texts: How do I connect these three seemingly irrelevant clauses of lyrics?

texts:
I am studying the lyrics of 美しければそれでいい by 石川智晶. I am quite confused by the first three lines in this part:

  未来と指切りするのをやめたのは

  痛みから遠く逃れようとしても

  冷えた風がほら髪を揺らすよ

  何処で答えを探せばいい

From my understanding:

The first line says "I stopped making pinky promises with the future のは". The second line says "Even if I try to run away from the pain..." The third line says "Look, the cold wind is stroking your hair".

I feel like I've misunderstood something, because:

usually the clause after のは says something about the clause before it, but here the two clauses seem unrelated. Is the のは just filler, and that the two lines are totally separate?
The second and third lines has this "〜としても、〜" structure, but I can't seem to fit the meaning into it either. Maybe the "cold wind" is the "pain" that "I" am trying to run away from? That's kind of a stretch though...


texts:
I've come across the following dialogue:

「シグナムはお風呂どうします？」
「私は今夜はいい。明日の朝にするよ」
「お風呂好きが珍しいじゃん」

An unofficial, but to my mind high-quality translation offered something like

"That's rare for a bath-lover like you."

for the last the line, and going by context, that's the only right translation I can think of.
However, going by grammar, wouldn't it translate to

"Bath-lovers are rare."

?
Of course, this statement feels out of place and is also not true (there are plenty of bath-lovers).
My Japanese friend translated it to

"You are rare."

claiming that お風呂好き would directly refer to シグナム.
He interprets が properly (as a subject marker), but it sounds even more wrong.
Assuming that the unofficial translation I provided first is correct, why is が used, rather than something like にとって? Wouldn't you normally use にとって to express those kinda things?


texts: why is NOT using the ~ている form wrong in this instance?

texts:
In a Japanese class, we were given a sentence to modify it into a conveying speech. So for example,

  天気予報によると明日は雨が降る。ー＞　天気予報によると明日は雨が降るそうです。

Now, we were given this sentence.

  田中さんによると鈴木さんは今銀行に勤める。

Our instructor emphasized that the correct way to modify this sentence into a conveying speech is to change the verb 勤める into a ~ている form such that

  田中さんによると鈴木さんは今銀行に勤めているそうです。

But I cannot really see the difference with the above sentence, and the sentence below.

  田中さんによると鈴木さんは今銀行に勤めるそうです。

Where the latter just uses the normal form of the verb. But here, the instructor explicitly said this usage is incorrect. Why?


texts:
A:「 ほんとう カンニング したん ですか。」
B:「 つい。」

What does つい mean in this context?
I thought つい is used to indicate unintentionally?


texts: How is the subject of this subclause made clear?

texts:
For full context:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10011229751000/k10011229751000.html

The sentence in question:
このほか、体につけると普通の３０％ぐらいの力で重い物を持つことができる機械もあります。

=> "In addition, there were also machines which could lift/hold heavy things with about 30% of the regular strength, when you wear them on your body."

My main issue with this sentence is that my translation ACTUALLY wants to say "robots which can MAKE (it so that) you use only 30% of the strength you usually need...".
However, "to make X to Y" and "strength (case X) compared to strength (default)" are components which aren't represented by anything I could identify as a suitable equivalent in the japanese original sentence. Well, at least 普通の could hint at an implicit reference to the default case, but I'm not sure about it.

The main issue still stays that the full block
体につけると普通の３０％ぐらいの力で重い物を持つことができる
seems to modify 機械.But then, the reference point of ３０％ぐらいの力で seems to be the machine itself, at least from a syntactical perspective. And this wouldn't make much sense, as a machine can't lift something with only 30% of the power required to lift it. It can help YOU to use only 30% of your strength, because the machine takes on the other 70%. But it can't meddle with physics itself, can it?^^ :D
Since 体につける definitely must refer to the person wearing the machine, there is indeed something hinting that the subject of 持つことができる is a person. But there isn't much besides that, and I still wonder wether there any other explicit syntactical elements showing us that the subject of  持つことができる is a person, and not the machine to which the full block
体につけると普通の３０％ぐらいの力で重い物を持つことができる
is attributed.


texts:
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but I was wondering how one would pronounce the Japanese name Reita when speaking English. Should it be [leːtə], [reːtə], or something else?

For reference, I live in an English-speaking country and Reita is my new roommate's name. He's told me a couple times how to say it but I couldn't quite catch it and I don't want to seem impolite by asking him again.

Thanks in advance!


texts:
おかしな服{ふく}を着{き}た連中{れんちゅう}には我慢{がまん}がならん。
  He couldn't bear folk who wore strange clothes.

My translation comes from the obvious context, plus the fact that Jisho says of ならん "Cannot bear not to". But I can't understand how it works. Should I just learn に(は)我慢がならん as a set phrase, or can the parts be understood separately?

My thought was that ならん may be a contraction of ならない (which seemed like a good idea because に always pairs up with なる). But then I literally have: Xには我慢がならん = patience does not become X. Which makes no sense.

Could you show me some other example using ならん? Do they have to use 我慢?


texts:
Like in here. https://blog.goo.ne.jp/osibanaokaasan777/e/111153ca9b808e6aeac2dc187b10beb2

and here. https://gramho.com/explore-hashtag/%E5%8F%8E%E3%81%BE%E3%82%8A%E6%82%AA%E3%81%84

Why is 悪い on the end here? Is it like saying 悪い to to say sorry?


texts: Usage of している in cases of talking about experience

texts:
I have a doubt regarding the use of している in cases of punctual verbs. I inferred it out that the difference between た form i.e. the Japanese past form and ている (When it is used in Perfectual Sense) it has almost (Though there are minor differences) the same difference as the difference in English i.e. Simple Past and Present Perfect.

Now in English, we use Present Perfect tense when we talk about life experiences that we have experienced E.g. I have graduated, I have gone to Tokyo 3 times etc. So, my question is, do we as well use it in Japanese to tell life experiences, when we use punctual verbs i.e. Do we use ている in the verb when we use the punctual verbs or do we use た (Past form)? This query of mine arose when I read people using 　私は卒業した rather than 私は卒業している, because after referring to English ている should have been used and not た, as no specific time is mentioned.

I also had a doubt regarding using ている for highlighting travelling experiences and residing experience like I have gone to Tokyo 3 times, does ている being used here highlight the experience of travelling in a perfectual sense? Because I still find 東京に三行っている as I have gone to Tokyo 3 times (and I am still there) If I think about in Japanese, rather than telling an experience? However it is to be noted that, if we don't emphasize on the experience part of it. I have gone to Tokyo would imply in English, the same way it does in Japanese i.e. I have gone to Tokyo and I am still there. That is why I am unable to understand, whether talking travelling and residing experience in case of Japanese is also the same or should we prefer to the Past form.

Thank You 教えてください。


texts: What is the difference between Japanese は and を as a particle?

texts: so for topic markers I usually use は but what about を? I assume its used for verbs? if its not then correct me.


texts: I always thought that the word ても means 'even if'. For example, 一緒に行かなくてもいい would mean 'Even if you don't go with me, it is ok'(speaker really wants to go together but is ok even if they dont go together) . I heard that removing the も gives the same meaning, but if I look at it logically, wouldn't "一緒に行かなくていい" mean "Don't come with me" (speaker does not want to go together). So is there a difference between using も and not using it in the sentence above?


texts: Is there a rule or pattern to figure out whether を or に should be used with 我慢する?

texts:
The verb 我慢する means "to endure", "to put up with something or someone". According to my textbook, it is used with either に or を, but no further explanation is given.
I've been taking a look to several example sentences, and these are my impressions:

〇を我慢する is more frequent than 〇に我慢する
When 〇 is a person, rather than an object, it is used 〇に我慢する (however, there are example sentences where に is used with objects, too).

Some of the example sentences I've found are:

めんどくさいお兄ちゃんに我慢する。

お金が貯まるまでそれを我慢する。

食べることを我慢する。

Is there any rule or pattern to help me determine whether I should use に or を (or maybe even if there are cases where both are ok)?
よろしくお願いします。


texts: Are Japanese people aware of the Chinese meanings of Kanji?

texts:
I'm not sure if I've got the right wording in the question, but it comes from playing around with translate.google.com.

I was aware that Japanese and Chinese have similar (if not identical) characters (I'm a Westerner, so again, I apologise if this is all just wrong).

So, for a laugh, I entered my name in English and translated it to Chinese.

I then took that Chinese translation and told Google it was Japanese and then translated it back to English.

Some names were just non-sensical. I also think some of the translations have improved over time.

For example, my name Richard, is translated to Chinese as 理查德. Treating that as Japanese, it becomes Ri-sense back in English.

A couple of years ago, it was management (or middle management - I can't quite remember).

I was demonstrating this to my work colleague Joe. Joe didn't do anything as there seems to be no translation of 乔 from Japanese to English.

But when I tried his full name of Joseph, ... well ... embarrassment all round.

In Chinese, Joseph translates to 约瑟夫. If this was Japanese, translating it to English is a quite an offensive word.

Is this a fluke?

Are there any rules about what characters are used?

I suppose one rule is don't get a Chinese tattoo of your name and visit Japan if your name is Joseph!


texts:
What are the differences between 芸術 (geijutsu) and 美術 (bijutsu)?

My native tongue has both of these Sino-Xenic terms too, although in it, the geijutsu-word is clearly "art form; art in general; the arts; the humanities" (including literature, music, performance, etc.), while the bijutsu-word is clearly "some visual artistic disciplines" (such as drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic design). No schools of the bijutsu-type would offer courses on, say, music. When you say "art for art's sake", you use the geijutsu-word. Although I admit that my language may be more under Western influence.

So is that the case with the Japanese words too? Or the differences are something else? Bilingual dictionaries don't seem to be of much help, because it seems like neither of these words actually corresponds to the Western concept of "art", kinda like kindai and gendai to "modern".


texts:
What part of speech is スティール製{せい} from スティール製{せい}カテノイドexpression?
I know スティール is a noun (steel), 製{せい} is a suffix (made of), but I don't know their value together. スティール製{せい} is a noun or an adjective?


texts: Why are there so many different words with the same pronunciation in Japanese?

texts: Why does Japanese have so many words with different meanings which have the same pronunciation? For example, there are at least 80 different words which are pronounced "ko" , at least 45 for "ka", at least 48 for "kyū" and so on. I know that probably most languages have several different meanings for the same pronunciation (for example in Spanish we say "tomar" for "to drink" and "to get" which aren't even remotely related) or in English they use "to play" for playing an instrument or playing a game (which are very different actions in my opinion, and in Spanish we use 2 different words, namely "tocar" for an instrument and "jugar" for a game), but in Japanese this is taken to a next level. Is there any particular historic reason or some other kind of reason for this?


texts: Can the Japanese present tense indicate a continuous acton?

texts: I was watching Shirobako episode 16. and at 2:31 the witch says "落ちる！" as she falls out of a plane. The subs translated it as "We're falling!" but I'm confused on why that is so. I'm not sure if present tense of a verb can be used to indicate continuous action. In this situation, why isn't it "We're going to fall!" instead of "We're falling!" or 落ちる最中 instead of 落ちる?


texts:
If I were to introduce myself, which would be better?

はじめまして、あかみです。どうぞよろしく。
はじめまして、あかみです。よろしくお願いします。
How would you introduce yourself? Any better recommendations instead of 1 & 2 ?!

Thanks :D


texts: What is the diference betwen 電気製品 and 電化製品?

texts: On Google Translate, both of them are 'electrical appliances'


texts: Can I use やめた instead of やめる in this sentence?

texts:
会社をやめるかもしれません。

Can I say "会社をやめたかもしれません。"? Is the second usage acceptable in Japanese?


texts: What do you use for a general-purpose counter when there are more that 10?

texts:
I've seen multiple language books, videos, etc. refer to this great, wonderful, magnificent general-purpose counter known as つ.  The problem?  I've also seen multiple source say that つ doesn't work with numbers greater than 10.  Which means I can't personally take this very seriously, and unfortunately, language manuals tend to just skip over any explanation of what you're supposed to do with numbers greater than 10.

Maybe they just mean that you have to change over from the ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ counting system to the いち、に、さん counting system, but if that's so, there's no way to tell from the way that language manuals tend to word this.  So what do you do for general-purpose counting after 10 (or before 1)?


texts:
In the Japanese exclamation:

  待ってろよ！

What function does ろ have and how should it be translated to English?
I've searched everywhere, but I can't seem to find a decent explanation. The only thing that came close was a website telling me that the て-form could sometimes be replaced by a ろ, but that's not what's happening here..


texts:
I'm trying to figure out if there's a difference in meaning/translation between

  黒齣

and

  黒駒

I've attached an image just to make sure that I didn't accidently look up the wrong character (I'm 99% sure it's the correct one but still).

A bit of context: both show up on black background. There is no further context to be given.

The first one I've seen translated as black scene, which makes sense because according to this, 齣 can mean either frame or scene in this context.

For the second one, the translation was also black scene but I'm not entirely sure if it's indeed correct. I think I found the correct character (here and here), but translations like horse or shogi piece just don't make any sense to me.

I have the feeling they both mean the same, but I just want to make sure.


texts: Expressing ethnicity that is different from nationality

texts:
How do you go about expressing ethnicity that is different from your nationality.

I happen to be of British decent from Canada (now living in Japan):

イギリス系のカナダ人です。

That's my best guess. Any improvements?


texts: 「慎重すぎる」 and 「慎重に過ぎる」 - is there a difference?

texts:
In the short story I'm reading now (「ドライブ・マイ・カー」 by Haruki Murakami) there are two very similar phrases to express what I would translate as "too cautious": 「慎重すぎる」 and 「慎重に過ぎる」:

いささか乱暴すぎるか、いささか慎重すぎるか、どちらかだ。
彼女たちは多くの場合、慎重に過ぎる女性ドライバーたちを馬鹿にし、[...]

My question is: are those two phrases different in some way because having or not having 「に」 between 「慎重」 and 「すぎる」?
Also, why is 「すぎる」 written using hiragana only in one case and kanji in the other?


texts: Are there official kanji attached to popular particles?

texts:
After some research on my own (looking through the list of kun-readings for more obscure kanji), I can more or less surely claim:

に is 于 (which is simultaneously many things, including ここに and を);

まで is 迄;

の, of course, is 之.

But what for the others? Are there specific kanji for は, for が, for で etc.?


texts: What is the purpose of はある in this sentence?

texts:
顔の大きさの半分はあるであろう大きなマスク。(source)

I've been told that this sentence is describing the size of the mask being half the size of the face, Can't we simply say 「顔の大きさの半分であろう大きなマスク」 instead?


texts:
I am looking for the meaning of 方かしら
I am aware that かしら has a meaning of "I wonder"
The question may (or not) has been in the post:
Meaning of ほうなんで?

この街に来るって事は、冒険者を目指している方かしら
If you've come to this town, you must be looking to become adventurers


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

texts:
★please note: if it’s possible, I wouldn’t want the whole sentence translated as I want to do it myself. I’d prefer to have information about my questions with examples in other sentences than this one. I learn more than when I’m just given an answer. Of course, if it can’t be explained without explaining the whole sentence it’s ok too!

保険制度『の』おかげ『で』患者『の』支払う医療費『は』月数万程度［だ]『が』
Page in the left, second panel from the top, first bubble on the right.

月 can mean moon but that’s not it here so I’d logically narrow it down to the meaning of month. But considering what comes after, I don’t know how to word it!

数万 means “tens of thousands” and 程度 means “degree”.


texts: Why are 湖 and 山 in geographical names typically read in On-reading but 川 in Kun-reading?

texts:
This question is based on my somewhat limited understanding and observation of places I have been to so I may be falling victim to a bad sample size. If that is the case, please alert me.

In the couple of years I have now been living in Japan and from the places I have been to, I have noticed that rivers, lakes and mountains often include the kanji 川、湖 or 山 in their names. However, it strikes me as odd that rivers (宇【う】治【じ】川【がわ】、淀川【よどがわ】、鴨川【かもがわ】 and 江【え】戸【ど】川【がわ】) are typically if not exclusively read using the Kun-reading of 川【かわ】, while it seems to me that mountains (比【ひ】叡【えい】山【ざん】、富【ふ】士【じ】山【さん】) and especially lakes (琵【び】琶【わ】湖【こ】、支【し】笏【こつ】湖【こ】) are typically read using the respective kanji’s On-reading. Is this a general rule and if so, why is it so?

For clarity: I am only focussing on the pronunciation of 川、山 and 湖; not any of the other kanji that make up the names I have quoted. There are probably further kanji that serve similar purposes (as in the English-language examples of Currumbin Creek versus Brisbane River) whose kanji I have yet to learn or notice. Feel free to include such ones in your answers.


texts:
I've been listening to this memetic song for quite a bit, but recently I was thinking perhaps the title could be inaccurate. Shouldn't it be "Airman wo Taoserarenai"?

There are 2 points I have to make here:

One, たおせない means "to not beat/defeat" when the song clearly sings about not being able to defeat Airman, which would be expressed by the negative potential form of 倒せる: 倒せられない.

Two, the object is エアーマン, not the player, so エアーマン needs a を instead of a が, right?

Am I on the mark on these two counts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opADNvgeZYY

More on the song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Man_ga_Taosenai


texts:
I just stumbled upon this sentence in a book.

  とはいうものの、電気やエルクトロニクスの基本を知る価値だってある。

I can get the gist of what the sentence is trying to say, but this is the first time I encountered the expression written in bold. Is it common? Can you explain to me in what kind of situation do we typically use this expression?


texts: In an artwork of a pokemon, Lunala in English, it is written ルナアーラ. Why, after the ナ, are there both an ア and a ー? It would just be pronounced as if any of those two were removed, so why are they both there?


texts: What does *kata* mean in the sentence provided below?

texts:
乗車券をお求めになるかたは、どうぞこちらへ。
joushaken o omotome ni naru kata wa, douzo kochira e.
Those who want to buy passenger ticket please go this way.

Is it 型 (かた), which means type or model?


texts:
In Japanese mathematics, the word ‘functor’ is translated as 関手【かんしゅ】. What is the etymology of this word?

I suspect that it is a pun on 関数 (function). This leads to two further questions:

Why 関手 and not 函手? According to Wikipedia 函数 was standard until the late 1950s. Category theory (圏論) was invented in the late 1940s, and was certainly known in Japan in the 1950s, c.f. Nobuo Yoneda's (米田信夫) work.
Why -手? It seems to be the same agentive morpheme -手 as in 運転手、歌手、選手 etc., but these are words referring to people. Moreover (to my knowledge) -手 is not as productive as, say, -者. Either way, it seems unnatural to calque -or like this.

To ward off any confusion, I do not mean 関手 as in せきて.


texts: 聞かす vs The Causative Form of 聞く (and what about 聞かさせる???)

texts:
I was reading Naruto and came across the word 聞かされた. I understood its meaning, but soon got confused when tried to go about its conjugation. And thus I came across these...

寝る・寝かす
聞く・聞かす
待つ・待たす
散る・散らす
動く・動かす
冷える・冷やす／冷やかす (there are both???)
冷める・冷ます

I understand that all these verbs ended in ーあす are 他動詞... Theres quite a pattern here. The same goes for their meaning, which are resemble (if not are the same) as the causative form. For example:

寝かす - Cause someone to sleep, or put someone to sleep.
聞かす - Cause someone to listen, or let/make someone listen.
待たす - Cause someone to wait, or make/let someone wait.
動かす - Cause someone to move, or put someone in movement.
etc...

However, how are these ーあす verbs any different of the actual causative ーあせる verbs?
What is the difference between:

寝かす・寝される
聞かす・聞かせる
待たす・待たせる
散らす・散らせる

Furthermore, if these ーあす verbs are considered "verbs by itself", the do they have a causative form? Can I say 聞かさせる or 待たさせる???
I have read some other similar posts, but they just got me even more confused. So I decided to try my own question and hope someone can help me with this. Thanks in advance.
????


texts: Why does いまいち have the meaning of "not good"?

texts:
いまいち
  imaichi
  (common) 【今一】
  いまひとつ
  imahitotsu
  (common) · イマイチ
  IMAICHI
   【今一 · 今一つ · いま一つ · 今ひとつ】
  adjectival noun → conjugation / adverb:

  1.)one more;  another;  the other;  —Usually written using kana alone.  Colloquialism.

  2.)not quite;  not very good;  lacking

  いまいち東芝は信用できない。 I can't really trust Toshiba.

  いい人だけどイマイチね。 He is nice, but he's not the one for me. ▾
  not quite;  not very good;  lacking

Is it because if something needs "one more" then it is lacking in something, and thus can be seen as not good?


texts:
We can replace ない with ん is what I read, but I have only ever seen it in group 2 verbs(ごだん). For example: 知らん、ならん. The question is, is it possible to use it in group 1 verbs（いちだん）? For example: 諦めん?

Also, I read that it is not possible to modify a verb ending with ん. But is it possible to add a ぞ、ぜ、よ？For example: 諦めんぞ


texts:
世の中結局強い物が勝つ。
  弱い奴らは死んでいく。
  ただそれだけ

  弱い奴らは勝手に死んでいくのだ

Maybe a better way of phrasing this question would be asking the difference in using merely plain form and this form.

e.g.

  強いものが勝ち弱いものは死ぬ

  強いものが生き残り、弱いものは死んでいく

Can someone try to explain the difference in nuance and meaning between them? (And before anyone starts to explain the super basics of ていく I already know and understand them but I'm having trouble understanding it as seen above. I'm not asking for a translation.)


texts: Differentiate 'niwa" and "ni" when indicating a position

texts:
I am here again! I am just starting learning this amazing language and thanks for everyone's help.

So I heard that to say "I speak fast in English" I say:

  Egoniwa hayakuhanashimasu.

What does the particle "niwa" help in hear. Similarly, when I say "I have 7 people in my family" I say:

  Kazuhanimwa ichijinin imasu (not sure of spelling).

However, when I say "my children are in America" (I don't have any), I say:

  watashino kudomawa americani imasu.

So what do "niwa" and "ni" have in common or what are their differences?

Correct me if I misunderstood anything. And thanks again for everyone's help!


texts: Like saying I'm going to take off my hat as in 帽子{ぼうし}を抜{ぬ}きます. I believe 抜{ぬ} "nu" means to get ride of or dispose of, but I guess I'm certain context it could mean to take off or remove. I'm wondering if there's a kanji that better fits this action.


texts: How to say I want to make an appointment?

texts:
This is something I've been wondering about for a very long time now. jisho.org lists quite many different words for "appointment" like e.g. 任命、待ち合わせ、予約 and a few more.

But it's not clear to me which to use when. So my question today is how do I say

  I'd like to make an appointment. (when for example calling up a
  doctor's practice)

and how to say

  I'd like to make an appointment to change my foreign driver's license
  into a Japanese one. (when calling up the prefectural police)

I'm sure I had other situations where I really really needed this word but didn't know it but right now I can't remember.


texts: Is there a universal (regardless of the context) way to say "already"?

texts:
JMDict lists several words for already marked as common:

もう
既に
最早
早
先刻
疾っくに
兼ねて

Is there any difference between all these "already" words, and is there among them a "universal" one which can be used in any context?


texts:
I know there's a past topic with this question already, but honestly I couldn't understand the explanation very well.

Thank you very much for the input and time.


texts: Why do Stereopony use Katakana for their song "Hitohira no Hanabira"?

texts:
My understanding of katakana is that they are used for foreign words. I am not sure why they might use it like that:

  ヒトヒラのハナビラ for Hitohira no Hanabira

The lyrics are here.


texts:
So I started watching the movie あかひげ the other night and intrigued by the title I looked it up in the dictionary  where one of the definitions was:

  Westerner (derogatory)

Does it really contain this meaning?

How is this used (if it is indeed used?!?) in modern Japanese?

If it's not used what word can be used to express "Westerner (derogatory)" in modern Japanese?


texts: How do you write someone's name if you don't know what kanji to use?

texts: Since kanji can have multiple pronunciations, how would you know how to write someone's name if you've only heard it spoken? What's the convention? Would you just guess, or maybe write it out in hiragana instead?


texts: At a restaurant, my wife ordered a curry dish. We know virtually no Japanese. The waiter understood she wanted the curry dish she pointed out, but kept asking "Nami? Nami?" And wouldn't let us proceed past that. We ended up giving up and ordering something else. What info was he trying to get to complete the curry order?


texts:
I'm reading a children's book (no kanji) and the sentence is:

  いどうはんばいしゃは、　みんなが　だいすきな　たべものを　うってるよ。

From the context, I figure it means:

  The mobile catering guy everyones favourite food selling

(I'm not good at particles)
My question is:
What is the form うってる?

I assume that よ is the emphasis-particle and the word is 売る - "to sell", because context, but I do not get the conjugation.
I checked here, but the closest form I could find is "utte iru".


texts:
ただの荷物持ち、と話していたリリの言葉が蘇る。本当にそうなのかと、前まで憧れてすらいた冒険者像へ失望に近い感情を抱いてしまう。

I'm not sure how to interpret this part of the sentence. What does the すらいた do?

Thank you!


texts: Why is the causative used for a transitive verb in this case?

texts:
Saw this sample sentence on Tangorin:

  その物音が私を眠りから覚まさせた。 The noise awoke me from my sleep.

Since 覚ます is a transitive verb, I do not understand why not simply use the past tense instead:

  その物音が私を眠りから覚ました。 (past tense)

A transitive verb can be used in its causative form when the speaker is making someone do said verb. However, I do not think that is the case here, since the sentence should be thus written instead (from my understanding):

  (私は)その物音に私を眠りから覚まさせた。 (causative)

Nonetheless, this seems utterly awkward to me.

Alternatively, if the speaker wishes to express the negative nuance, the causative-passive can be utilized:

  (私は)その物音に私を眠りから覚まさせられた。 (causative-passive)

Am I miserably mistaken?

I fear that my use of particles here may be incorrect, and juggling these different forms around exacerbates the situation.

Please send help.


texts: Is 長生きはするもんだな a set phrase meaning "you live and learn"?


texts: What is the level of formality of this expression? Is this a set expression or does it follow after a more generic grammatical pattern? Example sentences would be appreciated.


texts:
I know the first one but the second one... I've tried to hand write it and I've thought about other characters like ク, フ and レ, researched if there's any known SFX with these combinations but nothing (apart from ビク being "biku" but I don't think that's what I'm looking for here? Or is it?

[


texts:
Could you please explain to me how to use ひとつ (to give something a try) and give me some example sentences?
I have found ひとつ as a grammar pattern in this site:
https://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-jlpt-n1-grammar-%E3%81%B2%E3%81%A8%E3%81%A4-hitotsu/
but the examples don't seem clear to me.
If you could help me, I would be really thankful.


texts: Why is it [名前を書いたつもりだったが、**書いていなかった**ようだ。] and not just 書かなかった?

texts: What does the 'contuative' form add to the meaning in the sentence?


texts: 尻馬に乗る Have I understood this idiom correctly?

texts:
So I am struggling with this sentence, and was wondering if I have interpreted the idiom correctly?

I have found that 尻馬に乗る means 'to follow suit', 'to follow the lead of others' or 'A fool laughs when others laugh'.

However, in this sentence, it is paired with 大災厄の尻馬に乗って

  すでに起こってしまった大災厄の尻馬に乗って人間たちを嘲笑いに出かけるという先生のやり口は、じつにぶざまに思われた。

Does this instead mean 'to take advantage of'?

  The way Sensei exploited the great disaster that had already befallen the area in order to ridicule the humans, I thought, was truly terrible.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!


texts: When writing for general public, is there a general guideline for selecting kanji?

texts:
After reading numerous publications, I've spotted a trend or custom on determining whether kanji is or is not used for certain words. The most obvious ones are:
こと・事

…が実は犯人だったということがわかる。
(haven't found a sentence which uses 事 alone yet)

ほう・方

…事前に連絡したほうがいいだろう。
…彼の方が優秀である。

とき・時

…を実施したとき、企業の声は…
その時が来たら、また私に…

And there are other words of which, the usage of kanji is avoided. I may want to ask which is preferrable for each of the situation above, but in another question. What I want to ask here is:
Question
Do publishers/writers employ a certain guideline/reference for selecting kanji when writing for public reading? If so, who governs the guideline? Is there a publication describing it?


texts: Does contraction and elision affect formation of relative clauses?

texts:
For example, やらなければならない can modify 時 to form やらなければならない時 and I know that the adjective い ending can simply have a noun appended after it.

However when it's contracted to やらなきゃ can I simply add a noun after it and pretend that the ない ending still exists even though it has been contracted and elided? Will it still maintain the meaning of "(The) time where you must act" or will なきゃ be forced to take on the meaning of "unless" as in a similar manner reflected in the answer to Difference between ~なきゃ　and ~なくちゃ?


texts: What kind of grammar is it in 「恥を恥とも感じない」?

texts:
恥を感じない means "not feel shame" so my question is

  What is the purpose of 恥とも in 「恥を恥とも感じない」? Is it an adverb?


texts: Translation of 答えを知っている人はいませんでした

texts:
I started studying Modern Japanese Grammar: A Practical Guide by Naomi McGloin et al. In section 1.2, there's the following example:

  [おどろいたことに、] 答えを知っている人はいませんでした。

Which is translated as:

  [Surprisingly,] no one knew the answer.

This translation sounds a bit off to me. I'd say that the sentence roughly translates to "[Surprisingly,] the person who know the answer is absent", which isn't equivalent to provided translation. I guess it'd be more adequate if the original sentence was something like "[おどろいたことに、] 誰も答えを知らない". I think that difference between "no one knew" and "person who know was not here" is quite stark. Second one implies presence of someone who know while first one does not.

Is this an error in the book or do I understand it incorrectly?


texts: breaking down [そのほかどういう時に何と言ったらよいかが決まっていて]

texts:
This last sentence from my textbook puzzles me. No matter how I break it down i can't understand it.

そのほかどういう時に何と言ったらよいかが決まっていて、[???]

それを覚えるのが、大事な社会教育だと言ってもよいだろう。[You could say that memorizing that is good social education.] or something along those lines

I'd immensely appreciate a grammar breakdown/proper translation. Here's the paragraph for context


texts: Would I use で if I want to say “drawing in an art program”

texts:
I feel like this is wrong, but I’m not entirely sure, if I wanted to say “my first time drawing in Paint Tool Sai” would this sentence be correct?
ペイントツールSAIで初めて描画


texts: What's the difference between 運用 and 操作?

texts: As i am learning Japanese,there are many words which have same meaning but still different usage,links to understand these differences would be appreciated.thanks!


texts:
I know 大振り is usually used in baseball to refer to a big swing of the bat, but what is its meaning in boxing? I found it in the following sentence from a manga in which a boxer is being encouraged by its trainer:

  お前のパンチは当たれば倒せるパンチなんだ！ただし勢いにのまれての大振りは御法度だ！コンビネーションから繋いでいけ。

I think it refers to a fast and strong punch, but why is it considered a negative thing in this case? I would be grateful if you also could correct my translation and explain the general meaning of the sentence. My attempt:

  Your punches can knock him down if you manage to hit him! But don't
  overdo it and avoid fast punches! Start from the combinations!


texts: What word describes the concept of worldwide time zones?

texts:
The world is covered in the necessary evil known in English as "time zones".

Given that, historically, it originated in England (some 300 or so years ago), the concept of a time zone was probably not brought into Japan for quite some time.

That said, RomajiDesu suggests 時間帯 for "time zone". However, given the English-based origin of the term, I tend to think that this may not properly refer to the same concept.

What is the proper Japanese term for a time zone? Is it 時間帯｛じかんたい｝? Is タイムゾーン is more appropriate? Or is there another term I should use?


texts: What function does とは have here? Is に omitted here?

texts:
不自由とは無縁の生活を捨てて、神様は不便極まるこの世界にのめり込んでいった。

Is it defining something?

Also in the second part, is the に particle before the intransitive verb omitted or does it not require it?

  神様は不便極まるこの世界にのめり込んでいった。

Thanks!


texts: What's the implication of ん when not asking a question?

texts:
For the following:

  食堂の食べ物はあまり好きじゃないんだ。

It says that "I don't really like the cafeteria's food". What's the significance in the ん near the end? Suppose it was dropped to make:

  食堂の食べ物はあまり好きじゃないだ。

I'm not too sure what it does since there isn't any question being asked, so the speaker doesn't seem to be asking for any sort of explanation.


texts: What does 曰く mean when it is *not* preceded by a name?

texts:
Dictionary or other references are appreciated, as no dictionary I have referenced gives me an example of this kind of usage.

Example:

  とにかく、このメンタルブロックをぶち壊さないと、願望は達成できない。人は願望を持った場合、「それは実現不可能だ」ということを証明したがる習性を持っている。曰く、「教室が狭いのでそんなに人数が入らない。」曰く、「この地区は不況が厳しいので、その授業料では受け入れられない。」曰く「資金がない。」曰く、曰く…。いわゆる消極型人間がほとんどなのである。

It looks like すなわち, なぜかと聞くと, 例えば, つまり, or something like that, but I cannot pin it down.

I'm interested in all possible usages of (adverbial?) 曰く without a name prefix, not just the meaning of this one example, so if you can't answer this but know of any more examples with possibly different usages (it is quite hard to google this ><), please add them in the comments.


texts:
This is from a blog about Death Note

  L及び警察側の状況整理という感じの情報が出されていきます。

From episode 2, the context is a reunion were the police and  L are reviewing information about the kira case and one officer is reading tip offs.

I'm trying to interpret this and I have something like:

  there's the information of [a sense of the police and L making plans] that is going to be taken out (exposed in the reunion).


texts: What's the difference between 完成 and 完了?

texts:
Dictionaries list "completion" as a definition for both of these words. I'm trying to figure out the difference between them.

Some online sources say 完成 is used when you finish making something and 完了 is used when you are finished doing something, but I'm kind of skeptical about this because I've seen sentences with 完成 used with 仕事, such as this one:

  その仕事{しごと}は大部分{だいぶぶん}完成{かんせい}した。
  The work has been almost completed.

What's the difference between them?


texts: Colloquial contraction of だろう into ろ after past tense verb (e.g. 言ったろ)

texts:
I noticed in many anime I watched that 「言っただろう」 is often contracted into 「言ったろ」 in conversations between friends and families. I'm guessing this contraction is both colloquial and standard (as in, everyone understands it).

But I'm wondering if this contraction of 「だろう」 is limited to the phrase 「言っただろう」 only. Is there any instance where 「だろう」 gets contracted before other past tense verbs than 「言った」, e.g. 来たろ?


texts: 「どうあろうと」と「どうあっても」 の違いは何ですか

texts:
In this example sentence from the manga Death Note,

"推理の過程がどうあろうとこの女の握っている事は真実"

When I looked for the meaning on weblio it suggested どうあっても as meaning the same thing? My Rikaikun doesn't come with an answer for どうあろうと but it knows どうあっても, are they roughly the same meaning?

Thank you for your help!　ありがとうございます！


texts: Is there an onomatopoeia of mumbling in japanese?

texts: I was watching an anime, and they use repetitions of "ブツ" everytime a character is mumbling. Is this the rule for japanese or it's just something made up for a particular anime/manga?


texts: The meaning of "XX GAME お客様サポート係 横井でございます"

texts:
Recently I sent an email to a game's support channel and the first paragraph of their reply email contains this sentence "XX GAME お客様サポート係 横井でございます".
I tried Google translate "横井" but it only shows "Yokoi" (the Japanese pronunciation).
I also learnt about "でございます" is a polite form from this forum.
May I know what is the meaning of "横井"? Does it refer to the name of support personnel?
And does "係" refer to "is" ?
Thanks.


texts: What does でもわかる mean and what does あって+か do?

texts:
丸い顔と丸い頬は幼い容貌を形作り、そのせいもあってか、服の上からでもわかるくらい豊かに成熟している胸元にはつい目を引き寄せられてしまう。

What does あって+か do in this sentence?

Also what meaning does でもわかる have in this sentence? Is the でも being used as "even"?

Thanks!


texts:
I've found this in a comic frame, but i can't find it's meaning
おまっとさんどす
Maybe おまっと be a kind of お前, but I don't know.

Best Regards.


texts:
悲鳴と銃声と爆音の狂想曲は絶え間なく、かつ容赦なく鳴り響き、街を人を根こそぎ壊し、鏖殺｛おうさつ｝していく。「ディエス・イレ」

Basic structure to me seems to be X狂想曲はA鳴り響き、B根こそぎ壊し、鏖殺していく, a subject 狂想曲 with three verbals (X and A,　B being their respective pre-noun and pre-verbal elements). 根こそぎ壊し、鏖殺していく seem to share the same pre-verbal as their object - "the people of the city"(?)).

What I don't understand is the bolded pre-verbal B. Why is it the postposition を used here instead of の?

NB**one could argue how far the adverbial 絶え間なく、かつ容赦なく applies but that seems to be ambiguous (?).


texts: Sentence structure between two clauses question

texts:
I don't have a Japanese sentence example of something long, but let's say I have to sentence that has two clauses that are separated with a が followed by a comma. You feel that this second clause that sounds more natural in English when translated to be at the front of a sentence than towards the back. Is it possible to move stuff around within the complete sentence or should I treat two clauses as separate parts when I'm translating it.

Right now I've only been reading simple sentences like:

彼女は、学生じゃなくて、先生だ。
She is not a student, she is a teacher.

Apologize ahead of time if this question seems vague.

Edit: How about a sentence like this: 嫌がらせの可能性も、山口さんは捨てきれなかったが。

The last が　in the sentence I thought perhaps it could be a colloquial way to trail off in a sentence like "but..." More like it's seems better to say Unfortunately or Although at the beginning of the sentence.

Although Yamaguchi-san couldn't discard the possibility of also being harrassed.

So, is it perfectly possible to move the second half of this sentence to the front of if translated in an English sentence and first half towards the end?

I been usually just been keeping both halves separate where they are and not moving words around much from where they are between the clauses if that makes any sense.


texts: seeing 尿が遠い/尿が近い in some medical documents and sites, what does 遠い and 近い mean in this sense? Does it literally mean the urine is far(ranged)/urine is close (ranged)?


texts: What purpose did the kanji read "たいと" (雲雲雲龍龍龍) serve?

texts:
Back in the day, my friends and I derived much amusement from the kanji that is read 「たいと」, which consists of three 雲 and three 龍:

What actual purpose did this kanji serve? The Japanese Wikipedia article for it says:

  日本で苗字として用いられたとされる国字。

But the fact that this says 用いられたとされる suggests to me that this is somehow vague, unclear, or disputed.

(Personally, it strikes me as an almost comical kanji, and I can't imagine anybody using it seriously.)


texts: What is the meaning of 人児, and is it a compound?

texts:
There's this rather unpleasant sign on a restaurant that says:

  中国人＆帰化人、残留孤児、中国系混血人児、絶対入店禁止、純血日本男児のみ。

Putting aside the racist content, from a linguistic point of view, the one word that throws me is 人児. It's not in Yahoo, Denshi Jisho,  or Goo dictionaries.

I know in general that it means people and children, but I'm unclear on exactly how to read and define it.

What is the right reading? ひとこ、ひとじ、じんこ、じんじ?

And does it mean "young people", or "adults and kids", or "adults or children", or something else?

Lastly, is it actually a compound, or is it just the two individual kanji with their individual meanings that are beside each other like a list (as in "adults, children")?


texts:
下の牛舎から上にいくまでの
道に落ちた堆肥をホウキなどで道の端にはくのではなくこれからは一輪車で集めて捨てるようにしてください

is the naku a form of nai, and does it mean the compost won't peel off the road? But from the rest of the sentence I get the feeling its different.


texts:
I was amused by, and interested in, this little sign on a water dispenser in a sandwich shop:

The options are that you can have ice only, ice and water, or just water.

What intrigued me was that water, 水{みず}, is preceeded by an honorific お, but ice, 氷{こおり}, is not.

Both are being served to a customer, so why not お氷{こおり}?


texts: How does [ ɕ ] ( し) differ from [ ʃ ] ("she")?

texts:
According to wikipedia, the 'sh' sound in Japanese し is pronounced [ɕ] (in IPA) while the 'sh' sound in English "she" is pronounced [ʃ].

How do these differ?  I've been pronouncing them exactly the same.


texts: Does this ように mean "as if" or "so that". 恥ずかしさを誤魔化すように

texts:
In context, his girlfriend did something embarrassing and he called her out on it.
恥ずかしさを誤魔化すように、俺をそっと抱きしめ、そして右頬にキスをしてくる
I ask this because I have seen other sentences where 誤魔化す is used with ために e.g.
可愛く見せるだけでなく、恥ずかしさを誤魔化すために写真の前で舌を出す人は意外と多いはずです
This clearly states that it was done in order to hide their embarrassment. From my understanding ように and ために are not interchangeable, so I'm wondering if 誤魔化す can somehow be used with both ように and ために, or if the ように used above is not the same meaning as "so that".


texts: How can you tell if the causative means "let" or "make"?

texts:
父は弟に英語を習わせた。

This may mean "My father made/let my younger brother learn English". How do I tell which one it means when using the causative?


texts: How do I say what something is made out of?

texts: The exact thing I want to know how to say is 'The wristwatch is made out of gold' and 'The wristwatch is gold and black in colour'. Would saying this be the same as talking about a house being made of wood (for example)?


texts: Applying ～すればするほど (and its variants) to various part of speech

texts:
Verbs

気にしなければ気にしないほど、息子がもっと煩くなる。The more I ignore him, the more noisy he is.

Adjectives (i adjectives)

牛乳は入れた砂糖が多ければ多いほど、甘くなる。The more sugar you pour into the milk, the sweeter it becomes.

Adjectival Nouns (na adjectives)

俳優は有名ならば有名なほど、給料が高くなる。The more famous an actor is, the higher his salary becomes.

Question
Now I want to apply this grammar to an adverb よく (often) or しばしば (often). The sentence I want to say is

A: The more often you wash clothes with bleach, the quicker its fabric becomes fragile.
A: 服は、ブリーチで洗うのが頻繁ならば頻繁なほど、早く脆くなる。

Here I was forced to use adjectival noun　頻繁 rather than よく (often) or しばしば (often)。
Is it possible to use this grammar with an adverb? If yes, how to apply it to my sentence A above?


texts:
What is the 'z' in kana character?

The context cartoon image:https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=manga&illust_id=66989588


texts: Are there other compounds with 分 where it is read as いた as in 大分県?

texts: Not sure if 分 is ita or ta in 大分県, but anyway, kind of hard to find anything in the dictionary so if anyone knows a compound with that reading off the top of their head it would be appreciated!


texts: As the title say, I want to express the idea of an character overshadowing the main character in a story. The only thing that I was able to found in the dictionary was 霞む, but this seems to be more on the sense of "cast a shadow over" when what I'm looking for is "much more prominent or important than". What could I use in this case?


texts: How to express that somebody apologized on behalf of somebody else

texts:
To help describe my issue, let's imagine following situation:

A foreigner comes to Japan.
He is in the company of a native Japanese person. Suppose they are friends.
During the day, the foreigner unintentionally did something against Japanese etiquette in public, which might offend other occasional spectators in public places like streets, public transport, restaurants etc. (like nose blowing for instance or saying something too loud in public transportation)
His Japanese friend apologized to the potentially offended people on his behalf.

My question is: How does one describe this activity in Japanese?

Or in short, how to say: He apologized on behalf of someone else?


texts:
While having Ghengis Khan with some dou-min, one of them asked for "biiru hitotsu". While I could understand the biiru, I was surprised that ippai wasn't used.

I understand that (number)-tsu is valid Japanese, but not why it was used in this particular case. Is using a more vague counter word more casual and relaxed, akin to saying "a beer, please" rather than "one glass of beer, please"? Or would "ippai" be confusing because of the phrase "o-naka wa ippai (desu)" being used to indicate you're full?


texts: の versus こと in head-internal relative clauses

texts:
I'm sure something similar to this has been asked already, but I'm hoping this is a little different. I imagine the nominalizing usage of の is related to its noun modifying usage, like:

  食べるの

versus

  テーブルの上にリンゴがあったのを食べた

but in the first case the usage of こと is permitted, while in the latter it is not. Assuming these are these are the same の, why can't we use こと in both cases? Is it something like the の usage came about first, and later the こと usage was added?


texts:
I am having some trouble grasping the meaning of 寄せられる in this context. While the most common meaning of 寄せる that I see is something akin to "to approach", it is clearly varied in meaning contextually, as I see it often and am unclear on exactly what it implies. Here's the passage:

  しかし、 企画に対して、「 社会が苦しい」「 読んで生きるのが楽になりました」 という感想が思った以上に寄せられています 。そうした決断は難しいようです.


texts: How does かたじけなや differ from regular かたじけない?

texts:
Many times I heard/read an archaic form of giving thanks to somebody かたじけない modified to かたじけなや. I also think I heard ありがたや quite a lot.

What exactly does this や at the end (is it regional, emphatic, or else?) and how does it sound to a native speakers' ears?


texts: What is the role of で in the following sentence?

texts:
The following is a sentence from a reading comprehension exercise. The context is a 返品カード. I wonder what role で plays below:

返品理由で当てはまるものを選び、アルファベットに◯をつけてください。
a．サイズが合わなかった。
b. ...

I have two guesses.

で here is the te-form of だ. 返品理由 and 当てはまる both modify もの.
で is a particle and means “as”.

Which (if any) of the above would be correct?


texts:
Looking up the words "standard" and "conventions" in Google Translate gives me multiple translations (as both words do have multiple meanings I pretty much expected that).

Using the following definitions of standard and convention, what kanji(s) are used:

Standard: something established by authority, custom, or general consent as a model or example

Convention: a way in which something is usually done, especially within a particular area or activity.

How would you say/write "coding standard" or "coding conventions"? (Am aware "coding" is just "コーディング". lol)


texts: ほぼ and ほとんど: What's the difference and how do you use them?

texts:
What is the difference between ほぼ and ほとんど?

They both mean almost, don't they? Can they both be used in both positive and negative?


texts:
久方ブリダナ…百年前我ヲ封ジタ
タカマガハラノ　野良大神ヨ
我ヲ仕損ジテ石クレニ成リ果テルモ
マダ我ニ拘ッテイルトハ
"石ノ中ニモ百年"カ
…黴臭クモナロウモノダ！ (source: 『大神』)

Said by the villain to the protagonist, who's been sleeping as a stone statue for the last hundred years. What I'd like to know is how to analyze くもなろうものだ and what exactly it means. I assume it's supposed to say something to the effect of "It's no wonder you grow moldy." but I'm really at a loss here as to how it functions grammatically.
I've tried googling the phrase in question and came up with other examples:

そりゃあいい加減に暴れ出しくもなろうものだ
来年、再びナツツバキの白さを目にすることはないのかもしれない。そう思えば感傷的にもなろうものだ。

Is it an alternative to 黴臭くもなるだろうものだ? だろう as an indirect statement and ものだ to state general facts? Does that even make sense?


texts:
うち、あんたなしじゃあ生きていかれへん体になってしもうたんや。

My unsure translation: "House （うち）, I become（なってしもう？？） a body（体） who can't go on living（生きていかれへん） without you（あんたなし）".

whats going on with the なってしもう？ Is it a casual/conversational version of　なってしまう? Also what's that たん doing in there?


texts: Is 花見 only for "cherry blossom" viewing?

texts:
Textbooks usually teach that 花見 / お花見 means "cherry blossom viewing".
Tatoeba has a couple of examples supporting that:

ヒラヒラと桜の花が舞っている。もうお花見の季節も終わりだな It looks like cherry blossom-viewing season is at an end. You can see the petals fluttering
down.

水戸市は花見客でいっぱいだった。 The city of Mito was crowded with blossom viewers.

私は花見に行ってきました。 I have been to see the cherry blossoms.

花見ができる春が待ち遠しい。 I can't wait for spring to come so we can sit under the cherry trees.

お花見に行きませんか。 Why don't we go and see the cherry blossoms?

[source]

Must 花見 / お花見 refer only to "cherry blossom" viewing?
Can they be used for "flower viewing" in general?


texts:
I always assumed you would reply to a phrase containing よかったら with はい or いい but is that correct? If so, which sounds more natural?

For example, if someone were to say "よかったら、英語を教えて欲しい" to you, how would you reply?


texts: How do I translate a pattern like "Tap to enter comment"?

texts:
I find it difficult to translate short software GUI instructional pieces like:

Tap to enter comment
Press here to talk
Sign in to continue

Should I put it like:

タップしてコメントを入力
or must it be: ボタンをタップして、コメントを入力します
or コメントを入力するをタップします（してください）
or something else?


texts:
So this sentence appeared in my grammar book:

パーティーの__地震が起こり、会場は大騒ぎになった。

It says the correct thing to write in the blank space is 最中に. Which would roughly translate the sentence to "Just as the party was going on, an earthquake occurred, and the venue changed into an uproar".
While I understand why 最中に is a correct answer, I don´t quite understand why うちに can't also be used. I thought that besides using うちに like の前に, it could be also be used as 間に。


texts: Questions about punctuation in a light novel

texts: I have the first time of No game No life in Japanese. However, there are some things that puzzled me quite a bit about the punctuation. As you can see in the photo, I don't understand the reason why some words are in square brackets (which I have circled in yellow). Also, I don't really see the usefulness of the black dots that are to the right of kanji and kana (indicated by a red arrow).


texts:
I'm a little confused, I was reading a book an this turned up; at first I thought it would be a verb ending in ぶ or む, but it turns out it's not really a verb, I guess it's a noun. I found out that for it to be a verb it should be "戯れる", so it's clearly not a "ている" form in the past.
Could someone tell me what this means exactly and what kind of construction it is?

I've been told I should give a better context, so this is found in the novel 空の境界(上), from "奈須 きのこ", the whole sentence is:
拵えが立派な細い刃物を手にして戯んでいたわたしは、
いつのまにか指のあいだを深く切り裂いていました。

Thanks in advance.


texts: What is the difference between 賢明 and 聡明?

texts:
Both of these words seem to mean "wise, sensible, sagacious". What is the difference between them?

I guess the difference actually mainly comes down to: what is the difference between the kanji 賢 and 聡, since a similar question can be made about the difference between 賢い and 聡い.


texts: How would I ask for a persons Age, Sex, and Location (ASL) in Japanese?

texts: The abbreviation means age, sex and location, and is used frequently in English speaking chatsites during introductions. Is there a similar term used in Japanese chatsites?


texts: Usage of loan words in contrast with native Japanese word

texts:
There are many (loan) words which have both katakana version and pure Japanese version.
For example:

report = レポート or ほうこく (報告)
project = プロジェクト or じぎょう (事業)
task = タスク or かだい(課題)
etc.

I read What causes loan words to displace native words for existing concepts? But that does not clarify which one should I prefer over other?

Should I use katakana version for casual conversation and the native Japanese word for formal conversation?


texts: What are the different ways of saying to agree or disagree with a person?

texts:
There seems to be many different ways of saying either to agree or to disagree with a person.

Which words are there, in what circumstances should they be used, and are there any relevant examples of their usage?

One example is I'd like to be able to say "It's OK if you don't agree with me" but I don't know how to.

(This is a spinoff question as I thought the original was getting too broad. For finer points and examples on using に同意する to agree/disagree with a person, see also How to use ～に同意する to agree or disagree with a person?)


texts: X (affirmative) より仕方がない and alternatives

texts:
I know that the usage of 仕方がない has been discussed here, but I had an additional question. If you say:

X (affirmative)  より仕方がない

The translation as I understand it is that you have no other choice but to do X.
However, is another way to think about this grammar as:

X (negative)  は仕方がある

or would this sentence have a different meaning than the former? As an example from my textbook, could I change the following:

車がないから、歩いて行くより仕方がない

ー＞
車がないから、歩いて行かないのは仕方がある。

Finally, is it implied that the subject of the sentence with the は particle is being excluded as the option that is wanted?


texts:
I think of だ as being the only copula, which can be inflected to で and な. In my mind all other copula-like words are derived from these forms, i.e.

  です ⇔ であります
  じゃない ⇔ ではない
  だろう ⇔ であろう
  etc.

But is this (etymologically) reasonable?

Alternatively one could consider だ to be a contraction of である, which as far as I can tell can step in for だ anywhere, and consider で to be the "given" copula-like word (which may itself be simply a fancy use of the particle で...?).

Is it accurate to call な an inflection of だ? Since である can also replace な anywhere (as far as I can tell), could it be possible that な and だ derive from the same word, which through sound change has come to be differentiated according to function (終止形 and 連用形)?

Are there any sources that would help corroborate/disprove these hypotheses?


texts:
The Etymological Dictionary of Han Chinese Characters (which is the pdf/book format of the database for an old website called "Kanji Networks") states:

  風 (9) フウ;フ;かざ;かぜ
  A variant form of 鳳 (large bird flapping its wings), later conceived of as the source of wind causing various life forms and other objects to flutter → trend; atmosphere; taste; custom (← things brought in then carried off by the wind).

Wiktionary states:

  Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *plum, *plums): phonetic 凡 (OC *bom) + semantic 虫 (“insects”). Ancient Chinese thought insects appear with wind. (Insects refer to any kind of animal, such as tigers (大蟲)).

Most other dictionaries I've searched online seem to agree with the latter (at least somewhat), but which is correct? I find it harder to believe that something so common as the wind would be a derived from a mythological bird, although its a much cooler explanation than the wind causing animals to appear.

Has anyone ever seen the former etymology before? Does this mean Kanji Networks and their dictionary is not to be trusted at all? I'm a relatively new learner of Japanese and so I'm not sure if its a known discredited source. Or am I missing something here? Any help appreciated. Apologies if this isn't the right place for this question, please move it somewhere its more likely to be answered if so.
Thanks!


texts: Is it grammatically correct to use もし and/or 〜ば form along with the 〜たい form to convey desire in a conditional clause?

texts:
My impression when using conditionals, most of the time, you lose the ability to express desire. For example, when conjugating to -たら、you have to use the past tense of the verb. Is it grammatically correct to use もし or ば form to convey desire in conditional?

  もし公園に行きたいんですが、電話して下さい。

or

  公園に行きたければ、電話して下さい。


texts: Meaning of 「おれば」＆「大手を振る」

texts:
The following sentence and translation appear in my textbook (総まとめ　読解　N１, p114):

  視聴率さえとっておれば、どんな"やらせ" をやろうとも、メディアの責任を考えればモラルに反すると思うことをやっても、大手を振ることが出来る世界

  A world (media industry) where they irresponsibly manipulate the content and do things contrary to social mores, as long as a high rating can be obtained.

I wonder if someone could explain:

1) what/why is おれば　used (I think it is いる　but why おる？）

2) what is the meaning of 大手を振る, literally and how does it work in this context?


texts:
I don't know if it's written in hiragana but I have knowledge that kuso means "shit". Why do kids use that term so much? Isn't it offensive or considered a bad word?
I am asking this because it's not normal in European countries (where I am at least) for kids to use often bad words.

So, isn't it offensive?


texts: Japanese Translation for Hamlet Act 5, Scene 2

texts:
I'm currently translating this Japanese article, which used quote from Hamlet Act 5, Scene 2.

In this article, they quoted

  "来るべきものは、今来なくとも、いずれは来る。"

so I want to use the actual phrase from Hamlet, but it turns out that there are more of this particular phrase.

The following are the original context and its Japanese translation.

  If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be
  now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the
  readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he
  leaves, what is't to leave betimes?

  来るべきものは、今来なくともいずれは来る。今来れば、後には来ない。後に来なければ、今来るだけのこと。 肝腎なのは覚悟だ。いつ死んだらいいか、そんなことは考えてみたところで、誰にも判りはしない。所詮、あなた任せさ。 (ハムレット、第5幕第2場)

My problem I'm not sure which line matches with each other. I believe that the translation has rearranged/reordered these 3 sentences somehow? such that

  来るべきものは、今来なくともいずれは来る。= "if it be not to come, it will be
  now"

  今来れば、後には来ない。 = "If it be now, ‘tis not to come;"

  後に来なければ、今来るだけのこと。= if it be not now, yet it will come:"

or whether it already followed the English order?


texts: We all know that a fox is a 狐 (kitsune). But what's the word for the burrow/den that a 狐 lives in? This one is stumping the translation tools and old fashioned paper dictionaries I've got my hands on.


texts:
I always wondered about the meaning of this name in Japanese, but couldn't find much on Google. Can someone tell me what it means?

UPDATE: 茶々{ちゃちゃ} was a concubine to Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the Sengoku Period. I found the info on Wikipedia.

Additionally, I found that a fictional character form the Japanese manga series Maken-Ki is named Akaza Chacha (藜 チャチャ). Info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maken-ki


texts: Is there a difference between 最高の and 最高な?

texts: A dictionary lists 最高 as being both a no-adjective and na-adjective. I've also seen other examples of this. However, is there a difference between using it either form since they're both attached to nouns?


texts: Meaning of かわいい When Used By Kids Towards Adults

texts:
Okay, I'm fairly advanced in my Japanese studies after having lived and taught in Japan for almost a year. However, one thing that continues to boggle me is the possibly most common word of all: かわいい。

I'm a 23 year-old young woman, and my elementary school students love calling me かわいい, most especially the girls. While I understand that the word can also mean "pretty" as well as "cute", being called this by a child makes me wonder if it's at all belittling? Maybe this is my English perception of "cute", but a child calling me that just seems like they're making me a child. Is there perhaps a different nuance to this word that I wasn't aware of?


texts:
When should one use 言います and when should one use 教えます? Please see examples below.

10年前にAさんの住所があったと言いました。

10年前にAさんの住所があったと教えました。


texts: Why is というのは used (both times) in this sentence?

texts:
I'm trying to understand the use of というのは in the second sentence below. Is it a way to refer to the 職業 in the first sentence? I find in some places that というのは can mean "the reason I'm saying this is..." Is that the meaning expressed in this example? For example, people are given a blue card (because) they have a useful profession?

  その場面というのはどういった場面かというと、
  ナチスの兵士がですね、ユダヤ人を職業別で分けていきます。
  役に立つと見なされた職業というのはブルーカード、
  役に立たないと見なされた職業というのは即ゲットー行きです。

Translation from subtitles: "The scene I'm talking about is the one with the Nazi soldiers separating Jewish people by profession. They give a blue card to people who are considered with an useful job. People who are considered with an unuseful job are sent to the ghetto immediately."

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xs-XWk_oQA
0:55


texts: Implications of ヒロイン (Heroine) in stories

texts:
I've read that ヒロイン , meaning 'heroine', can also imply a romantic interest to the hero pretty much by default culturally in Japan's stories.

I can't seem to find any definitive source for this from a native speaker, though, so I'm wondering if anyone on the language speaking boards has heard this before?


texts: What is the meaning of なのか in this sentence?

texts: Any help in getting a better understanding of this sentence would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!


texts:
彼の聞く音楽といったら肩の凝るものばかりだ。

The translation was:

  He always listens to serious music.


texts:
Good morning.

I was wondering if I can get some help with translating a sentence from Japanese to English, and also if I can receive some feedback about the way that I try to speak Japanese.

Me: アメリカ人の中このチャネルはSF5をゲームしてくださいといっていました。

What I thought I was saying: The American people in the channel said "Please play SF5 (Street Fighter 5)."

What I wanted to say: The American people in the chatroom are saying to please play street fighter 5!

A response I got: アメリカ人もSF5やるきか。

What I think it maybe means: I see も so I think this is kind of like "too" in English. So I think the person is saying I want you to play SF5 too? やる　- I wasn't aware of using this instead of げーむをする. Also, I don't know what きか at the end means.

**I apologize for any confusion. I took 3 semesters of Japanese but my last semester was around 2010. So it has been a long time. I just thought I would try and see if I can try and hold basic internet conversations.


texts:
both the speaker and XXX are confident mysterious types, at the moment the reader isn't that informed about either character

XXX provokes MC to do something shocking,

  XXXの顔が、強ばった状態から、恐怖へと変わる。

  そこで初めて、自分の表情が『平時』ではない事に気付いた。

At this point who is 自分? is it obvious? At this point i thought it was referring to XXX noticing that she lost her composure for a moment. (this was indeed the first time the reader has seen this happen).

  MC「すまん、急だったから手加減が出来なかった」

  あまり恐がらせたくは無かった。

  普通の学園生活を送れるかも知れない、そんなまやかしを、少しは信じていたかった。無理矢理、信じようとしていた。

reading a bit further I lean toward the MC constantly trying to put on a "『平時』" face to live out a normal life. And not putting on that sort of face made XXX scared.

in general, I feel that i have to work back to confirm if 自分 (and 自身/自ら as well) in a prior sentence was referring to who i initially thought it was more often that it should happen.

Is there a general rule of thumb to determine who 自分 is referring to without purely relying on context?


texts: How should I say "if you still want to meet me after all"

texts:
Is まだ私に会いたい場合 right?
Because I think it sounds a little bit strange


texts:
俺が作り上げたのではないことは、昨日の行動からして自分が夢遊病だったり第二人格でもないと無理なのは解っている。

Could you explain how does the 俺が作り上げたのではないことは and the でもない  work here.

I guess it's
"I fact that I didn't make it up"

As for the でもない I guess it's like

Judging from my conduct yesterday it's neither due to sleepwalking nor a second personalty.

Can someone correct me on this


texts: What is the most common way to pronounce 運?

texts: So 運 is spelled うん, but I seem to hear most of my friends pronounce it as　あん. My friends and family are 20-60 years of age and come from mostly Tokyo and Ibaraki area. I am living in the US now and so am not speaking much Japanese, but I remember trying to pronounce it as  うん and being misunderstood till I pronounced it as あん (or maybe more like a nasal ahn).  Is this a regional dialect? Does anyone pronounce it as うん? Which way should I pronounce it to be understood by most Japanese?


texts: How would I say 'home state' in Japanese?

texts: I'm looking for home state or really any Japanese equivalent meaning? I'm trying to explain why I love my hoodie with Wisconsin across the front. If there isn't one I could always just reword my sentence but I was curious and couldn't find anything online.


texts: What does やりすぎなほど mean on this page of Yotsubato!

texts:
I am on ch.82, pg.19 of Yotsubato! manga.

Source: http://raw.senmanga.com/Yotsubato!/82/19

What does 「やりすぎなほど」mean here ?

From what I know, 「ほど」 is used to express the extent of something and 「やりすぎ」 means overdoing/excessive etc., Does this translate to something like "Awesome!" ? Or does the literal translation mean something else?

Also, is the usage of「な」 here unconventional ? I have never really seen 「な」 used after noun so far (I am a beginner).


texts:
I searched jisho and found 整える but doing a google search for

  メガネを整える

came up with practically no results so I feel that it's not the appropriate verb.

  メガネを繕う

came up with more hits, is that the right one?


texts: From my meager understanding of Middle Japanese, I have learned that, in essence, べき is the attributive form and べし is the predicative form (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), but in Modern Japanese, I've definitely seen evidence that contradicts this information. Can you just use whichever one you want? What are the rules?


texts:
In a scene from the Japanese movie 「四月物語」, the heroine introduced herself, saying 「[卯月]{うづき}です」, which is her given name.

The 「月」 part is kind of whispered (?) , and sounds to me more close to 「すき」.

I'm wondering how this line would sound to native Japanese speakers, e.g. will it be confused with 「すき」?


texts: multiples noun, noun modifiers other noun?

texts:
I have a question
multiple nouns ( noun + noun ), noun working as adjective？

Recently, I've been researching noun modifiers, I wonder if multiple nouns can modify one as an adjective?

for example:

  敵ユニットと言った場合、主に敵チャンピオンと敵ミニオンですかね
  ペットやタワーを含むかどうかは効果によっては微妙な所ですが、あれもユニットと言えばユニットです

敵（ enemy ) + チャンピオン ( champion ) this is like an adjective, right?

Example:

〇〇なチャンピオン＝形容動詞

奇麗な女戦士が敵チャンピオンにダメージを与えられた　（俺が作ってみた例文）

凄いチャンピオン＝形容詞

美しい女の子を心配させたなんて！　（作ってみた例文）

悪魔ユウキ

天使ユウキ

というわけで　名詞の場合は、最初の名詞は後ろの名詞を修飾する形容詞的な役割を果たすことが多いのですか！？

（In the case of nouns, is the first noun　acting as an adjective to modify the subsequent nouns! ?）


texts:
繁栄にあつく。
  ルーツは原初からして不明。
  滅日の記憶はない。

Hospitable to flourishing.
Starting from the base, the roots are mysterious.
There are no memories of ??

I looked up that word in a dictionary and could not find anything.
So I tried a J-J Dictionary and found this:

  陰陽道(オンヨウドウ)で，万事に凶の日。人の生まれ年によって定まるという。

I am not sure I understand this though.
I'll give you my interpretation:
In Omnyou: A day of bad luck for all and everything. Defined by the year in which a person is born.

Is it something like an unlucky day?


texts:
Here is the sentences including the words said by a Kansai guy.

思{おも}ったよりやるやないか。ええ？

見｛み｝なおしたでえ


texts:
Is there a Japanese word or phrase for the chemistry in a relationship?

And by "relationship", I don't mean a strictly romantic one. It could be the chemistry between best friends, or even the lack of chemistry when meeting someone new and feeling like the two of you don't click.


texts: 外回り, 内回り instead of 時計回り, 反時計回り

texts: Why were the terms 外回り and 内回り chosen for the directions on Yamanote line (railway)  rather than the more straigntforward 時計回り and 反時計回り? Is it expected that people should know which matches which?


texts: What's the difference between あか and あかい

texts: I see both used for the color red.  Can someone tell me what the difference is.


texts: Why in the sentence below は particle is used instead of の?

texts:
アンアさんは声がきれいです。

And not

アンアさんの声がきれいです。


texts:
In this sentence:

気持ちは分かるがお主はもう既に このわしすらしのぐほどの力を身に付けてしまっておるからのう｡

この場合の「すら」は「より」と同じ意味ですか？
お返事、ありがとうございます。


texts: Meaning of これ、聞いたほうがいいのかな?

texts:
んー…別に寝不足って訳じゃないんだけど。ちょっと、やな夢見てさ…

…やな夢？

ん…昔のね……

え、えぇと…

あ、あ、えっと、これ…聞いた方が良いのかな？それとも聞かない方が……

My question is about what the これ refers to. I think it's like "これを聞いたほうがいいのかな" where they are wondering whether it's a good idea to ask about this(これreferring to questions and details they want to know about this dream). Or does it refer to something else?

edit: Another potential meaning I can think of is これ meaning こういう場合


texts:
As I have learned kanji, I have been under the impressions stroke order for box kanji like 日 should be left to right, top to bottom. Most kanji seem very consistent, or so I thought.

I recently discovered I have been writing 母 like I would 日、whereas it should be instead the first stroke is the left and bottom combined. Is either method technically correct? Or what rule will help predict this irregular stroke order?


texts:
So I found some ways in saying arrowhead but found various.
One is 矢じり　「やじり」 and the other one is 石鏃　「せきぞく」
Honestly I got confused with the two. Is 矢じりa Japanese arrowhead or any kind? same question for 石鏃。


texts: What do the connective particles do here

texts:
In this sentence そして、大人と同じ模様の子どもの浴衣や、子どもが着やすい浴衣をたくさん売っています from http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10010984931000/k10010984931000.html
I have issues interpreting this と in ...大人と同じ...
I also have prblems with や　in ...浴衣や...

In full, I roughly translate the sentence like this:
"Furthermore, they sell many yukatas of children and adults of identical figure and yukatas which children can easily wear."

I feel uncertain because 大人　seems to connect to の浴衣 via と. I don't know if that interpretation is correct.
I also feel uncertain because や seems to connect the two sentence elements ...浴衣 and ...浴衣, but this can only work if my aforementioned interpretation of と is correct, so I'm not sure here either.
I'm also confused because in my interpretation they are basically talking two times of yukata for children. This seems redundant and therefore I feel like its wrong.

EDIT: Could it also be that と translates to "with" here?
"Furthermore, they sell many yukata of adults with yukata of children of identical patterns and yukata which children can easily wear."

I struggle with this because of onaji. The classification of onaji on http://jisho.org/search/onaji doesn't really help me feeling any more certain about the function I assigned to it in my translation above.


texts: Is それ何語 the informal version of それは何語ですか?

texts:
I heard (maybe I misheard) someone say それ何語? It seems to be the informal version of それは何語ですか？ However, I was a bit surprised to see は ommited.

Is それ何語 a very informal version of それは何語ですか? Is the omission of は common in these cases?


texts:
What is the logic behind the similar sounding expressions 後へ引く and 後を引く? Are they idioms? Apple dictionary lists these examples:

後へ引く

  もう後へは引けない
  'It's too late to turn back now.'
   'We're in too deep to back out now.'

後を引く

1 影響が残る

  傷の痛みがいつまでも後を引いている
  'The pain of the wound [won't go away / still lingers].'

  あの事件の後遺症がいまだに後を引いている
  'The aftereffects of that incident are still being felt.'

2 次々に欲しくなる

  このクラッカーは食べ出すと後を引く
  'Once I start eating these crackers, I can't stop.'

The idiomatic meanings don't quite fit the individual words or similar idioms (eg 潮が引く "the tide goes out" or 事故が後を絶たない "there continue[s] to be [no end to the] accidents").


texts: Why can 〜ようと思う express someone else’s volition other than the first person?

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

Context: In the name of 士道, a letter was sent to 亜衣, one of 士道’s classmates, telling her (亜衣) to go alone to meet 士道 in a cafe. But it turned out that 亜衣 went there in company with her friends.
Hi. I know the bold part is a very basic Japanese sentence pattern 〜ようと思う. And I was taught that the pattern was only used to describe the intention of the speaker “me”, for example, 今日会社を休もうと思う (I don’t want to go to work today). But why can the pattern be used for someone else’s intention/volition as in this text? Please shed some light on it.
Thank you.


texts: What is the common reading of the word 外海?

texts: 外海 has two readings がいかい and そとうみ. What is the difference of the two? Personally, I am under the impression that がいかい is the common reading because of its similarity to the word 外国【がいこく】. However, I have encountered situations (some songs) where そとうみ has been used instead.


texts: Equivalent of "That said, Carthage must be destroyed" in Japanese

texts:
"Ceterum censeo, Carthaginem esse delendam," the famous phrase with which Cato the Elder used to finish all of his speeches, no matter how unrelated the topic was. It was probably an effective strategy - as another well-known political figure put it, "Repeat the most ridiculous thing a thousand times, and people will start to seriously consider it."

In modern English, its usage is humorous, with irony directed at yourself as you admit you are relentlessly nagging somebody about something you (selfishly) believe they should do. Is there something similar in Japanese?

Since the historical background is completely different, I would imagine that it does not carry over directly. Even though, for example, Wikipedia has an article explaining 「カルタゴ滅ぶべし」, it is probably purely academic, not something you could use in a conversation and be readily understood? Imagine you are finishing each and every email to your friend with "That said, you should dye your hair pink." To a Westerner/English speaker, the reference is obvious. How would you go about expressing the same nuance in Japanese?


texts: じゃなく、じゃなくて、じゃなくては、ではなく、ではなくて、ではなくては

texts:
Which of the above are acceptable in the following construction?

彼氏は料理だけ＿＿＿＿、家事も出来る。

What I am confused about is which of the constructions are grammatical and which are not? I have used じゃなくては in the past without correction, but when using the more formal form ではなく, it seems as though て form is not used at all, and is in fact wrong.


texts: Why is there a difference between the hand drawn 道 and the pc font one?

texts: I was studying this kanji and looked at the strokes order to figure out how to write it, only to realize the difference between the pc font one and the diagram. Why is the 3 look-alike only on hand drawn?


texts: Is it a right interpretation of the line of this Japanese song?

texts:
First of all, sorry if something about my English grammar is wrong. English is not my native language and, even if I can understand it very well, writing and expressing myself is something I still have to improve. Thank you!

I am trying to understand (not translate) the lyrics of the song "Maboroshi no Inochi" by Sekai no Owari. I started with the first line and almost immediately I had problems understanding it.

The first line is this:

  白い星が降る夜に 僕からの賛美歌を

The first half of the sentence is OK, but the second half confused me a bit, mostly because of the expression "からの" and the "を" at the end of the sentence.

I first thought that the "を" was because the sentence was incomplete and it had a connection with the second sentence (蒼い銀河の彼方にUFOが 君を連れて消えていく), but it doesn't (or at least I can not see it). I did some research and, from what I could understand, "を" at the end of the sentence is used like a replacement for kanojo, kare, anata, etc. I have already read the translation of the song some time ago, and, apparently, the person who translated it interpreted "を" like "you", so, it appears to work but I never trust translations.

"からの" looked more simple, and from what I found it means "from" (+ person), which in this case is 僕 (boku).

The first time I read the translation in English, I thought that with the "you" he (the singer) was talking to the audience/person who is listening to the song, but now that I know that the "を" can be replaced with different persons, and considering the context and motive of the song (a song to the child that the singer and the pianist of the band lose), I interpret it as for his daughter.

So, considering it all, the line means that in a starry night, he sings/sang a hymn (賛美歌) to (for) his daughter (Tsukishi)?

Sorry if it is too long, but my level of Japanese is not really good and I never trust what I understand because, most of the time, it is wrong.
Thank you!


texts:
To be honest this has been pretty confusing, via a grammar book im reading it says

  When it indicates an interval of time, aida refers to the 'time space'
  between two points, i.e the beginning and the end. In other wide aida
  can be measured in clock time, uchi however simply means 'time space
  within'.

Then in the following examples

子供が学校にいっているうちに（間に）本を読みます

雨が降らないうちに(間に here is wrong) テニスをします

冷たいうちに(間に here is wrong)ビルを飲んでください

I really dont understand why the last two sentences are incorrect with 間に and not sure how this really relates to clock time, any help or even more examples would be appreciated.


texts: What does [入]{はい}らなくなるからと mean in this sentence?

texts:
So the story is A brings home a cake to B and tells him to eat it however B responds with this

  だ、騙されんぞ。今は夕飯前だ。この時間は夕飯が入らなくなるからと、食べさせてくれないだろう？

What I don't get is the 入らなくなるからと.


texts: 過去形＋のだ versus 現在形＋のだった

texts:
I'm puzzled by the bold part of the following paragraph which occurs in my Japanese learner's version of 雪女:

  二人は毎日、川まで来ると、渡し守に船で川の向こう側へ運んでもらった。
  山から帰るときは、また、渡し守に船で川のこちら側まで運んでもらうのだった。

My current understanding of this の+copula construction (my textbook calls it "extended predicate") is that it explains an action or statement based on the current context. So in this context perhaps it makes the storytelling more lively by directly answering a hypothetical question that the reader will ask after reading the first sentence ("but how will they get back?"). Is that the purpose of this construction?

A related question is: why is the sentence not written as follows?

  山から帰るときは、また、渡し守に船で川のこちら側まで運んでもらったのだ。

After all, the action (receiving transportation) took place in the past, and the story is read in the present. Or it the case that the extended predicate always "captures" any past tense of a preceding verb?


texts: The different nuances of wanting to go to do something

texts:
I have been wondering about the different nuances each of the following sentences carries. Maybe I am trying to interpret too much into these, but I am really curious about the slight difference it does using each.

  「日本にお寿司を食べに行きたい」= "I want to go to Japan to eat Sushi"

Does this convey the nuance, that you want to go to Japan mainly to eat sushi?

  「日本にお寿司を食べていきたい」= "I want to go eat Sushi in Japan"

Could this possibly be misunderstood for "I want to stay eating Sushi in Japan?" What is the exact nuance with this one? Is this even a valid option?

  「日本に行ってお寿司を食べたい」= "I want to go to Japan and eat sushi"

As in, I want to go to Japan and eat sushi, but anything else would also be good?

Or could this even be misunderstood to mean "I want to go to Japan; I want to eat sushi?" As in, the act of eating sushi doesn't necessarily have to happen in Japan?


texts:
I've been hearing something like yamoen for the meaning of "can't be helped". Similar to shouganai from my guess. I can't find it in any dictionary. Am I getting the word wrong or is it a colloquial Kansai dialect?

It's weird because there's this Tokyo-ben character in a show who just suddenly used it out of nowhere so I don't think it should be a dialect.

Thank you,


texts: What is the Japanese equivalent for words like 'go' in 'go team!'?

texts: Here's something I just realized I didn't know how to say in Japanese. What is the Japanese equivalent for words and set phrases used to express excitement for what someone is doing, while also cheering them on and actively encouraging them to keep it up?


texts: What's the difference between である and の in this sentence?

texts:
I'm reading berserk currently and came across this sentence

人は自らが人で在ることを忘れがちです

I read this usage of である the same way I would read it as if it was の (人のこと). Are they interchangeable here? If not what is the difference between the two?


texts: Meaning of 水面 in reference to population

texts:
The series of reports "Annual Statistics of the City of Tokyo" (東京市統計年表) gives insight into the demographics of Tokyo from 1905 until the 1940s. In particular, for each ward of Tokyo (they weren't special wards then), you can look up its population at a given time. Fortunately, a large part of the series is made available online free of charge.

In 1908, there were just 15 wards. Surprisingly, the table (on the lower right here) for that year includes a 16th row with the label 水面 which I couldn't make sense of at all (I first thought maybe it was the name of a ward that only existed for a short time).

Originally, the series was published in English, this only changed after issue 25 from 1929, when the series switched entirely to Japanese. Since those English issues cover the year 1908 already, naturally, it's possible to see how 水面 was translated.

Indeed, in the issue from 1929, e.g., the population is split into "Lands" and "Waters". This distinction may seem a little unnecessary since the "Waters" population is always stated as "-" in that table, but as you can see on the next page, in later years they did indeed collect corresponding data for all districts.

So, my actual question is: What is the meaning of 水面 here? What is "waters population"? Please note that on the next page that I mentioned earlier, which gives data from 1920, you can see that many wards of Tokyo had such "waters" population, not just those that were by the Ocean, including e.g. 牛込区 (Ushigome-ku).


texts: Is there a term for Japanese characters as a whole?

texts: There are kanji, katakana and hiragana, but is there a native word or phrase for the union of these sets?


texts: Why do some people use 分からない, when they mean 知らない?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How should I choose between [知]{し}る and わかる?

I often get puzzled when I ask a question and the other person says 分からない or 分からん, when they seem to understand but they don't have the answer. In which case I would expect them to say 知らない.
Am I mistaken, or is this a nuance of Japanese?


texts: What does と mean when it is at the beginning of a sentence？

texts:
I believe it is acting maybe as a conjunction of　すると　But I'm not 100% sure。Here is the paragraph for full context.

さすがに少女の落胆にも物申したいところだが、自分の不甲斐なさが身にしみていてついつい言葉が出てこない。
と,それまで彼女の肩の上で沈黙を守っていた小猫が尻尾を振りながら
「安心しなよ。……彼、悪気だけはまったくない」

Any help would be much appreciated thanks.


texts: Why is this sentence not separated? 圧着部分を図１，２のように交互に折り込みドリッパーの内側にピッタリと装着します。

texts:
It is a step how to use coffee filter.

  圧着部分を図１，２のように交互に折り込みドリッパーの内側にピッタリと装着します。

In my opinion, it should be

圧着部分を図１，２のように交互に折り込み - Fold the filter alternately following to the diagram 1 and 2 to be crimps.
ドリッパーの内側にピッタリと装着します　- put the folded filter onto the coffee dripper firmly.

Otherwise, it should use て-form verb to combine the 2 activities like this: 圧着部分を図１，２のように交互に折り込んで...


texts:
I am reading 「花咲かじいさん」and there is a phrase used a lot like...

  隣のおじいさんは言いました。

I have not seen this before and it doesn’t make sense to me from my understanding of 隣 meaning “next to”.

What does it mean here? Is it like a temporal “next”. Like... “Then the old man said...”?


texts: Do I need to add "da" before "to iimashita"?

texts:
Not sure how to say "my mum said it was fun." Is this correct:

  watashi no okaasan wa, sore ga tanoshi to iimashita

Or do I need to add "da"? As this is for speaking.


texts: Would I be right in reading 「私には...」as 「to me it's ...」？

texts:
Would I be correct in reading things like 私には or 個人的には as being "to me"? Like in the following:

  私には寿司が美味しいって！To me sushi is tasty!

Or

  彼には女性が誰よりきれいです。To him she is better than anyone.

Would I be right in reading it like this? Interpreting には as a bit of grammar that is often times used to explain what a scene is from a certain persons perspective? Or would this be to unreliable?


texts: Does つまらない mean to be boring and bored or just boring

texts:
If I wanted to say someone is bored would I be able to say

  メアリイさん は つまらない です

or would this imply that the person is boring rather than bored?


texts:
I'm not sure if it is an adjective meaning strong, a noun meaning intention or neither.

Here is the sentence I came across.

  僕なんとしても選手になりたかったので申しこむと沼田さんが腕ずくでこいというから...

Additional context:

The story started when people found Numata, who was unconscious, and the speaker was there with him. The speaker then told them:

  けんかじゃありません

  寮対抗の予選試合をやったんです

  僕なんとしても選手になりたかったので申しこむと沼田さんが腕ずくでこいというから...

  グローブではめて段平先生に教えられたとおりにしたら..こうなっちゃったんです

It surprised the others because the speaker was a novice at boxing, and Numata is the one who was supposed to represent the dormitory in a boxing competition but lost to him.


texts: Understanding 「いん」in なんでお前がここにいんのよ

texts: I'm following Tae Kim's grammar guide, and am confused about this sentence: なんでお前がここにいんのよ, which is translated as 'why are you here?'. I'm pretty sure that いん is some form of いる but I can't figure out what.


texts: Why is Atom not given any honorifics in アストロボーイ・鉄腕アトム? Is it because he's a robot?

texts:
I'm very new to Japanese I'd like to apologize now for any glaring mistakes up front.

Revisiting Astro boy, I've noticed that Atom is very rarely called by any kind of honorific, just アトム. The only instance I could find was him being called アトムくん by his teacher, is it because he's a robot?


texts: Is the word ぐらい a noun? Why do we need の between ぐらい and はず?

texts:
Recall that はず can follow

a noun followed by の
a verb in plain form
i adjective
na adjective followed by な for the present tense

and considering the following sentence,

  十年前は小学生だったが、友達の子供はもう大学ぐらいのはずだ。

ぐらい seems to be a noun.

Why do we need の between ぐらい and はず ?


texts: Conjugated word + んだ vs nonconjugated word + conjugated んだ

texts:
Suppose I have a verb/adjective/noun, let's say 無理, and I add (な)んだ to it as an explanatory sentence-ending particle. What would be the difference in nuance between the following two conjugated constructions?

それは無理だったんだ。
それは無理なんだった。

More generally, what is the difference in meaning between conjugating a word before adding んだ (to any tense, such as past negative) and doing it the other way around? Please also provide examples where one would be more appropriate than the other for each of the two cases, and consider what would happen if ん were replaced by の.


texts:
He was asked if he liked to read an replied:

「あはは、そんな優雅な趣味はしてないよ。自分では落ち着いているって気もしないんだけど、メガネをかけてるとそういうイメージが先行するのかもしれないね」
[Ahahah, I don't have such an elegant hobby. I do not feel like I am calm by myself though, the fact that I have glasses could make you think that tough]

It does not make much sense, I am not sure if this is correct.
自分では [By me]
落ち着いている[Be calm]
って気もしないんだ [Do not feel]
けど[But]
、メガネをかけてる[Having glasses]
と[Conditional]
そういうイメージが先行するの[That image has priority]
かもしれないね[maybe]
This is how I think it is.
Any corrections or help?


texts: Does 「彼は映画スター兼政治家だ。」 sound weird?

texts: I asked about this in the comments section of another question, but no one responded, so I guess I'll ask it here. The question involved expressing that someone was both a movie star and a politician, and various good alternatives were offered. It occurred to me that 兼 might work, so I checked example sentences in a dictionary, and found 「総理大臣兼外務大臣」. That seems similar enough. However, I was wondering, does 兼 work with two things as wildly disparate as "movie star", and "politician", or does it sound strange? In other words, would one expect a stronger or more logical connection between the things that 兼 connects?


texts:
Another sentence from Kanji in Context.

初めて[山奥]{やまおく}から町に出てきた村の人たちは見るものすべてに[驚]{おどろ}いた。

In this instance, does 山奥から町に出てきた mean "left the mountains and came to the city" (町)? Also, I would normally interpret 出てくる as "leave and come back", but maybe from the viewpoint of someone in the city it makes sense.


texts: Expressing intervals of time, and AからBすると

texts:
Referring to cherry blossoms:

  咲き始めてから１週間から１０日ぐらいすると、たくさん花が咲いてきれいです。
  After they start to bloom, from one week ???? lots of flowers will bloom and (look) pretty.

I'm struggling to understand the part in bold. If I read it literally I get "When it makes around 10 days from/after a period of one week". Logically, therefore I get "Lots of flowers will bloom around 17 (10+7) days after they first start". Obviously I think my analysis is nonsense.

My guess is that it reads "Lots of flowers will bloom after a period of around 7 to 10 days from when they first start". Is this correct? Is there a way to break it down logically?

More generally what are the common ways to express an interval of time after which something will happen? I would have tried something like:

  7日と10日ぐらいのあいだに

but that feels incomplete. It seems to be lacking the idea of later.
I know I can says "2 days later" as 2日後に. I guess "around 2 days later" would be 2日後ぐらいに, but I expect 7日と10日後ぐらいのあいだに is completely wrong.


texts:
First I'm kinda confused. I'm concerned if these 2 questions bring the same nuance or not... "Isn't he young?" and "He is not young? / He isn't young?". Both sounds quite different on how they imply the speaker's perspective.
I believe that these 2 questions are different...

彼は医者じゃない?　彼は医者なんじゃない?
授業がない?  授業があるんじゃない?

The former just asked "He is not a doctor?" and "There is no class?", which imply that the speaker wanted to clarify the negative situation.
The latter is explanatory seeking. "Isn't he a doctor? (I thought he is!)" and "Isn't there a class? (I thought there is!)" imply that the speaker wanted to clarify that their first stimuli received are wrong.
Here comes い adj.

臭くない?

Here the guy is asking "Isn't it Smelly? (It's stinky!)", more like "It's stinky, right? (asking for the listener's agreement).

怖くないの?

this is translated as "you aren't scared?"
and furthermore if I add の after じゃない, what changes?

授業があるんじゃない　vs 　授業があるんじゃないの

does the latter just mean more explanatory seeking?
The whole ordeal confuses me. If indeed those 2 questions at the beginning differ, can someone explain to me every formula in constructing negative questions with/without の that gives out specific nuances?


texts: I just learned (embarrassingly recently) that people say トイレお借り出来ますか. I suppose that means that in this case it is used instead of 使う. Are there other cases of using 借りる in this sense? Say, if I wanted to use the coffee machine in my office, would it be more appropriate to say 借りる than 使う as in, コーヒー機械使ってもいいですか?


texts: What Does Not Count as an Action for the ば Conditional Clause

texts:
I'm here for yet another confusing thing from the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar. In the ば conditional, it states the following:

S2 can be a command, a request, or a suggestion, as in Exs. (e) and (f). In this case, however, S1 cannot be an action.
(e) 見たければ見なさい。 If you want to see it, see it.
(f) 出来ればこれもやってください。
Please do this, too, if you can.

I cannot wrap my head around why the given sentences are actually not action, when they are in fact verbs.
From what I reckon though, it's because they are not exactly actions. Example (e) is the conditional of the desire form of 見る, hence what is actually being brought into question there is the desire of seeing. Meanwhile, Example (f) is the conditional of the potential form of する; hence here what is actually being questioned is the ability to do, not the act of doing it.
So to summarize; when a verb is not exactly in the indicative form, and are instead in other forms such as the desire or potential form, they are not considered actions. Is my understanding correct?


texts:
I asked an earlier question What does 通して聞く mean when they are used together? where I was confused by how a sentence used 通して but with a は instead of a を. Can someone help to shed some light on whether this is allowed, and if so.. under what instances can we use は instead?

Thanks for reading!


texts:
For Full context, see here:
https://www.docdroid.net/5vuuiCe/img-20170821-0002-new.pdf

The problem is in this sentence (line 1):

  「"KARAOKE"は、今では "JUDO" や "TSUNAMI"　と並ぶ世界共通語になっている。」

Here's my attempt at translation:
"'Karaoke' nowadays is becoming lined up common world language with 'Judo' and 'Tsunami'etc. ."

並ぶ seems to be an attribute to 世界共通語. That's why I think of it as [X = subject] [is becoming = predicative] [lined up common world language = object/copula-object or what it is called in english terminology].
This makes little sense in my opinion, but I can't see another way of linking these elements.

Then there is the thing with と and や. や marks an unfinished list/enumeration. The enumeration can't end with と, since this marks a finished list. と as a marker for quotation doesn't really work here as well, same goes for conditional phrase particle.
The only way I can think of is that と marks the relation between KARAOKE and "the unfinished list". So "Karaoke is becoming...with 1,2 etc."


texts:
I noticed this when I was listening to Momoiro Clover Z's 「行くぜっ！怪盗少女」, which had this line: 「土日｛どにち｝はよろしくね　週末ヒロインです」. I understand that 土日 means 土曜日 + 日曜日 = weekend, i.e. 週末. Thus, can 土日 and 週末 be used interchangeably, or are there different nuances in 土日 and 週末?

There is also the term 休日, which I understand as referring to "days off", i.e. weekends plus public holidays 祝日. However, can 休日 be used interchangeably with 週末/土日 as well? (Because I think I might have seen this usage in Japan, but I may be wrong.)


texts: Would a square logo/sign be read like a name seal or like a western sign, if the characters lined up?

texts:
Say I had a sign that read 中華料理, but I wanted to fit it into a square for a shop sign, or maybe a t-shirt.
Would it be better to use left-to-right, top-to-bottom:
中華
料理

or top-to-bottom, right-to-left:
料中
理華

?


texts: Which grammar structure does this sentence fit into?

texts:
Which grammar structure does the following sentence fit into?

  あのナイフは、パンを切るのにつかいます。

I translated it as "That knife is used to cut bread". However, I can't understand the 切るのにつかいます part. The closest I got was that you can use に ＋ V ます to express purpose, such as 勉強しに来ました(I came to study). But these examples did not use the nominalizer. What structure is used in this sentence?


texts:
I've seen both:

授業を受ける
授業を取る

Meaning:

"Take a class"

Is there a difference in usage, nuance, or meaning?
For example, if I want to write:

He/she will probably take the beginner's class.
(ビギナーの授業を受ける・取るかもしれません。)

which would be more appropriate?


texts:
It comes from a conversation a boy talked to a girl about an old man who ignored a story which the girl tried to tell him.

  Girl:
  ジョーが約束どおり片手ほりで金あみのところまでたがやしたってちゃんと報告したんよっ　それなのにあたいの頭さえ見ようとしないんだ

  Boy: しつれいしちゃうじゃないかさ....ねえっ


texts: What does this use of kanji in ruby text mean?

texts:
In the manga らんま 1/2, a character from China says the following:

  気{き}をつけるよろし、ムースは[暗器]{かくし武器}の[達人]{たつじん}よ。

My question is about [暗器]{かくし武器}.  The ruby is just as I've typed it, with two tiny kanji included.  As I understand it, ruby text usually gives readings in kana (furigana), but this seems like something else!  If it were actually pronounced that way, wouldn't the author have written it かくし[武器]{ぶき}?  I don't know how to interpret it.

My guess is that the character is pronouncing 暗器 either in Chinese or as あんき and that かくし武器 tells the reader what 暗器 means rather than how it's pronounced.  Am I on the right track?


texts: Do people use 駆逐 in general to mean "exterminate"?

texts:
In episode 25 of Attack of the Titan anime, the protagonist said

  駆逐してやる…いや、殺す (yelling very loudly)

Now, "exterminate" seems to be a pretty common translation of 駆逐, for example

JMDict defines it as "Extermination; expulsion; destruction."
A Stack Exchange post by cypher mentions a translation which uses "exterminate" for 駆逐.
駆逐艦 means destroyer.

Despite that, 大辞泉・大辞林 defines them along the lines of

  敵などを追い払うこと

i.e. "to drive (enemy etc.) away; to get rid of"

研究社 新和英中辞典 also uses words like

  drive away [out]; oust; expel; get rid of

for 駆逐(する), but never "exterminate".

So, I wonder if it's correct to say that 駆逐 means "to exterminate" or "to destroy", or if such a meaning is only inferred indirectly from the context. An example in English is "to get rid". Usually we won't think of "get rid" as killing, at least not specifically, right? Or rather, killing is but one of the many ways of getting rid of something. But say

  That guy's asking too much questions. Get rid of him.

and you would associate "get rid = kill".

Is this the same case with 駆逐?

Seems like 駆逐 is used very often in military context. For what it's worth, here are some in non-military context I've come across

スマートフォン、タブレットがパソコンを駆逐する？
動物駆逐用煙火（連続発射式）の取扱いにご注意ください！
直訳文を駆逐せよ