texts: Understanding Xになったままで and/or まま in general

texts:
仰向けになったままで、ハリーは今まで見ていた夢を思い出そうとしていた。
  Became face up ???, Harry tried to recall the dream he'd been having.

まま is one of those things that fills me with dread whenever I see it in a sentence. I know that it roughly indicates that a state remains the same, but I really struggle to understand how to use it properly, or how to translate it.

This example is even more perplexing because なる indicates that a state is changing and まま indicates that it is staying the same. How should I understand the clause in bold.

Does anyone have a good way to understand まま in general?


texts:
I have found the sentence

勉強会が始まり、なんだかんだ順調に回り始めていた

that was translated as

The study group seemed to have gotten off a good start

But I could not break down "順調に回り", could you explain?


texts:
Please help me translate this sentence into English:

  それによりますと、日本はコストが膨大になる有人宇宙船などの開発は行わず、２０２５年ごろから各国が参加して準備が始まるとみられる有人月面探査に日本独自の技術で貢献することで日本人宇宙飛行士の月面到達の権利を得たいとしています。

I can only come up with the following:

  According to..., Japan has not built an expensive manned spaceship. Japanese astronauts will be able to earn the qualification to travel to the moon with the contribution of its special technology when countries begin preparation on the moon surface exploration around 2025

Source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20170628/k10011033541000.html


texts:
With an action verb, like 食べる, I can count 5 meanings of this sentence:

  ジョンは納豆を食べている
  "John is eating natto." (progressive)
  "John is eating the natto." (progressive)
  "John eats natto." (habitual)
  ? "John has eaten natto." (perfective: experience)
  ? "John has eaten the natto." (perfective: state of having eaten the natto)

To me, the last two readings are possible, but kind of odd.

However, you can completely force the experience reading:

  ジョンは前に納豆を食べている
  "John has eaten natto before." (perfective: experience)

And you can almost force reading 5:

  ジョンは例の納豆を食べている
  "John is eating that natto which we just saw." (progressive)
  "John has eaten that natto which we just saw." (perfective: state of having eaten the natto)

Finally, if you use 〜ていない instead, I think all the readings are equally likely:

  ジョンは納豆を食べていない
  "John is not eating natto." (progressive)
  "John is not eating the natto." (progressive)
  "John does not eat natto." (habitual)
  "John has not eaten natto." (perfective: experience)
  "John has not eaten the natto." (perfective: state of not having eaten the natto)

In my opinion, the perfective readings here are equally or more likely than the other readings. They become even more likely if you insert まだ, for example.

(I guess, etymologically-speaking, it is not too surprising that 〜ている can have the perfective semantics, given that て was the 連用形 of the perfective auxiliary verb つ.)

Some of the meanings come from whether 納豆 is being talked about in general, or a specific serving of 納豆 is being discussed, but the reason why I included all of them is because the actual implications of the different perfective readings are entirely different for the two different cases (as in English).

Is what I've laid out here entirely correct? Are the perfective readings actually less likely for the simple 〜ている case like I think they are?


texts: A phrase for a capable person with a critical view of himself

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I am looking for a word, idiom or a phrase to describe an attitude when someone is able to and often publicly makes fun of one's own deficiencies.

Having an objective, critical, maybe even cynical view of one's own capabilities or actions and having enough confidence in one's abilities so that one is not worried about bringing them in public.

A regular modesty (謙虚), effacing (目立たない), self-effacing (控えめな) do not convey the meaning of self-confidence. At the same time they suggest a reserved attitude, while I am looking to describe someone who purposefully makes fun of his own mistakes.

Update: I am looking for a phrase that captures the essence of self-deprecating as explained here:

  A self-deprecating person knows her own weaknesses and shortcomings and isn't afraid to point them out, often in a humorous way. (...) Being self-deprecating is usually considered a good trait, a quality of someone with a wry sense of humor.


texts: Problems parsing this sentence (ような before comma)

texts:
I was reading the examples from the book 日本語文型辞典 and I came across this example sentence which I have absolutely no idea of how to parse it:

その子は、人と目が合うたびにやさしく笑いかけるような、そんな、人を疑うということを知らないような子だったと言う。

Is the first ような (笑いかけるような) modifying 子, as well as the second? And what is this そんな doing between commas?

Thanks!


texts: Ellipsis: does this と＝として, what is the relevant verb in this extract?

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The following is attributed to フジテレビHP／経済新聞. I wonder if someone could explain the grammar around the と? (I think  it might be an "abbreviation" of として but it is very difficult to find an explanation of this.)

総合司会タモリ(森田一良、６８歳）は..地元で「変人」と面白がられていたのを、ジャズピアニスト山下洋輔らに見い出されて１９７６年に芸能界[に]デビュー[した]。
The MC Tamori (Kazuyoshi Morita, 68)'s act as an amusing eccentric was discovered in his home town by the Jazz pianist Yousuke Yamashita and his entourage. He broke into the entertainment world in 1976.

(Items in [] were added to expand this extract beyond its newspaper style. The translation is mine so please feel free to offer improvements.)
Revised translation based on feedback (further comment welcome):

MC Tamori (Kazuyoshi Morita, 68)'s act was discovered in his home town by the Jazz pianist Yousuke Yamashita and his entourage  where the locals who got a kick out his performances had named him "henjin" ("the eccentric"). He broke into the entertainment world in 1976.


texts: How 「何と言えばいいのかわからない」 works

texts:
I'm having a bad time with this expression:

何と言えばいいのかわからない

I kind of know what it means after a long time spent searching on the Internet, but I just can't grasp how this expression works on a grammar point of view.

Why the conditional?
Does the literal translation is something around the lines of "If I say something, is it OK? I don't know..." meaning "I don't know what to say"? Or is it something like "What is something good to say? I don't know..." but if that's the case, why 言えば and not 言う?

I mean, I just can't make sense of all of the structure and it's kind of a problem for me, can someone explain to me the literal translation of this by explaining each of its grammatical point? That would be nice.

Thanks!

Edit: is it something like:
言えば : if i say...
何といいのか : what is good? (If I say)
わからない: I don't know...

Even if it's correct can somebody confirm it? (Or denies)


texts: Question regarding conjugation of two verbs with a (-たい）ending

texts:
Learning Japanese on my own so i will be using this site as i means to practice and have some questions answered! If you provide the answer in Kanji, if you coul dplease put also the furigana (no romanji) i would appreciate it ! Thank you!

My question is, i want to make the sentence:

"I thought you didn't want to see me"

I want to use the word あう（to meet) and 思う

Would i  conjugate あう as あいたくない and then add おもっている　？

how do i link those two verbs? I was thinking first use the の particle to make あう a noun, but that wouldn{t make sense.

Don{t think i could use the　て form since i want to say i want.

Can someone please help me with the translation and how you got to do it? Both polite and informal ways please :)

Thank you in advance!


texts: What's the difference between 倹約 and 節約？

texts: I have been reviewing 倹約 when the word 節約 came to my mind. They share a common kanji, they both mean "to save, to economize" (of course, after putting する). How do these words differ? I checked this link and found this difference. What are your thoughts on this one?


texts: Why is から and けど used just about everywhere?

texts:
I just saw this sentence in this question:

  白と青の皿を洗って。赤いのはいいから。

  Wash white and blue plates. Forget red ones.

I don't really understand why is から here. As far as I know, から is used to show a reason or to say "from XX". However, the translation doesn't have any of the meanings I listed.

If から here marks that 赤いのはいい is a reason for washing the white and blue plates, does that mean if the red plates are "よくない", the listener doesn't need to wash the blue and white plates? That makes little sense to me.

In other words, if I remove the から, the sentence still carries the same meaning, right? But that raises another question, can I just add から to whatever sentence I want and its meaning won't change? Surely not, right?

I also see a lot of sentences that ends in けど. けど usually means "but" and it shows a contradiction. But sometimes I see it attached to random sentences in anime. And according to the translations, there isn't a contradiction. So can I attach けど as well to any sentence and its meaning won't change?


texts:
I recently learnt the word もちきり. It always seems to preceeded by a word with particle で e.g.

  最近、あなたの噂でもちきりよ
  Rumours about you are a hot topic at the moment.

I can't understand why で is used. Which type of で is this?


texts: How to interprete these は and parse the sentence

texts:
The sentence in question:
亡くなったことを知った当初は息子と会うことは考えられなかったという女性。

For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/web_tokushu/2018_1130.html?utm_int=news_contents_tokushu_002

My attempt at translation:
"A woman who knew it had died and originally couldn't think of meeting the child. [now follows her dialogue, see the article)"

So, first off, I don't know whether I should treat these は in the sentence as topic or contrast markers. In my translation I more or less just tried to figure out a halfway meaningful translation, because I was even more confused by 当初 preceding the first は. As I understood the content, this woman already knew the child was dead before it was born, and even though she couldn't imagine meeting it, she then asked for it (see context).
Thats why I related 当初 to the 息子と会うことは考えられなかった part, in a way. But as I said, I'm thoroughly clueless on how to deal with this sentence correctly^^


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How did “little tsu” become a lengthener?

On Wikipedia and elsewhere, Japan is written like so: Nippon ( にっぽん ).

What is that tsu doing in there? Why isn't it represented in the romaji rendering of the name?


texts: How to extend a general invitation? (if anyone wants to...)

texts:
I'm trying to say, "If anyone wants to meet up, please let me know" as a general invitation to a group of my friends.

Is this correct? もし誰か会いたいなら、声をかけてください。

I'm unsure if my usage of 誰か is correct in this situation.

Although not necessary, I'd also appreciate it if the invitation sounded casual. Do I have any other options besides just ending the sentence in 声をかけてね？


texts: Meaning of どんだけお人好しなんですかって話ですよね

texts:
context(all same guy talking to himself while someone else is listening):

  「銀行が住宅ローンの営業に熱心な理由ってわかります？」

  「憧れの持ち家を手に入れた大切なお客さんの喜ぶ笑顔が見たいから…？」

  「そんなわけねーです！」

  「どんだけお人好しなんですかって話ですよね。儲かるからに決まってます

I haven't been able to find any questions asked on the internet about this construction(although it does have similarities with ってこと etc).My intuition would be that it basically sums down what he's being saying as the question that って is quoting with the implication that anyone who would believe the second line is a お人好し, but that's all just what I think. Anyone care to clarify this type of usage?

Thanks.


texts: Confusion on use of だった with sentence that uses nominalized verb

texts:
I'm reading a book and have come across this sentence

  アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。

I know this sentence translates to something like

  Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.

But what I truly don't understand is what does the だった at the end modify?
Is it modifying アニーが指さしている (Annie pointing) like I believe?

Or is it really modifying 一本のなわばしご (rope ladder)? And the translated sentence is more like

  Annie pointed to what was a long rope ladder


texts: 心は出血している - what exactly the Japanese idiom for it?

texts:
is there the same expression in Japanese for good russian idiom 'Сердце кровью обливается'?
｢心は出血している｣?

'My heart is bleeding' is not very accurate, not really verbatim.

This idiom in Russian describes not such feeling like sadness of brokenhearted one, but deep empathy in sorrow.


texts:
Both of the following two sentences taken from two different sources contain 来たこと. How could this 来たこと be interpreted?

「来れたら行く」と言って来たことある人ってほとんどいない気がします。 (source)
これは上流から見ているので奥から進んで来たことになる。 (source)

== Edit ==Corrected the link of the second source.


texts: What does たまる mean when it is connected to て?

texts:
I looked up the meaning of たまる and the meaning is accumulate. But sometimes I see たまる in the end of a sentence (e.g. あんな人のせいで　計画を潰してたまるもんか）

It seems like accumulate does not quite make sense in this sentence. Can anyone tell me what does that mean in this sentence.

If you can provide some more examples sentence it would be great.


texts: How to say "I am going" and boundaries of てくる

texts:
As far as I have learned 私は行っている can't mean something like "I am going", but would mean something like "I am going regularly (for a certain time)" or "I went there and am there right now".
I have also learned that you can use てくる after a verb like なる to indicate that a change has started in the past is happening right now and will continue happening in the future for some time.
Therefore it seems to me that 行ってくる would be the best Japanese substitute for the English "I am going". I am however not certain what kind of verbs てくる  can be used with. My questions therefore are:

Can I use てくる with 行く to convey the meaning of "I am going" and if not how can you convey the meaning of "I am going"?

When in the timely context of てくる (or ていく for that matter), where lie the boundaries of the verbs with which you can use it?


texts:
天宮市の空に、幾つもの火花が散る。
それは、あまりに現実離れした光景であった。
空には何隻もの巨大戦艦に無数の魔術師。羽虫のごとく視界を横切る影は、全てが人型を模した機械人形であった。
地上からは変形した建造物が引っ切りなしに砲撃を放ち、艦を攻撃しているかと思えば、機械人形が精霊<ナイトメア>によって破壊されていく。

Does かと思えば mean “I thought... but it turned out to be different” in this context?
Or does かと思えば mean “not only... but also...” in this context?
I think it’s the latter. But I have a little doubt. My grammar book says when かと思えば mean “not only... but also...”, the formation should be かと思えば……も……. But there is no も after かと思えば in the quoted sentence.


texts: Using ～なくなった vs. ～ない

texts:
情報の真偽を確かめるまで帰れなくなった

What does なくなった add? I'm parsing なくなった　as なくなる　or the negative form of なる　to become. So loosely it sounds like, "you will lose the ability to leave"。

  情報の真偽を確かめるまで帰れない

Is this the same or correct when just using ～ない, not allowed to leave？


texts: I know that kore means “this” but i didn’t understand what does this sentence/word means i also didn’t know what is the meaning of nda


texts: Function of 私に when someone else wants someone to do something

texts:
私の妻はこの古いよい帽子を私にすててほしいと思っている。

I understand this sentence, but when I dissect it, I realize I'm not sure why に is being used. Does anyone care to explain?


texts: Can the prepositions と、に sometimes be Interchanged in a sentence?

texts:
I saw the following sentences:

彼は円をドルに両替した。  He exchanged yen for dollars.
彼は円をドルと交換した。  He exchanged yen for dollars.

I am not sure I understand why in one sentence に is used yet in the second sentence と  is used.  Could と and に be used interchangeably in this situation?  Would the meaning be slightly different?


texts: What is the direction of に in this sentence?

texts:
この力によって神様達は下界の者達に持ち上げられる。

Are the 下界の者達 the ones doing the action of 持ち上げられる to the 神様達 or are the 神様達 the ones doing the action of 持ち上げられる？

I'm confused because I learned passive form as [subject] wa/ga [agent] ni [passive form verb], but the translation for this is: This power is basically what the gods gave the to the Lower World Humans.

Thanks!


texts:
I am reading this article, however, I am not sure if I've already grasped that article correctly or not, so I really need someone to confirm whether my understanding is correct or not.

First question

Suppose I want to tell everyone a pen belongs to me by saying  "これは私のペンです." so just in case I lost it somewhere and someone found it, he will know that pen is mine.
Suppose there are 2 pens on the floor and then I pick mine and say "これがわたしのペンです."

Did I grasp it correctly?

Second question

In that linked article there is an example "日本語が上手ですね！" Can I change it using は as in "あなたの日本語は上手ですね！" without changing the meaning?


texts: perfective aspect vs resultative present progressive vs resultative past progressive

texts:
Firstly, I am not a linguist and will probably use linguistic terminology inappropriately. よろしくお願いします。

  What is the difference in meaning between verbs in the perfective aspect (～た), present progressive (～ている), and past progressive (～ていた), specifically verbs
  that denote a resultative meaning?

  Alternatively, what is the difference in meaning between 死んだ{しんだ}、死んでいる、and
  死んでいた, and between 来た{きた}、来ている、and 来ていた?

Take the verb 死ぬ (and pretend resurrection is possible).

In the perfective aspect, which denotes a completed (perfected)
action, 死んだ translates simply to "[subject/topic] died, and may or
may not still be dead presently", or more simply "died".
In the (resultative) present progressive, the deadness is still
imperfectively ongoing, thus 死んでいる translates to "[subject/topic]
died, and is still dead presently", or more simply "is dead".
In the (resultative) past progressive, 死んでいた means "[subject/topic]
died, and was still dead at the time in reference, though may or
may not still be dead presently," or maybe "[subject/topic] was
dead, though may or may not still be dead presently." More simply "was
dead". These attempted understandings almost sound like trying to force the perfect tense in English onto the perfective resultative
past progressive meaning in Japanese. How can this error in understanding be rectified?

Please explain the semantic and pragmatic differences between the three forms of the above two verbs (死ぬ、来る), specifically comparing and contrasting the Japanese meanings to the English meanings with linguistic/grammatical evidence supporting said explanations, taking into account the communicative limitations resulting from the fundamental differences in how verbs are positioned relatively in time between the two languages.


texts: "compound verbs" in the following sentences

texts:
I am confused about the 'double/compound verbs' when used in a sentence. For example in the following phrases...

  自分をファーストネームで呼んでもらいたい...
  ルーカスさんが車でアパート探しに連れて行ってくれた。
  ルーカスさんの知人の家のパーティーに連れて行ってもらった。
  電話番号をもらっておいた。

I am confused why these verbs exist. What I thought about is a much simpler way, like

  ルーカスさんが車でアパート探しに連れてた。
  電話番号をもらった。

I have heard native Japanese speak with these compound verbs. But what mistakes/connotations/nuances am I making if I just used the 'simple' verbs?

Your insights would be great.


texts: Should you use は or が when you have a compound subject?

texts:
What do you put in as the subject marker if there is more than one subject? For example

  Adam と Sarah ___ すしがすきです.


texts: What's the 日本語 equivalent of saying "That's none of your business"?

texts: What's the Japanese equivalent of saying "None of your business", or "None of your concern"?


texts:
I tried to make "to talk with friends" based on 彼と話がしたい, so my try is this: 友達と話がする, but not only I'm not sure about this, but I also have some questions regarding its structure.

1.-Why that と? I studied that と means "and" and it can be used to make conditionals, so why is it necessary in the sentence 彼と話がしたい?

2.-Even if my attempt is correct, I have the feeling that it doesn't mean exactly what I want to express. Why using 話がする　instead of using the verb 話す?

Thank you very much!


texts:
Please consider the following sentence:

  呼びかけの言葉としては、貴方、が好きですが...

  As a form of address, I like 貴方 (then goes on to explain that he means when written in kanji, not hiragana)

According to DBJG として means 'as/in the capacity of', whereas, としては means 'for' (a standard for comparison).

It seems to me that the definition of として would fit the meaning better than としては. Can someone please explain why としては is the correct phrase to use here? Are they both acceptable?

Finally how does it differ from just saying

  呼びかけの言葉は、貴方、が好きですが...

Thanks.


texts: Why does the following sentence end in the て form?

texts:
In a conversation between a student (Mike) and his teacher:

先生: ええ。[子供の]頃、私の家の近くに柔道をやっていてとても元気な子供がいてね。

the latter ends the sentence with the ~て form. Why is that so? I would expect the sentence to end with いました rather than いて, since he is speaking about a past time and he is ending all the other sentences with the polite marker です.
I found a related question with its answer about another  sentence ending in ~て in a different context. In that case, the ~て ending is used to "imply that the speaker has something more to say". I'm not sure if it's also the case in the sentence we are discussing here, because the conversation continues after that. If this is another case of a sentence where it's implied that there's more to say, what would that extra information be? And if it's not the case, what else is going on here?
For your reference, this is the full conversation:

よろしくお願いします


texts:
I'm not completely sure on the grammar usage of と、～た, in these following sentences, but have been given the general explanation that the imply an unexpected result following a normal (one time?) action.

１．弟は昼ごはんを食べると、片付けもせずに出かけてしまった。

２．私が「ごめん」と言うと、友達は「あやまるのはぼくのほうだ」と言った。

I'm also unsure of how to translate と as it applies to the first half of the sentence in these cases either, or the tense.


texts:
I have found this example, using the human counter:

  In this movie, the two female ghosts who appear before the main character, a man who works as a potter, are both victims of a war-torn society.
  この映画で、主人公の陶工の男の前に姿を現す二人の女の幽霊は、共に戦乱の世の犠牲者。

However, I also see this as one definition for 位 :

  い
  ( i )
   【位】

  counter for ghosts

*Interestingly enough, I found the Japanese term for the Trinity is 三位一体 (さんみいったい)

If this counter is in fact used as a counter for ghosts, would someone be kind enough to demonstrate its usage?


texts:
Since サヨウナラ, when written in katakana it gives a more cool/deep nuance.
How about ありがとう? Do Japanese people choose to write it in katakana if they want the nuance of the word to look cooler?

It's because I want to embroider this word on a material to express thank you. Will embroidering in katakana looks stupid?


texts: Why is 行く used in the sentence "すぐに出て行け"?

texts:
I don't understand the role of 行く in the following sentence:

すぐに出て行け！

As I understand it, the sentence sounds like "get out now!". Why not just say "すぐに出ろ"?
Is 行く used to emphasize 出る ?
For reference, the sentence is part of military training in the Japanese dub of the animated film Mulan.


texts: What is the function of「のに」at the end of this sentence?

texts:
I stumbled across this sentence in manga

直さないと前に進まないのに...!!

This is the speaker's internal monologue. She was regretting what she told her friend earlier.
I still can't figure out the function of「のに」in this sentence after I read this article. This particle has many functions. I'm not sure what is the correct one. It's hard for me to wrap my head around this particle.
I first thought it means "despite the fact that" or "even though," but it didn't fit the context because it doesn't make sense to say "Even though if this problem isn't fixed then I can't move forward..."
It seems to me that none of the other meanings in the linked article fits the context. I might be overthinking.
What's the role of「のに」in the sentence?


texts:
I want to qualify something that lasts some seconds.
I am aware of 「暫{しばら}く」, 「少{しょう}々{しょう}」 and so on, but I am in a situation where something explicitly lasts a certain amount of seconds, like, between 1 and 10 seconds.
Is 「何{なん}秒{びょう}かの～」 valid?
For instance, can I say:

何{なん}秒{びょう}かのビデオ
A few-second video

Usually, this construction works, like 「何{なん}人{にん}かの～」, but I could not find examples for seconds...


texts:
Last year, on Lang-8, I wrote a text and there was the following sentence there:

  英語を作文するは止まるのだ。

I tried to mean "I will stop to write English texts (on Lang-8)".

I have got two corrections:

  英語を作文するのが止まります。
  英語で書くのは（作文するのは）止めます。

Once that I tried to mean that I will stop to write in English there, is it possible to use the first sentence, with the intransitive verb 止まる, in this case? Does that sentence mean something like "it'll be stopped to write English"? Maybe my original sentence in Japanese confused the corrector. The second correction, with the implied subject, that is me, sounds grammatically natural to me. I know the idea of transitivity but I got confused with these two sentences.

Besides, I have read around there that the direct object of a verb can be the topic of the sentence, switching を to は. Can I say that 英語で書くのは止めます。 and 英語で書くのを止めます。 are, at least grammatically, the same? If so, are both commonly used?


texts:
My first question is, are counters always required when counting things? Can't I just slap a number in front of the noun? For example,「いちりんご」for 1 apple?

Secondly, in Lesson 5 of the Japanese For Busy People I textbook, it states this sentence structure, but gave no grammatical explanation for it -

thingをnumeral(or numeral and counter)ください。

Since it gave no explanation, is this a valid sentence structure, like that of XはYです and noun1のnoun2? Can someone explain this sentence structure to me? Why is the numeral(or numeral and counter) after the particle を? If it is part of the thing, why is it not on the other side?

If you can answer in order and provide any follow-up links, that'd be great! Also, I've only been studying Japanese for almost 2 months, so please forgive all my questions :)


texts:
In daily life, I usually hear the words お客様{きゃくさま}, お客{きゃく}さん, and maybe other variants that use 客{きゃく}/客{かく} to refer to customers at a shop.

However, in the dictionary, the first word that comes up for customer is 顧客{こきゃく}.

I feel like I've never heard that word, though it wouldn't be the first time I realize a word I was unfamiliar with had actually been all around me all along.

When is 顧客{こきゃく} used, and how does it differ from the other variants of 客{きゃく}?


texts: General guidelines for choosing 訓読み vs. 音読み in kanji reading

texts:
I am trying to come up with general rules for kanji reading. So far I have the following down:

  Compound kanji words are read as on'yomi
  Single kanji words are read as kun'yomi
  Verbs composed kanji followed by okurigana are read as kun'yomi
  Geographical and personal names are read as nanori
  Exceptions to the above that need to be memorized

Are there any other guidelines?


texts:
I want to talk about pop culture and anime with my friends in the near future but I definitely don't have the vocabulary.

The dictionary on "to identify" was rather unhelpful as there are other meanings of the verb in English.

How can I ask someone

  Do you identify with the main character?

I guess for "main character" I can say 主人公. That was not so hard to find in the dictionary.


texts: Translating “どうして〜のか忘れがちになる”

texts:
I’m having major trouble understanding and translating these example sentences.

  試験や勉強で忙しくなると、どうして勉強しているのか忘れがちになる。でも勉強は自分のためにしているということを忘れないでほしい。

My translation: When you become busy with exams and your studies, why do you tend to forget your studying? But in order to study for yourself I don’t want you to forget?

My translations don’t make much sense but that’s the trouble I’m having. I understand all the vocab and grammar used but I just can’t translate that into intelligible English.


texts: What is the correct term for "contractor" in Japanese?

texts:
The company A (client company) needs to add more people than they have to their workforce in order to get a project done, so they make an agreement with a company B (consultancy, temporary employment agency, etc) that provides the extra people they don't have.

Those contractors from the company B work alongside other people at the company A, doing the same tasks and under the same premises, but they have a contract with the company B so they are not employees of A.

How do you call such people? I think the word in English is contractor. I have looked up its Japanese translation in dictionaries and they translate it as 業者. However it seems to be related to jobs like traders or real estate agents, so I'm not sure it is the word I'm looking for. Is 業者 the right term to label the people described in the scenario above (regardless of the industry) or there is a more appropriate term?

よろしくお願いします！


texts:
I'm a little confused on the difference between [凍る]{こおる} and [凍える]{こごえる}.

From what I've researched, it seems like 凍る focuses more on the physical process of something freezing, and the result being ice or frozen solid.  Like water freezing into ice, or a steak freezing and becoming solid after it's been in the freezer for a while.

Whereas 凍える seems to be the more abstract concept of freezing, or the physical sensation of freezing.  Like freezing toes/fingers when you're walking outside in the winter, or a "frozen wasteland".

Is this correct thinking, or am I off???


texts: Are there many ways to read kanji for names?

texts: I've seen many different dictionaries and such, and many have a name section where you may put in any kanji. Because I have a Taiwanese origin, I have Chinese characters that can be used as kanji: 王元劭. Are the dictionaries correct and can I choose any reading? These readings don't seem to be kunyomi or onyomi.


texts: Is "して" dropped in this phrase "ご利用{りよう}ください"?

texts:
I happened across this in a document:

  これより前の記事は、サイト内検索をご利用ください。

Why can you say "ご利用ください"? 体言止めい? But, I used to hear ご利用ください used frequently in the subways...

"お仕事ください" //  (As noted in the accepted answer, this is grammatically correct. But, it does not mean "please work". Rather, it means "please give me work".)
"お仕事してください" // ok

"お勉強ください" // ?
"勉強してください" // ok

I suspect that there are a few other サ変名詞 that can also have their "して" dropped when the intended meaning is "~~~してください". Is that correct? What are other examples?


texts:
I have a very brief question, how is を貫き通せる meant to be interpreted in the following line?

  […]我が道を貫き通せるほど拳が硬いわけでもない。

Dictionary definitions of "貫き通す" includes the following:

  to go through; to pierce; to penetrate
  to persist; to stick to; to enforce (one's) will

I asked a friend who is native Japanese, and she says it should be interpreted as something like  - to make someone "carry out" or "put into practice" - (though there's a language barrier here so we could be misunderstanding each other and there's only so much she can teach me in English.) Doesn't this seem a bit different to the dictionary definitions?

So assuming my friend is correct, how does a phrase like "carry out" fit into the above example sentence? I can't seem to parse it naturally e.g. " he didn't really have fists that were so strong it could carry out its own way" ??

So basically how is を貫き通せる being used/it's meaning in this context, and with that in mind what is a more natural sounding way to parse the above sentence?


texts:
I'm unsure of what "本心じゃない" should represent and how to properly negate "本心" in the sentences below.
When I searched for the meaning of "本心", I found the following meaning:

-real intention
-one's right mind
-conformity to one's own sense of right conduct
-really mean
-true feelings

Did the word "intention" properly conveyed the meaning of the sentences below?

  本心じゃなくてカップルイメ—ジに合わせちゃっただけなのに。
  It wasn’t intentional. But we still ended up becoming like a couples.
  私が本心じゃないってわかっててあんなこと言ってきたんだ。
  When I understood that it was unintentional, I was saying such a thing.

I'm also unsure regarding how to interpret "~てきた". I tried searching for "てきた" explanation and I found this.
If the speaker at present says 「～てきた」, s/he is talking about something which started sometime in the past and continued until now or it can be "until sometime in the past".
So, I interpreted "あんなこと言ってきたんだ" as "I was saying such a thing".
But somehow the meaning of the whole sentence seems off.
Is my interpretation of the meaning of "あんなこと言ってきたんだ" wrong or just the interpretation of the sentence as a whole?


texts: Can we compare a noun with a verb in Japanese?

texts:
Consider the following sentence.

  A:「足が出る」と（いうの）は出費が予定していたより多くなることだ。

It seems to me that this sentence compares a noun 出費 with a verb 予定していた.

Let us compare it with  a simpler example comparing a noun with another noun as follows.

  B: 熱いミルクは冷たいミルクよりおいしい。Hot milk is more delicious than cold one.

Is it grammatically correct in Japanese to compare a verb with a noun as in sentence A?


texts: Can someone please help me translate this line from a manga I'm reading?

texts:
お前だってもうずっと俺以外の血を望まなかった

I'm basically torn between two interpretations:

You haven't wanted any one's blood but mine for a while now
You've never wanted any one's blood but mine


texts:
With the following sentence:

  自分の唾液を入れたポリ袋を女子高校生の背中に投げ付けたとして、警視庁田無署は６日までに、暴行の疑いで埼玉県新座市野寺、派遣社員工藤清哉容疑者（４１）を逮捕した。

Does 自分の唾液を入れた modify ポリ袋?
Does it make sense?
Is ポリ袋 the object of the verb 投げ付けた?
What does として mean?


texts:
Taken from 「イエスタデイをうたって２」
Context: One guy wants to visit a female friend (who he barely knows) while she is sick. This is their conversation when he suddenly stops before entering her house:

「一人暮らしの女の部屋にそう　ほいほいと上がれるか？」
「シナコ先生の部屋には入ったくせに？」
「あいつんとこはいーの...」

As intended in the title of this question, what puzzles me about this conversation is the 「上がれる」. I get what their conversation is about, however I am unsure about what this part of the sentence means in a literal way. Is he asking her if she really wants to let other people enter her room/house so easily? Is the 「上がれる」simply passive?
I feel like overseeing something about the sentence and twisting the meaning to fit what I had in my head already.
(Further context: The girl actually has a love interest in the guy (what he knows about); however he is in love with シナコ先生, who is an acquaintance of both. The girl speaking in this conversation knows that he visited シナコ a few days ago and cared for her while she was sick.)


texts: How can you input and display a radical in a computer text document?

texts:
(I apologize if this question is off-topic on Japanese.SE or is more suitable for SuperUser).

I like to write computer notes about what I learn in Japanese. From time to time, I would like to be able to include in my text a given radical, say kokoro 心, which takes several graphic forms when used as an element in a more complex kanji, for instance .

I did not succeed on my system (Mac OS X 10.7) to find the glyphs for these variants exactly as I would like them (I would also be interested about how to do this on Windows 7 or Linux).

I first tried the name of the kanji from which the radical is derived.　Then I tried to use the japanese name for them, such as risshinben (as in 快)　and shitagokoro (as in 志), hoping that the  hiragana or katakana input would recognize them and propose me their representation, but it did not work.

So I looked into the Full Japanese Character Table, under the "by radical" tab, and found at  least a version of each of them : 忄 (CJK 5FC4) and 㣺 (CJK 38FA) with the correct kun readings. I have them now as favorites but do I need to do that for all radicals? Do I need to register all of them in a user dictionary?  I would imagine that I am not the only one who wants to do use them.

Besides, the versions I have found are not suited for all occasions: they are centered on a standard kanji square. If I want them to appear near to a placeholder, or demonstrate their proportion to the rest of a typical kanji, I have to make complicated adjustments, depending on my use and the kind of radical.


texts: What's the difference between "さけ" (sake) and "しゃけ" (shake)?

texts:
Today I saw onigiri claiming to contain "しゃけ" (shake). When I asked my friend what that was, she said it was the same as "さけ" (sake), "salmon".

So are these two just different readings of a kanji, regional differences, used by different generations, etc? How did the two pronunciations come about? Which should I use?


texts:
I'm about to finish reading this article and I came across some grammer that I have never seen before in the last sentence. The last sentence is:

  これから、どのくらいとるかなどを決める予定です。

What is the bolded part here supposed to mean? I have never seen かなど used before and definitely would not expect it to follow a verb.

My best guess translation:

  After this, the plan is to decide on how much to take or something


texts:
I've always assumed that kanji characters are almost always morphemes, but I've hardly seen anyone explicitly state that. I think the idea that kanji usually represent ideas, not pronunciation, played a role in my assumption.

Are most kanji no bigger than, and no smaller than, a single morpheme?

Also, are most words containing multiple kanji characters based on a combination of the meanings of individual characters, like "volcano" being 火山, a combination of the kanji for "fire" and for "mountain"?

Related questions looking for exceptions to "one kanji = one morpheme": Does Japanese have morphemes that span two kanji? and Kanji for native Japanese concepts: Kun'yomi spanning multiple morphemes


texts: How should I refer to food whose name mentions its main ingredients?

texts:
In Spanish we have lots of dishes whose names refer to the main ingredients it has. For example "arroz con pollo" (rice and chicken), "arroz con leche" (rice and milk), or "pollo con papas" (chicken and potatoes).

The first is a main course, the second is a dessert and the third is kind of fast food and a main course.

The options I have is translate using と, like チキンとライス, or write in katakana the Spanish name, アロスコンポイオ。


texts: Why does gemination happen in many 真 compounds?

texts:
Inspired by https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/38733/3295

Some examples from Wiktionary:

  真っ暗 (makkura, "total darkness")
  真っ向 (makkō, "directly opposite", "right in front")
  真っ黒 (makkuro, "pitch black)
  真っ最中 (massaichū, "infull swing, in the midst")
  真っ青 (massao, "deep blue")
  真っ赤 (makka, "bright red")
  真っ先
  真っ直ぐ
  真っ二つ
  真っ白

Also possibly related: 真ん丸, 真ん中.

The usual rules for gemination don't seem to apply: 真{ま} doesn't end in つ or く, so where does っ come from?

@user4092 puts forward this theory in a comment:

  As for 真っ白, some claim that it derives from prefix "ma" with
  reduplicated adjectives, which is shared with Filipino or Melanesian
  languages. This feature is well reserved in "ma aka aka" → まっかっか.

To be honest I'm somewhat skeptical of this.

For now my pet theory is that it's related to the reading まこと, but is there a commonly accepted explanation?


texts: What's the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)?

texts: When is it correct to use は but not が, and when is it correct to use が but not は? Are there any times when you can use either without changing the meaning of the sentence? How does switching change the meaning of a sentence?


texts: ~たform　／　~辞書form　+　場合は

texts:
In「みんなの日本語」, the first part of this sentence, with the た-form verb, is translate in simple present tense :

時間に遅れた場合は、会場に入れません。
If you are late, you will not be able to enter in the room.
Si vous êtes en retard, vous ne serez pas autorisé à entrer dans la salle.

It's translate in french, maybe there is french here...
I translate the sentence in english, sorry if it's not correct.
So, if the translate is good, with「場合」, why use the た-form (past) instead of the 辞書-form (普通形present) for present tence?
With た-form, it should be :

If you were late, You couldn't have entered in the room.
Au cas où vous étiez / auriez été en retard, vous n'auriez pas pu entrer dans la salle.

No ?
Or, did I missed something?
Thanks


texts: What is the natural way to say "It is necessary for you to go home early"?

texts:
I want to say "It is necessary for you to go home early.", which is the natural way to say it?

A: あなたがすぐ帰ることは必要だ。
B: あなたがすぐ帰る必要はある。

I am looking for a natural pattern to convey requirement that someone else must do. Other examples are as follows:

　A: 進学するために、あなたが１５０時間の勉強をすることが必要だ。
　B: 進学するために、あなたが１５０時間の勉強をする必要はある。


texts: Interpreting ~が言う方が in this sentence among other things

texts:
A is a guy and B is a girl. b is trying to set up A with another girl. Neither A or B's social life is that clear yet but A is somewhat of a mood maker.

男の、しかも女子の間でちょっと可愛いと密かに人気のあるAが言う方が、Bよりうまく行くだろうと踏んだのだった。
among the guys or girls, more so the girls, A was secretly popular because of his cute features, speaking of A (as oppose to not A), was deemed to have had(experienced?) more peaceful relations that B (with everyone?).

there definitely no homosexual vibes in this content, is 男の not  related to 間?
is there any difference between Aが言う方が and Aの方が?
What's the best way to read 踏む in this sentence?


texts: 会計 kaikei, 勘定 kanjou, チェック chekku and レシート reshiito

texts:
I'm sure they all could be used in restaurant bill case. I checked this: When asking for the bill - かんじょう or かいけい

But could we also use them interchangeably for these situations?

A. Taxi receipt
B. Shopping receipt
C. Hotel receipt

Or is there any word which we cannot use for one of the situations above? Thanks :)


texts: Understanding 外国でも使える電話を借りて来た

texts:
I'm having difficulty translating this particular sentence into English, and even thus understanding it fully.

  私は成田空港で外国でも使えるけいたい電話を借りて来たから、問題がないよ。

My best attempt at a translation:

  I had a problem at Narita Airport because I had to rent a mobile phone to use.

I don't know how to translate the 外国でも bit and have it make sense nor am I sure about translating the 来た either.


texts:
What does [雲行]{くもゆ}き mean? I looked this up on Google Translate, and it means "turn of affairs" which makes no sense to me. I looked this up on Google Images, and there are pictures of storm clouds.

My guess is that 雲行{くもゆ}き means storm clouds, but I'm not entirely sure.


texts: should I use が or は for the sentence 私が木は好きです。and is that sentence even correct?

texts:
I was wondering what the correct version of this sentence is

私｛わたし｝が木｛き｝好｛す｝きです。
私｛わたし｝は木｛き｝好｛す｝きです。

If the correct version is even there.


texts: Two more tickets please. チケットは or チケットを?

texts: チケットは後二枚ください　or チケットを後二枚ください or something else ?


texts: What's with all the possible kanji for とる?

texts:
Skimming through the options my IME presents for とる, I'm seeing a whole lot of choices, including the following:

取る
撮る
録る
執る
摂る
捕る
獲る
穫る
採る
盗る

While I've seen 取る ("to take") and 撮る ("to record") relatively frequently, the rest appear rather foreign to me.  What do they mean, and how are they used?


texts:
The topic is Gilgamesh here.

  「英霊の座」スレ住民。タンクトップにジャージのズボン、バンダナに指抜きグローブ姿の立派な引きこもりニートで、その上セイバーのストーカーでもある。遠坂邸に居候しており、カソックにフリルのエプロン姿の家政婦のおじさんが生活全般の面倒を見ている。
  いつも自信満々に全く説得力皆無のアドバイスを戦車男に焚き付けては、そのたびに幼馴染のエルキドゥちゃんから厳しくつっこまれるのが日常風景。

  「英霊の座」スレ住民。
  I think it's something like: People who frequent the thread 「英霊の座」, so
  He frequents this thread.

  タンクトップにジャージのズボン、バンダナに指抜きグローブ姿の立派な引きこもりニートで、その上セイバーのストーカーでもある。
  He wears a Tank top and Jersey pants, a bandana and finger-less gloves with an appeareance like a true Hikikomori Neet, on top of that he stalks Saber.

  遠坂邸に居候しており、カソックにフリルのエプロン姿の家政婦のおじさんが生活全般の面倒を見ている。
  He lives as a freeload at Tohsaka Mansion and an old man with the appeareance of a priest robe looks after every needs he has.

戦車男:It's a person.

  いつも自信満々に全く説得力皆無のアドバイスを戦車男に焚き付けては、そのたびに幼馴染のエルキドゥちゃんから厳しくつっこまれるのが日常風景。

A:Always confidently inciting 戦車男 with useless advices and every time getting harshly interrupted by his childood friend. This is his daily life.

Or

B:Always confidently being incited by 戦車男's useless advices, he gets scolded harshly by his childood friend. This is his daily life.

I am not sure if 焚き付ける here means: Instigate someone with a piece of advice or being instigated because of a piece of advice.

Edit.
I think it's the first one, but I am not sure.


texts: Did ありがとう come from Portuguese "obrigado"?

texts: I have heard before that ありがとう came from the word "obrigado" in Portuguese. Is this true and is there any evidence to support this, or is it an old wives' tale?


texts: Im in research about structure and meaning of reduplicated word. I want to ask about the difference between 晴れ晴れ and 晴々しい is?


texts: A sentence where the conjugation in the past tense confounds me

texts:
In the sentence:

  これ以上は 死タからその 前に殺さナいと,

I find it perplexing that 死タからそ is conjugated in the past tense. It being the reason (-から) for 殺さナいと, shouldn't it be in present tense? Or am I mixing it up and (-と) takes precedence? Which still wouldn't further my understanding of why this past tense? Or is he thinking he's already dead...
I'm sorry for the (I hope not too) bad phrasing of my question, I hope someone can help me understand how those two forms can be in the same sentence...
Thank you in advance


texts:
I came across the phrase in the following sentence.

  ええ度{ど}胸{きょう}やのうこまいの...けなげやで

The guy who said it is a Kansai speaker. I'm not sure if the phrase is related to the dialect.


texts: What's the difference between "家" (ya), "屋" (ya), and "や" (ya) as used in the names of shops/stores/restaurants?

texts:
As a gyudon addict I have noticed that the names of the three major national restaurant chains all end in "ya" but they used two different characters:

"吉野家" (Yoshinoya)
"松屋" (Matsuya)
"すき家" (Sukiya)

Other shops and restaurants I've noticed just use the hiragana instead:

"や" (ya)

So is there a subtle difference where one is more like restaurant and the other is more like shop/store? And is the hiragana a handy way to be ambiguous or would people reading such a sign immediately know whether "や" stood for "屋" or "家" based on their language intuition?

While I'm at it, is this yet another character for "ya" used in the same contexts?

"店"


texts: I know the term means hi or hello, but is it used by both genders? My research indicates a male usage, particularly in chats. Thank you.


texts: This phrase showed up in one my phrase books with the translation of "Best Wishes" but I'm curious if it can be used to sign off letters and emails with the same casual politeness that the phrase carries in English.


texts: Are there any old loanwords from Korean, especially any not written in katakana?

texts:
Given the close proximity and long history of interaction of various kinds within East Asia, the great influence of Chinese in both Japanese and Korean, and the similar structures of Japanese and Korean, are there any old words known to have come into Japanese from Korean, and if so, are there any which are written in kanji?

We know that modern Korean loanwords are written in katakana such as "キムチ" (kimuchi) from "김치" (kimchi) and "ビビンバ" (bibinba) from "비빔밥" (bibimbap), but surely there must be some words taken much longer ago - what are some of them and how are they written?


texts: Usage of ～じゃん (～じゃない)

texts:
I'd like to know if I can put ～じゃん at the end of every adjective, if there are any exceptions to that usage, and if it's different from ～じゃない.

Adj (na) + じゃん

  便利じゃん

  便利だったじゃん

  便利じゃないじゃん

  便利じゃなかったじゃん

Adj (i) + じゃん

  楽しいじゃん

  楽しかったじゃん

  楽しくないじゃん

  楽しくなかったじゃん

Is this possible? Wouldn't the correct way would be 楽しくない instead of 楽しいじゃん?

Verb + じゃん

  あるじゃん

  やるじゃん

  いるじゃん

  くるじゃん

  ...


texts: Why in this sentence is 「の」used in this fashion?

texts:
「今日は何するの？」

I found this sentence by a Japanese person on a Japanese speaking website.
I am aware that の is the possessive particle in Japanese, and allows for sentences such as

  「僕の娘は店に行って靴を買います。」

But what I don't understand is why の is used at the end of the first sentence without directly stating anything. Why exactly is の being used like that, and what does it mean?


texts: I mentioned to a Japanese chat friend that I liked music after he asked me what I liked. He then typed ほおほお. Does it mean something similar to I see? Thanks.


texts:
As I spend more time in Japan, I pick up habits that I'm not sure are good or bad. My question here is about nuance / occasion of usage.
In formal contexts, how does the impression differ between these two locutions:

今の仕事は悪くはないです。
今の仕事は悪くないです。

I get that ~くない is the standard taught to 初級 students of Japanese and that くはない is something that appears later.
I'll throw in my guess: for me, 悪くはない sounds like making a judgment more so than 悪くない, but I'm not at all sure if that's right or if there's anything else it throws in. I also tend to add です for politeness at the end when using 辞書形 constructions in polite contexts so as written above both get the です thrown after.
In other words, I'm asking what sort of impression difference putting the は adds. Obviously you can say 悪くはありません as well. But mainly, I'm trying to understand how the two expressions might differ in nuance.


texts:
In the sentence

  友人に彼女ができると辛い

I'm a bit unclear as to what と辛い is actually supposed to mean (or even if it's supposed to separately be と and 辛い).

As far as my understanding goes:

彼女ができる means something like "become (someone's) girlfriend"

辛い in this context, I think, means "painful"/"bitter"

So perhaps "(someone) was hurt by becoming girlfriend to friend" (in other words, they broke up?)
What's the use of と辛い here?


texts:
I was surprised by a conversation listed in my textbook. The conversation goes like this:

A: ハンバーガーを[食]{た}べますか。
B: いいえ、ハンバーガーは[嫌]{きら}いです

As for the meaning, I believe I understand it. ("Do you eat hamburgers? ... No, I hate them.") However, I interpret line "B" as a shortened version of いいえ、[私]{わたし}はハンバーガーが[嫌]{きら}いです. I think it would be incorrect to say いいえ、ハンバーガーは[私]{わたし}が[嫌]{きら}いです - I interpret this as the jocular "hamburgers don't like me". So what I'm confused about is if the 私は was dropped because the subject was implied, why did the が particle change into は? Is this typical?

Or is my fundamental understanding of the distinction between は and が just off in general (which would not be surprising)?

EDIT: I guess an alternative question would be "would it be wrong for me to say 「いいえ、ハンバーガーが嫌いです。」"


texts: Why are the verbs connected with てhere? 連れて帰って

texts:
I understand that you need to use て to connect two verbs but all the example I have seen are like 起きて、コーヒーを飲んだ . There's always a more "complete" sentence for the action that follows the first verb. Is this sentence, あぁ連れて帰って
くれたんだね, just omitting the subject (you) and saying "Thank you for taking and bringing her home."? Of course the second verb is in て form as well do to ~てくれる conjugation.

Anyways, that is the only way I can interpret it. Whenever I try and find a similar sentence online by searching for "two verbs connected with て or something similar" I get sentences like this 起きて、コーヒーを飲んだ .


texts:
I was trying to understand 今はただ, which I eventually concluded must mean: just now. I explain it to myself as ただ emphasises the noun now, as only or just one. Is this correct?

While on it, I came across: ただ今, which appears to have the same literal meaning.

Do these two statements mean exactly the same thing or are there any differences in meaning or use?


texts:
Three sentences from the same news article on NHK 'Easy News':

  子どもたちは幼稚園の中にいたため、けがなどはありませんでした。
  Becuase the children were in the nursery they weren't injured or anything
  しかし、門の近くには、子どもを迎えに来た家族などが大勢いました。
  However, there were a lot of families and others  who had come to collect children near the gate.
  警察は爆発の理由などを発表していません。
  The police did not announce the reasons and so on for the explosion.

This article seems to use など almost obsessively (and is no different from many other articles I have read on the NHK site).

As you can see from my very childish translations I have great difficulty in translating など. Most of the time it seems completely unnecessary. I feel that I'm either somehow missing the nuance of など or there is a better translation that I'm not aware of.

Is など used naturally in these sentences? Can you help me understand how など adds useful information to these sentences?


texts: Why is "boyfriend" transliterated as 「ボーイフレンド 」 instead of 「ボイフレンド」?

texts:
Most of the time, I can guess correctly how to write an english Gairaigo word in katakana. When I am mistaken, I understand the correct writing and learn from it. Some feel a bit odd, but with time I get used to it. I find it very interesting how the english sounds are twisted to fit in the japanese style.

But this one got me puzzled. For the word "boyfriend", the transliteration of choice is ボーイフレンド, which feels very awkward for me. I was expecting ボイフレンド instead, but that gets only 34 thousand hits on Google Japanese, while the former has about 8 million hits.

As a comparison, I am fine with the long vowels in the following examples:

Girl: ガール
Answer: アンサー
Ball: ボール
Party: パーティー
Elevator: エレベーター

My question is, is it just my intuition that is wrong, or is there something else behind this? Maybe some sort of linguistic phenomenon such as Metathesis or Malapropism? Maybe someone misspelled it at the first time and people ended up using it anyway?

If it is just my intuition that is wrong, that would totally be a valid answer, although quite embarassing... I am expecting something else for this specific word because it seems weirder than usual. By the way, English is not my first language (nor Japanese, of course).


texts: What's the difference? I got told that 皮膚【ひふ】 only works for mammals (and humans), and 皮【かわ】 for other animals too.


texts: Is one transcription of "Andrew" more standard than another?

texts:
I recently looked at the disambiguation page for Andrew on the Japanese Wikipedia, and found that there were several "アンドルー"s, and several "アンドリュー"s.

I couldn't discern any trend that one form tended to be from an earlier time period and the latter was from a later time period, or that one form was from certain languages and the other was from other languages.

Are both forms considered normal transcriptions of "Andrew", or is one form considered more normal than the other?


texts: How to message or mail to teacher for making a appointment?

texts:
I need to send a message to my teacher for asking an appointment.
But I don't know how to. He is gonna check my homework tomorrow and he wants a message.

> 先生こんにちは。 作文をチェックのために７日に予約したいです。 よろしくお願いいたします。

Do you think this is okey? Or what should I add?


texts: Are かた and 人 interchangeable in this sentence?

texts:
I played a game app, and I found this sentence on the TOS agreement screen.

  ないようがわからないかたは、おうちの人にがめんをみせてください

English: If you don't understand, show this screen to your parents.

The sentence is written in Hiragana, so it seems to be for children.

ないようがわからないかた: children who play the app
おうちの人: their parents

I know かた is politer than 人, but if the only difference is whether it's polite or not, why is the sentence not polite to the parents?

If the sentence was not wrong, it would be interchangeable with this:

  ないようがわからない人は、おうちのかたにがめんをみせてください


texts:
I've just come across this sentence:

  初めて会った人と何を話したらいいかわからない時や、中心になって話したいけど、日本語だと聞く立場になってしまうときはありませんか。

I'm fine with other parts, but what does "日本語だと聞く立場になってしまうとき" mean?


texts: What does this structure (～ + も + verb/adjective) mean?

texts:
What does Noun-verb + も + する mean? I'm not even sure this is actually a structure. I found it in these 2 sentences:

  昨日のパーティーは料理もおいしかったし、雰囲気もよかった。（料理 [も] 美味しかった [し]）
  リサはよく勉強 [も] する [し]、アルバイト [も] します。

Thank you


texts:
Here's a sentence I found:

  デパートはどこにあるか、知っていますか？
  Do you know where the department store is?

What's the purpose of the か particle in 「どこにあるか」? Under what circumstances do I use it?

I'm fairly sure it's not the か that's normally used to form questions, like the second か in that sentence, nor is it the か that means “or.”


texts: When まで is preceded with a time, does it include that time?

texts:
For example, in my grammar textbook, the sentence:

  昨日は3時から5時まで友達とテニスをした

Is translated as "Yesterday, I played tennis with my friend from 3 till 5." Which implies that the speaker was playing from 3 up to, but not beyond 5 (so for 2 hours).

In the notes section however, it says that まで includes the time that it is preceded by:

  来週の月曜日まで休みます

means "I will be absent until next Tuesday", i.e., in this case まで includes Monday (月曜日).

Which is correct?


texts: Difficulty of understanding because of the causative form

texts:
I was reading a manga and encountered　聞かせる　in the speech of one character.
I'm still not good when it comes to translate sentences with passive and causative forms...It helps a bit when I can see the structure like in this basic example, which I hope it sounds alright: 私は子供にマンガを読ませます. It can translate as "I make the children read manga" or "I let them read manga", doesn't it? I know that causative has this nuance of "make" or "let", depending on context, while with させられる　the causative-passive form, it has more of the nuance of "to force" someone to do something.
I have the following sentence which I cannot understand at all because like I mentioned above, I'm used with structures, such as the example I provided.(As a bit of context for this one, there are two men, one is talking while the other listens to his speech)

  納得できない「理由」を聞かせるくらいなら理由などないと言ってくれ。
   I am also a bit unsure just what is the meaning of 聞く here, but I'm
   going with "to ask".

Even just looking at this part 理由を聞かせる I cannot understand how can it be translated with the nuance of causative with either "make/let".Please, I hope someone  can help me out with this. Thank you in advance!


texts: How can a verb be in the beginning of a sentence when it is usually at the end? Ex. 折れた淡い翼。

texts:
When composing sentences in Japanese, the verb tends to be last right? For example,

バナナを食べました。 --> I ate a banana

But recently I came across a sentence where the verb was at the beginning of the the sentence.

折れた淡い翼。

How is this possible? 「折れた」 means "broken; bended," would it translate as " broken fleeting wings"?

This is the first line in a song that I am trying to translate. The first verse is as follows:

  折れた淡い翼

  きみは少し青すぎる空につかれただけさ

  もう誰かのためじゃなくて

  自分のために笑っていいよ

I am not worried about the translation but rather why the verb is in the beginning of the sentence and why there is no need for 「を」.

Thank you!


texts: Can you construct a future-continuous verb tense?

texts:
I wanted to say "I'll be logged into Skype every night." So, I said 「毎夜、Skypeと つながっている つもりです。」 But now I am thinking maybe the verb tense should have been 「毎夜、Skypeと つながる つもりです。」

My sense is that「 毎夜、Skypeとつながっているつもりです。」 means (1) shift forward to each evening, and then state what I will be doing at that time in the continuous tense.

I sense that 「毎夜、Skypeとつながるつもりです。」  means (1) shift forward to each morning or afternoon, (2) state with the future tense (つながる) what I will be doing even later on that day in the evening (be on Skype). So, this feels like a double future. Does that make sense?

In summary, once "つもり" shifts the context into the future, can you use the continuous verb tense?


texts: What is the origin of スタンド meaning "desk lamp"?

texts: I'm struggling to turn up any answers on why the word スタンド is used to mean "desk lamp". My guess would be that it's a case of metonymy, but I don't know.


texts: Trouble understanding a phrase from a novel

texts:
I have been recently trying to read novels in Japanese but there are some compound phrases which I have found hard to grasp.

今のご時世、高校生の連絡先の最低ラインってガラケーじゃないんですか？
それすらもレアメタルがどうたらで回収される世の中ではないのですか？

Researching the kana for the second sentence I found レアメタル to be "rare metal" which doesn't make sense in its context.
What does the grammatical structure beginning with どうたらで stand for?
What is the meaning of the phrase?

Thank you very much for your help.


texts: Particle「も」in the sentence 「夏休みももう終わりだ」。

texts:
So, I'm quite a novice, and I'm having some difficulty parsing the sentence:

  「 夏休{なつやす}みももう終{お}わりだ。」

I "understand" it means "Summer vacation's already over".　I also understand 夏休み means summer vacation.

At this point, I am speculating, so please tell me if I make any errors: もう終わりだ is equivalent to もう終わりです, which means, it's (already?) over. However, I am confused at the use of も as the particle preceding もう終わりです. The only use I know for も is when replacing を or は to signify "also".

Could someone please clarify the use of the particle も and the meaning of もう in もう終わりだ.


texts: Why is たばこ written in hiragana instead of katakana?

texts: While studying my Genki textbook I noticed that the word たばこ uses hiragana instead of katakana. I've always seen loan words to be in katakana, so this was interesting to me.  I saw in this answer that this is because its an older word. I was wanting to know if there was more information about this. Why is たばこ, a loan word, written in hiragana?


texts: What does "オレ" in Pokemon Opening song mean?

texts:
The lyric says:

  オレはこいつと　旅に出る

I wonder what オレ means. Is it a different way to write: "俺"?

Thanks! よろしくお願いします！


texts: Does the ''te form'' literally mean something on its own?

texts: All other forms of verbs inherently seem to have some kind of meaning but te needs to be combined with things before it means anything. Does it mean anything on its own that makes what it ends up doing with other things make logical sense? Like, why do te kudasai and te iru/aru both use te?


texts: 日本人は日本語で番号を書くなら、アメリカの小数点かヨーロッパのを書きますの？

texts:
皆さん、こんにちは！

日本人は日本語に番号を書くことを学びますなら、

アメリカ風の小数点(1.0)か、ヨーロッパ風の(1,0)を書くことを学びますか？

日本語だけで尋ねてみたいですよ。

でも私の日本語もよくないんで、すみません。:)

ありがとう！:D

エディット:今、日本語だけで、英語じゃないです。


texts: Can mokuso literally mean close your eyes?

texts:
In numerous martial arts, the command mokuso(黙想) is used to get students to clear their minds before training. Many many people (often very high level people) think that this literally means close your eyes.

Nevertheless, analysis of the two kanji involved will clearly show that the translation is more like "silent contemplation".

I can understand the confusion about the moku part because 目(eye) has a go-on reading of moku, just like 黙(silent/still). However, I didn't know that "so" could ever mean "to close". So, is it possible for mokuso to actually mean "close your eyes" in another context?


texts: What are your favorite fun ways to learn Japanese?  (At any level)


texts: How to say "Hybrid" in Japanese. Or is there a word for it?

texts: Is there a word for "hybrid" in Japanese? Hybrid as in for animals or any and all Japanese words for cross species animals or two animals joined together. Preferable if all words for such is given because i need the shortest possible word(one or two syllable word) for hybrid animals or cross species animals. But if all possible words are given it would help the most.


texts: Etymology of grammar-related terms in Japanese

texts:
I've been searching up words like '～の近く' (near), '～の裏側' (behind), '～より先' (further away). Basically words related to the position of an object or thing. The term I've been using is 前置詞 in Japanese, but I'm not sure this is right.

The thing is, even though I search up '前置詞', I'm always given a list of websites of foreign language prepositions translated to Japanese.  So my question is, are grammar-related terms such as 前置詞, 動詞, 名詞, something that was created because of the influx of foreign languages study in Japan or did these terms already exist natively in the Japanese language?


texts: 抱った vs 抱いた and 書った vs 書いた

texts:
I have always known that for a verb that ends with a く, the past/perfective form ends with いた and the conjugative form ends with いて.

But today I found in Wiktionary that there are alternative perfective forms 抱った/抱って for 抱く and 書った/書って for 書く.

Are those simply typo/mistake in Wiktionary or could there be some truths in them?

Screenshot:


texts: What are other language equivalents to Japanese particles?

texts:
When a person is learning は and が in terms of particles, what are the best way to relate them to English equivalents?

The closest I can come to explaining them to others is "the" and "a" but I'm not sure if there's a better way to explain them.

This applies to other particles as well:

の relates to [of] or ['s]

へ　relates to [towards]
etc.


texts:
Here is the dialogue containing the word.

  A: かってな推測はやめろう　おれは青山なんざ...

  B: 自分をごまかすのはいいかげんでやめにしいな　なんでもっときびしく現実をみつめようとはせんのや


texts: Why is there sometimes a は used in conjugated, negative, formal i-adjectives?

texts:
A few times now, I have seen a negative i-adjective with a は　in between the く and the ありません. I have seen it usually present when it is a response to a question. Like the example below.

いいえ、車は赤くはありません。

Translations of it are no different than '車は赤くありません。,' however, so I am not sure what the addition of the は adds, or what circumstances it should be used, or if it's even correct.

Can anyone shed some light on when/how/if は is used with the negative i-adjectives? Appreciate any help!


texts: For example, in a novel, do we use プロローグ or 序章?


texts: Can と imply と言わんばかりに?

texts:
I can't understand how と is used in the bolded sentence below. Does と in that sentence imply と言って ("Understand it please - said ボイスくん looking at me."), or does it imply と言わんばかりに ("ボイスくん was looking at me as if saying 'understand it'.")?
For reference, that last sentence is a narration, and not part of the dialogue.

ボイス「死体も何も、殺される瞬間、俺はその場にいた」
ボイス「忘れやしない」
ボイス「ーー絶対に」
思い出したくもない、と言わんばかりに表情を歪め、その感情を吐露する。
僕「・・・・・・殺されたのですか？」
それは、また。ご愁傷様ですとでも言うべきなのだろうかーーと悩んでいると
ボイス「ーー三年前の山賊たちがやらかした傷痕は、今の俺達の心を蝕んでいるんだ。それを治すことができるのは先生だけ」
察してくれよ、とボイスくんが僕を見る。


texts:
In the first episode of WataMote at about 7:40, Kuroki says this sentence:

  やはり、中学時代の私の会話かんを取り戻さなくては。

which is translated to

  Jeez, I've got to get back the conversational nature I had in middle school...

Should かん be replaced with 間、感、勘 or something else entirely?


texts:
Said at the start of the summer holidays:

  「お役に立てて光栄です。丸尾スエオ二学期もがんばりますから、みなさんどうかよろしくいたします」
  It's an honour to be helpful. Maruo Sueo will do his best in the second term too so thanks for your support everyone.
  うやうやしく頭を下げた丸尾君のその心は、二学期の学級委員の選挙運動をも見据えていた。
  The mind of Maruo, who was respectfully bowing his head, was focused on the election for class representative for the second term.

In the first part in bold (丸尾スエオ二学期もがんばります) I would have expected to see the particle に (丸尾スエオ二学期にもがんばります) "Maruo will do his best in the second term too. Would this also be correct? If so, why can it be omitted?

In the second part in bold I was surprised to see をも. I thought も always replaced を. What's going on here?


texts:
I'm currently struggling with particles in the following sentence:

。。。。、日本語が話せる機会を見つけづらくなると思います。

I want it to say that I think it will be become difficult to find opportunities where I am able to speak Japanese. The を is where I am in doubt. 見つける is transitive and なる is intransitive, and I don't know which one dictates the particle in this sentence.

Any help would be appreciated.


texts:
I originally asked in the chatroom which out of the two phrases is better:

  PlaceにThingがありますか？

or

  ThingがPlaceにありますか？

If anyone can translate these to make them relevant in English, it would be welcomed by all means.

Darius Jahandarie suggested some examples to make sense of what I'm talking about:

  学校{がっこう}に子供{こども}たちがいますか？

VS

  子供{こども}たちが/は学校{がっこう}にいますか？

As well as:

  ロンドンに山{やま}がありますか？

VS

  山{やま}がロンドンにありますか？

Is there anyone who can explain the difference, and possibly where the appropriate place to use both of them is?


texts:
For example:

授業があるんじゃなかったの?
授業があったんじゃなかったの?
授業があるんじゃない?
授業があったんじゃない(の)?

Are they the same? If yes, which are more common? Basically what are the differences?


texts:
First question ever here. :D

So, I hear a lot in media, when someone is fired from a job, normally they refer to 首 as being fired, or firing someone, and might sometimes make the gesture of getting their head cut off with their hands.

What is the etymology behind that? I am not super familiar with history, but was it that if you were discharged from your position it'd be done by a beheading? Or what is the background for why 首 as "head" or "neck" came to also mean "dismissal from a job or post"?


texts:
I am working on translating pick list items that appear in a piece of software from English to Japanese.  There is a mix of verbs and nouns on the lists, ex: workplace, attack, wolf, assault, etc...  For the nouns I think it's probably a direct conversion, but for the verbs should they be included in dictionary form, or some other form?

For example I was going to use 攻める for attack/assault, but would I use it just like that in a pick list/drop down list/combo box?


texts: Why the mixture of *on* and *kun* readings of numbers?

texts:
One thing that always puzzled me was why some terms and names that are based on numbers will mix the on and kun readings. I never really understood the rules for that, but it occurs to me that there must be some.

For example, the word yakuza is derived from 8-9-3, a no-score hand in the 花札 (hanafuda) card game. This comprises:

  や  — 8, ya(ttsu), a kun reading
  く  — 9, ku, an on reading
  ざ  — 3, za (for san), an on reading

Similarly, the famous Admiral Yamamoto had a given name of Isoroku (meaning, curiously, "56"), which mixed kun readings (or their variants) for 5 and 10 plus the on reading for 6.

I just want to know how to make sense of this — or if it is even necessary that it make sense. Perhaps it is simply a matter of putting together sounds that the originator(s) of the term found pleasing?

Edit: I want to add that the usages sometimes seem capricious to me, as when you hear 二人（ふたり）to refer to two people but 二人前（ににんまえ）to refer to a restaurant serving for two people or the task that two people have before them, although you can hear ふたりまえ there as well.


texts:
In this line from a song,

  大人【おとな】になるにつれ 遠【とお】ざかってしまったり

I'm tempted to say it translates to

  As you grow older, you're growing apart (from me)

but I'm not entirely sure how to interpret しまったり. It doesn't seem to be a form of 〜たり, but I can't find much explanation of 〜り either. Could someone help me understand the grammar here?

Edit: As I research more and more, I'm questioning more and more my parsing of the sentence. So if I have it completely wrong, please correct me.


texts: Shouldn't お疲れ様でございます be お疲れ様でいらっしゃいます？

texts: When addressing a superior, I've often heard people saying お疲れ様でございます, but でございます is a 謙譲語 form. Since they are talking about how hard their superior worked, shouldn't the phrase be transformed to 尊敬語, ie お疲れ様でいらっしゃいます.


texts:
I'm reading a manga, and in it one of the characters uses grammar that I've never seen before. The sentence is as follows:

  小姓さんが見当たりませぬな。是非お会いしたかったのですが。

I understand pretty much everything else in the sentence:

[小姓]{こしょう}さん = page

見当たる = find

是非 = certainly

お会いしたかった = (humbly) wanted to meet

But because of this conjugation that I'm not familiar with, I'm not sure how it all fits together. What does +ませぬな mean?


texts:
I noticed in an anime I watched, one of the characters said something like below:

  さっき食べたじゃない。

And what I think the meaning is: Didn't you just eat a few while ago?

From what I have learned in Japanese classes, 「じゃない」, which is the shortened form of 「ではない」, must follow a noun word/phrase/clause. But in the spoken sentence above the 「じゃない」 follows a 「～た」 form of a verb. Is that sentence grammatically correct? Is this one of the many examples where colloquial language may skip a few grammar rules here and there?

I think the sentence would be grammatically correct if there is　「ん」 in between the two phrases: 「さっき食べたんじゃない」. Did I actually mishear?


texts: I'm a bit confused why jisho.org marks the word 直感的 as a noun in a sentence (直感的な人) while it's a Na-adjective in the dictionary. Based on the meaning and translation (intuitive person) it's also supposed to be an adjective. Is there a rule I don't know about or is it incorrectly marked as a noun?


texts: Why do Latin letters have English pronunciations in Japanese?

texts:
The Latin letters A–Z are used in Japan today and they each have a name just like in English. Take the first five Latin letters, A–E. Source: https://jisho.org

A 【エイ】【エー】
B 【ベー】【ビー】
C 【シー】
Ｄ【ディ】【ディー】
E 【イー】

It is pretty clear that all except one variant of B (ベー) are from English. I don't actually know if that variant pronunciation is even used.
Surely in my mind the influence of Portuguese and later Dutch merchants and Dutch studies (Rangaku) would mean there was already a need to have Japanese names for those Latin letters, so it is only natural to assume the pronunciation/names of those letter would be based on what the Dutch themselves call them. E.g.,

A 【アー】
B 【ベー】
C 【セー】
Ｄ【デー】
E 【エー】

And so on…
What is the history here? How come the English names for the Latin letters are so prevalent in modern day Japan?


texts: Does the best translation of this sentence require causative-passive?

texts:
Bob had resigned himself to the fact that they would drag him into their quarrel sooner or later.

There is a party of 3 people. Two have been having a petty argument. Bob is focused on an immediate, important, problem. He wants to ignore the argument. Which of these is the truest translation?

  遅かれ早かれ、二人の口論に引きずりこまれると、Bobは観念していた。
  or
  遅かれ早かれ、二人の口論に引きずりこませられると、Bobは観念していた。

Why is causative used:
Bob would have to be forced (使役形) into participating in the argument, right? He would not just passively let himself (受身形) get involved.

Why is causative-passive used?
Because Bob is the subject of "he resigns himself to getting involved" but then the object of "they would drag him into the argument".


texts:
What is the polite equivalent of つかわないで ください ？

(tsukawanaide kudasai)

Can we write つかいませんで ください ？


texts: Both words mean "circle", although 丸 has also other meanings. But what's the nuance between them?


texts: Differentiating いなくなる as "not being around" versus "not being around (because of being dead)"?

texts:
At first I learnt いなくなる as the polite version of 死んだ/死んでいる, then I realised it could also be used as a negative version of いる to indicate state of existing/being in a place.
Then how do you potentially avoid having, E.g., "if　〇〇 is not around, then what would you do" vs "if 〇〇 is dead, then what would you do" confused?


texts:
I have found this sentence in Odin Sphere. I guess it's kind of old fashion for a strong interdiction.
I first thought it came from the negative form of  である  but it doesn't seem to be replaceable by ではない.

Does anyone know the origin of this form?


texts:
ひとりで夕陽の中を走るバカってのもねぇ～
  Idiots who run alone towards the setting sun ...

The sentence seems to be lacking a verb. What is the function of ってのも and is there an implied verb ending?

I read this link which matches my expectations on というのは to provide a defintion. I can't extrapolate from that to the meaning of ってのも in this sentence。It also seems quite different to the use in this question that I asked a while ago:


texts: How to distinguish between words with identical okurigana?

texts:
There are a ton of verbs with multiple readings and the exact same okurigana. Sometimes they mean totally different things and sometimes they have very similar meanings, so in the cases when they have similar meanings, how does one determine the reading?

To give just one example,

堪える:
たえる, こたえる, こらえる, are all listed as common readings and mean 'to bear, endure'


texts: How to express "patronizing" in Japanese?

texts:
Not in the sense of giving money as a patron to an artist or something like that, but the sort of attitude one gives when they superior to someone else. All the examples I can find are super figurative, and the only thing I can think of that I've actually ever heard is 上から見る　but I'm wondering if there are any alternatives, or even one-word examples that express this.

Thanks!!


texts:
Edit: the sentence in question is part of a prose where the author talks about "いただきます". I added also the sentence before that.

Edit2: Thanks to explanation by @marasai, the bold text is demystified. However I would still like a translation of the whole sentence.

I have encountered the following sentence (in italic), which I seem to know every word but cannot make sense of it as a whole:

  一人で食事をする時、この言葉が自然に出てくるのだったら、食事の用意をしてくれた人に対する感謝、或いはご馳走をしてくれる人に向かっての礼儀というより、これから口に入れる食べ物に対する感謝の気持ちが強い。
  自分の生命を存続させてくれる食べ物を、それならばもう少し大切にしてもいいように思うが、贅沢に慣れて、「いただきます」と言いながら、悲しくなるような食べ方をしている人を見かけることが多い。

Bolded part of the sentence is especially confusing.


texts: What’s the difference between でかい(イ形) and 巨大(ナ形)?

texts:
I know that one is an i-adjective and the other a na-adjective. But what’s the difference in meaning? Or is it purely a grammatical difference.

I noticed that most of the time, when there are multiple words with a similar (if not identical) meaning, there is a difference in connotation still.


texts: I just learned that Ukraine can be written as 烏克蘭, rather than the typical katakana ウクライナ. Why was this country important enough in japanese politics or culture to get kanji?


texts: Do Japanese's sister languages have equivalents of the particles は and を?

texts:
Okinawan definitely has a particle equivalent to the Japanese subject particle が.

But I can't seem to find something like the topic particle は or the object particle を.

Then again I only have limited materials and they're in Japanese, which I can't really read very much of.

So I'm not sure whether this is a big difference between the languages, or there are such particles but I just can't find them.

Information on these particles in any of the other sister languages of Japanese is welcome.

(For the purposes of this question I'm only asking about these three particles that show the major grammatical roles of the nouns, I'm not asking about any of the other particles for now thanks.)


texts: Word choice to mean "take care of yourself"

texts:
ご無事で - Take care of yourself
  大事にして - Take care of yourself

What's the difference in the sentences? Is ご無事 more formal? Or is there a better word to mean "take care of yourself"?


texts:
Really struggling with the meaning of this sentence from ちびまる子ちゃん:

  まさにうららかとしか言いようのない日だね

My rough translation effort

  Surely, beautiful is the only way to describe this day

But I'm struggling to break down the grammar here, in particular the としか part.

My guess it that うららか is an onamatopeic kind of word and they seem to like to take と and that is followed by しか meaning "only". So I would guess at "Surely - beautiful - with the exception of - indescribable - day - is". Or in other words "There's surely no way to describe the day other than beautiful".

Am I even close to a correct understanding here? If not please correct me. Many thanks.


texts: How do you read zeros in abbreviated years? (i.e. ０３年)

texts: I came across ０３年度 and ０９年度, and while the meaning is clear I didn't know the actual way of reading it. My first reaction was ゼロさんねんど, but I have no way of checking if that's right. I thought it might also be simply, さんねんど, but again I can't tell.


texts: 「セイン星矢」 v.s. 「セイント星矢」 in the opening song of 「聖闘士星矢」

texts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTa0ENwF2bo&feature=youtu.be&t=48s

It seems that the singer is singing 「セイン星矢」 despite the fact that the subtitle says 「セイント星矢」.

Questions:

Is it a phenomenon similar to glottalization in some dialects of English?
Is it productive or just a stand-alone case?


texts: If a word is both a na-adjective and a no-adjective, should I use a 'no' or a 'na'

texts:
Say I have a phrase 'High Quality Music'. The phrase which seems to correspond with 'High Quality' is 良質, which is both a no-adjective and a na-adjective. In this case, when trying to link it with the noun for music, 音楽, should I use no or na? Would it be 良質な音楽 or 良質の音楽?

All help is appreciated :)


texts:
I am familiar with たり when used for multiple actions. In the following sentence:

  人は どんな環境にも慣れるんだ
  と…思ったりする

(The man is thinking to himself and this is his conversation with himself)

How the use of たり affects the meaning and sense of 思ったりする when it is not used for multiple actions?


texts: Is ”えんりょしなさい” correct

texts:
For this question, the correct answer is choice 2.
While I've already known the meaning of "いいかげんにしなさい" is "enough!" and "act properly!", I still have no idea about the reason that choice 1 is incorrect.

I looked up for some example sentences of "えんりょ"

As what I know, both "しなさい" and "ください" have nearly the same meanings.
(They just differ in the expressions and the strength of emotion.)

If "おタバコはご遠慮ください" is correct, then "おタバコはご遠慮しなさい" also seems to be correct for me.

Can anyone explain the usage of "遠慮" in details for me?


texts: verbs using が to mark the direct object/subject

texts:
Some verbs like わかる or ある take が instead of を to mark the "direct object" (because these verbs treat what in English is the direct object as a subject in Japanese?). For example,

  サラリーマン：「課長｛かちょう｝っ、ここがわかりません！」課長：「わたしもわからん。」

Why do these verbs exist? Are there any rules to determine if a verb uses が instead of を in this way? What are some other examples of verbs like わかる or ある that use が (besides　potential form verbs)?
Why can't verbs like わかる take を, or more specifically, why do verbs like わかる require having a subject to mark with が instead of having a direct object to mark with を?


texts: Is ダウンアンダー understood by non-Australian Japanese speakers?

texts:
Firstly, is "ダウンアンダー" the correct spelling? I think it is, based on the Japanese Wikipedia articles メン・アット・ワーク and ツアー・ダウンアンダー
, but I could be mistaken.

But apart from that, is the average non-Australian Japanese speaker likely to understand the term, which is used as slang to refer to Australia (even though there's plenty of other southern hemisphere countries)?


texts: Translating volitive expressions in ads into English

texts:
I saw this on an advertisement outside the construction site of a company that makes wooden houses:

木{き}の家{いえ}と、暮{く}らそう。

I'm trying to think of a way to translate it other than:
Live with a wooden house. (sounds like the house is your roommate)
Spend your life with a wooden house. (a bit weird)
Experience a wooden house. (too different from the original)

I have a sneaking suspicion that the copywriter was aiming for a variation on the construction ADVERB + と + VERB, for example, ゆうゆうと暮{く}らす or ぎりぎりで生活{せいかつ}する. This would make the meaning something resembling "Live, wood-house-ly" or "Live in a generally wooden-house-ish fashion."

Any ideas?

P.S. The best part was that the actual attempt at translation was "Feel Wood." I took a photo (of course).


texts: Meaning of 当分先 (まあ当分先だろうな)

texts:
Colleague talking about a very expensive business event:

  1回行ってみたいなーとは思うけど、まあ当分先だろうな。

What does 当分先 mean in this context?


texts: すみません came from 済みません?

texts: What's the correlation between 済む and すみません? 済む means to finish and I can't see it a correlation between the two.


texts: Break down this sentence: お金がなくて最近はほとんど食べていないのです。

texts: I don't get how お金がなくて works in this phrase, can someone help me to break it down... thank you!


texts: In this sentence I've a some doubts"自分　の　事し　考えぬ　には、この　氷　は　溶かせない" I think a translation would be" Think to yourself of this matter of you, this ice never will melt" But it's just a guess. I can decipher correctly this sentence. kかんがえぬ　is negative? How translate 自分のことし？


texts:
What is the difference between 貸す and 貸し出す?
Please explain it to me. Thank you!


texts: Can 彼 be used as an indefinite pronoun like やつ or 男?

texts:
気取らない彼が好きです。 I like him, who doesn't put on airs.

My first reading of this sentence was to assume that 彼 was referring to the boyfriend meaning of 彼, and thus my interpretation was "I like an unpretentious kind of boyfriend". My second interpretation was wrong as well= "I like a guy who doesn't put on airs." The correct interpretation is the definite pronoun, him.

However, can 彼 be used to mean guy or man in the same way that words like やつ and 男 are used as indefinite pronouns?

Don't be that kind of guy. : あんなやつみたいになってはいけないよ。

Don't be that kind of guy. : あんな彼みたいになってはいけないよ。(I now think this interpretation is incorrect)

I like a kind-hearted kind of guy: 心優しい彼が好き。I suppose the right interpretation of this sentence would be, "I like him, who is kind hearted" (I like him because he is kind hearted)

Would this be correct?


texts: Clarification on the particle following 今年

texts:
In an assignment I wrote「今年にローラースケートを習いたいです。」 which was corrected to 「今年はローラースケートを習いたいです。」My guess is that it was corrected because in this sentence, "this year" is the ~topic~. Is that correct?
and in order for「今年にローラースケートを習いたいです。」to be correct, I should have added 「私は」 making 「今年に私はローラースケートを習いたいです。」


texts: What particle is にでも and what does it mean?

texts:
What monster particle is this?
This is from my textbook:

  そんなに働いてばかりいないで、たまには旅行にでも行ったほうがいいです。

I wrote it in bold. I would analyse it as に　で　も. But I can't make sense of it.

EDIT: I also don't really understand the purpose of は in たまには in this context.
It could work as a topic marker, but I usually don't see は after adverbs, so it's a bit strange to me.


texts: What is the difference between 仮定 and 想定?

texts:
I see a lot of different explanations online but I'm not sure if I understand the nuances correctly

From what I can gather:

仮定 is used when a situation is unclear and an assumption is made based on facts and logic

想定　is used when imagining a possible situation and assuming it happened

Considering this, I have trouble telling the difference between these sentences for example:

  今，大地震が起きたと仮定したらまずどうしますか
  今，大地震が起きたと想定したらまずどうしますか

I would like a more detailed explanation and if possible, some examples that show where one would be used and not the other.


texts:
A Japanese person said that to me and I was utterly lost. I tried to dissect the sentence:

これ = this
から =  from
も = also
よろしく = (Honestly, I don't know what this means)
ね = a suffix that women use

I think this might mean "Nice to meet you, too." But I would like to know a more accurate explanation from someone with actual knowledge.


texts: In what way does ちうわけで serve this sentence?

texts: From my understanding, absent "ちうわけで", this simply means, "Is it OK if I go to break." Is it similar to "こういうわけで"?


texts: What does, or could, the phrase こんなヤツはこうだ！ mean?

texts: My understanding is that it literally means "that guy is like this", but I don't think I understand the connotation.


texts: Negative polite ending in compounding sentence

texts:
I am a beginner. In the TaeKim Guide textbook, there is a rule for the compounding sentence:

Positive: Conjugate the verb to its past tense and replace 「た」 with 「て」 or 「だ」 with 「で」. This is often called the te-form even though it could sometimes be 'de' .
Negative: Same as i-adjectives, replace 「い」 with 「くて」.
This rule also works for the polite 「です」 and 「ます」 endings.
例）　学生です → 学生でした → 学生でして
例）　買います → 買いました → 買いまして

What I want to ask is: What is the rule for the negative of 「です」 and 「ます」 endings?
From  Compound sentence and politeness, an example is:

私は学生ですから勉強します。 ( I study because I'm a student )

How to change the sentence into "I do not study because I am not a student"?


texts:
In the famous manga of Lone Wolf and Cub (子連れ狼), the protagonist walks the path of meifumadō (冥府魔道), the road of hell, symbolized by the twin demons of the bull and the horse, in his quest for revenge.

To what extent, if any, was meifumadō an element of Japanese Buddhism or culture? Was this invented by the authors or is it a real philosophy?


texts:
１８日から１９日、関東地方や東北地方などで雨がとてもたくさん降りそうです

This sentence is taken from a news article.

I know that など means "and so on," "etc," and や means that there may be more things or people implied.

But this kind of language doesn't seem precise enough. However, it's often used in news. In the article about rain, they encourage people from the regions to be careful. Isn't it necessary to be precise about which regions must be on the alert? (Kanto and Tohoku clearly must be careful, but which place exactly is meant by など?..)

I wonder how Japanese people would interpret this particular など. Could it mean a place like Hokkaido, for example, which is not too far from Tohoku? If it could, why isn't it necessary to mention it so that there is no room for ambiguity and guesses?


texts: Under what circumstances can you abbreviate forms like ないとならない?

texts:
For example, if you have this sentence:

急がないとならない

You can just say:

急がないと

But what if the sentence is...?

急がないとならないからあとで話そうね

Can you omit ならない there? It would turn into:

急がないとからあとで話そうね

It doesn't sound right to me but I want to be 100% sure it can't be omitted. It also applies to other forms with the same meaning. For example, if you have 急がなければならない, can you shorten it to 急がなきゃ even if it's not the end of the sentence? Or 急がなくてはならない to 急がなくちゃ, under the same circumstances?


texts:
What does it mean in the sentence below?

  彼は私を午前中ずっと待たせたままにした。


texts:
I've met a word 駄女 だおんな though not sure if wrote it well in kanji.
Can I use this 駄 with other words? For example, like 駄先輩 or 駄宏 (with the name of a man)?
Are there words that suit this scheme most and those, that can not be used for any conditions? Could you please provide some examples?


texts: How do you use の as a de-facto が particle?

texts:
Apparently の can be used as a de-facto が particle. Now this sorta makes sense as in Japanese the line between something defining scope (A は/が B), and some defining association (A の B), is vary thin.

That said, could someone explain to me when exactly you can use の in place of が, like it explains on Jisho.org, as I'm far to curious.


texts: What exactly is this ※ symbol, and what does it mean/how is it used?

texts:
I keep running into this symbol: ※

What is it, exactly? How is it used?

According to this Wikipedia link on Japanese typographic symbols, this ※ is called 米{こめ} or 米印{こめじるし}. It is used in notes as a reference mark, similar to an asterisk.

With that being said, I seem to find it in situations where there is more to it then a simple asterisk, and I'd really like to hear from people who are more familiar with it.

The specific example that prompted my question is in my grammar workbook, there are several grammar patterns/points on a page, along with relevant explanations and example sentences. One example sentence goes like this:

  例文　：　　xxxxxxxxxxxxxx[grammar pattern]。　　※[grammar point variation]

(I'll give the exact sentence at the bottom, but I thought it would be better to keep it generic as to not confuse the question.)

I take it to mean both are valid, but I wonder if it means that the secondary one is not correct. Also, I realize that this may vary from book to book, but I wonder if there is a standard for this sort of thing.

The exact sentence was: 今の成績では合格する可能性などありはしない。　　※合格などできはしない


texts: What's the difference between 何【なん】 and 幾【いく】 when referring to amounts?

texts: Is 幾 simply more literary/archaic than 何?  Can 幾 only be applied to certain words whereas 何 is more versatile?


texts: Aren't there two ways of putting a sentence with an i-adjective into past tense? かった and でした?

texts:
今日ヨガは最も難しいことです。

今日ヨガは最も難しかったことです。
今日ヨガは最も難しいことでした。

Are both sentences correct? What are the different implications?
I haven't worked with 最も yet, I would try to use 一番 here instead. What I perceive as my problem is かった or でした. Please, point out all the things.
今日一番難しいことはヨガです。

今日一番難しかったことはヨガです。
今日一番難しいことはヨガでした。


texts: How to say "i just want to do X right now"

texts:
"i just want to do X" Or something like "all i want to do is do X"

Example:

"All I want to do is lie down and rest"
"I just want to play that game forever"

If I tried to translate that it would be something like

とりあえず何よりも寝転びたい
（やっぱ）あのゲームを永遠にやりたいだけだ

I understand also that this can have different nuances, so for example there is one nuance that's like "this is all that I want to do in this moment" because everything else around you is unsatisfying, and the other nuance being something like "i have no other motivation but this / its not that I want to do Y, I just want to do X"

How would you translate both of those nuances?


texts:
I found many variants in the internet, but they include あなた, which as I know isn't polite and better not to say it to a stranger.

So, if I don't know the name/last name of the person, don't know the job position (at work e.g.), how can I say politely you?
Like: "Do you know?", "Are you <Name of the person>?" etc.

And is it polite to ask person about his/her name? If you forgot it.


texts: Given the context, what is the correct way to parse this sentence segment 次に訊くべき言葉が出てこない。?

texts:
この寒さをしのげそうな防寒服を手渡され、それを着込みながら僕は彼女に質問した。

  「君は……」

  [名前なら、ないわ]

  こちらから訊くより先に、低く呟くような声が返ってきた。

  「呼びにくければアインと呼んで。
  いつもそう呼ばれてたから」

  質問の出鼻をくじかれ、次に訊くべき言葉が出てこない。

My western brain doesn't know how to understand the bolded segment. It parsed the segment as 'particle-(次に)' 'verb-(訊く)' 'particle-(べき)' 'noun-(言葉)' 'particle-(が)' 'verb-(出てこない)'. I don't know if my parsing is correct or wrong, but I know that the following is true for parsing basic sentences.

  Japanese: Subject/topic + object + verb

  English: Subject + Verb + Object

Seeing as how there are two verbs in the Japanese segment, how do I understand what the verbs and particles are doing to form a coherent sentence?


texts: "トムと話した" vs. "トムと話し合った"

texts:
This book (Chap. 29) says that for some verbs which can be unilateral or bilateral (like 相談する, 話す, 合う),
The particle と implies that the verb is shared 50/50 between the two participants (bilateral), whereas the particle に implies that the main (or only) person doing the action is the subject (unilateral):

For example:

ジョンがトムに話した。 (John talked to Tom)
ジョンがトムと話した。 (John talked with Tom)
ジョンがトムに相談した。 (John consulted Tom)
ジョンがトムと相談した。 (John consulted with Tom)

I was wondering since ジョンがトムと話した。 already implies that it is a bilateral action, what is the difference in nuance between ジョンがトムと話した。 and ジョンがトムと話し合った。?


texts:
I have been trying to find the right way to translate "mixing speech styles". So far my internet searches have not yielded any results.

An example to show what I want to communicate: "I often tend to mix informal and formal speech".

If anybody can help me out, I will be very grateful! Thank you in advance.


texts:
It is said by a boy who was straddling on a running pig among other of them.

  せんべいになりたかねえやつあ　おとなしくわきへ　どいてろっ。

I think it would mean 「なりたくない」 or 'not to become'. Is it changed because of  dialectal speaking?


texts: What is the meaning of the characters ヨ・行ケ・ウ・行ウ・わ・ワ when written after the date?

texts: In doing a translation, I have come across a date which has the character ヨ written in brackets after the year. I found some more cases of the same usage in what seem to be legal texts, but I still can't figure out what they mean of how to translate them. Does anyone have some insight? Do I even need to translate them?


texts: What's the difference between 上る、登る and 昇る?

texts: According to jisho.org, they all have the same meanings, to climb, to rise, to ascend. Is that true? And do they have differences in usage?


texts: What is the correct 'to wear' verb for body weights?

texts:
In attempting to write about wearing ankle weights for the day, I found myself at a loss for which verb was appropriate.

巻く seems like it could be appropriate since they wrap around the ankle - in which case, it would also work for wrist weights. By this logic, I'd consider 着る for weighted vests, since they are worn like a normal vest with added straps.
締める seems appropriate since they fasten with velcro and straps (which could also work for weighted vests and wrist weights).
履く is a possibility since they're worn on the lower body, which would again make 着る the best option for weighted vests. I haven't the foggiest on which would be appropriate for wrist weights in this instance. する, maybe?

Which word would be appropriate for each type of weight?


texts:
I've been doing some JLPT5 grammar practice , and I came across the following dialogue fragment:

  A:『勉強はどうですか』B:『そうですね。』.

The reason I'm confused is I thought 『ね』 was employed as a way to seek confirmation/agreement but I can't see that at play here. I'm translating 'A's question as 'how is your study?', but even translating it as 'how about study?'(i.e. 'how about we study?'), it still doesn't entirely make sense to me. こんらんしています :/  I am simply a ばか外人 and would be grateful if someone could help me :)


texts: Trying to figure a phrase I've been hearing: ななじゅっと

texts:
Recently I've been hearing people around me use a phrase that sounds like "ななじゅっと" especially in the morning when talking about the days plans. I can't seem to find anything on a dictionary - just leads to an entry for seventy which I am pretty sure is not what they are saying is.

Any help?


texts: Is 「(i-adjective) + そうだったと思う」 grammatical/natural?

texts:
The lack of Google results for this kind of construction (relative to the number for the equivalent [i-adjective] + そうだと思う and [i-adjective] + そうだと思った for many i-adjectives) made me antsy about using it.

E.g. 「ジム・モリソンはすごく面白そうだったと思う」"I think Jim Morrison seems like he was really interesting."

Am I doing something wrong here?


texts:
I found similar translations for "endurance" and don't know how to distinguish them:

[耐久]{たいきゅう}
[忍耐]{にんたい}
[我慢]{がまん}

What are the patterns to distinguish one from another and to generally find out which I should choose?

Thanks in advance :)


texts: What's the difference between [noun] + の and [noun]+ な?

texts:
For example, suppose I want to say "It's a weird thing". Can I say "hen na koto desu.", and "hen no koto desu"? What is the difference?

｢変なことです｣ vs. ｢変のことです｣


texts: Extremely casual way to make requests to very close friends

texts: How does one make a very casual "request" to a good friend. I know that the て form is used to make a request that is fairly casual, but it doesn't sound "casual enough". For example, 食べて, would probably sound like 'please' eat it (a very soft please) and ptobably isnt said in very casual situations. To give a more concrete example, lets say I am with a close friend, and what I really want to say is "come on, dont be a wimp and just eat it bruh" or something along that line. In such cirxumstances, I would probably say...blah blah blah...... and finally食べてよ。I should also ask if its ok for both genders to use it. But that (at least to me) doesnt really sound casual does it, so I am wondering what is the most appropriate way to say this


texts:
これも全て先生のおかげですね。感謝するんですよ？

は、はい 本当に、感謝しています

突っ込むべき時に突っ込むべき場所にきちんと突っ込めない男はもてませんよ？

まあ、今日の所は良いでしょう。皆にも伝えないといけませんからね。仲間たちにも順番に顔を出すように伝えて下さいませ

In this I'm not sure what she would be referring to. Would someone say something like the above in the situation where they are saying "that's enough chitchat/etc for today(as we can do it tomorrow or whenever)" to bring the conversation to an end, or is it referring directly to what was said in the previous line?


texts: Use of 全部{ぜんぶ} in the following sentence

texts:
タクシーの全部{ぜんぶ}が白い{しろい}。

Would that be a natural way to say: all the taxis are white. ?