texts: In the following sentence, 多分 indicates maybe or probably?

texts:
多分俺は、今でもアリスを愛してる。
  多分、世界で一位タイなくらい愛してる。

He's saying that maybe he still loves Alice.

How much does he love her? Is it "maybe" or "probably"?


texts:
Many times I come across sentences that uses が instead of の to indicate possessiveness.

Example:
彼が車　instead of　彼の車.

The dictionary says that が can also "indicate possessive (esp. in literary expressions)", but why not to use の?

This confuses me a lot. Is there a nuance using が or の to possessiveness?


texts: Is there any merit to the claim that Japanese and Tamil are genetically related languages?

texts:
In India, regional nationalism is strongly tied to language. This is particularly the case in the Dravidian-speaking south, especially among speakers of Tamil - Tamil nationalists trot out all manner of absurd claims about the ancientness and purity and divine inspiration of the Tamil language, and about the great power held by the ancient Tamil people (until they were oppressed by the wretched Aryans from the north, of course).

I point this out to provide context for the following question: is there any actual evidence that Tamil (or any other Dravidian language) has a genetic relationship with Japanese?

My cursory reading on the matter has pointed me to Ono Susumu, who appears to have put forth a hypothesis claiming a genetic link - but that was back in the 1980s, and it appears that his hypothesis has been refuted (that said, I'm basing this on secondary writings - I haven't read the actual papers in question). I am unaware of any recent work that bolsters Ono's conclusions.

Yet, Indian news outlets keep on putting out new articles claiming Tamil-Japanese links (e.g. here and here), to the point that many educated Tamil non-linguists take the claims of a Tamil-Japanese genetic relationship as almost-fact. These beliefs are usually of the form "A long, long time ago, the mighty Tamil people traveled through China, crossed into Japan, and brought with them their language, which mixed with or displaced the language already present in Japan at the time" - and you can certainly see how this fits in with the Tamil nationalist narrative I mentioned above.

All that said, I'm left wondering if there's some linguistic (or historical) evidence I'm unaware of that makes claims of a Tamil-Japanese link more plausible.


texts: 痛い目にあう Is this literally meant to mean "You're gonna get a hurt/black eye?

texts:
Does the 目 mean 'eye' in this case?
What  does Au mean in this case? The pain and the 目 coming together to experience the hurt?

Is this a one-off sentence or can I use other variations like 苦しい目にあう (only negative ones?) or 楽しい目にあう?


texts: Are there any metaphors in these Japanese sentences?

texts:
I'm trying to understand the following three lines from a song:

ただ会いたくて 声も無くしそうで
でも会えなくて 夢さえ恨んだ
日々薄れてく 記憶を手探りで 感触をただ愛した

Each line is progressively difficult to understand. I can read the words but can't make sense of it. No translation I've found makes sense.

In the first line it says something like "I seemed to lose even my voice from just wanting to meet you." I don't get how wanting to meet someone would cause someone to lose their voice. Is this a metaphor?

The second line says something like, "But I couldn't meet you so I hated dreams." I don't see the connection. Another metaphor, or is this one of those cases where the native Japanese is able to easily fill in the blanks?

The third line is the weirdest one of all.

Can anyone make sense of this?

The complete song lyrics are here.


texts: Why can「うんざり」be used directly preceding「だ」/「です」?

texts:
I recently came across 「うんざり」(which dictionaries describe as an "adverb" and "する-verb"), and cannot figure out why it works in sentences where it directly precedes 「だ」/「です」.

An example is:
「彼女の態度にはうんざりだ。」

I can understand the sentence, but can't figure out how that usage fits into the definition of either "adverb" or "する-verb". Isn't it being used adjectivally?

How does 「うんざり」fit either or those roles in such sentences?


texts: Expressing control over circumstances—or a lack of it

texts:
If someone is discussing a situation, and how it is beyond their control, what would be the most natural way to express this?  The two options that come to mind offhand are to use either 操る【あやつる】 ("to manipulate") or 支配【しはい】 ("to control"), but I'm not sure which is best in which setting.

In the interest of giving the question context, here are a couple attempts at sample sentences:

  チームはどれほど(orどんなに)好きでも、試合は操ることができない(or試合を操ることはできない)。
  "No matter how much I like the team, I can't control the outcome of their matches."
  明日は晴れれば(or晴れると)いいんだが、天気は支配できない。
  "Clear weather tomorrow would be great, but I can't control it."

Are those about on the mark, or is there a better way to phrase these kinds of statements?


texts:
そして料理が来るまでの間、どうにか腹を保たせようと、店員がテーブルに置いていった水を一気に飲み干した。

Hi. What is the difference between 保たせようと and 保とうと in this sentence? Isn’t 保つ an transitive verb so we don’t need to change it into causative form?

Thank you.


texts:
While 深い (ふかい) means "profound; deep; dense", 箆 (へら, の), as a noun, means "spatula; arrow shaft" in japanese and, originally, "fine-toothed comb" in chinese.

This word is used adverbially in this sentence:

  箆深く射された矢がなかった。

箆深く could mean something like "deep as an arrow" or "arrow-like deep", but would it not be redundant if it appears before 矢?


texts: Why is gemination limited to voiceless obstruents?

texts:
According to The Phonology of Japanese by Laurence Labrune:

  Consonants likely to undergo gemination, that is, likely to be
  preceded by /Q/ in Yamato (including mimetics) and in Sino-Japanese
  are normally limited to the voiceless obstruents /p, t, k, s/ and
  their palatalized counterparts.

Has there been any attempt to describe it phonetically, e.g., coda restriction or something?


texts: what is the difference between 送る and 贈る?

texts:
I noticed that both are pronounced the same way and that both have approximately the same meaning "to send". Is there a slight nuance in the usage of both of these versions of "to send"?
I'm thinking that one might be more related to sending a person somewhere and the other might be more related to sending an object somewhere. Or am I completely wrong?


texts: Seeing the invisible の in old names and words

texts:
In many place and people names, there is an "invisible の", e.g., 三宮 is read さんのみや and 中大兄皇子 is なかのおおえのおうじ.  This can also happen in words: 班田収授法 is read はんでんしゅうじゅのほう, which I am less comfortable with because I suppose if it were modern Japanese it would be read without the の.

As I recall, this is because の was originally not written in 漢字 in olden days, so not all the phonetics were captured in writing (to the extent that phonetics were captured in 漢字).  My question is: could someone in olden days know or reasonably guess such readings without having specifically learned these names/words?  If so, can anyone explain what the basic rules/guidelines are?  (You can restrict this question to being about insertion of の's, but I would be happy to hear about other aspects as well.)


texts: Is there a kanji term for "-san" when used to address someone?

texts: All other titles, used when addressing someone, have a kanji character. Was/Is there a kanji term for -san?


texts: Can you nominalise a verb for specific subjects by adding a noun after the verb in ている form?

texts:
Assuming "学校で読んでいる本は簡単なの?" translates as "Are you finding reading books at school easy?", is there a general nominalising rule here?

From another question about こと and の, it's clear that the generalised act of reading would be 読んでいるの. Since 読む can take a direct object with を, it would follow that adding a noun that can be read like 本 or 新聞 allows you to be more specific.

How far can this be taken? For example, if I like reading books and newspapers, could I say "読んでいる本と新聞はすき"?

Is this correct and how is the rule actually formulated?


texts:
I recently listened to a song named アザトカワイイ and I started asking myself about the grammar behind this one simple phrase.
According to this site, the title means "Cunningly Cute" which makes sense because cunning in Japanese is あざとい, an い-Adjective.
But then I learned that you actually take the stem and add く to the adjective to make an い-Adjective into an Adverb.
I'm really confused right now LMAO Every input will be appreciated! Thanks in advance! ^~^


texts: So I am reading through a text and I am not sure if my translation of this sentence is correct

texts: The sentence in question is "困らせちゃだめよ?". I know that 困らせ is simply a causative form of 困る and that ちゃ is a feminine casual ては. I translated the sentence to "So you're not troubled anymore, are you?" I don't know why, but I've got the nagging feeling that the translation is incorrect.


texts: What is the proper way to use 余[よ] as a personal pronoun?

texts:
Whenever I play Fate/Grand Order, one thing I often hear when I use that game's version of Nero Claudius is her using 余 when referring to herself. Looking it up shows me that this particular pronoun has an archaic and formal flavor to it, as well as having an oratory function. That last bit is what's kinda got me scratching my head.

In what way is 余 oratory? What the proper way to use and understand 余, as a pronoun, and in what context is it most often used?


texts: 「所定」と「固定」の違いは何でしょうか？

texts:
Google translate gave be result below

所定 = Predetermined
固定 = Fixed

Which word is used when?


texts: 外国人登録をする時もいっしょについて　？？？ Why ついて

texts:
I am confused by this sentence in my textbook and I hope somebody will help me.

(talking about the host family, specifically the mother/wife)
外国人登録をする時もいっしょについて来てくれました

I think this is saying the wife in the host family helped with the alien registration. But the pattern does not translate well to me.

At the time of doing the alien registration, together we...

Then I think it is strange because について is to highlight the subject, and then...

来てくれました

I appreciated her coming?

To me I would say:

外国人登録をする時は　お母さんといっしょに会社に行きました。助けてよかったです。

but perhaps this describes a different situation. Perhaps she met him at the office to do alien registration.

Could somebody break down the textbook sentence please? I am finding it uses odd patterns to me.


texts:
I am studying sentences with my colleagues and this was one of the sentences we picked for the week:

All of us went besides him.
かれのほかにわたしたちみながいった。
彼のほかに私たち皆が行った。

After I consulted with a native speaker, I was told that the sentence makes it sound like "everyone went", as in "he went and we all went as well". To have the meaning I originally wanted I have been told to use this instead:

かれいがいのわたしたちみながいった

But then, my colleagues asked another native speaker which said that the original sentence was OK.

I would kindly like to ask the community for some additional opinions.


texts:
Is しゃぶしゃぶ typically written in hiragana rather than katakana? If so, why is it written in hiragana?

Wikipedia says that it is onomatopoeia:

  The term is an onomatopoeia, derived from the sound emitted when the
  ingredients are stirred in the cooking pot.

And I thought that onomatopoeia was typically done in katakana (though the latter citation gives some exceptions).


texts:
Recently I came across the word 助っ人, surprised to find out its reading was "すけっと."

Does its etymology have something to do with 助ける【たすける】 and 人【ひと】? If so, why the disappearance of た, ひ, and the addition of 促音?


texts: Why are English loanwords so much more popular than Chinese ones?

texts: While I get that Chinese-Japanese relations are complicated, American-Japanese relations are as well; given how Chinese jargon and terms of art are available, why is it that English terms are so often given preference?


texts: Understanding 人ってオーラって言うじゃない

texts:
Can any one please tell me how should one understand “人ってオーラって言うじゃない” in the below sentence? What’s the role of って after 人, I know it’s a colloquial form of と, but it’s a quoting particle, used for quoting speech or thought, but here it’s placed after 人, instead of speech or thought

  ちょっとある言葉を考えたことがあって、人ってオーラって言うじゃない


texts: Why is there て form at the end of the sentence?

texts:
明日みんなで桜を見に行くんですが、先生もいっしょにいらっしゃらないかなと思いまして。

Why is it there? And does it make any difference in meaning compared to dictionary form for example?


texts:
What is the Japanese for Chinese Opera?

The Japanese language Wikipedia article on Chinese opera is titled 戯曲 (中国), with "中国" merely being disambiguation metadata. 戯曲 apparently means drama, with no emphasis of it being Chinese.

The article mentions "チャイニーズ・オペラ", which is a katakana transliteration for "Chinese Opera". However, a transliteration of English seems a bit strange.

Does Japanese have a semantic gap for "Chinese Opera", having only the word for "drama", plus words for the specific branches of Chinese Opera?


texts:
Context: a boxer called Hyodo is going to fight against an opponent called Yanagi, whose nickname is Sniper. A friend of Hyodo tells him not to worry and then says this:

  アジア敵なしのスナイパーと呼ばれてるが元々アイツは雑草ーー

I get from the context that it has an offensive or negative value, but what is its specific meaning? Here you can see the whole page. Thank you for your help!


texts: Can directional particles be used with 見る?

texts:
空に見る: to look at the sky

空へ見る: to look towards the sky

Are these correct or can を見る express the same concept?


texts:
I was reading the transcript of Bilingual News and came across the word 雨粉 in a discussion about Mars.

None of the internet dictionaries I checked had this word. Google thought I was searching a Chinese word.

What is the reading - amegona? Something else?

I assume it means raindrop.

Edit: Perhaps I copied the word wrongly and it's actually ametsuba.


texts:
A: 他にもラルクコピーしてましたか？

  B: じゃあ最後にもう一度聴いてくれ…虹。ってやってた

I know that ラルク is the band L'arc En Ciel. What does コピー mean here? What does the first sentence say?


texts:
外套にすぐシャツを着た男

Is すぐ there with its usual connotations of “close by, right there”? I can’t make sense of this sentence.


texts: Can this incredibly complex sentence be simplified?

texts:
In 吉本隆明という共同幻想, which is a hilarious book that everyone should read, Kure Tomofusa critiques Yoshimoto Takaaki's byzantine writing style. One particularly confounding example is given as follows:

    個々ばらばらに見えていた問題が、大体統一的に見えるようになったというようなことがあると思うんです。

  「見えるようになったというようなことがあると思うんです」は「見えるようになった」でよい。

I have some little tricks for deciphering these phrases by themselves, but this sentence throws me for a loop.

Is Kure Tomofusa right to say that this sentence can be drastically simplified?
Is a literally accurate translation of the original sentence possible?


texts: "Strike while the iron is hot" - Japanese equivalent

texts:
Is there an equivalent expression in Japanese for "strike while the iron is hot"?

I've seen a few questions on here with phrases and their equivalents. Does anybody know of a site where these are collated?


texts: Meaning of 私のことを好きにならない人が好きみたい

texts:
The sentence

  私のことを好きにならない人が好きみたい

means "I like someone who doesn't like me back", but someone said to me that it means "I try liking someone who doesn't like me".

Which is correct?


texts: What is the difference between 売る and 販売する?

texts: They are "to sell" in meaning and I think we use them in different cases but I don't know. Can anybody help me???


texts: Past tense ...でする vs. past tense copula です　confusion

texts:
Maybe this is a stupid question, because very likely it is possible for advanced learners to distuiguish this. However, in the present tense ...でする (particle で) and ...です (copula) are distinct, while in the past tense they sound the same.

My current way to cope with this problem is to search in e.g. Google for expressions using the present tense, i.e. either です or で+する and compairing the number of found pages.

Example phrase: 思い出でした

Google hits for

思い出でする: 22
思い出です: 2.7 million

Clearly, copula wins over the other "possibility". This is rather awkward. Especially if there are terms that are less frequently used so Google returns either way few pages. Is there an easier way I am not seeing?

Thanks!


texts:
私は奥さんの態度をどっちかに片付けてもらいたかったのです。

これも usage of ぎりで in this sentence とおなじで、夏目漱石の「こころ」の一文です。

この「てもらいたかった」はこれによると「てもらいたい」の過去時制だとわかっています。

質問は、

この「てもらいたい」は「てほしい」と同じ意味ですか。

「片付け」は「部屋」や「書類」などに使う語のはずです。いみは「どこかをきれいにする」や「本を種類分けをして本棚に入れる」などのはずです。なぜ「態度」に使うのですか。もしかして「態度を変える」と理解するのでしょうか。


texts: What's the difference betweenグズ野郎 andクソ野郎

texts: They mean the same thing or is there a difference?


texts: How would I say "It's nice, right?" In Japanese?

texts: I posted about loving airports and when someone agreed with me I wanted to respond with "いいでしょ？" but I'm not sure it's the right response.


texts: とか～とかする versus たり～たりする

texts:
A) 日曜日にはどんなことをしていますか。
What sort of things do you do on Sundays?
音楽を聞くとか、本を読むとかしています。
I do things like listen to music and read books.
B) ニューヨークではどんなことをしましたか。
What sort of things did you do in New York?
*ミュージカルを見るとか美術館に行くとかしました。
I did things like watching musicals and going to museums.

According to "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar" response A) is correct but response B) is wrong. I should use たり instead.
This book, and other references, vaguely talk about 'specific' versus 'general' situations to decide which form to use, but I can't understand what their talking about. Both A) and B) look like the same usage to me. I can't understand why B) is wrong.
How do I know when to use とか and when to use たり?


texts: I'm trying to say "blessed with many talents", but I am not sure if I am using たくさん　correctly here. I am thinking that 「たくさんの才能に恵まれている」 is more grammatically correct but I can't think why. Maybe because たくさん　is both an adjective and an adverb, and thus whilst 「たくさん飲んだ」(drank a lot) makes sense, 「たくさん恵まれている」(be blessed a lot) doesn't sound so natural.


texts:
I have some confusion I want to clarify. I understand that to combine adjectives we need to use で for な adjectives and て form of い adjectives. So I'm pretty sure that these sentences below are correct:

暖かくておいしいです - It's warm and delicious.
きれいで有名な彼女 - A beautiful & popular girl.

What I want to clarify is...

I wasn't sure how to combine い and な adjectives together... Can I do this?

暖かくてきれいで有名な人です - A warm, beautiful and popular person.

Since な adjective is basically a noun, could we use と to combine them?

あの彼女はきれいと有名です - That girl is beautiful and popular.

I wasn't sure if this is correct:

高くておいしくなかったです - It was expensive and didn't taste good.


texts: What does conditional たら add to 未然形+う+とする?

texts:
Do the following sentences differ in meaning?  I understand that conditional たら adds the meaning of simultaneous action, but does the meaning of the sentence really change without たら?

寝ようとした、電話が掛かってきた。I was about to go to bed, and the phone rang.
寝ようとしたら、電話が掛かってきた。When I was about to go to bed, and the phone rang.


texts: Is で here has the same function as によって?

texts:
After a coffee store owner served coffee to his customers, he started with this line

いいか? 豆っていうのは産地で全く味も違うし、挽き方で味も変わってくるんだ...

to show off his knowledge about coffee beans.
I'm not sure what kind で used in 産地で and 挽き方で. I can understand 産地で全く味も違う as "taste is differ depending on where they are produced." So, it seems to me that で here is almost same as によって (depending on...). Am I right here? What is the difference between で and によって?
Also, what is the meaning of てくる in 変わってくる? I don't think it has anything to do with movement or temporal change.


texts: What is the difference between ですから, だから, それで、それでは？

texts:
I think they have the same meaning: therefore.

But my teacher told me they were slightly different.

So can you help me distinguish them and how to use please?


texts: "善処します" What is the person saying this actually implying?

texts:
On the OpenStack contributor's guide, it contains the following:

In Japanese culture, people tend not to say yes or no clearly as a way to respect others and to avoid appearing argumentative. A common phrase in Japanese business language is “Zensho shimasu” (善処します), which literally means “I’ll do my best”, however the actual meaning is “I will do nothing”, or “no way”. This type of linguistic confusion has caused many problems between Japanese and English speakers, most famously between Prime Minister Eisaku Sato and President Richard Nixon in the 1960s. If, as an English speaker, you notice a Japanese speaker being a bit evasive in committing, or seeming to commit to too many things, check in with them in a private email. It will be much easier for them (from a cultural perspective, anyway) to say yes or no privately, than on a mailing list or IRC.

Is this correct? If I were to give this reply to a Japanese co-worker thinking I'm telling them "I'll do my best", they would take it as I'm not going to do anything? And vice-versa, if I'm told this I should take it to mean they will not do anything either?


texts: Different ways to express 'if A happens'

texts:
What is the difference between soshite, suruto and sorede?
I am unable to distinguish the used-cases - they all seem to indicate 'If A happens then ....'

jibun no koto o otona da to omoimasu ka?
........, 10 nin chuu 8 nin ga etc etc

What would be the appropriate conjunction here?


texts: The Meaning or usage of the word ‘chinkie’ to indicate tiny or small in OLD Japanese language. Kyoto area

texts:
My elderly Mother used a variation on the root word of ‘ChiSai’ 小さい  to mean VERY  SMALL or TINY -narrow etc. the word she usd was ‘ chinkie’. This has NOTHING to do with the commonly accepted racist or derogatory Modern way in which it is used in English language today.

She was born in 1926 near Kyoto in an area called ‘Anji’ I believe あんじ.   I am looking for anyone who has heard this term being used in a manner/definition to mean or indicate ‘tiny’ or very small.

I am finding it to be a colloquialism which is not easy to find online in common dictionaries.
Please help me with this as I am seeking anyone else that’s ever heard this term. Thank you so much for any possible information


texts:
何枚ものお札をつかんで窓口にいく

I found the above sentence in this post. What is the meaning of もの here? Does it only come after counters, or can it be added to any noun? I've looked in several dictionaries, but cannot figure out which definition this もの comes under. Is this もの different from 物?


texts:
I was translating some lines and I'm not quite sure the best way to go through this one, specifically the もらおう bit:

  君の妄言もいい加減にしてもらおう！

Now, I'm aware of the usage of ～てもらう but what would be the best way to bring the volitional form to English?

Keep in mind that the speaker is actively hostile to the listener, so I'm stuck between two ways of reading this: a more direct translation ("I will have you cease your inane rambling!") and one that keeps the intent but is more active ("I will put an end to your inane rambling!").

Are both versions acceptable or is only one incorrect? Or, even, are neither correct?

Either way, thanks for the help.


texts:
I encountered this sentence in my textbook:

  いつか、日本人政治家の中にも世界で尊敬され、名前を知られるような人物が現れるようになるには、まず日本国民一人一人の意識を変えるべきなのだろう。

In all cases of passive form that I learned so far, I only ever seen it used with が

Referring to the answer from this post:

Why is を used with passive form here?

I understand that を marks the direct object and が marks the indirect object of the verb.

However I have trouble understanding the difference in meaning between the two particles when I replace them in a sentence:

  彼の秘密が知られる His secret will be known

  彼は秘密を知られる His secret is known (?)

So can I rephrase 名前を知られるような人物 to 名前が知られるような人物 without a change in meaning? What is the difference?

Unrelated to my main question, does the ような mean "like" in this context? 名前を知られるような人物, "a person like whose name is known"


texts:
I'm translating this and stuck on the meaning of 所属事務所でも, I can't work out if it's an affiliated office, an office he's affiliated to, or something else. I've exhausted searching my usual sources and have decided to ask a question here. Many thanks!

  私は、インフラストラクチャービジネス（IB）に対する強い関心と会計士としての高い能力が認められ、現在は所属事務所でも1位の売上高を誇るプラントエンジニアリング会社のインチャージとして10名超の監査チームをマネジメントしている。

Currently I have a very strong interest in Infrastructure Business (IB), and my strong abilities as an accountant have been recognized. Currently in my capacity as head of the plant engineering company, which boasts top sales even though an affiliated office, I manage an auditing team of more than 10 persons.


texts:
In some situations everybody around me use 重い, and when I went to the bicycle shop everyone was only using 重たい.

Both mean heavy, but what is the difference in meaning or context between them?

Can something be 重い but not 重たい? Or 重たい but not 重い?


texts: why is "know" expressed as 知っています, and what does 知ります really mean?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Why is 知りません the negative form of　知っています？

I'm posting the question as suggested by Zhen Lin and troyen. What that said, why is that? And a secondary question, when would you use 知ります?

Related post


texts: 朝ご飯は vs. 朝ご飯に - difference between these two sentences?

texts:
I wanted to ask my language partner what he ate for breakfast. However, I was unsure whether what I said was correct despite him telling me that it's good - I would just like some verification.

I said:

  朝ご飯は何を食べましたか。

I'm unsure whether this is "correct" as in is this how one would normally ask another person what they ate for breakfast?

The Google-translated equivalent is:

  (あなたは)朝食に何を食べたのですか？

I don't like to rely heavily on Google-translated sentences to verify if what I mean/say is correct. What is the difference (if any) between these two sentences and is what I said grammatically correct?


texts: Does -ou / -you / -mashou conjugation have a negative form?

texts:
Does the -ou / -you / -mashou (the "let's X") form have a negative counterpart? For example, how do I say "let's not X" for the following?:

行こう
食べよう
寝ましょう

As far as I can remember, the Japanese courses I took in college did not teach me the negative of this form. Does it even exist? If it does not exist, how do you say "let's not X" in Japanese?


texts: intuitively, why do かねる and かねない roughly mean "cannot" and "can"?

texts:
I understand the grammatical usage of these words, but I don't understand why they (roughly) mean "cannot" and "can".

For example, if we write them with kanji, we get 兼ねる and 兼ねない. According to jisho.org, that kanji has the following meanings: "concurrently, and, beforehand, in advance". None of these meanings directly corresponds to the meaning of "cannot" and "can", so why would that kanji be used?

Here's the research so far:

There might be a relationship with 悲しい: http://gogen-allguide.com/ka/kanashii.html
There might be a relationship with 嫌: https://ja.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%85%BC#%E6%B4%BE%E7%94%9F%E5%AD%97
There might be a relationship with 予ぬ: https://ja.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AC

I'm trying to find an intuitive way to understand how this usage came to be, to better "feel" the intention of the word. Any help appreciated!


texts: Why is わるいそうです similar to わるいといっています?

texts:
I am practicing for N4, the question prompt is this:

I am confused why 3 is the correct answer for the following question:

My understanding is as follows:

Yamada-san's convenience is "evil" it seems. (??)
I think it's inconvenient for Yamada-san.
Yamada-san said it's inconvenient.
It's probably inconvenient for Yamada-san.


texts:
The sentence in question is:

  何しに原宿に来ましたか

I understand what the sentence generally means, but I am unclear what し means in the sentence above. Is the し just a conjugation of する, and if so, when should I use し instead of する? Can なんで原宿に来ましたか be used instead without changing the meaning?

Another example:

  日本語ができると旅行がしやすくなって便利だと思いますよ

Same as the first example, I understand what the sentence means, but don't understand why し is used. Doesn't removing the し to become 日本語ができると旅行がやすくなって便利だと思いますよ mean the same thing?

Please enlighten me. Thanks.


texts:
I haven't done too, too much in-depth research on this one, but a general search seems to show that this is a joke or a meme. Either way, I'm very interested in knowing a bit more about the context of this phrase when used like this.

As a side note, this was someone's name while playing an online game, if that relates to your response in any way.


texts: Understanding this English to Japanese translation

texts:
In this sentence:

  俺のような人が、アナタの目の前から、奪っていくこともあるけどな

I don't understand this part 奪っていくこともあるけどな. It's a translation of :

  Someone like me swoops in and takes it from you

How can I parse this part? if it's:

  奪っていく こと　も　ある　けど　な

Why are も and けど used in this sentence?


texts: Can 向こうに in 向こうに大きなビルが見える also be interpreted as a relative clause?

texts:
向こうに大きなビルが見えます。

I translate it to

  The big building is visible over there.

Question

Can I also translate it to the following?

  The big building over there is visible.

In other words, can I assume that 向こうに is a relative clause for 大きなビル?


texts: What is the use of くらい in this sentence?

texts:
あなたは頑張りすぎるくらい頑張ったんですよね.
I don't understand exactly the meaning of くらい in the sentence above. Could someone explain it to me and, maybe, give some examples too?


texts: Difference and nuance between することはない and する必要はない/する可能性はない

texts:
I understand the grammar point "Verb (Dictionary Form) + ことはない" can mean either "There is no need" or "There is no possibility" depending on context.

However, what are the differences? Are there any nuances which I should be aware of? Can they simply be interchanged in any circumstance?

"There is no need" example:

わざわざここに来る必要はない
vs
わざわざここに来ることはない

"There is no possibility" example:

今日の会議を忘れる可能性はない
vs
今日の会議を忘れることはない


texts:
While listening to the song "Yasashisa no Riyuu", I noticed the following sentence:

  今は誰の名前でもない 輝きの彼方へ

Which by the fansub is translated like this:

  Now it doesn't matter whose name it may be. Beyond the horizons light.

However, I've been uable to find any information supporting that "でもない" can mean

"independent of x (thing it is attached to)".

I did however find an alternative translation online, which instead translates it as follows:

  Heading toward the shining yonder that isn’t named after anyone.

Which seems to me as if でもない is merely the negation of でもある.

"でもない" is then used exactly like we would use じゃない (except with the added meaning of も)

When applying what little knowledge I have, this translation seems to make the most sense to me.

Now my questions are:

1. Can でもない have some meaning beyond what is implied by the negation of でもある?
2. Which translation is correct?


texts:
Would "死んでいたそう(ね)" be an appropriate translation for "looks like you almost died (there)"?

Imagine you throw your scarf around your neck and almost hit a person. Except a scarf hardly hurts and actually it was so far away it could have never hit the person.
Yet the person looks at you as if you almost killed her/him.


texts: Does Korean hanja usage correspond to Japanese kun'yomi and on'yomi kanji usage?

texts:
For those who are versed in both Korean and Japanese. To add a bit of context, I've searched info on Korean hanja usage for some time, but none of the sources clearly stated that hanja may serve the same purpuse as kun'yomi does in kanji. As far as I'm concerned, modern hanja usage is limited only to represent some ambiguous and/or homophonous vocabulary of Chinese origin (with that corresponding to on'yomi) or abbreviations ("Sino-American Relations" and so on).

In short, could or can hanja "encode" native Korean words? And if so, does Korean have words which were rendered on Chinese model but have native Korean pronunciation (like Japanese 宝籤｛たからくじ｝) or words which have mixed Chinese and Korean phonetic parts (like Japanese 豚肉｛ぶたにく｝)?


texts: Why can some particles not precede the の particle?

texts:
I encountered this line in the article on the の particle on imabi.net:

の can also follow other case particles--never が nor に. It can also be after some adverbs. When this happens, it is best to treat the adverb as a nominal phrase.

神への道
Road to God/the gods

母からの手紙
A letter from my mother

しばらくの間
For a while

First, does this mean that をの is valid? I don't think I've ever seen it. But I'd imagine that 私をのボール would mean "the ball that hit me" (or maybe some other verb, depending on context).
Why can only some particles precede the の particle? I can see how がの would be difficult to interpret, but 私にの手紙 (letter to me) seems like a perfectly reasonable construction. Is there any justification/pattern for which particles can precede の?


texts: The logic behind kanji choice for country name ateji

texts:
亜米利加【アメリカ】
伊太利亜【イタリア】
独逸【ドイツ】

I know these spellings are rarely used...
My question is:
Why did they choose exactly these kanji characters for spelling these countries' names?
Could they use other kanji characters but with same readings for spelling  these countries?


texts:
From what I can find out, "たっけ" is just an expression that shows that you're trying to remember something, but what does the "だった" part mean? I have a few guesses, but they don't seem to match that well to what I can understand from it.

Full sentence: "今日一限から英語だったっけ"


texts: How do you (not using keigo) thank someone for giving you permission to do something?

texts:
For example, if someone allows me to use their computer, I may say:

パソコンを使わせていただいてありがとうございます。

(if that is incorrect, let me know!).

But in normal speech, how would you say it? I.e in every day situations.


texts:
I get that 会え is to meet and いい is good but a bit confused on the たら part? Looked it up and it's like a conditional formatting for a verb?

So would the sentence translate to something like, it would be good to meet you?


texts: Can we have two thematic は particles in a sentence?

texts:
Good afternoon all,

From what I understand, there are two types of は-particle:

The thematic-は (topic-marker) which is used to introduce things into the universe of discourse.
The contrastive-は.

jkerian states that:

  There can be only one thematic は in a sentence. If you see a second one, the second is certainly contrastive, and the first might be. (source)

But Derek states that:

  The [non-first] は often adds a hint of comparison or contrast. (source)

These two sentences are contradictory.

Assuming that jkerian is right, that there is only one thematic は in a sentence, so the non-first は will always add a hint of comparison / contrast, which contradicts what Derek said.

Assuming that Derek is right, that it is possible for the non-first は not to add any hints of contrast / comparison, then it suggests that we can now have more than one thematic は in a sentence, which contradicts what jkerian said.

So basically I was wondering who is right? Is it possible to have two は-particles in a sentence, both of them not having any comparative / contrastive hints?


texts: What is 上がり refering to in this sentence?

texts:
I came across the following paragraph in a book.

  一日の始まりは、まず基礎{きそ}体力の鍛錬{たんれん}。腹筋、屈伸{くっしん}、腕立{うでた}て伏{ふ}せ。お定まりの筋力トレーニングを、呼吸が上がり床{ゆか}に這{は}いつくばるまで
  繰{く}り返す。

Is 上がり being used as a noun plus noun compound with 床 in reference to a "risen floor", as seen in these online images?

Or is 上がり being used as a reference to the author's moving body as him exercising contextually produces a downward (這いつくばる) then upward (繰り返す) motion, as further evidenced in the following excerpt taken from heretomurimudamura's answer?

  "上がります means that something is going up in reference to a past position."


texts: 「日本では美味しい和食が食べられる」と「日本は美味しい和食が食べられる」は違う？

texts:
（1）“日本では美味しい和食が食べられる”

  （2）“日本は美味しい和食が食べられる”

どっちも使えるんですね。意味もわかりますけど、もうちょっと詳しい文法を知りたいです。

私はこう思います(正しいかどうかわからない)：

  “日本では美味しい和食が食べられる”　⇒　“私は日本で美味しい和食が食べられる”　から　変わった文です。(この場合主語がつくと、自然な日本語とは思わないけど、私にとってもっと理解しやすいと思う。)

  “日本は美味しい和食が食べられる”　⇒　“私は日本で美味しい和食が食べられる”　から　変わった文ではなく　”日本は私は美味しい和食を食べられる”　から　変わった文です。

私は、他には　“へは　には　とは　etc”　と　“は”　だけ　を比べる場合も　この例文と同じだと思います。
最後に、日本語が下手ですので、私が言ってる意味が先生たちに分かるかどうかちょっと心配してますので、英語でもっと説明します。

I think that the phrase "日本は" in sentence（1）is just like the meaning of "about Japan" in English and doesn`t emphasize "where".
If I try to translate it, I think it would be "About Japan, I can eat delicious Japanese food there"）

And, the "日本では"　in sentence（2）, I think, the meaning would be "In Japan" and somehow with kind of emphasis about that.
If I translate it, I think it would be "In Japan, I can eat delicious Japanese food."

And, in other cases, I think we also can apply the same rule to them, like “日本は旅行に行きたいです”　is kind of like "About Japan, I want to go there."
And, “日本には旅行に行きたいです”　is like "I want to go to Japan."

I know I barely hear “日本は旅行に行きたいです” because of the lack of "に", but in some cases, “に　と　へ　etc”　are optional and don't play an important role.

So, Finally, I want to know the ideas from you guys because all of the explanations above are just my opinions.
No matter what I said is correct or not, I hope you guys will explain the grammars to me.
Thank you very much.
質問が多くてすみません。


texts: On the topic of 美化語 (Refined Language), are there any websites that list words that take お〜, ご〜 or neither?

texts: I'm just wondering, because I think it would be helpful to know which words should be prefixed with お〜, which words should be prefixed with ご〜, and which words should not be prefixed with either of them.


texts:
In an article about penetrant testing (浸透探傷検査) I found the following sentence:

  浸透液は水洗式でハケ塗りとし，極力溶接部以外に浸透液が付着しないようにすること．

In this kind of test, a penetrant liquid is used on a surface (in this case a weld area, 溶接部) to check if it has defects.

Here I read that 水洗式 refers to a flush toilet, but in this context it doesn't make much sense to me. Could it refer to a drainage outlet or something similar? I mean something used during the test to collect the dripping of penetrant liquid?

Thank you for your help!


texts:
I want to say

  It is unfair to judge other people based on our own belief (not necessarily religious belief).

I have two options:

Ａ:　私たちの信仰で、他の人を判断するのは不正である。
B:　自分の信仰で、他の人を判断するのは不正である。

I want to use B but I am not sure whether 自分 refers to us (the speaker) rather than the other people (object).


texts: Combining multiple nouns with a lack of attributive verbs

texts:
While listening to a song (I believe it would be considered denpa or something close to it) I came across these lyrics (hesitant English translations by me):

どうだい くたばる前に あばよ昇天

How’s that? Before I drop dead I bid farewell my ascension to Heaven

全体死んでる目で見つめ合って

Gazing at each other with completely lifeless eyes

行進頓服中毒敵わないね

I won't win against this parade of use-as-needed poison

振り切れた生命 本能は低迷

I shook off my life; my instincts grow sluggish

I don't understand how to handle this "行進頓服中毒". I'm assuming that some のs are being omitted here as is the case with more casual/archaic language, but the terms and tone of the lyrics in this song are so odd (ex. "錠剤病んでるせいで投与、御礼。/ Since I was sick of those pills, my humble thanks to you for administering [them]") I wanted to check.

Thanks in advance - sorry for the jumbled question.


texts:
I am currently trying to read Bleach in Japanese. So far I haven't ran into any difficulty that a good dictionary cannot overcome. However in this particular scene I am puzzled by a particular scene, in the first tome, chapter 5 I think:

  俺のものだ！誰｛だれ｝にも渡｛わた｝しはせん！！まして黒崎｛くろさき｝一議｛いちご｝！！

So, this character is Orihime's brother. They have lived together until he died, and they were very exclusive, living without their parents. Upon his death, Orihime was at first praying for his rest everyday and such, but after a while she stopped praying and made new friends, including Kurosaki-kun with whom she is in love. Driven by jealousy, the brother comes back as a hollow to reclaim her.

So, I understand the rough meaning (I think):

  She is mine! No one will take her from me!! Especially you, Kurosaki-kun!!

So my questions:

Is this the correct sense?
What is this form ? Is it simply a shortcut for 〜てはいけません? Where does it comes from? Is it common?
I have always used 渡す in a literal sense (for a road, a bridge...) Is it common to use it like this?


texts: Which word should I use to express "done" for following someone on instagram?

texts:
Someone asked me to follow him on Instagram. I want to say to him something like "done", or "did it".

Should I use やった、した、完了…？


texts: Japanese dictionary for mathematics/computer science jargon

texts: I study mathematics and computer science, and I'm starting to learn japanese. Could you suggest me dictionaries/sites/etc where I could learn terminology on these subjects?


texts:
I think this sentence:

  あまり日がささまいためか、どれもひょろひょろとした貧弱な木だ

means something like "Since they get too much sunlight, they are shabby trees", but while I know ために I can't find anything about ためか in my grammars; I was wondering if they have the same meaning.


texts:
Despite its being one of the most basic element of daily-life Japanese, I often find myself looking for a proper way to end certain phone conversations.

Of course, I know the standard: [それでは]失礼します, or: よろしく[お願いします]...

But somehow, neither of these seems quite right when ending a (somewhat formal) conversation where I am the customer (e.g. making a restaurant reservation). I often opt for a basic ありがとうございました, but I don't think it is a very idiomatic way to end such phone conversations.

What would be a good phrase, beside the ones above, to end a phone conversation with a stranger?

Update: So from Tsyoshi's comments, it sounds like 失礼します is just the way to end all phone conversations, service people included. But Dave MG's はい、どうも provides a nice alternative (and he's the only answer), so I'll accept it.


texts: IT system renewal: Can I say 更新 for "renewal"?

texts:
I am starting a new project and have to come up with a name for it so that everybody knows what we are talking about.

The project is the renewal of an IT application that I will call エックスワイゼッド. Improving the existing software and adding a few features.

Can I call it エックスワイゼット更新プロジェクト ?

Is there a better word/expression?

I looked up on ALC and others but could not find. Your methodology for translating this kind of term would also interest me :-)


texts: What is the meaning of this と "and" or "with"?

texts:
皆さん、こんにちは！
昨日、新しいコロナウイルスについて読んで、何か面白いものを見つけた！
これで手伝ってくれないの？
 So, I found a bit confusing the following sentence:
この女性の娘と結婚している男性にも、ウイルスがうつっていました。
In the beginning I thought that the meaning of this sentence was "the daughter and husband of the woman" (to whom the sentence makes reference) because as you know と can mean "and" 日本と中国 = Japan and China
                      娘と結婚している男性= daughter and husband
But also と can mean "with"
So I concluded that the meaning of the sentence is
"The man who is married to this woman's daughter"
But I just wanna be sure I'm right with this


texts: How do you say 'take my dog for an hour long walk'?

texts: Going for a walk is "sanpo ni iku", right? Would taking my dog for a walk be "inu no" or "ino o sanpo ikimas"? And then I just add the "ichi jikan" in the beginning.


texts: What is the purpose of using 悩ん with だり in the last sentence?

texts:
I know that だり...だりする is used to list verbs from my genki I book, but I knew that wasn't what was occurring in my sentence. While looking for aid to figure out what the だり in the last sentence means, I found this answer here. I still can't figure out what the だり is doing in the last sentence.
Therefore, how is the だり affecting the 悩ん in the last sentence?

体力も神経も使い果たし、疲れ果てて泥のように眠る毎日が続く。余計なことを考える[暇]{ひま}もなければ、夢を見ることもない。やがて、そんな生活に慣れはじめると、今度は物事をじっくりと考えることが苦痛になってきた。その時々の課題をクリアすることに、全力で取り組んでいる間は、何も思い悩んだりせずにすむ。

My translation attempt:

Using up my stamina and nerves, the wet dirt tires me out so that I wish to lie down every day again and again. Neither time to think to unnecessary things, nor things to dream. In the end, that sort of life when I start to grow accustom to it, now without rushing everything, my thoughts gradually become agony. That at times clearing the task, for all my power is a period of working hard, without worrying about anything among other things I feel at ease.


texts: How would I go about explaining how I want my haircut in Japan?

texts:
So I've been in Japan for roughly 3 weeks now and my hair has been starting to get a little bit long; I've been thinking about getting a haircut for a while but my complete lack of knowledge on Japanese vocabulary regarding hair cuts has deterred me thus far.

So yeah, just what is some general vocab and stuff I should know how to say to try and make this proceed as smoothly as possible? If explaining how exactly I want my hair helps narrow down what advice to give, I need to like near-shave the sides and back of my head, just having the hair around those areas really short in general, but the top of my head is where most of the length should stay. I basically have like my left side shaved entirely and then it stops, forming a hard part for my hair to rest towards the right of my head, and then as you approach the right side of my head the hair starts to fade in length and then goes to same uniform shortness as the rest of my head. My back side should do this as well.

I was planning on showing whoever will cut my hair a couple photos of how my haircut first turned out when I did it and the photo I used for reference for the stylist at that time, and just saying like 「このようなヘアカットしたいんですが」or something along those lines, but I just want to be absolutely sure I have like things I'll be able to say to further explain what I want if that doesn't cut it (no pun intended).


texts:
For example, if I were saying "This was made by him and I," would it be possible to write it as "これは彼と私が作りました。"?

Are you allowed to list multiple things as the subject of the sentence?


texts: The character, 體 (tai) which I think loosly means entity looks different than the what I have noticed in other characters. In particular, the radical on the left looks strange. I tried to find it on the internet, but I couldn't find anything about the etymology. Does anyone else know?


texts:
I posted a question some time ago about this same sentence, but about a different grammar problem than this one.

So the sentence:

  せめてお願いをするあの子たち以外にはできるだけ迷惑をかけないようにしないと

The context is that the person saying this (monologing) is aiming to later likely fight "those girls", because they'll likely oppose what she feels she needs to do. Mostly because her plan could endanger people.

So here she is saying she'll try to limit bothering others (other than "those girls") to a minimum.

But I'm wondering about the お願いをする あの子たち bit. Is this something like
あの子たちにお願いをする so she is also saying she'll first ask them for help/to let her?

Or is this something more nuanced?

I'm mostly wondering because I know what happens afterwards, and she never really does the asking. Well at least not until the plan goes sideways.

So, what's your oppinion on the meaning of お願いをする あの子たち?


texts: Calling someone older brother/sister and the implications on relationships

texts: If a Japanese person calls you older brother/sister(お兄さん, お姉さん), in addition to implying closeness, does it also mean that they are implying a platonic relationship?


texts: the reading of this kanji combination 炊煙 and meaning of 人家

texts:
I have encountered another sentence while translating some text of Japanese history
The sentence is:

人家の竈（かまど）から炊煙が立ち上っていないことに気づいて租税を免除します。 jinka no kamado kara 炊煙 ga
tachiagatteinai koto ni kidzuite sozei wo menjo shimasu.

So I have these words:

人家 jinka
炊煙

I have problem with the meaning of jinka. Does this refer to houses and buildings in that period of history?
In case of 炊煙. As I found out 炊 taku means cooking and 煙 kemu means fume and smoke. So Do I presume well if I think they mean "fumes and smokes deriving from cooking"? And how can we pronounce it?


texts: This one stumps me. Also for next time is there a good online Japanese etymology dictionary?


texts:
I have a question about ように in the following sentence. As far as I can understand まるで～　～ように here emphasize counter factuality, and would be translated like "as if, just". However I cannot understand what exactly does it connects to, maybe 「もかも純白のこの部屋」?

  少年はまるで潔癖症を患ったように何もかも純白のこの部屋に似つかわしくないその写真に、何度も視線をやっていた。

Translation attempt:

  The boy again and again looked at the photograph, which looked out of
  place in this pure white room as if he suffered from fastidiousness.

Context


texts: Examples of words which cannot be directly translated into English and have potentially philosophical meanings

texts:
I was watching an interview by "That Japanese Guy Yuta" (a Japanese YouTuber) where the question was "What if everyone in Japan could speak English. What would be the impact?".

Most suggested they would travel more, but one woman lamented that something in communication would be lost as there are words like:

  komorebi [こもれび] / [木漏れ陽] - sunlight streaming through trees

This doesn't have a direct translation like "sun" or "tree" which can be seen as it appears to be a combination of various words/kanji like 木 for tree; 陽 for sun etc.

It also has a connotation of serenity and tranquillity as well as the standard description of a phenomenon and so could have philosophical implications.

Are there other words like this anyone knows which potentially have wider/philosophical meanings and/or can't be directly translated?

[I'm particularly interested in the kind of words you might find in poetry.]


texts: What's the difference between -ga and -o when they are used to designate a direct object?

texts:
During the past month I've been addicted to Japanese. I've listened to about 10 online tutorial video courses and read about as much printed lessons. I am determined to learn Japanese, but I am really a newbie so my question may be very basic, but please bear with me.
If I understand correctly, both -ga and -o particles designate a direct object.
For example, I've heard:

Watashi wa ongaku-ga suki desu. = I like music
Watashi wa ongaku-o kiku (or kikimasu, I'm not sure) = I am listening to music

So why is it ga in one case and o in the other? Is it specific to the verb or the object or what?
P.S. I don't know hiragana yet, so I'd appreciate if you could keep your examples, if any, in romaji.


texts: I'd like to know the meaning of the kanji circled in the image (or, simply, what kanji it is). I was able to discern everything else, but because it's handwritten, it was difficult tell what it was.


texts: 〜(ら)れる - Ambiguity between passive and Keigo

texts:
In my Japanese Bible, it often uses the 〜(ら)れる Keigo form when talking about God's actions.  However, there are certain cases when talking about both people and God in the same sentence where the use of 〜(ら)れる is ambiguous as to whether it's the Keigo for God's actions, or the passive of what will happen to the people.

Take this verse:

  あなたが叫【さけ】べば「わたしはここにいる」と言われる。ー　イザヤ書 58:9
  When you call to me, I will respond. - Isaiah 58:9

So I'm confused as to whether this is shortened from

  あなたが叫べば（あなたが）「わたしはここにいる」と言われる　→　If you call, you will be told "I am here"

or

  あなたが叫べば（神様【かみさま】が）「わたしはここにいる」と言われる　→　If you call, God will say "I am here"

Are there any indicators as to which it might be?  Does it even matter?


texts:
From this article:

  静岡県の伊豆は、キンメダイという魚や温泉などが有名な観光地です。
  Shizuoka's Izu is famous for hot springs and some weird fish
  伊豆の海岸を走っている伊豆急行で、赤いキンメダイをイメージした電車の運転が始まることになりました。
  A train service, that looks like a red fish, will start running along the Izu coast, run by Izu Express.
  たくさんの人に観光に来てもらうために、伊豆急行と近くの６つの市と町が考えました。
  For the purpose of getting lots of people to come sight seeing, 6 nearby towns and cities thought up the Izu express

The part in bold in the last sentence is just a guess. I assume that と is quotative here? I'm guessing that it was something like:

  [Izu express would be a great idea]と考える

but with "would be a great idea" omitted as being too obvious to everyone but me. Is my thinking correct?

I also have a question on the second sentence. Does 伊豆の海岸を走っている modify 伊豆急行? It feels to me like it should modify 電車の運転 but I worry that the comma prevents that from being possible. Finally, is で 'by means of' here or copula. I think it must by "by means of". If it was copula then we'd have "It is the Izu express which runs along the Izu coast and ..." but we don't yet know what 'it' is.


texts:
I was looking in A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar when I saw something on page 329 which truly shocked me:

  "node cannot be used and kara must be used [... when ...] the main clause is a command, request, suggestion or invitation"

  ×　この映画はためになるので行きなさい
  ○　この映画はためになるから行きなさい

  ×　あしたのショーはおもしろいのでぜひ見に来て下さい
  ○　あしたのショーはおもしろいからぜひ見に来て下さい

  ×　この本はとてもおもしろいのでみんなも読んだほうがいいよ
  ○　この本はとてもおもしろいからみんなも読んだほうがいいよ

  ×　いい酒をもらったので一緒に飲みましょうか
  ○　いい酒をもらったから一緒に飲みましょうか

I do not consider the × sentences ungrammatical at all!

I, on the other hand, consider ので more polite than から, and would hesitate to use から in 丁寧語 sentences (except where only から is an option, e.g. からです, でしょうから). So I actually prefer the × sentences in the second and fourth examples.

What is going on? Is the dictionary wrong, am I wrong, or has the distinction between the two particles shifted in nuance? (The dictionary was written in 1986).


texts: What is written here on page 4, after 「それと一緒に」? I searched in WWWJDIC and Google, but I can't understand the meaning of 「こつぐってなる」. For the 「語彙が…」 comment, I understand that this word sounds strange for the characters too. But strange is different from nonsense.


texts: The meaning of は (wa) in 四月は君の嘘 ("Your Lie in April")

texts:
I was trying to translate the title of the film called "Your Lie In April" into Japanese.

I came to know that 四月は君の嘘 is the official name of "Your Lie in April". But I was not able to understand the meaning of the は because I know 四月 means "April", 君の means "Your" and 嘘 means "Lie". But I couldn't figure out what は means in this sentence.

It would be great if anybody can help me out!


texts:
この漢字は読めない
I guess I also just need to add more words to post this question. Please help if you can read the kanji, and thank you.


texts: Is there a way to express metaphor in japanese?

texts:
I'm familiar with にている and みたい however I'm looking for a way to say something is something without literal implications.
For example Michael Phelps is a fish. Like he's not literally a fish so i wouldn't want to say Michael Phelps は 魚 だ。

Any help on this subject would be great thanks.


texts:
Is there a substantial difference 断る and 真っ平　?
Can you replace one with the other without affecting the meaning ?

Here is some context:

  今ここで諦めても‌いずれ俺は槙島聖護を見逃した自分を許せなくなる
  そんなのは真っ平だ

  If I give up now, eventually I'll come to resent myself for letting Makishima Shougo get away.
  I could never allow that to happen.

Thanks in advance


texts:
For full context, see here.

It is in paragraph 2, example:

  同じ色で違うサイズのシャツを探す。
  => "Someone looks for a shirt of different size and being the same color"

I interpreted it as the continuative form of です, but in this case, at least from a conceptual perspective, it could just as well be the particle で.

  "Someone looks for a shirt of different size with the same color."

That's why I wanted to ask for confirmation whether I'm right or not.


texts: Meaning for 昔から大好きな親戚の姉さん

texts:
I sometimes hear 姉さん used as just another way of addressing an older woman but I don't understand the usage of 親戚の姉さん. 親戚(shinseki) is relative so does Shinseki no Nesan mean the literal older sister of a relative, or something else?
The full fragment I want to get the meaning of is 昔から大好きな親戚の姉さん.


texts: Is it possible to make a relative clause & main clause using a formal noun, such as はず?

texts:
I know that a relative clause and main clause are formed when you have a construct of [sentence/verb] + noun in Japanese. While attempting to translate the following sentence, I found three of the above construct as denoted by (1) (2) and (3), where the relative clause and main clause meet.

  自分の置かれた(1)状況を把握{はあく}しようとして、混乱している(2)うちに殺されていた(3)はずよ。

Number 3 seemed suspicious to me and not quite right to be a instance of the relative-main clause construct, so I did some research. This answer says that はず (in most cases) is a  形式名詞 ("formal noun"), which made me wonder if it is possible to make relative-main clause constructs using formal nouns as opposed to normal nouns.

And if the answer is 'yes', is the above instance of はず making a relative-main clause construct? If not, why (in the case it is a formal noun in the above instance, but still fails to make a clause)?


texts: How would you say " If you'd like to speak English, it's fine by me"?

texts: The concept would be like, a Japanese asks you if you are OK with speaking English with him and you want to answer back " If you'd like to speak English (instead of Japanese), it's fine by me". I'm looking for something more complex than " 英語で話してもいいです". Maybe a formation with ば ?


texts: Dropping ーさん when referring to someone humbly with 謙譲語

texts:
Why aren't we referring to Yamada as Yamada-san in the following sentences taken from the answer to a recent question (which took them from site at:  http://www.e-hoki.com/column/current/68.html) where you are talking to your boss (課長）about a colleague of equal rank?

その件は、山田に御説明しました。…謙譲語Ⅰ
その件は、山田に説明いたしました。…謙譲語Ⅱ（丁重語）

The first sentence is wrong anyway because the ごーon 説明 is unwarranted (see original question - link below) but in either sentence is it not correct to refer to others with ーさん?

In the second case the speaker could possibly be treating him as "part of his group" but, given we are talking to our section head, I would have thought we were all in the same group?

My thoughts:
Is it possibly because we are using 謙譲語 with our 課長 we therefore have to refer to our 同僚 such as Yamada without the さん?

If this is the case then if we speak in neutral Japanese to our 課長, should we keep the さん？　ie:

山田さんに説明しました　−　correct
山田に説明しました　−　incorrect (or just a bit rough?, because I don't think it is unusual)

Recent question: What distinguishes 丁重語 from other honourific forms?


texts: Which word would i use to say elegant, classy, or high-class when referring to people

texts: I've come across words like 「高級な」、「上品な」、and 「エレガントな」. I'm wondering if any of these can be used or if there are other words. I'm also curious to know if there is a difference between 「高級な」and 「上品な」. Thank you.


texts: In this sentence she gets depressed/disappointed when she says the last sentence or just the last words?

texts: In the sentence 最後の言葉の時だけほんの少し俯いたけど when she says she got depressed or disappointed, it refers to how many words of the last sentence she said (or maybe the whole sentence as she had said 3 long sentences in a row).


texts:
I am reading "Ikigai" by H.Garcia and F.Miralles, and I've just read the following paragraph:

  There is, in fact, no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense of "leaving the workforce for good" as in English. According to Dan Buettner, a National Geographic reporter who knows the country well, having a purpose in life is so important in Japanese culture that our idea of retirement simply doesn't exist there.

Is it true? Isn't 辞める that very word which means the thing?

I see what the authors mean here and agree that staying active is crucial, but I wonder if you agree that the idea of retirement simply doesn't exist.

Thank you!


texts: Is た form included in dictionary 辞書 form?

texts: I know the dictionary form ends with う、す、る、etc. But what about the changed forms of them such as 買った、食べなかった? Can I also call these dictionary form?


texts:
This is an interview with Hiroshi Yamauchi. I can never understand even 1 sentence he says in any interviews he ever does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcrvjSjWmPM&t=0m56s

32ビットを意識して、値段を決めるってことは私たちはしておりません。

I think he's saying something about Nintendos role in the 32 bit era. Maybe he's saying nintendo didn't play a part in that era because they skipped this era or something.


texts: When talking about percents can I use ◯◯パーセント as well as ◯割◯分?

texts:
日本語
「◯◯パーセント」と「◯割◯分」は両方とも「◯◯％」を意味しますが、どちらを使うのが自然ですか。「◯割◯分」という表現を使いたいのですが、使う前にその言い方が九分九厘使わないものではないことを確かめた方がいいと思ったので、質問します。
English
Both ◯◯パーセント and ◯割◯分 can mean ◯◯％. Which is the natural choice? I wanted to use ◯割◯分 but I wanted to be sure that it is not an expression that is not used anymore so I prefer to ask before using it.


texts:
料理をしているところに電話がかかってきて困った。
  デートをしているところを友だちに見られてしまった。
  電車に乗ったところで今日は祝日だと気づいた。

In the above sentences, what decide the particle following ところ?  They all seem to indicate a happening during/while the user is engaged in an activity.


texts:
How do I say the above sentence in Japanese? I would suppose it's

それは私の意向はなくなかったら。
(sore wa watashi no ikou wa nakunakatta.)

But I'm not sure about the 'nakunakatta'. It might be a double-negation?

Or might there even be a completely different sentence for this purpose?


texts:
Suppose a boss is telling his/her subordinates not to be angry by saying
怒らないでおくれよ。

What is the meaning of おくれ in this context? And is it interchangeable with the sentence "怒らないでくれよ。" ?


texts:
The expression じゅわっと appears in the text of 佐賀のがばいばあちゃん in a scene where the protagonist, 昭広, steals some mandarins from somebody's backyard. He bites into one and that phrase pops up.

The full sentence is as follows:

  口に入れると、じゅわっと甘酸っぱい果汁が広がる。

p. 181, ch. 14

Maybe: "When I put it into my mouth, the sweet and sour juice burst into my mouth"?

I couldn't find a definition of じゅわっと in the dictionary which fits the sentence here. The dictionary says it has something that has to do with meat that is cooked to perfection, or something like that. However, I assume a mandarin is not meat. Perhaps it refers to the way the liquid bursts into your mouth with all the flavour. In context, it seems to suggest something strong and refreshing. He is very pleased with the flavour.

Please let me know the exact meaning of じゅわっと. Thanks.


texts:
長い時間働き続けるより、少し休んだほうがいい 仕事ができますよ。

I think I understand the overall meaning, which is. Rather than to work long hour, it's better to take a little break.

But, I wasn't sure what 仕事ができます doing in the end of the sentence...

I understand it as can work/finish work It doesn't make sense to me currently...

If it's written like this, I can understand it... 仕事のことは 長い時間働き続けるより、少し休んだほうがいい.


texts: Can ここ be used to present a list? Or is it only used for locations?

texts:
If you wanted to present a word or a list of words, can you introduce it/them with ここ？

For example, "Here is what happened yesterday..."

Or is it used just in the literal sense of a location?


texts: Understanding 「女神を信じてここまで来たのだろう」

texts:
Context: The group is going to be attacked and one of the people is worried whether they will lose the fight or not and then the leader says what's below.

「祈りを持って戦うのだ。正しき者が負けるわけがない。女神を信じてここまで来たのだろう」
and then he responds with 「は、はい……」

My problem is understanding the last part of what he said "女神を信じてここまで来たのだろう". I'm not quite sure how to interpret it. Does the 女神を信じてここまで来た part mean that it is through their belief in the goddesses that they/he have come so far(and so the goddesses will help them win) or does it mean that because they/he believe in the goddesses they have come this far?

One of the problems I'm having is that in Japanese things are often left out e.g. in this case 同士 to refer to the believer (there's probably a more suitable one than that) or 我々 for the group. How does one determine whether he is speaking about the group or just the believer?


texts: I have seen the words 売春 and 買春 pronounced　"ばいしゅん". From my understanding 売春 is taken from the perspective of the "seller" whereas 買春 is taken from the perspective of the "buyer". However, when I pronounced the later as "ばいしゅん" in front of a native, I was told that it is pronounced "かいしゅん" (買春). Is this reading valid and does it carry a different context when pronounced this way than the former reading?


texts: I was under the impression that 思った meant that, sometime in the past, you did the instantaneous action of "think" and had a thought while 思っていた meant that you kept a thought for a period of time. However, I did a search of "ずっと思った" and found that there seemed to be an overlap with "ずっと思っていた" with sentences such as "マンションに住んでよかったってずっと思った."


texts:
I’m trying to understand the use of the と particle in the bellow quoted passage.

I understand the sentences overall, but am lacking a complete understanding that would be provided by understanding the use of the と particle.

Here is the passage [I've highlighted the とs that are causing me difficulty.]. It is an excerpt from Death Note [anime] episode 10*:

  L : キラは負けず嫌いだが、キラでなくとも試合に勝ちたいと思うのが大多数だ
  Light: ムキになって勝ち抜くとキラっぽい…か？だからと言ってわざと負ければ、ムキになって勝ち抜くとキラっぽいと思われるからわざと負けるところがまだキラっぽい…だろ

The troublesome とs:

  ...キラでなくとも...抜くとキラっぽい... [the second one appears twice in the same sentence constellation]

Specifically, I don’t know if と being used as the natural consequences conditional or in one of its other uses linking up nouns with verbs, e.g. 友達と会う. I think what’s causing me trouble in differentiating the two uses in general is that I don’t really understand how 友達と会う is different from something like 友達にあう. Also, how, if at all, does the first と interact with the も?

If someone could clear up these queries, that would be awesome. Many thanks!

*Note on context:

  The characters are successively thinking to themselves about how to outsmart the other. The context is that they’re playing tennis, and thinking about how Light's behavior [he is suspected to be the killer] would affect his appearing like Kira. "Kira" [キラ] is the serial killer using the magic eponymous "Death Note" of the series to kill many people. Light is Kira and obviously knows this, so is considering how to outmaneuver L, who is on his trail.


texts: Use of question particles in plain speech

texts: I'm becoming increasingly confused about the correct way to form questions in informal speech. I originally learned that I should replace か with の. Then I learned that that was a bit girly. Then I learned that I didn't need a particle at the end at all, I should just raise the intonation. Another book told me I should be using かい and　だい. And finally, it seems I can use か after all. What is the truth here? What do everyday Japanese people do (let's stick with Tokyo dialect)? Just to confuse things further, I'm familiar with the concept of the explanatory の, but how does that interact with all these schemes?


texts:
「もちろん偶然苗字が一緒だっただけとか、名前を騙ってるだけって可能性もゼロではねーですけども、何らかの関わりがあるという前提で考えるのなら、私や兄様の親戚筋ってところですかね？少なくとも、私や兄様と面識があるみてーですし」

What would be the meaning of the 「筋」in 「親戚筋」? Are there any other examples of this usage of 「筋」?


texts: Which is better?　私は買いましょうか？ or 私が買いましょうか？

texts:
I am trying to say: "Shall I buy it?"
Which would be better?

私は買いましょうか？ or 私が買いましょうか？


texts: Understanding the usage of つくin 体{からだ}につけたまま

texts:
体{からだ}につけたまま使うことができる.....

Please help me understand this form/usage of つく.

Since I don't know which kanji it corresponds to, it is difficult for me to make out what this phrase actually means.


texts: What is the difference between 失恋する and 振る?

texts:
Both 失恋する and 振る mean to be rejected. But then are they exactly the same thing? What are the nuances between those two words?

Thank you in advance.


texts: Is desu needed at the end of every single sentence? Also, can you add end particles at the end of every word/sentence?

texts:
When can desu be omitted? Is it needed for every single sentence? Also, can I add sentence ending particles to the end of any word? Such as, "学校ね？" as in "school, right?" Thanks.

Edit: I'm still a bit confused on the topic. To my understanding, you need something that acts like a verb at the end of a sentence like です/だ. I was taught that です wasn't needed after an i-adjective, but was needed after an na-adjective? Is that true, if so, why? Does an I-adjective act like a verb? This also is a bit off topic, but when can you use だ instead of です and when can't you? I've currently been living in Japan for a while now, and I still can't get this basic concept down which is why it's worrying me. I've also read a bit, but still struggle. Thanks for your help!


texts:
I am trying to understand the correct usage of this grammar. I have been taught that ばかりか means 'not only A but also B.'

A Japanese friend mentioned that it is only used to talk about negative things?

I have seen many examples that don't fit this description.
For example:

  私は英語ばかりか日本語も話せる。
  彼女は美しいばかりか、心もやさしく、しかも聡明である。

So I tried to practise this grammar by making my own sentences and made many mistakes.

  あなたは美しいばかりか、動物にやさしく、しかも聡明である.

I was told this was wrong...and was changed to and I only changed the subject and one description (from the example sentence above)

  あなたは美しいだけでなく、動物にやさしく、しかも聡明である

I won't go through all of them but here are my (bad) sentences. Maybe you can see what my problem is:

  １．私は水を飲めないばかりか、アイスクリームも食べられない。
  ２．あなたは美しいばかりか、動物にやさしく、しかも聡明である。
  ４．私は日本に行ったことあるばかりでなく、中国も行ったことあります。
  ５．私の国は安いばかりでなく、食べ物もおいしいですよ。
  ６．私は日本に行きたいばかりか、中国も行きたいですよ。
  ７．大学で日本語を勉強したばかりか、中国も勉強しました。
  ８．そればかりか、彼は私を安心させたいばかりに、そんな嘘をおっしゃるのね。
  ９．リンゴは安いばかりか、ひふにやさしいです。
  １０．私は漢字を書くことが下手ばかりか、発音も上手じゃない。

Why did they all get changed to だけでなく?

Thank you so so much for your help!


texts:
For example in this phrase:

  話すネタはもっていそう

I translate it into "he might have some stories", but I have the impression it has many other meanings.


texts: Can I write katakana words in alternative ways?

texts:
When I write words that are purely in katakana, I always forgot whether to add a ッ or a ー. For example, When writing スクリーンショット, I might write スクリンショト or スクリーンショト or even スクリンショト. My question is, does these things matter? Do people understand what a スクリンショト is?

I am aware that it might become another entirely different word, like ビール vs ビル but surely that can be inferred from context, right?


texts: (noun) です vs. がある when either is appropriate

texts:
~するつもりです
~するつもりがある
~する予定です
~する予定がある

These are just two examples. Obviously you can't stick in any noun, but I don't know if these fall into some well defined class either.
Anyhow, are there any difference in nuance when formulating yourself one way or the other?
I'm also wondering about the negative:

~する予定がない
~する予定じゃない


texts: "この" vs "こちらの" with regard to implied plurality

texts:
この

  この文型{ぶんけい}は文{ぶん}の作{つく}り方{かた}を示{しめ}している。

こちら

  こちらの文型は文の作り方を示している。

In all contexts, "この文型..." refers to just one grammatical pattern?
"こちらの文型..." might refer to one grammatical pattern, or possibly a list of  grammatical patterns (context decides which)? With no context, I feel ambiguity.

as a side note:
This might be because " この " can be made explicitly plural " これらの... , however " こちららの... " would just sound too strange?


texts:
Often, I can't hear ん in words. Most recently I've seen this in 攻殻機動隊.

Examples:

もう少し詳しい検査をしてみないと何とも言えませんが、おそらく外的な要因は見つかりそうもありません...
要因 sounds like ようい
しくじれば、Spring-8の4倍の税金をかけた橋を…
Sounds like ぜいき
何か途中から犯人のメッセージが一人称から三人称にすり替わってしまったような感じで
I hear はんにん just fine, but then I hear いちにいしょう and さんにいしょう
総監暗殺予告の件で任意同行してもらうぜ！
任意 sounds like にいい to me

The latter example I also heard in the drama お天気お姉さん(in episode 9).

①任意です｡②任意というには無理がありすぎる！
This is probably the single best example of it. I don't hear anything like someone intentionally trying to produce a sound(edit:That is, a sound between に and い in にんい).

So is this a silent letter? Is it a quirk that Japanese people are conscious of? Is it an accent? What allophone is this? Anything else I should know about it?

Thanks for the help!


texts: Why is it that in Japanese sentence one sees 男 or 女 with furigana that says ひと? Furigana is supposed to help clarify the meaning of a kanji character, but using ひと doesn't seem to help clarify anything. So what's the point of doing that?


texts: Is this は or はいる: ～わかってはいるものの

texts:
たばこは体に悪いとわかってはいるものの、なかなかやめられない。

If it's は, does omitting は change the meaning in verb-te~はいる? And also, could you talk about what いる is doing?

If it's はいる, in what sense would you describe はいる's usage?

Also, as I googled for more examples, I noticed there was a general pattern of てはいる[が・けど・ものの]、... Is there something to this?


texts:
I know the basic difference between して　and させて。
however in the following examples, I am getting a little confused.
アプリを起動して。
アプリを起動させて。
車を発進して。
車を発進させて。
How exactly are they different?


texts: Why did the speaker say "バラの花を貰った" instead of just "バラを貰った"?

texts:
Here is a conversation excerpt:

  (娘) 初めて貰った花束がお別れの花束なんて悲しい。
  (母)この前の誕生日にバラの花を貰ったでしょう。

"バラの花" seems redundant to me. There is no reason to state that a rose is a flower. Does

  (母)この前の誕生日にバラを貰ったでしょう。

also sound natural?

If "...バラを貰った..." does not sound natural, then my conjecture:
(-) "バラの花束" definitely means more than one rose.
(-) Maybe does "バラの花" explicitly means just one rose?
(-) And, "バラ" by itself could mean one, or many, roses?

note: That the daughter had initially received just one rose last year, instead of a bouquet, was central to the larger discussion that they were having.


texts:
So as the title indicates, I'm wondering about exactly what is the difference between all the existing words that mean "smile", I originally learned only 笑い, which I feel is the most regularly used one (although it can also means a laugh), but as I'm learning I started coming across at least ten other word that are all translated in english as smile, and so I wondered where exactly was the difference. These are the following words I've encountered (besides warai) :

笑み
笑顔
微笑み
微笑
にっこり
一笑


texts:
I've recently been having trouble with constructions that seem to mark two subjects in the same clause. I've only encountered them in ～の方が... constructions, but I can't seem to make sense of them grammatically. Here are some examples:

  当然、都心より郊外のほうが家賃が安い。 (from a vocabulary book)
  （人）よりも自分の方が知識があると思う (from アルク)

My questions are: why are two subjects allowed here, and are there other constructions in which this happens?  So far my thoughts on this are:

(a) 方 seems to be a subject, but not have a verb. So maybe this is simply be some kind of relative-clause-like construction with the noun elided away, e.g. 家賃が安い[ところだ] and 知識がある[人だ]. But this seems a little odd - I don't know of anywhere else where this is possible.

(b) The second sentence might bracket as （人）よりも自分の方が([blah]と思う), rather than (（人）よりも自分の方が[blah])と思う. This makes perfect sense, but I suspect that the と思う could be removed to leave a valid sentence, so this explanation seems a little spurious. In any case this doesn't explain the first sentence.

So I'm a little confused. Any light anyone can shed on this would be great. Thanks!


texts: Is there a difference when using ～ものか/～もんか?

texts:
I was wondering if there's any difference in meaning when contracting this sentence-final.
For example:

ボーナスもくれない会社でもう働くものか。
ボーナスもくれない会社でもう働くもんか。


texts: Membership awareness to differentiate は and が?

texts:
So, I've been trying to properly use は and が.  It is often said, online, to differentiate using topic and subject.  That has always confused me, so I noticed a way to use it that seems to always follow the following rule: use が if someone is unaware of the thing you're talking about, and は if everyone is aware.

For example, you would only say "there's a car" if you know someone was unaware of the fact, therefore, "車があります" is used.

Alternatively, "the car is green" is used when everyone is aware of what car you're talking about, therefore, "車は緑です" is used.

Is this a functional guideline, or are there glaring exceptions that I have not thought of?


texts: What is the meaning of 自分はいつからここにいるのか in English, and why is it phrased this way?

texts:
I translate this sentence literally as "from when did I(myself) be here?" and I extrapolate that the speaker is implying "when/how did I come to find myself here?"
I feel pretty confident that this is generally what the speaker is saying, I'm just confused why it would be written this way. For instance, why {{JP:自分}} and not just {{JP:私}} or some other form of "I"? Why {{JP:から}} and not just {{JP:に}}? Is this the way a native speaker would ask this question? Or would something like {{JP:どうしてここにいるのか}} be a more natural semi-equivalent?


texts: いろいろやる気が出なくて == "I'm not motivated to do anything" ?　Having trouble understanding this

texts: This is from the first episode of 日常 on Animelon, and was the answer to the question, "どうしたの？", from another character. I understand the individual parts: いろいろ == "various", やる気 == "motivation", and 出なくて is the negative Te-form of 出る, which I thought meant "to exit, go out", but how all that goes together to mean "I'm not motivated to do anything" is not obvious to me. Also, I'm also unclear on why the character ended her sentence with the negative Te-form in this case. Thanks!


texts: Is a negative nuance possible with しっとり when used to describe moisture of an object?

texts:
じっとり always has a negative nuance to it when used, such as when describing perspiration.

しっとり has several meanings, but in this context it is used to describe the dampness of something.

An example sentence using しっとり:

しっとりとぬれる : become wet

Is しっとり strictly positive, or can it be negative like じっとり?


texts:
I know it's hard to explicate , so please just tell me the nuance and may be the difference.I am really confused with 「連体修飾」. I even don't know when should I use 「辞書形」　and 「タ」，after I know 「タ」is not just a past tense(also can be 完了形 ),and 「辞書形」can also means sth  which haven't been done yet.

such as「洗う服」AND「洗った服」

thanks in advance!

Q1：If possible , i would like to know the difference and nuance in the example a,b,c

*I divided 「動作動詞」　into 3 categories　based on the example in b, in order to know it better.

1.in a：辞書形AND「タ」is perceived as totally the same.

2.in b:there is big difference between辞書形AND「タ」,the verb in 辞書形 haven't been performed yet, and the verb in 「タ」form is already done.

3.in c:辞書形is similar to the situation in a, if we draw a time line, I think the辞書形 in a AND the 辞書形AND「タ」in c is the same ,which indicate the whole life of sth... from past until future.

a：状態を表す動作動詞(which I most would like to know)

「抑制因子を持つその子たちのヴェルズ侵食はとても穏やかだが、彼女たちを人間だと認めない人々数多くいる。」

AND

「抑制因子を持ったその子たちのヴェルズ侵食はとても穏やかだが、彼女たちを人間だと認めない人々数多くいる。」

some people told me that they are almost the same...
sentence 1 is more wooden and stilted.

but it's not a 「状態動詞」.
why the 「持つ」 cannot be perceived as　the factor which haven't been hold.
just like 動作動詞2.

i thought that ,because it's a 「動作動詞」, it should be the same as the difference between 「洗う服」AND「洗った服」

b：動作動詞2（I think this one, i can understand better but can anyone tell what's the time line for them? thanks）

「洗う服」AND「洗った服」

「洗う服」だけ、横によけておいた　AND　「洗った服」だけ、横によけておいた

c：動作動詞3.
「君の作る料理が美味しい」　AND「 君が作った料理が美味しい」

honestly speaking, i also don't know why it is different from b

That's to say,
I thought the meaning of 「君の作る料理」 is the food which you haven’t cooked yet but from now you will cook it. And
「君が作った料理が美味しい」　is the food you cook is delicious.

Q2: Are the sentences(1,2,3...) I wrote or I found is as same as the example I put above　(a,b,c,d)
1. same as b

(retrieved from letter song)「今見てるもの　今出会う人 」

my understanding:
the phrase above is talking about sth which will happen in the future(including 「ている」), and it doesn't happen yet.

so the translation(please forgive my poor English...)
will be 'the things i am meeting in the future and the people I will meet in the future.'

(and I am sure that it doesn't mean that: 「今見ているもの　今出会った人」the things I am meeting now and the people I met before?Am i right... )

2.same as a状態を表す動作動詞

(if so ,then one 「動作動詞」can be put in different categories in different contexts？)

if we change the context, is「出会う人」 possible to be perceived as:
the people we met and we will people in our whole life

is it possible to say, with regarding to meaning

人生で出会う人は自分の映し鏡
一生で出会う人の数

equals

人生で出会った人は自分の映し鏡
一生で出会った人の数

3.same as c

「ひき肉で作る料理は、何ですか」
4. same as a or b ?

「挽肉を使った料理で何が1番好きですか」
but why  「使う」cannot be used here just like 「ひき肉で作る料理は、何ですか
」「因子を持つ子供」
if i say:「挽肉を使う料理で何が1番好きですか」, does it share the same meaning with 「タ」version?

Q3：please tell me the difference

1.「漢字の持っている/持つ/持った意味にあたる日本語の読み」

if 「持つ」here is put into category a状態を表す動作動詞,

then I guess they are the same when I use「持つ」or　even「持った」 ... so the 「持つ」 here ，
how it is different from

「挽肉を使った料理で何が1番好きですか」

2.「本を読む/読んでいる/読んだ男の子」
should be the same as c.

the boy who reads book/is reading book/read book( in past)

i am just wondering why 「読む」here cannot be perceived as b...the boy who haven't read a book and he is going to read a book.

It would be appreciated if you could share your own opinion.


texts:
How do you pronounce "つづく"?

[tsɯ̥dzɯkɯ] or [tsɯdzɯkɯ] or [tsɯzɯkɯ]

Any comment are welcomed, as long as you know how to use IPA to transcribe human speech.

---3/23 night---

Wiktionary: [t͡sɨᵝzɨᵝkɯ̟ᵝ]　I personally believe this one is possible since the pronunciation of t͡s and z is more front while k is back. The vowels are affected as a result.

ja.forvo.com/word/続く/#ja: all examples in this site gives pronunciation that omit none of the three "u" in "tsuduku".

[tsɯ̥dzɯkɯ̥] or [tsdzɯk]: This one is interesting. I also agree that pronunciative change may happen in a fast and continuous speech.

アクセント核がない、無声子音に挟まれている、という場合の /i/ /u/ が弱化・無声化する、というのは基本的な規則です。(Can I interpret it as the rule of dictionary pronunciation? I mean, when the speaker pronounce つづく isolatedly or no in a fast speecha, and hence the standard pronunciation.)


texts: What's the phonetic difference between toraianguru (トライアングル, the correct word in Japanese) and torayanguru (トラヤングル)? Do they both sound the same and it's purely a matter of orthography, or is there some deeper difference?


texts:
So this line is from a song. Its

とうとう　たらりたらりら
たらりあがりいららりどう
ちりやたらりたらりら
たらりあがりららりどう

Okay so this line is written in the booklet itself, because of that this line is part of the lyrics and I assume has a meaning. But I don't know what this line/words mean or what it refers to. And there is this too

たらりりら
たららりら
らりどう
永く絶えずおはしませよ

What I have in mind is this is onomatopoeia for something or  a line that refer to something or a word that I don't know.
P.S. since I don't think I can post the full lyrics of the song, the language used in the song is more traditional and the song itself is like a wishes(long life and good health) to everyone rather than nowadays song/pop songs(hope that helps a little)


texts:
I have two lines in a story that I am reading that say:

  誰も信じていなかった
  少しも信じていなかった

For 1, is it “everyone did not believe” (“No-one believed”), or is it “Everyone believed”?

And for 2, same thing. Is it “I do not believe in very little” (“I believe in a lot”), or “I believed in little” (I did not believe much”)?


texts: I was told today that the grass radical, e.g. the top of 花 has a gap in the middle of it, and googling it suggests that it is sometime written like this. Is that strictly in Chinese, is it sloppy, or is it just another way of writing? Is the correct way leaving it connected?


texts:
Difference between と and とは？

For example in below sentences

  そんなに大きいと思わなかった。

and

  そんなに大きいとは思わなかった。


texts: Meaning of and に and くる in「 A」と「B」に同じグループのものがくる

texts:
I'm reading a definition of にしても〜にしても:

「AにしてもBにしても」は「Aの場合{ばあい}もBの場合も、どちらの場合でも」という意味{いみ}を表{あらわ}す文型{ぶんけい}です。「AにしてもAないにしても」になる場合と、「A」と「B」に同{おな}じグループのものがくる場合があります

This example:

N１を受{う}けるにしても受けないにしても、毎日{まいにち}しっかり勉強{べんきょう}しなくちゃ

has that pattern 「AにしてもAないにしても」and it means "You should study hard daily whether you take the N1 or not". Here A would be 受ける and B 受けない.
The only thing I can think of is 'This is a situation where either A or B is going to happen' but I can't match this to the definition.
Should I see it as:

[「A」と「B」]に同じグループのものがくる場合があります
It's a situation where a thing from [group same as A and B] will come.


texts: Is there a better way to say "young adult" than 若い大人？

texts: I have this feeling that 若い大人 is too much of a direct translation and kind of unnatural but I have no idea.


texts: I'd like someone to break these sentences down so I can understand them better

texts:
まず私が罹った膵臓の病気っていうのはちょっと前まで判明した時にはほとんどの人が死んじゃう病気の王様だった。

To start things off, pancreatic diseases like what I’ve been diagnosed with are the kings of sudden deaths.
From what I can understand, this is what this sentence means in english (without the part I don't understand). I'd like to know how 「ちょっと前まで判明した時には」fits into this sentence. I feel like the phrase is completely out of place. If には is added to the end, it sounds like everyone dies before it is diagnosed, but that obviously doesn't sound right.

人数の設定がクラス毎に自由で、結果僕一人だけが担当をしていた図書館委員になのりをあげた。

I don't understand the first half of the sentence. Does「人数の設定がクラス毎に自由で」mean every class gets to decide how many people are on duty for the library committee?


texts:
Is there a natural Japanese phrase for “your heart’s in the right place”?

This phrase is used in situations where you mean well but your actions come across harsh or misguided.

For example, a strict parent may restrict their child from doing things like staying out late at night, drinking, etc. While they are strict they do these things because they love their child. In other words, their heart's in the right place.

Thanks.


texts: What is the meaning of 「真{ま｝っ無｛む｝」 in the sentence 「真っ無だったかな。」?

texts:
The sentence is from here. The previous sentence is:
「そんなに目が見えないくらい。」
The translation given is "Where you always like this?".
I can't find 「真っ無」 in any dictionary, and a Google search for it only returns 4 results, none of which were helpful.
I assume this is some sort of colloquial grammar?


texts:
I want to know if Nagareru or ustukushi can be name. Cuz i read article talk about japanese name cannot be certain things like this. Just want to know, can nagareru be name. I names my character this based off the meaning, to flow.
Edit: Sorry, major error. I spell cat, I meant character.


texts: Do even Kansai women use the ～ん negative?

texts: As in 分からん and ならん. In Standard (?) speech, I'm fairly certain it's masculine.


texts: What is the meaning of masu-stem + proposition

texts:
Example sentence:

  オオカミのことばに従い、　森に行った。

What is the meaning of this construction? Does it have a special meaning?


texts:
案ずるより産むが易し
It is better to get down to work than (just) to worry about it (beforehand). ｜ Fear can magnify a danger. ｜ A danger is not as great as it seems in advance. ｜ We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

I am a bad with classical Japanese so please need some help understanding the grammar here.
All I can see is 易し　is old 終止形 of 易しい, and the 案ずるより perhaps a contrastive adverbial clause ("rather than worry...") if modern rules apply but what is the 産むが part - how does that translate to "fear"? (a somewhat detailed grammar breakdown would be appreciated!)


texts: の cannot be used as a pronoun meaning "one" for "highly abstract objects" but what is a "highly abstract object"?(amended)

texts:
(Italics are used to indicate revisions to the orginal question made in response to feedback so far)
According to "A students' guide to Japanese grammar", by Naomi McGloin, の is used as a pronoun meaning "one" for tangible or intangible objects such as 車 or 意見　but not highly abstract ones such as 力 . The following three sentences are given:

大きい車は高いが、小さいのは安い。correct
田中さんの意見は面白いが山田さんのはちょっと問題がある。    correct
日本の町人は経済的な力を持っていたが、政治的なのは持っていなかった。incorrect

Could somebody explain/define a little bit more clearly the difference between an intangible object and "a highly abstract" object illustrated by these sentences?
(Or in other words both are intangible but only 力 is "highly abstract": possibly highly abstract means "subjective" (?) but if this interpretation of "highly abstract" is correct, could anyone give a few more examples to help me nail this down?)


texts: Does anyone recognize these? I have a hard time recognizing more calligraphy-esque characters. Thanks in advance.


texts:
I wanted to confirm that I do not have an private lesson tomorrow but I'm not sure what to write. Often, negative questions as I write them seem to come off as a positive question.  Example

 5月9日にプライベート・レッソンの予約はありませんでしょうか？

That seems like it's a positive as in

 I have a private lesson reservation, don't I?

Whereas what I want to ask is

 I do **not** have a private lesson tomorrow right?

I end up guessing and wrote

 5月9日プライベート・レッソンを予約されてありませんでしょう。

Basically I just took the か off but something about that doesn't feel right or doesn't feel actually polite.

Note I want to effectively say "I want to confirm there is NO lesson, right?" and not "I want to confirm there IS a lesson, right?"

The difference is important because by asking the positive "There's a lesson right?" it will make people think that I believe there is a lesson and if they forgot they'd better rush to get one ready quickly.  Where as that is not my intention. My intention is to confirm there is no lesson.

What is the correct way to politely confirm a negative situation?


texts: Can I use my Chinese name as my Japanese name?

texts: Im Chinese and my name is 陈依仁 (Chén Yī Rén). Can I use this as my Japanese name, and if so how do I read it in Japanese? Or would it be better to use the Katakana version of my English name which is タン・スジン?


texts: Polite way to ask about something that I previously requested

texts:
Say I have the sentence below about papers I requested previously. (as I am reminding somebody that I haven't received something)

先日{せんじつ}に頼{たの}んだ書類{しょるい}ですが・・・

Is there any way to make a sentence like this more polite (humbling)? Do the below sentences make sense or is there a better way?

先日{せんじつ}にお頼{たの}みした書類{しょるい}ですが・・・
先日{せんじつ}にお願{ねが}いした書類{しょるい}ですが・・・


texts: I can see that someone got mad or someone made someone else mad. The things that make it difficult are に and the られる form of 怒る. What does this mean? How do you figure out who did what in these types of sentences?


texts: Usage of the sound ウェ ''we'' in Duolingo

texts:
Duolingo introduces the sound ''we'' as ウェ.
According to my phonetics chart this should be ''ue'' read as one mora, not ''we''.
I did a bit of research and discovered that ゑ and ヱ used to exist for what I think of as ''we''.
Is ウェ read the same as ヱ was read ?
Is ''we'' the official romaji for ウェ ?


texts: は、には、に。。。what is the difference between them?

texts:
Can anyone explain the difference between the three sentences below and also the use of the grammar?

  わたしのがっこう　は　日本人の　せんせい　が　います。
  わたしのがっこう　に　日本人の　せんせい　が　います。
  わたしのがっこう　には　日本人の　せんせい　が　います。


texts:
Apart from the standard じゃね, じゃまた and それじゃ (In the "I'm heading off" sense) for the different variations of goodbye, and じゃ as an informal inflection of では for 'is not' for じゃない, I have no idea how to use it.

I've seen it in some song lyrics like 「見ているだけじゃ始まらない」, 「足踏みしてるだけじゃ進まない」 and 「それだけじゃお腹がすくわ」.

I notice it seems like a conditional form. Why can't it be "Miteiru dake nara hajimaranai?" and "Ashibumishiteru nara susumanai"?

I also noticed all of them have a dake preceding the じゃ. So is this a special grammar pattern of "だけじゃ"?  I almost thought that the following verb is always negative like the classic "Ja Nai" except for the fact that this set of lyrics 「それだけじゃお腹がすくわ」 breaks that theory of mine.


texts: Can someone help explain this meaning of this Japanese sentence in English

texts:
聖なるものの持つ一同性が、そこでは否定され、しかも日常的な俗に転落しきることなく、いつも対岸のそこに存在するがゆえに、聖は悪の影を宿す
I understand the first part is talking about how same sex marriage is denied by 'holiness/religion' but I have no idea what the second part is trying to get at.
This is the whole paragraph:
かつて廣末保は「悪場所論おぼえがき」の中で、「悪場所といえば、芝居と廓ということになろう」と書いている。そして、「本来、持続してはならないものが持続しており、そのために、恣意的に関係を結ぶことも可能になるような場が、悪場所であった。聖なるものの持つ一同性が、そこでは否定され、しかも日常的な俗に転落しきることなく、いつも対岸のそこに存在するがゆえに、聖は悪の影を宿す」と続けている。そういう意味では、歌舞伎町は典型的な悪場所であるといえよう。
If you could also help me understand what it means by 芝居と廓ということになろう that would be great too; 'dramas and districts' sounds a bit strange?


texts: What does や after someone's name mean exactly?

texts:
I'm reading a manga and I've seen "nameや" a couple times now, but I'm not sure what it means exactly. Does it show affection?

Two examples:


texts: Why does ボウル use a vowel kana rather than a long vowel mark?

texts:
It seems like both ボウル and ボール are valid Japanese words. The general impression I get is that using long vowel marks ("ー") are the norm for words written in katakana.

In Why are long vowels represented differently in hiragana and katakana? , explanations of vowel kanas being used instead include words that have kanji, or breaking up the sound. Maybe I'm just ignorant of how "bowl" is pronounced in either British English or American English, but neither explanation seems plausible. Why is ボウル spelt using a vowel kana?

Neither the Japanese Wikipedia article on ボウル, the Japanese edition of Wiktionary, or the English edition have an explanation for this particular word.


texts: 'to appear': arawareru, arawaruru, and arawaru

texts:
Arawareru, あらわれる: "to appear, to come in sight, to become visible, to materialize, to manifest."

It looks as if arawareru can be written: 現れる, 現われる, 表れる, 表われる, 顕れる, 顕われる
(Readings: 現 = gen, ken, arawa, utsu; 顕 = ken, gen, ari, arawa; 表 = hyō, arawa, ara, omote)

Question: Why is 現われる or 顕われる read/voiced/understood as arawa-re-ru instead of arawa-wa-re-ru?

I note that 19th century ukiyo-e title cartouches are recorded as using arawaru 顕る and arawaruru 顕るゝ (顕るる), e.g.
Picture of the Vengeful Spirits of the Heike Appearing at Daimotsu-no-ura in Sesshū, Sesshū Daimotsu-no-ura Heike no onryō arawaruru zu:

摂州大物浦平家怨霊顕るゝ圖

せっしゅうだいもつのうらへいけのおんりょうあらわるゝ[る]づ

Question: I assume that arawaru and arawaruru are simply more archaic ways of writing arawareru, presumably changing in the late 19th or early 20th century. But was/is there any significant difference/implication/contextual or formal reason for using arawaru (現る, 顕る, 表る, あらわる) or arawaruru (顕るゝ, あらわるる)?


texts: What's the difference among とばかりに, (と言わ)んばかりにand かのごとく?

texts: Hi what's the difference between these three forms?. I have made some research but they all seem to mean "As if". In the specific, とばかりに appears to mean "As to say", (と言わ)んばかりに "As he/she wanted to say" and  かのごとく "As if". Can you explain me how to use them correctly?


texts: Can I get a grammatical breakdown of "通りゃんせ"?

texts:
So, I recently learned that there's this song called 「通りゃんせ」, which I guess would be familiar to all of you who have lived in Japan.

The grammatical form "通りゃんせ" (and later in the song, "[下]{くだ}しゃんせ") is completely unfamiliar to me. The Japanese Wikipedia article for the song gives 通りなさい as a translation, which is good to know, but I would like to know more about this form. I figure that it is either archaic or at least non-標準語, judging from the use of じゃ as a copula and 通しゃせぬ as the negation of, uh, I guess 通す or some related verb.


texts:
I know that -てみる can mean "try", but my understanding of it is that it means "try it and see what it's like" or "give it a try". But is there a way of expressing "try" that emphasizes that effort was made to succeed?

As an example, saying "I am trying to do Kendo" in Japanese:

  剣道をしてみる。

sounds like I'm going for a brief "trial" to see how I like it. How would I express that I am making a strong effort to succeed at it?


texts:
気をつけてな！

Is the meaning of this phrase “try to stay alive” or something like that? It’s like literally “keep your air attached to you”, right?


texts: っぱち suffix - meaning and addition of さ suffix

texts:
There are several words I've found that end in っぱち. Does the suffix have any special meaning, like がち?

「やけっぱち」
「うそっぱち」
「でこっぱち」

It also seems that these are na-adjectives, and it is possible to add さ (for at least some of them) to turn them into nouns. Is this addition possible for all っぱち adjectives?


texts:
こんにちは! I have read a text about a guy whose wife has a housedust  allergie, and there is this sentence:
私だってあんまりほこりがたまっていたら気になるから、仕方がないと思ってやっているんだ。
What  does 思ってやって mean here?


texts:
For full context:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10011218521000/k10011218521000.html

The sentence in question:
去年１月から１２月までより多くて、今まででいちばん多くなりました。

I always had my issues with より.
I think I know what the sentence tells me contentwise, but I can't figure out a proper translation without feeling rather uncomfortable. I used this guide to refresh my knowledge about comparisons with より and also used their literal way of interpreting より.
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/comparison#Using_for_comparisons-2

Here's my attempt at literal translation:
"As opposed to last year (=from last years first month to last month), (the tourists) being many, out of (all the years?) until now they/it became the (having) most (tourists (year))."

So, since it is rather obvious from the context that this year has broken the record in tourists/p.a., I think that 今までで refers to "(out of) all years until now" and therefore puts all those years into comparison with 去年去年１月から１２月 (="this year").

However, coordinating these 2 quite big arguments on both sides of より, I feel like I'm missing out on something when constructing a translation which basically just says: "This years tourists were more than any other years tourists.", when there is a phrase like 去年去年１月から１２月 expressing "this year" and two occurences of "many" (=多きい/多く) representing the tourists.
The latter also gave me some trouble in analysing the components of 今まででいちばん多くなりました.
I'm still not entirely sure which way I have to parse this:
Is 多く part of the object in "became the year (having) most (tourists)" or is it
it part of the subject "most tourists in "they became the most tourists out of all years". I have a tendency towards the first version, since 今までで in this context suggests that "year" could be the subject of なる here, at least in my eyes.

But whatever, while I think that I got the content of the sentence right, I definitely need some help with the grammar...^^


texts: The meaning, usage and cultural significance of the word [苦]{く}[笑]{しょう}

texts:
I've looked in many dictionaries, but I can't fully grasp how the word [苦]{く}[笑]{しょう} is used. I've seen it in dictionaries as being a kind of "embarrassed laugh". It appears to be used to deprecate the speaker and others or point out ridiculousness, but I see it used in all sorts of ways that may amount to a kind sarcasm.

Can this word amount to a form of sarcasm, and what is the cultural significance of this word? Is it used in different ways by men vs women? Is it primarily used in the written language, or is it also spoken in conversation?

Also, what's the difference between [苦]{にが}[笑]{わら}い and 苦笑?

Some examples of it being used:

  急{きゅう}に厳{きび}しくなってきた (苦笑)
  お迎{むか}え待{ま}ち中{ちゅう} (苦笑)
  外{がい}部{ぶ}被{ひ}曝{ばく}受{う}けてきました (苦笑)