texts: までに, まえに and うちに to express "before doing X, Y happens"

texts:
I've come across this sentence:

  主人が帰ってくる までに 晩御飯の買い物と支度をしなければいけません.

I would have used まえに instead of までに. Is it correct? How does the meaning change?
Furthermore, is it correct to say

  主人が帰ってこないうちに晩御飯の買い物と支度をしなければいけません

Can you say the following?

  買い物を支度しなければいけません
  買い物の支度をしなければいけません


texts:
I came across such an answer to a "Where is something?" question:

Asoko ni takai biru ga arimasune. Ano tonari desu.

What does "Ano tonari desu" mean here? Is this a shorthand for "Ano biru no tonari ni ga arimasu"?


texts:
Español:
¿Qué quiere decir テンションが異次元?
Google translate lo traduce como "La tensión es una dimensión diferente" Pero yo no entiendo muy bien esa traducción ¿La traducción está mal? ¿O es una expresión? Y si es una expresión ¿Qué quiere decir?

English:
What does テンションが異次元 mean?
Google translate translates this as "the tension is a different dimension" But I don't really get this translation. Is it a bad translation? Or is it an expression? And if it's an expression, what does it mean?

Originally asked in Spanish.


texts: What is the origin of, and how do I parse 絶対{ぜったい}領域{りょういき}?

texts:
絶対{ぜったい}領域{りょういき} is a slang term that refers to the visible bare skin from the bottom of a woman's skirt to the top of her thigh high stockings. Or, short pants and thigh high boots... pick your preferred style. The point is that it's the exposed part of the thigh.

That's the meaning, but where did it come from?

Directly translated, it means "absolute territory". The territory part I get - it's an area on the body. But "absolute"?　I find that hard to parse. Other meanings for 絶対{ぜったい} are "unconditional" or "unmistakable", but regardless of the translation choice, I find them all odd choices. Why 絶対{ぜったい}?

"Absolutely" sexy or "unmistakably" sexy perhaps?

Lastly, is this term regulated to otaku types who are into anime, or is it in common use?


texts:
When I searched for this kanji in japanese dictionaries i didn't found many results just found it in the popular sites like wiktionary page  and jisho.org  it means "to give" and there is no example words containing it and also the same thing with the kanjis are contianing it like 箅, 淠 and 痹 all of them have resulst but haven't word examples

But the strange thing is there is only one kanji contain it 鼻 (nose) and it has example words in all dictionaries and it's also a radical and a common kanji so why is this kanji especially known in the dictionaries among all of these kanjis which contain 畀?

And the funny is also the kanjis which contain 鼻 haven't example words in the dictionaries like this 嚊.

So the question is why this kanji 畀 and its related kanjis haven't example words? Are they not common or deleted or something like that ?
And why espically 鼻 (nose) among the kanjis related to 畀 has examples and is very common ?
I believe that there is someone have the answer.


texts: What does やるな mean when it isn't being used to say "Don't do it"?

texts: I've often heard it translated as "Not bad," but I haven't able to find anything first hand written about its usage as a compliment. Can anyone tell me more about it?


texts: From a linguistic point of view - can the order of steps in 手順 be changed?

texts:
I was present at a company meeting in which quite a few Japanese people started to seriously consider if the order of things prescribed in 手順書 can be freely changed. Namely 手順の順番を変えるのは大丈夫か -like questions.

For me as a foreigner the 順 determines the order of things and I listened in consternation. Most dictionaries define 手順 as 順序 or 段取り*. In either case they sound to me like following a path in chronological / planned order.

Doesn't the etymology limit the meaning here to the steps performed in a predetermined order? From a linguistic point of view doesn't 手順 determine the order of things?

If no, how shall the 順 part be interpreted?


texts: 上陸したよ. Is this slang?? How does it translate to meaningful English? Please see context in body

texts: So this literally translates into "I landed it." Which is literally what Kamata-kun (this character from Shin Godzilla) did. But is that really all it means? Is it a Japanese double entendre or pun or have any other connotation other than he came up on land? In English we might say you "landed something" as in you got a good job or achieved something worthwhile. Is that it? Thanks for any help.


texts: Difference between (て)からというものは and (て)以来？

texts: からというものは and 以来, both appear to share the meaning of "after that event, the state did not chage.  It's always the same". Can someone help me to understand the difference?


texts: How would I say "Japanese below"/"Japanese to follow"?

texts: I'm wanting to create a bilingual social media account. I'm not sure how to say "Japanese below" (as in, under the first part which will be written in English) in a grammatically correct way. 「日本語以下」makes the most sense to me, but I'm not sure if that would the correct way to say 'Japanese to follow' in this context. Any insight would be appreciated, thank you.


texts: What's the difference between いえ and うち?

texts: Apparently, according to my textbook, いえ can be 家　in Kanji. But うち can't.


texts:
If I find one of the following words on a receipt before the total sum:

クレジット
クレジット支払
クレジット支払額
クレジット計
クレジット売上

Can I conclude that the transaction was paid for by credit card?

And what does it mean when I see the two letters (MS) in parentheses after the card number?  For example: XXXXXXXXXXXX1234 (MS)

PS1: Answer for second comment - there is only one of this words on a receipt. There is no numbers after word except total sum usually.


texts:
I was reading some comments on this Youtube video and this comment in particular had a bunch of likes:
かんーわええのぅ。
I looked it up and it translates as "I don't know" on Google Translate.
Can someone explain this one to me? I looked up the parts like かん on Jisho but it still doesn't make much sense. I just started learning so I'm probably just missing something basic.


texts:
There is a sentence on IMABI:

  太ったのはなぜだと思いますか

Which translates to:

  Why do you think it is you got fat?

Why is it you think? If I were to translate it, it would be I really wonder why you got fat? (really comes from だ, which as I think has emphasis purposes after なぜ)

Where have I got it wrong? Or can this sentence be translated either way?


texts: What is the function of "に" in the following sentence?

texts:
奴隷の分際で王に敬称で呼んでいただくなど……恐れ多いことです。

The slave asked the king to call him by his first name instead of using his surname + "san", so the king asked him why. Then, the slave answered the above sentence.

I don't understand the function of the particle "に", because it seems to imply that is too much to call a king with honorifics, although with the context, it's exactly the opposite: to call a slave with honorifics. Is "に" linked to "いただく"?


texts: Are there any situations where かしら is considered appropriate/normal for males to use?

texts:
かしら is generally considered to be a question particle for use by females; are there any situations or dialects in which it is usable by males? I'm aware that historically, it was used by both male and female speakers; I'm mostly concerned about modern usage.

Edit: I'm quite aware that, normally, it sounds quite odd. I'm more concerned about whether there are exceptional situations or dialects where male かしら usage is common enough not to sound odd.


texts: What is this sentence using ～たら～たで trying to say about televisions and computers?

texts:
I have this sentence in my JLPT practise book:

  テレビでもパソコンでも、なかったらなかったでなんとかなるものだよ。

It's part of a review question about the grammatical form ～たら～たで, which I understand to mean something close to "whether or not". One example they give is 電話{でんわ}に出{で}たら出{で}たで, which I think means "whether or not the phone is answered". Perhaps I am wrong about this grammatical form.

With the sentence above, I have a vague semblance of parts, but they are not coming together. It's something like, "Television or personal computers, whether you have them or not, you'll manage somehow"...? I know that なんとかなる is "manage somehow", and もの in this case is probably referring to some reason or matter.

My current, unsatisfactory, translation seems way too vague to be right. What exactly does this sentence mean?


texts: What is the usage of 「つー」, what does it mean and what other ways are there to express the same thing ?

texts:
I've seen this many times in mangas, here's one example:

  アンタなんかが手にしていいお金じゃないっつーの！！！

Context: A girl catches a thief that stole today's takings at the shop she's working at.

Thank you! 手伝ってくれてありがとう。


texts:
宜野座{ぎのざ}君、ここは口を開くほど墓穴を掘る局面ではないかね

How this ほど work in this sentence?
For example, I can understand that in a sentence like this one:

人が死ぬほど酷い状況です。

人が死ぬ is how much the situation is 酷い.
This sentence makes sense to me withouth the need for a translation or even consciusly "thinking about it".
I was looking up online the meaning of "to the extent that" since I tought that I could have understood it wrong.
So I found this sentence and the explanation:

That memory was engraved into his life to the extent that he hasn't been able to stop thinking of it all the time.
The clause after 'to the extent that' is applied to explain how much that memory has affected his life

So would it be wrong to think that when I found ほど it could be like this:
XほどYをする
Doing Y to the amount of X.
Or
X is how much I do Y.
So the sentence could be:
口を開くほど墓穴を掘る
I dig my own grave as much as I talk.
Could someone give me a better explanation of this ほど?


texts: Questions with ~か or without: how to choose?

texts:
Studying Japanese on my own, I've learned that in order to make a question, you usually add the particle "~か", like this:

  今何時ですか。

It's also true that a question can be asked without it, using the rising tone of voice.

But then I found out that in certain contexts, the use of "~か" can be seen as sarcastic. My questions are:

Is this actually true?
And how do we decide when to choose which alternative?

Reference sites are appreciated.


texts: Do Japanese tend to pronounce some syllables ending to "-い" radically shorter than the others, by just voicing and dragging out the consonant sound?

texts:
It almost seems Japanese pronounce certain syllables ending to "-い" the way Chinese do. To my ear じ, し and some others sound like they are just consonants with the vowel at the end left out.

In Chinese when it comes to saying syllables like shi, ri, zhi, the position of the tongue is of course different than that for the Japanese syllables in question. The question I am asking is about whether the ending "-い" in じ, し differs from the "-い" in say き, に, み (in which you can tell the beginning consonant from the following vowel quite naturally)

Do Japanese tend in real life to pronounce some syllables ending to "-い" radically shorter than the others, by just voicing and dragging out the consonant sound (and not saying the vowel)?

ありがとうございます！


texts: This instance of のに is opposite from my expectations

texts:
I have this sentence in one of my JLPT practise books:

  電子{でんし}レンジは冷{さ}めた料理{りょうり}を温{あたた}めるのに重宝{ちょうほう}だ。

I thought のに meant something like "in spite of". So, to me, this sentence seems to be saying that a microwave oven is convenient (or a "precious treasure") in spite of the fact that it warms cold food.

... but, isn't that exactly what a microwave oven is supposed to do? Shouldn't the sentence be something more like:

  電子{でんし}レンジは冷{さ}めた料理{りょうり}を温{あたた}めるので重宝{ちょうほう}だ。

Is this a typo, or is のに used in another way that make sense here?


texts: Is 時 read as "toki" or "ji"? Duolingo and Google Translate don't seem to be in agreement.


texts: 生きててすみません I can not get the sense of this

texts: Pardon me for living? Means what? Thanks in advance!


texts: What is the difference between 覚える and 見覚える?

texts: I only have basic 和英 definitions to go on, but I'm guessing the nuance is that 覚える has more to do with things you learn or study, and 見覚える is more like remembering experiences. Or is there something more, or are they just synonymous?


texts: Can 法王（ほうおう） mean anyone besides the Pope?

texts: I know this word can refer to the the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic church, but when I tried looking it up on google images, in addition to the Pope, I also saw the Dalai Lama, and some other people I did not recognize.  Can the word have meanings besides Pope?


texts:
I'm reading the section on sanseido.net about how entries from a certain dictionary are laid out but I'm having a little trouble understanding the section below. As far as I can tell, ▼ is put on the right of non-Jouyou kanji (as in the first example). I can't quite figure out what ▽ or 《　》 are used for. What is「常用漢字表」の「付表」?

(2) 常用漢字とその音訓を表示した。
【　】の中の漢字が「常用漢字表」にないものには「 ▼ 」、その漢字が「常用漢字表」にはあるが見出しに相当する音訓が示されていないものには「 ▽ 」を漢字の右肩に付した。また、「常用漢字表」の「付表」の語は 《　》で囲んで示した。
う ごう　 －がふ　[0] 【 烏▼合 】
お たけび　を－　[2][0] 【 雄叫▽び 】
かわせ　かはせ　[0] 【《為替》】
さ なえ　 －なへ　[0] 【《早苗》】

Also, unrelated to the main question, but does anyone know what the [2][0] is referring to? I was thinking something to do with pitch accent but why are there two numbers? Two different possible pitches?


texts:
I wanted to talk about a board game recently, and realized that I am missing all related vocabulary. Before you shout foul and throw dictionaries at me, these expressions are very difficult to look up, because most of them use existing words in new contexts. And I cannot ask the native Japanese I know, because they don't know the english terminology either. I'll make a list, and possibly add more to it if some are suggested. I am basically looking for the vocabulary to be able to explain any board game to someone.

General

  Take a turn ("Your turn!", ...)
  Passing a turn.
  Token. (Many games have tokens, be it for money, health, victory points and so on)
  Piece, as in Chess.
  [Some statistic] meter / counter. (Threat meter?)
  Pick a card/miniature/faction/... randomly.

Words I have seen often, but which are made up to begin with

  Victory Point.

Cards

  Draw a card.
  Discard a random card.
  Discard a card of your choice.
  A deck of cards.
  The correct expression for "hand".

Dice

  Throw dice, or roll dice.
  Reroll dice.
  Count the sixes. (or any other)
  Non-6-sided dice, in english usually called d8, d12 or d20.


texts:
So I'm trying to understand this paragraph of the 365 Nichi no Kamihikouki song text. I've tried to do my own translation as well as I can.
() = implied

時には雨も降って - At times when the rain falls (and)
涙も溢れるけど - tears overflow (as well) but (even if / when)
思い通りにならない日は - the day is not going well
明日　頑張ろう - (I'll just) do my best tomorrow (instead)

Why is there a も and not a が in 時には雨も降って. Is it connected to
the も on next line to build a meaningful sentence. And is there some
grammatical structure to the hole paragraph with けど I'm missing?

Again, the も on the second row is it needed because of the first row
or does it just mean as well?

Do you agree with my translation and () implied additions for the sentence to make sense and flow better?


texts:
I came across the following sentence:

  すぐに なおさせますので もうしわけありませんが,もうしばらくおまちください

Please help understand the ~させます form here.
What would be the translation of this?


texts: と言われるゆえんである - How to parse this sentence?

texts:
This is the description of one the tournaments conducted in 宝蔵院 in a videogame:

世の武芸者の基礎鍛錬を趣旨とした宝蔵院最古の闘技。誰でも参加可能な所が宝蔵院の登竜門と言われるゆえんである。

My initial translation would be:

Houzouin's oldest contest with the aim of allowing practitioners of martial arts from all over the world to hone the basics. The fact that anybody can participate is what is said to be Houzouin's gateway to success.

I'm having lots of trouble properly parsing the second sentence.
First off, how does と言われるゆえん work here? I've googled ゆえん and found that it's an old expression meaning 理由 (seemingly interchangeable), e.g. in following sentence:

この学校が名門校だと言われる所以は、数々の有名な卒業生たちにある。The reason that this school is said to be prestigious is due to the many famous people that have graduated from here. (this is my own translation)

But I can't for the life of me piece together what ゆえん in my sentence is actually referring to.
Second, what does 登竜門 here refer to? I understand it means gateway to success but does it refer to 宝蔵院, saying that the reason the school got so successful is due to the fact that anyone can participate or does it refer to the 武芸者, that it can be a gateway to success to anybody who wants to participate?
If somebody could break down the second sentence for me, I'd be very much obliged. Thanks!
Edit: Upon further thought, if I broke the second sentence down into the following:

誰でも参加可能な所が［宝蔵院の］登竜門と言われる理由だ。The fact that anyone can participate is the reason why it (宝蔵院最古の闘技) is called the gateway to success (at Houzouin).

Does that make sense?


texts: why is the reading of 瞬く and 瞬き not the same?

texts: Out of sheer curiosity I was wondering why 瞬く is read as またたく but 瞬き is read as まばたき.


texts: What's the difference between compound words 複合語 and kanji compound 熟語?

texts:
Can someone tell me what's the difference between compound words (fukugougo) and kanji compound (jukugo)?

From what I've read, only a combination of two letters from kanji is called compound word. And the combination of more than three letters is called continuum. Is that true?


texts: What is the difference between 募集｛ぼしゅう｝ vs 採用｛さいよう｝?


texts: What's the difference between 復帰, 復元 and 復旧

texts:
What's the difference between 復帰{ふっき}, 復元{ふくげん} and 復旧{ふっきゅう}?

The both seem to mean restore. (I generally use these words in a computer context as in restoring files or settings.

Related: Difference between 回復, 修復, 復旧 and 復興


texts: Slang metaphorical animal names used to describe people

texts:
Does Japanese slang use animal names to describe people's personalities in the same way English does?  If so, what are some common ones?

For example, in English, men can often be called "dogs" or "cats"; sometimes I hear "ape".

  All men are dogs!　→　can mean "disgusting", sexually selfish, etc.
  That guy's a real cool cat.　→　a (smooth) guy; relaxed
  What a bunch of apes!　→　Large, slow, possibly bumbling, rough, rude (野暮)

There are several common terms for women too: "birds" (usually British English only), "minx", "dogs", "foxes"/"foxy".

  Do you fancy that bird?　→　a fine (young) woman
  You wily minx!　→　a sly girl; possibly very flirtatious
  OK, so my girlfriend's a dog.　→　an ugly woman
  What a total fox!　→　attrictive, beautiful, sexy (which is ironic since foxes and dogs are closely related)

Does Japanese slang describe people with certain animals?  The only one that comes to mind is 豚児, but that seems like antiquated "peasant" 謙譲語 more than slang.  If they don't use animals, is there some other "system" that is used?


texts:
否定イコールダメではないのでは。否定を、上回る、意志や考えを、持たない限り、他人に振り回されるだけ。夢は、かなわないのではなく、それに向かって努力し、行動しない限り、現実にならないだけ。否定を、どう生かすかです♪

I can't understand it, can someone help me? I don't think it's "surpass a denial"... I just want to know what 否定を上回る means, I think it will help me understand this sentence

I found it here http://tell-me.jp/q/2373128


texts: Adding additional information as an afterthought

texts:
What is a natural way to add another object to a list as an afterthought? For example:

仕事で英語とピアノを教えています。フランス語____。
For work I teach piano and English. Oh, and French too.


texts: What are the Japanese terms for "character dictionary"? "漢辞海"? "漢字典"?

texts:
I'm looking for a cheap secondhand character dictionary in Japan but:

I don't know if there is one or more kind of these, and I don't know what they are called.

Two I saw had these on their spines, but I don't know if they are titles or types of dictionary:

漢辞海
漢字典

Tsuyoshi Ito suggests this term in a comment:

漢和辞典

Is there more than one kind of character dictionary? What are the various kinds called? (Please supply romaji or at least kana too)

I do not need to know about general Japanese or translating dictionaries, just the ones that focus on kanji.


texts: "そうにない" versus "そうではない", the negative form of "そうだ"

texts:
I was learning "そうだ" and came across these two sentences:

あの人は行きそうにない。
あの人は行きそうではない。（もう、行っているよ。）

The article says the first sentence simply means "that person doesn't seem to go", while the second sentence has the implication that "that person has already gone". My question is why the second sentence has this implication.
Thanks in advance
Edit: Sorry everyone, I misunderstood the article. The second sentence doesn't have that implication. It depends on context. This question will be deleted soon.


texts: ~あらんことを: Slight Variations and Idiomatic Degree

texts:
Consider 神のご加護があらんことを

How is あらんことを different from あろうことを ?
(c.f. archaic -an conjugation)
Apart from sounding archaic, are there other functional differences?
How is {あらん・あろう}ことを different from あることを ?
What does the volitional form do that the plain form does not in this phrase?

Is there a preference for one of the forms? I.e. is there an idiomatically frozen choice that is chosen over the others.

How idiomatic is ～ことを ? Is it such that we do not even consider if there is any possible verb that follows after it? If there is an implicit verb, would it be something like お願いします or 祈ります ?


texts: Is ノーマル customary in reference to being straight

texts:
I was recently watching an anime and one of the character, in reference to him being straight, said:

僕はノーマルなので

(in case I misunderstood, this is from Eromanga Sensei, ep09 at around the 6:30 mark)
I got curious and tried to research whether this was the usual way to state that someone is straight but couldn't find anything. I know ストレート can be used in this context.
Did I completely misunderstood what's being said?
If not, is this commonplace? Is it considered acceptable or rude?
If this is considered rude, what would be the acceptable way so saying I'm straight.
Edit:
For context, it's been an on-going thing on the show that Kunimitsu (the character I quoted above) thinks the main character (Masamune) is gay. During the scene I'm referencing, Kunimitsu is offered to share a bedroom with the main character to which he object.


texts: Syntax of 住み心地のいい小さな家

texts:
I was randomly reading a grammar book (despite I'm still being in N5) and found the follow sentence:
住み心地のいい小さな家
The sentence was alone, without context, and it was translated to something like "a small good to live house" (the book is not in english, so I'm translating it by myself).
This took my attention because I can't see any verbs, but there is that "to live". I already tried to understand the phrase by myself, but since I found 住み心地 is a noun, not a verb, I would appreciate a explanation from someone with more knowledge, specially about what plays the role of a verb here.


texts:
What I want to say is something like "if you choose A I think we will have to do B"

But of course in English (and in Japanese) there are many ways to say the same thing.

If you choose A I think it will become important to do B
If you choose A we'll need to do B
If you choose A I think we'll need to do B
...

OR maybe even more of

If you choose A I think you'll also need to choose B

But again so much nuance. In particular I'm asking someone what is their decision, A or X and I want to make it clear if if they choose A they'll probably also have to choose B.

For example: "If you choose to buy the car I think you'll also need to get a child seat.". In my exact case it's "If you choose the 3 monitor setup I think the game will probably have to be redesigned".

But there is subtlety in that there the "I think" part. In other word I'm not saying that how it is, I'm saying I think that's how it is.

So I was writing

「AにするとBにするのも必要となると思います」

but something just felt off. So I'm asking.


texts: How do you read simple arithmetic equations in Japanese?

texts:
My dictionary (EN → JP) suggests to translate "Three multiplied by four is twelve" as

  3 × 4 = 12

without giving a hint as to how to read this in Japanese.

How do you read simple arithmetic equations (involving only +, –, × and ÷) like the one above in Japanese?


texts: Is it okay if we pronounce a word with an 'r' sound in English 'R' instead of the Japanese 'R', which is somewhere in between 'L' and 'R'?

texts: So instead of pronounce, 'la le li lo lu', I pronounce it normally, which is, 'ra re ri ro ru'. Could the Japanese tell the difference?


texts:
This one middle page in between these three (link) has been weighing on my mind for a good while. The character would seem to be commenting on a brave/chivalrous aerial battle going on overhead, and it's the only line he has in the chapter.

However I haven't been able to come up with an interpretation of his lines there that satisfies me, mainly as I can't figure out how the これ程とはね、認めよう and ...空、 空か segments are interacting. Is he acknowledging/認めよう'ing the fighters/their bravery himself? If so what is the 空、 空か bit meant to convey? Or is he saying the sky itself is acknowledging them? Though 空が instead of か would make much more sense then. Or is it something else entirely I'm missing?

Also the characters often speak in literary/slightly archaic Japanese, so that 認めよう may possibly be the conjectural sense (認めるだろう) instead of the usual volitional sense I guess, still leaves me confused then though.

Thanks for any help.


texts:
Can I ask a favour?

I am trying to catch on the meaning of the song 涙をとどけて. I have caught everything except for the following 4 lines, which remain vague for me.

  涙をとどけて 本当のこと

  想いをとどけて 言えないこと

  言葉にできない

  明日をとどけて

思いが届く means "hopes get realized".

涙をとどける means "to excite tears".

涙をとどけて 本当のこと means "truth causes tears"? Am I right?

明日をとどけて means "tommorow will come" (???)

What does the -て form mean in this context?

I can't manage. Can you help?


texts: I read that "Keri" is a verb suffix used to denote the realization of something, and is also poetic- I was wondering if anyone knew where it came from, kanji etc. For more context it was used with ari- like otoko arikeri. I think it was meant to mean "there was a man."


texts:
I'm not sure how to translate the word シレジレ.

Does it mean something like "perky, confident, opinionated, presumptuous"?

If so, may シレジレメカコラム be translated as "All-knowing Mecha Column" or "Wise Guy's Mecha Column"?


texts: Determine the correct reading of a word made up from kanjis

texts:
Supposed I know some kanjis and their reading, and come across a word I don't know yet that's made up from these kanjis, how do I determine the correct reading?

Example:

大好き - daisuki
大きい - ookii
社長 - shachou

大社長 - Is it daishachou? Or ooshachou? Or even taishachou?

In general, what are the rules for reading a word you don't know?
If there is no exact rule, what would be the most likely reading?


texts:
I found this one on twitter and wanted to ask about particles and the なれました.
It was posted shortly after a concert.

  福岡、楽しかったし、皆との距離が近いから表情も良く見えたし、いい感じに熱くなれました。ありがとう、福岡。

I only learned some basic grammar and it's been a while since I really used my Japanese. I think I understand roughly what is said here, but I can't get my head around the particles and for some time I try not just to understand but also to translate. So this is how far my boyfriend and I have come to translate this.

  Fukuoka, it was enjoyable (し), as (から) the distance to everyone there (みんあとの?) was short your facial expressions were seen well (し), this pleasant feeling made it warm. (なれました?) Thanks Fukuoka.

Does this translation cover everything in this sentence or am I missing something?

My questions would be:

What's the し doing? We thought it might be just a numeration particle?
Why are there two particles after another in との and what does it do? Has it anything to do with the し?
And I'm really not sure about the last part with the なれました. I don't know how to translate this. It might be a typing error but I don't know...


texts:
I'm constructing a sentence where I want to say that "I really want to live in Japan because I can speak Japanese every day and that it has many beautiful places" the way I've written it is below:

  毎日日本語を話せし、たくさん所きれいだし、日本で本当に住むがほしいです。

I honestly feel a bit weird writing this myself because something seems off about the sentence altogether. Am I allowed to put a potential form before し in this manner? is there anything here that I could improve in terms of sentence structure.

For our course, we were instructed to use all our learned material which is the first 3 lessons of Genki II.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

日本語を手伝ってください！


texts: Is こんばんは too formal for everyday conversation?

texts:
When giving a talk on Japanese, How to talk like a ge1sha, I made a terrible mistake: I invited someone who knew something about the language along.

The only times he heckled me was when he reckoned the Japanese I was teaching was too polite. (He also helped explain some concepts I was talking about) While I was aware that the teineigo form of verbs (-です and -ます) were somewhat on the polite side, he said that こんばんは wouldn't be heard in everyday conversation, outside of work environments.

Is this the case? Would this indicate that most textbooks and phrasebooks tend to err on the side of caution, i.e. politeness?

Books where I've seen こんばんは used include the Lonely Planet phrasebook Japanese, Japanese for Busy People (3rd edition), and Mirai, a Japanese textbook for children of ages 10 to 15, and wiktionary.


texts: What is the name of the green cross safety flag used at construction sites?

texts: I have seen the flag flying at administrative buildings used at construction sites. Thank you.


texts:
I assumed with my very limited knowledge it would be シェリフ, however when I put it into a sentence with Google Translate, シェリフ instead was represented as 保安官, and pronounced ホアンカン rather than シェリフ. So now I want to confirm what the proper way to say/write "Sheriff" is. I think perhaps Google Translate pronouncing it ホアンカン could simply be it misreading Kanji, and I do not know enough about Kanji to be sure so I want to ask...

What is the proper way to pronounce/write "Sheriff" and would it change depending on if I'm using it in a sentence, or other specific context?


texts: What are the Japanese names of the columns in a Kana chart? (Vowels, K, S, T...)

texts:
Here is a typical Kana chart presented in gojūon order:

In English, I refer to the first column in the chart as the 'vowels' and I refer to every other column in the chart with the first letter of each Kana in English (K, S, T...).

How would I refer to a particular column of this chart in spoken Japanese?

If for example, I was struggling to remember a word such as 'りんご' but I could only remember the consanant part from the final consonant + vowel pair (ri,n,g—), how could I say...

  "I think the last kana was a 'g—' kana..."


texts: Is there any linguistic value behind encircled katakana letters?

texts:
Today I've learnt that in Unicode there's a separate block for katakana letters enclosed in a circle - all of them, apart from ン. Then I've realised that the logo of this particular stack is a letter in circle as well
My question would be:
What is the actual usage of such symbols which is that important that encircled kanas are introduced to Unicode and why nevertheless, an ン is not a thing.
There's a similar question about kanji however it does not cover katakana.


texts:
Here is the sentence including the word.

  東のはずれには年をとって働けなくなった人たちのために養老院をたてるっ


texts:
I found this in my textbook.

ただいまよりお目にかけますのは小学生によるバンド演奏です。

Is it strange ? Is it more polite than お目にかけるのは　？

PS.Sorry for my note


texts:
このさわぎを戸川先生やむこうにいた生徒たちまでもが固唾をのんで見つめていることに気がついた関口は、まる子と神谷先生をもう一度きっとにらんだ。
  Sekiguchi, who had noticed teacher Togawa and even the students on the other side holding their breath and staring、once again scowled hard at Maruko and teacher Kamiya.

I can't fit このさわぎを into my translation. There seems to be no verb that matches with "this uproar".


texts: What is the name for each day of the Obon Festival?

texts: The Obon festival consists of the arrival, celebration, and departure of ancestors.


texts: How should I understand the grammatical construction たりだとか?

texts:
「ええ。他にも、一緒に班組もうぜ！って言ったらマジのトーンで『えぇ……』って言われたりだとか、落ちた消しゴム拾ってあげたら『あ……それ、もういらないからあげる……』って言われたりだとか……」

Hi. How should I understand the construction たりだとか grammatically and semantically? Is たり a noun so we need だ?
I know the 〜たり…〜たり form used to list multiple examples. とか has the same function, it seems.
Thank you.


texts:
I came across this kanji

It is said to read ぼんのう、meaning worldly desires and comprising 108 strokes. I am curious if it does exist because after some searching I couldn't find any more information about this.

Almost every single image I found about this kanji is apparently the same original image with some editing. Every source I found says basically the same thing, its meaning, reading, and stroke count.

Searching for kanjis with highest numbers of strokes, the most knowledgeable ones seem to be this interesting compilation and a Wikipedia page talking about the kanji taito, which is written with 84 strokes and thus the most graphically difficult character. No one is really talking about this kanji in question.

Can anyone point me to any other resource related to this kanji?


texts: When grandmas tell their kids お天道様がみてるよ, how do the kids know who お天道様 is?

texts: I checked Japanese Wikipedia and お天道様 is an early Edo period word for the sun, as used in some kind of early modern popular religion that is not really described well at all. Anyway, I've never seen a word like this in any children's book, so how do kids know what their grandparents are talking about? It seems like if it's a word nobody understands, the grandparents should just say お日様 instead.


texts: 言え used both as negative and positive imperative

texts:
In the following examples the same imperative form is used for two opposite meanings:

「ウンと言え！」 "say yes!" "agree!"
「バカを言え！」 "don't talk stupid!"

Clear from context, but I wonder what do Japanese people hear in their minds in the second case? Is it simple "バカを言えない"? Or is it unfinished clause, like "バカを言えば..." (something like "talk more stupid, then..."?


texts: What is the meaning of その点 in this context?

texts:
Tanaka and Ohta are having a conversation about main characters anime. Tanaka comments that it looks really tiring being a main character since they have to do so many things.

Ohta replies with 「ま、活躍するのが主人公だからな」

And then Tanaka responds with the golden question:

  その点モブはいいよ

What is the translation of その点 in this case?

In that respect? On the other hand?


texts: Why do we have to use ている form of 思う with third person subject

texts:
I've read from many grammar books that when we are talking about a third people thinking about something, we must use 思っている, and it means "think" instead of "be thinking". For example:

  スミスさんは日本の物価は高いと思っている  is correct
  スミスさんは日本の物価は高いと思う　　    is considered incorrect

I've tried to find the reason, however, any documents I could find states only the rule without explanation. I really wish to know if there are any grammatical or cultural reasons for this.


texts: How does the tense and ある　in this sentence work

texts:
From my e-mail correspondence on italki:

「友達申請をしてくださって、ありがとうございます」は少し難しいかと思ったのですが、これから使う機会があると思うので、そう書きました。覚えてくれてうれしいです。

My attempt at translation:
"Even though I thought that 「友達申請をしてくださって、ありがとうございます」 might be a bit hard, because I think/thought that from there on...

A)...there is the chance you use it...
B)...you have the opportunity to use it...

...I wrote it that way. I'm glad you picked it up."

First:
What's a bit irritating for me is that in this full sentence, there is present tense all of a sudden in ...と思うので.... I know from my past questions that japanese isn't too strict in the use of tenses, but I would like to know why there is this sudden switch and what it expresses.

Second:
I wonder wether I should use ある in the meaning of "existing" for inanimate things, or in the meaning of "owning". Or are both meanings basically the same in japanese? In my textbook, I once learned for ある that it can express ownership (at least I think I did...^^) over the associated object. But maybe this "extrasemantics" was just a means to make it easier for the learner of japanese to understand the different functions ある appears in.

Third:
In 覚えてくれてうれしいです I think she expresses that she's happy that I picked up the grammar she had shown me. However, I just wanted to ask for confirmation wether my understanding, which I tried to convey with my translation, is correct or not, since the combination of "memorizing" and "giving a favor" seems a bit strange to me. So I don't know wether I should trust my understanding or not ^^


texts: Do other numbered terms for spices besides hitoaji (一味) and shichimi (七味) exist?

texts: I came across some words for spices, hitoaji and shichimi. It occurred to me that I have never seen the terms for 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 spices and so on. Do these terms exist?


texts:
Is there kanji for しか as in

  商品がひとつしかありません。


texts:
On twitter I saw this:

  なのに風呂掃除したら100円もらってたおれ…叱ってやりたい！笑

What does it mean?

This is the previous tweet:

  最近だなー。食ったらすぐ食器洗うのが習慣になったの。実家に居た頃は全部母親がやってたから甘えちゃってた。仕事もしてて家事も完璧にやってた母親、今更ながら尊敬します。


texts:
The speaker is defending her teacher:

  「毎日クラス全員のこと、こまかくノートに書いてるんだよ。会話したことまで」
  Every day, in her notebook, she made detailed notes about all the class. Even as far as conversations.

Am I correct that verb-ことまで means "to go as far as doing verb"?

I'm not 100% sure about the verb here. Is した just a substitute for 書いた? i.e. is it talking about writing down the conversations, or is it talking about the act of conversing itself?


texts: What is 日本橋{にっぽんばし}？

texts:
So I'm doing some exercises in Minna no Nihongo and run across these two sentences:

どこで安い電気製品を売っていますか。
大阪の日本橋で売っています。

I looked it up and saw it mean japanese bridge but the way it is in the sentence it sounds like the name of a store or something like that. Anyone have any ideas?


texts:
I translated into google translate and the meaning is casual. What "casual" things that suit with this word? Is this word means "merely" ?

Thanks in advance


texts: What is the most natural way (or differences) to ask if someone wants to do something?

texts:
(Using the verb "飲む" as an example)

飲みたいですか？
飲みたくないですか？
飲むことが欲しいですか？

What are the differences between these forms? Also, is there a more natural way to ask if someone wants to do something?


texts: How was the Pacific Ocean named in Japan before Magellan?

texts:
The word 太平洋｛たいへいよう} can be translated literally as "peaceful ocean" as somebody noticed in the question Oceans ー Thick or Big?.

But, as far as I know, the name was invented by Ferdinand Magellan: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pacific.html.

My question is, how was this area of water named by Japanese people before getting in contact with Europeans?


texts: 以上 vs 以上 for numbers vs words: half full/half empty?

texts: Well, 以上 is used after a speech to indicate that the speech has been concluded　(i.e., 'Everything before this has been said.').  以上 is used in numbers to mean 'or more', as in 八十%以上 (as in, 'Everything after this is included.').  If you want to say, "80% or less", you say 八十%以下 or 八十％以外 for "anything but 80%".  Are 以上 and 以上 only homonyms and homophones, or are the words somehow synonymous, by definition?


texts:
In the video game "Tingle's Love Balloon Trip", a person asks the protagonist to catch a certain kind of butterfly. They want the dust from the butterfly's wings to use as a kind of fertilizer. The name of this butterfly is 「ゼッコーチョウ」. Here is the relevant bit of dialogue:

  ゼッコーチョウ っていう チョウを つかまえて ほしいの。ハネが もえあがるような はでな ルックス なんだって !

Now I know that ちょう means butterfly, but I can't make head or tail of ゼッコー, so I'm assuming it must be a pun of some sort.

What could be the meaning of this name?


texts: What does 勉強にレジャーに忙しい毎日 mean?

texts:
I was doing some reading practice in a Japanese intro book of mine and I can't translate the second part of this sentence-

二人は去年の九月に日本語文化を勉強しに来日しました。最初は日本語の勉強で大変でしたが、今は日本語もだんだんわかってきて、勉強にレジャーに忙しい毎日をおくっています。

I'm a bit confused b/c of a few reasons.  I've never seen an adjective used prenominally to describe frequency/time expressions like 毎日.  I don't regard them as normal nouns cuz they don't really require a following particle so I thought they were more like adverbs really.  What does 忙しい毎日 mean here?  Everyday, which is busy?  Can you use adj. for other time words like 寒い明日?  Does that even make any sense?

Also I don't really get how the に particles in「勉強にレジャーに」are being used here.  Are they making the preceding nouns into adverbs, a reason for doing something, etc.

EDIT:  I added more of the passage to put the sentence in better context.


texts:
山 を こえ、 たに を こえ、 うみ に でる と、 おに の ふね が ありました

It translates as

  They went over the mountains, and over the valleys
  And came out to the sea, and there was a devil boat

Why is it "koe" means "went over"?


texts:
If I were to write "二〇一五年間の時に" for "during the year of 2015", would the "の時" be redundant and/or grammatically incorrect due to the fact that the "間" in "年間" already implies the meaning of "during this time period"?

If so, would "二〇一五年間に" or "二〇一五年の時に" perhaps be more valid alternatives?

Thank you.


texts: Asking somebody of higher social status whether they made a mistake

texts:
I am exchanging an email with someone of higher social status than me after noticing a possible mistake on their part.

I want to say

  I'm wondering if a mistake has been made

My first thought was something like

  どこかに間違っているか聞きたいんですが。。。

But that, to me, sounds like I'm asking "is there something wrong?"

What would be the proper way of asking them without offending them?


texts: hi im doing subs2srs decks and im going through the cards looking at grammer and i found this card that says ここにいてもでくることはなさそうだな and i dont understand how いて works.


texts: I have the sentence 早くしないと置いてっちゃいますよ. I think this sentence means "Don't act quickly and you'll be left behind but I'm not sure why ちゃいますよ, which I believe to be ちゃう, is used with the て　form. I thought that when you change ~てしまう　to ~ちゃう, the て is taken off. I believe that to be what is happening here. Something along the lines of the "unintended action" ちゃう and how it would be regrettable if the person were left behind. If in this sentence something else is happening, then it would be new to me and I'd be happy if someone could explain what's occurring here.


texts: Ending a Sentence with the て form (does not seem like a request) rather it feels like an exclamation 君を超えて！

texts: In My Hero Academia, Deku declares to his opponent 君を超えて！I tried searching the other threads here, but most of the questions that asked about the te form of a verb at the end of a sentence seemed to use verbs like 待ってる or 開ける which would make for being short for てください such as 待って in 待ってください. But with this verb 超える, I am not sure it is the same grammar. Can someone please explain to me the grammar pattern on this one?


texts: How are numbers pronounced in (movie) titles? (i.e. ジョーズ３)

texts:
For example, ジョーズ３ (i.e. "Jaws Three") is in a list of movies.  Would the "3" be pronounced "さん"?  Typically, counter words follow after a number in Japanese.  And sometimes the number's reading changes depending on the counter.  For example, 「じゅうがつ・とおか」. But this is a katakana word. Is there a pattern followed for titles?

How would a native Japanese speaker pronounce a title such as this?


texts: The difference between 詳しい and 詳細 when used adverbially or adjectivally

texts:
While I know that 詳しい and 詳細 both have unique meanings, there are some cases where I am not able to tell the difference between them. Here are two I've stumbled upon:

Adverbially:
我々の研究計画を詳しく述べた
パイロットはその光景を詳細に述べた

Adjectivally:
彼はパーティーについて詳細な説明をした
もう少し詳しい説明をしてください

Is there a difference in nuance, or are they virtually the same?


texts: How to combine the honourific conjugation and て form?

texts: I was trying to use combined verbs like 忘れてしまう, 連れて行く or 持ってくる with the honourific conjugation お stem になる. What is the correct way to use that conjugation with these types of verbs?


texts: As far as I can tell, both mean foolish. Checking a dictionary, 愚かしい is defined as 愚かである。ばかげている。which does not help very much. Is there truly no real difference?


texts: Why are wisdom teeth called 親知らず in Japanese?

texts:
Why are wisdom teeth called 親知{おやし}らず in Japanese?

The literal meaning seems to be something like "unknown to the parents".


texts: Is there a difference between に and に対して?

texts:
デメテルに続いて言葉を連ねる女神たちに、ヘスティアは微妙な顔付きをした。

vs

  デメテルに続いて言葉を連ねる女神たちに対して、ヘスティアは微妙な顔付きをした。

What is the difference between these two sentences? In what cases can you use に to replace に対して?

Thanks!


texts: I don't really get the difference since the two of them seem to be translated as "boiling". Do we have to use them in different situations?


texts:
I know the kanjis 明 and 光, which both have (I guess) the idea of light.

Is there any difference between them? And what is the kanji for "normal" light, as the light of the sun or the light emitted by a bulb?


texts:
Well, actually, I may have some idea why 見つけません is inappropriate; I'm less clear why 見つかりません is significantly less so.

My question is a follow-on to this answer from @naruto to a recent question (by someone else), and the brief comment exchange we had there.

Probably best if you just go there for the details, but the summary I'll give here is that the original question asked about an example sentence さっきから携帯電話を探しているのですが, with a set of choices for how to finish the sentence: [見つかりません/見つけません][。/でした。]

In the answer in question, it was asserted that 見つかりません is the most appropriate answer, as "we don't usually say" the 見つけません-based possibilities available, and 見つかりませんでした as a follow on to the given sentence, because it "sounds like the speaker suddenly gave up in the middle of the sentence".

So far, so good.

I then proposed the Japanese textbook (especially if written by an English-speaking native as opposed to Japanese speaker) might have been aiming for the actually-less-natural 見つけません, because it preserves the same grammatical subject (which would be a false reason, as this isn't important in Japanese, but it also seems like the sort of pseudo-reasoning a non-native test-creator might come up with). The response back was that 見つけません sounds terribly wrong, and no native speaker would say this.

My question is: why? As I said, I think I suspect why, and I'm about to make some guesses as to why, but then I'm more interested at the follow-up question: why is 見つかりません okay where 見つけません is not (in this context)?

What I suspect the reason to be why, lies in the fact that I will not find it is the translation noted for 見つけません (in that answer), while 見つかりません was given as It has not been found (so far/yet). The note for 見つけません makes sense for me - it's a present or future tense, and just doesn't fit nicely with 探している, which is a currently-ongoing action. Why would anyone be searching for something if they're confident "I won't find it".

But then, the 見つかりません has exactly the same tense. Why is it "exempt"? I would expect that to mean "It will not be found", in the same way that 見つけません means "I will not find it". Is it just a "special exception", or is there a more generally applicable rule of grammar underneath this (i.e., are there other examples that can be given that reflect similar situations)?

For my part, if I were not looking at a multiple-choice answer list, I feel like I wouldn't have chosen any of those, and would have gone with まだ見つかっていません (since 見つかる is an intransitive verb, 見つかっていません should not mean "is not being found", but rather "is not (yet) in the state of having been found", in the same way that 田中さんは来ています doesn't mean "Mr. Tanaka is coming (on the way)", but instead means "Mr. Tanaka came (and as a result is here)")

Or, if I want to use 見つける instead, I might say, perhaps more awkwardly (but I hope still correctly?) 見つけてありません, for an equivalent counterpart to that 見つかっていません.

How do these answers stack up against the approved (from the set of available choices) 見つかりません answer? Better, worse? And, why is 見つかりません acceptable in place of 見つかっていません, but 見つけません is not acceptable in place of 見つけてありません?


texts: How to write long sound to emphasize words?

texts: For example, I want to emphasize the word しらない by saying shiiiiiranai, しいいいらない seems a little bit weird to me. How do you write this in japanese character, can we also write this in the form of kanji?


texts: Pronunciation of ∞ used in Japanese text

texts:
How to pronounce ∞ in the context below?

  実はそのリスクが顕在化したら∞だったりするんじゃないか、というようなこと。
  ∞ったのはそれによって自分の人生が完全に変わってしまう可能性があるっていう意味。

Context: The author of an article discusses what he really meant in this sentence of his article:

  一緒にいたい人と一緒にいないというリスクはそのリスクが顕在化したら全てが根本的に変わってしまうぐらい重要な要素なのではないかと言うことです。

Here is what he said just before the ∞ sentences:

  いいたい事としては、ちょっと離れても仕方ないと判断したときに、その仕方ないっていう判断の根拠にしたリスクを過小評価してないかということかな。


texts: I'm confused about the overall structure of this sentence

texts:
For context, this sentence is taken from exercise 1, instruction 3.
https://www.docdroid.net/JUGEND2/img-20170606-0001-new.pdf.html

費用｛ひよう｝が高｛たか｝いと課長｛かちょう｝が言｛い｝ったので、半分｛はんぶん｝自分｛じぶん｝で払｛はら｝うから、行｛い｝かせてほしいと交渉｛こうしょう｝してください。

In this sentence, I feel like everythings positioned inverted Oo
The only way I can make sence of it in a translation is by reversing this inversion.
This is what I would come up with:

"Please barter, because the chairman said the cost is high, and because you pay one half yourself if you wish to be let go(ne?)."

Sinces these measures to beat sense into it feel so strong, I wanted to ask you for your opinion^^


texts: Which kanji for はじめます? There seem to be two

texts:
I thought the kanji for はじめます was:

  始めます

However, one of my friends tweeted using 初:

  トマト鍋初めて食べたけどおいしかった

Which is correct? Is there a difference in nuance between the two? jisho.org brings up both.


texts: Difference between 「 ただ」, 「たった」, 「ただ　～だけ」, and 「ただし」

texts:
I translate these words as either "only, just, simply".

I'd like to know how I could differentiate these 4 ways (i.e., when I use that one, and when I use the other).

Examples:

  たったひとつの恋　(Dorama)
  ただの子供だ
  ただ待つだけだ
  よし, この 10 万円は君にあげよう. ただし, これ以上はお断わりだよ.
  ...
  ... so on


texts: What is the intended meaning of this sentence? 「これはまさに自虐ネタであるそうだ。」 w

texts:
(  I first learned about this Jp article (and "diving" incident) from What does 「中」 mean in 「そう危険なものではなかった中、彼の姿は。。。」 )

The following excerpt comes from this news article: http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/11944976/

  ビルからビルへダイナミックに飛び移る、そんなCGアクションシーンに強く憧れていたのであろうグラントさん。ピッツバーグ郊外のインディアナ・タウンシップの出身で大学ではコミュニケーション学と映画学を専攻していたそうだ。しかもグラントさんはこのニュースを報じた『ピッツバーグ・ポスト・ガゼット』紙・編集局次長の息子とのこと。これはまさに自虐ネタであるそうだ。

What is the intended meaning of this last sentence? これはまさに自虐ネタであるそうだ。
How would you write that intended meaning (or something like it) in good Jp prose?

Also, please list other errors or awkward passages (in the article).

      ... 専攻していたそうだ。 <---  これも変だろ w


texts: What is meaning of 「〜ないように思えてなりません」?

texts:
Can somebody explain the grammar and meaning of this expression in the sentence below? It may be  just my poor understanding of how なりません functions in the language but I'd appreciate an explanation.

I have added my own translation and placed the previous sentence in [ ] to indicate context.

  [人間を人類というより大きな範疇（＝カテゴリー）でみても、人間は「かろうじて生きている」のが現状ではないかと思う。しかし、]

  人類はそうやすやすと滅びないように思えてなりません。

  [Even if I look at the human beings from wider perspective than as a members of the human race, it seems to me that humans are only just surviving. However,]

  I have to think that the human race will not be that easily defeated.

For full context see: 中上級のにほんご Dec 2013, p37

My grammatical logic________________

I have translated the whole expression as 'I have to think'(~ I cannot help coming to the conclusion that..?) but when I compare to expressions such as ~なければならない (ie must) this does not seem logical. For example:

If :
~滅びると思いません　＜〜＞　滅びないと思います

Then
~滅びると思ってなりません　　＜〜＞　滅びないと思わなけばなりません


texts:
初めて日本に行った時、友達のお母さんが伝統的な和式朝食を作ってくれました。
The first time I went to Japan, my friend's mother made me a traditional Japanese breakfast.

If I wrote the opening of the sentence in the following manner, how would the meaning change?

最初に日本に行った時、

or

最初日本に行った時、

In this context, what is the difference between 初めて, 最初に and 最初?


texts: What is the word for an independent-minded person? What is the opposite of that word?

texts:
I'm looking for two words: a word that means an independent-minded person and its opposite. Not necessarily a rebel or someone who wants to stand out, but someone who is comfortable sticking with what he prefers and doesn't get swayed by other people.

Word #1

For example, let's say someone is out with his friends and his friends decide to order a beer, but he doesn't order one because he doesn't drink and he is not anxious about trying to fit it with everyone.

Word #2

And the opposite scenario in which someone, who doesn't drink and actually doesn't like drinking, only does it when he is out with his friends because he wants to fit in with everyone and be accepted by them.

What would the words be for both cases? I have found words for the first case  through google translate, but I am not sure which one to use.

独立した

非適合主義者

個人主義者

Can you please provide example sentences for both the opposite words as well so I know how to use it?


texts:
As I was browsing the Nintendo e-shop, I noticed a new title whose tagline is:

  美少女｛びしょうじょ｝と美少女と美少女が惹｛ひ｝かれあうRPG

(Don't judge...)

How to interpret this 惹かれるあう? I understand that the appeal of the RPG are the (numerous) beautiful girls, but what nuance does it bring?

My dictionary only gives 会う/合う as possible writings for あう but I am not sure how to interpret it.


texts:
Another passage in がばいばあちゃん chapter one reads:

  ...ほとんどスラム街というような状況だった。てんで勝手に露天を出して、いろんな店がひしめき合っていた

This probably sounds like a silly question, but I was confused by the italics part. I assume it's like てんでに勝手に, with てんで meaning individually and 勝手 meaning on one's own initiative. What confused me is why there isn't a に after each of てんで and 勝手. I attempted this translation.

  ...just about the whole area had turned into a slum. Everybody set up individually, on their own initiative, open area shops; they all jostled together.

Is this the right reading?

Edit:

I noticed that てんで can also mean 'entirely, altogether'. But I assume that's not the meaning implied here?


texts: Translation help: 私が困っているのがはつおんですね

texts:
This is a trascript from a podcast I was listening to. The woman was asked about what she thought was the hardest aspect in learning english, to which she replied

  私が困っているのがはつおんですね

So... why 私が instead of 私に (meaning 'to me'). Not only that but, what is the role in the sentence of 困っているの? It is the continuing action conjugation of 困る (to worry) but how does it fit in the sentence? And what is the role of の?

Thank you very much.


texts: Can you slightly switch up the word order of this sentence?

texts:
This is what I've been taught:

       これ は  わたし  の   本   です。
                =  This is my book.

And I was just wondering whether you can change the word order to say:

       この  本  は   わたし  の  です。
                =  This book is mine.

Or if this sentence structure doesn't work.


texts:
I was discussing with my Japanese friend about the meaning of 「しわ寄せ」, and none of us could come up with a way to say it in English.
As far as I know, it could have several meanings. The first few of which can be easily translated as "to foist upon" or "to shift", with the meaning of forcing something onto somebody else. There is another meaning, however. Take these lyrics for example:

  人前ではやさしく生きていた

  しわよせで こんなふうに雑に・・・抱きしめてた

The general intention is that the action 「抱きしめる」 happened as a result(sort of backlash, or recoil) of 「人前で優しく生きる」. What's a good way to say translate this nuance to English?


texts:
I'm trying to understand the difference between 蘇生する{そせいする} and 蘇る{よみがえる}.  My research thus far tells me that 蘇る is intransitive and can be used for recalling memories in addition to the mutual meanings of "to be revived/resuscitated". However, I'm having trouble determining if 蘇生する is transitive since my dictionary only lists it as a noun (and doesn't have an entry for the noun+sure verb).

So in summary, what are the differences between the two?

As a bonus question, what's a good resource to look up noun+する definitions? Or is there some easy rule like noun+する verbs are always transitive?


texts: Thoughts about event frequencies and "often enough"

texts:
I'm having trouble expressing the concept of "not often enough".  The most basic way to say "often" is よく, but I think there's a problem in putting qualifiers on this word.  For instance, expressing "more often" with もっとよく would be unnatural and/or wrong.

Here are two examples from The Jim Breen dictionary for the word [頻]{ひん}[繁]{ぱん} that answer part of my question. This expresses a "more often" concept:

  メアリーは、もっと頻繁に母親を手伝うと約束した。
  Mary promised her mother that she would help her more often.

This is almost to the point of expressing a degree of frequency, but I feel like it comes up short for what I'm grasping for:

  できるだけ頻繁に辞書を引きなさい。
  Refer to the dictionary as often as possible.

How would you say "not often enough"?  I'm tempted to try something like 頻繁さが足りない, but that has no Google results so it's probably wrong.  Would it be acceptable to use 頻度 instead?  Let's say I wanted to say "I don't get updates often enough" or something like that.  What are the best ways to express this type of thought?


texts: Is there a word or phrase for "run around"?

texts:
I'd like to know if there is a phrase similar to the English phrase of "running around". To explain more clearly, it should mean to be able to go out freely and do whatever one like's without being restricted.

For example:

  If you're going to own a dog, they need some space to run around and exercise.

  Have you been running around with those hooligans again?

  My wife makes me run around downtown doing all her errands.

It doesn't necessarily mean "to run" all the time though it may. Just wondering if there is any phrase that resembles this. The only thing I can think of is 遊び回る and that may only apply to children, games, and such.


texts: 「」 don't seem to be 'quotation marks' in news article titles, what do they mean?

texts:
A recent headline:

  「レッドブル」飲んだ米国人「死亡報道」で大騒ぎ 日本のまとめサイト「デマ情報」に引っかかり、相次ぎ「謝罪」

Can someone help me understand how this works?

「」=Is this a quotation mark?

I can't understand what modifies what.


texts: Can someone explain the use of だけで in this sentence from Kawabata?

texts:
もうそんな寒さかと島村は外を眺めると、鉄道の官舎らしいバラックが山裾に寒々と散らばっているだけで、雪の色はそこまで行かぬうちに闇に呑まれていた。

I understand the meaning of dake and the te form; that is not my problem. My problems has to do with how dake de in this case can connect to what follows. How do you put this into a single sentence in English? Perhaps you can't, which is why the translation of the text I have makes two sentences here. So my question deals not with the grammar (or the meaning of dake and te)  but the sense of how the Japanese connects these two elements.


texts: What does 緊張感{きんちょうかん} in this sentence mean?

texts:
I am reading Yotsubato! (Link) manga (Ch.82, Pg.3) in Japanese.  I came across this sentence:

  このフタは緊張感{きんちょうかん}がある。

So far I have searched and the only meaning I came across is tension, nervousness etc., What I think is, the character looks at the plate (lid) in front of him and says that he is nervous because the plate doesn't have flat surface and it wobbles. But when I try to translate it into English,

  このフタは (as for this lid) 緊張感{きんちょうかん} (nervousness) がある (exists)

Excuse my translating if it's not correct (I'm a beginner) but what I understood is, he is somehow feeling nervous about this plate or the plate is making him tense. What confuses me is the last part [がある].

If I am correct so far, this would mean something like, as for this lid, nervousness exists ? This is confusing me. Is this natural way of saying that something makes you feel nervous ?


texts:
This is the sentence:
彼は英語を勉強したことがなく、アルファベットさえ読めない

I would write something like:
彼は英語を勉強したことがないのでアルファベットさえ読めない

I understand that you don't necessarily need ので, but why does it terminate the negative form in く rather than leaving as it should be? For any reason he wanted to convert it into adverb?

Thank you!


texts: What does の mean in the sentence after いる verb form

texts:
Below is from a children's book that I am reading and I am confused as to the way の was used in the sentence.

あれは 亀が吹いて いるのに違いない

I would appreciate any inputs/infos regarding this.

Thank you in advance

Dan


texts: How do these negations differ? (Plain negative vs. potential negative)

texts:
本当よ響ちゃん。私たちは帰らなかったんじゃなくて帰れなかったの

響 - Hibiki (name of a character)

So the storie goes like Hibiki goes in search of her friends who haven't come back in 2 weeks. When she founds them she asks them "why havent you come back" And they respond with the above asked

So how do they differ ?


texts: When talking about English 文型, how to say "a sentence"? 文章?

texts:
I want to talk about English grammar in technical terms. Example, I might want to discuss 文型:

  Every English sentence must have a main verb.

I would say:

  英文{えいぶん}では、文章{ぶんしょう}にいつも本動詞{ほんどうし}がついている。

To me, saying 文章 in that context sounds good, but the meaning is a little weird. I think of 文章 as really meaning "document(s)".

How should one say "a sentence" in the context of a technical discussion about English sentence structures.

Note.  My dictionary defines 一文 as "a sentence", yet I've never heard a native say いちぶん. Though, my listening skills are not the best...


texts:
I am trying to paraphrase Plato's description of Atlantis. He says that there is a centre island surrounded by two rings of land and two of water. He later says that the outer ring of land has an opening at the south to the sea.

I'm not sure whether I should be using 円 or 輪 or even 円形 to describe rings of land and sea and the outer ring with the opening.

My attempts:

アトランティスが二つの円形の陸地と三つの円形の水域がある

or 水に囲まれた内輪と外輪を有する

then 海につながった陸地の外側の円に隙間がありました


texts:
I work for a company that creates mobile apps to control and maneuver toy robots. Recently I've seen our Japanese translators as well as our Japanese business partners (native speakers) using the word ドロー to mean "draw" in the following context:

"Draw, Block, and Text Coding"
They've recommended: "ドロー、ブロック、テキスト"

"Draw" means that the user of the app would be able to draw a line or path on the mobile screen and the robot would follow that path design as it moves around. They can then see the programming coordinates of this path.

Why would you want to use the katakana ドロー instead of 描く？ Does it sound better from an advertising perspective? Does it make more sense for children to read this word?


texts:
I am learning causative forms.

  先生が参加させてくれました。
  The teacher allowed me to participate.

What does 先生が参加させてもらいました mean?


texts: First Message From Japanese PenPal Has Slightly Confused Me

texts:
This is a couple of questions in one really.
I received this snippet from a new penpal and I wasn't sure what some of it meant:

  日本語になりにくいです。

Online translations (I know, rarely reliable...) yields:

  "It is hard to become in Japanese.".

I'm just starting out but have read about "ni naru" meaning "to become", however I've not seen "ni nari" before.

I find it hard to separate all-hiragana words at the moment so I'm not 100% sure if the phrase is split up as "Nihongo ni nari nikui desu."

Also, within the message are the following symbols:

。。。。。。。。

※<some text>※

　→　？？？

Are these Japanese-specific in any way...?


texts: Can we change the position of the object?

texts:
I know google translate does the bare minimum job of translating a sentence into Japanese. The original sentence was, "I had to hit my head on the table." which was translated into "テーブルに頭を打たなければなりませんでした。" I tried changing the position of the object because it made more sense to me. The translated sentence I came up with was, "頭をテーブルに打たなければなりませんでした。" Can we use this instead?

Also, "打たなければなりませんでした。" seems a bit confusing. It translates to "I had to hit." but doesn't なければ mean "If not" and I don't know why "なりませんでした" was used.


texts: Is oniichan also used to refer to a big sister?

texts: Someone just told me their mother speaks Japanese and she says oniichan doesn’t just mean big brother but also big sister. I thought oneechan is the word for big sister though. He also said it’s really common in Japan to use it that way, is that true?


texts:
I recently looked up the word まんまと in 大辞林.  The pitch accent is marked 13.  I don't understand what that means, so I decided to look it up in the explanatory notes, which I'll attempt to summarize here (omitting bits about terminology and such):

Words in Japanese are divided into morae which are pronounced either high or low
Pitch always changes between the first and second morae
大辞林 marks the HLL... pattern with 1
大辞林 marks the LHH... pattern with 0
大辞林 marks patterns like LHHL with 3 and LHHHL with 4 (indicating the mora directly before the pitch falls)

Unfortunately, I still don't understand.  It seems like it should have a single number indicating where the downstep is, or a 0 if there is no downstep, but in this case there are two numbers: 1 and 3.  (I assume it's not thirteen because there are only four morae in this word.)  I don't see any explanation of what it means when there are two numbers like this.

So, my question is: what is the pitch accent of まんまと, and how can I understand this 13 notation?


texts: Just as there are so-called rough synonyms for 食べる{たべる}, namely, 食う{くう}, 食らう{くらう} and 食む{はむ}, to represent eating with different nuance, are there any known variants of 飲む{のむ} for drinking?


texts: Can「他【ほか】に」and「それに」be used interchangeably when conveying "in addition"?

texts:
I am looking for any difference in terms of nuance, usage or frequent collocations so I can tell in what situation I should use one instead of the other.

On the other hand, if the case is that the choice is only a matter of style or personal preference, it would be nice to know as well.

Thank you.


texts:
I saw a sticker set being used on a popular social platform the other day that I found very interesting. They were pictures of food items, sweets mostly, and had words next to them that seemed to be portmanteaus mixing Japanese phrases with the names of the food. I was able to identify some:

picture: a candied apple
caption: おかえリンゴ .
my guess: a portmanteau of おかえり and りんご
picture: a piece of 羊羹
caption: おはようかん.
my guess: a portmanteau of おはよう and ようかん
picture: a piece of lemon meringue
caption: おつかレモン
my guess: a portmanteau of おつかれ and レモン
picture: some mochi
caption: 餅ろん
my guess: a portmanteau of もち and もちろん

Pretty straightforward so far, but then there is this one:

  picture: a piece of cake
  caption: ケーキがいいね

After consulting a dictionary, I thought maybe it's a pun on 景気がいい, meaning, "the situation is good," or "business is good." I'm not very confident in this analysis, since I personally can't recall having come across this expression myself.

Sticking heads together with friends didn't turn up anything either, and the one Japanese person we were able to ask about this replied, "Well, cake is good." I don't think she understood our issue all that well.

What kind of pun could this be?


texts: 仕事をする上で大切なのは、周りと**の**コミュニケーションです。What's the function of の here?

texts:
I have no clue what の has to do in the sentence.
Isn't 周りとコミュニケーションです。enough?


texts:
A few years ago, I was doing a study abroad in Japan, and I was able to participate in a tea ceremony. There was one instructor, our guide/translator, and a few of us students. At this point, I had taken a few semesters of Japanese, so I could speak alright (I thought).

The instructor made the tea and taught us how to hold the cup, the proper way to drink from it, etc. At the end, she asked for our thoughts, and I decided to try responding in Japanese.

I don't remember everything I said exactly, but I do remember wanting to say something along the lines of "The tea was bitter, yet delicious." I accidentally said this as, 「苦手ですが、美味しかったです。」 I remember the instructor gave me a very surprised look, but our guide quickly realized what I meant and corrected me, noting I meant 苦い, not 苦手.

When I realized what I said, I was afraid I had insulted the instructor, but I'm not entirely sure what I actually said. How would my comment be interpreted?

Did I say the instructor was bad at preparing the tea?
Did I say I was bad at drinking the tea properly?
Did I say I just didn't like tea?
... Or did I say something else?


texts: ～と因縁をつけられ / Quotative or causative? / Also, who is doing what?

texts:
From the description of an enemy that is a headless Jizō:

寺の鐘の音が気に食わぬと因縁をつけられ首を落とされた僧の無念が乗り移った地蔵。

When I first read the sentence, I understood it as 'A Jizō possessed by a monk whose head has been cut off due to him disliking the sound of the temple bell.' I've interpreted the と here as causative, as in 'once it came out that the monk didn't like the temple bell sound, somebody else decided to use that as a pretext to cut his head off'. But then I wondered if the と couldn't be interpreted as quotative as well, imagining the person, who cut off the monks head, saying something akin to: 'What?? You don't like the sound of the temple bell? I'm gonna cut off your head for that!' or maybe even interpret it as the person cutting off the monk's head, going something like 'I don't like the temple bell sound (myself), I'm gonna cut off that guy's head out of rage!'.
Now I don't know how much sense the latter two interpretations make in the first place, but strictly grammatically speaking, would either of these three interpretations work? If not, why?
Edit:

Did the monk not like the sound and as a result got his head cut off?
Did the other person accuse the monk of not liking the sound and cut his head off for it?
Did the other person not like the sound and lashed out at the monk (maybe due to being driven insane by the sound or something)?

Another example:

運転が気に食わないと因縁をつけられました。

Who is doing here the action of 気に食わない? The way I see it, just like in the previous example, I could interpret it as either.
The person asking this question (referred to as A) is saying that they didn't like that person's driving and in return the other party (B) picked a fight with A (maybe A made it clear that they don't like B's driving, leading to this escalation).
Or maybe B didn't like A's driving and confronted A directly.
So if I understand it correctly, it would be either a quotative or causative と, depending on which leading to one of these two possible interpretations. Or maybe my understanding of ～と因縁をつける is just wrong and it works differently?
I'm sorry for the long-winded post, I hope you can make sense of what I'm trying to ask here.
Edit 2: Sorry for my constant edits, but I believe it just clicked for me. For the first sentence, I'd say that the state of 気に食わぬ refers to the person beheading the monk; thinking about a scenario where a monk would tend to his temple, ringing his bell and somebody gets upset and decides to end the monk's life once and for all. Hence 'the monk being accosted and beheaded by somebody annoyed by the bell sound'. Which logically would apply to the second sentence as well then. The driver B being upset by the driving of person A i.e. 'driver A being accosted by driver B for A's terrible driving'. Does this make sense? Also, would my other interpretations still grammatically be valid?


texts:
Before the expression is said by a guy, he previously says the following sentence. I'm not sure if it is related to Kansai dialect.

しっかりしてんかいな　ほんまに　無｛む｝計｛けい｝画｛かく｝なことされるのいちばんきらいや。

Another question: Does the 「無計画なことされるの」　mean something not being planned?


texts: When can "AのB" be digested down to "AB"?

texts:
I sometimes see things like "野の風" be digested down into "野風" or "空の色" into "空色" both while retaining their meanings. When is this allowed to happen? What registers of speech? What sorta relationships? Is it only allowed for set phrases? etc. etc.

Why is 人権団体 not 人権の団体? Why is 人工言語 not 人工の言語? I'm simply curious, I've seen this so often.


texts: By "砂糖ダイエット" I mean diet based on heavy consumption of sweets.


texts: Why do days of the week use on-yomi kanji readings?

texts:
I would like to know if there is detailed information as to why days of the week use on-yomi readings, for example

  月 in 月曜日   【げつようび】

Were these readings (as spoken) imported from the Chinese? And if so, is it known what days of the week were called prior to Chinese influence?


texts:
I was listening to a song the other day when I saw this. The lyrics in question:

[帰宅]{きたく}[完了]{かんりょう}。ダウンロード[完了]{かんりょう}。[配信]{はいしん}スタート。[準備]{じゅんび}[万端]{ばんたん}。

According to Jisho 万端 means

all； everything

To me, it makes it hard to understand why they say 準備万端 when faced with this definition. If they were to use 完了 instead would it mean the same thing?


texts: When does 彼 refer to a person of indeterminate gender?

texts:
I've seen 彼 and even sometimes 彼氏 described in several dictionaries as a pronoun that can refer to a person of any gender, while 彼女 is explicitly female.  However in the wild ive never seen a woman referred to with 彼, but its also possible i dont see it, just as a second-language speaker of English may not realize "his" in "Every man must choose his fate" can refer to a person of any gender as it's a very subtle distinction.

So my question is this — when in modern day practice can 彼 refer to a person of either gender?


texts:
So, I was watching this show called Terrace House, and the following exchange between two participants caught my attention.

翔平:「 テラスハウスに入って、一番の…ここに来ての…財産じゃないけど、聖南と出会えたことだな。」
聖南:「いや、何か…普通にうれしいなと思って。普通にね。」

There are two things I don’t really understand here, by the context and the scene itself, she seems very happy about what he told her...
so is it right for me to assume that 普通にうれしい is close to 結構うれしい? And can I use it in other situations? Like saying the food is good 「普通においしかったよ」
My second question is about 財産, jisho says it means “property”, but I can’t really understand how it fits the context here...


texts:
会社の帰りに本屋に寄るのが楽しみです

Does this means on the way back to company or start from company, and back to some where else ?

And also why use に after 帰り, what does that mean?


texts: What is a good way to translate “Mr. A even did X, did Y, did Z, and so on”?

texts:
I know that “Mr. A” can be translated as Aさんは. That part seems easy enough.

The word “even” seems to be tricky to translate. I know that “even” is being used as an adverb in sense of emphasizing facts or extreme cases. But the choices seem to be (で)さえ(も), すら, でも, までも, だって, and maybe a few others I missed. I simply don’t know which one I should pick in this case.

I came across this one guide on Japanese compound sentences. It seems that my options for translating the part of doing things are as follows:

Xして、Yして、Zした。
Xしたり、Yしたり、Zしたりした。

According that guide, the first option expresses a sequence of events, and the other option expresses an example list of verbs. I think the second option applies more to the sentence I'm trying to translate than the first.

I know that “and so on” can be translated as など, but I don’t know if I need it in translating this sentence.

So, I think it can be translated as AさんはさえXしたり、Yしたり、Zしたりした。

Am I on the right track here?

Edit:

One comment wants to know if “even” applies to all the actions or just action X. For this sentence, “even” applies to all the actions. So how do I achieve this? Do I attach a Japanese equivalent to “even” to each action or just put one?


texts: Dative subject constructions with 「もらえませんか」

texts:
Back to basics. I have heard sentences similar to these ones online that attest the same structure

私も弾いてみたい、と思った私はすぐさま「私にも教えてもらえませんか。」と願い出ました。(source)

あとで時間があったら、その秘訣を私にも教えてもらえませんか。(source)

アーモンドさん（左）「私に貸してもらえませんか？」(source)

是非とも夢ある皆さんの力を私に貸してもらえませんか？(source)

Why に? In all of these sentences isn't the subject 「私」? The agent of the action is the other party, and 「もらう」determines the subject is the benefector of the action. What am I missing here? There seems to be a function fusion of indirect object with subject of sentence.


texts:
ええ～、なかなかいらっしゃらないからと、近隣の署に片っ端から連絡を入れたそうですよ

eh, you didn't show up, so it seemed like  (she) contacted every police station in the area

  おたくらちょっとそれ軽くいじめ入ってるよ！？　自覚あります！？

you Otakus, you're sorta (trivially?) bullying me, you realize that?

What is the different between these usages and just simply the verb itself? (連絡する・いじめる) ?

on a side note, what is the best way to read 軽く here? The speaker is honestly pretty damn upset in this situation.

thanks


texts: I've heard in anime that close friends greet each other saying 'yo', as if it were the same in English when you say "yo!". I've been searching how to write it, but I have only found the common ways to greet (like konichiwa, etc). Does it have a kanji or do you write it using the hiragana よ?


texts:
このアパートは[古]{ふる}いが、その[広]{ひろ}さによって[家賃]{やちん}の[安]{やす}さが[気]{き}に[入]{い}った。

Isn't this application of によって valid?
'According to/based on the spaciousness of the room, the meagerness of the rent is likable'.
If not, what is the appropriate replacement?


texts:
I came upon this line of dialogue in a book I'm reading, from a character who has old-fashioned speech patterns:

できる限りの鶏肉を用意せい…

I assume this せい is some form of the verb する, though I'm not even sure if it's a regional dialect or some remnant of classical Japanese. I can find plenty of examples of the same usage on Google, but no actual explanation or grammar notes for it in any of my usual go-to sites and reference books.

Any ideas?


texts:
What's the difference between 不可能 and 不能?
Both mean 'impossible', but '不能' also means 'incapable'. Aren't they synonyms?
Feel free to provide example sentences.


texts: What is the difference between どうかな and どうなんだろう?

texts: My native Japanese friend said that both どうかな and どうなんだろう can be translated as "I"m not sure". Do they actually mean the exact same thing? Or are there subtle differences in their usage?


texts: What is the Japanese word for some kind of a technical diary for a machine (＝機械)"?

texts:
I am looking for the Japanese word, meaning some technical diary for different types of machine, as for example a cutting machine or gluing machine, or a machine making frames, etc.

This diary contains information mainly about the repairs made. It can also include information about problems which occurred with the machine, which is waiting to be resolved. There are sometimes some technical information about these machines, but not always. This type of diary is necessary for every machine, being used in a factory.


texts: What do the これ in これは失礼しました and これはしまった refer to?

texts:
Is it correct to view these as referring to the past actions of the speakers?

So, for example, the speaker makes a blunder and then realises this and says/thinks
「これはしまった」(Which I think is short for これはしまったことをした)
Or someone does something rude then says これは失礼しました
In both of these cases does the これ refer to the past actions of the speaker?


texts:
豪邸を三つ作ってもお釣りが来るほどの価値がある一級品の武器の筈だ。

I'm not sure how to interpret this part of the sentence. Is it some kind of phrase? I feel that it means something like "It should be a first class weapon that, even if you made three 豪邸, would be worth more."

Thank you!


texts: The use of ～た、～ている、～ていた to refer to a resultant state (new question)

texts:
Can someone explain why 持った is used in place of 持っている in the following sentence　(from Monday's Japan Times)?

会話能力を持った初の人間型ロボットキロボが宇宙飛行士の若田幸一さんと国際宇宙ステーションで雑談した。
The first humanoid robot with speech capability to be in space made small talk with Koichi Wakata on the International Space Station.

Based on the answer to the:
Use of ~ていた vs ~ている to refer to a resultant state
it sounds like the meaning does not significantly change. After referring to the transalation  持った felt more appropriate, possibly because the sentence was in the past tense (ie 雑談した).
If this is correct then, I wonder, if the sentence finished with 雑談している or 雑談していた then would 持っている or 持っていた be more appropriate?
(My feeling is that 持っている would be appropriate in both the latter two cases. 雑談していた would be appropriate if the writer wanted to either (1)set the scene in the past (and the robot no-longer existed/had the ability to talk) or (2) just simply the robot no-longer exists/no-longer has the ability to talk, but cannot be sure of this.)


texts: When is the に particle used for possession?

texts:
For example: 私には夢がある (I have a dream)
Does using  に have a different implication from ommiting it? Is it even possible to omit it in this sentence?


texts: Are human-like robots animate or inanimate?

texts:
There are constructions for existence that depend on animated object or not.

鳥がいます - There is a bird (animate).

椅子があります - There is a chair (inanimate).

How do you treat human-like robots? Are they animate or inanimate? Is it related to biological nature of the object or to ability to move? What about cars? They can move as well but have no limbs.


texts: How useful is furigana for most adults and teenagers?

texts: If I am going to print some text to give to backpackers, is adding furigana worthwhile?  It's important to avoid misunderstanding, but I would think people coming from Japan to Spain would be fairly literate.


texts: Why does 「（から）というもの」 have a meaning of "recently/since"?

texts:
I have given three examples below to illustrate my question. I can't understand why the expression "というもの” equates to "recently/since".

この一週間というもの、忙しくてほとんど寝ていない。
For the / since last week I have been so busy, I have hardly slept.
結婚してからというもの、映画館で映画を見ていない。
I have not been to the pictures since I got married.
ここしばらくというもの...
“Recently for a while now"


texts: 出かけることにしました - What is the meaning of this?

texts:
So I'm reading this sentence:

  私は押し入れの奥から、夏の洋服を出して、かばんにいっぱい入れて出かけることにしました。

Basically I understand this sentence as:

  Out of the clothes in the closet, I took the Western-style summer clothes out, I put them in the bag (full), then I took them out.

If it's incorrect, please correct me. However, I don't understand why the take out part is so complicated:

  出かけることにしました

出かける (the action of taking out) instead of 出る. Then turn it into noun with こと then しました.


texts: What is the difference between ohanashi and oshiete

texts:
In my Japanese book it gives the following examples:

  Nihongo o hanashite mo iidesuka? Renshuu o shitai desu. = Do you mind if we speak Japanese, I would like to practice it.
  ohanashi suru =  have a talk
  Ohanashi dekite yokatta desu. = It was nice talking with you.
  Motto oshiete kudasai! = tell me more
  Anata no kazoku ni tsuite oshiete kudasai. = Tell me about your family

What's the difference between ohanashi and oshiete? They both seem to relate to talking/speaking, but I can't tell the difference.


texts:
To learn Japanese, I am currently using Duolingo.
One of the sentences it wants me to translate is "Do you want to go to the park with me?"

The answer I am supposed to give is：
いっしょに公園にいきませんか？

I get that いっしょ is meant to represent the "together" part of the sentence.
I also get that ませんか represents the fact that it is more polite to say "don't you want to" instead of "do you want to".

However, nowhere does the sentence really include the want part. Would it be correct to say the following instead:
いっしょに公園に行きたいますか

?


texts: Why is the に particle used in this sentence?

texts:
ともだち に あいます。

To meet friend.

My understanding of the に particle is that it is used to indicate the indirect object, for time, and for location only when the verb is a "to exist" verb like います or すみます, if the verb is an action use で.

I would have used を in the sentence above as friend is the direct object.


texts:
Japan has a lot of topolects. Most of them are all classified under Japonic. These include Ryukyuan, Hachijō, Kyūshū and obviously eastern and western Japanese.

Can hiragana & katakana "spell" the sounds of all Japonic, etc. topolects?

Are there sounds and pronunciations outside of general hiragana & katakana abilities?


texts:
The sentence in question:

  休日の繁華街は平和な賑わいに満ちていた。道行く人々の笑顔は眩しく、街灯はどこまでも明るく、一足早いクリスマス模様のショウウィンドウには、まるで世界中の幸せを寄せ集めて詰め込んだように華やかだった。

I would normally think of には following after something like ショウウィンドウ to talk about the "contents" inside, but this isn't possible here since it ends with 華やかだった, right? Does it just mean "as for ～" in this case?

Edit: I suppose another possible interpretation would be 華やかだった referring to the entire 繁華街, but I'm rather unsure on that due to where には is placed.


texts:
I've seen several posts saying that と cannot be used to mean 'and' when linking clauses. They say it should be treated as 'when'. I have come across several sentences in my studies that do not support this conclusion e.g.

鬼は、一寸｛いっすん}ぼうしを吐き出すと、大急ぎで逃げていきました
The ogre spit out 一寸ぼうし 'and' hurriedly ran away.
*When the ogre spit out 一寸ぼうし he hurriedly ran away

It doesn't feel right to interpret と as 'when' here because that would imply that I already knew the ogre had/was going to spit him out (I don't know this from the prior sentences in the story).
Furthermore, grammar books tell me that と should be used to mean 'when' only if the main clause is a natural consequence of the condition. Here's another sentence from the same story

都に着くと、いっ寸ぼうしは大臣の家に行きました。
When he arrived at the capital, いっ寸ぼうし went to the nobleman's house.

Using 'when' makes sense here since I already knew he was going to the capital, but, going to the nobleman's house isn't a natural consequence of arriving in the capital (in fact, I would claim it was volitional. And volitional statements are explicitly banned when using と to mean 'when'). If I move いっ寸ぼうしは to the front of the sentence I could equally well translate the sentence as "いっ寸ぼうし arrived at the capital and went to the nobleman's house." Can someone please provide some insight into the use of と in sentences like these. Also, could I write 鬼は、一寸ぼうしを吐き出して、大急ぎで逃げていきました for the first sentence, and how would it differ in meaning/nuance?


texts: Conjunction after verb in dictionary form

texts:
How exactly do you say "but" when it's an information situation and the fist sentence is in plain form?
In formal speech it would be something like this:

  漢字が読めますが、漢字が書けません。

In informal speech, what would the が become? (Without using でも)

  漢字が読める＿＿、漢字が書けない。


texts: Introducing an indirect quotation with と

texts:
I find it difficult to translate Japanese indirect quotations into my own language  partly because of different grammatical patterns and verb conjugation altogether; for example, what about this sentence:

  (お見舞いかたがた) 久しぶりに故郷の話でもしてこようと思い立った.
  ???? 'It sprang to my mind/I decided to speak about my hometown after such a long time'

I have tons of phrases with such construction. How do you guys go about figuring out the meaning?


texts:
As we know this kanji means "divide / part / minute / understand" and many other meanings but these are the main meanings .. and I can understand the first two because they are related to the etymology of the kanji but I can't understand the meanings "minute" and "understand"...

I read before something like "because it meant part and minute is part of the hour it also meant minute", but I think this is not a clear explanation, because for example second is a part of the minute and the hour is a part of the day so why does this kanji especially mean 'minute'?

And for the last meaning I didn't find any explanation .. how does this kanji mean "understand"?


texts: Often I see people write urusai to mean annoying, and I've also seen meiwaku, but I was wondering if there was an adjective closer to meaning annoying. Mendokusai means bothersome, but in a different sense, right?


texts: I would like to know if わきみち wakimichi 【脇道 · わき道】 is common. It's my understanding that it means "side street" or "alley".


texts:
So I know that when an i-adjective like 速い becomes an adverb to modify a verb you have to change the い to く, like 速く走る (to run quickly).

I'm having trouble understanding the grammar in 強くありたい. I know it means 'I want to be strong' but shouldn't 強く modify ありたい like the example above? I want to be/to exist/to live strongly instead of wanting to posses the characteristic of being a strong person.


texts:
Ａ「お宅のこうちゃん、薬飲まないの？」
  Ｂ「そうなの。あの子、（　　　）、いやがって口を開けないのよ。」
  １　飲むことにしても　　２　飲むつもりでも
  ３　飲ませたつもりでも　４　飲ませようとしても

I chose ３　飲ませたつもりでも. The correct answer is ４　飲ませようとしても. I think

  Ｂ「そうなの。あの子、（飲ませたつもりでも）、いやがって口を開けないのよ。」

means "I planned to make him drink it, but he hates it, and I can't open his mouth.", while

  Ｂ「そうなの。あの子、（飲ませようとしても）、いやがって口を開けないのよ。」

means "I try to make him drink it, but he hates it, and I can't open his mouth." In English, these both sound fine to me, so I don't understand why ３　飲ませたつもりでも is wrong.

I realized maybe the reason is Ａ is using the present tense, 薬飲まないの？, so using the past tense, 飲ませたつもりでも, is wrong. Is that why?


texts: What does this mean? Friend gave this on a piece of paper, and wanted me to translate this: こんな憂鬱なバレンタインは初めてやワクワクイべントのはずなのに!

texts:
(I was unsure of the fourth and fifth character).

I'm fairly certain that I read it correctly, except for the fifth character. The fifth character in the text looked very similar to that but it looked like there was a bottom (almost-) horizontal stroke going from left to right, but I couldn't find a character more similar to it.

I think it means something like: Valentine's day is always depressing, but this one should be the most exciting day

or the opposite:
It's the first Valentine's day that is depressing, and it's supposed to be an exciting day


texts: Term for English heading and Japanese body

texts:
There seems to be a tendency to have a heading (or emphasized text) in English, but the body of the text in Japanese.

For example, Tokyo train stations have posters with Saving Electricity in English, and the body in Japanese, and this anti-groping poster only has "NO" in English (which would only make sense if it's adding emphasis rather than informing an English-only reader), and this is an apparent example of English being used as a heading or for emphasis.

Assuming that the English isn't for the benefit of foreigners, is there a term (either Japanese or English) for such English text?


texts: What is the meaning of 選任 in the following sentence?

texts:
I am translating a Japanese business document and unable to understand a kanji.

  取締役７名選任の件

取締役７名 is 7 directors, の件 is about, I am unable to understand this kanji 選任. My search led me to some answers Such as "Haruka" and "Creation of a proxy for the governor", but I do not what to make of it. Please help.


texts: If speaking to a family member (who you haven't seen for a long time, say over the phone and you don't know who you're talking to), will dochirasama desu ka sound too polite, or is it okay to just say dare desu ka?


texts: How many よろしくお願いします to say during job interview?

texts:
Let's say I have an interview with 3 people. Each interviewer does self-introduction followed by よろしくお願いします. When they say it I say it too, kind of, in response. Then I say my self-introduction and say the phrase. Then we start to discuss different topics and sometimes I feel it is a right moment to say it again.

My question is when is the right time to say it? Do I say it each time interviewers say it? Do I say it only at the end of my self-introduction or it does not matter and I can say it whenever I feel like it without any penalties?

よろしくお願いします!


texts: I've seen both こんばんわ and こんばんは used; which is correct here? If we interpret the は as the topic particle, は would seem correct, but it seems that わ is used quite frequently anyway...


texts:
On a recent question, 非回答者さん wrote the following comment:

Tokyoites say ごめんください all the time when entering another person's home. I cannot even think of another phrase that could replace it.

Another user was surprised and asked a follow-up question on chat:

Don't people use お邪魔します too when entering another people's house?

They do seem rather similar, so I thought I would ask about them here:
What exactly is the difference between ごめんください and お邪魔します？


texts: オタクの僕の弟 - Does the "otaku" refer to me or my brother?

texts:
In the sentence オタクの俺の弟がこんなに友達が少ない訳が(ry (which is the name of the third episode of 旦那が何を言っているかわからない件), does the "otaku" refer to boku or otouto?

In general is AのBのC、always interpretable as （AのB)のC as well as Aの（BのC) and one has to infer the intended meaning by the context? Furthermore, can these possibilities be distinguished by intonation (as in English)?


texts: に and で usage help for these two sentences

texts:
Sentence 1: テーブルに料理を並べました。

Sentence 2: 公園に花が咲いています。

To my understanding, I thought that で should be the right particle for both sentences instead of に. My rationale is that both sentences show action that should be conducted AT the table and park respectively (i.e. sentence 2 - flower blooms IN the park not TO the park)
Could anyone explain why に is preferred instead? Thank you!


texts: Question about で in this sentence: 今日だけは悲しいままでいさせてほしい。

texts:
I saw this sentence, but I'm not sure what the で particle is doing in it. Everything else is fine, and I can make out what the sentence says pretty easily, but it's bugging me that I don't know specifically what the で is doing.

Thanks.


texts:
Sample sentences from A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar page 270:

A: ちょっと話がしたいんですが。
B: じゃ、コーヒーを飲みながら話しましょう。
C: じゃ、話しながらコーヒーを飲みましょう。

It states that B is an acceptable response to A but C is not, but I cannot understand why. The action is the same right? You will talk while drinking coffee. Both B and C look the same to me because you will still talk to each other no matter the concurrent action you do.
Another question: do I always need a direct object? I wrote "私は本を読みながらかきます" and my teacher told me to add a direct object for かきます - is it really needed?


texts: Looking at examples on weblio, it looks like maybe 持ち込む is more for things and 持ってくる is for bringing people along with you, etc?


texts: How do you say 'close' as in a close contest?

texts:
When I play sports in Japan I hear おしい！a lot when for example a shot is almost in, but just out, or if you just about lose a closely contested point or game.

Is there a way to say a match or game was close without including the dissapointment connotation of おしい　(dissapointing in the dictionary)?


texts: Meaning of phrase 「古く懐かしい歌のように、傍にいてほしい」

texts:
I'm a bit confused about the bolded part in the following passage(partly monologue). Is のように shows that 「傍にいてほしい｛スタンド・バイ・ミー｝」 is the part from the song?

  Like in the old, nostalgic song, 'Stand by me'.

Or the speaker says that he want Ayane to be with him like the old, nostalgic song?

  嫌だ。それは絶対に嫌だ。野犬に遭遇した時のことを思い出せ。目の前であやなが食い殺されるという恐怖、絶望ーーあれを思い出せ。

  ただ、傍にいたかった。古く懐かしい歌のように、傍にいてほしい｛スタンド・バイ・ミー｝。

  そんな些細な願いを、眼前の獣が踏みにじろうとしている。


texts: What reading would I use for 街 in fictional place names?

texts:
I'm reading a web novel and the author made up a nickname for a very rundown area of the city the characters live in:

  貧困街

There's no furigana so I'm not sure of the reading, but my guess is "Hinkongai" (ひんこんがい)  so "gai" rather than "Machi" reading.

Is my assumption correct? If it is does it mean fictional place names using the 街 kanji as a suffix will always be pronounced "gai"?


texts: 上位互換　下位互換　後方互換　前方互換 differences

texts:
I've seen some conflicting examples for these, so I want to make sure I understand the differences.

Excel 2018 は後方互換性をもつ (is backward compatible) if it can open a file made in Excel 2017
Excel 2017 は前方互換性をもつ (is forward compatible) if it can open a file made in Excel 2018

Excel 2018 ver 2.00 は上位互換性をもつ (is backward compatible) if it can open a file created in Excel 2018 ver 1.00
Excel 2018 ver 1.00 は下位互換性をもつ (is forward compatible) if it can open a file created in Excel 2018 ver 2.00

is this right?


texts: Meaning of はじめからわかってるだろ

texts:
Looking for some helping understanding the end of the below (more in context, rather than literally what is said). I can see how it was translated but I am unsure what is correct. To provide some context, the protagonist has been cross-dressing (unwillingly) when his club were carrying out certain activities and he has acquired quite a fan base with very few people outside his club knowing this it is him. Now in return for allowing their club to keep their club room the chairman wants to have a personal photo session (個人撮影会).

  みんなが俺を見ている。

  というか、視線で恫喝している。

  まさか断らねえよな、と言っている。

  「で、でもほら……今日、汗かいちゃったし、恥ずかしいな」

  「むしろ喜ばれるかと」

  「事務所通してもらわないと」

  「いいよー、行っといでー」

  「いや、つーか、脱いだら男だってバレるし」

  「そこがいいんだってさ」

  「その委員長、終わってるじゃん」

  「はじめからわかってるだろ」

  総括すると、どうやら俺は売られたらしい。

The bold line was translated as "He probably knew from the beginning." (i.e. the chairman knew that it was him from the beginning) however I am not quite sure this is the correct translation of what was said. I would have expected this to be phrased differently if she was saying that e.g. a sentence using バレている, 気づいている etc. To me I interpreted it as a response to the previous comment. Could anyone help clarify the correct understanding?


texts:
Where does ～げ come from?  For example in

  地震の影響で工場を閉じることになったと説明する社長は悔しげだった。

it is supposed to mean that we get a slight impression that the manager was "regretful" while explaining why the factory had to stop.


texts:
I came across this sentence in the Japanese Try! book and I could not make out of it why の was used, what was the purpose. I understand の can act as a modifier but 日本ん on it's own is already a noun.
日本のはちょっと高いですが、とてもいいです。
Just saying 日本はちょと高いですが、とてもいいです　is more straightforward and simpler. I don't get what の adds.
Thanks!


texts: How is the と particle working in 「意外と早かったね」?

texts:
Here is the sentence in question

  意外と早かったね。

The speaker is saying this in what I would take as a form of astonishment at how fast the students moved the wooden logs out of the warehouse.

In the sentence is a noun, 意外, meaning "unexpectedly" or "surprising", and an adjective 早かった "was fast". And a sentence ending particle. Lastly, the unsaid subject is the activity of moving the logs.

I'm unsure of what the と particle is doing here though. This isn't a conditional and I know that と is used for quoting things. I also know that those things don't necessarily have to be said either. They can be thoughts, sounds made by actions or the manner in which something is done. Would this be a case in which the と particle is "encapsulating" the manner in which something was done? If so, what purpose is と serving? It seems to be used in an adverbial sense. I don't believe this to be と's "and" or "with" usage for keeping a reciprocal relationship with the subject either.

Any answers would be appreciated. I have terribly hard time with と's quotation uses so if anyone has any good resources on the subject, please link them.