texts:
One of the things I struggle the most sometimes is finding an expression in Japanese that equals to the one I'm used to use in English.

In this case, I was talking in english to this girl and she transcribed what I said to Japanese, and I wanted to say "That's exactly what I meant".

I feel like そうだよ is a bit vague in this case, so I came up with:

  僕はそれって意味しましたね

but now I have this gut feeling that I'm using Japanese to express an english expression, therefore she'll maybe not understand it.

So, is there a better way to put it?


texts:
Why does 腰抜け mean coward?

I see 腰 (waist) + 抜 (missing/losing) = 腰抜け (coward), but I fail to see how they add up.


texts:
context is about drugging someone up to get them to more lively again for sexual purposes

やがて反応が磨耗し、クスリを用いて復調したと思ったら明後日の方向に電波を飛ばしまくりときては、単に溜まったから排泄するという感覚の方が近くなる。
before long her responses became dull, we used the drug, thinking that it would get her back to form.......  "電波" are recklessly fired two days into the future, on top of that, because the "電波"  and simply collected , a feeling of excrement is impending.

Honestly, i have no idea what this saying in the 2nd part, there some strange euphemism here?
i've read this

この場合は「追加される」という意味で捉えると良いでしょう。先にある情報に後から来て加わるということです。

is this appropriate to apply to this sentence?


texts: What is the name of "grass" used to garnish a bento (takeout meal)?

texts: I have a piece of "grass paper"? included in my meal, want to know it's purpose. It isn't edible, and could be a choking hazard. I also don't know what it is called.


texts: Can we use a comma to separate the noun of a relative clause verb?

texts:
「ひとはだれしもが、心に灯台を持っている。その光に従って生きるだけで幸福になれる」と信じる著者が綴った、奇跡のファンタジー体験ノベル！

Is the comma after 綴った separating the 奇跡のファンタジー体験ノベル from 綴った, or the sentence ends in 綴った?
Also, how can I translate 奇跡のファンタジー体験ノベル?
A fantasy experience novel of/about a miracle...? Is the order after の the same as in English?


texts: What does the Japanese diminutive suffix "chan" indicate?


texts:
皆さん、こんにちは！

Now, I've been reading 竹取物語 and have come across (another) set of symbols that I've yet to understand. Given the following sentence.

  かくて翁やう／＼豐になり行く。

What does the sudden 「／＼」 mean?


texts: Does word order change the meaning of a sentence?

texts:
I'm trying to figure out if word order effects the meaning of a sentence. I've learnt that verbs should always come last and heard that the order of other words in the sentence isn't that strict as the subject and object can be determined from the particle. In contrast I know in English the subject and object is determined from word order.
So are these two sentences "I bought a dictionary" the same:

私は辞書{じしょ}を買い{かい}ました。

辞書{じしょ}を私は買い{かい}ました。


texts: Difference in use of words implying "decrease" or "decline"

texts:
For example, what is the difference between 減少（する） and 削減（する）? Would prefer an answer in English.

And also which one is more correct? この株価は３年前からずっと減少している or この株価は３年前からずっと削減している。

Also, are there other ways to say reduce or decrease?


texts: What does というのは mean right after a name?

texts:
The passage I'm reading is as follows:

  芳山（yoshiyama:one of the characters)くんというのは、やさしくてかわいいけど、少し[母性愛]{ぼせいあい}[過多]{かた}なんじゃないか？

What does toiunoha mean in this context? It doesn't make much sense to me.


texts:
I wanted to express the idea "performing to one's full abilities at work", and the obvious thing to write was 仕事に[能力]{のうりょく}を[生]{い}かす. Indirect object before direct object. But a look on google indicates 能力を仕事に生かす is a much more popular word ordering. Is there any reason for this?

Also, is 仕事で能力を生かす admissible? (Treating work as a location now).


texts:
Recently I read the following exchange:

A: 何か食べたい？
B: お肉
A: 肉か
朝から肉ねえ。
俺は冷蔵庫を物色する。
案の定肉は切らしていた
A: 昨晩、使い切ったからな。ソーセージもベーコンもハムすら無い
B: お肉無い？
A: ああ。無い。肉どころかハムやソーセージなどの燻製ものすら無い

Judging from it, there seems to be a large distinction drawn between 肉 and 燻製. Specifically, I'm wondering if in Japanese it's always the case that when you say 肉を食べたい you mean that you want to eat non-preserved meats.


texts: Specific differences to consider between any individual katakana and hiragana?

texts:
I already know hiragana and I am teaching myself katakana now. Both are essentially two different versions of each sound, but I am wondering if there are actually any functional differences between the two. I know what each is used for (mainly native vs. foreign words, plus others) and I obviously know they (mostly) look different.

My question is if any individual katakana are used differently than hiragana, for example differences in pronunciation, characters that aren't really used, or ones that act differently in certain scenarios. A list of any such differences would be useful to refer to as to learn them properly and avoid making incorrect assumptions based on my knowledge of hiragana.

This question can work both ways, also asking for any differences in hiragana from katakana.


texts: How to say "I want to see A doing this"?

texts:
I want to say "I want to see A doing this" to my Japanese friend,
I know that

これ = This
やっている = doing
見たい = want to see

but I'm not sure how should I put them together?
I tried researching online and came up with

Aさんがやっているを見たい。

but I don't think it is correct...
Edit
YES the suggested question has a clear answer. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a way to construct such sentences, you would not really search "How to use の?" since it would imply that you know the nominaliser is required in the first place?
In this case, I think the question that should be considered duplicate should be like "How to use の in the sentence?"


texts: How would you say it in Japanese? 「母みたいでよかった」？If not, then how?


texts:
I'm in Tokyo. I want to ask my friend if he's coming to Tokyo. In English it is natural to say "Will you come to Tokyo?", not "Will you go to Tokyo", as I use my own location as the reference point. But how is this in Japanese? Do I say

  東京に来ますか

or

  東京に行きますか。


texts:
According to ALC ともあれ とかく they look pretty similar and express "anyway, anyhow". I came across the following excercise where you need to choose between those two:

結果はどうかわからないがともあれ・ともすれば・とかく・なお試験は終わった。

Apparently the right answer is ともあれ


texts:
I was trying to find ways to translate people's names into 当て字, and came across this website that seems to list 4 types of 当て字:
暴走族風【ぼうそうぞくふう】, 宝塚風【たからづかふう】, お子様風【おこさまふう】, 難読文字【なんどくもじ】
The best translation I can make is "Biker-style", "Takarazuka-style", "Childlike-style", and "Difficult Words". Are these 4 standard types of 当て字, or is it something the author of the website made up himself?


texts: Distinction between 地平線 【ちへいせん】 and 水平線 【すいへいせん】

texts:
This sentence comes from goo here:
https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/en/見える/

地平線上に一隻の船が見えてきた。
A boat appeared on the horizon.

When I was attempting to assign the characters their correct readings,

ちへいせんじょうにいっせきのふねがみえてきた

I found on wwwjdic that "horizon" is two words in Japanese:

地平線 【ちへいせん】 horizon (related to land)
水平線 【すいへいせん】 horizon (related to sea or lakes)

My question: Is goo wrong, or can a ship appear on a (land) horizon?


texts: What is the exact difference between the particles が and は?

texts: I understand that が is meant to mark the subject and that は is the particle placed after the topic, but still after a heck ton of research, I haven't been able to truly comprehend the meaning of both these particles, and in particular, the difference between the subject and the topic of a sentence. For example, I understand why you would place は after 私 in a sentence like, "私は卵を食べた", but what if there is a sentence like "today, I will eat fish", would you translate that as "kyo wa, watashi wa sakana wo tabemasu" (I know that usually "わたし" is omitted from the sentence, but for other instances, I keep it. But is "kyo" the subject? Please explain to me!


texts: What do people mean when they just type こん？

texts: I see it chat rooms all the time and I have no clue what it means.


texts:
I came across a post on this site saying that :

  私もです

For example was not correct grammatically, and that instead, we had to use

  私でもある。

I'm very confused now even though I know 私もです is used a lot, I don't know wether it's correct or not.

Saying 私でもある makes me feel like I'm writing a book or a poem because of である. And on the other hand 私もです sounds very natural and correct to me because です is basically a contraction of であります, so we could say でもあります but not something like でもす so i feel like it's obvious that も comes before です.

So to me でもある is used just like である, but with the particle も added meaning "also, too", so mostly used in writing.
And もです is used like です, in everydays life just to express a simple "Me too"

But after seeing those posts saying that もです is grammatically not correct, I wondered if もである with the particle も being before である is correct.


texts: What were the recent heavy rains in Kyushu called?

texts: What were the recent heavy rains in Japan called? Where the terms tsuyu or ooame used to describe the rain?


texts: 燻る｛いぶる｝、燻る｛くすぶる｝、燻る｛くゆる｝ - difference?

texts: Is there any semantic difference between the three? Which is used more often? Is there any nuance to picking one over another (formality, sounding more literary etc.)?


texts: Can someone help me with this sentence, please?

texts:
もっとも……洞窟の中にいたとしても、冷静に考えりゃ無事にはすまないんだが、それでも外よりはマシだっただろう。

もっとも……洞窟の中にいたとしても would be "Even if you are in the cave..." and それでも外よりはマシだっただろう be "It would be better than being outside".

But I don't understand this part very well: 冷静に考えりゃ無事にはすまないんだが. I know that 冷静に考えりゃ is "thinking calmly", but 無事にはすまない confuses me. I think "すまない" must be another word, because "sorry" doesn't make sense, but I don't recognize it without kanji.


texts:
Could someone explain to me the difference between 経費 and 出費?
They're both translated as expenses, however they don't seem entirely interchangeable.
経費 seems to be used when talking about deductible expenses (taxes, your work etc...)
出費 seems to convey the idea of burden?
So when I'd like to say that the car is a huge expense; depending on the meaning, I could use both?
(I know that one is strictly a noun, whereas the other can be used with suru)


texts:
The following is from a worksheet on noun modification:

文があいまいにならないように気をつけましょう。

茶色い目のキレイな少女

→ 茶色い目がキレイな少女（キレイな茶色の目をした少女）
→ 茶色い目の、キレイな少女（茶色い目で、ルックスがキレイな少女）
→ 茶色い、目のキレイな少女（目がキレイで、肌が茶色い少女）

I'm not 100% about what is being shown here but I think it's saying that 茶色い目のキレイな少女 is a bit ambiguous and the three sentences that follow aren't as ambiguous?
I'd really appreciate it if somebody could tell me what's being highlighted here.


texts:
In this funny scene from the anime Kiniro Mosaic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIauXFVABIQ), the character Karen is listing peoples' names to get familiar with them and says, "陽子、忍に、えっと…"

What is the reasoning behind the に after Shinobu's name? Wouldn't と make more sense? Karen is British, so did they insert that just to make her sound less fluent in Japanese?


texts:
I'm trying to translate a song lyric that says

  今日という日は 過去 前例のない
  僕たちの誓い日和だよ

And I get a dictionary result at Jisho for 今日という日 as something like every day; all day but that doesn't make any sense to me. I can't muddle thru it on my own and I'm hoping someone here can explain was this phrase means. The best I got is "today like every day" but my Japanese isn't very good.


texts:
What is that こう in

  何ていうかこう…

This is said by a character after being complimented. Apart from こう it's

  what do I say

or

  I don't know what to say

basically the character is at a loss for words. But I have no idea why does he append that こう at the end.


texts:
Is it true that until recently women were expected to drop だ, ending a sentence with よ? For example:

  今日、何曜日？

  土曜日よ。

If it is true, was it thought to sound "gentler"? Why has this changed?


texts: What is the difference between 行きます and 行ってきます (ました、ません etc)?

texts:
When talking with a friend in Japanese, they said "行ってないです", they cannot explain why it's different from "行きません/でした".

As far as I'm aware, I'm not sure what the difference would be in terms of it meaning "I did not go" or "I have not been".

I understand that the 'te' form can modify a sentence to extend it or conjugate to てもいい etc, but in this context, what difference does it make between the two? There's been a couple of times like this I haven't understood the 'te' form fully. Any help would be much appreciated! :)

Thanks very much,
Mat.


texts: How would you write the name Anibal in Japanese?

texts:
So my name is written Anibal, I'm from Brazil, just so you know.
I'd like to know how would you write it in japanese, I'm in doubt between A-ni-ba-ru and A-ni-ba-e-ru. Any further explanation would be much appreciated.


texts: Does any Japanese dialect use the schwa?

texts: Pronunciation of [ə] is notoriously difficult for Japanese speakers, and while trying to communicate its importance in languages such as English and French, I started to wonder: do any dialects of Japanese employ the schwa, or some approximation of it?


texts: Usage of ★●■▲◆▼ shapes in different combinations

texts:
I'm aware that "●▲■" is a famous drawing from a Zen Buddhist priest by the name of Gibon Sengai. This drawing can be interpreted in different ways but the most common is that the circle represents reality/mind, the triangle represents a human, and the circle the earth. Other definitions are related to design(1,2); as placeholders(each of the singer's names is represented by a shape). But I don't think this applies to this context. Also, the meaning of these shapes discussed here doesn't apply in this case either since there are other symbols used too (★,◆,▼).

Some examples of titles of threads from 2ch/5ch:

○△□茨城のおいしいパン屋さん・４店目□△○
●■▲新型インフルエンザの初期症状
●■▲白山信仰を熱く語る
●▲■HP公開☆Windows98SEで鯖立て☆PWS●▲■
★NTT系列●▲■おまとめ請求●▲■請求一本化★
■■■　 米国のエイズ感染者数は2000万人以上　■
●▲■語彙は力なり その22◆▲●
●▲■未だにＧショッカー＠頑張る■▲●

At first I thought the only combination being used was ●▲■, but as you can see in the examples there are different combinations like ●■▲ and ■▲●, so I guess the order is of the shapes matter.
In cases like ex 5 the ★ and ●▲■ appear to be used as brackets and the order of ●▲■ is not reversed. In other cases it's reversed like in 8. In ex 2 and 3 they don't appear to be used as brackets.

Is there any special meaning of using this characters in different combinations? (mostly in thread titles in 2ch?


texts:
彼らは決して理解してくれないし、きみがなにをしようとショックを受けるだろう。

What's the explanation of this structure?


texts: Meaning of Mako variant Kanji from Final Fantasy 7

texts:
What does 魔晄 really mean and how is it read?

The FF VII Wiki lists Mako (Kanji is 魔晄) as meaning "magic light". I am assuming the furigana for this Kanji is 魔{ま}晄{こう} based on the English word Mako.

From my jisho search, it appears this Kanji 魔晄 does not exists in the system? I did not get any search results back. I did get several search results back for 魔{ま} which has many meanings relating to magic, spirits, sorcery, evil spirit etc. based on kanji and context. Searching for 晄 on jisho I get no results.


texts: What is a better translation for 「自分だけバカを見る」?

texts:
I have this phrase in my JLPT textbook, as one example of the use of バカ:

  自分{じぶん}だけバカを見{み}る

The translation offered in the book is:

  Waste time and money among others

The English is both awkward and lacks context, so it doesn't help me understand the Japanese at all. The only thing I gain from it is that my own somewhat literal translation is almost certainly wrong. I would translate the Japanese as something like "look only at oneself (to a ridiculous degree)".

Is this some kind of idiomatic usage? What exactly does it mean and why?


texts: "...there is a very peculiar phenomenon of particle duplications in Japanese" (Kuno 1973)

texts:
Apparently, in "The Structure of the Japanese Language" chapter 8 page 119, Kuno asserts that the following is grammatical:

  John wa Tokyo ni ni wa itta ga, Osaka ni ni wa ikanakatta

I have a few questions. Firstly, what triggers this duplication? Secondly, what difference would it make if we were to replace にには with には? Kuno does not really go into too much detail with regards to this particle duplication phenomenon; however, he provides quite a few examples of this phenomenon, but nothing more than that. I have not seen or heard this type of construction before, but I would appreciate any leads (perhaps a relevant paper) greatly.

Update: Kuno says that the presence of は triggers the duplication (?)


texts:
I am trying to remember if the following sentences have the meaning of "it is a custom/habit."

(1)「日本では、家に入る前に、靴を脱ぐものです。」
(2)「日本業界では、自己紹介をする時に、名刺を交換するものです。」
(3)「日本社会において、３月の１４日に、男は女の子にチョコを上げるものです。」

(1) "Taking one's shoes off before entering a house is something they do in Japan."
(2) "In a formal business situation in Japan, people always exchange business cards when they do their self-introduction."
(3) "In Japan, on March 14, men give chocolate to women."

I am trying to think of how to say "something is a habit". Has anyone seen this grammatical structure (verb+ものです。), or something similar, that has my desired meaning? At the least, I am 97% sure I've heard the sentence "家に入る前に、靴を脱ぐものです".


texts: Should you spell it 余り when a noun or suffix and あまり every time else?

texts:
Are there rules or guidelines on when and where to use the kanji spelling for this word? From my own observations, it seems like it is spelled 余り when used as a noun meaning remainder or leftovers:

飲んだ余りを捨てる。
an act of tossing out the remains of drinks

Or as a suffix to a counter meaning more than that amount:

私の両親の家は、ここから電車で2時間余り離れています。
My parent's house is just over 2 hours away from here by train.

In it's other uses it seems to be spelled あまり.
Indeed, in this other post, there are some examples of this. And I also realize that some kanji words are written in kana, but this seems to be a little more rigid than personal preference or maybe I'm reading too much into it.


texts:
夕暮れで 二人 少しずつ見えなくなっていって
In this case I suppose it 見えなく(invisible) + 成っていって（becoming）.

But in this case below how would it work?

  サヨナラ 会えなくなったって 僕らは続きがあるから


texts: Does くだく mean “destroy”? What does いい mean at the beginning of a line?

texts:
Would the following be a good translation of the text in the above two speech bubbles?

  "Everything in this universe is composed of atoms. Destroying
  something is equivalent to destroying the atoms that compose it"

Also, I'm especially interested in knowing if the Japanese text is implying that atoms are completely destroyed/annihilated or if the atoms are separated or pulverized (but not literally/completely destroyed). I'm having troubles on my own... =/

Here is a transcription of the two speech bubbles, in case you can't see the images:

  「この
  　大宇宙にあるもの
  　すべてが
  　原子でできている
  　のよ」

  「いい　破壊する
  　ということの
  　根本は　原子を
  　くだく
  　ということなの」


texts:
I'm trying to figure out what this sentence below means, but I'm having trouble with the には after the dictionary form of いる.

  もう１匹居るには居るんじゃが…。

I've read Dictionary form of verb followed by に, but my best attempt then becomes "In order for one creature to already exist, it exists, but...", which still doesn't quite make sense.

What is the function of には here? And what would be the best translation for this sentence? I believe that じゃ is 関西弁 for a state-of-being. Is this right?


texts:
Lately, I've been spending a lot of focus in how to translate certain verbs in the form ～ている. Mostly comes from the fact that, depending on the verb, it can have a meaning of prolonged action (e.g. 食べている, I'm eating) or the result of a change of state (e.g. 結婚している, I'm married).
This is fairly easy for certain common verbs, but it gets complicated for others (especially when certain verbs can take both stances, e.g. 分かる). For all of those experiencing the same problem, I was glad to have found the fairly well known book A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. On its second annex, it features a detailed classification of each type of verb, along with plenty of examples (images of the annex bellow).

Unfortunately, this is just a small list of the most common Japanese verbs. I searched the internet for a more extensive list, but couldn't find it.
Therefore, I wanted to know if someone knows of an extensive list of verbs classified in this manner. I know that this has all the flags to be an "open question" but I feel like it's something fairly important to completely understand the ～ている form. I'm a bit surprised I didn't find much info on this though. Jisho does not classify the verbs in this manner. Wikipedia explains each classification but does not provide an extensive list. Most other guides (e.g. sci.lang.japan, An Introduction to Japanese Syntax, Grammar & Language and Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese) don't seem to mention this either.
Am I the only one finding this classification useful and craving for more?
Note: This classification is unrelated with 一段 and 五段 classification present in posts like this and this.


texts: Was the Japanese reading "raito" for moon, ever been used before Death Note came to existence?

texts: The only time I have ever seen this reading for moon was with the Japanese pronunciation of the Death Note character, Light, who's first name is written with the word moon. I want to know if the reading "raito" for moon was used before Death Note was created or did the author specifically made up the reading to name their character after?


texts: I need help translating as I'm Confused with かのような

texts:
So I'm trying to translate a sentence that contains the following hiragana at the end of the first part:

  かのような

and I'm not sure if its 'kano - particle' followed by 'like/similar to', or if かのような means "as if" according to this link: how to translate 動詞+かのような+名詞?

Edit: for contextual purposes, the sentence that came before the one I need help with is the following.

  女の方は黙{だま}っている.

Which I translated as: 'The woman is silent.'

The full sentence I'm trying to translate is

  品定めをするかのような, 射{い}貫{ね}くような眼差{まなざ}しをこちらに向けながら.

I roughly translated the second part:

  射{い}貫{ね}くような眼差{まなざ}しをこちらに向けながら

as

'to shoot a penetrating, pointed gaze this way/at me."

but its the first part I'm having much trouble with.

I know that  品定め means "evaluate", and that をする is either a wo/o particle followed by する (which can mean a lot of things but I'm going with 'to judge as being/to do') or some odd verb-no-particle combination of 'を' & 'する', but the rest of the translation depends on what かのような means in the context of this sentence.


texts: Question about the usage of もの and こと in Shinkanzen Master N2 Grammar

texts:
This question is from one of the practice tests in the Shikanzen Master N2 Grammar.

あの人が( ) 。遊んでばかりですよ。
a) まじめなことですか
b) まじめなものですか
c) まじめなはずですか
d) まじめというものですか

I answered c as my thought process was that it says something along the lines of: "Was that guy supposed to be serious? He is playing around all day!". However, the correct answer is b. In the first place, I don't understand what the meaning of the sentence is. Additionally, to solve this question, the key seems to be the difference between もの and こと, but since the meaning is not crystal clear to me, I went for the other option. I was wondering why b is the correct answer and what the sentence actually means.


texts: Is it a coincidence that element 至 is in both 屋 and 室?  How is 至 related to the concept of "room" or "house"?


texts: When to use "どうぞよろしくお願{ねが}い致{いた}します。" in a greeting?

texts:
Once the context is that we are about to part ways, when I want to say "goodbye" to someone in maximum 敬語{けいご}, I say「どうぞよろしくお願い致します。それでは、失礼いたします。」.

Is that usage of 「どうぞよろしくお願い致します」 correct?
Is 「どうぞよろしくお願い申し上げます」 also ok? Is the nuance different?


texts: How would you ask 'What would you like me to call you?'

texts:
I know you could use 'おなまえ は なん ですか？' to ask somebody's name, however, what polite phrase could you use/listen for when you're unsure of what to call others/others are unsure of what to call you? Is there anything close to:

'What would you like me to call you?'
'What should I call you?'
'What would you like to be called?'
etc?


texts:
あなたがなにを見つけようと、それは途方もなく危険なものにきまっている。大勢の人が私達を殺そうとしてるんだから

Usually theres a shiyou after the volitonal form if it's used like that, but why not here, what does it mean ? Because the to ends a clause it seems like a condition marker, but wouldn't it be みつけると in that case?


texts: お正月には「初詣」といって…grammar

texts:
In my text book I have a sentence I’m struggling with.
The paragraph reads
「日本人の生活を見ると、神棚と仏壇を祭る他にも、もっと色々な宗教的習慣や行事があることに気がつくだろう。まず、お正月には「初詣」といって、人々は神社やお寺にお参りに行き、お守りやお札をもらう。
The part that gets me is how after 初詣 there’s no というの or something I would have expected. Instead といって is written.
Can someone explain please!
Thanks


texts: How can one say "Where are you from from"?

texts:
In America, if one is a visible minority, even if one is born/raised in America the following conversation might happen:

A: Where are you from?
B: New York
A: No, where are you from from?

In this situation, "from from" is supposed to indicate they want to know what your ethnic origin is/where you and/or your parents originally immigrated from. For some more context, you can see the first twenty seconds of this video or this article.
I was wondering how one might replicate that conversation with that nuance in Japanese (replacing New York with Tokyo and assuming that B is a visible minority in Japan), but I'm struggling with the last line.

A. 出身はどちらですか？
B. 東京です
A: 本当の出身を聞きたいのです！

Any ideas? Creative suggestions that don't exactly translate the dialogue, but capture the awkwardness of the situation for person B are very welcome. Or maybe this concept is just too difficult to explain simply?
EDIT: My purpose in asking this question isn't to actually ask someone this question. It's to try to, via a translated dialogue, explain this situation to someone in Japanese. And hopefully without having to go on a long winded explanation of American culture.


texts: what different between よほど、困ったのだろう " and "さぞ、困ったのだろう"


texts: Why does ７時「七時」use "しちじ" and not use "ななじ" ?


texts: Meaning of 〜の前では in the following sentence

texts:
A boxer is watching the super featherweight champion fighting and praises his speed:

  あの速さにダメージを与えるため〝芯〟を射抜くのは[８]【フル】ラウンドでも難しい…！！ ベルトをとった あの王者の…　武器【スピード】の前では。

Considering the context, I think that in the second sentence he is saying that what allowed the champion to win the belt is his speed. Could 〜の前では have the meaning of "thanks to"? Otherwise, I don't know how to interpret it here. Is it a grammar structure I am unaware of? Has something been omitted? Is the sentence incomplete? Thank you for your help!


texts: How would you say "Music I Like"? (Using Nouns In Relative-Clauses)

texts:
Given that Japanese uses a noun to express that something is liked, how would you use it in  relative clause?

I was trying to write "Touhou Music I Like" in Japanese for a YouTube playlist, but suddenly realized I simply didn't know how to even begin writing it, and had to settle for 東方の音楽 instead.

So ya, can't use 東方の音楽が好きだ私, so what would I use? Please explain in a way that can be extrapolated to apply to other scenarios too, btw.


texts:
I'm on chapter eight of Genki 1 and I'm struggling with a couple of pieces of dialogue and their translations.

Here's the first:

  たけしさん、あしたみんなでバーベキューをしませんか。

The given translation is "Takeshi, would you like to have a barbecue party tomorrow?"

My best effort of a direct translation is, "Takeshi, would you like to do a barbecue all [together] tomorrow?" I don't see where the reference to "party" is, and I'm confused by the use of "みんな" (which I take to mean "all" or "everyone").

Here's the second:

  [何か]{なにか}[持って]{もって}いきましょうか。

The given translation is "Shall I bring something?"

I'm assuming the root verb being used is 持ってくる, but I can't figure out how it's being conjugated into 持っていき. I'm hoping someone can clear that up.


texts: 「～ようか・～まいか」の後の正確な表現はどれでしょうか？

texts:
新完全マスタN2文法に、この問題があります。

  「親に本当のことを言おうか言うまいか（　　）。」
  a) わからない　b) 3日も考えている　c) 関係ない

どうして (b) が正解ですか、また (a), (c) はどこが間違いですか。

ご覧いただきありがとうございます。


texts:
Both 店 and ショップ translate into English as "shop". For which circumstances would you use each word?

My first assumption was that 店 would be used for more "traditional" shops than ショップ, but when I did a google image search of 店, one of the hits was for Mos Burger.


texts: Particles after time expressions like "三週間"

texts:
I am a beginner in Japanese so I was trying to write some simple sentences to practice my vocabulary and grammar.

I wanted to write the sentence:

  My friend is in Japan for three weeks.

as:

  私の友達が　三週間　日本に　います。

I am unsure if I should put any particle after 三週間 and whether this sentence is grammatically correct at all.


texts: 「チェ」 「ちぇ」 外来語のみ ? -- How old is the interjection 「ちぇっ!」 ? ??

texts:
Why does ちょうし translate to "choushi"?

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C5%8Don   >   Yōon or Youon (拗音?, contracted word or diphthong) is a feature of the Japanese language in which a mora is formed with an added [j] sound, i.e., palatalized.

ちゃ cha　　　 ちゅ chu 　　　ちょ cho

  --- This is odd.  This row doesn't include 「ちぇ」  as in チェ・ゲバラ

Ok, it's explained in the Jp Wikipedia page :

  開拗音 == 開拗音は「あ行」と「わ行」を除く行のい段の仮名1文字に小文字の「ゃ」「ゅ」「ょ」のうちの1文字を付けて仮名2文字で表記される。 なお「シ」、「チ」または「ジ」に「ェ」を付けて表記される「シェ」「チェ」「ジェ」は対立する直音があるのでこれらを拗音に含めるとの考え方もあるが、外来語のみであることや部分的で音韻体系全般にわたるものでないことから拗音に含めない考え方もある。

 but Wait ! , ... 「チェ」「ちぇ」  is in  外来語のみ ? ? ?    --
I find this hard to believe, because (e.g.) a very common interjection is

  ちぇっ!  - ［感］物事がうまくいかなかったときなどに発する声。また、舌打ちをする音。ちぇ。「ちぇっ、しようがないなあ」

Do 「チェ」 「ちぇ」 occur only in 外来語のみ ? ? ?

How old is the interjection  「ちぇっ!」 ? ? ?

( This page doesn't answer my questions: http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/7765065.html )


texts: How do specific characters get included in 囲み文字 and what are the meanings they convey?

texts:
I have this book 「図解でわかる　文字コードのすべて」 which lists many of the Unicode and JIS symbols that one can type. I noticed the section of enclosed alphanumerics (囲み文字). Not all kanji are included in 囲み文字 which leads me to believe that some have special meanings.

For example:

  ㊑ probably stands for 株式会社

  However, I have no clue what ㊯ would indicate or be used for.

Some of them are obvious, yet others are not. Is there a resource that exists for how these 囲み文字 are used along with the context and meaning? Also, how is it that certain characters are chosen to be included in 囲み文字 and others not?


texts: Is there an ambiguity with 初めて in this sentence?

texts:
その映画は日本で初めて公開された。

I think this means:

  This movie was first released in Japan.

However, I was wondering if it could be both understood as "The first release of this movie happened in Japan" (it wasn't released anywhere else before) and "In Japan, this was the first time this movie was released" (it may have been released before in other countries).


texts: I would like to know the definition of this phrase.


texts: 「限定モデル」... Limited edition? Special edition? etc

texts:
So throwing this phrase into GOOG Translate gives me "limited model", I know this phrase is used quite frequently in Japan, but thinking about it a bit realized I have never actually heard "limited model" used back stateside...

So would「限定モデル」be applicable to "limited edition" ("limited edition model"), "special edition" or something else like a nerfed edition?


texts:
What is the difference in カタカナ between ー and ッ? They both seem to indicate a pause of sorts, but ー only appears in カタカナ, but not in ひらがな.

宜しく御願いします！


texts: How would "nihonium" be written in Japanese Kanji?

texts:
Would the character for it involve the radicals for "metal", "sun", and "source"? The few references to it I've seen all use only katakana.

Would such a character have an "archaic" reading of something like ひもとがね in the fashion that 鉄 has the archaic reading of くろがね?


texts: Why is みつぎもの written 賜ぎ物 instead of 貢ぎ物 in this comic?

texts:
I was reading Hunter x Hunter volume 24, when suddenly this thing appeared:

  賜｛みつ｝ぎ物｛もの｝

Just a bit of context: they are trying to infiltrate the enemy's base, and take advantage of one corrupt individual appetite for young women by sending in an undercover team member dressed up as a regular girl. The team leader (who thus sent the girl in) then uses the above phrase to say something along the lines of

  Enjoy your present

I forgot the exact phrase but will add it later if necessary.

My question is why didn't the author use 貢{みつ}ぎ物 / 貢物 but this kanji ? Does it have to do with the current situation the character is in ?

I guess a related question is how do 貢ぐ and 賜る differ in sense ?


texts: What role does よかった play in this exchange?

texts:
It's from twitter.

hetusa: 福岡県筑後、羽犬塚から行方不明になっていた叔母(73才)が発見された、と知らせがありました。
itoi_shigesato: よかった。
hetusa: ありがとうございました

My feeling is that it says something like 'just so'.

Also, it common to respond to よかった with gratitude?


texts: An enemy (a monster) in a game I was reading about is called [時を食らうもの]{ときをくらうもの}, which is translated as "Time Devourer". Is the もの used as sort of a -er suffix, or does it have a different function?


texts: Is just さようなら acceptable as a 'goodbye' in 敬語, or is there a more formal version?


texts: 医者 or 先生？Which is the correct term to address my doctor? I actually received many different responses from chatting with Japanese. Is there a preferred term?


texts:
In my JLPT workbook, it gives these examples to explain the difference between 延{の}びる and 伸{の}びる:

  髪{かみ}は[１]{いっ}か[月]{げつ}に１センチぐらい伸{の}びる。

  会議{かいぎ}はいつも30分{ぷん}ぐらい延{の}びる。

They both mean "stretch", more or less, so I assumed the difference was that 延{の}びる was more about time and space, and 伸{の}びる is more about distance and length.

However, take a look at this practise question:

  １９７２年、東京{とうきょう}から大阪{おおさか}までだった東海道{とうかいどう}新幹線{しんかんせん}は岡山{おかやま}まで____________。

  A　長引{ながひ}いた 　B　広{ひろ}がった 　C　延{の}びた 　D　伸{の}びた

I chose, D, because it was about length.

According to the book, though, the answer is C.

How can I make sense of this answer in light of the example sentences?


texts: I am wondering if it is a necessary skill to learn how to read and write kuzushiji in modern japanese.


texts: Taking an example 食べてあげる. This means to eat for someone else' sake (in favour of someone else). What if I wanted to say I am sorry for eating it, it would be wrong to say 食べてあげてごめん. Is there a word to replace あげる in this case? Something like やがって but the person doing the action is myself (first person).


texts: How does potential form + ように differ to できるように

texts:
How does the structure (potential form + ように) meaning 'in order to do something in the future' differ to できるように ? 'have the ability to do something in the future.

For example:

  たくさんことばが覚えられるように、日本語の本を読んでいます。
  In order to learn a lot of words, I am reading books in Japanese.

How does this differ to:

  たくさんことばが覚えることができるように、日本語の本を読んでいます。

Thank you!


texts: te-form being used two times with the same verb

texts:
I saw the following sentences in a picture (attached to the footnotes) and the way it's written exactly the same:

ありがとうございます
が溢れて溢れて

悲しくて悲しくて
人にお花を買いたいと思う気持ち。

Since it's from a social media, I think the sentence was broken out and a part of it dropped to the following line. But I don't understand the reason why the sentence finished in the te-form and using the same verb two times.

Besides, as you can see, there is a line break between the two sentences, and the person used the te-form for the 悲しい adjective and I don't know whether is connected to the sentence or not, and I don't know if it's being used as an adverb or something else.

The person seemed to be breaking up with someone, because in another sentence that it's not in the picture, they used 別れ.

Thank you.


texts: What is the difference between 脅す, 脅かす, 脅迫する, 脅迫, 脅し

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between 脅す, 脅かす, 脅迫する, 脅迫, 脅し?

How would each one be used in real life?


texts:
What is the meaning of the dot (.) in Japanese dictionaries?
http://tangorin.com/general/%E8%A1%A8

For example:

[あらわ.]{arawa.}す{su}


texts: Is it correct to use adjectives before 限り?

texts:
I'm studying for level N2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test and have a question about 限り.
I find in my book that 限り meaning "as long as" can be preceded by adjectives, but in A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar they say you can´t use adjectives before 限り.  From page 84:

Adjectives cannot precede kagiri.

*面白い限り続けるつもりだ。 (Acceptable form: 面白いうちは……）
(As long as I find it interesting, I will continue to do it.)

*上手な限り誰でもいいです。 (Acceptable form: 上手{だったら／であれば／なら}……)
(As long as the person is good at it, it doesn't matter who does it.)

Can anyone explain to me if I can use adjectives with 限り?


texts: What is the difference between same prefix verb + different かえる verbs

texts:
What are the differences in nuance between these same pronunciation prefix + different かえる combinations?
For example:

置き換える・置き替える
入れ替える・入れ換える・入れ変える
取り替える・取り代える・取り換える

Thank you very much!


texts: What part does 「成」 play when tailed to a word?

texts:
So I recently came across a song called 「未完成」 by Leo Ieiri.
I know 未完 means "Incomplete" or "Unfinished". I'm interested in knowing what that 「成」 represents when used after 「未完」 and what are other ways to use it.


texts:
I suspect「根も葉も火種も」 is an allusion to something I do not recognize. To what does it refer?

Consider this couplet from an amusing song released in March by IOSYS called 「ステマの女」(CD and promotional Flash animation, that can be found on YouTube or NND):

  ウワサは揺らめく 霧の中
  根も葉も火種も ありゃしない

根も葉もない is an idiom that means "unfounded rumor".
How did it come to have this meaning from 根 and 葉?
What does the addition of 火種 and the change from ない to ありゃしない do to the idiom?


texts:
The second opening for 四月は君の嘘 starts with these two lines:

忘れようとすることで傷が癒えないのは
忘れようとすることで思い出されるから。

I get the feeling that something is missing after から, like だ or です. Is this sentence still grammatically valid? Also, are the reasons for this omission as I suspect them that ending a sentence in plain だ is unusual and that a formal です would be out of place in such a song?


texts:
I was wondering why 自分たち is used instead of, let's say トールたち or another personal pronoun to refer to Tohru and Co.

for context: Tohru and Co just finished performing a stage play. They managed it pull it off without help and Kobayashi is praising her.


texts: San, sama and other honorifics in translated literature

texts:
I have always been told that centuries of Japanese literature had been successfully translated without keeping "san" or "chan" suffixes. Is it an unbreakable rule or are there famous examples of such things in respectable translations?

I remember seeing "chan" in an old French translation of a Tanizaki novel and I was wondering if this practice was outdated.

If this rule is unbreakable, how to translate things like, for example, 「田中さんをまだ田中様と呼んでいた時代」?


texts: What is the difference between 未満 and 不足?

texts: Both 未満 and 不足 have the meaning of insufficient in JMDict. What is the difference in their usage?


texts: Which reading is more common for 剣: tsurugi or ken

texts:
剣 by itself can be read either way. What's the difference?

Clarification: In particular, when 剣 refers to a 諸刃 sword, which reading are natives more likely to use?


texts:
"日本で流行はおもしろいですね。流行は日本の方がアメリカよりだいじとおもいます。たくさんの種類です。好きな服装はなんですか？"

In this case am I using "服装" correctly? I'm trying to express that I think that fashion is more important in Japan and asking what the person's favorite style is.

There are other words for "style" such as 様式. What is the difference?


texts: What's the difference between 行動 and 動作?

texts:
I did some looking around and I found that 動作 is the behavior of machines and 行動 is the behavior of people, but that can't be it since on my textbook I find the following sentence:

  彼女は話し方が丁寧なのに対して動作が丁寧でない。

Also saw some people saying that 行動 is the movement of people and 動作 is movement of the body, but I'm kinda confused about that.

Can someone explain the difference between these two words?


texts:
Suppose I'm at a bank and all the service counters are numbered. How can you say something like:

  Please come to counter number 2.

If all the counters were active and numbered in order then I guess I could say:

  2番目のカウンタに来てください。

Is this natural?

But if counter number 2 is closed then the second counter would be counter number 3. So how can I refer to the counter by it's labelled number rather than it's position in a sequence.


texts: What is the meaning of ワケ in this sentence?

texts:
そんなワケねーだろ、このめでてぇ日に

The person who said this line is known for using katakana instead of Hiragana or Kanji. I've found some other conflicting definitions for ウケ but none seem to fit the context of the above sentence. On a side note I assume めでてぇ is a casual form of omedetou?


texts:
I understand that 日本はどうですか can mean a suggestion, like somebody is wondering "where should I go on vacation?" and somebody else answers "日本はどうですか？" - "maybe Japan, how about Japan?" but I tried making a sentence meaning "how do you like Japan?" or "how is Japan?" and I feel like 日本はどうですか also works.

Am I right? Could I ask 日本はどうですか to ask somebody visiting Japan what their impression of Japan is?


texts: I don't know how to interpret this line 死んだと知らさせるより受け入れがたいから

texts:
I don't understand very well what a character wants to say...For context, this character is on the verge of dying, he was cursed and had only a day to live and tries to find the one who cursed him.While searching, he gets a phone call from a friend but doesn't answer because they don't want the friends to worry, for they don't know that he got cursed.
Character's inner thoughts: 悪いな…心配かけて。でもごめん…あと何時間で死ぬ…なんて。
死んだと知らさせるより受け入れがたいから…
I'm having trouble with that line I bolded, because even though I broke it down, I don't think I'm interpreting it well."Because it's more unacceptable than telling them I'm dead".
I don't think this this sounds right, what is he trying to say? That he'd rather have the friends believe he died instead of actually telling them that is about to die so that they won't get worried?Is my interpretation of the line somewhat good?Thank you in advance for those who could help me out with it!


texts:
This is a variant of the top definition question @ Area51: http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/7526/japanese-language-usage/7529#7529
When to use 「とにかく」 and when to use 「とりあえず」? I have heard both adverbs used in similar sentences so I'm wondering whether they can be used interchangeably. Or is there a difference in nuance between the two?:

とにかく、行きましょう。
とりあえず、行きましょう。


texts:
Source sentence:

日本語能力を含め社会人として、まだまだ至らぬ身であると重々承知してはおりますが、是非、本件について連絡を頂きたく存じます。

For saying I humbly do something, I understand it's normal to say しておる instead of している.
I read on this post that using a 'ha' basically makes it a conditional thing, which makes sense to me considering してはいけない means doing (x) is forbidden/ if you do this, it's not good or you can't go (いけない), but that doesn't make too much sense for me here.
The sentence as a whole says: Although I'm aware my Japanese might not be quite good enough to be an employee we can discuss that if you contact me.. not IF I understand my japanese isn't good enough to be an employee, we can discuss it if you contact me.
So can anyone explain why it's 承知してはおります instead of しております?


texts: Is there a grammar pattern like 〜うち + Noun?

texts:
Context: https://komachi.yomiuri.co.jp/t/2019/0805/908840.htm?g=02

  1か月のうち仕事？とよばれるものはトータルで3時間もないと思います。ボタン押すだけです。夕方、鬱屈として叫びだしたくなります。

I think the phrase in bold means "one month's work". What kind of うち is this ? I could not find any grammar pattern associated with うち+Noun.


texts: Different nuances between four constructions meaning "whether or not"

texts:
Another long one! Here we go:
I'm wondering what the different nuance is between these four constructions, all equating to "whether or not":

1. volitional + か + plain+まい + か: 買おうか買うまいか迷っているところ。  I'm still in two minds as to whether or not I'll buy it.
2. volitional + が + plain+まい + が: 買おうが買うまいが、私の知ったことじゃない。 Whether or not [you/he/she/they] buy(s) it is not my concern/ none of my business.
3. plain + か + plain neg + か: 家を買うか買わないか迷っている人に向けて...
With regards to people who are looking towards whether or not to buy a house...
4. plain + のか + plain neg + のか: 買うのか買わないのかはっきりしなさい。  Be clear about whether or not you're buying it.

Regarding examples #1 and #2, I've read different things regarding ~まい: that it expresses intention; that it's mainly reserved for written language; that it's equivalent to the English "shall not" (I've never used "shall (not)" myself, though, and don't know the distinction between it and "will (not)" except that it's more formal); that the entailment is weaker than ~ません. At this present moment, I can't say I'm managing to get a grasp on it, frankly. The first example certainly doesn't show any intention (although this may be due to the translation, which might be closer to "I'm still undecided as to whether or not I intend to buy it", and of course this would sound unnecessarily wordy in English).
The use of が is glossed over (in the text I took the example from), except that it has connotations of things being implacable. Therefore, #3 could imply that, for example, the speaker is unable to change the outcome of whether or not her son decides to buy an expensive car; he's so headstrong that he does what he wants, and she's given up trying to intervene?
Regarding examples #3 and #4, I know that the construction in #3 clearly equates to "to buy or not to buy", and that the addition of の (as per example #4) turns the construction into one of "(do)ing or not (do)ing" something. The fourth example given is more forceful than the other three, however I'm unsure whether that's due to it being in effect a command, as opposed to the construction itself having more emphatic connotations.
I've read that the fourth example connotes waiting for someone else to make a decision (makes sense, given the example itself), whereas the third focuses on the decision itself.
Am I correct so far? If not, corrections are welcome.


texts:
A building collapsed, but everyone had already evacuated it. Then someone says the following sentence: 全員が避難した後でしたので　幸い　死者はなし
I did not understand the meaning of the verb する after 後で. Could someone explain to me?
お返事ありがとうございます！


texts: Shiai (試合?) vs kyousou (競争?) in martial arts

texts:
Within Shodokan Aikido, we practice something we call Randori (乱取り) in which two players fight one vs the other. Mostly, it is a tool for learning how to use Aikido versus a strongly resisting opponent. It is a learning tool and not used to determine who's best.

Shiai (試合?) is what we call the next level: it is a determination of who's best in that bout at this time. But there are no referees, no crowd, no medal, and no glory.

Kyousou (競争?) on the other hand is what we call shiai when there are referees, crowds, medals, and glory of winning a tournament.

Are we using all those terms correctly or have we made an utter mess of it?


texts: Why is はじめ written with the kanji 初 as opposed to 始 to convey "the beginning"?

texts:
I frowned upon my textbook when I saw the word 初【はじ】め (the beginning) for the first time (no pun intended). The reason is that so far, I understood the idea of "start" is conveyed by 始, whereas the concept of "first" is conveyed by 初. Therefore, according to my experience, I would expect はじめ to be spelt 始め only.
For example:
初

初めてのちゅう the first kiss
初級 the first level
世界初の車 the first car in the world

始

パーティーの開始に合わない not in time for the beginning of the party
授業を始めよう let's start the lesson

However, it turns out that both spellings exist depending on whether "the beginning" is in terms of time, or in terms of a process that someone starts, as explained in this excellent answer by Eiríkr Útlendi (thank you!).
My question is, why or how did 初 come to be used to convey this meaning of "beginning" in some instances such as はじめ, replacing 始?
よろしくお願いします！


texts:
I need some help understanding whose 解釈が間違ってる in the following exchange, and also what types of situations/contexts 解釈 can be used for this type of meaning.

From the below extract it is clear that 美奈都 misunderstands big time what her elder brother 真 says. However when 真 responds to 美奈都's original misunderstanding he also misinterprets what she says(when he responds to 身も心も?). So is the protagonist's line 「いや、待て。解釈が間違ってる気がするぞ」 referring to 真, 美奈都, or both?

  主人公「な、なんで謝るんだよ……」

  真「美奈都が……妹が迷惑をかけた。すまん」

  真「こいつバカだから、勝手に一人で突っ走ってさ。ほんと、おまえがいなかったら、どうなってたか……」

  主人公「いいって。友達だろ」

  真「友達、か……俺は、それ以上になってもいいと思ってるから」

  美奈都「そ、それ以上？」

  真「おまえになら、任せられるっていうかさ」

  主人公「真……」

  美奈都「身も心も……？」

  真「ああ」

  美奈都「あ、兄貴……そんな風に思ってたんだ……」

  身も心も……？

  主人公「いや、待て。解釈が間違ってる気がするぞ」

  真「俺も今そう思った……」

  真「ま、まぁなんだ。これからもよろしく頼む」

  主人公「あ、ああ。もちろん。俺も、そう思ってる」

  真「そっか……」


texts: Can "Yutaka Umeda" (name of a Japanese mayor) be read as "Jo Baiden"?

texts:
I've recently read some curious news.
Apparently, the mayor of a small Japanese town, Yutaka Umeda, has unexpectedly become somewhat of a celebrity after the recent US elections, because his name can also be read as "Jo Baiden".
CBS:

Thanks to the vagaries of Japan's complex written language, an obscure provincial mayor has suddenly gained his 15 minutes of fame after discovering his name can also be read as the moniker of America's president-elect.
"I feel we have a bond," Mayor Yutaka Umeda, aka, "Joe Biden," of Yamato town, in southwest Japan, was quoted as saying by local media. "When I heard (Biden) had won, it was like a personal victory for me, too."

Japan Times:

Yutaka Umeda, 73, mayor of Yamato, Kumamoto Prefecture, was caught by surprise when his family told him that an alternate reading of his name had drawn attention online.
"I feel very close to him. It feels as though I've also won the election after hearing about (Democratic nominee Joe Biden's) projected win" over his rival, President Donald Trump, Umeda said Sunday.
Kanji characters usually have several phonetic readings. The mayor's family name comprises characters meaning "plum" and "rice field," but while they are usually pronounced as "ume" and "da" in names — a fairly common one in Japan — they can also be read as "bai" and "den." The character for Yutaka, meanwhile, is more commonly read as "jo."

Admittedly, I know nothing about Chinese, Japanese or how kanji works.  I also tried to find an online table of kanji characters and check it myself, but unsuccesfully.
Is this true?


texts: Forms and conjugation of Intransitive Verbs

texts:
Can Intransitive verbs be used in Meirei form, Volitional form,  ください form and other forms?

According to my knowledge, Intransitive verbs are just used to state facts. So these forms should not exist. If I am asking someone to do something, the expression should use the transitive form of the verb.

But in one anime (Bleach episode 114), when the hero sees his inner monster take over him, he says something which sounded like 「消えろ」. The English translation was given as "Disappear!"
But 消える, which means "to go out; to vanish; to disappear", is an Intransitive verb. This makes me ask the question, can I use such forms with Intransitive verbs?

To summarize, which of the forms work with Intransitive form and which don't? Thanks in advance!


texts: Which counter do you use for counting TV series episodes?

texts:
I want to say "I saw 10 episodes", but I can't find the appropriate counter.

I may use "つ" counter (十エピソードを見ました), but it's not very classy.


texts:
So the thing is that I found the next sentence:

目を合わせて逸らさない、というのはそれだけで真摯に見える。

I understand the whole sentence and all, but that 「目を合わせて逸らさない」is troubling me.
I asked what it meant, and it was something like "To make eye contact and not look away", but then, does the tense of the last verb not affect the former one?
Maybe is it some kind of expression?


texts: Does the 助動詞「ます」 still have a 連体形 in modern Japanese?

texts:
Does the 助動詞「ます」 have a 連体形?  According to 大辞林, it's ます, and I see the old forms ます／まする on 学研全訳古語辞典.  However, in the comments on this question, Darius Jahandarie wrote the following:

  @snailplane That link does suggest that ます has/had a 連体形. Relative clauses (which is the only place you would employ 連体形) definitely does not permit ます on verbs -- why this is the case I am not entirely sure, especially with ます having a historical 連体形. This sounds like an interesting question that should perhaps be forked off.

I've also found an answer on 知恵袋 suggesting it does, as in the examples:

  先生がおいでになりますときに
  式が開かれますところで、

However, Darius Jahandarie appears to suggest it might be "historical" rather than part of the modern language.  If the 連体形 only appears in relative clauses and ます is considered ungrammatical in this position, doesn't that mean ます no longer has a 連体形?

It seems like one of these pieces of information must be incorrect.  How can I make sense of this conflicting information?


texts: How to say in Japanese "I want to learn driving a car"?

texts:
I am currently learning Japanese, I am still a beginner and right now I am trying to say something like "I want to learn driving a car" or "I want to learn how to drive a car". I was trying to use 車を運転する combined with 習いたい but I don't know how to connect these two words so it makes sense.

Thanks in advance!


texts: この工場は規模こそ小さいが、年商は数十億円に上がる。

texts:
問題１　この工場は規模こそ小さいが、年商は数十億円に上がる。
１．こそ　２．だの　３．さえも　４．ですら

皆さん、どうしてこの文章にはこそを使いますか？
今日こそか、これこそとか
この場合は、ネガティブの意味だから、
こそはどういういみです？
どうして規模でされ使わないでしょうか？

問題２　たばこは健康に害を及ぼし_________、いい影響は与えない。
１．兼ねて
２．こそすれ
３．次第で
４．ずくめで

この文章はどういう意味ですか。
それに、こそすれの使い道を教えてお願いします。


texts: Choice of さしあげる in お電話さしあげる

texts:
I'm a bit confused by the usage of さしあげる in this sentence from Kanji in Context:

ただ今、来客中ですので、後ほどこちらからお電話さしあげます。
We have a guest at the moment, so we'll call you later.

To me, お電話いたします or even お電話いたしてさしあげます are more grammatical. Maybe it's really      お電話(を)さしあげます? (I'll give you a call).


texts: How to turn an independent clause into a subject?

texts:
こんにちはみなさん！

I was talking to my niece and she told me she was learning to play the piano, so I wanted to say "I want to hear Asuka-chan play the piano!" but then I realized I wasn't entirely certain how to structure a sentence with two verbs.

I ended up saying ピアノを聞きたい instead, which still gets the idea across fine, but I was just curious how the "proper" way to say it would've been.

What comes to mind for me is [ピアノを弾く]を[聞きたい] but the double 'wo' particle feels really weird to me... So I was wondering what the usual way to do this would be. Is there a particular particle to use in this case?

Thank you very much!


texts: の意味は何 versus はどういう意味

texts: What is the difference between の意味は何 and はどういう意味? When asking for the definition of a word, I've been told to use the latter, but I don't know why the former is incorrect.


texts: Is this a real grammar structure のほうがverb-ていい

texts:
同じ怒られるタイプなら、はまじやブー太郎のほうがスッキリしていていいじゃない
  If you're the same "getting told off" type (as Nagasawa), Hamaji and Buu Tarou's side feels refreshing and is good, isn't it?

Is the grammar as straight forward as my translation or does のほうが link up with いい to mean "better" in some sense? I also wasn't sure if -ていい was doing something like -てもいい suggesting that she is allowed to feel refreshed.

Context: The speaker believes that there are two types of people who always get told off. Nagasawa belongs to one type and both Hamaji and Buu Taro belong to the other type.


texts:
The girls are discussing whether the temporary teacher will remember their face, and then:

  「名前はどうかな」
  「どうかなァ...」  (the ellipsis is as written in the book)
  たまちゃんがそうつぶやいてほおに手をやった。
  "How about my name?"
  "How about ..."
  muttered Tama, and put her hand to her cheek.

This is not the first time I've seen ほおに手をやる and I'm not sure what to make of it.

How should I translate やる?

What significance does this action have?

I get the impression that it might be an action you make while you are thinking deeply. Is this a cultural thing or just a trait of this character? Or something else entirely?


texts: Same sentence, different use of conditional

texts:
Are both of the following sentences correct?

a. 明日授業に出たら、予習したほうがいいですよ。
b. 明日授業に出るのなら、予習したほうがいいですよ。

I feel like (a) does not sound good, but I cannot say why.


texts:
Given the following text:

  東京都のある女性が、2017年10月23日から連絡が取れ[なく]{LL}なり、[行方]{«ゆくえ»}[不明]{ふ・めい}になっていた。

What’s the grammar for 「なく」after「取れ」? (e.g passive form or negate form, for further googling)

Also, would that be different if I use 「連絡が取れない」?

Thank you.


texts: What are the origins of the Chinese derived words?

texts:
By "Chinese-derived words" I mean words that are read solely in 音読み, e.g. 自転車, 会社, 選択 etc.

As a Chinese speaker, I find some of the Chinese-derived words not really Chinese. We don't call a bicycle a 自転車, or a company a 会社.

So I thought the Japanese made these words up themselves, without any Chinese influence, using the meanings of each character, like 自(self) 転(turning) 車(vehicle). And that the only Chinese influence is the characters, not the word as a whole.

But if they were made up by the Japanese, why aren't they read in 訓読み?

Also, I thought the Japanese borrowed the characters and their meanings a long time ago, causing some characters' meanings to be different from what they mean in modern Chinese. For example, 走 used to mean "run" in classical Chinese, but it means "walk" now. But then I see the relatively new adjective ending ー的. Does this mean that modern Chinese also has an influence on the Japanese language?


texts: What are different ways to express "around"?

texts:
I understand there are various ways to express the word "around" in Japanese under different contexts.
I'm not sure of all the words used in each context and I see many variations used, both casual/polite etc.

Here is what I know for example:

I will travel "around" the world.
Is there a restroom "around" here? この辺り\この辺
I will meet you "around" 12:00pm. 頃、くらい\ぐらい
He is "around" the library. あそこ
He showed me "around" town. あちこち

Are there other ways to express "around"?


texts: What does it mean and how do you pronounce あっ?

texts: I saw someone talk about a 「はあっ」that they saw in a book, so I looked it up but didn't find much, just some words/sites that had あっ in them. (I couldn't read the rest) I was wondering how one might pronounce っ at the end of a word. I'm also not sure if っ can be applied after あ only, or other vowels/characters.


texts:
Since ヒヤヒヤする is a verb, that I haven't really been able to find in dictionaries with English meaning. It seems to mean roughly to be nervious/anxious/afraid of something.

But that is kinda messing me up on getting the proper meaning of the following sentence.

  当てちゃうかと思って、ヒヤヒヤしました。

Context is that two people have been sparing. And this is what one participant is saying to another.

I think the speaker is saying they were afraid anxious that they might hit the other side too hard.

At least that's how I interpret てちゃうか.

Although it could also be more that she was nervous because she was thinking all the time thinking "Did I hit him "fully" or unfortunately".

As of right now the provisional translation is:

  I was afraid, thinking that I could hit you for real.

Which I don't think is exactly right.

So yeah, this is rambly way of asking what would be the proper translating of the above phrase and how てちゃうか and ヒヤヒヤしました work here.


texts:
I have trained for 25 years with a local (European) Aikido master, but now I have to move, albeit temporarily, to another town, and I would like to give a gift to my teacher to represent the "debt" I have with him for all he taught me.

I also practice Shodo, so my idea was to make a scroll with the Kanji "義理" and give it to him before leaving.

I just want to add that I will keep practicing at another dojo in the place I move to, and that I may very well come back to my hometown in a year or so, just so that you get a complete picture.

My question: is "義理" appropriate here? If this is not the case what would you suggest?

I opted for "礼" in the end - thanks to everyone who answered or commented this.


texts: When do you use the particles "ga" or "wo" for certain adjectives?

texts:
I understand the differences between using "ga" and "wo" for action verbs and static verbs, but what about for adjectives? For example, typically you would say Xが怖い, but I see several cases where it's written Xを怖い (sometimes before something like と思う or と感じる, but sometimes even in these situations it still uses "ga")

Some examples from a Japanese article:

Using "ga"

結婚が怖い
結婚が怖いと感じる理由を紹介します

Using "wo"

結婚を「怖い」と感じる
結婚を怖いと思う人
あなたは結婚するのを怖いと思いますか？

Is it sometimes "wo" when it's part of a phrase or are there any other clear linguistic rules for the difference in usage here?


texts: I feel like I hear だべ all the time (through TV and on the streets of Yokohama where I live), but I'm wondering about it's origins and modern usage.


texts: Need help with the superlative form of my sentence

texts:
I need a bit of help with my Japanese.
If I want to say:

  Castle X is beautiful.  Among all the castles in the world, castle X is the coolest.

Is this sentence written correctly?

  しろ　Xの　ほうが　きれいで　せかいの　すべての　しろの　なかで、　しろ　Xが いちばん　かっこいい　です。


texts: I can't figure out what difference there's between those two grammar forms. They're both used as "regardless of" (like in 年齢を問わず、 年齢にかかわらず), so what's the difference that I'm not seeing here?


texts:
In Pimsler 2 they use the and expression something like えくん to confirm someones actions. Can someone help me find this word in a dictionary, or tell me what form it comes from.

  飛行機{ひこうき}で　えくん　ですね。
  You are going by plane, right?


texts:
Given that やけど means "burn", it seems likely that the やけ part is 焼け. What about the ど, though?

(The kanji for やけど - i.e. 火傷 - don't help, because those characters are obviously 当て字, and would ordinarily be read かしょう.)


texts: もう治らないと言われた目が見えるようになった。これが奇跡でなくてなんだろう English Translation?

texts:
I found this sentence in a book.

  もう治らないと言われた目が見えるようになった。これが奇跡でなくてなんだろう

It doesn't make sense to me at all.

もう治らないのに、なんで奇跡と呼ぶのでしょうか？

翻訳してください。


texts: Can you use 頂いてもいいinterchangeably with 頂けますか？

texts:
Like for Eg. I know 写真を取って頂けますか is correct. I am only aware of て+もいいfor standard verbs like 行ってもいい and not for receiving like もらう or 頂く so is 写真を取って頂いてもいい fine?

Any difference in meaning?

Also another question. Would  写真を取って頂けませんか be considered pushy and thus rude?


texts: The meaning of "大好きなこのアリアカンパニーで無理に行き先を決めずゆっくり行こう” and to who it is said

texts:
This is the first line of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNI7hRPT2z8

My problem is trying to understand what is trying to be conveyed. The sentence can be broken into two parts:

大好きなこのアリアカンパニーで and for simplicity we will cut this to このアリアカンパニーで　as it doesn't change the focus of my question as 大好きな informs us of the speakers feelings of the company.

無理に行き先を決めずゆっくり行こう:
"volitional" form here is used as an invitation to the listener(We who are watching the advert). Or at least I thought it was speaking to us until later on. Starting at 0:43 it appears that the same person who said that initial line is talking to a potential new recruit for the company, which made me think that the line was directed towards this new person instead, although this would to me seem rather strange to do it like this. Can anyone clarify for me who is it that is being spoken to and a very brief contextual translation?


texts: question about kanji sports names 蹴球, 籠球, 庭球, and 野球

texts:
A few questions about these words. The words [蹴球]{しゅうきゅう}, [籠球]{ろうきゅう}, and [庭球]{ていきゅう} mean football, basketball, and tennis, respectively. But I have only seen them in a dictionary, and in practice I have only ever seen フットボール, バスケットボール, and テニス used. On the other hand, [野球]{やきゅう} is commonly used for "baseball", and does not usually use a loanword.

How often are 蹴球, 籠球, and 庭球 used, and why is baseball the only one that doesn't　commonly use a loanword?


texts: I'm hearing this word a lot in Japanese drama and anime. What is the literal meaning of it? Does it have a Kanji form? What root(s) does it contain (I think there is a する in the second half of it? What about the もし part?)?


texts:
I am new to this site so my apologizes if this question is a bit ridiculous.

However, I was informed that the kanji for 9 (九) is pronounced differently than the hiragana  (きゅう) based on use.

The kanji is pronounced 'tuu' and the hiragana as 'kyuu'

What is the difference between the two and when do you use either or?


texts:
I am pretty sure that when native speakers talk about speed, they say "速さ", "広さ" for width, "大きさ" for size, etc. Am I correct about this? If I am, then:

Why not say "遅さ" instead of "速さ", "狭さ" instead of "広さ"? I suspect that when you convert comparable adjectives to nouns, you should use the greater of the two. However, surely this must just be a convention, right? So,
"新幹線の速さは何ですか？" // wrong?
"新幹線の遅さは何ですか？" // wrong?

what about:
"snailの速さは何ですか？" // wrong?
"snailの遅さは何ですか？" // wrong?

And finally, are there cases, if there are any, where it's natural to use "遅さ", "狭さ", "小ささ", etc.?

thanks.


texts:
I've tried to find the differences between 柄 and 模様 everywhere but to no avail.

What are the differences between 柄 and 模様?


texts: Could you please help me to understand the difference between 負担｛ふたん｝ and ロイヤルティ?


texts: What is the implied-verb represented by the sentence-ending を in the following context？

texts:
I am trying to understand the dialogue being spoken by the narrative character on the page below, specifically the fourth line of dialogue from the right in the picture.

  「……さっきは何で、あんなことを？」

What is the implied-verb represented by the sentence-ending を in the above sentence, or is there a trick to figuring out what that verb might be, as mentioned here and here？


texts:
Taken from alc.co.jp:

家{いえ}の鍵{かぎ}が見{み}つからなくて、玄関{げんかん}のベルを鳴{な}らしたけど、君{きみ}、家{いえ}に居{い}なかってし、ここでずっと待{ま}ってたんだよ。
(I rang the doorbell because I couldn't find the house key, but you weren't home, so I was waiting for you all this time.)

I've been trying to form the bolded portion but I can't find a way to derive it.
These are the forms that I know, and none of them match the bolded portion above:

~ない
~なく
~ないで
~なくて
~なかった

I'm guessing that it comes from なく + あって(て-form of ある) + sound contraction.　But I have no idea what it means and how it should be used.
(Question) What does ~なかって mean and how should it be used? Where does it come from?


texts: As in title, how can I write "tchi" in katakana as in the word "hotchikisu" (paper fastener)?


texts: How would you translate this and what does 'には' mean here

texts:
So, the sentence in question is:
私には何もない
I've seen it be translated as 'I have nothing/ I have nothing going for in my life', but i don't quite understand how that is.


texts:
I was watching an anime called Ganbare Goemon and there was this sign that I found a bit strange:

How exactly are you supposed to understand it? I mean, north and south are in opposite directions so isn't it contradictory? Or does it mean that it covers all areas from north to south? Or is it perhaps just a name that doesn't really have any special meaning?

Oh, and I want to mention that English is my second language (I'm from Russia) so maybe there is some sort of language barrier that makes it sound weird for me.


texts: Does 髭 refer to the beard or the moustache?

texts:
My dictionary lists 髭 as moustache / beard, but from the example sentences in WWWJDIC, it seems like 髭 is more often used to mean "beard" than "moustache" ?

So for example, in this sentence: 彼はもっと大人に見えるようにひげをはやした。, is it clear to the listener that the speaker wanted to say "He grew a beard to look more mature", and not "He grew mustache to look more mature"? Or is it ambiguous and it could mean either one?


texts: where does this word go in this sentence?

texts:
Doing practise questions for JLPT, need to fill the blanks with the given words in the correct order. The answer tells me the position of one of them but I can't work out the rest.

  忘れられないプレゼントは、小学生のときに両親が買ってくれた自転車です。苦しい生活の中、＿＿＿　＿＿　  ★　＿＿　涙がでます。

１それだけで

２どんな思いで

３買ってくれたのかと

４思うと

正解：２ （★）

正しい順番は　３、４、２、１　と思うんだけど、確信がない。。。


texts:
Apparently there are so many ways to write {かっこいい}.

Hiragana/katakana only:

かっこいい
カッコいい
カッコイイ

EDICT:

格好いい
かっこ好い

Other possible variants:

格好良い
かっこ良い
カッコ良い
格好好い
恰好いい (notice that a different initial kanji is used)
...

In general, which is the most commonly used variant? Are there also specific places where one variant is preferred over the others (including the common one)?


texts: Are Japanese translations for "Pearl Harbor" ever used metaphorically?

texts: In English, "Pearl Harbor" is sometimes used metaphorically to indicate an unannounced attack, or an event that strongly changes the outlook of a community. Can these metaphorical meanings be used in Japanese with either "真珠湾" or "パールハーバー"? For example, "This action was no Pearl Harbor - we knew it was going to happen"?


texts:
I read different books and anyone has a different explanation.
Some of them say:

It does not have a gramamar role and native speakers only know that something about that is going to be said after it.  The real grammar role is done by the 0 pronoun.
It is the subject and sometimes it can become the object.
It is what you are going to comment about and it has no grammar role.

So, I still struggle with this.
I think I somehow understand when to use が or when to use は, but I have trouble when I find it in long sentences or in the middle of them.
I understand why it cannot be used in a relative clause, and it makes sense to me, but when I find it in the middle or at the beginning of a long sentence I am not sure how to look at it and I get confused.
In some books I found sentences like:
私は[町に行く]人々に会った。 So it is part of the sentence.
[私は][町に行く人々に会った] So は is not part of the sentence.
Somewhere I read that I should simply look at what is marked by  は as if it were connected to the main verb (so the last verb in the sentence).
Is this correct?
Which is the correct explanation?


texts: In response to my question about くすぐったい, I was told of the specific suffix in use, the "ったい."  What is this ったい / -ttai suffix called in English and in Japanese (or what would one call it if it does not have a specific name)? What exactly does it connote? Would someone be kind enough to provide me with a brief list of Japanese words using this suffix? (I found Dono's romanization hard to understand {sorry})


texts:
How to interpret ないって in the following sentence?

  アイスには賞味期限がないって本当ですか？

がない looks like negative form of ある, but what is って then? Can it be a contraction of quoting particle と?


texts: What is the difference between "〜がる" and "〜がっている"

texts:
I want to know the difference between 〜がる and 〜がっている, and in what situations I can use them.

My friend said 〜がる is used for a regular activity that someone does every day or every week, and the person also wants to do that activity.

〜がっている is used for activities that someone really wants to do but hardly has time to do.

Is this right?


texts: Help to know where to cut a japanese sentence in translation

texts:
自分の聞いてもらいたいことを聞いてもらえるメディアになる。
  「メディア力を高める」とは、そういう意味だ。少し引いた目で、外から観た自分をとらえ、それを「こう見てほしい」という自分の実像に近づけていくことだ。

I wonder how to cut this sentence when translate to English

（外から観た）自分をとらえる: I take what I see from the outside or
（外から観た自分）をとらえ: To grasp what another people think about me from the outside

It's confusing ><><><

Should こう見てほしい という自分の実像に近づけていくことだ be translated as "I want to see this..." or "I want to be seen like this (?) （こう見てほしい） which is almost similar to the real image （自分の実像に近づけていくことだ）"


texts: 承る and 賜る: are they etymologically related?

texts: I was studying kanji when I noticed that 承{うけたまわ}る and 賜{たまわ}る share 「たまわる」and they do seem to have related meanings. In fact, it appears to me that 承る　is a compound verb that combines 受ける and 賜る but I'm not sure. Are they related? And if so, why the difference in kanji?


texts: O-sumai-wa dochira-desu ka? vs Doko-ni sunde i-masu ka?

texts: Can someone help me to understand the difference between these two. From what I understand they both mean "Where do you live?"


texts: Differences between とはいえ, にもかかわらず and ものの

texts:
This sentence, found in a short story:

暗闇に紛れて慎重に行動しているとはいえ、やはり逮捕されるのは心配だった

made me wonder about the differences between 「とはいえ」 and 「にもかかわらず」: both are translated, in grammars, as "despite, although", so I was wondering what would be different in writing:

暗闇に紛れて慎重に行動しているにもかかわらず、やはり逮捕されるのは心配だった

I found this answer, and I was wondering if 「にもかかわらず」 points to something that actually happened, while 「とはいえ」 doesn't, but I was unable to find anything to confirm or deny this; also, I found that the former is linked to negative outcomes, and I'm not sure if the latter has such implications. I found this about 「とはいえ」, which is useful for that specific form, but not so much for how it differs from others.
I was also wondering about 「ものの」:

暗闇に紛れて慎重に行動しているものの、やはり逮捕されるのは心配だった

but I didn't really find anything; would it be very different as meaning, if it's right at all?
I have this example sentence:

日本語の勉強を三年したものの、新聞を読めない

which gives a negative outcome despite a precedent event; this seems to fit in the "Although [fact], [something negative]", so I was wondering if:

日本語の勉強を三年したにもかかわらず、新聞を読めない

would be acceptable.


texts: Understanding the particle の when used with the verb 知る

texts:
I was looking at the title of the song

  きみ の しらない ものがたり

I thought translated into something like

  Your Unknown Story

but it was actually

  The Story You Don't Know

I'm confused as to why its translated like this.

If the の here shows possession, and the verb しらない means "I don't know" it should be Your unknown story shouldn't it?


texts: What is the meaning/purpose of コ in ちょっとイケないコになっちゃう

texts:
This is a line in the song lyrics of 「10月のクリスマス」.

I think the basic meaning of this line is:

  Finally becoming somewhat hopeless.

My main question is what is the meaning or purpose of コ here? It does not seem to attach to an adjacent element (イケない and particle に).
By itself, other than 子 somehow, I have no idea what it is for.


texts: What's the difference between 合う, 会う, 遭う, 逢う,遇う?

texts:
I recently stumbled upon the expression 酷{ひど｝い目｛め｝に遭｛あ｝った ("I was having a bad time"), where the verb "to meet" was written using a rather unusual kanji.

After looking into it, I can count at least 5 instances of the verb "あう" meaning "to meet", written using a different kanji:

合う
会う
遭う
逢う
遇う

What's the difference? As far as I can tell 合う and 会う are the most common ; is there a difference between the two?


texts: 火を噴く vs 火を吐く

texts:
What's the difference between 火を噴いて{ふいて} and 火を吐いて{はいて}?

Both seems to mean fire-spitting, like a fire-breathing dragon, but is there any difference in their nuances?


texts: Is "悪い所を煮詰めたような" an idiom? If so what does it mean?

texts:
I'm reading a passage from a book, here one of the characters is making a few observations about the personality of another character (慶介 - Keisuke) who has moved up in status and is a new member amongst the upper echelons of the aristocracy thereby replacing the old predecessors in the story's universe.

  先代も貴族の悪い所を煮詰めたような傲慢な男だったが、この慶介という男は表面上は貴族らしからぬ空気も感じさせていた。

I've hit a snag here, I'm not sure how one would parse "先代も貴族の悪い所を煮詰めたような傲慢な男だった", more specifically "悪い所を煮詰めたような" it seems like an idiom to me and I'm not sure what it means, I've tried searching on Google and I got quite a few hits for this phrase, but no explanation about what it means.

Any help is greatly appreciated!


texts:
What does the もて before a verb means?

I found this word in the dictionary http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MDEemphatic%20prefix (which only says it is an "emphatic verb prefix" and give no other information on it whatsoever)

I've no idea how it is used / whether it is used / or how to use it


texts:
みたい as in like (someone)

If I want to say "I like people like that woman", is it enough to simply say: 女性みたいな人が好きです。
Or do I have to specify the "that" part by putting it like this:
あの女性みたいな人が好きです。

Also, is it allowed to use を instead of が here if it ended with a verb? (好き is an adjective if I remember right)


texts:
It came up in a game (in the sentence ううん、これも時とタイミングですね。) and when I tried to look it up on different Japanese dictionary- and phrase-type sites, nothing came up, and when I looked around on Twitter to see if I could glean the context, I still didn't understand from peoples' posts, though they used it as what seemed to be a common phrase. It seemed to sometimes be used in ways like "if I have time and if the timing is right / if I have the opportunity (then we can meet up)," but in this context, it didn't seem right. Maybe that is also incorrect, though, as I am not fluent.
Is there possibly any way for some ways that it is used to be given in varying contexts, if anyone would have a moment?


texts:
I am having a hard time figuring these out, it turns out that I get corrected by native speakers a lot, when I use one of  them, they will correct me saying that another particle should be used instead.

  大学に行く時に、もう夜なんだよ。

  大学に行く時は、もう夜なんだよ。

  大学に行く時には、もう夜なんだよ

At this point I am completly at lost in how different these should be, one guess would be that に should be when I wanna talk what happens in that "moment" and は when I wanna talk about that "moment" directly.

If my example is bad, please use a better one for exaplining the matter.

ps: The only related answer I found was this What is the difference between 時に and 時は but it didn't clear out much for me, honestly.


texts:
I was doing some N4 practice questions and came across this sentence

先生に すっかり ごちそうになって おみやげ まで いただいてしまいました。

I'm not sure what まで is supposed to mean in this context?

My general understanding of the sentence's meaning is 'I was treated very well by my teacher and I received some omiyage from them' but I can't see how まで plays into all this.

If anyone knows if this is a different usage of まで that I haven't learnt yet that would be great!


texts:
The wikipedia global warming article has this sentence.

ただし、AR4においてはそのような不確実性も考慮した上で結論を出しており、信頼性に関する情報として意見の一致度等も記載されている[11]。

My reading is thus:

However, in AR4, this uncertainty was taken into account before the conclusions were published, and the paper describes how the opinions agree on the information pertaining to the reliability.

Not the best translation, to be sure. But I just want to make sure I've understood the sentence correctly. Have I got it right? Specifically, I had to pause over 信頼性に関する情報として意見の一致度等も記載されている[11] before interpreting this part.

Edit: I'm not looking for a definitive translation, nor am I asking for proofreading. I apologise if my poor wording suggested otherwise. I just want to know what the sentence means exactly. (Please let me know if I've duplicated an existing discussion or if I'm breaching the etiquette of this forum. I'll be more careful in future if I have.) The main point I'm struggling with is 情報として意見. It reads like opinion as information. If this is not right, please tell me how it should read.

Thanks.


texts: What is the difference between a daimon and a mon or kamon?

texts: Normally, when I have seen a family crest they are termed mon or kamon. However, I have also seen the term daimon. What is the difference?


texts: Help understanding 反故にしてついてきて、なんて言うの？　身勝手すぎるでしょ

texts:
I'm struggling to correctly understand the meaning of the sentence in bold below.

To explain the context: Person 2 originally promised to go together with Person 1 into battle. However, Person 2 has now been forbidden by the king from going into battle. After Person 1 hears about this they go to visit Person 2 before they set out to battle.

  Person 1 そんなに心配しなくても大丈夫。 必ず生きて帰ってくるから。

  Person 2 …………何故一緒に行けないのか…… 問いたださないんですか。

  Person 1 反故にしてついてきて、なんて言うの？　身勝手すぎるでしょ……。

  Person 2 身勝手でいいじゃないですか。

  Person 1 もちろん無理矢理にでも連れていきたいでも、次の戦いは生き残れるかどうかわからない。 人の命まで背負いこめない。

Looking up 反故にする I think it would have the meaning of 約束を破ったり契約を無効にしたりする. In this context I imagine it would either be referring to the 約束 between Person 1 and 2, or whether to "ignore" the Kings order.

The main thing that is causing me a bit of confusion is what Person 1 is saying when they say なんて言うの. Is this in direct response to Person 2's question 問いたださないんですか i.e. something like: "Disobey orders and follow me". That would be awfully selfish.

Any help to clarify whether I have understood this correctly, or to correct my misunderstandings would be appreciated.


texts:
I'm currently studying などという and なんて. I have seen that they ESSENTIALLY mean (things/people/etc. like~). However this confuses me with what's the difference between these and just とか?

As in a sentence like this: アメリカで空手なんてあまりできないから、日本にいるうちに経験してみたら？

My guess is that, if we look at などという and break it down, it's something (maybe) like, "the thing like/such as karate", it's adding some kind of emotion?? (as I have seen in some other research on this grammar). Or perhaps like, "you can't do anything even remotely similar to Karate in America! So why don't you experience it now?"

I can't work out if the above sentence is giving 空手 as an example or what. This is what is confusing me now between just regular など and とか.

I have looked at the other answers concerning  などという　and なんて but can't grasp it's meaning in some cases - as to whether it is truly giving an example or is working something like こんな/こういう like expressions etc.

EDIT: I guess the full sentence would be アメリカで空手などというスポーツあまりできないから.... so the sentence would literally mean "You can't do anything like karate in america" and is thus emphasis 空手 a bit?


texts:
It's pretty straightforward, I'm wondering what the nuance between 逃げる and 逃す is?

I'm assuming it's something like the difference between "run away" and "escape", but which one is which?


texts: Why does noun-connecting form （の、こと）work in this example?

texts:
So my tutor and I have been talking about this example and I still can't ascertain an answer I understand from him as to why it works (the piece in bold).

ただ走るのではなくて サーかを しながら走るのがいいです

What I understand is that the の acts as a noun connecting piece, just as こと would. What I don't understand is how he has connected 走る with ではなくて. Is this the latter a noun? I really don't understand its use here. Why not say 走っていないけど？


texts:
I'm reading a book and I've come across something i couldn't understand. The sentence is long so I'll only give the section before the comma. It reads 「二人以上の人が顔を合わせさえすれば」.

After looking the phrase 「顔を合わせる」up in the dictionary I'm pretty sure i understand the meaning of it. The grammar/meaning of 'さえすれば' is what I'm struggling with.

The -ば at the end I'm assuming is the conditional 'if'. An explanation would be appreciated. Also, if you could throw in a bit about the difference situations that -ば is most appropriate, as opposed to -たら, that would also be a big help!


texts: Can 退社 be used like a verb meaning “to check out” of a hotel etc?

texts:
This is a followup to my previous question, Can 受付 be used like a verb meaning “to check in” at a hotel etc?
I've just been informed by a person who provided the translation of "check in" that 退社 would be the pure Japanese word for "to check out".
I can only find it listed as meaning "to leave the office at the end of the day" or "to resign from a job".
Those seem semantically pretty close but do people actually use this, or did they formerly use this for checking out of a hotel, ryokan, etc?


texts:
The following is an exercise from Tae Kim's Guide.
I have to pick は or が to fill in the blanks:

ジム）アリス　____　誰？
ボブ）友達だ。彼女　____　アリスだ

I think we should use は after アリス in the first sentence, but I'm confused about the second sentence.  I think it should be は after 彼女, but the correct answer is apparently が.  Could someone please explain?


texts: what's the difference in usage of the nasai, te and plain imperative forms?

texts: As far as I understand (correct me if I'm wrong), there are 3 ways to turn a japanese verb, the plain form which usually adds an "e", the te form and the nasai form. When do you have to use each one?


texts: I was watching a Japanese YouTube video and the ending screen that says the usual ご視聴ありがとうございます followed by talking about what the next video was going to be, etc... I understand the context of this sentence, except for that darn verb with the scribble character. My guess is that it's some kind of ichidan verb, based on the よう part. For the life of me I cannot identify the kanji used here though. Help?


texts: How many ways to say father are there in japanese?

texts: So far I knew 父,  お父さん and パパ mean father in japanese. But then I saw other compounds which apparently mean father like 父上, 乃父 (I dont know how these are pronounced by the way). Are there many other ways to say father in japanese?


texts: Help with strange sentence (華をふりまく, ～ような stacking)

texts:
Ran across a very, let's say "interesting" sentence in a translation I'm working on that I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around. Context is basically this: little sister is the most beautiful person in existence (otaku pandering-wise and lore-wise) and they're currently at a Christmas Eve party in their school uniforms.

「お兄様、何か気掛かりなことでも？」
　制服なのに艶やかにドレスアップしているような華をふりまく妹に、達也は「何でもないよ」と首を振った。

I'll preface this by saying I kind of get the gist of it--he's saying his sister looks good even in her school uniform, and there's some kind of flower imagery to go along with it. Sure, makes sense. What doesn't make sense to me is the structure of the sentence and all the other stuff going on.

華を振りまく is, as far as I can surmise, "strewing flowers." The kind of thing a flower girl at a wedding might do. The usage of 華 instead of 花 is odd, but whatever, I'll put it down to ~poetry~.

Evidently, however, the rest of the ～ような part of the sentence is /not/ applying to 華, but rather to 妹. This makes me think that 華を振りまく is an expression with a different meaning I'm not aware of.

But even if it /is/, I can't put together the rest of this sentence from a grammatical standpoint. If we take 制服なのに艶やかにドレスアップしているような...妹 on its own--well, how do you even translate that using English grammar? How can she only /appear/ to be dressed up charmingly/attractively/what have you?

My working TL for that part of the sentence is this:

...his flower-strewing little sister who, despite being in her school uniform, it was as though she was dressed up charmingly...

Obviously this is pretty incoherent. Does anyone have any tips as to how this sentence looks and sounds to Japanese eyes and ears? Thanks!


texts: How to express "thanks" when I am made to do something

texts:
How does one express thanks when made to do something. For example:

Thanks for making me realize the meaning of happiness - 幸せの意味を気づかせて（くれて）ありがとう

To me, it doesn't sound right because I feel that 気づかせて really means "making me realize (against my will)". Is there a better way of saying this?


texts: In the interrogative お元気ですか, how does the meaning change if the か is removed?

texts: I've just started learning Japanese, and I've been told that the か at the end of a sentence is playing the role of a question mark (at least in formal Japanese).  How does the sentence change if the か is removed?  Does it just go from "How are you?" to "You are."?  Or am I missing something here?


texts:
I would like a list of words commonly used by Japanese to refer to pedophiles. Please indicate how common the word is (maybe sort your list this way), how derogatory it is, and in what context it is used. Medical jargon doesn't interest me unless it is used by the average man.

I know ロリコン which originally wasn't limited to manga and anime but became widespread through these media during the 80'. It is derogatory but can be used to jest. Is it still used as of today for pedophiles outside of otaku circles or does it refers mainly to them now (knowing the distinction between fiction and reality)? Is it the most used word for pedophiles or is there more common words, like maybe 小児性愛者 or 小児愛者?


texts: Sentence structure for complex sentences

texts:
I've been reading up on the uses of the particle から, particularly when it is appended to the -te form of a verb where it takes on the meaning similar to "after [verb], [sentence 2]"

However, when building this complex sentence I realized I don't really understand how a sentence should be built.
For example, these are two variations of a sentence I came up with:

  ご飯を食べてから一緒に公園でさんぽしましょ。
  "After [I] eat breakfast, let's go walk in the park."

  ご飯を食べてから公園で一緒にさんぽしましょ。
  "After [I] eat breakfast, let's go to the park for a walk."

Both of these sentences look correct, but the second sentence doesn't seem natural to me because it mentions the park before the noun "Issho". What would be more proper, and is there a pattern I can follow?


texts: What's up with animal names ending in る?

texts:
猿・ツル・ホタル・カエル
る is a rather uncommon mora in nouns, especially at the end. But there seem to be an unproportional amount of animal names that end in る.
Is that just a coincidence?
For 猿 at least, there seems to be a theory that it's name is derived from a verb:

サルの語源には非常に多くの説があり未詳だが、中でも有力と考えられているのは、獣の中では知恵が勝っていることから「マサル（勝る）」の意味とする説。

-- 語源由来辞典


texts:
冬コミ新刊は単行本の描き下ろしに描き下ろし（７０Pくらい) １冊のみになります

a tweet by an artist, how would you read this, or is it a typo?


texts:
I started reading 三人法師　by Tanizaki Junichiro and I came accross this sentence :

  高野の山へ集って来たからにはどうせ世を厭う人々ではありながら、同じ厭離の願いを遂げるにも座禅入定の法もあれば念佛三昧の道もある。

I interpret this sentence as :

  While they are people who will hate the world anyway now that they have gathered at the mountain of Takano, even to achieve (同じ厭離の願い) if there is a 座禅入定の法, there is also a 念佛三昧の道.

So I have a few questions:

What is a good translation for 厭う（いとう）? It means "to hate" but it also means "大事にする" as I saw in the dictionary so I can't put my finger on a good translation, or a good way to interpret this word.
What does 同じ厭離の願い mean in this sentence ?
And I see にも as のにも without the の but I am not sure, as I have never seen にも directly after a 連体形 without の. But it reminds me of には which I read somewhere that is a contraction of ためには or のには. Am I correct on this ?
I think I translated properly but the whole sentence doesn't make much sense, can anyone correct me please ?

Thanks!


texts:
I often get text messages from people who use the twitter-derived slang 「なう」 to mean "now." As in 「電車なう」meaning "(I am on the) train now."

However, these mainly come from women, and one gay dude. Is that just a coincidence, or does using this term actually have some feminine/effeminate connotation, like appending わ for emphasis (e.g. 「疲れたわ〜」)?


texts:
Why is the correct counter for rabbits 羽（わ）, the counter that is used for birds.

I figured it is because they jump, cause fly and jump are the same verb in Japanese, but then frogs are 匹.


texts: Asking superior to mark a document with 印鑑{いんかん}

texts:
What is the proper way to ask a superior to sign their hanko for approval? When I need a superior to sign their hanko for a routine log (not for reviewing a document or stuff, just routine logging off stuff out of the office), I am hesitant in saying "please sign."

I think I usually say:
判子{はんこ}を押してください。

But I think the polite form in the office is:
判子{はんこ}を押していただけませんか？

But this sounds too formal, and I do not hear in verbal form the phrase 「～いただけませんか」.  Though, I do hear this in the service sector like when talking to a customer.

I try to notice how the other Japanese do it, and they just give the sheet to the manager and usually just say unrelated things. Any idea, or is the verb wrong, or do you use other words than 判子 like 印字してください？


texts: On the usage of 「は」 and 「が」 in a poem by 谷川俊太郎

texts:
In a poem named 「生きる」 by 谷川俊太郎, the poet described "to live" with many instances.

In the instances put forward in the penultimate stanza, the poet put 「が」 after the subjects, such as in 「犬が吠える」, 「地球が廻っている」, etc.

However, in the final stanza, the poet started to use the topic marker 「は」, such as in 「鳥ははばたく」 and 「海はとどろく」.

I wonder what made the poet choose to use 「が」 in one stanza but 「は」 in another, and what effect that has brought about.


texts:
で and と particle can be used to mean "and" in english. For example:

彼女はお金持ちできれい

AさんとBさんはいません

In the sentences above, both と and で means "and", but they are not interchangeable. When would one use と and で to imply "and" in english?


texts:
today I came across a certain sentence and I was confused by one word in it:

  親指の腹で石を支えながら、人差し指と中指の間に挟む。

When I read this, I mistook 挟む for 狭｛せば｝む, and apparently, 狭｛せば｝む is barely used outside literature. When I type せばむ on my computer, it won't even return 狭む (I get "世バム"). Finally I realized it was the wrong radical, and that the word I was interested in is 挟｛はさ｝む.

However, 狭む and 挟む do seem to be very similar: both (can) hold the meaning "to insert (A) into (B)"　- difference is 狭む gives a more fierceful translation, "to jam in", instead of simply inserting. But they have different radicals: 手 and 犬. I've always viewed the radicals as disjoint, in that they would not bear a relation to one another.

Q: Is there a reason these words have such similar meanings, or is this case simply a coincidence?

(Also it must be noted that 挟｛はさ｝む has several meanings, only one of which is "to insert". So maybe I'm reading too much into it. But thanks in advance.)


texts: What is the etymological connection between sake (alcohol) and sha-ke (salmon)?

texts:
I read once somewhere that the word 'sake' (酒, Japanese rice wine) comes from sha-ke (鮭, salmon). Can someone explain what this connection is?

Any thoughts on why most Japanese people * don't know the origin of the word sake are also appreciated.

*Most Japanese people who I know ... @Tsuyoshi Ito may know more.


texts: 生活になぶられた、男の子は自殺した。Passive voice in Descriptive Relative clauses, and word choice

texts:
生活になぶられた、男の子は自殺した。

My translation:

  Tormented by daily life, the boy killed himself.

My other translation:

  The boy who was tormented by daily life killed himself.

I was wondering if there is any nuance when using the passive voice in descriptive relative clauses, and if some of my word choices like 「生活」 and 「なぶる」 sound natural in this context.


texts:
The sentence トムは私より身長が高いです。 means "Tom is taller than I me." but I'm trying to find  the meaning of each word in order to understand the japanese sentence better. Here is what I have so far:

トムは(Tom is topic), 私(I, me), より(less than or greater than?), 身長が(height of body),
 高いです(is tall).

So I am having trouble making sense of how the words and particles relate to the sentence.


texts: Is there any case in which we can use 今日の間に?

texts:
I asked some Japanese and they said that 今日のうちに is practically useful but 今日の間に is impractical (never used).

Can anybody here give a confirmation about whether 今日の間に is really impractical or not? Please also give me some examples.


texts: I don't understand what this verb conjugation is: 見えなくなった

texts:
This is a quote from Tae Kim's Guide

  下に入って、富士山が見えなくなった

Can someone explain what this form of 見える is? It almost seems like they are trying to make a negative verb into an adverb but is that possible?
Thanks!


texts: Differentiating ethnicity and nationality in japanese

texts:
Just to clarify the question, what I mean is that when you say that you're Chinese (in the English language), for example, you could mean it both ethnicity and nationality-wise. But in Japanese, it's "中国人". Because of the kanji 国, it sounds like it pertains to nationality and not ethnicity, but there are Chinese people outside of China, like those in Taiwan or Malaysia.

e.g. You can say "I'm a Chinese living in Malaysia/I'm Chinese-Malaysian" and you'd understand that the person is a native Chinese in Malaysia, but if you say "私はマレーシアに住んでいる中国人です” it sounds (to me) as if a Japanese person would interpret it as someone from China is living in Malaysia. Is there any other way to say this or any other term to use that refers to ethnicity?

I've been wondering about this for quite some time now because unlike homogenous societies where you can tell someone your nationality for them to understand what ethnicity you likely are, you can't for culturally diverse countries.


texts: How would you say, "why don't you come over?"

texts: I may be wrong but would 「そちらに来ない？」translate as "Do you want to come over?" And does the Japanese language even use the word 「そちら」in that way?


texts: Is there a word for "scream" in a musical context?

texts:
I want to say something along the lines of "I want to hear more of [name's] screams" but I don't want to sound like a psychopath. I mean the sort of scream you'd hear in a metal song. Is there a word for that?

Right now I have: AさんとBさんの叫{さけ}び声{ごえ}がもっと聞きたいです。


texts: How to know whether a word is borrowed from foreign languages?

texts:
If I want to translate the word "card" into Japanese, there's only one word in Katakana in Google Translation: カード. If I search the relevant Chinese word "卡片", there's still only one single result カード

I know that Japanese words borrowed from foreign languages would be written in Katakana. The main problem is how to know whether the word is borrowed from foreign languages?

I'm not surprised that words such as "coffee" or "computer" are borrowed as they are novel things arisen from recent centuries. However I'm extremely surprised that the word "card" is also borrowed as it is a very common object. Doesn't Japanese use any cards in ancient years?

The same issue confused me for other words such as "butterfly( バタフライ )", all which stand for very common objects but only have Katakana words.


texts: How can I tell if a Japanese person's given name is male or female?

texts: I am hoping that there may be some particular kanji and/or sounds used in determining if a persons given name is male or female.


texts:
大人のためのモダンな時間をあなたに……。バーテンも惡くないですな！

My version is - "A modern pastime for mature persons, that is what I offer you......"


texts: Writing jukugo where only some kanji are known

texts:
Having studied Japanese for two years so far, there are many instances of vocabulary that I have learned but for which I know [the 書き方 of] only some of the kanji that make up the word. Is there any convention for writing parts of a word, that would normally be written in kanji if known, in kana (either 片仮名 or 平仮名)?

To provide an example, for the word 「濁{だく}点{てん}」, the second character 「点」is learned much earlier than the first character 「濁」. If I were to try to write this on paper (as opposed to on a computer, where kana->kanji conversion is mostly automatic), my instinct is to write the kanji that I know and leave the rest in hiragana, rendering this word 「だく点」. Of course, depending on situation there is the option of looking in a dictionary, but even then  for some kanji the 書き方 is hard to intuit (such as in the case of kanji like 「鬱」where some of the radicals are uncommon in low-mid level kanji, have high stroke counts, or are otherwise difficult to write from first principles).