 大雨 ( おおあめ, kunyomi) and 小川 ( おがわ, kunyomi).But 火山 is かざん (onyomi).Maybe the concept "volcano" didn't have a word for itself in Japanese, but why create it imitating Chinese instead of joining their native words (ひ and やま)?


texts:
I've been running into this trailing の particle quite often and can't seem to understand what exactly it means. Is it replacing か, or does it mean something else?

For example:

  まだ生{い}きているの？


texts: Is 土方 a common term for a "construction worker"?

texts: In American English "construction worker" can refer to any manual labor worker at a construction site. Is 土方{どかた} a common term to refer to such person in Japan?


texts: して行｛い｝かない versus しないで行｛い｝く

texts:
Do they have the same meaning?

A: 宿｛しゅく｝題｛だい｝をして行｛い｝かない生｛せい｝徒｛と｝が多｛おお｝いです。
B: 宿｛しゅく｝題｛だい｝をしないで行｛い｝く生｛せい｝徒｛と｝が多｛おお｝いです。


texts: Does Japanese make the distinction between "-ing" and "-ed" adjectives?

texts: In English and other similar languages, there is usually a clear distinction between adjectives that describe things that create a certain sentiment and adjectives used to describe that sentiment itself, for example "tiring" vs "tired", "embarrassing" vs "embarrassed", "deadly" vs "dead", "enviable" vs "envious", "shameful" vs "ashamed"... However, I know that there are certain languages that do not always make this sort of distinction, and I've noticed that there seems to be a couple of adjectives of this type in Japanese too. I'm still in rather early stages so I can't say definitely whether this is the case or not.


texts: Why does てはいけない use は? I know it's a construction, but where did it come from? て form verbs are not nouns, it doesn't make sense to me that は could be used with them.


texts: Some Japanese dictionaries (e.g. 大辞林, 大辞泉, and 明鏡国語辞典) use this inverted triangle outline symbol (▽) for some kanji compounds. What does it mean?

texts:
It doesn't apply to all the words, just some. Here are examples of words from that are marked with that symbol

悪い　(with reading にくい): 大辞泉; 大辞林
面倒くさい　(with reading めんどくさい): 大辞泉; 大辞林
皆 (with reading みんな): 大辞泉; 大辞林
判る・解る (with reading わかる): 大辞泉;　大辞林

The thing is even for the same word, 大辞林 and 大辞泉 places the ▽ symbol at different positions.

For your convenience, here are 2 cropped screenshots to illustrate what I mean:

From 大辞林

From 大辞泉

Apparently 明鏡国語辞典 uses this symbol too. Here's a screenshot for 解る・判る from an EPWING viewer.

As far as I know, 広辞苑 doesn't use this symbol. See below

As I'm typing this, I noticed a pattern: the symbol seems to indicate that the reading is either non-standard or not-so-common for that particular kanji. Several kanji references seem to support this interpretation.

Take 悪 for example, kakijun mentions "にく(む)[常用外]", and 漢字辞典ネット labels "にく(む)" with 準1 (which I assume is the second highest level in 漢検?).　Same for 判る and 解る, whereas みんな and ど aren't listed as reading for 皆 and 倒 (perhaps those are more colloquial?).

It's just that 大辞泉 and 大辞林 uses different convention: for 大辞泉 it's the kanji to the right of ▽, for 大辞林 it's the kanji to the left of ▽.

Am I going in the right direction with this interpretation?


texts:
Found this word here. https://gigazine.net/news/20110530_how_words_are_formed_in_the_brain/

  脳内妄想ダダ漏れの危機か、思考を読み取る手がかりが解明される

I've looked it up and came up with "妄想" meaning "delusion" and "漏れ" meaning "leakage". I'm lost on what ダダ means here.

I tried looking for other examples and found this on twitter:
https://twitter.com/storyer0519/status/949526914934349824

  妄想ダダ漏れの下書き。


texts: What is a 感謝の夕べ and is it free to attend?

texts:
I am doing volunteer work every month at an event organized by a big company (not mine). Now they invite me to a 感謝の夕べ:

  日頃お手伝いいただいているボランティアスタッフへの感謝の気持ちと共に
  より懇親を深めるため、XYZにて「感謝の夕べ」を開催いたします！

Searching the web reveals that 感謝の夕べ is a popular concept, but I could not find a clear definition.

What does the word convey, opposed to 懇親会 for instance?
懇親会 attendees usually have to pay, is it also the case for 感謝の夕べ?


texts: Both 早速【さっそく】 and さっさと are adverbs with the meaning "immediately, quickly, at once." What distinction in connotation or usage exists between the two terms?


texts: What are the medical masks Japanese people wear called? The ones you see people just casually wearing; what are they?


texts: How to find out the meaning of hand-written japanese?

texts:
Here are the characters that I'm looking for the meanings. I fed Google Image with one of the characters, but non of the results was relative.

Beside, I used Jisho.org project, and the results were not matching.

May you translate these characters or give me some help to find out them?


texts: Are verbs transformed into the ず-form used like adverbs?

texts:
Dictionary form:
お礼{れい}をする

Transformed into ず-form:
お礼をせず

Is お礼をせず used similar to the English expression "without thanking" which itself can work as an adverb, e.g. I ate without thanking

わたしはお礼をせず食{た}べた。


texts: "くださいませんか" vs. "いただけませんか"

texts:
When I want to make 「それを見せて下さい。」 more formal, I always say 「それを見せて頂けませんか？」. But, I want to double-check this.

I never say 「それを見せて下さいませんか。」. While that seems perfectly fine, I don't think I've heard it used very much by native speakers. Rather, I think they more frequently say 「それを見せて頂けませんか？」.

(-) Is 「それを見せて頂けませんか？」 really used more frequently than 「それを見せて下さいませんか。」?

(-) Ignoring any sort of "nuance", are there any cases where I cannot say 「それを見せて頂けませんか？」 and I must say 「それを見せて下さいませんか。」?

thank you.


texts: Can 呉れ mean "I give to you" as well as "you give to me"?

texts:
Excerpt from よだかの星. Before the Nighthawk leaves, he stops to speak to the kingfisher and says:

  「はちすずめへ、あとでよろしく云ってやって呉れ。」

I'm having trouble resolving the 呉れ with へ in this sentence.It seems like the speaker (the Nighthawk) is saying:

  "After (I leave), I will give best wishes in the direction of the hummingbird."

a.k.a. "When I'm gone, I'll send my best wishes to him". However, I've never seen 呉れ used as "I give to you" (I've only seen it has "you give to me") so I'm unsure.

Is this a correct reading of 呉れ in this context?Can 呉れ go both ways?


texts:
小説は連作短編として、色々な土地を旅する作家が、旅行先で怪異にあうという物語にしようと考えているのだ。

...作家が, (try to?) think of stories that match the mysteries in those destination. ??

instead of (よう)とする、can you have (よう)と___verb? Although what is 物語にする in that case. ...

Thanks