texts: How come such a "strong" expression as なるほど is used in such a "soft" meaning?

texts:
Usually ほど is used to refer to some degree/extend that is in some way high, or even approaching/reaching some upper limit.
Given how precise(※) and reserved Japanese usually is, I find it surprising how「なるほど」 is used as a casual(＊) interjection meaning "I see.". I would rather have expected it be sound overly confident, in the sense of "I see/understand/... it now crystal clearly".
Looking at the etymology from gogon-allguide (and other sites):

なるほどがこのような意味に変化したのは、「できる限り」という程度・状態はそれ以上のものがなく、「他には考えられない」「明らかである」の意味に通じることからと考えられる。

unfortunately doesn't really answer my question.
Am I fundamentally misunderstanding the meaning of ほど here, or is なるほど simply an overstatement? How come that this is used so casually(＊), where Japanese is usually so precise in it's statements(※)?

(※): Since this seems to be misunderstood, here's an elaboration:
I mean precise in the sense of accurate, not in the sense of definite. So for example when one does not necessarily know something exactly, or does not want to express too much confidence, it is common in Japanese to in some way express that (等・くらい・みたい・よう・そう・…), instead of making a definite statement that might not be correct.
While this at times is purely used for politeness, the sentiments of statements never overstepping what one actually knows seems to be common throughout the language.
And in that vein, my wondering about はるほど originates.
(＊): I do not mean casual in the sense of casual Japanese (in opposition to polite, or literal Japanese), but rather casually, in the sense of using it without much thought or meaning behind it, as an interjection in a conversation to respond to the other's statements without really saying much (besides "I follow/understand/... what you are saying" or "This information is new/interesting/...").


texts: Need help with economics headline that contains 還元

texts:
Since I do not hold a degree in business, this headline has me stumped. Please note all of these are my sad attempts at translation since the article is only in Japanese.

支払い時に還元、実質値引きへ

  "Return at payment, to real discount"

  "Reduction in the time of payment, to the substantial discount"

  "Upon checkout, real discount offered at point of purchase"

  "During payment, to real price reduction"

  "When making a payment return, real price reduced towards"

  "Price time reduced, becoming essence discount"

  "Substantial discount from, time payment restoration"

  "Payment reduction time, real discount to the towards"

  "Reduce real discount, when paying"

  "To reducing substantially discount, at the time of payment"

  "Reduced to the time of payment, to substantial discount"

  "At the time of payment reduced, to real discount"

Here is some background info I found on a site that apparently translates articles from Japanese into English:

  Cashless payments make up about a fifth of the total in Japan, putting it behind other countries making the switch away from cash.

  TOKYO -- Japan's convenience stores will offer 2% price discounts on the spot for cashless purchases starting October when the consumption tax rises to 10% from 8%, Nikkei has learned.

  It will be part of a government program aimed at cushioning the impact of the 2 percentage point tax hike, but instead of offering a 2% point reward to be used at a later date, the convenience stores will, in effect, cut prices at the point of purchase.


texts: てほしい usage with more than 2 people, particles に and が

texts:
The context is this.
A girl who was always alone when she was a kid had a butler who was called すわの who is now far away from her. She just saved a boy from drowning and she feels good about that because the boy and his brother thanked her for that.

すわの、あんたがいてくれたなら聞いてほしかった。
本当自分でも分かんないんだけど、あの時なんかこう胸が[暖]{あった}かくなったんだ。

The translation is

If you were here I would ask you.
I do not know by myself but I feel warm inside.

Is the translation wrong?
Isn't てほしい used when you want someone to do something?
I would translate it

Suwano, If you were here I would have wanted you to listen.
I can't really understand by myself, but that time my heart became warm like this.

Also can someone explain me how this form works?
Could I use the particle が in a sentence like this

I want A to teach B English
私はＡにＢに英語を教えてほしい
or
私はＡがＢに英語を教えてほしい

I know the first one is correct, but what about the second one?
Another user made this example to me in a previous thread. It was this

彼に英語を教えてほしい。
This sentence can be translated as two ways.
A. I want him to teach someone English.
A' （彼女が私に英語を教えてくれると言っているけれど、私は）彼に英語を教えてほしい。
B. I want you to teach him English.
B'. （あなたは英語を教えるのがうまいから、あなたが）彼に英語を教えてほしい。

In B' could it become

B'（あなたは英語を教えるのがうまいから、僕はあなたに）彼に英語を教えてほしい。

Also how can I know if 聞いてほしい is want someone to listen or want someone to ask?
Edit.
Nothing at all was referring to something I wrote before but it was just confusing so I edited it out.
Edit 2.
For those who want to know the source for the context it's Binbougami Ga!? Episode 3 about minute 19.30


texts: How do you express something is for something

texts:
I just can't quite wrap my head around how would you express the existent of something is for a specific purpose. Like, if I want to say "I have an account for Skype" do I say "Skypeのためにアカウントはある" which in my mind just sound like "I have an account for the sake of 'using' Skype"?　On that same line of thought, says, I want to tell my friend to get an account for Skype, do I just say "Skypeのために君のアカウントを生み出す". If you guys can give me some explanations and examples on the whole "express the existent of something is for a specific purpose" or "something for something" (specially on various ways to express them) that'd help me out a a lot.
And please excuse me if my Japanese examples are bad/broken, that's all I could muster with my current knowledge. Thanks in advance.


texts: Polnareff & Kakyoin`s Speech to J.Geil, せるふ?

texts:
I was watching JoJo`s Bizarre Adventure and during Polnareff's speech to J.Giel(link here: https://youtu.be/y-Ov19GvGo0?t=22s) he says 22 seconds in: この場合そうゆう and then he says what i hear as: "せるふゆうんじゃね" but i looked せるふ up and it's only definition is self, so i was wondering is that what he really said or am i hearing it incorrectly?

Thanks in advance!


texts: What is the exact word for cyan color in Japanese language? Is it 青緑 / あおみどり?


texts: What's difference between うるさくないでください and うるさくしないでください

texts:
Don't both of them mean "Please do not be loud"?

What's the うるさく?
Is it うるさい and change い into く to make it a noun?
Could you guys suggest the topic that I can look into and study more about them?

Thank you so much.


texts: Meaning of 譲る in 譲りきれない思い出

texts:
This is a part from a song text by Aimyon:

忘れられないものなどなくて
譲りきれない思い出ばかりで
いい加減に諦めなさいなんて
簡単に言わないで

So far I understand that きれない is used to modify the verb in front (here 譲る) so that the action continues on. But what is the meaning of 譲る?
My dictionaries tell me of several meanings:

to hand over/transfer/turn over/bequeath/convey
to give up (e.g. one's seat) / give way
to yield/concede/give ground/surrender
to sell
to postpone/put off

But I don't see which of those meanings would work on "memories". The translation I found:

There are only memories you don't want to give up

points to the second meaning, but somehow I had the feeling that 譲る is only used when the object in question is not lost, but transferred or given to somebody else. Taking the meaning of the translation 譲る would be used in the sense of loosing the object.
So:

does 譲る have also the meaning that the object can get lost in the process

or

is the translation I found for the phrase not ideal

or

is this song-text Japanese?


texts: Understanding grammar and translation of 入出国 in followng sentence

texts:
すでに入出国の記録も抹消するよう、　手配してあります。

I know that verbs, nouns, and adjectives can qualify nouns in Japanese via qualifying phrases, and I'm assuming that's what's going on with '入出国'. Broken down, the individual kanji mean the following:

入 - 'to enter, etc'

出国 - 'departure from a country' (according to https://jisho.org/search/出国)

Would a translation of 'entering from a country' work in terms of keeping the qualifying aspect of the original, or am I wrong with my assumption that '入出国' is a qualifier phrase in the first place?


texts:
I see this structure a lot:

  まるで一〇年以上.......

What does the 一〇 mean and how do I pronounce it? Is it いちまる?


texts: What's the difference between these two sentences?

texts:
Here are the two sentences:

あなたの友達に私の本で書かないでと言ってください
あなたの友達に私の本で書かないように言ってください

My guess is that the first is

Please say to your friend "Do not write in my book"

and the second is

Please tell your friend to not write in my book.

The second is more asking the person to explain it in their own words. The first is asking them to just say that quote.
Is this guess correct?


texts: Verb(ますstem)にくい vs Verb(dictionary form)のは難しい

texts:
hoping for some clarification here. This is my example:

これはめっちゃ粘って食べるのは難しい

The reason I used 食べるのは難しい rather than 食べにくい is because my understanding is that にくい・やすい is used for psychological difficulty (You don't want to buy something because it's embarrassing) versus physical/mechanical difficulty (having trouble chewing something because it's sticky). I made a post on HelloTalk but that natives simply told me にくい is more casual. Is that really the only difference then?


texts:
Is there any practical way of translating 年相応 into English? The context it was used in was

  彼女は年相応に見られたい

I was under the impression "年相応" refers to women wanting to appear their real age, not younger than they are, but according to the comments and answers, I'm mistaken. Maybe the sentence as a whole has that meaning.

I'm familiar with an English expression for women wanting to appear younger than they are ("Mutton dressed as lamb"), but I haven't even heard of the concept of women wanting to appear their real age, let alone how to express that concept.


texts: What is the correct grammar particle for 'for'?

texts:
If I want to say, for example,

I'm waiting for Jason

or

I'm not in this for the money

What would be the particle? Ni?


texts:
I am currently doing some exercises for my Japanese class, but they are all in hiragana, which is sometimes irritating, but in this sentence I fail to see the meaning　and thus unable to pick the suitable answer, 3:

ゆうびんきょくに　＿＿　かえります。

Available answers are :

1) やんで　2) よんで　3) よって 4) やって

I thought ~による was used in a sense similar to "According to..." but I really don't see how this fits within the sentence.

Is this another usage of the above form ?

A different verb ? I really think it is more of a suite of actions, "Do something at the post office and come back". I really wish I had a kanji there to help me out... As a bonus, why do textbooks often contain no kanjis and only hiragana ? This seems more confusing that anything else to me.

Thanks !


texts: How can I ask about a person's specialty?

texts:
I'm learning Japanese from a book, and it says that "specialty" is ご[専門]{せんもん}, but Japanese speakers can't seem to understand me if I use this word.

How can I correctly write 「ご専門は何ですか。」 ("What's your specialty?") in Japanese?


texts: Does ので have the same meaning as のに in this sentence?

texts:
Judging from the context, it seems to me that ので in the following sentence means "in order to", similar to のに, and not "because of". Can this be possible?

  過激派トップとされているが、実は本人はそのつもりはなく、ただ勝手についてくる者は不都合はないので側に置いているだけのこと。

Also, I don't get the general meaning of the second part of the sentence, in particular who 勝手に relates to, the person in question or his followers? Here's my attempt:

  He is considered the leader of the extremist faction, but that's not his intention, he has his volunteer followers around simply in order to avoid any inconvenience.

Thanks for your help!


texts: What do you need kanatype sensitivity for?

texts:
Question to any Japanese reader:

When you look in SQL-Server and do

SELECT * FROM sys.fn_helpcollations()
WHERE (1=1)
--AND description LIKE '%insensitive%'
AND name LIKE '%japanese%'

you get Kanatype-sensitive and Kanatype-insensitive collations.

My understanding is, that this is two different kind of alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana.

SQL-Server documentation states:

  If this option is not selected, SQL Server considers Hiragana and
  Katakana characters to be equal for sorting purposes

So my question:

When/Why would you want to use kanatype-insensitive collation?
What's the deeper purpose?
Is a phonebook-lookup kanatype-sensitive or kanatype-insensitive?

In which cases would you use a sensitive collation, and when an insensitive collation?


texts:
(In a game) I am a newbie(Lv29), and I saw B(lv100+) having filled his room's wall with numerous super-super-rare(SSR) posters, which can be only be earned with enormous effort. (I don't have any)

I sent the below to him via messaging menu.

  I: スゴイ!

Later, I received the reply:

  B: どうかされましたか? (笑)

^I think it means "Is there anything wrong?"

Do I need to reply about why I thought him amazing?


texts:
My understanding of ありませんと is that it is an abbreviated form of ありませんと(だめ/いけない/ならない), but the formal ません throws me off. I was under the impression that the formal part should be always the last one, so it should be ないと(だめです/いけません/なりません). Is it possible that abbreviation moves the formality before と? Are the following interpretations possible?

... must be
... must have something


texts:
I have been translating a NHK Easy news item but I can't get over a sentence.

  みぞれは雨のような雪です。

I understand each word however I can't find out the sentence ultimate meaning.


texts: Does it make sense to say [v]ませんでしたら instead of [v]なかったら?

texts:
I'm wondering whether it makes sense to say [v]ませんでしたら instead of [v]なかったら.

When I googled for that conjugation there were very few results, but since there were results, I wonder if people actually use [v]ませんでしたら.

For example http://homepage3.nifty.com/floatingbugs/fishing070216.htm:

  お名前を聞きませんでしたらまた。。

http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1150782366

  　二回目は私達は帰りに焼肉を食べたので食べませんでしたら以後作らなくなりました。

http://blog.zaq.ne.jp/lemongrass/article/707/

  いつまでもアップしませんでしたら、失敗したんやなって思っといてください。


texts: Question regarding alcohol: Meaning of " 飲める！甘いのだけ”. More context in description below

texts:
Is Japanese beer sweet?
To provide context to the question I asked, the sentence was extracted from 2 characters talking to each other. Both of them went into a bar.
One of them has low alcohol tolerance so the other character teases them about it. The teased character retorted back with a "飲める！甘いのだけ!"
I would like to ask about the meaning of "甘いのだけ". Is this a slang, or does it mean "I can drink! It's just too sweet for me!" which brings me to my question above if Japanese beer is sweet, because normally beer is bitter right? So why would he say that it is sweet?
Does "甘いのだけ" have another meaning here, for instance, "I can drink!I'm just trying to go slow"?


texts:
おはよう,
In lesson 11 of minna no nihongo:

Counting is always done in wago. It seems when I look online, kango is used for nearly all the example counters in minna no nihongo.
Is minna no nihongo just more “conservative”? Should I just learn both or use kango primarily? It seems most online sources say kango is preferred nowadays. Minna no nihongo teaches no kango for now.

By the way, 年 is used for counting years, even in duration, in minna no nihongo. I notice 年間 is more common. Is there any subtle difference?
お願いします!


texts: I'm writing a paragraph for my Japanese oral exam and want to say "i have class in ten minutes", or "i will go to my class in ten minutes", how would i say this?


texts: how many possibilities translation of ばかな/ばかね？

texts:
I know ばか literally means "stupid/idiot" but i remember a scene when i was re-watching naruto.  the context is:

"sarutobi asuma just got news that his close skilled friend (old comrade of him) was killed by akatsuki, he was very shocked and could not believe such a very strong, skilled friend was killed easily by akatsuki and then he said 'ばかな! bla bla bla'." i am sorry i can't fully provide what he said because my limited japanese skill.

I dont know equivalent of that word in english in the context above, maybe " huh, how can?". correct me if i am wrong.

so when is 'ばかな' used other than to insult people? and is it okay to say it to close friend (older) as expression?


texts:
I came across this phrase while looking at the meaning for べく:

  勝つべくして勝った

It seems to be a set phrase, but I'm not 100% on the meaning. To win in order to win? To try really hard to win? To be sure to win?


texts:
I came across the following elliptical sentence:

  美しい伝統の国柄を明日の日本へ

How does the particle を work in this case? Is it the end of a clause modifying 明日? Are both, it and the clause preceding へ　arguments (direct and lative) of an implied verb?


texts:
I know that 日本晴れ （にっぽん・ばれ）(it can be にほん, but is most commonly にっぽん) literally means "sunny Japan" and gives the sense of a clear sky, but I was wondering: are there any other connotations of this? I was wondering since I have seen it a lot recently, like in songs (some of which are quite patriotic, so I am not surprised), but it is also a name of a section of a soccer magazine, or a magazine as a whole, I believe.
Thanks in advance, everyone!　ありがとうございます！


texts: I sometimes see a single さ at the end of a sentence, not being appended to an adjective of either type, so I determined that this さ must be an interjection or a 語尾｛ごび｝ of some type. Thus, what meaning does さ used as an interjection/語尾 convey, or is it more of a matter of personal preferences?


texts: Uses of 「四つ角」in quizlet as intersection？

texts:
I am making my way through a very large quizlet flashcard deck that has already had a few mistakes that I have caught. I just came across[ 四つ角]{よつかど} which it lists as intersection and shows a picture of a four-way intersection. This deck also already has [交差点]{こうさてん} listed as intersection which most of the internet seems to agree with.

I was wondering if anyone knows if [四つ角]{よつかど} is actually used, and if so to refer to what. Google translate says it means "four corners", so that got me thinking it might specifically refer to four way intersection?


texts:
I would like to know the meaning of 一通り (   translations found: briefly, generally)　in the sentence

  オレたちは一通り敷地内の説明を受けた後、解散となった。

It has been translated as:

  After we got an explanation of all the buildings and facilities on
  campus, the group split up.

But I cannot find the meaning of 一通り here.
Is it "a general explaination" or "a brief explaination" ?

Could you explain me ?


texts: I've read lots of mangas and seen many animes, and it seems a Japanese person can have virtually any kind of name (the meaning of a name can be something completely ridiculous). Is it true in real life, or is this only for the purpose of amusement, and it doesn't actually occur in reality?


texts: Particle は VS の when identifying ownership with the verb ある

texts:
Quick basic grammar question.

With respect to expressing ownership of an item using ある.  Am I correctly understanding the general meaning and particle use in the following sentences?

私の辞書がありません　→　I do not have MY dictionary
私は辞書がありません　→　I do not have a dictionary

I think the second example makes sense grammatically speaking, however I'm unsure if the first example is correct.  Can I use の in similar situations like this to express if a particular item belongs to me? Can I use it like this with いる as well?

For example:

私の子供がいます　→　The child is mine
私は子供がいます　→　I have a child

Thanks!

Matt


texts: How to say "The woman heard that I passed the test"?

texts:
So far, the word そうです is used to express "hearsay" sentences with I who is implicitly defined as the listener.

彼女は結婚したそうです。I heard that the woman got married.
あなたは合格したそうです。I heard that you passed.

My questions:

How is the sentence below in Japanese? If I want to say, for example.

  The woman heard that I passed the test.


texts: How would you say "I changed my mind" in Japanese?

texts:
I get the feeling this question might have a whole lot answers with no one, true correct one, but I've been really itching to figure out how exactly to express this in Japanese as there have been several times where I want to say it but I'm not sure how. I've been falling back to a really literal and simple of way saying it, which I don't even know if it's right but, as 「考えが変わった」which always feels horrible and weird to me whenever I say it, but I have to say something instead of just standing there like an idiot with my mouth wide open.

To provide some context, I was at 7-11 getting some oden, and I chose the smaller option trying to hold back on the amount of soup since I wasn't super hungry, but I noticed it didn't have enough room for everything I wanted. I first tried to think of how to say, "it doesn't look like it will fit so I'll take the large one instead," but I had no idea what "to fit" or anything similar was in Japanese, so I then tried to think of how to say "I changed my mind," but remembered I still have no idea how to say that, and fell back onto the above mentioned phrase.

As I said earlier, I have a feeling that how to express this in Japanese might heavily depend on the situation and might not have a set phrase like in English, but, for the situation I just described above, how would one express it then? If you could also tell me what "to fit" in this case is too, that would be lovely.


texts:
Here is a part of a sentence from my book:

  ・・・・手裏剣をよけざま・・・・

I can't find any help in any of my references on the pattern of "masu-stem + ざま", which makes me hesitant to say that's exactly what it is, but I also can't figure out anything else it could be. From what it looks like to me it says "(he) dodged the shuriken", and I want to say that that "ざま" is 様, meaning "state" (and without the kanji I'm assuming it's "よけ" as in the masu-stem of "避ける" meaning "to avoid").

Am I right about the formation of this phrase? Can anyone add/correct anything?


texts: Are these sentences grammar corrected? (お貸し、お借り)

texts:
A: この本をお借りしたいんですが。
  B: すみません この本はお貸しできません。

I got a little confused when it comes to these word like お借り、お貸し。


texts: How do you know what word to write in its kanji correspondence?

texts:
My study book writes some words like あまり and おおぜい in pure hiragana and I can't figure out whether it is common to write these words in hiragana as the books says, or I'd better write them in their kanji correspondences that I see in a dictionary. For example, I know that I can write うるさい as either 煩い or 五月蝿い but I also know that to write うるさい in kanji in the first place is not a common practice. So I have no problem with うるさい but not with those new words above and more words to come.

What I usually do is to type the word in google, wait for the search bar to drop suggestions and see if the word is in hiragana or kanji. But this definitely has a limit (since most of the time suggestions show both uses) and I can't just make a new post every time I see a new word to ask which one to use.

Is there any good way to know how a word is commonly written?


texts: what is the difference between 気にする, 気になる and 気にかかる?

texts: I'm especially not sure about 気にかかる. for 気にする and 気になる, I think the difference is that  気にする is ''negative'' only while 気になる can also have a positive meaning?


texts:
I am trying to identify what I'm assuming is a name or signature written in Japanese. The author of the note was a German/Japanese American, and he wrote the note to identify the name of an artist in 1928.
The character is directly after the English word "by" written in script. Thank you for any assistance, including letting me know this is not Japanese or undecipherable if either is the case.


texts: Contrasting 〜てならない、〜てしょうがない and 〜てたまらない

texts:
These three phrases can be used to express emotions and feelings that cannot be controlled.

For example in the following sentences:

a) １点差で負けたので、悔しくてならない。
b) １点差で負けたので、悔しくてしょうがない。
c) １点差で負けたので、悔しくてたまらない。

With this,

1) How do the above sentences differ? Are they all interchangeable? Are any "stronger" than the others? (To me てたまらない seems particularly strong due to たまらない meaning "unbearable".)

2) If we were to literally translate the above sentences would they be something along the lines of:

a) I lost by one point, it's so frustrating it just can't be.
b) I lost by one point, it's so frustrating there is nothing I can do.
c) I lost by one point, it's so frustrating it's unbearable.

Note: I understand the てならない and てしょうがない have an additional function when used with verbs which can mean "can't help but", as in この写真を見ると、子供の頃のことが思い出されてならない／しょうがいない。However, for the scope of this question, I think we should keep it to the meaning of "unbearably" or "so ~".


texts:
I've heard that this phrase:
王様のベッドで寝ちゃおっと
is spoken in a child-like way.  The full translation is "let's sleep in the king's bed", and the portion that is child-like would be 寝ちゃおっと (let's sleep).  This 寝ちゃおっと cannot be translated very easily so could someone explain the nuance of this phrase?


texts: Japanese equivalent to 'and/also' for part-sentences?

texts:
I know of using と for noun & noun phrases, て-form to connect sentences
Perhaps when speaking English you might suddenly remember something and go 'Oh! And (whatever you remembered).

Another example may be, say, listing, but with something in brackets/aside from the normal list. 'Mum, Dad, Brother (And a cat!)

Maybe you're leaving home for school and your mom may call 'And don't forget to eat your fruit!', or something similar.

Is there a word or particle you would use independently in these circumstances?
I have seen this, but none of these words seem to quite fit the nuance I'm trying to forget. I hope this makes sense.

Thanks!


texts: I borrowed a Japanese children's book from the library to practice and of course I'm stuck on the title. It is called ごあいさつなあに。I know the first part means greetings or welcome, but I can't find any information online about the ending part tacked on. I figure its a colloquial type of thing.


texts:
Person 1: ほう、私がジョークの一つも言えない凡夫だと？
Person 2: それ自体がジョークだろ。
From my understanding the line says that itself is a/the joke but it is not clear to me what is meant by this. I think Person 2 is saying something like "the joke is that you are unable tell jokes" but I am not sure.


texts: How do I "understand" kaomoji? (Japanese smilies)

texts:
When I see something like this:

ﾍ(´∀｀ﾍ)ﾍ(´∀｀ﾍ)ﾖｲﾖｲ(ﾉ´∀｀)ﾉ(ﾉ´∀｀)ﾉﾖｲﾖｲ♪

I think some voodoo demon wants to say something to me. o_O

My Japanese friends often use kaomoji.  But, when they add (´▽｀) or (ﾟ∀ﾟ) I can't tell if they are sad, confused, happy, or even angry.  I just can't see the emotion for an upside-down A.

Maybe you can draw something based on the most popular kaomoji, so I can envision it in my mind like you do.

I'm afraid of those demon smilies! Please help me understand how to interpret kaomoji.


texts: Keigo: if the question doesn't concern neither the speaker nor the listener which form should i write

texts:
I started learning Japanese Keigo and there is something that is really confusing me. Assume I am talking to my supervisor so I will talk about myself using 謙譲語 and address him with 尊敬語.

Then what is the case that I am neither talking about my self nor about my supervisor what should I use?
for example I am telling him that japan has a rare cultural. how would I address a third party?


texts: How do you differentiate "nande" (why) and "nande" (how, by what means)?

texts:
In a question:

Tokyo e nande ikimasu ka?

how can I know what "nande" refers to, even when I have the context:

how are you going? (by bus, by car, on foot)
why are you going?


texts:
I've been seeing this structure a lot lately, and I feel like it takes on different meanings depending on how it's used.

Basically I understand it as:

Quotative と + いう(to say, define etc.) + ように (like)

AというようにB = "to do B like to say A" "to do B as if to say A"

Also, apparently it's synonymous with  と言わんばかりに

Not sure if I understand this correctly though.

Here are some sentences:

  分かったというようにうなずき始める。 To start nodding as if to say he understood.

This sentence seems to fit in with my understanding above.

  夏には冷たい飲み物、冬には温かい飲み物というように、気温の変化に合わせて、飲み物を冷たくしたり、温かくしたりして出してくれる。（自動販売機）It serves drinks suited to the change in temperature by making it warm and cold, as if to say cold drinks in the summer, warm drinks in the winter (doesn't sound natural)

I can't seem to fit the translation with above, this というように appears to take on different meaning

  From one of the answers to a question on hinative

  「ソニーのような会社」の「ような」は、 ソニーと同じようにテレビを作っている会社、ソニーと同じように有名な会社、というように、(漠然とした)同じという意味。

  The "ような" in "ソニーのような会社" means a company that makes televisions like
  Sony, a company famous like Sony, as if to say, same as (vague).

This というように seems disconnected, and I'm not sure how it works.

Can someone explain how というように is used in each of these sentences and how it works grammatically?


texts: I just started learning Japanese and I came across the particle "の", I understand that it is used between two nouns but I didn't really understand if you can use it only once in a phrase or if you use it between every two nouns.


texts: Is か modifying all three clauses in this sentences?

texts:
The following is an excerpt from NHK Easy news article: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10012922471000/k10012922471000.html

フランスでは、このウイルスがうつる力の強さや、病気が重くなる可能性、どのくらいウイルスが広がっているかを調べています。

I just wanted to know if this か applies to the nested clauses also. I ask this because DeepL translates the sentence as:

In France, we are trying to find out how strong this virus is to spread, how serious the illness may be, and how far the virus has spread.

Basically, it has applied the question quality of か (in addition to the clause it is directly attached to) to the preceding 2 sentences - is this because や has loosely connected all 3 sentences (listing a non-exhaustive list)?


texts: Polite/nice way to ask for a language exchange partner

texts:
日本の言語パートナーを探して。

Is what I currently came up with but I think it is much to direct.
I want to express something like this:
"I would be very pleased to find a Japanese language exchange partner" (meaning a male or female, native speaker)


texts: What's the difference between arimasu and desu (when referring to location)?

texts:
In Japanese, when describing the location of something you can say either arimasu and desu. E.g.

  a) Resutoran-wa ik-kai-ni arimasu

or

  b) Resutoran-wa ik-kai desu

What's the difference between a & b?

(a) uses ni, so that stresses the location.
(b) uses desu so it sounds more polite.
Is this correct?

Please note, this is a question about location. It is not a question about the difference between arimasu (exists/to be: non animate) and imasu (exists/to be: animate).


texts:
I was told that the following uses of と and な after 色々 were the same.

  彼女のために色々と甘いものを買ってきた。I bought a bunch of sweets and brought them to my GF.
  彼女のために色々な甘いものを買ってきた。

If this is true, is this an added use of the generic particle と that is not listed in this definition?

  と

  particle / conjunction :

  if;  when

  このシャンプーを買うと素敵なヘアブラシがついてきます。This shampoo comes with a nice hair brush.
  彼女は、どうしてそんなことが可能なのかと尋ねている。She's asking how that's possible. ▾

  and

  １２と２４と７と１１の合計は５４です。The sum of 12, 24, 7 and 11 is 54.
  いまやろうと思ったのに。I was just about to get started any-how. ▾

  with

  私はあなたとお話してよかった。I have enjoyed talking to you.
  彼女は今忙しいので、あなたとお話できません。She is busy at present and can't speak to you. ▾

  particle used for quoting (with speech, thoughts, etc.)

  「美しい」とか「醜い」といった言葉は相対的な用語である。The words 'beautiful' and 'ugly' are relative terms.
  そういう相手の前では、私の見せ掛けだけの怜悧な技術は、見抜かれた時に負けていたと思う。I think that against somebody like that, my seemingly clever techniques would be seen through and then I would be defeated. ▾

How does the と in the first quote work?


texts:
Could you please help me out with the last bit of this sentence:

  「ええ。弓道部は問題児も多いし、巧いのが一人減ったからね。四月の新入生獲得の為に、少しぐらいは見栄えを良くしとかないと」

I've been wondering about the last bit, namely the usage of  少しぐらい and negative ending + と.

One definition of 少しぐらい that I found was 規模が不十分であることを示す表現, i.e. an expression to demonstrate an insufficiency in scope (please correct me if I'm wrong).

So if 少しぐらいは is the subject (I may be wrong here, as I've seen adverbs + は before but haven't seen grammar rules about it yet), then じておく (negative) + と - does it work like じゃん (isn't it)? Anyhow, does 少しぐらい add a negative (as in "we don't have enough!") or a somewhat positive implication ("little by little") in this kind of casual speech? That is, I'm not sure if she's complaining or being more positive.

Sorry if this sounds a bit confused.

Thank you for your patience.


texts: 連れ添う　and 結婚-Is there a difference in nuance

texts:
Can someone please tell me if 連れ添う which I have read that it also means "to marry", "becoming man and wife", "to become a couple" has another kind of nuance compared to the typical word 結婚 ? Because I haven't many resources to get a better understanding, can I assume that 連れ添う can be used to describe a couple, as in, they love each other and live together but not necessarily being  married (they didn't have an official wedding ceremony). There is this character, a woman, in a manga that said: 長く連れ添ったわ. She said this about the man she stayed with for many years until he passed away. I also want to add that the woman is a vampire who lived for hundreds of years and I do question if she actually married the man.That's why I believe that she said
連れ添う, to emphasize that she just stayed faithfully by the man's side for a long time and she didn't have to become his wife or anything. Please tell me your opinions!


texts: Can particles と and か be used together? If so what is the implication?

texts:
When connecting nouns, と means "and" and か means "or." Can I use them together?

Ex.

  ツナか牛肉とチーズでサンドイッチを作る。

I think this would mean "I make a sandwich with tuna or beef and cheese."  If this is the case, how does the logic follow?  Is it a sandwich with 'tuna' or 'beef and cheese,' or is it a sandwich with 'tuna or beef' and cheese?

My first question on stackexchange Japanese, please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong.


texts: nuances of the verb 連れる ending in くれた vs もらった

texts:
Here are  two sentences with the (compound) verb 連れる. I wanted to know the nuances and how the two meanings differ.

  今日は、ルーカスさんが車でアパートが探しに連れて行ってくれた。
  今晩は、ルーカスさんの知人の家のパーティに連れて行ってもらった.

I wonder why the first uses くれた while the second uses もらった. Both actions seem to be directed to the speaker. Why the difference?

My interpretation:

  Today, Lucas took (accompanied) me by car to search for an apartment.
  Yesterday, Lucas took me to an acquaintance's party.

Both of which are 'me' as the receiving end of the action.

Your insights would be appreciated.


texts: What would be a correct term to describe a "cheesy" line?

texts:
I'm looking for either an adjective or a noun, that describes lines like

僕は死ぬまであなたのことを忘れない！
僕は永遠に君のことを愛してる！
僕はずっとここで待ってる！

Yeah, you know, these over-melodramatic lines in dramas with sad violin music playing in the background at the end of the script.
A dictionary tells me （ド）派手 , but the example sentences only show it being used to describe flashy clothes.


texts:
この料金には何が付いていますか

I would translate this as “What's included in this fee?”.
Given this, could I use 入る instead of 付く in the sentence?

What difference would using 入る or 付く make in this context ? Thanks!


texts: What is the proper word for relationship?

texts:
What would be the correct way to say "restoration of a broken relationship"? Kankei seems a bit sterile in the line of this poem I'm writing. Kankei feels like I'm referring to the connection between two inanimate objects. Is there an alternately preferred verbiage for parent-child, spouses,  lovers,  or dating relationships?

Thanks in advance!


texts:
For example in this sentence:

  迷宮内は天井が宿す燐光によって光源に困らない代わりに、夜になろうと朝を迎えようとその眩しい光が途切れることはない。

How should I interpret 夜になろうと朝を迎えようと?

Thanks!


texts: How to translate the construction "noun + で"

texts:
When going over a summary of Japanese grammar I came across the following sentence:

  私は学生で友だちはいしゃです。

How should this be translated? It supposedly covers the construct of noun+で. Is it the te-form?


texts: The convention of including/omitting ‘no zu’ (之圖) in translations

texts:
It appears to be common, but by no means universal, for artists/publishers to include 之圖 in ukiyo-e title cartouches (sometimes ノ圖; written のづ in accompanying furigana; occasionally seen 圖 without the ‘no’). In terms of various print genres I am looking at, you might see 川中嶋大合戰之圖, a Picture of the Great Battle of Kawanakajima (Kawanakajima ō-kassen no zu), or 川中嶋大合戰, The Great Battle of Kawanakajima (Kawanakajima ō-kassen). Statistically I would hazard a guess that it’s 60:40 in favour of the ‘no zu’ in musha-e, but don’t quote me on that!

So, I’m interested in understanding why most institutional museums and auction houses would simply drop ‘View of’ or ‘Picture of’ from their English translations, as if 之圖 never existed in the title. You would think that there was a very specific, scholarly reason for doing this. Surely a historically arbitrary or idiosyncratic practice would not become a largely conventional, Western translation practice? For me, the omission is problematic, since I would always aspire to faithful character transcriptions, transliterations, and translations, but I might be ignorant here. Relevant to this language stack exchange (I trust), my question is whether it’s a reflection of the way the phrase is understood and regarded by a Japanese reader? For instance, using ‘no zu’ might well have been part of a cultural convention, but conceptually it is ‘redundant’ and therefore not translated. Some kind of anachronism? Something almost tautological in a visual/textual sense? Hence, irrelevant in an English translation. I’m not sure when ‘no zu’ found its way into visual art titles (at least mid-17th century), and if there is a correlative in fiction or other creative or performing arts.

For context:

Most museums record the Japanese characters as well as rōmaji, albeit with the shinjitai 図 instead of the kyūjitai 圖, e.g. The Great Battle at Kawanakajima (Kawanakajima ôgassen no zu), 川中島大合戦之図, MFA Boston. However, they rarely write their titles beginning ‘Picture of ...’, as this example attests. This is especially so of the MFA Boston. Yes, there are exceptions: the MFA lists an artwork as Picture of a Hakutaku (Hakutaku no zu), 白澤之図. The Met lists in its collection: Views of Foreigners (Gaikokujin no zu), 外国人之図. Again, mentioning ‘Views’ is uncommon, unless it is a landscape with 景, けい, kei (view, scene) in the title, or 勝景, しょうけい, shōkei (scenic view), e.g. the Lavenberg collection’s View of Nihonbashi Bridge in the Eastern Capital (Tōto Nihonbashi no shōkei), 東都日本橋之勝景.
The only ramification I can see for including ‘Picture of’, is that you need to occasionally change the active present participle, e.g. it sounds better to write Picture of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ Entering Ōeyama, instead of Picture of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ Enter Ōeyama (Shitennō Ōeyama iri no zu), 四天王江山入之圖.
Would love to know if anyone has insights into this, since from a Western perspective, it would seem strange for a museum or a catalogue raisonné to omit ‘View of’ from a C19th artwork that has clearly been labelled ‘View of the River Thames’ by the artist him or herself. Or, change an C18th title ‘Map of Van Diemen's Land’ to ‘Map of Tasmania’, simply because no one refers to it as Van Diemen’s Land any longer!

Not quite sure how to tag this question... it might be an outlier.


texts:
「一生懸命」と「一所懸命」の使い方は同じでしょうか？
「一生懸命」と「一所懸命」 の使い方は同じでしょうか？意味も同じでしょうか？


texts:
I can't find this defined anywhere.

Here's an example:

タオルケットをちょちょいかけにきてくれる。

I am also interested in what this whole sentence says.


texts: Subject ambiguity in 大阪府の警察は、樋田容疑者を警察署から逃げた容疑で調べていますが、何も話していません。

texts:
From this article:

  大阪府の警察は、樋田容疑者を警察署から逃げた容疑で調べていますが、何も話していません。
  Osaka police are investigating Hida on suspicion of escaping from the police station, but are saying nothing.

That was my translation until I read an English version of the story. I assumed the police were investigating but that 何も話していません suggested that they weren't prepared to talk about it at the moment. However, the English article implied that it was the suspect who was 何も話していません. Is this sentence ambiguous or am I missing an obvious clue which tells me that the suspect is the subject of 話す and not the police?

I was also unsure about my translation of ...容疑で調べています as "investigating on suspicion of ...". The reason I worry is that they surely already know it was him who escaped.


texts: Native speakers reading ～ても/～のに/etc sentences

texts:
As a non-native speaker I start with the assumption of ～のに being "although/even though/etc" and ～ても being "even if ～" if I encounter either in a sentence.

After finishing the sentence I backtrack and re-assess if the above assumption makes sense given the context.

Most of the time my assumption is valid, but a non-insignificant number of times it is obvious that my initial assumption does not hold water and のに is actually a nominalized ～の + particle に and ～ても is in essence ～たら.

Now this is fine, but it does not feel like a very natural way of reading, as I feel I should be able to know what grammatical function ても or のに is serving without having to finish the sentence and backtrack to confirm.

For native speakers do they have to go through a similar process, or do they intuitively know what to expect without having to assume anything?

Take these two sentences for example:

  元々、花の香りが大好きな私にとって、香油……正しくは精油というのだけど、植物から抽出された香りに心酔されていくのにそう時間は掛からなかった。

  「ゆとり！！　常識知らず！！　空気読め！！　向上心が足りない！！いいかお前ら！！　いつか社会に出てもこんな言葉一つに絶対踊らされるんじゃねーぞ！！」   (in response to
  "俺は絶対に今年こそ彼女をつくる！！ 俺たちは今年から！！　絶対に勝ち組になるぞォォ！！")

If this were a book and the page cut off at のに/ても, would a native speaker have to flip the page to know what grammatical function either was serving?

I suppose this could apply to 適当 as well since I always assume the "suitable/appropriate" meaning before potentially deciding "unserious/irresponsible" actually makes more sense by the end of the sentence.


texts: I'm reading the Dragon Ball manga and characters keep sort of stammering "mu-mu-mu" at various moments, for example below. What does this mean?


texts:
I am reading some old prewar books that smush two kango together to create a complex noun, for example 伝説伝統 for "legends and traditions".

An academic citation, by an author who I am finding a bit dubious, gives Romanizations for such doubled-up kango with a ya in the middle, for example, densetsu ya dentō.

Is this a legitimate way to transcribe the literary reading of doubled-up kango, or is densetsu dentō the correct pronunciation?

edit in reply to naruto: The exact document in question is a Meiji period current events magazine from 1899, but I'm wondering about this general pattern of writing which I've seen over the period 1890-1945


texts:
I've been looking around for this, but all I can find is pretty basic stuff about desu. I've studied Japanese, but writing texts in Japanese still stumps me sometimes. Right now I'm wondering about the use of desu, as in this case:

  「仕事場での高い生産性と楽しい1日は、使い心地が 良い道具を揃えることから。」というのは姉妹の口ぐせ。 機能的でかつインスピレーションあふれるワークプレイスを一緒に作ってみませんか。アンナのフェミニンでシンプルなデザインが、上品な印象を与えるコレクションの登場です.

The text is from a product page, which can be found here: https://sostrenegrene.com/ja/campaigns/%E3%82%AA%E3%83%95%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9%E3%81%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB/

How do I know I can leave desu off the end of a sentence and still make it sound proper. Why is 'というのは姉妹の口ぐせ' without desu, but 'コレクションの登場です' is with desu? Is there a set of rules for this?

As of now, I've written texts filled with 'masu' and 'desu' at the end of all sentences, and it sounds a bit rigid. How do I write a more natural sounding text?


texts: Can the English suffix "-zilla" be translated back into Japanese?

texts:
Can the English suffix -zilla, a backformation from "Godzilla" describing something as large and/or destructive, be translated into Japanese and easily understood, and how would it be translated? As "ジラ"?

Doing a search of weblio for zilla or ジラ didn't come up with anything.


texts:
I'm a bit confused about the part in bold in the following passage. I can't understand what exactly is the speaker talking about with 上手く and 下手? Is he talking about how the one could be 'so-so good in one subject, and equally bad at some other'?

  ジュウは今まで学校の授業を一元的に見ていた部分があり、どの教師も同じようなものだと思っていた。そこそこ上手く、そこそこ下手。授業なんてそんなものだろう、と高をくくっていたのだが、その考えを改めることになった。堕花雨の教え方は、妙に上手いのだ。いつものように[抑揚]{よくよう}のない口調なのだが、それが何故か心地よく、頭にすんなりと入っていく。


texts: て form and number, what does it mean example: "ザーレスが滅んで千年"

texts:
Sentence:

  　それがサングルド山脈のどこかにあるというのだが、ザーレスが滅んで千年、いまだに入り口すら見つかっていないのだ。

Is it "...after destruction of ザーレス thousand years passed, and even now..."


texts:
The following is an excerpt from a conversation with my language partner.

For some context:

  階段から落ちたそうですが、大丈夫ですか。骨折はしていなくて、右足のじん帯を痛めたのですね。早く良くなるといいですね。

The sentence in question:

  早く良くなるといいですね。

My translation:
"When it recovers/you recover quickly, it is good."

Now, this sentence isn't really much of a problem for me. I just would like to know what nuance is expressed through the use of the と conditional particle.
Does it express something along the lines of "hopefully"? "Hopefully it/you will recover quickly."? Because I just recently was looking for an adverb or the like to express "hopefully", and unfortunately I only found this http://jisho.org/search/hopefully. So maybe the pattern used by my language partner can be used to express this?


texts: How to say "What's it to you?" in Japanese?

texts:
What would be appropriate expressions or idioms to convey the typical English response:

  What's it to you?

(in a sense that goes somewhere between "None of your business" and "This is not your problem")

The best I can think of is あなたには関係ない. I am looking for other possibly softer, more polite ways of expressing the same idea.

(as an aside, if you have less polite, more direct, I am also curious)

PS: Before anybody comments: I realise that any variation on this will sound too direct and potentially rude for many situations in Japan, however softly it is formulated. But the general idea is to be trenchant, in situations which might call for it... so no need to dwell on the rudeness aspect too much.

Edit: tough to pick from many overlapping (quality) answers, but in the end, I think Rey's encompassed exactly the nuance(s) I was interested in. Thanks everybody for the great suggestions!


texts: What is よって doing in the following sentence?

texts:
I have a sentence that I came across in a manga I am reading. The male speaker is speaking to five girls (one of whom he met 5 years ago but doesn't know which one) and says, この中で昔俺に会ったことがあるよって人ー?

I understand that manga doesn't have the best punctuation but I believe that the complete logical clause before よって may be a clause describing the 人 and since this is casual speech there is no need for the copula or か to be used for question form. I just can't seem to figure out what the よって is doing. I would appreciate any help on this one. Jisho says that よって means "therefore; consequently; accordingly; for that reason."

Could these just be two separate sentences where the second sentence is just "Therefore, that person is?" With the unsaid subject being the person he met before (introduced in the previous clause).


texts: Difference between 英才【えいさい】 and 天才【てんさい】 (genius)

texts:
Can someone highlight the differences between  英才【えいさい】 and 天才【てんさい】?

When searching their definitions, I see:

英才：1. genius;  brilliance;  unusual talent;
     2. genius;  brilliance;  unusual talent

天才：genius;  prodigy;  natural gift

My current assumption is that a 天才 is a naturally born genius (genetic, hence assuming good in anything), while an 英才 is a genius is a specific, specialized (unusual?) field (assuming that genius has a talent for that field, but is not necessarily gifted in other areas). Am I correct?

I'm also curious about other words for genius and their subtleties, if you know some, eg: 異才｛いさい｝、俊士｛しゅんさい｝、春愁｛しゅんしゅう｝、奇才｛きさい}.

Thank you!


texts:
I'm failing to understand what it means for the 戦い to 委ねる in the below sentence. Is there anyone who could clarify what it means in this case?

  この戦いは国の勝ち負けだけじゃなく一人一人がどちらを選ぶのか委ねている

Additional context:

The country is currently in a state of internal conflict, with one faction looking to split off (due to the corruption in the country) and become their own independent state.

The protagonist is currently taking part in this battle,, but not because they care about the state of the country. They instead want to get revenge on the leader of those looking to make an independent state because he killed someone close to her.

The line above was said by someone who previously fighting alongside the protagonist but joined the other side. They are trying to convince the protagonist to stop seeking revenge, and to join their side.


texts: 'のために’ Usage - Why is 「私の ため に 日本語 で 話してください」 incorrect?

texts:
For reference, I don't have a teacher.

An online resource I used described 'のために' as being 'for the benefit' of when a verb is involved - the structure being NOUN のために VERB

The example given was

  日本語 が わからない人 の ため に えいご で 話してください
  Please speak English for the benefit of people that don't understand Japanese.

The sentence I was trying to write was: Please speak Japanese for the benefit of me / Please speak JAPANESE for MY benefit. What I got was:

  私の ため に 日本語 で 話してください

My Japanese friends don't understand what I'm trying to say at all and can't point out what's wrong with this sentence - just that it's gibberish.

'I' is technically a noun. 'To speak' is the verb. Where did I go wrong?


texts: Difference between conjunctive forms: ～ます stem and ～て form

texts:
What's the difference between:

  朝起きたら、まず顔を洗い、コーヒーを飲み、新聞を読みます。(ます－form）

and

  朝起きたら、まず顔を洗って、コーヒーを飲んで、新聞を読みます。(て－form)

Both have the same meaning, but can I use this conjunctive ます stem with a person which I don't know or with a boss?

Maybe only for the talking or the writing?

Can you help me?

Thanks


texts: What is the difference in meaning between "husband and wife" 夫婦【ふうふ】 and 夫妻【ふさい】?

texts: I see that those two compounds mean husband and wife, as a married couple. But is there a difference in usage or context?


texts: Making sense of 店の小使は五時の汽車に彼が乗るものと思って待っていて、彼が遅れたことをとっくに報告してしまっているはずだ

texts:
I'm (still) reading metamorphosis (by Kafka) and am having trouble with the following

店の小使は五時の汽車に彼が乗るものと思って待っていて、彼が遅れたことをとっくに報告してしまっているはずだ

For more context : the narrator wakes up being a bug and is worried that he is going to be late for work (!). The whole sentence is

そして、たとい汽車に間に合ったとしてさえ、店主の雷かみなりは避けることができないのだ。というのは、店の小使は五時の汽車に彼が乗るものと思って待っていて、彼が遅れたことをとっくに報告してしまっているはずだ。あの男は店主の手先で、背骨もなければ分別もない

And is translated by

And even if he caught the train, there was no avoiding a blow up with the boss, because the firm's errand boy would've waited for the five o'clock train and reported the news of his absence long ago

About 五時の汽車に meaning "the five o'clock train". I suppose に is used to indicate a point in time ? Would 五時の汽車 be ungrammatical ?

I can't figure out the meaning of 乗るものと思って待っていて. Is 思う used with its "to think" meaning and 待つ with "to wait" meaning ? For now i understand this part as "waiting and thinking about getting onboard"...

Is 遅れたことをとっくに a case of A を B に construct ? I red about it but can't figure out how to translate it here. The whole clause 彼が遅れたことをとっくに報告してしまっているはずだ is difficult to me. I suppose してしまっている could be used as "to transform A into B"  ?

Thanks


texts: I know 資格 is しかく, 活動 is かつどう and 許可 is きょか, but the 外 puzzles me here. Is it just がい？


texts:
I've looked around but haven't found a decent way to write "running total" like in the following table.

A  Running Total
1  1
2  3
1  4
5  9
3  12


texts:
Anybody around here knows why it is used the て-form in 覚えてないのかい instead of 覚えないのかい in the next sentence?

僕はさっきもう君にすっかり話したじゃないか。
それとも、覚えてないのかい？
I've already seen this before in other question sentences
So..., What I want to know is why it is use the て-form in question sentences? I mean.... If I use both of them (覚えてないの､　覚えないの  ) the meaning of the sentence wouldn't be the same?


texts: Meaning of 求められる様にキス

texts:
How do I understand how 求められる様に modifies the below?
何度もキスをする Would just just simply mean that they kissed many times.
Obviously 求められる is the passive form of 求める　which means to want/request/seek. Since this is in the passive form I think this is referring to the person he is kissing (i.e. the other person is the one doing the verb 求める) but it is still not clear to me what this means.
更に何度も求められる様にキスをする


texts:
委員会は橋本聖子さんに会長を頼むことを決めて ...
The committee decided to ask Hashimoto to become president

I found this phrase a bit confusing. Both verbs in this sentence can take both に and を at the same time. I think に must go with 頼む in this case since XにYを決める means "decide on Y as X" and "decided on asking the president as Hashimoto" makes no sense.
That leaves me with how to understand 橋本聖子さんに会長を頼む. So XにYを頼む means "ask/request Y of X" and I get "request president of Hashimoto". That makes no sense. I think I'd have been happy with 橋本聖子さんに会長になることを頼む. Is this grammatical/natural? Is 橋本聖子さんに会長を頼む just a shorter way of saying this? Have I completely misparsed everything?
So assuming I have understood this correctly what kind of objects can 頼む take?
An after thought:
If I translate 会長 as "presidency" rather than "president" then all my problems go away. I wonder if this is the way to think about it.


texts: What is the name for the mixed ingredients in a bowl?

texts:
I am writing a recipe in Japanese. The excerpt is given as follows.

まず、丼に卵と塩とこしょうと薄切りの玉ねぎを入れて、混ぜる。
フライパンに油を入れて、火をつけて、１っ分ぐらい持つ。
フライパンに「the contents of the bowl」を入れて、５分ぐらい炒める。

The contents of the bowl is the mixed ingredients.
What is the correct pronoun to replace "the contents of the bowl"?
Is there a single word for it?


texts:
今年も良い年でありますように！ I hope you have another good year!

What is going on exactly where the ように means hope? Does the よう derive from a verb?
I would also like to know how to describe this word in the relevant grammatical terms, both in english and japanese. From what I understand from the answers it is a noun that turns into an adverb?


texts: American use of Japanese naming conventions

texts: I am an American; if I were going to live in Japan for any amount of time and conduct business, on official documents, could/would I write my name as Americans do (first-last) or as Japanese do (last-first)?


texts:
I have looked up the '～ないことはない' grammar and it says it means either 'can' or 'is not impossible to' Link to grammar site. I see that it's a double negative.
However, I have this sentence that I've had trouble fitting it to.
まあ アイデア出した俺にも責任はないことはないか
I understand the parts. He came up with the idea, and he feels ... that he 'can' be responsible? In English, it seems like it might be 'should' be responsible, or at least 'it's not the case that I shouldn't be responsible'. But then 'nai koto ha nai' starts to become 'isn't the case that', and that starts to feel more like 'wake ja nai'. I suppose the first step would be to have a good translation of this line, which I don't have.
So, in short, I'm having trouble understanding this question. And if it does translate to 'isn't the case that', then I would appreciate someone explaining the main differences between 'nai koto ha nai' and 'wake ja nai'.
Thanks!


texts:
...猫の写真を見ないですむと思うと、同情しろという方が無理だった。
  When he thought that he could get away without seeing any cat photos, sympathy was impossible.

In my translation I've condensed all of 同情しろという方 into just one word: sympathy. I'm struggling with how to unpack this. One problem is that I don't know whether 方 is ほう or かた. I can think of two ways this might go:

同情しろという方{かた}が無理だった - a person saying that you should be sympathetic would have been unreasonable.
同情しろという方{ほう}が無理だった - the side of him that said he should be sympathetic was impossible/unreasonable.

I think option 2. makes more sense but I'm not certain.


texts:
Sorry, I don't have any example sentences...
Anyway, usually I heard the word 設定{せってい} in the meaning of "adjusting something". But now, in the factory, I have come across the phrase "圧力{あつりょく}を調整{ちょうせい}する".
Could you please define the difference in usage between 設定{せってい}する and 調整{ちょうせい}する?


texts:
I have found several occurrences of ここは in several parts but they do not seem to have the meaning of "here" but I may be mistaken

言っとくけど、私のスキルは半端ないわよ？本来なら、誰にでもホイホイと教えるようなスキルじゃないんだからね？
やたら勿体を受けるアクアだが、教えてもらう立場なのでここはじっと我慢だ。
But just you know, my skills are serious stuff. I don’t go around
teaching them to just anybody, got it ? There was Aqua, trying to make
herself important again -but since I needed her to teach me, I would
just have to tolerate it.

source: この素晴らしい世界に祝福を！


texts: Can i omit commas in sentence with multiple verbs connected by て-form (with "and" meaning)?

texts:
For example, I have sentence: 朝ご飯を食べて、学校に行きました。
Can I omit the comma or it is required?


texts:
I came across the following, recently.

彼女が蛇口をあけ、僕の傷ついた前腕を氷　_______ 冷たい水の下へ導いた

It is said that the most suitable to fill the blank is のように. みたいに is also given as an option. Can someone please explain me why のように? Why not みたいに?


texts: What are the valid potential forms of special "suru" verbs?

texts:
Good afternoon all,

From what I understand, special "suru" verbs only have one potential form which is formed using the syntax:

[verb-stem] + [せる]

For example, 愛す・愛する → 愛せる and 訳す・訳する → 訳せる.

However, A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar claims that "熱する (ねっする)" and "察する (さっする)" conjugates in the same way as "する". Snippet:

By that claim, it seems to mean that the potential form of "熱する" would be "熱できる (uh, ねっできる?)" and the potential form of "訳する" would be "訳できる".

WWWJDIC also has a chart which shows that the potential form of "訳する" is "訳しえる" and/or "訳しうる" (link).

So now we have these potential forms:

[verb-stem] + [せる] (e.g. 愛せる, 訳せる, 熱せる, 察せる)
[verb-stem] + [しえる] (e.g. 愛しえる, 訳しえる, 熱しえる, 察しえる)
[verb-stem] + [しうる] (e.g. 愛しうる, 訳しうる, 熱しうる, 察しうる)
[verb-stem] + [できる] (e.g. 愛できる, 訳できる, 熱できる, 察できる)

Are all of these 4 conjugations grammatically valid potential forms of special "suru" verbs?


texts: Is 選ばれし者 a grammatically correct translation of "The Chosen One"?

texts:
I have frequently seen 選ばれし者 used as a translation for the English phrase "The Chosen One". I know that し is the 連体形 of the auxiliary verb き which, quoting from デジタル大辞泉, is used when expressing things in the past that the speaker has personally experienced (直接経験を回想的に表す) or when remembering the past that has definitely happened (確実な過去の事実を回想する).

However, in English, the phrase "The Chosen One" is often used as as a conjecture. Here are some examples (SPOILER WARNING):

In Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker is thought to be the "The Chosen One" mentioned in a prophecy. And yet there's certainly ambiguity if he really is the "The Chosen One" or not. There's no real moment or event where he was chosen by someone or something and no one who calls Anakin "The Chosen One" knows for sure if he is or isn't. There is just a belief that he could be it.

In this case, there are arguments that the "The Chosen One" isn't actually Anakin. And thus the event during which Anakin would have been chosen would have been purely hypothetical.

In the Harry Potter series, Harry is speculated to be "The Chosen One" by the newspapers because of the existence of prophecy whose contents are unknown. The prophecy is assumed to say that Harry is the only person who can defeat the main villain. Although in this series, there isn't much ambiguity that Harry actually was chosen by someone (by the main villain as his worthy opponent), the people calling him "The Chosen One" would not have personally experienced that event and those people would also not know with certainty that Harry was chosen as they do not know the contents of the prophecy. They at most are speculating.

Yet, in both of these cases the Japanese translation is 選ばれし者. Is there a nuance I'm missing in き that allows you to use it for speculative talk or is there a more correct way to translate "The Chosen One" in classical style Japanese?

EDIT: To make myself a little clearer, I think for example in

  I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

it seems like it would sense to use 選ばれし者 because the speaker would have personally seen the event. Another example would be when one is quoting someone.

However, I feel a statement like 選ばれし者だった (the translation for "You were the Chosen One" in a famous scene in Star Wars) seems extremely illogical in Japanese. From what I've read about き is that there's no implication at all of continuation of the state. It either happened or it didn't. So, it seems extremely odd that one could change from being chosen to not being chosen.


texts: Is Japanese that lacks proofreading likely to contain bad spelling or grammar?

texts:
Regarding written English that isn't proofread ... it's quality definately leaves alot to be desired. I would advise people against treating written English that wasn't professionally written (for example, mailing lists or Stack Overflow questions) as good English.

Am I likely to pick up bad spelling or grammar from Japanese that is written by native speakers but isn't professionally written?

Assume that I'm reading somewhat serious material, such as the ruby-dev mailing list, rather than YouTube comments.

I'm not really planning on learning spelling and grammar from them, just practicing reading the kana within the emails, but I don't want to mis-train myself (learn something that isn't correct) by accident.

I've also heard warnings not to learn from Japanese done by the opposite sex - sadly, I don't think there'd be too large a risk of that with a programming mailing list!


texts: While i was talking with my japanese friends, that word just came up they could't explain that. Can you tell me what does ドン引き mean?


texts: Intentional hiragana transcription for foreign names

texts:
Is it possible and acceptable to transcript foreign names into hiragana instead of katakana for aesthetic or other personal purposes?

How would Japanese people judge this choice? Would they perceive it as a mistake?

Thank you


texts: Translation request from manga (海街 Diary volume 1)

texts:
On page 8, this sentence appears inside a thought / narration bubble from the lead female character:

  きのう奥さんの叔父さんて人から病院に電話あったの。

After juggling with Google Translate, I believe the character is saying that yesterday the uncle's wife received a phone call from a man.

Then I am lost. Was the phone call made to a hospital? There is no previous mention of the uncle's wife being in a hospital. Or was a person from the hospital calling? If the latter then what's the に after 病院 for?


texts: Would you say 日系アメリカ人の歴史のポータル or 日系アメリカ人の歴史ポータル?

texts: Which is correct? My gut tells me it's the second one, but I've asked and someone told me the first is probably the one to use. Reasons being ポータル is not a common katakana word.


texts:
Most of the usages of に I've seen have it directly followed by a verb directly attached to it. (The location of existance にある/にいる, The action objective e.g 私は電車に乗りました, etc)
I know there are some that don't directly have に follow a verb, but its still heavily reliant on a verb (私は六時に家を出る)
However, に can also be used when there are no verbs in the sentence

私に必要です
Or
私には必要です

I interpret (at least the first sentence) as [smth] is essential to [me] or 私*

I (somewhat) get the fact that に and には mean kinda different things and are to be differentiated, so i will just refer to the first sentence.
What usage does the に fall into here?
Is there a certain way it gets applied in any sentence with only a noun/ adjective (as in it gets used the same way/ means the same thing)
Other maybe-related examples i found

タバコは体に悪い。
The way i see it (i guess) is that the に marks that tabacco is 悪い towards/ for the body/体. But why can't we use something like が here?

私に何か用ですか。
I guess this sentence works in a similar way to the 必要 one, labelling  私 as "What will i use/ be in use for me"

Sorry if this seems like an obvious question, but im genuinely stumped.
(Edited to explain how i see it)


texts: Do native speakers consider particles separate words?

texts: A frequent example used when saying that the definition of 'word' is fluid in Japanese particles, which can be viewed as separate words or affixes. I want to know whether a native speaker would say that, for example, 私は was one word or two.


texts:
As I understand it お父さん is the usual way to refer to someone else's father in everyday speech.

What about when you are writing a formal discussion (for an academic audience) of an interview you had with someone? Is 父 or 父親 better for this?


texts:
Let's take the following situation as an example: After having driven a car for 20 years without any problems, someone is one day involved in a horrible car crash. They then might think to themselves:「もう二度と運転しない。」
If we take the 二度と literally, the drive where the crash occurred would be counted as the "first" time driving, and the hypothetical next drive after the crash would be the "second" time driving.
Here's my question: If we change the example in such a way that the person is not directly involved in the crash anymore but instead just witnesses it while walking nearby, could that person still say 「もう二度と運転しない。」? What I'm getting at is that there would be no clear cut "first time" to base that "second time" on because the person wasn't driving at the time of the crash and surely in 20 years, that person has driven more than just once.
Or am I overthinking all of this and it's just a fixed expression that shouldn't be taken literally?


texts: What does it mean to use a する verb without する?

texts:
その絵はほとんど完成だ。

I find this sentence quite confusing. 完成 means the act of completion, so I don't understand why だ is used instead of a variation of する. The meaning seems different than a sentence like 今は勉強だ where it says that something is in the process of the する verb rather than being in the state after the する verb as implied in the above example.

Also, when a character says 了解 after receiving a command, are they omitting した or です? It's very complex since there are times when a character will say "これを召喚！" and it means "I will summon this" or "I summon this" and despite following the format of omitting something, they mean different things.


texts: What does "mon" and "kamo" mean in Japanese?

texts:
Sorry, I am new at learning Japanese and I am trying my best to figure things out from word-by-word translations... but sometimes it's hard to piece together with just the internet.

I was reading a blog wherein this guy drew a new character. This is what he wrote under it:

  以外にカワイイかもラブラブ 自分の人生なんていうもんに使ってるんだ...(;´д｀)ﾄﾎﾎ…

I am not entirely sure what the second sentence really means?
What does "mon" mean? And I sort of get the first sentence, saying that it's other than 'kawaii' but what does kamo mean? is it short for something?

Thank you for your help in advance!


texts:
I've got a big question about し and も.

  カロリーも少なくなるし、おなかも張ります。

Can we not use も here? Will the meaning be changed?

  カロリーが少なくなるし、おなかが張ります。

Why does し usually go with も? Does も add some additional meaning? Can we not use も in the example below?

  でも音楽に詳しい友人がいないし、自分もあんまり詳しくありません。

Can we say that the part after し is more important than the first part because of も?

  私の韓国人の俳優のお友達は、矯正をして最高にきれいになりましたし、ぺヨンジュンもデビュー当時はちょっと八重歯風のがありましたが、今は完璧ですよね。

Usually も is in the second part or both parts. Why is も used only in the first part of the following sentences?

  動物園の夜のナイトサファリのツアーも人気ありますし、電車はMRT(地下鉄)がありますね。
  DVDは頭だしも速いし、画質がキレイです。

Do you have the rule, explaining when we should use も with し？

Thank you!


texts:
What common Japanese words underwent metathesis (transposition of sounds)?

Examples.

  新{あたら}しい < あらたしい
  秋葉原 {あきはばら} < あきばはら


texts: A group that is at war in Syria can be called IS, ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh in English. In Japanese daily conversation, what is the best name that can be used for that group?


texts: could someone clarify this text about the へparticle

texts:
In Particles used with verbs, Japanese grammar guide by Tae Kim:

  Note that we cannot use the 「へ」 particle with verbs that have no physical direction. For example, the following is incorrect.
  • 医者へなる。
  (Grammatically incorrect version of 「医者になる」.)
  This does not mean to say that 「へ」 cannot set out towards an abstract concept. In fact, because of the fuzzy directional meaning of this particle, the 「へ」 particle can also be used to talk about setting out towards certain future goals or expectations.
  • 勝ちへ向かう。
  Go towards victory.

how is the first sentence going against what the writer says in the second part? isnt it setting out a future goal?
thanks for the help in advance


texts: Isn't the った part unnecessary in …たのだった?

texts:
I was reading the book Spice and Wolf and I saw a sentence like this:

  …尻尾を左右に振っていたのだった。

I have never seen this kind of "double past tense" before. All the past tense sentences I have seen that uses the のだ grammar always end in のだ, not のだった. 振っている is already turned into past tense 振っていた, so why use だった instead of だ?

In other words, what is the difference between the above and the below?

  …尻尾を左右に振っていたのだ。


texts:
「でも、やらなければならないのよ。襲撃の決断は突発的なものだったとしても、敵はこの場に至るまでに、こちらの逃げ道を周到に潰すように仕手を打ってきた。その結果が、二〇〇回を超える士道の死よ」

What does the bold part mean? Does it mean “take measures”?


texts: Why is D written as Đ in Japanese handwriting?

texts:
I've seen Japanese people write many letters/numbers "strangely". The most common one is D which is written with a stroke like this Đ

Why is that? Are there any other letters that are written differently from how it's done in Western countries?
Edit:
IIRC the number 4 is also written with a longer vertical stroke because I remember seeing Japanese people elongated foreign people's number 4 to make it clearer. I suppose because they think it's similar to Katakana ム?
Note that I do know that Japanese people don't write 7 with the horizontal stroke like the above font but with a hook above, because when I first learnt the language my teacher told me that they don't understand what that is. I did hear Japanese people asking what that 7 symbol is, or confirm if it's the number 7 when they're familiar with foreign handwriting.
And there are non-programming versions without the stroke on 0 as well:

More examples can be found on https://www.freejapanesefont.com/category/handwriting/


texts: Is いいです ever written as 良いです with kanji?

texts:
My dictionary shows that いい can be written using the kanji 良い.
I haven't seen it done but can I write:
いいです as 良いです
いいですか as 良いですか
いいですね as 良いですね
If so then which form is more common and is there any different between the two ?
If not then is there any way to write those three expressions using kanji ?


texts: Understanding ということのはずだ in this sentence

texts:
食事に求められるものは多々あるがー栄養バランスだの、しあわせ感だの、心の交流だのーしかしそのなかでもっとも求められているものは、空腹を満たす、一刻もはやく満たす、ということのはずだが、...rant continues
  There are many things that are desired in a meal but, nutritional balance, a happy feeling, a sharing of minds, however among these things the most desired thing is satisfying hunger; satisfying it quickly ということのはずだが...

I'm having trouble understanding the large-scale structure of this sentence. What exactly is ということのはずだ doing?
What is it that is expected (はず)?
How does the が in bold fit into it all?
And why is it not two sentences? There seems to be a natural break at しかし.


texts:
Are there any rules for reading "!" as an onomatopoeia?

  　先刻、　！　！　！　！　！　！

  　と、喫茶店ナイルの時計が、私の肩の上で鳴ったが、黒住は、まだ現れなかった。

蘭{らん} 郁二郎{いくじろう}　著　『蝕眠譜{しょくみんふ}』　青空文庫 No.43433


texts:
As topic,
"（アタシは当時、バイクなんて全然詳しくなかったけど、タカのその横顔が、すごく楽しそうに見えた）"

タカ in this sentence, what does it mean (it's not a name taka for sure)


texts: Examples of how to use した, しも and もと for 下?

texts: So far I learned that these three words mean "below" or "bottom", is it right? If so, are they interchangeable? Could you give me some example and preferably some explanation about how to use them?


texts:
I've been learning Japanese with Memrise's program (for about 6+ months at 2 hours a week on average) and have managed to learn all the hiragana characters. They don't teach katakana (I guess they assume that all words using katakana are English cognates that I'll automatically understand what they mean?) and move straight to kanji.

This is where I struggle, especially with characters that combine multiple kanji into one. My understanding is that less common kanji are accompanied by furigana (hiragana that are placed in small print over kanji to help others pronounce the character), but I can't quite understand whether or not a word is, by standards, "uncommon" and if I should devote as much time to words like these where I'm not expected to remember how to pronounce them.

How can I better assume which words will be paired with furigana without personally experiencing these words on the streets?


texts: What is the difference between -さ and -み suffixes to make a noun out of an adjective?

texts:
For example, both 悲しさ and 悲しみ are glossed as “sadness” in JMdict. What's the difference?

According to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, 〜み “is more emotive and concrete characterization of some state”, while 〜さ “describes, in an analytical manner, the degree of state represented by an adjective”.

The book uses a few examples to highlight the difference, but I can't make sense of it.


texts:
Example 1:
(After visiting long lost friend)

  やれやれ、 いきなり どこに連れていかれるかと思ったら。。。

Example 2:
(Girl comes to boy's apartment to wake him up for school)

  Boy: なんでお前がここにいるんだ？

  Girl: 起こしに来てあげたの。時々様子を見ておいてっておばあさんから鍵を預かってたから。
        インターホンを押してもぜんぜん出ないと思ったら。。。

Is there something omitted after と思ったら? What does it mean?


texts:
I have a question about the meaning of それと in the following sentence. Does it has the meaning "and, also" here, so both 「何かのタンクや配管といった」 and 「めぼしい」 modifies 危険物?

Some sort of translation:
Driving through the narrow passage I was throwing thermite grenades, every time I seen some/with something(?) tanks or pipes and other dangerous looking objects.

俺は狭い通路を次々と駆け抜けながら、何かのタンクや配管といった、それとめぼしい危険物を見つけるたびに、携え持ったテルミット手榴弾【しゅりゅうだん】を投下した。


texts:
I have 2 questions:

When I put a verb in the past does it already carry the state of being? For instance, the quote 私は疲れますです。First, です translates like "am", right? Now if I wanted to put this sentence in the past, which would be the more appropriated way?

私は疲れました (putting the verb in the past, do I already carry the state of being and exclude the need of です?)

私は疲れましたです or even

私は疲れますでした

?

Now regarding the こと I understand I kinda give direction to who the sentence is about but my question is if taking it out of the sentence will make it lose sense or if they use it in certain occasions or even if it's just what's more common overall, I'd like to use the following sentence as an example:

私はあなたが好き

私はあなたのことが好き

What's the difference?

Thanks.


texts: What is the grammatical interpretation of じゃ　ありません?

texts:
I have learned in school that じゃ　ありましん　is the "non-past negative" conjugation of です.
Example:

私は日本人じゃありません。
"I am not Japanese."

I have noticed that じゃ　ありません contains the pronunciation of the negative form of あります.
From a strictly grammatical point of view, does じゃ　ありません say that something doesn't exist? If so, what is the grammatical purpose of attaching じゃ to the proceeding word?


texts:
While looking up the meaning of 頻繁{ひんぱん}, I happened to notice that one of the definitions quoted by デジタル大辞泉 states:

  しきりに行われること

However, there's also an entry for しきりと (same しきり as the first, I assume, but with particle と instead of に)

  繰り返し何度も。ひっきりなしに。たびたび。

Both definitions sound similar--repeatedly or continually--but is there a difference in usage between using しきりに and しきりと?


texts: "the cows were happy and friendly": is "親しい" the right word?

texts:
I am writing an email to my friends, about a trip. We went walking by a field and the cows came over and were happy to be petted.
I want to say "the cows were happy and friendly" but the word I have in my notes is 親しい which seems to be for a close friend, and the word "intimate" is used. The cows were not that friendly ;-)

Seriously, is there another word I can use? Like the equivalent of "good-natured" perhaps?


texts: Word "切り開く" / "きりひらく"

texts:
I'm translating a song and I have a problem with one part.
I know that きりひらく means "open up" or "clear", but what is the object here? Or maybe it has different meaning in this situation? Full song lyrics if more context is needed: https://mojim.com/usy108340x11x6.htm
And here's the fragment:

  だってふぉーちゅんぜんぶ　輝かせてあげる
  グレイシー！　スパイシー！　きりひらくあたし　勝利の女神!!


texts:
I know たい means "want to." But the examples below confused me. Especially the second sentence translates to "I want to eat." I don't know why this is the translation. I'm not sure what is the subject in the second sentence. If I use "I", then it would be awkward because it would mean "I am want-to-eatable"? Is it a weird exception? If the actual subject is "I", I'm not sure why would たい mean "want to eat" instead of "want-to-eatable."
僕は魚が食べたい。
lit: As for me, fish is want-to-eatable.
僕は食べたい。
lit: As for me, [SUBJECT] is want-to-eatable.


texts: Both parties in conversation using *kenjougo*?

texts:
So I'm reading a kid's story, where a tanuki with a swollen stomach calls a rabbit doctor.

I believe that both parties are using kenjougo/sonkeigo when speaking with each other. (I'm guessing that this is because one is a customer - thus deserving of respect - and the other is a doctor - also deserving of respect?)

I guess I was assuming that both parties in the conversation come to a similar ranking in this situation...but this story would indicate that this is not always the case.

Am I understanding this correctly?  And if so, is this a relatively normal occurrence?

(added image per member request.  Please excuse my ugly (and possibly incorrect) study notes.)


texts:
Why is 帰る conjugated 帰りたい and not 帰たい when adding たい to it?

Is it conjugated this way because 帰る is a godan verb?


texts: "広める" instead of "広まる" or "広められる" in this context?

texts:
I came across this sentence:

  来年は、踊り子三百人をフランスに招いて、阿波踊りの魅力をもっと広めていくようです。

Stripping the sentence to basic sentence structure:

  魅力を広めていく。

How can that be grammatically correct?

As "広める" is transitive with an obvious object, there must be an actor as the subject? I don't see one. You can sort of hide the actor using passive voice. This seems grammatically correct to me:

  魅力が広められている。

Or, isn't the intransitive verb also an option:

  魅力が広まっている。

In English, the given sentence sounds to me like:

  ??? is widening the appeal of the dance.

But, who is widening the appeal? Don't you have to say:

  The appeal of the dance is widening.


texts: In daily conversation, frogs are called かえる not かわず, right?

texts:
I'm pretty sure that, in daily conversation, "frogs" are called かえる, right? Can someone please confirm this?

I know that "frogs" are also called かわず in this 諺{ことわざ}

  井の中の蛙{かわず}

But, by definition, 諺s are archaic. So, in summary, in daily conversation, a frog is exclusively called かえる, right?


texts: Differences between くれます, もらいます and いただきます

texts:
I have been taught that they are used when receiving something (or a favor) from someone. But how exactly do they differ? I've searched the web for an answer and

One site suggests that くれます is impolite, もらいます is normal and いただきます is polite.
Another site says that くれます is just normal, and いただきます is very polite.

I was wondering which one to use in which situations. Or should I just stick to いただきます to be safe? Are there any scenarios where it would be inappropriate?


texts: What difference does it add when you write それで or これで instead of それは/それが and これが/これは?

texts: What difference does it add when you write the で particle after words like それ and これ?


texts: How does the order of place and subject affect the meaning of a sentence using the verb iru

texts:
Consider the two sentences:

  うちに犬がいます。
  uchi-ni inu-ga imasu
  犬がうちにいます。
  inu-ga uchi-ni imasu

Is it correct to translate these as

  "There is a dog at home"
  "The dog is at home"

respectively?

To me, the first sentence feels like a statement of fact, and the second feels like an answer to the question "Where is the dog?". Is this interpretation correct? If not, how does the order of subject and place affect the meaning?

Furthermore, how do either of these differ from the following sentence?

  犬はうちにです。
  inu-wa uchi-ni desu


texts: の in Verb＋のじゃない: Nominalizer or Explanatory?

texts:
A friend of mine jokingly came up with this sentence:

  家を動かすんじゃなくて、引っ越すんだ

As I see that （こうするのだ。ボールを投げるんだ。） pattern enough, I interpreted it as a light imperative, a person showing other person what to do:
You're don't move the house, you move to a new house (that's what you do).
Then, someone else asked are those の's nominalizers or explanatory, which I was at a loss to in regards to sorting out the usages against grammar.

I'm guessing that they both are explanatory, answering an invisible question (このゲームをするにはどうすればいい?), which may not have actually been even sought for by the other party.

The の in こうするの definitely sounds explanatory. So the の in こうするのだ is explanatory as well.

I think what I'm having a hard time imagining is the explanatory with a じゃない tacked on it.
According to Tae Kim's Guide, the explanatory の can have a じゃない tacked on it:

  こうするのじゃない。

While I get the meaning is simply negation of こうするの, I can't see it as providing any explanation. It feels much more like:

  （君がすべきことは）こうするのじゃない。 (Nominalizer の)

I suspect if you think about the sentence as a negation of V＋のだ, it's just the negation of the explanatory tone, and that's what it usually is.

  こうするの　vs
  こうするの。。。じゃない！

However, because by adding stuff it's possible to make such sentences as below, there's a certain level of ambiguity. Though it should be clear by context. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure that the nominalizer の cannot be turned into ん.

  （君がやるべきのは）家を動かすのじゃなくて、引っ越すのだ
  （明日俺がするのは）家を動かすのじゃなくて、引っ越すのだ

Is my line of thinking on track? I greatly appreciate the help!

Edit: To clarify what I'm asking a bit:

How do you grammatically categorize ボールを投げる（ん/の）だ
How about ボールを投げる（ん/の）じゃない? (I concluded that they were both the explanatory ん/の)
I know you can use the above two phrases to (more or less) instruct someone else. Could use you ever use those phrases towards yourself to provide an explanation to someone who for 1) Is asking what are you are going to do, and 2) Seems to think that you are going to throw the ball.
家を動かすのじゃなくて、引っ越すのだ can be interpreted as above, but it also sounds really similar to XじゃくてYだ。
Are there any valid ways to interpret the の-particles in the above as nominalizers?


texts:
あんな状況の中、あんな文面で士道からお誘いがあったなら、普通の女子であれば警戒するに決まっている。わざわざ馬鹿正直に一人で待ち合わせ場所に来ようとは思わないだろう。すっぽかされなかっただけまだ幸運だったかもしれなかった。

Context: In the name of 士道, a letter was sent to 亜衣, one of 士道’s classmates, telling her (亜衣) to go alone to meet 士道 in a cafe. But it turned out that 亜衣 went there in company with her friends.
Hi. Is function of the だけ in bold 範囲を限定する, as in「学校だけでなく家庭での指導も大切だ」?
And can I think the だけまだ幸運だった is a variant of the idiom だけまだましだった?
And why isn’t だけで used here?
By the way, does the だけ in the following quote have the same function as the first example?

何しろ買い物から帰ってきたら、出かける前に見ていた街とは別の光景が広がっていたというのである。その場にへたり込んでしまわないだけ、折紙はまだ幾分落ち着いているのかもしれなかった。

Thank you.


texts: に/で as time particles. What's the difference?

texts:
I've read a post on this topic, but really not sure of the difference when applied to something like this:

  私は朝飯のみに茶を飲む
  私は朝飯のみで茶を飲む

From what I read, I'm guessing one of them is incorrect, as に is used for specific times and で　for ranges of time in which an action happened.  So I'm guessing に is the incorrect one.  Could someone confirm me this please?


texts:
I posted a question a long time ago about why we need の in this sentence:

毎日、同じ物を食べるのは、面白くない
Eating the same thing everyday is not interesting.

To which I was told that adding の here nominalises the verb and turns it into the gerund which I understood completely. However, I was just curious as to what the nuance is if you didn't have の?

毎日、同じ物を食べるは、面白くない

I think the nuance here could be interpreted as
"To eat the same thing everyday is not interesting"
But I'm really unsure.
I read in another post that you cannot put が here because が takes a noun. But I read nowhere else about having は here without the の to nominalise the verb.
Before you post about "you can nominalise the verb with の then add が ~", this is not really what I'm asking.
I just want to know what is the nuance if I just have は after the verb and no の. Is that grammatically correct? I have not seen it anywhere and I'm curious as to where and when this would be used (if it makes sense).


texts:
I meant to gather more examples before posting this question, but here we go. These are some lines out of various Ghibli movies I saw last weekend.

わからないは - when asked to take a guess about something
いないは - after looking for someone in a specific place

I realize this is casual and may not be strictly grammatically correct. Still I wonder what's the reasoning behind these type of sentences. It's not difficult to understand what they mean, but why は? How would a native speaker justify the particle? And if someone can tie it to some formally correct version of the sentences that would be great!


texts: Pronunciation of す in です and the end of ます verbs

texts:
I've always been curious about the pronunciation of the す in です and at the end of 〜ます verbs. Most commonly the "u" sound is inaudible, but sometimes by some people it's more pronounced, and some people really go for it.

Does it vary by age group, audience, gender, region etc in a way that I haven't picked up on? Can anyone offer any particular guidance for people speaking Japanese as a foreign language?


texts: How to say "Little did I/he/she/they know"?

texts: I found a few examples at ALC, but still not sure about the best way to say it.


texts: Are there any rules to the intonations they are discussing in this video?

texts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpbOoSbnp5k

I rarely if ever see anything like this covered in Japanese textbooks or courses besides the hashi (bridge) vs hashi (chopstick) discussion.

Is there no system for this type of intonation, whether it actually creates a literal difference in meaning as with the hashi example, or whether it simply creates a different connotation as is shown in the video? Is there no system as there is pin yin for Chinese? Is the best way to learn this simply to repeat the Japanese you here and hope you've copied the exact some pronunciation right - is there no list of these "vocalization"/"pitch variation" things, and their meanings?

Thanks.


texts: What does it mean when みたいな is at the end of a sentence?

texts:
彼ももうちょっとがんばればよかったのに..、みたいな…。

or

なんか、お腹減った、みたいな…

Just for some examples. Is it some sort of filler? I understand normal uses of みたい but I don’t understand what it means at the end of a sentence.


texts: I'm not really sure what's up with these words (鼓動 and 巨重) in this sentence

texts:
A: 紫天に吼{ほ}えよ、我が鼓動ッ
A: 出{いで}よ巨重{きょじゅう}！
A: ジャガァ～～～ノ～トォ～～ッ！

This is A's chant for a big attack. The split between the lines and the rubying is pretty much how it's written down in reference material, only using () instead of actual rubying.

紫天に吼{ほ}えよ

is basically "roar/cry to the purple heavens/sky"
The next part starts the wierdnes. I know わが is my (and I see it seems it can be used for third person too?) but 鼓動 is beat as in heartbeat, but I also any other movement physical or mental that involves shaking. But still it feels out of place here.
I guess I could see it meaning something like

Cry out to the purple heavens my heart (which is trembling or something).

But to make the matters wierder to me, the next bit isn't much clearer either.
I guess 出（いで）よ is probably the imperative form of 出でる, allthough why the で was folded into 出 with い is also strange. But the next bit 巨重 doesn't make any sense to me. It seems the person just stuck two kanji for gigantic and heavy and is pronouncing them like the word for a large animal.
I guess this could be the refference to her upcoming BIG attack she is bringing up with this, and いでよ is saying

Come (my) big heavy monster/attack!

And no, this is pretty much a rather normal beam attack, so no actual summoning or anything.
So what's up with those words. They REALLY feel out of place here, so for now I have been thinking of this as meaning something like:

Cry to the Purple Sky, my heart!
The giant is comming!
JUGGERNAUT!

But I'm REALLY doubtfull.
What do you think the translation should be, and what do these words mean in this context.


texts: Are there ways to write Japanese fast (like shortening the words)?

texts:
When the regular student is hearing a lecture he needs to write the lecturer's words very fast. So many of them are shortening the words (like smb.) and sentences but after the lecture they can still understand what they have written (usually).

Is it possible to shorten Japanese words or there are another ways to write complicated symbols fast?


texts: What's the japanese word for manual/building instruction

texts: I want to search the internet for an instruction for building a traditional kyudo quiver (矢筒). So far my search term is "ビル命令 矢筒 弓道" but I "ビル命令" seems to be no good translation for instruction.


texts: Are Japanese counters an adoption from the Chinese language?

texts: The Japanese language uses counters to count different kinds of items, animals as well as people such as 一本 to count a long cylindric object or 二枚 two count flat objects (in thi case two flat objects). However, I have been wondering if this system is original to the Japanese language or if it was imported and adopted from Chinese.


texts:
I have trouble understanding the function of "できる" in this example:

  医療に応用できる究極の義体として作られたものだ

Is it used as "can" or "made from"?


texts: Translation of some school related terms. 特進、英数、生徒の声

texts:
There are some Japanese Terms that I am not sure how to translate in English. Mainly the problem occurs because of these words' perception in Japanese culture.

Like, 学校公開. Japanese call this "Open Campus". It totally makes sense but If I am aware, the correct term is "Open House" in which the school may let you see "the campus".

But if I happen to look a Japanese dictionary for the meaning of "Open House", it says "a (home) party where anyone can join freely" as the first meaning. The meaning related to the school is given as the last meaning in the entries and trust me no Japanese would understand what is an "Open House". Same thing happens with the usage of "cunning" and "envy".

So my first question is how can you translate/explain(with few words) the term;英数コース. Best I can come up with "English and Math Intensive Course" but it is clearly not focused on English and Math. The course students study all subjects. No club, but full study.

Same as above how can you say 特進コース. Special Advanced? Does it makes sense?

Another question is, imagine a brochure that a student stating his feelings in a speech bubble. In Japanese, they call it "生徒の声". However, instead of writing that in Japanese, they just typed it as "Voice". Should not it be "Student Voice"? Or what else it can be? Commentary is the matching description. But again, no Japanese would understand that.


texts: Meaning of 一人目はやはり、君になったか。, やはり and か shenanigans

texts:
Context: people are being chosen for a task, and the speaker is awaiting the chosen two.

If this sentence was just:

  一人目はやはり、君になった。

this would just be "I expected you would be (you would become) the first person.".

It would also be fine if it was just

  一人目は、君になったか。

or something similar, then it would mean "Were you chosen (did you become) the first person." a kinda rhetorical question.

But I'm not sure what combining やはり and か could imply? The only idea I might have for this is:

  Did they pick you, as the first person, after all?

So he was assuming it might be her, but he is still asking rhetorically if it is her. Also given that she then answers HOW she was chosen it might imply he is incredulous? or wants to know more?


texts: What does "僕はもう君以外何もいらない君だけが欲しいんだ。金はもうあるし” mean?

texts:
This picture was sent to a friend  by a woman he was talking to

We think we get what the literal meaning is but have no idea about the nuance of what it actually means.

For example, it could mean exactly what it we think it says. Effectively something like

  I don't need anything but you. I only want you. You even have money.

But it could also have a cultural background or something such as it could be a put down as in.

  You're actually not my type but you've got money so I'll pretend.

It could also be a famous line or a famous character for all I know

I asked a Japanese female friend, all she told me was "haha", that's funny, and, "I'd never send a message like that to someone I actually liked"

Does anyone know what this is really means?


texts:
I am a little confused as to what is going on here:

ともだちを　パーティーに　よびました。

Why is this not ともだちに (recipient of the invite) パーティーで (place of the invite) よびました? It would be helpful if someone can please explain, thank you.


texts:
In the sentence このロープは丈夫＿＿見えました。(This rope looked durable)
Do I put 丈夫そうな見えました。or 丈夫そう見えました。
I'm not quite sure how to differentiate between そう and そうな. Does そうな only work directly before nouns?
ありがとうございます！


texts:
す、凄い破壊力です。わたし、思わず鼻血が出そうです！

  わ、私も

  なんの、俺は頭から血が出た。

  駄目だ…ここは駄目人間の巣窟だわ

Context: The girl who said 「駄目だ…ここは駄目人間の巣窟だわ」to herself was watching the other three being stupid and playing with a cat and part way through this she says the above to herself.

Question: Who or what does 駄目 actually refer to? Originally I thought that it would be referring to those three above, which would also follow on with what she carries on to say (駄目人間), but when I hear someone say that, it would normally (in all times I can remember) be explicitly said like 「駄目だこいつ」 or 「駄目だこいつら」. Can anyone clarify what it is that 駄目 refers to, or how it is used here?


texts:
I'm reading a manga and I found that phrase. What is it supposed to mean?
Is it some kind of informal way to speak?

This is the full sentence:

男でもいけるもんだなって思ってさ


texts:
My grammar book says I can use the と particle to mean 'and'. It continues to say that I can use the particle to indicate doing an action with someone else.

  Eg: 友達と話した

The topic particle is not mentioned if it were included. Would it be 友達と私は
?

  友達と私は話した

I know that order in the sentence doesn't really matter but does it matter in this case? Like do I treat 友達と私は as one noun?

The book I use is Japanese Grammar Guide by Tae Kim.


texts: why たい , たくない , ながら, etc arent considered verbal tenses?

texts: If I'm right, all these forms modifies verbs , but when you look for them in japanese verbal tenses you dont find them. Why do they treat them differently to verbal tenses if japanese verbal tenses not only express time when an action happens, but also other things such as command, desire, etc. Are there more of these forms which arent listed as japanese verbal tenses?


texts: Use of 何 in these sentences; please help with translating!

texts:
So I'm having trouble translating these lyrics (Sorry they aren't in Japanese. The romaji was all I could find, and I was worried about converting it to Japanese, in case I messed something up.)

Yawarakaku atatakaku te

Omoidasenai sukoshi amai nioi...

Nukeochi ta no wa nani

Modoshite ittai nani no hanashi

This is what I could make out of it: Tenderly, warmly... there's a little I can't remember, a sweet fragrance...

My translation of this seemed disjoint, but I thought, perhaps, because the speaker can't remember, it's supposed to be like that? However, I'm unsure about that, so I thought I'd see what all of you thought.

For the next two lines, I have trouble with how 何 is used. My best guess for the next two lines would be: "What has collapsed/fallen out? A story of what returns." I'm unsure if these lines are questions or not, and generally just how 何 is being used in both of those situations.

The song is called Samayoeba Yumeutsutsu, by the way.
Thank you for your help!


texts:
It's a sentence from dragonball, the hearer (悟飯) just asked the speaker to create something to wear that could hide his identity without looking like a kind of body protection.

どってことないじゃない！悟飯くんだってばれなきゃいいんでしょ？
That's no big deal! It's gonna be ok as long as you don't get busted right?

I don't get the meaning of だって here, I know that most of the time it can be replaced by either も or でも but I don't see how either one would fit here.


texts:
How would you translate "以前の問題" in the next sentence:
作文が上手かどうかは、日本語能力以前の問題である。

Thank you! )


texts: Explaining the phrase お世{せ}話{わ}になります and お世{せ}話{わ}になりました

texts:
I can understand what the phrase means 「お世{せ}話{わ}になりました」- "Thank you for everything". But literally it's quite strange to me. Could you explain the logic of it?
Also would be very nice to know more about 「お世{せ}話{わ}になります」.


texts:
According to the Japanese wikipedia, the playing cards ("trump") are named as follows (written in Japanese in katakana):
A: Ace
2: Deuce
3: torei
4: keito
5: shinku
6: saisu
7: Seven
8: Eight
9: Nine
10: Ten
J: Jack
Q: Queen
K: King
It's quite clear that many names among those are from English. Those in bold type here are quite etymologically obscure. Does anyone know about their origins?


texts: Difference between ば and たら in this example

texts:
明日都合がよければきてください.
東京へきたら、ぜひ連絡してください.

Why in the second example we can't replace たら with ば but in the first one we use ば.
Aren't きてください and 連絡してください both requests or is there a difference?


texts: I've just noticed that in the 逆転裁判/Ace Attorney series, the interjection translated as "Hold it!" is 「待った！」I would understand if it was 「待って！」, but why would the past tense be used as an interjection? "Waited!" doesn't seem to make much sense.


texts: Not sure if this question's been asked before (I searched beforehand but nothing came up, so), but I just came across this sentence : "今一番大切なのは頭の毛だ。", and I'm not having any comprehension problems linked to vocabulary and such, but I was always under the impression that to say "hair" (on one's head), it's "髪" (kami) that a person should use ? When should "頭の毛" be privileged instead of "髪", and doesn't "毛", when meaning hair, mostly designates body hair in specific ?


texts: The verb 落ち着く means 'to calm down', but neither constituent pertains to any sort of emotion. Was there originally a subject or object (e.g. temper coming down)?