texts:
「......てめえ、覚えてろよ」
「女の子はそんな言葉遣いしちゃ駄目よ。そうそう、仕上げにこれをつけてちょうだい」
「あ？」
士道は眉をひそめながら、琴里から絆創膏のようなものを受け取った。
「それをのどに貼り付けてみて」
Context: the first speaker is the brother (士道) and the second speaker the sister (琴里). The sister forced her brother to dress as a girl. And she gave him a device for him to stick to his throat, so that the brother’s voice could change into a girl’s voice.
Hi. What is the function of the に in 仕上げに? Is the に the same as として? Or does the に indicate purpose?
Thank you.


texts: Do you call the feeling of acid burns as 燃える too?

texts:
Doesn't have to be the kind that melts your face off. Like your detergent(alkali but nvm that) prickling your hand after leaving it for a bit too long on your hand.

Would toothpaste or menthol's effect on your skin be called 燃える too?

Basically want to know if moeru can be applied to non-fire related words too and what words would be used for these situations. I get the feeling it's some onomatopoeic word though if possible I'm looking for an actual word too.


texts:
ゴリラが頭を掻いてる姿がダドリーそっくりだ。あれで金髪だったらな.....。(ellipsis as written)
  The gorilla scratching its head looked just like Dudley. ????

I don't know what あれで金髪だったらな means or what the grammar is. Guesses are "If only it were blond...", "Except it wasn't blond..." etc.

Obviously 金髪だったら is "if it were blond", but I have no idea what あれで is doing or what な is doing. The dictionary says あれで means "despite appearances" but that makes no sense to me.


texts:
ばかり, when used to add the connotation of having just done something, usually (or nearly always, in the examples I've seen), takes a copula after it. Either だ or です.
An example:

彼は帰ったばかりだ。

My question is: does ばかり, grammar-wise, have to take a copula?
Asking because  だ/です is only necessary for noun sentences, while here I see no noun. ばかり does not look or act like a noun and is usually listed as an (adverbial) particle (副助詞). Is it just a particularity of language, and some words like ばかり despite not being nouns, just require だ? Is the だ grammatically unnecessary but usually used because it adds emphasis? Is ばかり somehow a noun? Or perhaps does ばかり turn the whole phrase before it into a noun?


texts: I want to ask if someone is there. Can both terms be used to ask if a person is there/are you there? いますか or いるの？


texts: What does 仕事 and もう mean in this context?

texts:
I ran into this particular dialogue in this manga where a guy celebrates his day off by gaming. He says this line that kinda confuses me.

休みなんて
もう。。。
ゲームが仕事

The もうゲームが仕事 is the one I'm wondering about, and how もう is used here.
Is he saying for that his day off, gaming would be his job? Does もう mean "already" in this context?


texts: Difference between [Noun]する vs [Noun]をする vs [Noun]だ

texts:
I've never really understand the difference between these 3 structures :

ものすごいスピードで攻撃したのですが...
ものすごいスピードでの攻撃をしたのですが...
ものすごいスピードでの攻撃だったのですが...

I wouldn't be surprised if the first 2 were totaly interchangeable, but what about the third? Does it have a particular nuance or is it virtually the same as the others?


texts: Ending an email in Japanese to your sensei?

texts:
I am learning Japanese, and was wondering how to end an email to my Japanese Sensei?

Like something similar to Regards or Thank You. A more respectful way to end an email.


texts: Identification of the subject of「目をそらすかと。。。」

texts:
From what I understand, the expression 「〜のかと」 can be used to express the speaker thinking something might happen, as in 「〜のかと思って」. However in the below passage I am having trouble understanding what it means in context.

  僕は、彼女の手のひらにも、汗がにじんでいるのを感じた。炎が、夜空の闇を照らしている。大切な文字が燃える、燃える。焦る。頬を汗が伝うのが分かった。ゆらぎ子が手を離さない。運転手を見た。目をそらすのかと彼女が手を握りしめたとき、その強さに、僕は諦めた。車は走り出した。

I think my biggest confusion here is who is the subject of 「目をそらす」. Is the speaker saying that she (彼女) gripped his hand tightly, as if she might look away? This doesn't seem to fit. Or is he saying that he was going to look away (from the taxi driver?) but then she gripped his hand tightly?

None of the interpretations seem to fit to me.

If someone can help me understand, I'd appreciate it.

Update: You can see this paragraph in context here.


texts: Is it okay to use お願いします when asking your teacher for help?

texts:
When asking a teacher for help, is it okay to use お願いします?

For example, asking to check my homework:

  宿題をチェックしてお願いします。

To me, "Please check my homework." sounds kind of rude.

Would saying

  宿題をチェックしてお願いできますか? (Would it be possible for you to check my homework?)

be any better ?


texts: How much buzz is there in 式 of 手打ち式 udon noodles?

texts:
A lady in front of me in a line to the register had a pack of udon noodles in her basket. It read:

  うどん・手打ち式

How much buzz is there in such a phrase? Is it comparable to using 手打ち風? Or could it have some merit to it?

Also, I assume that a real hand-made udon makers would simply write 手打ちうどん. Please correct me, if I am wrong.


texts:
As far as I understand it the Japanese Kanjis are derived from the Chinese ones. This was to introduce a writing system in Japan. But for the on‘yomi reading, the Japanese also took the spoken word for the Kanji from the Chinese one. Does that mean they stopped using the Japanese word for it and suddenly started to use a different Chinese word in their spoken language? Why would they do it?  What was the motivation or driving factor to use Chinese pronunciation in Japan?

Or, did they just adopt the Chinese pronunciation for words that didn’t exist back then in Japan?


texts: に in 両親に行ったように反乱軍に跪いてみせた

texts:
彼はひとたまりもなくかつて両親に行ったように反乱軍に跪いてみせた。

no real context, only an example sentence for 跪く

反乱軍に跪く is more obvious, kneeling at/towards 反乱軍.

両親に行った I'm far less certain of.

How should I look at this?


texts: Is it possible to change です to でした in ～んです grammar?

texts:
Is it possible to change

  このネックレスは買ったんですか。

to

  このネックレスは買うんでしたか。

without changing the meaning?


texts:
恥ずかしそうに戸惑いながらも、彼女は快楽の波を声に出して逃すのに忙しそうだ。

Though she is bewildered in shame, (and though??) her waves of pleasure escape in her voice, she seems flustered.

i'm not sure if this is only because using though b2b is strange in English, but there is a certain logical disconnect here.

Thank you for any clarification.


texts: Can the particle "no" sometimes be omitted?

texts:
It seems to me that sometimes the "no" that should be between two nouns is omitted. if so, can this be done in any case or are there special cases?

For example, a case where I think there should be a "no" particle is this

  Birusu-sei de shugyō kaishi da!

I translate this as "It's the training's start in Birusu's planet" (correct me if I'm wrong), and if I would have to write this back for me I would add a "no" to read

  Birusu-sei de shugyō no kaishi da!

A similar phrase it's seen to use the "no"

  Gokū wa shugyō no tabi he!?"

Why? Is it optional?


texts:
I apologize in advance for the poor title. I'm really not sure how to phrase my question. I often see in Japanese sentences structures like the following:

エホバに関するどんな事実を強調しましたか。

In the above, エホバに関する (let's call it 'A') seems to stand on it's own as some clause that, to my eye, doesn't seem clearly attached to the remainder of the sentence. Then we have どんな事実を強調しましたか ('B') that makes sense on it's own (e.g. 'B' meaning "What facts were highlighted?")

Is, エホバに関する, modifying どんな in this case?

In many Japanese sentences, I often see a clause ending in plain form that just sits before (or after) the rest of the sentence. But it's not joined to the remainder of the sentence with any particle like の, こと, ため, によって, etc. So it's simply "A + B" with no particle to join them and it doesn't always look like an adjectival clause.

Am I just confused? Is the above just an adjectival clause for どんな or is this a common structure I'm just not aware of?

(P.S. Please let me know if I need to provide more examples.)


texts: How would you say "please give me 10 of this"?

texts:
for example, これを一つください is please give me 10 of this.
then how should I say if it were 10, 11, 12, and more...?


texts:
Here is a passage from my Japanese Bible

更に、悪魔はイエスを非常に高い山に連れて行き、世のすべての国々とその繁栄ぶりを見せて、「もし、ひれ伏してわたしを拝むなら、これをみんな与えよう」と言った。すると、イエスは言われた。「退け、サタン。『あなたの神である主を拝み、ただ主に仕えよ』と書いてある。」　－　マタイによる[福音書]{ふく・いん・しょ}４章：８－１０節
Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness.  "All this I will give you, " the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me."  Then Jesus answered, "Go away, Satan!  The scripture says, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!' " - Matthew 4:8-10

So the choices we have are しりぞけ, どけ, ひけ, and のけ.  I know all of these readings overlap at least somewhat in meaning, so I'm not really sure which one is best.  I think どけ would be more for "get out of my way" rather than "go away", but that would imply some kind of movement on Jesus' part (the pre- and proceeding verses don't indicate he was walking or otherwise mobile).  しりぞけ just sounds too long and unnatural, although that's just a subjective assessment.  ひけ feels the most natural to me.
So which one is it?  Or is more than one acceptable in this context?


texts: Trouble with "不安と、病名がちゃんとあったことに少し安心して涙が止まらない"

texts:
不安と、病名がちゃんとあったことに少し安心して涙が止まらないーーー女性のこの日のツイートにはそう書かれていました。(source)

I don't know how to link "不安と" to "病名がちゃんとあったことに少し安心して涙が止まらない"(which function of と is it?)
And I don't understand why 少し is used if it makes her cry, it doesn't seem logic since if it is a weak emotion it shouldn't make her cry...? "I can't stop crying because I' m a little bit relieved"


texts: 「ばかりに」についての文法の質問です。教えてください

texts:
子供に歯磨きの習慣をつけさせたいばかりに、親がストレスを感じてもよくありません。

why is it 良くありません　instead of よくあります。

「ばかりに」の意味は「のせいで」と同じだ思ってたから、この文の後ろには、否定形の方は正しくないと思います。

一応こういう例文から参照してる。

  お金がないばかりに、今度の旅行には行けなかったのです。

教えてください。


texts: It's the "ship" from relationship, and generally refers to a romantic or sexual pairing/couple that an individual finds enjoyment from and/or supports. I know about the naming conventions (eg. サスサク), just not what the support is called. eg: 「サスサクは私の好きな何々です。」とか「どれの二人は愛にされていると思いますか。」シップかペアか何かと言って知りません。


texts: What is the difference between 訪ねる and 訪問する?

texts: I know the difference between 訪ねる and 訪れる, but I don't understand when 訪問する is used.


texts: Saying northeast, northwest, north-north-east, etc

texts:
What would the correct way to write and say northeast, northwest, north-north-east, etc?

In Chinese, we put east and west first and then put north or south at the end, for example, 東北 for northeast.
Is this the same in Japanese? And would the Japanese pronunciation be とうほく, ひがしきた or something else?
Also, how would one write or say directions such as north-north-east or south-west-south (ie. Cardinal directions with three parts)?


texts: when do I have to use naru hodo, and when do I have to use wakarimashita?

texts: When do I have to use naru hodo, and  when do I have to use wakarimashita? As far as I know, they both mean something like "I understand" or "I understood".


texts:
I'm having trouble understanding why 〜に受かる means "to pass". What would the equivalent logic in English be for this phrase? (Something like the intransitive form of receive?)

Also, why is the particle に used with 受かる, here?


texts: What is the difference in meaning between 先生 and 教師？

texts: Apparently, the terms mean the same thing. They both refer to a teacher.


texts:
Here is the sentence including the word.

わしはあの東光少年院にはいったが　さいご　とうてい　生きて　出られるような気がせんのや。

It is said by Kansai spoken guy.

I have tried to look on some Japanese dictionary web sites and found that the word that is close to the meaning in my opinion is　気がせく but I think it cannot be conjugated to the form in the sentence above.　The word would be　「気がせない」but I am uncertain about it.


texts: If i say そいつは笑える would it be translated to "that's funny" or " that would have made him laugh" ?


texts: How do ビュッフェ形式のホテルやレストランで and 私が思いつくのは relate to each other?

texts:
The following is an excerpt from a conversation with my language partner. For some context, I told her about our familydinner at a restaurant during christmas eve. I wanted to tell her that you could have your meal freshly cooked right before your eyes there, but unfortunately I used some wrong vocabulary and she explained to me what I actually said :D

I'll post what I had written first: 彼女の家族は、クリスマスイブでレストランへ行く伝統があります。ですから、去年私の家族と彼女の家族とクリスマスイブで「グル‌メ-テンプル」というレストランへ行きまし‌た。このレストランはビュッフェと料理番組‌で作られた料理を供して、料理のすごい種々‌がありました

Then here is the full block which she wrote back concerning my misleading wordchoice: 「料理番組で作られた料理」というのは、テレビの料理番組で作っていた料理を再現したという意味でしょうか。 ビュッフェ形式のホテルやレストランで私が思いつくのは、「実演料理（じつえんりょうり）」です。作って並べられている料理とは別に、その場でシェフが作ってくれる料理です。日本の場合では、その場で寿司を握ってくれたり、天ぷらを揚げてくれたりします。お客さんは作っている様子を見ることができ、作りたてを食べることができます。

Now, the sentence in question:
 ビュッフェ形式のホテルやレストランで私が思いつくのは、「実演料理（じつえんりょうり）」です。

My attempt at translation:
"Concerning what I recall out of the buffet-system hotels and restaurants, it is 実演料理."

I interpreted で as the short form of の中で here. I'm not sure wether the way I put ビュッフェ形式のホテルやレストランで into relation with 思いつくのは is legit or not. With の being a nominalizer, 思いつくのは becomes "concerning that which I recall". This "that which I recall" is further detailed by ビュッフェ形式のホテルやレストランで, that's at least how I understood it.


texts:
思わず、その胸倉に掴みかかるが、彼女の姿をしていたものに触れた途端、それは波間に消える泡のように掻き消えてしまう。

I have no idea whether it is ものに as a whole, or もの by itself followed by に.


texts:
Recently I came across the word 狭める, "to narrow" or "to make narrow." I wondered about its relation to 狭い and then I found some other similar adjective-verb pairs:

固い ー 固める
高い ー 高める
深い ー 深まる

I'm curious if this is a common way to turn adjectives (it seems like only い-adjectives) into verbs. Also, is it an alternative to the adverbial form + なる and the adverbial form + する？


texts: Translating the statement: X is very common

texts:
I'm working with a computer translation program and the output I got was this:

  ぞれは一般的です。

I'm trying to determine whether this is a correct translation for 'That is common.' Alc gives  誰でも知っている［やっている・使っている］一般的 when I look up common, which has me thinking that the sense of the sentence is wrong.

The source sentence is: 'This type of implementation of the <do> tag on mobile devices is very common'.


texts: 金曜日の予習に第4章を読んでおくこと, The function of こと

texts: The translation given for the sentence was "Read chapter 4 for Friday." Is the こと used just to make the sentence a bit more respectful or is it just missing some context? I feel like i'm just missing something obvious here.


texts:
Since the word order in Japanese is kinda vague and also mostly reversed to what English speakers are used to, I always wondered how to say things like that in Japaense:

The boy said the following: 'Sample Text'
Please look at the following picture.

I also do not know what "the following" in general means in Japanese. https://jisho.org/search/the%20following
I never heard any of those that Jisho.org have listed.


texts:
I am reading The Little Prince in Japanese and I am not sure about how to translate だろうと in the following sentence:

  大人たちにそう言われてから、今度はわかってくれるだろうとウワバミの中身を描いて見ました。

I don't know how to literally translate it, even if I understand the meaning of the sentence...


texts: Is it correct to read 黒川 as くろかわ or is くろがわ correct?

texts:
I always run into this problem.

Sometimes か and が are very similar to me so I have to type them in the computer to find the correct pronunciation of word.

When I type くろがわ or くろかわ they both give me 黒川. So which one is correct? Or are they both correct?

(I am using the Microsoft IME input) If only one is correct, why does this input method suggest the kanji that I wanted? Isn't that misleading?


texts:
In this sentence:

  僕は両親が帰ってくるまで公園で時間をつぶしていなければいけなかった。

  I had to kill time in the park until my parents came home.

Why does 時間をつぶす need to be in the progressive form? Why can I not write ...時間をつぶさなければいけなかった。

I'm assuming 時間をつぶしている is progressive here. It certainly isn't habitual and I can't see how it would work as change of state. Thanks.


texts: What is the difference between 行き先 and 行く先? It seems like 行く先 has a slightly broader meaning (it is also about the road to the destination?) but I'm not sure.


texts: How do you say I am emailing something and attaching it to the email?

texts:
I am usually confused if I am going to use 入れます or 付けます when specifying that I attached something to the email.

For example:

最新の帳票サンプルを添付して入れます。

or

最新の帳票サンプルを添付して付けます。

I would usually say that I am usually trying to say that the assigned task is finished the finished output is attached to the mail. Is it more natural to say 付け (attached) or 入れ (in the mail)?


texts: Imperative used instead of conditional form

texts:
This quesion:

と言っても vs とは言え           .

reminded me of a similar case:

  どっちにしても vs どっちにしろ

which are also synonymous as far as I can tell.

That got me thinking:

Is this coincidental? Are there other cases where the imperative is used instead of the conditional formulation? Has this replacement ever been productive?


texts: What is the significance of ココ and サ in emoji?

texts:
I am wondering what these emoji mean. Like, why would they create these ones specifically? I'm trying to think of a translation for ココ, but all I can think of is "cocoa" or a shortened long word, but that wouldn't make any sense.

Here are the emoji in question:  and :

Also, is there a "proper" way to use these emoji?


texts:
そのお菓子を息子にくれますか？

そのお菓子を息子にもらえますか?

Apparently these sentences are equivalent, but as far as I know に marks the subject who gives the object, I don't understand how do they have the same meaning

Is there anything am I missing?


texts: What is the difference between 都市 and 郷?

texts: Do they mean the same thing? What situations should I use one over the other?


texts:
This sentence was from a JLPT N2 prep book.
卵からかえったばかりの魚は体が透き通っている。

I don't understand the part that modifies 魚.
Here is how I parsed it:

卵から かえった ばかり の 魚
From egg/returned/just/noun modifier/fish

So I thought this means "The fish that just returned from eggs", which doesn't make any sense.


texts: What is the function of のは in this question?

texts: きさまがこの時代に来てタマゴからそうなるまで3年間かかったのは...?


texts: Usage of 「と」 in these 2 sentences, conditional or quotation? And how to differentiate

texts:
I came across these two sentences, and I'm having trouble deciding whether these 「と」s are conditional, or quotation particles, or otherwise. If they are quotation, I do not understand which verb follows them to make it obvious that they are quotation, and if they are conditional I'm not sure where they go in the English translation, or how they make sense in the original Japanese.

ずっと我慢してきたが、この状態だと⻭医者さんに⾏かざるを得ない。  I tolerated it all this time but in this situation, I can't not go to the dentist.

上司の話を聞くと、どうしても海外に出張をせざるを得ないようです。  Hearing the story from the boss, it seems like I can't not go on a business trip overseas no matter
what.

Is there an easy way to differentiate between conditional and quotation 「と」, other than quotation 「と」 being followed by obvious verbs such as 「思う」, 「考える」, 「言う」, etc.?


texts: Meaning of 首ひねり in the following sentence

texts:
A boxer has just managed to bring down his opponent landing his final punch. However, he surprisingly goes down too. Here you can see the whole page. His trainer comments with this sentence:

  [スリッピングアウェー]{首　　ひ　　ね　　り}と同時に[とんで]{・・・}たか……ガキ〰〰〰

Why has 首ひねり been used as furigana for スリッピングアウェー? I researched 首ひねり and it is a sumo move in which a wrestler grab the opponent's head with one hand and with the other tries to throw him down, but, from the image, to me it looks as if the boxer bumped into or was hit by his opponent's arm after landing the final punch, though there are some spinning marks drawn. Not understanding this, I am also not able to understand the second part of the sentence. Could you help me understand why 首ひねり was used here and what is the general meaning of the sentence? Thank you for your help!


texts:
What is the etymology of the word バレる, and why is it often written with katakana?

ばれる(P); バレる (v1,vi) to leak out (a secret); to be exposed (a lie, improper behaviour, etc.) (behavior)
その秘密はついにばれた。 The secret came to light at last.


texts: Confused by a Sentence Containing a 他動詞 without を

texts:
My grammar textbook contains the problem sentence

  ある専門家のページによると、ありの巣は、初めは女王ありがたった一匹で【　　　】。

  １　作るそうだ　　　２　作ったそうだ
  ３　作られるそうだ　４　作られたそうだ

I chose the incorrect answer ３　作られるそうだ. The correct answer is １　作るそうだ, making the sentence

  ある専門家のページによると、ありの巣は、初めは女王ありがたった一匹で【作るそうだ】。

I guess the queen ant makes the first nest. I am very confused by this sentence.

What is the direct object of 作る?
Why is は used twice?
What does で mean in this sentence?

I think my question is not very clear because I am confused. Please feel free to edit it.


texts: What is this dash-like punctuation at the beginning of lines, seeming to indicate rapid-fire thoughts?

texts:
Here's a bit from a Kamoshida Hajime novel (Just Because!):

I've reviewed the Wikipedia article on Japanese punctuation as well as some related questions on this Stack Exchange but am unable to figure out what this dash-like punctuation at the beginning of each of these lines is, and how to type this. I've been using U+2500, BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT HORIZONTAL, for this because two of them combine nicely without any space inbetween (on all my devices and apps), like in the image:

──私、決めたから

Alternatives I've considered are: U+2015 (HORIZONTAL BAR), em dashes, and katakana continuation marks (though none of these combine perfectly without spacing?):

――私、決めたから (two horizontal bars)
——私、決めたから (two em dashes)
ーー私、決めたから (two continuation marks/chouonpu)

What's the right answer here? How should I properly represent this in text?


texts:
Whats the difference between

食べたら〜
and
食べてでもしたら〜


texts: Is there one 点 or two in the kanji for まで, viz. 迄?

texts:
Is there one 点 or two in the kanji for まで, viz. 迄 ?

Some dictionaries show it with one and some show it with two.

The Chinese character only has one and I don't think I've ever seen a Chinese character with two.

Also , is まで ever even written in kanji ?


texts: What will the new character ⿰令和 look like?

texts:
On the Wikipedia page for the Reiwa period there's a section:

Implementation
The Unicode Consortium has already reserved a code point (U+32FF) for a new glyph which will combine halfwidth versions of reiwa's kanji, 令 and 和, into a single full-width character.

I'm finding it hard to imagine what ⿰令和 will look like though.
Any ideas?


texts: What is the difference between using を and に with the verb 注目する?

texts:
私たちは物価を注目しなかった。The price did not enter into our consideration.

  誰も彼の見解に注目していないようだ。It seems that nobody takes any notice of his
  opinions.


texts: I know that あげる is to give. But I find it weird to interpret it as, I have come to love you and I'm giving it to you. But at the same it seems to also make some sense. Is my understanding of the sentence correct?


texts: Shashin onegaishimasu / しゃしん おねがいします - informally acceptable?

texts:
If I were to ask a native of Japan to take a picture of myself or me and the group with whom I am, is it acceptable to ask

"Shashin onegaishimasu / しゃしん おねがいします" as a shortcut instead of the things suggested here?

Note: can't yet create tag "informal", if helpful


texts:
what does

  ではないか

mean in the sentence below?
And can someone please translate it?

  耳に馴染みのない方も多いのではないかと思いますが、 (after that he explains the word)....


texts:
This is the sentence I'm trying to translate... I can't figure out which part is being negated

  好きになるというのは自分の一番皮膚の薄い柔らかい場所を差し出すことでしか成立しない

I translated it as:

  whoever the person you come to love is your biggest weakness

and then I have no idea what the end would be. I know what the parts mean individually but I can't make them connect.


texts: What is the literal meaning of 　”いいかげんにしろ！”?

texts:
Some translations for the expression いいかげんにしろ！ are:

  that's enough!;  cut it out!;  get a life!

If the correct kanji of this expression is 好い加減, what is the literal meaning of both 好い and 加減 in this expression?


texts:
I heard announcements (at the station in Tokyo):

  この電車は桜木町行きです /
  この電車は桜木町へ行きです

(not sure, did I hear correctly?)

English version of the above:

  This train is bound for Sakuragichō.

So, I am asserting that we can use verb stem + desu. Is my assertion correct? Please explain.


texts:
A Japanese person learning English has asked me what クリームパン is in English.

jisho.org describes it as "a cream-filled roll", but that may be describing it rather than translating it. The Japanese edition of Wikipedia claims that the English is "Custard Filled Brioches", and googling suggests that "Custard Brioche" gets more hits than "Custard Filled Brioches".

Is "Custard Brioche" the best term for this foodstuff?


texts: Is 忝い（かたじけない） used in contemporary language?

texts: I'm currently watching Rurouni Kenshin, and Kenshin says  忝い（かたじけない） a lot to express his gratitude. I looked it up a little and based on this it seems like it's old Samurai language, but I wonder if people use it today with no intention to be Samurai-ish? Sort of like "I appreciate it"?


texts: On the legibility of Japanese writing (compared to the Latin alphabet with its variable letter height) – What's the correct kana height?

texts:
One aspect that contributes to the very high legibility of the Latin alphabet is that the letters have ascenders and descenders which creates a characteristic silhouette for different words. This way, a word can even be read when the top or bottom 50% is cut away. Additionally, it speeds up the reading.

In Japanese, all characters have the same height and no ascenders or descenders. Sometimes, Kanji are set bigger than Kana which improves legibility. But writing kana with ascenders and descenders is uncommon.

I saw it written that way on a beer ad in the Tokio metro, ハ was as big as x, some characters were descending like p and some ascending like h. I unfortunately do not have a photo of it and forgot which characters were higher and which ones lower.

Is there a preferred way of setting the kana like this? Which kana should be x high, which ones cap high and which ones descending and which ones ascending?

"That concept doesn't exist in Japanese". But it is being used and does improve legibility. We don't have to do something the way we always did.


texts:
In English "last minute" is a pretty common phrase, but I am having a hard time finding a parallel in Japanese. I want to say things like

Any last minute questions?
I am doing some last minute studying
Person A: You didn't tell us you were going to Paris! Person B: it was kind of last minute
Why do you always do things so last minute?

I think that ぎりぎり works for the last phrase, but I don't think it would work for the first three. ギリギリの質問がありますか sounds wrong to me.

For the first phrase, you could say something like 試験を受ける前、質問がありますか but I feel like that loses the sense of urgency and "last chance"-ness that last minute gives.

Thanks in advance


texts:
Here are several words that can be used to describe someone's face, facial expression, or attitude along with their definitions from dictionary.goo.ne.jp, which are all related to the word 引き締まった。

  引き締まる　－　たるみがなくなり、固く締まる
  [凛]{りん}　－　態度・容姿・声などが、きびしくひきしまっているさま。
  [凜凜]{りり}しい　－　きりっとひきしまっている。
  きりっと　－　きちんとしてゆるみのないさま。
  [颯爽]{さっそう}　－　人の姿や態度・行動がきりっとして、見る人にさわやかな印象を与えるさま。

I can understand the physical meaning, but the idea seems to be used in a more figurative way when describing a person's face, expression, or attitude. Can someone explain the nuance of 引き締まった in this context? For example, does it have a positive or negative meaning? Is it more often used to describe a transient characteristic or someone's essence?


texts: In a clause, which is the correct use, が or は？

texts:
My english kind of makes me confused about Japanese.

は　means the main focus is the thing after it.

が　means the main focus is the thing before it.

For instance,

1.それは何ですか

2.何がそれですか

This is my understanding about one of their many differences. I wonder if this difference is gone when it comes to the subject of a clause.

Here is what i mean:

私はそれが何かわからない

私は何がそれかわからない

The two sentences above both mean "I don't know what it is.", right?

I picked two examples from a Japanese ariticle about English clauses (http://ameblo.jp/cc-no-blog/entry-11132742841.html):

1

    Do you know when your brother will come back？

    お兄さんがいつ戻っているかあなたは知っている？

2

    I know who broke the window.

    私はだれが窓を割ったのか知っている。

が is written in the examples. Should I always use が in a clause, or I can use "は" also ?

(Since I have definitely seen は being used in a clause, I would like to know if that is just spoken Japanese or something. Is it appropriate to use it like that in formal writing? )


texts:
I came across this sentence:

  四月だというのに、結構寒いね。 "It is April, but it is rather cold isn't it?"

Recalling what I learned about the のに conjunction, I can also make the sentence:

  四月なのに、結構寒いね。

(Question) What is the difference?


texts:
Grandad has just promised something he is unlikely to be able to fulfil. He then thinks to himself:

  「いざとなったときもし逃げたりしたらわしゃこの年にして裏切り者のウソつき者じゃ。どうなるかわからんことまで言うもんじゃないのう。」
  If push came to shove and I were to do something like run away, I would be a liar and a traitor. I shouldn't go as far as to say that I don't know what will happen.

I translated この年にして as 'at this age', but I don't see the relevance. If he fails to fulfil his promise he'll be a liar and traitor whatever his age. What have I misunderstood?

The second sentence also seems unconnected. I must be missing something here.


texts:
I was reading a short news article on students taking entrance exams in Japan, and it listed the number of students from the prefecture who took what test.

Here is the excerpt I had a question about:

  、、、、受験者数は、地理歴史・公民（１）２０５１人、同（２）４８０４人、、、、

It goes on to list subjects and give the number of people taking the test.

I know 同 is used to like "the above-mentioned [blank]", usually about a group or organization, but here I think it's referencing to the subjects. I'm a little hesitant on the (1) and (2) parts.

What I think it says is this that 2051 people are taking the 地理{ちり}歴史{れきし} (geography and history) and 4804 people are taking 公民{こうみん} (civics). What I don't understand is why 地理歴史・公民 has to be broken up like it is. All the other subjects are listed individually (including separating "foreign language" and "English listening").

So my question is two-fold. A) Did I understand it correctly, and B) Why was it written like it was?


texts:
５千円からお預かりいたします。３千円のおつりでございます。

I don't understand the use of 預かる here. Jisho says it means "to look after" "to keep in custody" so I can understand a sentence like これを預かっていただけませんか and ここで手荷物を預かっていただけますか but not the first one above.


texts:
彼はいった

Is there a better more fluent way to say 'he went'?


texts:
最後の質問が解けたところで、試験終了のチャイムが鳴ったんだ。

What does で after ところ mean ?


texts:
Apparently when speaking to someone like 明仁, I'd need to speak a special brand of urban-polite keigo called 最高敬語.

Given this, what exactly are the rules for this brand of keigo? As I can only find it on Japanese wikipedia, and my Japanese isn't good enough to thusly read up on it.


texts: Use of particles for なにも in response to the question "What is in something?"

texts: If the answer to the question, "What is in the pocket?" is "Nothing is in the pocket." is the topic marker が needed after "Nothing" (i.e., "なにもが ..." or just "なにも ...")?


texts:
I am wondering if 目黒 can be used as a noun outside of its usage as a district name.

Examining each character,

目 eye, vision, sight, etc.
黒 black, guilt, etc.

provides a couple of interesting interpretations:

black eye
vision of guilt

Is it possible to interpret 目黒 in such ways, or is it simply a district name that holds no other meaning?


texts: Help for translation: Object or agent? "お前に" or "お前を And person for "思ってる"

texts:
お前に私が殺せると思ってるのか？

I'm not sure about this phrase.
Is correct "お前に" or it's better "お前を". Is object or agent?
And which person is correct for 思ってる? "お前" or "私"

It's a line from a comic I'm trying to translate and there is a person who attack another and the other after avoiding the attack says this phrase.
I translated (probably wrong, I know) both:

"Do you think to kill me?" (I think it's wrong)
"I'm thinking to kill you, do you know?" (I'm not sure how to translate "のか？")


texts: Please Explain the Grammer Pattern and use of 見てんの

texts:
Studying Terrace House subtitles. In Episode 1, someone says:

どういう気持ちで見てんの？

(please correct the following assumptions in case I'm wrong)

I understand どういう to be どう言う or "What would you say of"
気持ちで I understand to be like "your feelings of"
見て I understand to mean "seeing"
の is a more gentle(feminine sounding) question marker I think.

so literal "What would you say of your feelings about seeing the show"

but I'm uncertain of how ん is being used here grammatically. Is it akin to something like "tell me the truth" or "be frank about this".

so literal "What would you honestly say of your feelings about seeing the show?"

Like 泳げないんです。"To be honest, I can't swim."

Thanks in advance!


texts:
背景
現在、私は色々な大学教員の就職活動をしています。前から、英語圏（特にアメリカ）と日本の著書を区別する方法は異なっていると思っていましたが、今まではあまり影響にならなかったから、聞いておりませんでした。
質問自体
学術冊は幾つの種類があるのですが、日本と英語圏の区別仕方は異なっているかどうか及びふさわしい表現を教えていただきたいです。

一人は一人で一冊書く場合、英語に「single-authored book」、日本語に「単著」になるでしょうか。
一冊は数名で書いて、各々章は違う人が書いてあて、英語に（書いたものの味方から）「single-authored book chapter」、日本語に「共著」の概念になるでしょうか。
同じ章は数人に書いていた場合、「co-authors」と「共著」になるでしょうか。

私が気になるのは２の使い方。まず、上記は当てるかどうかを確認して欲しい。そして、一人で書いてあった章は「共著」と認めますか。それはその１冊は全員が協力したものと皆しているからか別の理由からそのように考えている。
English
Background
At present, I'm doing a lot of job applications for positions in Japanese universities. I've always felt the way that publications are classified differs between the English-speaking world (particularly America) and Japan, it has not had much impact on me until now so I hadn't asked earlier.
The Question
There's a lot of types of academic books, and I'd like to know the correct way to use Japanese to describe some of my work.

A book written entirely by one person would be in English a "single-authored book" or a "単著" in Japanese right?
A book with chapters written by separate authors would be (for the authors) "single-author book chapters" in English and "共著" in Japanese?
If the same chapter is written by multiple people, then it's "co-authored" in English and "共著" in Japanese.

I'm particularly interested in 2. First, is my interpretation correct? Then, I'd like to better understand whether this is because the work is understood as a single book that everyone worked on or some other basis?


texts:
Wading my way through rūju, I found the following phrase:

  心慣じめない人にでも

Google couldn't parse it, so I tried doing so myself. 人にでも, read hito ni de mo, is the antecedent of the relative clause (hito) plus a few prepositions (particles in fact) inserting it into the song. The rest seems to be a noun and a verb. However, I was unable to find out how to read that, because taking 心慣 as a single noun would give me shinken or shinkan, but JEDict has no such noun, nor has Wiktionary, neither in English nor in Japanese nor in Chinese. I even tried guessing its meaning by finding a Chinese noun with identical spelling, but neither MDBG nor Baidu Baike nor the Chinese Wikipedia nor the Japanese one know about it. JEDict says nothing if I try a verb starting with 心慣じ, but knows a verb nareru and narasu and narawasu and narau starting with the second character which Google doesn't even transliterate. However, if the verb way is the right way to go, then I have another problem, since 心 will be read kokoro and the line would seem one syllable too long for the tune.

So what does this phrase mean, how is it pronounced, how should I parse that 心慣じめない?


texts: I need help understanding 「虫が止まったみたいな扱いだ。」

texts:
I need help understanding this sentence,

  虫が止まったみたいな扱いだ。

The Context is that the speaker is frustrated with what his conversation partner is doing/saying, but he is trying to help him as they have a client-employer relationship.

I tried looking it up in Japanese, but nothing would come up. I'd really appreciate if someone could tell me what this  means. Thank you!


texts: How to say "I learned" with comparison between two items grammar

texts:
I'm trying to say "I learned that expensive items are not always better than cheap ones."

Should I use the Aのほうが　Bより　(property) grammar to say that?

Also, I don't know the grammar to say "I learned such and such" yet, but I found this other post that says I can use 勉強になりました。

How to say that you "learned a lot" by doing something

So putting it all together I came up with something like いつも高い物のほうがやすい物よりましじゃないを勉強になりました。Is this correct?

Or should i use はずです and say something like this?

高い物のほうがやすい物よりましはずでしたが、いつも事実じゃないを勉強になりました


texts: What the function of expressions in bold?

texts:
This is my first question here, so please be nice:).
Could you please check the 4th and the 5th sentence if I wrote it right. Especially parts in bold.
Below you can see my translation. Of course, it is not perfect, but I hope it will provide you some context.

母: -お食事の用意ができましたよ。- (Your) food is prepared.
田中: -どこの部屋。- In which room it is in?
母: -お座敷に用意したけど。- In zashiki* room (a traditional Japanese-style room*)
田中: -どうかな。もうお客あつかいはやめた方がいいんじゃないかな。山田さん、どう。- I don't know. Maybe you shouldn't stop inviting people (to launch). Mr. Yamada, what do you think?
山田: -ええ、そうしていただいた方がいいです。- Yes, I would invite them too.

Thank you in advance!


texts: In this this post's comments, Zhen Lin said that the rules surrounding the nasal allophones in compound words are 'complicated', but couldn't remember them. I'd like to know what these complex rules are.


texts:
The following quote is from this article.

  神苑にこれほどの梅が植えられたのも、そんなふうに訪れる人々の憩いになればという思いから。

I wonder what になれば means here. What value does it bring over having simply になる?


texts:
その人間が最も恐れる罪の具現が悪夢なのだと悪夢は語った。

I really can't parse this.
I know the meaning of the words but I do not understand the meaning of the sentence.

Can someone explain?
The bold part is what is confusing me the most.

Shouldn't it be

  その人間が最も恐れる罪の具現が悪夢なのだと語った。

The fantranslation is:

  The person said that the things one fears the most becomes his nightmare.


texts:
I've got a problem with translation of #8 and #9. I'm not confident if recognised #9 correctly and if these kanji go together of separately.

They may mean "Seems like understood" but please correct me if I'n wrong.


texts: What would be the function of the ときたものだ?

texts:
神無月とやらは大仰に礼をすると、興奮した調子で続けてきた。
「突然ですがお嬢さん！あなた、モデルになってみる気はありませんか！？」
「え……っ？」
急に発された言葉に、七罪は目を見開いた。
「も、モデル……って、あの、雑誌なんかに載ってる……？」
「はいッ！そのモデルです！」
神無月が力強くうなずいてくる。が、それに反して七罪は冷ややかに息を吐いた。
なんと、モデルときたものだ。七罪はこちらの世界で見た雑誌やテレビを思い起こした。

Hi. The context is that 神無月 disguised himself as a producer and invited 七罪 to be a model.
Question: what is the function or meaning of the ときたものだ? I used to think the ときたものだ has the nuance of 'add' or 'plus' and it is often used as a set phrase with '～上に', 'おまけに', 'さらに', etc.
But this ときたものだ doesn’t seem to mean this. Could you please shed some light on the phrase?
Thank you.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Significance of the kanji 「茶」 in the set phrase 「滅茶滅茶 / 目茶目茶」 {めちゃめちゃ}

So, in Kansai they use めっちゃ, and in Kanto 超. But what about the other parts of Japan? And from where to where exactly do they use these words?
Can you also tell me where these words came from? Derived from what word or so (especially for めっちゃ, since 超 has a kanji and a meaning.)


texts:
自然の中でゆっくり凍った氷の味を楽しんでください。
  Please enjoy the flavour of ice slowly made by nature.

If not sure if I should read this as 'ice made by nature' or 'ice made in nature'. The 中 is really confusing me because I normally think of this as inside/among/throughout, none of which really seem to work well here.


texts:
After giving a ride to a girl, a character says: 放課後 迎えに来っからよ
Then the girl says: 冗談！ お顔と相談ね！ ちょっとバイクに 乗せてもらったからってたまりませんわ！
I didn't understand the meaning of the たまりません. Could you explain me?
お返事、ありがとうございます


texts: Can someone verify the reasons I give for using a "wa" and "ga" in this sentence?

texts:
私の生みの母は、若い未婚の日本人だったため、私を養子に出そうと決心したのです。彼女がこだわったのは、私の養子先は日本に住んでいる家族でなければ、ということでした。

The highlighted "は" looks to be there for thematic reasons?

The highlighted "ga" looks to be there for neutral description?


texts: What's the difference between the kanji 聲 and 声?

texts: I just started learning and I was wondering what is the difference between the kanji 聲 and 声. They both mean voice when I looked it up in the dictionary and are said the same way too. When would you use each one or are they interchangeable?


texts: What are the nuances between くれますか vs くれませんか in terms of requests?

texts: I know there are more politer forms like itadaku but just focusing on the masu and masen aspects, which is politer? What are the nuances? Which is more forceful-sounding?


texts: Can the word 新鮮 be used as an expression?

texts:
I know the word 新鮮 means fresh and it is used as a na-adjective like for example a fresh salad (新鮮な野菜サラダ)

However I've recently seen it used in the following short sentence:

  あわててるリサさんって新鮮…！

It doesn't seem to be used as an adjective, so I'm confused about what it's doing here.

And here's some context:

  Group of friends are hanging out together
  A: "リサ…you didn't invite me to the party…does this mean you hate me!?
  B: "of course she hates you, how can anyone like a weirdo like you~!"
  リサ: Tries to diffuse the situation and says  "No, no you've got it all wrong I don't hate you! Please there's a reasonable explanation as to why you didn't receive an invitation!"
  C: takes a photograph of them with her camera and says - "あわててるリサさんって新鮮…！"

Is 新鮮 an expression of some sort then? Perhaps referring to how C just took a 'fresh' photo? Like how we say "hot off the press" in English? Or does it still retain the meaning of "fresh" and she's just omitting the noun that 新鮮 is describing?


texts:
Ammy claims that 殿 is more respectful than 様:

様         -sama: a respectful honorific used for those of a higher social standing
殿         -dono: even more respectful than -sama, less likely to be used solely out of obligation

However, Wikipedia claims otherwise:

殿 when attached to a name, roughly means "lord" or "master". . .
. . . and lies in between san and sama in level of respect.

Who is right?
Does「様」command more respect than「殿」, or is it the other way round?


texts:
My textbook includes numerous examples of 次第, such as following nouns in which it can be translated as "depending on", or when following the 連用形 of verbs in which it can be translated as "as soon as", but it includes another set of examples in which it follows the 連体形 of verbs and is followed by the copula です.
The following is one such example:

日時の変更について、改めてお知らせする次第です。
(I will inform you later of any changes in the time and place of the meeting.)

The only explanation that the book gives for this kind of usage is to gloss the sentence with "知らせるわけです".
Looking at these such examples, it seems to me that this type of 次第です may be a type of polite language. Is this correct? What are the nuances of its usage?


texts:
In 『よつばと!』, よつば says 「ここ家がいっぱいある」 to which her father replies 「そうだろう」.

What's the difference between そうです and そうでしょう?  I know when we use そうです but I can't figure out the other. I know ましょう is used to suggest stuff, but I don't know how it fits with そうでしょう.


texts:
What is a correct translation for 「そんなことない」 and when can it be used?

I understand the "this is wrong"/"this is not correct" general sense but is this considered either as harsh or a gentle way of showing disagreement?

Also a direct translation would be "there is no such thing". Can this expression be applied to a person?


texts:
秋葉はシキから、何かの悪霊じみたモノを受け継いでしまった。
  簡単に言うと、ソレは秋葉に移った時点でとても薄くなっていて、秋葉の性格が少し強気になる程度の影響で収まった、というのだ。
  それが原因で秋葉は暴走してしまったワケだけど、あの一件の後、秋葉はソレの手綱を握ってしまったらしい。
  ……強気というよりはいじわるになった、というのが正しいと思うのだが、本人に言うと怒るのでやめておく。

  Akiha inherited from Shiki something like an evil spirit.
  To put it simply, when it transferred into Akiha it faded and the influence on her personality was that she became a little more confident and nothing else. (lit it calmed down).
  That was the cause for her reckless behaviour but, after that incident she put it under control.
  I should say that she did not become more confident but more bullish, that would be correct I think but, if I said that to her she would get mad so I gave up on that.

I am not sure if I am understanding how 程度 works. It's a noun and I think it works this way.

簡単に言うと、ソレは秋葉に移った時点でとても薄くなっていて、[[秋葉の性格が少し強気になる]>程度の影響で収まった]、というのだ。
So all those things in the [] modifies 程度 which refers to 影響.

影響 can mean influence or effect.
What I do not understand is if it should be translated like.

The degree of the influence of the spirit was so little that it only made her a little more confident and it stopped there

or

Her personality become a little more confident to the degree that she was able to calm it down.

So how does it work?

Could I use ほど or ぐらい instead?

  簡単に言うと、ソレは秋葉に移った時点でとても薄くなっていて、秋葉の性格が少し強気になる程の影響で収まった、というのだ。

  簡単に言うと、ソレは秋葉に移った時点でとても薄くなっていて、秋葉の性格が少し強気になるぐらいの影響で収まった、というのだ。

I know that 程度 is a noun
ほど and ぐらい can be particles and nouns if I am not wrong.
What are the different nuances?


texts:
What are the nuances between these three verbs when paired with 責任? I understand they all mean "to take responsibility", but are they interchangeable, etc?

責任を取る
責任を負う
責任を持つ

負う's definition says (among other things) "to take responsibility for". Does this mean it can be used by itself (i.e. without "責任を")?

Also, when would 責任がある be appropriate to say that you take the responsibility? (It seems to me that that implies where the responsibility is, regardless of if it's recognized by the person/party who has it.)

Bonus Question: Are there other common ways of conveying taking responsibility?


texts:
I've stumbled upon a sentence in a Japanese novel, and I am looking for help from someone who can explain to me the function of "モンねぇ" in this particular sentence.

  局長が相談に乗ってくれるなら、怖いモンねぇな！

So I believe the sentence would translate to something akin to:

  It's scary if we get advice from the director!

I think モン = もん which could also = もの and I believe it has various different meanings or grammatical functions depending on the context. I also know ねぇ = ない.

However, putting this all together I'm still having a hard time understanding what モンねぇ is doing in the sentence. How does モンねぇ affect the sentence?


texts: Can you show any examples of a 兼務発令書 in English?

texts: This is in a university context. Professors will be given an extra post (mostly in name) and the notification will be sent to them in English. I have not been able to find any examples of how this would be translated/laid out.


texts:
この言葉はどういう意味ですか。
これは「薬屋」という意味です。

What would be a translation for the word どういう and the dialogue? I looked it up on Jisho, but I just get more confused with its meanings.


texts: Which words can be pronounced as either -aai or -awai?

texts:
Some speakers of Japanese pronounce 場合【ばあい】 as ばわい. Do those speakers also pronounce similar /Caai/ words like 他愛【たあい】 and 間合い【まあい】 differently? (I've seen たわいない listed as an alternate reading for 他愛ない, but not たわい for 他愛.)

I can't think of any longer words that have -aai(-), but if there are any, would people who say ばわい also pronounce those words with -awai(-)?


texts:
I return with another nuance question!

Today, I learned the kanji 老. Two of the example words were [老]{お}いる and [老]{ふ}ける, which my book defined both as, "to grow old". I searched around for the differences between them with mixed results. I did find an answer on here that indicated that 老ける implies becoming an old man, but beyond that, what exactly are the differences between the two words?


texts: Meaning of ～かといえばそうではない

texts:
Another question from me. Reading a text, I stumbled upon the following sentence:

  では、テレビがあれば、万事それで済むかといえば、そうではない。

As always, stay safe and have a good day.


texts:
俺としては、姉についてはあまり触れられたくない話題だ。別に、姉の死を思い出すとつらい…といったようなセンチメンタルとは無関係なところで、余計なことを思い出して気が重くなるからだ。

Based on the statement ending with "余計なことを思い出して気が重くなるからだ", i would expect the first half to have a soft "it's not that bad" nuance. (ie. 別に[姉の...ようなセンチメンタル]ではないだが、余計な...)

But I'm not sure how to read 別に[姉の...ようなセンチメンタル]とは無関係なところで in a logical manner with that in mind.

thanks


texts: Is there a subtle difference between 少なくても and 少なくとも？

texts: My sense is that the meaning is identical but that 少なくとも is somewhat more formal than 少なくても. Is that observation valid?


texts: Meaning of Apostrophe in Words Translated to English

texts:
What does an apostrophe (') mean in English translations of Japanese words? For example, an online grammar site says,  "When you contract te oku to t'oku…."

Although just a beginning-level student, I have come across this numerous times, both online and in English-language books. I do not know how to determine what kana have been replaced by the apostrophe. Or, perhaps it represents a brief pause in pronunciation, like that made with doubled consonant sounds?


texts:
おろかもの！！！この洞窟に入れるのは、ぼろをきた心のきよらかなわかもの、ただひとりだ！

I need help in understanding what ぼろ means and the phrase/clause that follows.

I still haven't figured out what きよらかな is.

Also, I believe おろかもの means "fool" or "idiot". It must be extremely degrading to be called that in a real conversation, doesn't it?


texts: The uses of verb + ん apart from simple negation

texts:
醜い浮世を　意地で生きるぞ
汗水たらし　身を削り　ありつかん
尊くも儚き飯

Full lyrics here. This ugly world you need willpower to survive in; drenched in sweat and with lots of effort, that precious and fleeting meal is in sight
Something along those lines is how I'd interpret that section. Now I'm not a total stranger to the use of the negative ～ん form (I'm not sure on the specifics, could have been the 未然形 too, apologies if what I'm saying is wrong) to express 'positive' actions if you will e.g. 言わんとすることはわかった = I understand what you're trying to say or さすれば道は開かん = If you do so, the way will/shall(?) open. If I recall correctly, the verb + ～ん form has a lot of non-negative uses in classical Japanese which in some cases are still seen today.
Now onto the question pertaining to the excerpt of the lyrics seen above: Am I right to assume that ありつかん in this case is indeed not a negative form? Is it something more akin to ありつくだろう? Considering that the ～ん form is still widely used for simple negation (知らん！、分からん、etc.), one would have to guess from the context, correct?
What exactly does (or could) the verb in this case mean? All fan translations I have seen don't use the negative here so I would lean towards it not being an actual negation, which would make sense as well. Am I right in my assumptions? And if yes, what interpretations are there for this form here?


texts:
I was reading this article at NHK, and in it there is a sentence that reads:

  感染者の中には、今月２日ではなく別の日にこのナイトクラブを訪れた人がいたほか、ソウル以外の地方から訪れた人もいたということです。

Which I think I understand the main point of to mean:

  [The report said] Of the infected people, there are people who visited that night club on a different day from the 2nd, and people who visited from a region outside of Seoul.

I am however, not sure how to interpret the ほか part of this sentence. I usually see it as a の adjective used to describe "other" as in 他の人. But here it seems to serve a more grammatical/particle-like purpose.

What is the usage of this word here? I am also wondering if this is more frequent in newspaper writing vs. less formal conversations.


texts:
I tried searching in jisho.org with different iteratons of the オ to no avail.

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I have a question about the meaning of それに in the following passage(second one). Does it means something like "To that, after supressing this intense sleepiness, Taito said." So, this それに refers to the invitation of his friends, same as the first one?

  「おお、じゃ一緒にやろうよ。これ四人プレイできるから人数が多いほうが楽しい」

  と誘ってくれて。

  それに(1st)大兎は、ゲームに参加して、今日は遥のミーティングが終わるのを待とうかなぁ、とかも、考えたが。

  しかし。

  「・・・・・・」

  しかしそこでまた、あくびが出た。そして強烈な眠気が頭のなかに広がって、まるで寝ろ、寝ろ、寝ろといわれているようで。

  それに(2nd)。その、強烈な眠気を噛み殺すようにしてから、大兎は言った。


texts: Translation of "It was only after/not until..."

texts:
I need help with translating the sentence "Sorry, It was only after I sent it, I realized I made a mistake". The context is that you sent a letter or something and somebody points out a mistake you made.

My approach:

  すみません,送ってはじめて間違ってしまったことに気がついた.

I am using the grammar pattern mentioned here

Is this a common way to express only after/not until, or is it better to use 後. Which form of "only" would I have to use then?


texts:
I'm wondering if it's possible or acceptable for foreigners to use 漢字 to write their names that would usually be written in カタカナ. I know that some names are already Japanese names such as Ben【勉】, Mary【茉莉】, etc., but is it possible to use common 音読み to extend this kind of thing further?

For example, maybe Ben【勉】could be extended to Benjamin【勉邪民】, or Thomas could be written as【斗枡】. Would this type of thing be acceptable or understood, or is it simply more practical to use the カタカナ versions?


texts:
The guy wakes up inside an airplane, asks 今はなんでもない (translated as: Where are we now?) and the response is above some city in Swiss.
My question is: How is this sentence transformed to a question about location?. No dictionary gives me a hint.


texts: Allophones: /e/ as [j] , /kj/ as [k͡xj]?

texts:
I noticed a few pronunciations which surprised me.
In this clip, and in a lot of other movies, 返して, /kaeɕ.te/ sounds like [kaɪ̯ɕ.te] to me. Is there a rule?:
/e/ → [ɪ̯] / a_ .
If so: Is it dialectal, slang or standard pronunciation?
It sounds to me like the name 桔梗, ききょう, /ki.kjoː/, is consistently pronounced [kʰi.k͡xjoː] in Inuyasha.
Rule:
/kj/ → [k͡xj] / i_
???


texts: What does "幸せじゃない大人に説得力あるものか" mean?

texts:
I'm not Japanese and I was chatting with my Japanese teenager niece in English about her school life and bullying, and I said, "Don't worry, things will get better".

She answered in Japanese with "Shiawase ja nai otona ni settoku ryoku aru mono ka" (幸せじゃない大人に説得力あるものか).

What does that mean?

I'm a beginner in Japanese, so I don't really get what she said. Did she criticize me or something? Some people started laughing... I'm so confused.

Thanks.


texts:
I'm reading a book and I came across a usage of のだから I couldn't really understand.
The whole sentence is:

  その上に[無慮]{むりょ}百に及ぶ階層が積み重なっているというのだから、[茫漠]{ぼうばく}とした広大さは想像を絶する。

My translation to it was : "It has been said that on top of that, about 100 levels are accumulating (on top of each other), and therefore, its vast size is unimaginable". Obviously this is not a literal translation.

What I don't get is the role that のだから plays in this case.
I'd say it has a nuance of cause/result, but then why ので・から were not used in this case?

According to the "best" answer in this question, のだから has 2 rules:

Used when both the speaker and listener know some fact, but expresses a strong feeling on the part of the speaker that the listener, although conscious of said fact, does not fully appreciate its implications.
The clause following ～のだから often expresses the speaker's judgment, intent, wish, or request.

I know for sure that rule (1) is not true in this case, since the fact given in the first part of the sentence was never previously mentioned in the book.

As for (2), I'm still not sure whether the part that comes after のだから can be counted as a "judgment"...

Hopefully someone can help me grasp the idea of のだから!
Thanks in advance!

I'd also appreciate even a list of all of the variations の・ん＋です・だ, so I could at least research them myself as I always tend to get confused with them... a link or a short summary of them would be even better but it's really too much of me to ask!

Also, if you want to know, the sentence above was taken from the book ソードアート・オンライン１－アインクラッド。


texts: Meaning of むせかえるような笹飾りの香りがした

texts:
Referring to eating ice cream at a Tanabata festival:

  ソフトクレームの甘いにおいの中に、むせかえるような笹飾りの香りがした。
  Amongst the sweet smell of the soft cream was the choking smell of bamboo decorations.

My translation sounds ridiculous. Firstly, I wouldn't expect bamboo decorations to have a choking smell, and secondly, there is no further reference to this smell either before or after this sentence.

Have I completely mis-translated? Can you tell me where I went wrong?


texts: The subjects of 言わないと分からない in this monologue

texts:
From what I understand, 言わないと分からない is normally used to say something like "I   can't understand unless you tell me"

Context: The two meet after he has had his bath on the way back to his room.

「いえ、ぼんやりしてる様子でお疲れなのかと……」

「疲れてはないんだ……」

「もしかして、少しのぼせちゃいましたか？」

心配してくれるエイルさんに胸が痛む。

聞いても……いいんだろうか。

そう思ったら、口が開いていた。

「エイルさんのこと、考えてたんだ」

「えっ……？」

「今朝、いつもと違ってたし……元気なさそうだった」

「なにか悪いことしちゃったかなって……」

こんなこと言っちゃうなんて……情けない。

でも……言わないと分からないことだ。
「ネロさん……」
「なにか良くないことがあったら、すぐに言ってください。俺からは……それだけです」

But I'm not quite sure what he means by this last sentence. What I believe he's referring back to こんなこと and saying that if he doesn't say what he said above, then....

And here's where my problem comes in. Who is it that won't know/understand and what is it that they won't understand. Looking at it, i think it's something like "But if I don't say these things (Showing that he's worried about her and indirectly asking her if he's done anything wrong), then I won't find out what the problem is". Can anyone clarify what it is that he's actually saying?


texts: Possessive の not indicating what is possessed

texts:
Over a year ago, I wrote a text on Lang-8. I'm analyzing my texts. I wrote, very badly, this sentence:

  この本書は、Ｌａｎｇ－８で一番日本語の本書を書きます。

I tried to say "this is my first text on Lang-8"

Yeah, looking at it now, I don't even now what I was thinking.  Anyway, I received the following correction:

  これは私の、Ｌａｎｇ－８では初めての日本語の作文です。

I need help to understand the の particle after the 私. Is it that rule where the noun is implicit by the context, in this case, my text (作文), or the の particle is just being connected normally with the entire sentence, but separate with a comma, creating a different style (私のＬａｎｇ−８では…), in this case creating a relationship between 私 and 作文? I don't think it's the former, because Ｌａｎｇ−８では "disconnect" 私の with what comes after. If so, I never saw it so far... Is there something with that comma?


texts:
I am unsure what やついておる means in the following sentence:

  …貴様、何をにやついておるのだ…？

For some context Person A is comforting Person B who has just heard some happy news and gotten emotional. Person C says the above sentence.

I've not come across やついておる in my studies before, can someone explain this to me?


texts:
奉納とは　神仏に喜んで納めてもらうために物品を供えたり、その前で芸能・競技などを行ったりすること。

(from here)

It seems to make sense without 納める. What meaning does it add / how is it used here?


texts: 俺は考えてみた - Literally translates to I'll think and see?

texts: It literally translates to that but does it actually mean I'll try to think? Or I'll give it a thought?


texts: Clarification on 軍の命令で善悪の区別もつかなくなる

texts:
I'd like to confirm if I'm reading the two following lines correctly - for context, this is a conversation between a soldier and an outlaw who used to be friends and now find themselves at odds.

A) 君達は軍の命令で善悪の区別もつかなくなってしまったのか！
Can’t you even tell right from wrong if the army doesn’t order you to?!
B) 事情も知らないくせに勝手な事を！
You’re ignoring how things are and just go around doing whatever the hell you want!

(I'm assuming they suppressed the end of B and it's supposed to be "勝手な事をする"?)


texts:
I was reading a manga and a character who is really excited about the situation says "毎日何度も指折り数えてですね！". Why does it end with the て form and why is ですね added?
The full conversation is:

A: 親から無事オッケーもらえて良かったねー
B: はい！
B: 私　ほんと　今日が楽しみで楽しみで
B: 毎日何度も指折り数えてですね！


texts: Help creating a grammatically correct statement

texts:
Please pardon my ignorance but I am looking for a grammatically correct way to say, 'Embrace the void.' in Kanji/hiragana

I've done some research regarding the different methods of writing it but I have no actual knowledge of japanese sentence structure so I can only surmise based on what I've read.

I've come up with the following:

擁する虚

Is this fairly accurate or am I totally off?

擁 meaning embrace

擁する meaning 'to embrace' or 'to possess'

And finally 虚 being 'Void' or 'Emptyness'.

I appreciate any assistance!

Thank you


texts: With MS IME, how do I type パーティー? I can't seem to get the tiny イ. I am typing pa-tei- and getting パーテイー.


texts: Grammar of ～がどうかは問題ない

texts:
A textbook I am reading through provided the following explanation of ～を問わず:

  ～がどうかは問題なく、どれにも同じことが言える。

I understand the basic idea of what this means because I've read English explanations of を問わず but I do not understand the structure of the Japanese explanation and would not have been able to generate it on my own.

In the first part, 問題 is the subject of なく and が was omitted because it is such a common expression (as least I think that is true). If that is the case, what is the first が being used for? Why does it not require a verb?
Was it necessary to include は after どうか or could it have been understood (in the same was as が and を can often be understood in expressions like ～かどうか知らない and ～かどうか構わない).


texts: What is the difference between あまり and そんなに? Are they always interchangable?

texts: How do I use あまり and そんなに in negative sentences? It would be a great help if it was explained with various examples of あまり vs そんなに.


texts:
I'm not very familiar with this specific term, but do know intermediate Japanese. "Floating world" seems to be a direct translation of the two characters: 浮 for "floating" and 世 for "world". However, the main definition for this word online is "fleeting life" or "this transient world", similar but more natural in English. Interestingly enough, the fourth entry in the definition is "(the world of the) red light districts". This final definition certainly matches the Wikipedia article and is hinted at with "fleeting" and "transient", suggesting to make the most of pleasure with your limited life.

What is the main definition, especially with respect to Ukiyo-e, 浮世絵?


texts: Which verb for "get off" / "leave" the Shuto Expressway?

texts:
I'm not sure which way to say something like exit/leave/depart/get off/escape is most appropriate when the thing I want to get off is the system of expressways in Tokyo called the Shuto 首都高.

I'm not sure that any of these would be right:

出発する
下車する
残す
終了するには


texts: How to say 'in 10 minutes' as in 'the bus comes in 10 minutes'?

texts:
Would the sentence below make sense?

  バスがじゅっぷんにきます。


texts: Is there kanji(s) to mean "from court" or "court-related"?

texts:
I found a kanji for emperial court/governmental court as follows:
廷:
courts, imperial court, government office  jisho.org

I am looking for an adjective for this word made with this kanji or another joyo kanji to mean "from court", "affiliated with court", or "court-related" in general.


texts:
I tried writing a classical Japanese poem:

赤き空
青かりたり根
夢がごとし
元を返るべし
汚さざらまし

And here is a rough literal translation:

The red sky,
The origin that was once blue,
Like seeing a dream,
It would be best to turn back,
If it were not dirtied.

(Unfortunately missing all the word play and ambiguity I was trying to insert into the Japanese version.)

I'm pretty unsure if I conjugated everything correctly there. I'm especially worried about 汚さざらまし, which I'm not sure if is even a valid construction. 汚す（未然形）＋ず（未然形）＋まし is what I was trying to do, to say "if it were not dirtied".

I'm basically just doing this to learn a little more about classical Japanese grammar, so any corrections are welcome.


texts: Purpose of ending this sentence with noun + が

texts:
The sentence is

総務から領収書出せって連絡が

But I can't understand the purpose of 連絡が
I remember reading once that (noun + が)'s can sometimes be moved to the front of the sentence and still hold the same meaning, so I'm not sure if that's the case for this? Would it also make sense to say

連絡が総務から領収書出せって

too? And if so, what is the purpose of switching it? Are there any implications added?


texts: Translate a sentence, English to Japanese

texts:
To say We Learn by Teaching. Would it be said as:

Watashitachiha, kyoiku de manabimasu.

I don't know if this is correct?


texts:
Good evening,

I've been studying Japanese here in Tokyo for about a month now in a Nihongo Gakuin. One of the lessons that we encountered was adding adjectives + narimasu like for example:

osoi = osoku narimasu
ookii = ookiku narimasu
hayai = hayaku narimasu

From what I understood it's changing the last i = ku in i-adjectives so it becomes a noun, or simply adding ~ ni to na-adjectives. Although, I was wondering how that would apply to colors. For example, akai. Does it become akaku narimasu or aka ni narimasu?

しんごうはあかくなりました？
しんごうはあかになりました？

The traffic light became red. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!


texts: If 「は」 marks a topic, and 「が」 marks a subject, what does 「です」 do in terms of nuance?

texts:
When using 「は」 it means the word before it is the topic of the sentence, it also implies contrast. (e.g. 「私は犬です」 means, "As for me, I am a dog" This means that I'm not a cat.)

When using 「が」 it means the word before it is a subject, it is picked out of several possibilities that may also work. (e.g. 「私が犬です」 means, "I am the one who is the dog" This means that I am the dog who is being looked for, or picked out of other creatures who might be dogs, depending on context)

These are the nuances of the particles that I'm aware of (Please post others, as I'd really like to learn as much about them as possible).

「です」 is shortened from 「である」, if it was theoretically natural to say 「ある」 and move the 「で」 to the beginning of the sentence to say a noun is also another noun, (e.g. 「犬で私はある。」 has the exact same meaning as my first example, except it is more polite and usually used in writing) what nuances would 「犬で」 carry?


texts: Is there any difference between vertical and horizontal writing?

texts:
This might be a fairly easy question. But I am new in learning Japanese and I didn't see this question anywhere (although there are some about writing vertically).

Is there any difference between writing kanji symbols in vertical or horizontal direction?

E.g.: According to Google Translate the world Family is written like this 家族.
Would be wrong to write like this:
家
族

Would be ok to write full sentences in the vertical direction too?


texts: Literary work using all (or most) of 常用漢字

texts:
In the last half a century or so, has anyone ever tried to write a literary text  in Japanese that would cover all (or most) of 常用漢字?

I'm looking for something along the lines of the Thousand Character Classic (千字文) they have in China. Is there anything at all like that in Japan?


texts: Do you use punctuation in Japanese? Especially when typing on the internet.


texts: Difference between 本当に and 全然 in a negative sentence

texts:
I want to translate something like the following:

  I watched a movie with together with my friends.
  Not at all did I watch it alone.

Where the "not at all" is supposed to express obvious sarcasm regarding the alone-ness.
EDIT: Obvious sarcasm because "I" doesn't really have friends, except maybe imaginary ones etc.
The exact wording isn't really important. It should just sound like a complete and obvious rejection of alone. (If that makes any sense...)

So my attempt was:

  友達{ともだち}と一緒{いっしょ}に映画{えいが}を見{み}た。
  全然{ぜんぜん}一人{ひとり}では見{み}なかったよ。

I was told that this would not have my intended meaning because 全然{ぜんぜん} relates to just 見{み}なかった and not the whole sentence. So it would mean "Alone, I did not at all watch it."
As an alternative the following would be possible:

  …
  本当{ほんとう}に一人{ひとり}では見{み}なかったよ。

Since this is supposed to be a correction, I understand this to translate as "I really did not watch it alone." and not, analogously, as "Alone, I really did not watch it."

If everything I'm assuming is correct, why do those two adverbs translate differently in this way, that is, why do they relate to different parts of the sentence? If not, what are my mistakes?
What would be the best translation of my original sentence? Maybe

  友達{ともだち}と一緒{いっしょ}に映画{えいが}を見{み}た、全然{ぜんぜん}一人{ひとり}ではなく。

?


texts:
Could you please explain me the difference between 化成品【かせいひん】 - 化学品【かがくひん】 - 化工品【かこうひん】, and if possible provide the appropriate translation of each word?
All of them means "chemicals", but how I could distinguish them?

Thank you very much for your help.


texts: About the kanji 兎: can rabbit be also pronounced as "to"?

texts:
There is a well known personage in Japan called Tsukishiro Yukito (月城 雪兎) from Cardcaptor Sakura. Tsuki stands for moon, shiro for castle, yuki for snow and the kanji "兎" means rabbit but it sounds like "usagi" and not as "to" (the name of Yukito).

Can rabbit be also pronounced as "to" in Japan?


texts:
WWWJDIC lists both あまりに and あまりにも to mean "too much; excessively; too" but are they exactly the same in term of usage and nuance?

あまりに 《余りに》 (adv) (uk) too much; excessively; too
Ex: 料理にあまりに時間がかかりすぎる。 Cooking takes up too much time.
あまりにも 《余りにも》 (adv) (uk) too much; excessive; too
Ex: それは彼にとってはあまりにも易しすぎる仕事だ。 It is too easy a task for him.

Can they be used interchangeably?


texts:
There appears to be some disagreement/confusion about the precise meaning of セレブ - some dictionaries claim that セレブ means the same thing as English "celebrity", while others claim that it just means "rich person".

デジタル大辞泉 basically says it means the same as "celebrity" - a famous person.

  著名人。名士。セレブリティー。

語源由来辞典 suggests that while it can mean "famous person", it is also frequently used to refer to a "beautiful woman" or a "rich person".

  セレブとは、名士。有名人。女性誌などでは、知名度に関係なく、美しく優雅で知的な女性を意味したり、お金持ちをさすことが多い。

The explanation on Japanese Wikipedia also says that セレブ implies things like "rich", "refined", and "posh" (albeit this section lacks sources).

  日本のテレビや雑誌メディアはセレブと略し、金持ち、優雅な、高級な、などの意味合いで使用している。

Given that this word is a relatively recent import from English (late '90s, according to 語源由来辞典), I'm guessing that there's still some variation in the way it's used. In any case, what I would like to know is - how is セレブ typically used these days? Does it mean "celebrity", or does it mean "rich person", or can it mean both, or what?


texts:
So I'm reading the One Punch Man manga to learn some vocabulary. I have the Portuguese translation and I compare it with my translation.

But I read something that I think is wrong in the Portuguese translation or I lost the Japanese way of expression:

A little context. So this guy is a genius and everyone praises him.

The next text is:

  しかし彼が　常日頃吐き出す思想について　認める者は誰一人いなかった。

I translated like "he doesn't care about people ideas."

The Portuguese translation is like "people don't agree with his ideas."

I'm lost.


texts: Learning the time of day I found that 朝 or あさ means morning, 昼 or ひる means afternoon, and 晚 I expected to be night but Google translate is saying it's moth for some reason. Does this 晚 only mean night when paired with certain characters?


texts: How do you say: "People like you are ____" in Japanese?

texts:
I know より is used to make comparisons, but it seems like that wouldn't be the correct choice, in this scenario. I'm not sure if I would use it to say "People (like/similar to) you are ____".
I know the difference between saying "人は魚が好きだ" and "魚が好きな人", and I want to specify people who behave like whoever is being referred to, rather than all people in general. For example, saying something like: "People like you, who st
When I say like/similar to, I'm referring to behavior/personality. So I'm not sure if I'd have to word it like "You behave/have a similar personality to a certain type of person"
If I try to say: "You are like people who behaves poorly", I think it might be something like:
(あなた/name) +と+ 振る舞いが悪い人みたいだ。
I'm still trying to learn, so I'm probably way off.
Would saying something like "People (thieves) like you are the worst", be as simple as saying is as "You and thieves are the worst" instead.
person ＋と＋ 泥棒は最悪です
Is there anyone who could give me a few examples, or link me to a guide that might clear this up?


texts: What's the difference between 「軽い」and 「身軽」?

texts:
Hellow everyone!

I would like to know what's the difference between 「軽い」and 「身軽」? When is good to use each one? Could you give me an example?

Thank you!


texts: Is おつかれさん "correct" Japanese to address to someone of lower status?

texts:
I have noticed in various environments that some people will sometimes, when speaking to someone of lower status, say おつかれさん instead of お疲れ様. Similarly one might here ご苦労さん instead of ご苦労様. I've looked in dictionaries, and they say that this usage of さん is simply a change in sound from the original さま. This suggests that it might be correct usage, but it does not make an explicit remark about politeness, and if it really is just a change in sound, then theoretically one should be able to say it to those of higher status. In my experience, though, it has been used exclusively to lower status individuals.

My assumption was that it's a kind of play on words turning さま into さん like the honorifics despite the original meaning of 様 in this case, however looking it up and seeing that it is actually a shortening made me unsure. What is the Real Right Way to use it?


texts: Sometime in the early 20th century, usage of the now-historical kana ゐ and ゑ (and their katakana equivalents) dropped off, being replaced with い and え in modern Japanese. What exactly happened here and why?


texts:
I want to exaggerate my previous question by nesting one more causative action. Assume that there are a policeman, a girl with her dog, and a snatcher on the street. The dog belongs to the girl.

Question

How do I express the following sentence in Japanese? Is my sentence below correct?

  I want the policeman to make the girl make her dog bite the snatcher.

  ひったくりを犬に噛みつかせる

  ------- ことを女の子にさせて

  ------------ ほしい警察官に私は。


texts: 「来たるべきバカのために」 in a book title

texts:
The title of this book is 「勉強の哲学 来たるべきバカのために」.

What's the intended meaning of 来たるべきバカのために? I would venture "For the fool who is to come" (i.e. 'the fool who will be with us in the future'), but why?


texts:
例文:

  Aさん:　じゃ、土曜日も来ましょうか。
  Bさん:　土曜日はいいです。

質問は、どうしてBさんの答えの意味は「都合が悪いんですが、、」と同じですか。Why does 『いいです』 mean "no"?


texts:
Hi I came across this sentence in a light novel:
地元から一番近いショッピングモールまで出て、本屋で買い物して昼飯を食べてくるぐらいの余裕は持てる懐具合。
I need help with translating this and I do not understand the purpose of the noun at the end of the sentence.


texts: What does " 自分の胸に聞いて頂戴 " mean? Not Literally

texts:
Not the literal meaning, I know its some sort of tsukkomi, but I can't quite figure out what it means.

The best idea I've got is something along the lines of "give me back my concern" or something like that. I'm probably way off though.


texts:
In English it's fine to talk about this/last/next "year" even when referring to academic/fiscal as opposed to calendar years. Does this work for Japanese too? For example, in March does it make sense to say, 「来年もよろしくおねがいします」? Or 「来学年もよろしくおねがいします」?

Thanks!


texts:
I encountered this sample sentence:

  佐藤さんは市長選挙に立候補する意向を固めたようだ。

The app I was using simply translated 意向 as "intention" which led me to ask: how does it differ from 意思? And how do the component kanjis lead to this difference? My first instinct was to recall other words that use the other kanjis. Words like 向こう、方向　and 思う、思想, but as I expected, using this strategy has a limit. (Btw, I'm thinking that 意向 is an intention that is externally manifested and that emphasizes a sense of direction, while 意思　is something internal and does not necessarily imply a set course of action.)

(Of course, I can look it up using a thesaurus, but I don't think it will strengthen my ability to intuitively grasp the fine shades of meaning, and will cause me to be too dependent on it.)


texts:
I'm studying Japanese by myself.
To become is なる.
Able to become / can be  = なれる
If I say　なれば it would mean ”If I became” (conditional)
so "If I can be " should be "なれれば"？

The sentence I'm trying to formulate is :

  It's no problem if that would make me rich.

My try was :

  あんまり大変じゃない、お金持ちになれば。

Which might get interpreted as :

  "it's no problem if I was rich."

I appreciate your help.


texts: Difference between ついでに and たびに in the following example

texts:
In Nihongo so-matome N3 grammar p53. In question I number 4 there is this question written where both answers seems fine to me.

  おとなりのひとはりょこうの（a.たびに、b.ついでに）おみやげをかってきてくれます。

If we choose たびに the sentence will have the meaning of:

"Every time my neighbor go on a trip he gets me a souvenir."

If we choose ついでに the sentence will have the meaning of:

Since he was going on a trip he got me a souvenir."

Why is the answer たびに and we can't use ついでに? Is there something that I didn't notice in the sentence?


texts: Is んじゃないの rhetorical? And other conversation nuances

texts:
B: says that no one ever became ill just because they didn't ask for good health on a tanzaku. And then:

  A: 「じゃあ、たんざくに書いたくらいで金持ちになる人もいないんじゃないの」
  A: Well, no one ever became rich just by writing on a tanzaku either (did they?)
  B:「いいんだ。こまかいことを言うな」

I can't work out if んじゃないの is a real question or a rhetorical question.

Because of that I can't understand the reply. Is こまかいことを言うな "Don't say trivial things" or "Don't ask trivial things"?

In fact I'm not sure about the whole of B's reply. Is いいんだ supposed to be consoling as in "It's all okay. Don't worry about trivial problems", or is it more like. "It's fine! Stop asking stupid questions".


texts:
Is 売店　more used for smaller stuff, like a stand?
I'm finding it hard to pinpoint the exact difference.


texts:
I come across だからって and ってだけで quite often and I understand both of them as "only because", but I can't grasp the dfference in nuance between the two.

Can someone help me please


texts: How to ask whether a dish is pescetarian-friendly?

texts:
I'm traveling to a smallish city in Japan a little over a week from now (I'll be there two weeks), and I'm wondering what is the best way to ask a server whether or not a particular dish is pescetarian-friendly? I tried using the word "bejitarian" last time I was over there (because a vegetarian dish is pescetarian-friendly), but I was just greeted with blank looks. Note that last time I was there (about half a year ago) my Japanese was limited to saying hello, goodbye, and counting to 10. This time, it's still not great (I'd say I know fewer than 100 words), but I have been studying it using Rosetta Stone, so at least my pronunciation might be a little better.

Any and all advice is appreciated.


texts:
The following sentence is from this article on NHK Web特集

  数えてみたら、息子と一緒に過ごせる時間がとても限られていることに気がつきました。

My attempt at translation:

  When one tries to count it, they took care that the time shared with the son is very limited.

I'm pretty sure that 数えてみたら here basically means what I wrote above, meaning something along the lines of

  If one tries to measure the amount of time...

But since it sounds very cumbersome in my translation, I wanted to ask for confirmation.


texts: あの二人{ふたり}はどうもできているらしい's "できている"

texts:
I came across a sentence lately that said あの二人はどうもできているらしい。"They seem to be in love with each other".

I'm having trouble understanding this usage because I couldn't find anything on it online.

できている would mean in love in that sentence but how does that work?


texts: In order to survive: 生きていくために or 生き残るために? what is the diffence?

texts:
I am trying to translate the sentence: what are you willing to do to survive?
I ended up translating it as: 生き残るために何を喜んでするの？
Is this correct? Or have I botched my translation? The other way I translated it was: 生きていくために何を喜んでするだろう？
I'm trying to translate it into casual Japanese for a story I am making but I am not very confident in my own translations... Is there a difference between 生きていくために and 生き残るために? In addition, should I use the particle の or だろう in this question?


texts:
In several sources it's mentioned that a SMALL TSU doubles consonants.

My problem is, some websites give almost identical examples with:

っ/ッ + (S, T, C, K, G, B, P)

But what about the others?:

っ/ッ + (M, N, V, W ...)

When I use some online converter(Kana>Romaji), they double all of them.

So, does a SMALL TSU double all consonants or not? And if not, in which cases?

Thank you for your help!


texts:
Is this used ONLY amongst family and close friends or can you use it when you're trying to be rude?

For example if you use it on someone you don't like such as a stranger, could it be understood you're being rude on purpose (in other words unfriendly) or would they misunderstand and think you are on good terms?


texts:
The following dialogue is from the video game Final Fantasy VI:

  宿屋{やどや}の[親父]{おやじ}は、[余所者]{よそもの}が[嫌]{きら}いでね。

I think I understand this sentence.  It means something like "the old man at the inn doesn't like outsiders".  But I'm not sure why it ends with でね (as opposed to, say, だよ).  I can tell that it's the -te form of the copula だ plus the particle ね, but I'm not sure exactly when this combination is used.

I couldn't find discussion of ending sentences with で in dictionaries, or any explanation of the combination でね.  So I decided to look for examples online.  I found these on ALC and in the Tanaka corpus:

  「それは私が知っているある海賊の名前でね。」
  "It's the name of a buccaneer of my acquaintance"

  「ああ、ただの黙想でね」
  "O, it's just a retreat, you know"

  「いやぁ、昨日は入れ食いでねえ。」
  "They were biting like crazy yesterday."

Based on these four examples, it seems like でね is used to present new information.  I feel like I'm missing some nuance or implication, though.  (I tried looking for similar combinations with other particles instead of ね, but I couldn't find any.)

What exactly does でね mean in sentences like these?

EDIT: After posting this, I found てね in 大辞林, but I don't think the meaning fits what I'm seeing here...  It says 「相手に対するやや甘えた依頼や希望を表す。てよ。」, but these sentences don't look like they express 依頼 or 希望.


texts: When to omit だ when answering questions?

texts:
Maybe this is a stupid question, but in Minna no Nihongo it says to omit だ when giving a positive answer to a question.

  Question: こんばんひま？
  Answer: うん、ひま。

But it is not explained if one can omit だ when answering this way:

Example 1

  Question: あなたはにほんじん？
  Answer: ううん、ちゅうごくじん (だ?)。

Example 2

  Question: あなたのしゅみはなに？
  Answer: にほんご (だ?)。

Do I have to put だ at the end of these two answers or should I omit it?


texts: (Negative すぎる 'too much') when to use なすぎる and なさすぎる

texts: I understand there are two forms meaning 'too little' or too few', I thought the regular way to conjugate the negative was ない-form verb, and the last い is replaced with さ, making なさすぎる. (e.g 食べなさすぎる) But at the end of the chapter it says you can also use なすぎる with 'most regular i-adjectives'such as 危なすぎる 'not too dangerous'. Please can someone explain this to me.


texts: Use of かと思ったら / かと思うと (in the context of as soon as, just when)

texts:
かと思ったら / かと思うと mean "just when; no sooner than" but what is their use
(oral/written, formal/normal) ?
Do native use that construction naturally or is it replaced by another one ?

And I am also curious about their origin: how did this construction acquire its current meaning ?

  彼女は忙しい人で、来たかと思ったら、もう帰ってしまった。 She’s a busy person. Just when I thought
  she had arrived, she had already left.

  急に空が暗くなったかと思うと、激しく雨が降り始めた。 As soon as the sky turned black, it started
  raining heavily.

Note: this is not a duplicate with the question
Meaning of のかと思ったら


texts: What does います mean if used as an answer to a question?

texts: I saw an instagram story where this guy is answering a bunch of questions and someone asked, "彼女はいる?" (do you have a girlfriend?) And he answered, "います//" and I don't know what that means.


texts:
I have began working at a museum in which we receive many Japanese tourists. I have minimal experience in the Japanese language and am looking for a phrase I can use to welcome guests after they have purchased tickets. If a different phrase is needed to welcome a singular guest versus a group of guests, I would like to know both.

Additionally, if there are any phrases that pop into mind for working with Japanese tourists, those would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!


texts:
I am in a chat-community where in a room called "manga and anime" we have a background image, where you can see those two kanji. Google translates it as anger, offense, however i don't see the reasoning for something like this to be in the background.

I have uploaded a screenshot from our chatchannel-background:

Those are the correct kanji, right? What is the meaning of those two kanji if they are not used in any context, if they just stand on their own?


texts:
When i was reading an entry about 暗峠 the writer mentioned an expression using 峠 which is「今夜が峠です」, they said that when a close person is seriously ill and are on their deathbed this expression is often used.

  親しい人が重病で、生死の境目にある時、我々は比喩的に“今夜が峠だな。”とよく言います。

So what does it mean exactly?

Is it something like they are expressing how difficult a situation it is since 峠 has the meaning of difficult part or does it have the subtle meaning of  wishing the ill person survives and expressing their sadness?

Are there any similar expressions in English?


texts:
So I was talking to this girl and she typed a really weird sentence(at least it felt weird for me lol):

[アニメみてたらねれなく]

So first what 見ていたら means? Something like "if I was watching" or "when I was watching"?

Then [ねれ］ is ［練れ] right?  I looked it up for the なく suffix and it seem to be the negative form,  but used in honorific words only, is it right?

Now the translation for that sentence would be "I didn't sleep because I was watching anime"? Or what?

One last thing, is this a really badly casual sentence or what? It feels sooo weird.

Thank you!!!


texts: Relative clauses modifying a noun: passive voice?

texts:
Hopefully, the two following sentences are grammatically valid:

旅行の後で帰った時話を話す。
旅行の後で帰った時話が話される。

If so, can I use either as a basis for a relative clause modifying 話; are the two following sentences valid? Do they differ in meaning?

土産話は旅行の後で帰った時話す話です。
土産話は旅行の後で帰った時話される話です。

What I mean to say is "Souvenir stories are stories told after coming back from a trip". Does either sentence convey that meaning, or are they both wrong altogether?


texts: Usage of the に particle in this sentence

texts:
The sentence reads

俺は派手にハッキリと命の順序を決めている

I understand the sentence as meaning "I'll establish a clear gaudy life priority" however I am confused as the the exact role に is playing. I would hazard a guess its designating the source of the action but I'm not 100% sure.
Any help would be much appreciated.


texts: What's the meaning of a sentence by a manga author? 「もともとイラスト畑の人間なので...」

texts:
もともとイラスト畑の人間なので、全体の流れよりも
1コマごとの絵に意識が持っていかれる事が多くて大変でした。
1コマ描くのに一日かかったのもあったりして....
漫画って難しいですね！
それでは、この本を手に取ってくださり まことにありがとうございました！

I'm having a hard time understanding the sentence in bold. What does it mean?


texts:
What English would translate to:
「周囲の林が暗くなっている。」

「暗くなっている」// speaker location unspecified
「林が暗くなっている」 // speaker location implied as being in the forest?
「周囲の林が暗くなっている」  //  speaker location implied as being on the perimeter of the forest?

So, when speaking, it's somewhat unnatural for an English native speaker to say:
"The perimeter of the forest is getting dark."
"The forest is getting dark." sounds much more natural.

So, why translate as "周囲の林が暗くなっている。」？.

Well it's to imply the speaker's location (and not a try at a direct translation), right?


texts:
I am confused as if I should put the verb preceding 「次第に」 at the past tense or just use the dictionary version:

  ランチを食べた次第に帰った

Or

  ランチを食べる次第に帰った

Also, if this grammar is not appropriate in this case, could you please additionally provide an example of other constructs that carry the following meaning:

  Upon finishing lunch I went back home


texts: Why has を been spared but ゐ and ゑ been deemed obsolete?

texts:
According to When is the katakana form of wo (ヲ) used?, を is almost always used only for the particle, and is usually pronounced o (お).

There are some dialects where を is pronounced with a "w", but the same is true for the obsolete kana ゐ and ゑ:

  Because the pronunciation was lost. "Wi" and "we" are still in some
  dialects, but standard Japanese does not have those sounds. These
  characters were just spelling. Similarly in English, we pronounce
  "through" as "thru" because the "gh" sound is long gone. [emphasis added]

Why was を spared even though ゐ and ゑ have been deemed obsolete? Was changing the writing of the object marker particle seen as too radical a change? Or is を pronounced "wo" more widely than ゐ and ゑ are pronounced as "wi" and "we"?


texts: 受け身形, 使役形, and 使役受け身形: A side by side comparison practice

texts:
受け身形, 使役形, and 使役受け身形. These forms confuse me to no end. Therefore, I have done a sort of comparison practice using these forms side by side. Each sentence is followed by my translation, and then a usage note underneath.

  受け身：
  僕は変なオッサンにわけのわからない問題を聞かれちゃった。
  I got asked some weird question by a strange オッサン.

Here the adversarial/undesirable passive is used. I often confuse the undesirable passive with the causative or the causative-passive, because I think in some cases they have similar meanings, if not identical. This is why I include this usage in this practice.

*Related topic for other beginners: Subject and object of a passive sentence are interchangeable?

  受け身＋てくれる：
  僕は変なオッサンにわけのわからない問題を聞かれてくれちゃった。
  I got asked some weird question by a strange オッサン.

Adding てくらる/てもらう/てあげる makes the sentence even harder to understand, because the subject and the action are further removed from each other. In this sentence, my understanding is that てもらう is not suitable, because it has the nuance of receiving the action after you have requested it. Although てくれる and てもらう can be confusing when the topic/subject is dropped, てあげる has a very specific direction instead. With てあげる, the action is done by the speaker for someone else, thus making it unsuitable for this sentence. I'm not sure if using てくれる is natural though.

*Related discussion & article:
a. てくれる vs てもらう when the topic or subject is implied
b. てくれる and てもらう

  使役1 (transitive verb)：
  変なオッサンは僕にわけのわからない問題を答えさしちゃった。
  A strange old man made me answer some weird question.
  *Alternative causative form: 答えさせる⇒答えさす

Tae Kim lists this alternative form as a valid causative form alternative for る verbs, but not all websites do.

Another interesting point about this -す causative form is that "it is not productive, and can only mean make-causative." (Source topic: Confusion between causatives and intransitive-transitive)

Edit:
Too deep a topic and too wide a scope. I think a beginner should stay away from the alternative causative form, -す. See this article: Imabi

  使役2 (intransitive verb)：
  つい最近まで、なんか変なオッサンは僕を困らせていちゃった。
  A strange オッサン had been bothering me until quite recently.

With intransitive verbs, usually に means the action is allowed for the performer, whereas を means the performer is made to do such action. However, note that having two を in a clause is ungrammatical, so に is the only option in spite of context. I think ていて+しまう may be unnatural.

Article about the "に/を + intransitive verb" phenomenon: With Intransitive Verbs

  使役受け身：
  僕は変なオッサンにわけのわからない問題を答えさせられちゃった。
  I was forced to answer some weird question by a strange オッサン.

This meaning seems to overlap with the 1st 使役 usage. I think sometimes even the undesirable 受け身 expresses the same meaning as well.

Edit:
オッサン is a word that I don't really know how to translate into English. Personally, I think it is a term of endearment (up a notch with おっちゃん), but it could well be offensive if used under the wrong circumstances. 変なオッサン・変なおじさん though, is probably only derogatory.

If not too much trouble, please point out any misunderstanding and/or error. Moreover, if this topic counts as proofreading, please point it out, and then I will remove it immediately.


texts: What is the meaning of 壊れる when referring to a person?

texts:
Context: a mangaka is talking about a character of a manga who is a psychopathic killer called Crazy Rascal.

  そのネーミングに関しては、僕が個人的に尊敬している、とある“プロ”の方のあだ名？からいただきました。ご本人は当然こんなにぶっ壊れていませんのでご注意を。

What is the meaning of ぶっ壊れている in this context? Does it mean "to be crazy", "to have something wrong in the head"? If my interpretation is correct, why is there ご注意を at the end even though the verb is negative? My translation attempt:

  About that name, I took it from the nickname of a certain "professional" I personally respect. This person is not that crazy of course, so be careful (?).

Also, could you explain why is there a question mark before から? Thank you for your help!


texts:
I encountered the following example sentence in a book describing the uses of 反面:

仕事を辞めて自由な時間が増えた反面、緊張感もなくなってしまった。
Since I quit my job, I do have more free time but I also lost my nervous feeling. (I'm aware this might be too figurative)

That translation sounds unusual to me because I do not think "not having a nervous feeling" and "having more free time" contrast each other enough to be joined with "but". I think they should be joined with "and". However, all the sources I found state that 反面 is used to present different sides.
My questions are:

Does the Japanese sentence, by virtue of using 反面 (and probably しまった), imply that the speaker believes "緊張感もない" is a negative consequence?

Is 緊張感 considered a positive emotion in Japan?

Would the sentence make sense if the clauses were combined with だけでなく or just the て形?

EDIT:
My reasoning behind question 3 is that, based on the translations of 緊張感 (Jisho.com reference), "仕事を辞めて自由な時間が増えただけでなく、緊張感もなくなってしまった" would mean "...not only do I have more free time, I also lost my feelings of nervousness." Is this not a natural way of using だけでなく?


texts: Is term 神経{しんけい}の鈍{にぶ}い commonly used to describe a direct person?


texts: 予期{よき}する (to expect) is a nominal verb with two negative forms: 予期せぬ and 予期しない. Why the せぬ form is more common than the more familiar しない?


texts:
Up to now my understanding of ~てくる has been very vague. No matter how many explanations I read, in practice my translations always feel uneasy. Here are a few unresolved doubts I have:

From what I understand ~てくる　signifies inception or continuation depending on the verb with which it's used. How can I tell which verbs entail which meaning? From what I understand the former meaning is more aligned with changes in state (なってくる, 分かってくる, 太ってくる, etc.), wheres the latter comes in to play with verbs that involve activity (like 押してくる　and 運動してくる).

My first question is regarding "state verbs". When てくる　(as opposed to other tenses) is attached to words of this class of verbs the meaning is always "start to ~", correct? So "あなた、　いつか私を愛してくる” means "You will come to love me in time"; and
"私は義理を感じてくる” translates to "I start to feel a sense of duty"? Can "感じてくる" not mean "continue to feel", that is, without the implication of inception?

My questions concerning "activity verbs" (not really sure of the correct terms here) are much the same. "運動してくる" means "continue to exercise" and "押しこんでくる" means "continue to push in", I think. Is the concept of inception altogether absent? Would it be incorrect to translate those lines as "start to exercise" and 'start to push in" respectively"?
I'm under the impression that when てくる is attached to a verb which indicates a process of change, inception is signified; whereas when it is attached to a verb that doesn't involve change (like　押す  or 泣く) the indication is continuation. Could someone better explain the difference between verbs which entail either inception or continuation?
When it comes to verbs which involve change ~てきた is usually translated to English as either has~ or has begun to~, for example, "私は太ってきた" is translated as either "I have begun to get fat" or "I have become fat". To me, those two translations offer two different meanings, yet I often see such translations used interchangeably regarding that verb and others like it. The former translation indicates a change has started and is continuing in the present, right? The latter states a change has completed and the results of said change are persisting in the present. Clearly I'm misunderstanding this kind of usage of ~てきた. Why are these differing translations used seemingly interchangeably?

While these aren't are all my doubts concerning ~てくる, they are the largest. Please help me better understand.


texts:
Saw this on twitter:

MC挟んでいいなら♪( ´▽｀)RT @miri_sid: @mao_sid マオくんは全曲連続で歌えますか？(^-^)

Can't find the Japanese definition of MC anywhere. What does that say?


texts: Addressing a friend's parents when meeting them for the first time

texts:
I have met the parents of a close Japanese friend two times in my life and have never been sure how I should address them. Both times I've asked the friend beforehand but never got a satisfactory answer.

One friend said I could just call her parents お母さん・お父さん; the other friend said that her parents would find it rudely over-familiar if I were to call them that.

Both times I suggested last-name+さん but both friends felt this would be weird/confusing as there would be many people with the same last-name present.

I feel first-name+さん or あなた would sound rude...

So the question is: How should you address a friend's parents when meeting them for the first time?

Thank you!


texts:
I can't figure out why in the sentence

  「煙を吐き、その煙さに波香は自分で顔をしかめた。」

the second 煙 is followed by a さ. I know さ as a way to nominalize a noun. But 煙 already is one... so what function does it have here? I roughly would translate the sentence as

  Exhaling, Namika frowned upon her own cigarette smoke.<

Could I just omit さ without changing the sentence meaning?


texts: Is there a list of kanji ordered by usage in novels?

texts:
I have found many lists of kanji ordered by their usage in newspapers, but are there any lists that order by their usage in novels and other fictional material?

This might be useful to have because if someone wanted to be able to read Japanese novels well, they could study the kanji in the list.


texts:
I want to ask someone if he can translate something for me. However I do not know what the correct way of asking is. I do not want to ask if he wants to do it, but rather if he has the knowledge to do so. So something along the lines of: Do you know how to translate this, but with 'can' instead of 'Do you know'

I thought of something like:

これはできを訳しますか

However I do not think it is right.

So my question will then be:

What is the correct way to ask someone if he or she can do something? With the usage of できます (If possible)


texts: Which is the proper way to say "I don't X"?

texts: I thought if you say "I don't smoke cigarettes" that would be "[Watashi wa] tabako o suimasen". But I just saw something that said it would be "tabako wa suimasen". Are they interchangable? Is there a difference?