texts:
I can't find a definition for this word アメテ. Aside from sounding like an amateur, the word didn't make sense in the context.

In the context, a character was flipping out. The entire sentence he screamed was:

  アメテ!!

Is this just a random sound he made or... what?

The sentence before ended with してるわけ!! if that helps.


texts: Question about supposedly a Japanese proverb

texts:
I came across to this sentence:

  The Japanese say you have three faces. The first face, you show to the
  world. The second face, you show to your close friends, and your
  family. The third face, you never show anyone. It is the truest
  reflection of who you are.

I would like to know what is the actual word in Japanese? is it true?


texts:
Given

そこではなにもかもが曖昧になる

I have

Soko de wa nani mo kamo ga aimai ni nare.

What does this mean?  The mo is hard to understand.  I think its something like

"Here we may be a sitting duck."


texts: When can a word normally read with its on-reading be read with its kun-reading?

texts:
I've been trying to improve my Japanese by memorizing songs I like.  My current effort is 白虎野の娘 ("The Girl in Byakkoya") from the movie パプリカ.

The line at the end of the first full verse has me confused.  Most sites I've found the lyrics on have it like this:

  高{たか}台{だい}に現{あらわ}れた　名{な}も知{し}らぬ人{ひと}は懐{なつ}かしく

...with the English translation:

  Someone whose name I don't know appeared on the high ground and its moving

("And its moving" doesn't really make sense and I don't see anything like "moving" in that line, but anyway...)

In searching around and trying to understand this line I happened across an alternate rendering offered by a smaller number of sources:

  高{たか}台{だい}に現{あらわ}れた　名{な}も知{し}らぬ広{ひろ}野{の}は懐{なつ}かしく

...which one site translates:

  Then you find a nameless and nostalgic field on a hill.

Not only does that make more sense, but if I listen carefully to the singer (for example here around 1:02) it sounds like ひろの, not ひと with an extended final vowel as I originally assumed.

The problem now is that I can only find that 広野 meaning "field" or "plain" should be read with its on-reading こうや, not its kun-reading ひろの, which only seems to applicable to names of people or places.  I couldn't find a single source which suggested otherwise.

My best guess is that kanji can perhaps be read using whichever reading one wants if it makes a poem or song scan better.  Is that what's happening here?  If not, what's going on?

Bonus sub-question: How is it that the word for "unknown" is 知らぬ instead of 知らない?  I have the impression from watching various shows that ね can be used in place of ない at the end of a negative, but ぬ is totally new to me.


texts: I know all of 合唱, 唱和 and 斉唱 mean chorus/choir but are there any differences between them?


texts:
In English written speech, we often refer to what we have said, using the phrase "as mentioned above"; or to something that is coming later on with "see below for further explanation", for example.

Is this used in written Japanese and what are the phrases that are used. Do these phrases change, if the writing is vertical and going from right to left?

The obvious way to avoid confusion would be to use something like "as mentioned before" instead, but it is interesting to find out :)

Thank you all for reading!


texts: Japanese idiom equivalent to "that ship has sailed"

texts:
What is the closest expression in Japanese that conveys a similar meaning to the English idiom "that ship has sailed", referring to an "missed opportunity" and "it's too late (to do anything about it)"?

The English phrase to me is discouraging and has a sense of futility, so I would like the Japanese expression to convey a similar feeling.

For the context in which I would like to use this Japanese phrase, here is a conversation alternating between two friends of a bachelor with feelings for someone named Karen:

  I thought he had eyes for Karen.
  Yeah, he told me that, too.
  Well she graduated and went back to Sweden. I heard she found a good    job there in her field.
  Right, I think he had wanted to propose to her, but you know what's    up. She still has a life and likes living nearby her relatives in Stockholm.
  Indeed. Whatever he tries at this point may be too little too late.
  I agree; she really likes him, but I think that ship has sailed.

EDIT: @Mindful suggested 時すでに遅し, which seems to be a common expression for "it's too late" and the Webolio dictionary lists it directly under the "that ship has sailed" idiom. I can't help but feel that this phrase sounds slightly plain compared to "that ship has sailed" even though the meaning may be correct.

In contrast, I have found 後の祭り as another expression used to express a similar meaning to "that ship has sailed" and it also seems to be somewhat less straightforward than simply 時すでに遅し. Would greatly appreciate if anyone could point out the nuance between these two phrases.


texts:
In this thread on japan-guide.com, we find two seemingly contradictory statements concerning the conditional particle ば.

One poster states:

If A & B are the same subject, B must be non-volitional. Otherwise, B can be volitional, e.g.:

  [日本]{にほん}へ[行]{い}けば, [富士山]{ふじさん}がみられます

Another poster states that ば were used in expressions which reflect the speaker's will,judgment, permission, view, order or request, e.g.:

  [安]{やす}ければ、買(か)います
  [早]{はや}く起(お)きられれば、 [電話]{でんわ}をかけます/します

How do we reconcile these two statements?

Both do seem correct on their own.


texts:
Hullo!

I'm watching a new anime with some friends for the first time and we found some post episode web commentary online and we're trying to understand a joke but we can't quite get what it's about.

Here is the full excerpt if there is some important context https://uploadir.com/u/yo3zj2if

And here is the part we are trying to get https://uploadir.com/u/hz1gecmx

I tried to transcribe it but it's probably not right ehheh:

  今までさんざんせわになっては危機をあっさりガラ携とかガラクタみたい呼ぶ人間にだけはなりたくないということだ。"

The way I understand it is "I really don't wish to become one of the people who are quick to dismiss flip-phones as a piece of junk". And I think the joke is that flip-phone has the same ring to it as junk (garake, gara-keitai). But I'm not certain that's what he means because maybe I hear some of the words wrong.

edit: maybe instead of せわに it's せえわにん. and instead of 危機 it's 機器.
Then maybe it's like "even thorough assistants are quick to call devices like that "garake"(flip phone), as if invoking the sound of junk by these people, but I don't wish to call it that"?

Hmm, that still doesn't sound like much of a joke...


texts:
I was going through the sentences and explanations of "言っておく" when "言っておくと" caught my eye. It repeatedly showed up as an alternative to "言っておくけど". I think けど here is somewhat like "you know" in English. But as for と I really can't think of any usage that could fit in with the sentence. (Not if/when/quotation, definitely not and/with, and then I am baffled...)

言っておくと、私明日来ないからね
言っておくと、あいつ俺の妹だからね。
言っておくけど、ロスでは車が必要だよ。


texts: What does と and なり mean in this sentence?

texts:
The whole sentence is:

  私となりに住んでおります綾瀬と申します

It's from the manga yotsubato, that I'm trying to read along with a translated version. The translated one says "I live right next door. We're the Ayase residence"

So I couldn't find anything conclusive about this なり word, and I also don't know about this と, if it's part of the same expression, or a separate particle, and if it is, I don't know the role it's playing here. Could you please clarify?


texts: Is it possible to join directly い-adj + この + noun?

texts:
I came across this multiple choice sentence within my homework exercises:

I assume that the correct answer is 気に入った. However, the この demonstrative seems out of place to me. I would rather use just one modifier, either 自然が多い or この like this:

  自然が多い町が気に入った。
  この町が気に入った。

or, using both 自然か多い and この, I would say something like:

  自然が多くて、この町が気に入った。

However, I can't understand why and how come both modifiers are put together directly in this fashion:

  自然が多いこの町…

What am I missing here?

Thank you very much


texts:
I'm studying kanji right know and I found this verb with the kanji 別 and its: わかれる. It is an intransitive verb and it means to be divided. Then I found out that to divide is 分ける but it has a different kanji. I did a little research and I found in a book that the intransitive form of 分ける is 分かれる which has the same pronunciation as 別れる but it uses a different kanji too and it has another meaning.

分ける　=　To divide (Transitive)

別れる　=　To be divided (Intransitive)

分かれる　=　To branch (Intransitive)

Can someone explain this to me? For me it makes more sense that 別れる is the intransitive form of 分ける.


texts:
I have this sentence in a practise JLPT question:

  サッカー選手{せんしゅ}がずらっと並{なら}んでいる。

According to the dictionary I referenced, ずらっと means to "be in a line", and 並{なら}ぶ means "to line up", so wouldn't that make the sentence above redundant? Something like, "The soccer players lined up in a line"?

What does this sentence convey that is different from サッカー選手{せんしゅ}が並{なら}んでいる? What is the nuance I'm missing?

If ずらっと or 並{なら}ぶ mean something other than the dictionary defition linked above, then what is that meaning?


texts:
im self learning japanese and having problems understanding られる or 受け身 form of verbs.
I am wondering why the following sentences are not ok:

私は石に頭に落ちられた
トムは交差点の真ん中で車に止められた

However it says
僕は雨に降られた is ok.
Can anyone explain why this is the case?


texts: Can someone help explain the meaning here

texts:
国が成人をしっかり定義すれば、国には責任を持って成人ではない国民を教育し て成人にする義務が生じる。それが本当の義務教育だろう。

I have 'If the government were to sufficiently define what an adult is, it has the responsibility to turn uneducated adult citizens into educated adults. That is what true compulsory education is.' But it doesn't sound quite right.


texts: Detail on the usage of 婚儀 to refer to a spousal relationship?

texts:
I was looking up 婚儀 on ejje to understand the differences between it and 結婚式 when I found a third definition for it which confused me

  3) union, spousal relationship, matrimony, wedlock, marriage

  自発的に人生（または離婚まで）のために結ばれた夫婦である状態 (the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce))

  -a long and happy marriage 長く幸せな結婚生活

  -God bless this union 神は、この夫婦に恩恵を与える

As far as I know, 婚儀 refers strictly to the marriage ceremony itself, not the union between two people, and I haven't found any other usages like or definitions like this in other dictionaries. Is this an error, or an old usage? Or can 婚儀 be used in place of 結婚, and in what circumstances?


texts: When should I use 週 versus 週間 for "week"?

texts:
I just decided I needed to know the word for week and found both 週 and 週間 mean "week".

Can I get by as a beginner with only 週間? Or when should each one be used?


texts: Difference between the usage of 知恵 , 知能 and 知力

texts:
I have read the sentence

"12歳の小児の知力しかない".

In this sentence , I would like to know the usage of   知力  .
In dictionary , it means "intelligence "
Can I use 知恵 or 知能 instead of  知力.
Is there any difference in usage between them.

With Regards,


texts: Which Japanese sentence is grammatically correct?

texts:
My friend and I are making sentences from English to Japanese.
We are trying to turn this sentence into Japanese:

I think he's 23 years old, I'm not sure however.

We came up with:

思う彼は23歳。分かりませんだけど。
Omou kare wa 23sai. Wakarimasen dakedo.

and

思う彼は23歳だけど、分かりません。
Omou kare wa 23sai dakedo, wakarimasen.

Which of these sentences are grammatically correct? If both were wrong, what would be the correct way to say it in Japanese?


texts:
I have seen many ways of saying 'food'. I am wondering if there is ever a difference in appropriateness.

食品、食べ物、～物(type+物)、飯、ご飯、etc.

Most commonly, I think, is 食べ物, but I thought I'd use 食品 for an assignment involving 敬語（けいご）since it sounded more formal to me.

Thoughts?


texts: What's the etymological linkage of 「眉{まゆ}」and「繭{まゆ}」?

texts:
I found the etymology of 「眉{まゆ}」 from 眉／まゆ - 語源由来辞典

眉は目の上にあることから、「マノウヘ（目の上）」もしくは「マウヘ（目上）」の意味と考えられる。
ただし、古くは「マヨ」と言い、「マヨ」が音変化して「まゆ」となっている。
そのため、「マノウヘ」「マウヘ」が直接音変化したものではなく、「目の上」の意味を表す言葉に「マヨ」があり、それが音変化したと考えられる。

In short, 「眉{まゆ}」 has something to do with 目{め} and 上{うえ}, thus becoming 眉{まゆ}.
Why is the pronunciation of 「眉{まゆ}」 and 「繭{まゆ}」 the same? What's the etymology of 「繭{まゆ}」? And what's the etymological linkage of 「眉{まゆ}」and「繭{まゆ}」?


texts:
I'm struggling to understand 手に実際穿った part in the following passage.
What meaning does it have?

  拡大鏡｛かくだいきょう｝で見て初めて見えてくる文字。うっすらと浮かび上がり、所々｛ところどころ｝かすれて読めない。その文字の形状｛けいじょう｝からして手に実際穿った{じっさいほじった}ような感じである。文字は極めて｛きわめて｝小さい。俺は掠れて｛かすれて｝解読不可能な部分を頭の中で想像補完{そうぞうほかん}し、ひとつの文章を完成させた。

I tried to make a fast translation of the the sentences with the part I cannot grasp, except the part itself.

Letters first became visible when I looked through magnifying glass. Becoming faintly visible, they are scratched here and there which makes them impossible to read in such places. Judging by letters shape it makes the feeling as if 手に実際穿った.

Context: The speaker receives a strange letter, with empty contents. When he tried to look for the fingerprints he seen the print of the whole hand on a letter paper. Now he tried to look through magnifying glass.

Update:

I think now, after remembering all of the context, I more or less understood it. So to the speaker those small letters felt like the writer of the letter drilled them in his hand and then made the hand print on a paper.


texts: Meaning of 盛り上げ in the following sentence

texts:
Context: a boxer and his trainer are waiting in the locker's room for a match to start. The president of a famous gym who is also the organizer of the match passes by and just waves at them without even looking them in the eyes. At which the trainer comments (giving him the middle finger):

  へっ…　せーぜー盛り上げに貢献しろってか　目くらい合わせろや

Since he used the imperative, I think he was trying to reproach the organizer, but what is the meaning of 盛り上げ? To what the organizer should contribute? Has it something to do with enlivening the atmosphere? Note that the boxer and especially the trainer don't have a good relationship with the president. Thank you for your help!


texts: In introductory physics books, when they introduce 弱い相互作用 "weak interaction" and 強い相互作用 "strong interaction", I almost always see a notification that these terms are supposed to be the name of the specific forces and should not be taken to mean just an adjective modifying a noun in an ordinary way. Are these terms really unnatural as the name of specific things much as to require such notes, and why is it? What natural (unexisting) alternatives would be possible? Is the unnaturalness any stronger than the unnaturalness of the corresponding English terms in English?


texts: When do you use the o marker with kudasai (Please)

texts:
Here are some Japanese sentences:

  Aisu-kōhī-o kudasai (Please give me iced coffee)
  Mizu-o kudasai (Please give me water)
  Kippu kudasai (Please give me a ticket)

Why doesn't the last sentence use the o marker? Is it a misprint or is there a rule to it?


texts: What is the meaning of ちょうど一本 in this context?

texts:
If I've understood correctly, ちょうど followed by a counting word usually means something like "just x" or "exactly x" depending on the context, but I can't figure out what it means in this opening sentence of a novel:

バルサが鳥影橋をわたっていたとき、皇族の行列が、ちょうど一本上流の山影橋にさしかかっていたことが、バルサの運命をかえた。

I understand the overall meaning of the sentence, but the exact purpose of ちょうど一本 here eludes me. What does the 一本 count? Or is ちょうど一本 some sort of set phrase beyond counting cylindrical things?


texts:
This is a conversation between two people:

A: [金]{かね}は？
B: いつもの[通]{とお}りだ。それより[公安]{こうあん}の[方]{ほう}は？
A: 心配するな。 私がついている。
A: The money?
B: Planned as always. Aside from that, public safety の方は？
A: Don't worry. We're with you.

I'm not understanding what the の方は？ is doing. Or what it's supposed to mean.


texts:
Why do we need to use 2 nominalizers もの and こと in the following sentence?

  素数とは、1 より大きい自然数で、正の約数が 1 と自分自身のみであるもののことである。


texts: At first, I've learned that yoroshiku means nice to meet you. But then I saw it used in different cases with different meanings. So what are these meanings?


texts:
Here is something that has been bothering me for a while now: How to know how the letter changes inside words like for example 一杯、二杯？

More concretely, I really need to know how to correctly count strides. I've heard people say it but I can't make sense of it so I keep forgetting and end up being too embarrassed to make sentences that involve counting strides (of a cantering horse).

I know one is 一歩{いっぽ}　and perhaps 二歩{にほ} but after that I have no clue whatsoever whether it changes to b, p or stays h.

  Please could someone teach me the correct way to count strides from 1
  to 10?

And, well, it would really help me if you could explain the system to me so that I can reuse it for cups of coffee and whatever else I may be counting in the future and don't have to ask it again here. > . <


texts: How to address readers/viewers in an article or video?

texts:
How should one address readers or viewers in a published work?

For example, it is common in English language articles and videos these days to end by asking the viewer to share their opinion in a reply or comment.

Ex. "What do you think - do you agree?"  "Does this ever happened to you, and if so, how do you handle it?" "Tell us your pick for the next Batman villain" etc...

These all have a real emphasis on the "you" part though, and the concept of "you" is something I'm struggling to deal with in Japanese.  I've been told to avoid pronouns like あなた, but in a situation where you're speaking or writing to an unknown number of anonymous someones across a divide of time and space, is there an alternative?


texts:
国の研究によると、今年日本の近くの海に来るさんまは、今まででいちばんとれなかった去年より少なくなりそうです。
  According to the country's research, the amount of sanma coming to the seas near Japan this year seems to have decreased compared to last year where ???

I assume 今まででいちばんとれなかった is a relative clause modifying 'last year' but I'm struggling to make sense out of it.

Literally I translate it as "up until now most not harvested". So overall I think the message is that last year they caught the least number of fish ever, and this year is predicted to be worse. Is this correct?

I think I normally see いちばん with an adjective (rather than a verb) so I'm finding it a little confusing. Could you please provide a few simple examples of いちばん used with a verb so I can get a better feel for its use? Does it only work in relative clauses?


texts: Difference between the usage of 君 and キミ

texts:
From what I read earlier, 君【きみ】 can be used for you. But in many instances over the internet, I have seen キミ being used instead of 君【きみ】. What is the usage difference between the two?
If I take the following sentence for example

ちょっと、そこのきみ！

which means "Hey, you there!"
Can it be written as both

ちょっと、そこの君！

ちょっと、そこのキミ！


texts: How many Shinjitai and Kyūjitai characters are there?

texts:
Kanji
Jōyō
Jinmeiyō
Hyōgai

Shinjitai
2127
?
0

Kyūjitai
0
?
?

Kokuji
9
16
0

Total
2136
863
?

I wonder if the above table is the exact concept of the use of Kanji in Japanese language. Can you help me fill the table correctly if the concept is true? By shinjitai I mean the formal one not extended and by Kyūjitai I mean both traditional and simplified.


texts: In anime paper humans are shown frequently. When there is bad weather, people (in anime) do some angels (I think) from paper and post it on the window. What is it called?


texts:
What's the difference between ね and な as tag questions?
For example:
そうですね
vs
そうだな

Is there any difference in level of politeness?  Does one sound more masculine than the other?

Edit:
The examples above are pretty vague (or even just plain wrong in terms of actually being tag questions).  The more concrete example from Amanda S better illustrates my question:
パーティは明日だな? (The party is tomorrow, right?)
vs
あの子はたけしですね? (That child is Takeshi, right?)


texts: What would be the proper way to phrase such an action, particularly in a casual way? Say, the phrase “Oh, I guess you caught me.” How might a native speaker say this? I know in a criminal context of someone being caught in an act, a sentence like “被疑者を現行犯で逮捕した。” but I need a less specific way to put it.


texts: How do I parse 正当に行うことができるものとして与えられている能力

texts:
I came across a definition of a word 権限 in a dictionary (三省堂 スーパー大辞林):

  ある範囲のことを正当に行うことができるものとして与えられている能力。また、その能力が及ぶ範囲。

However, am not sure if I should read the bolded clause as

((ある範囲のことを正当に行うこと)が(できるもの)として与えられている) or

((ある範囲のことを正当に行うことができるもの)として与えられている)

In other words, does Xこと modify できる or 与えられている, and why?


texts: Difference between 「彷徨う」 and 「彷徨える」、「狂う」 and 「狂える」 etc

texts:
In 大辞林, the definition of さまよえる as in さまよえるオランダ人 is

  あてもなくさまよっている。

while the (primary) definition of さまよう is

  当てもなく、あるいは目指す所が見つからずにあちこち歩き回る。

What's the difference between the two words, and other similar pairs such as 狂える as in 狂えるオルランド and 狂う?

Is it related to the use of 可能動詞, e.g. 笑える、泣ける, for involuntary actions?


texts:
I don't understand why ある is in this sentence:

  彼らは無事に、昨日ある島に上陸した。


texts: Why is the Japanese term for grammatical case 「格」? How did this translation come to be?

texts:
From Google's definition of 格:

  きまり。法則。標準。
   「格式・格言・合格・別格・破格・規格・本格・古格・適格・律令格式(りつりょうきゃくしき)」
  《名・造》地位。身分。程度。
   「格が違う」
  方形に組みあわせた材。
   「骨格・格子(こうし)・格天井(ごうてんじょう)」
  くる。いたる。とおる。きわめる。
   「格物致知」
  ただす。ただしい。
   「厳格」
  《名・造》文法上、文中で語句が他の語句に対する意味的関係。
   「格がかわる」
  《名》論理学上、三段論法の形式。
  手でうつ。うつ。「挌(かく)」に同じ。
   「格闘・格技」

Definition #2 appears to be the closest in meaning to the grammatical usage #6. I am curious: When was this term first translated? And whom should the credit go to for coining it? How did a word denoting social status--namely something on a linear high/low spectrum--come to refer to grammatical categorization of nouns, pronouns, and other words?


texts: Can the word まだしも be broken up into distinct meanings?

texts:
I'm studying grammar, and one of the new forms that I'm learning uses the word まだしも. I looked it up and I found:

類語：
まだいいが　/ まだ何とかなるが

Based on how the word is used in the following examples:

1人や2人ならまだしも，10人も事務所へ押し掛けて来て参った
I could have handled [coped with] one or two of them, but I was flabbergasted when ten people pushed their way into my office.
寒いだけならまだしも，おなかがすいてきた
I was not only cold but also hungry.／I would not have minded the cold so much, but I also began to feel hungry.

I'm wondering if まだしも can be broken into multiple parts まだ, し, and も. Where まだ would indicate "as yet; hitherto; still; not yet". If this is possible, what role does しand も play in the context of this word? I'm wondering why し and も constitute to the "いいが" or "何とかなるが" portion. Specifically が.


texts:
The specific context of this word is ごった煮です。
This sentence is prefixed by multiple other statements that I have translated to be about themself, ending in ものです。
I am confused about what exactly this word means in such a context, with the provided translations in dictionaries i.e jisho not seeming to make much sense to me.
The exact context is

悪役令嬢ものです。ループものです。勘違い恋愛ものです。ごった煮です。


texts: Are there words which consist of katakana and hiragana letters together?

texts:
Obviously many Japanese words consist of kanji characters plus hiragana since the latter are used for okurigana:

食べる
水割り
鷹の爪

Recently I'v started to discover a few words that use kanji characters plus katakana too:

段ボール
紙パック

But I can't think off the top of my head of any words that are written with a mixture of hiragana and katakana. Are there any?

For the purposes of this question I don't include katakana + する since they are special and can be seen either as a single word or as pairs of words.

Since "word" can mean many overlapping concepts, for the purposes of this question I mean word in the sense that dictionaries often have a dedicated entry for it. (Linguists call these lexemes and listemes.)


texts:
I cannot help but think about the verb なる when I hear or read the expression ~てならない.

Are the verb and the expression even related?

It feels to me as if it could be the modern shortened version of an older expression that would look like ~て何々かにならない.
Is it the case, and what would that 何何 be?

What is the origin of the expression ~てならない ?


texts:
I encounter this question in my problem set.

Reizoko ni kudamono ____ (_____) _____ _____ ga  arimasu

ga    2. mittsu  3. to   4. gyuunyuu

I see in the solution that the answer for word in parentheses is (2. mittsu).
What is the complete sentence? What is the meaning of the sentence?


texts:
I was reading the lyrics of a song called 春先小紅　by 矢野顕子

There is this line that says:

  きょうはなんだかキレイです

I was wondering why キレイ　above is written in Katakana and not in Hiragana? Isn't katakana used for foreign words?


texts: Meaning of “ハートは赤く染まる”

texts:
What does ハートは赤く染まる mean?  It’s from a love song about someone being completely smitten by another.

I know the literal translation is “(my) heart is stained red” but what is the meaning of this phrase?


texts: らしい / っぽい / みたい question: Why 黒{くろ}っぽい車{くるま} and not 黒{くろ}みたいな車{くるま}?

texts:
I'm using Nihongo So-Matome 文法{ぶんぽう} while preparing for JLPT N3, and having some issues with some of the grammar descriptions.

This StackExchange answer was awesome in clearing up most of my らしい / っぽい / みたい questions:

Contrasting っぽい、らしい、みたい

However, this one remains - why is it OK to say:

逃{に}げたのは黒{くろ}っぽい車{くるま}でした。

But not:

逃{に}げたのは黒{くろ}みたいな車{くるま}でした。

Thanks.


texts: Are Japanese speakers likely to confuse "message" and "massage" in English?

texts:
I've occasionally noticed native speakers of Japanese using "massage" when they mean "message", but I can't recall native speakers of other languages mistaking the two. As far as I know, both "massage" and "message" have katakana versions of the words (マッサージ and メッセージ) which seem reasonably distinct from each other.

Are native Japanese speakers likely to confuse "message" and "massage" in English, and if so what is it about Japanese that causes this?


texts: Why do things which attach to the 連用形 of 動詞 attach to the stem of 形容詞?

texts:
When you want to connect a 活用語 (inflectable word) to something else, generally you inflect it to the 連用形 (continuative form). However, with 形容詞 (i-adjectives), there are certain times where you affix things to the 語幹 (stem) as opposed to the 連用形.

〜そう (Affixes to 連用形 for 動詞, but 語幹 for 形容詞.)

  動詞：　降りそう＝「降る」の連用形＋「そう」
  形容詞：おいしそう＝「おいしい」の語幹＋「そう」

〜すぎる (Affixes to 連用形 for 動詞, but 語幹 for 形容詞.)

  動詞：　食べすぎる＝「食べる」の連用形＋「すぎる」
  形容詞：高すぎる＝「高い」の語幹＋「すぎる」

My guess is that these suffixes want something "noun-like", and since the 連用形 of 形容詞 is adverbial, it doesn't work and instead the stem ended up serving that function.

But, this is just a guess, so I'd like to know if anyone has a historical explanation of some of these things, or more examples to make that argument sound more convincing.


texts:
What better way to celebrate Christmas than to ask yet another nuance-ish question on here right?
This time the the reason of my confusion stems from the kanji for bud/sprout 芽
One would think, looking at jisho.org, that 萌芽 and 発芽 are basically synonymical. But alas, they're not. (?) After going through all the tricks (i.e. trying to google images to see a potential difference, trying to understand monolingual dictionaries such as dictionary.goo.ne.jp) I've gotten even farther from the answer I was searching for.
What is the difference between 萌芽 and 発芽?
From what I've gathered 萌芽 means to bud/sprout/germination. Not only can it be used for seeds, but also for other things that sprout. Such as love, feelings etc.
発育, on the other hand, is used when talking about a part of a plant that's beginning to grow on an already somewhat grown plant? For example, a new branch on a tree, or a leaf on a branch? Paraphrasing :

花粉や樹枝の芽などが発育を始めること.

Since they aren't linked as quasi-synonyms or full synonyms there has to be a reasonable difference.

Sidenote: 兆す is linked as a quasi-synonym to 萌芽 because of it's 1st definition :

草木が芽を出す

I've only heard about the other definition (show signs, have symptoms). Is it generally used in it's 1st definition frequently or not at all?
Thanks for reading this and I hope y'all have great Christmas


texts: Is there an idiom equivalent to / similar to "gut feeling"?

texts: Is there an expression or metaphor similar to "gut feeling", as a metaphor for one's intuition or instinctive feeling about something?


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

texts:
オタ

オター

I want a name translated but not sure which to pick, what sounds the best and what's the difference between them? The name which I'm trying to translate is "Oter".


texts:
I came across the following example:

大きかったり重かったりする本
a big, heavy book

I am not sure this sentence is correct to begin with, (part of me feels like it should be した) but assuming that it is, what would be the difference between the above and the following?

大きくて重い本

Both appear to me to mean "a big, heavy book".
I would also like to confirm that chaining adjectives unconjugated as follows is ungrammatical.

大きい重い本　×


texts: To learn English vocabulary, I ate a dictionary page-by-page

texts:
I was reading an article on ohtabooks.com which had the following sentence:

英単語を覚えるため、1ページごと辞書を食べた

To me, this looks like:

To learn English words, I ate a dictionary page-by-page.

Usually, 食べる means 'eat'.  But that seems silly here!
Is this a figurative use of 食べる?  I think it is, but I'm not sure what it means specifically.  In English, people sometimes talk figuratively about 'devouring' a book, meaning they read through the book very quickly, often in one sitting.  But I'm not sure that's quite the same meaning intended by 食べる here.
Or could it be that it's supposed to be amusing? (I got the impression it was supposed to be serious.)
Can someone explain how 食べる is used here?


texts:
If I want to say "I lack of imagination" for example, or "My car is red" is it better to use 私の or to use 私は? what are the differences between these examples ? are they correct and natural ?

私は想像力が貧しい。
私の想像力が貧しい。
私の想像力は貧しい。

私は車が赤いです。
私の車が赤いです。
私の車は赤いです。


texts:
I have two small japanese paintings with words on them.

Can anyone help me with translation? Thank you so much.


texts: I think I have a sort of loose understanding of how the words differ and what they mean, but I'm really not too sure. I've checked out weblio and goo and ALC to look around a bit first. Can anyone help clear it up?


texts: Are there names like ワンコイン for the other coins?

texts:
So ワンコイン refers to a 500円 coin, but is there other names for the other coins?

Also in conversation does ワンコイン refer to any specific currency or only to 500 yen (as in the sense of being a default).


texts: What is the Difference between だろう and かな and how to use them


texts: I'm working through the book Nihongo So-matome N3 Choukai and on one page there is a side note about contracting the causative-passive form (e.g. 待たせられる＝待たされる). Underneath it says 「食べる、話す、する、来る、などは縮約形にはできない。」meaning verbs like these don't have these contracted forms. する and 来る are the usual exceptions, 食べる is an 一段 verb, but what about 話す? Is there something special about this verb or a group that it's in? Why can it not be contracted in this way?


texts:
Consider the following:

{どんな・[何]{なん}の}映画を見ましたか。
{どんな・何の}本を買いましたか。

What is the difference in the type of information requested by the two interrogatives?

My hypothesis is that 何の is used to request information from pool of discrete data, while どんな requests information from continuous data. (どんな is broader than 何の)

That is to say that 何のX requests information from a set of established data; X has been categorised into discrete genres and it asks for which, while どんなX seems to be more open-ended.


texts:
The scenario is a group of friends trying to figure out what to eat. One person says:
決を採ります！　洋食焼き[どど]がいい人ー？！

Friends respond: はあーい

He then says: 次に和食定食[めんぼう]がいい人ー！

Response: はあーい

I feel like I'm overthinking this but are (どど) and (めんぼう) supposed to be the names of eateries, and if so why use いい人 to describe something that isn't a person? If someone could enlighten me I would appreciate it, thank you.


texts: what is the difference between oshieta and oshiete kureta?

texts: oshieta is the plain past tense of oshieru and oshiete kureta is usually translated as the past tense of oshieru too. What is the difference between them?


texts:
I noticed that 煙 in the phrase 茶煙永日香{ちゃえんえいじつかんばし} sometimes appears as 烟. For example, here is a teapot with 茶煙永日香 and a scroll with 茶烟永日香. Is there a difference in meaning between 煙 and 烟?

煙 and 烟 obviously have similarities. Both mean "smoke" or "fumes", and both have the 火 radical on the left. Both appear appropriate for decorative uses.

However, the right part of 烟, 因, means "cause" or "association", while the right part of 煙, 垔, appears to mean "block" or "dam". These radicals seem pretty different.

This same question was asked in 知恵袋. The answer was simply that they mean the same thing, but that 烟 is not standard and thus less common.

Perhaps I am over-thinking things, but are the meanings of 煙 and 烟 truly identical, or do the right radicals suggest some subtle difference in meaning?


texts:
I have came across the phrase from the below sentence.

いきつくところまでいくまでだ。


texts: My name’s Ryan. I’ve been studying Japanese for a while now, and just for fun I’d like to know what my name would be in Kanji. 来安? 雷杏? Asking a native.


texts: What is the difference between 「運転手【うんてんしゅ】」 and 「車掌【しゃしょう】」?

texts:
According to the dictionary, 運転手 means driver and 車掌 means conductor. So, 運転手 would be any person at the controls/steering wheel of any vehicle, while 車掌 would be someone who "is in charge of a train and travels with it, but does not drive it" (according to an English dictionary. I am not an English native speaker so I can't grasp the difference between both words in English either). So, the latter is only for trains? and if he does not drive, what does a 車掌 do in a train?

If you could provide some example sentences that illustrate the difference between both words, it would be nice.

よろしくお願いします！


texts: Why 東南西北 is read トンナンシャーペー in this lyrics?

texts: I expected to read this word as とうなんせいほく but the furigana indicates another reading. I did some search but I only found information about this band: The東南西北


texts:
I'm new to this site, so first of all greetings :)

I'm trying to translate a tweet from a Japanese account but I'm not able. I know almost all the words, but can't understand the sense.

My japanese teacher didn't understand it very well neither and she couldn't give me a correct translation into my language (Spanish).

Please, if any of you could translate it into English accurately, I'd be very grateful.

  ゲーム業界のパイの喰い合いに本気出すよりも、可能なところはみんなで人類みなゲーマー目指したほうがハッピーだと思うけど、最終的にその世界人口にも限りはあるから数十手先まで関連する以上何が正しいか判断付かない。

These are the main problems I have (but not the only):

What does よりも mean here?
可能なところ: Possible place?
Is みな the same as みんな?
I think 数十手先 is any kind of chess term, but I'm not sure.

My translation:

  More than getting serious on eating together the pie of the games industry, I think the possible place is all the humanity trying to be a gamer to be happy, but finally, as there are limits for the population of that world, there's no correct relationship more than see ten turns ahead

Thank you.


texts: Difference between ”conditional” いい and 方がいい for providing recommendations

texts:
I've noticed that there are multiple ways of providing or asking for a recommendation in Japanese.

The sentence structures I'm talking about are as follows:

  したらいい
  すればいい
  したほうがいい

In almost all situations I see these they get translated as "should do" and they all seem to share a common structure of equating the done action as being "good" but is there a difference in nuance or are they interchangeable?


texts:
五十音 [gojzu: on] litteraly "50-sounder" (hiragana nickname)
  五十 [gojzu:] 50
  音 [on] sound

My question is about counters in Japanese language.

At the dictionary it is said, that 音 is counter for sounds.

Well, ,,, that means, that to build "50 sounds" I have to use
[number] + [counter] + の [no] + [noun]
and therefore build something like:

  五十音の音 [gojzu: on no on] 50 sounds

With my heart I feel something wrong here, but do no know the rule to apply.
Do I have right to use the following pattern (without counter)?

  五十の音 [gojzu: no on] 50 sounds

If this is 100% ok, is there a rule that counter can be omitted if the counter and the noun, which is counted -- are the same word?

Here was a question about 目 and 第.
I was recommended to publish it as standalone one and do not mix flys and apples in one dish.


texts:
Hamaji is asked if his house ever recieves year-end gifts. He says that they get dried shiitake mushrooms. His friends express surprise. One of them says "it's not bad but..." and then Hamaji says:

  「悪くはねぇんだよ。うちのかーちゃんなんてすげー喜んじゃってさぁ」
  "It's not bad. Our mother ends up really happy" (my TL attempt)

I'm assuming 喜んじゃって is the て-form of 喜んじゃう which is a contraction of 喜んでしまう. I don't understand why it is in て-form or what the meaning of さぁ is. What is this てさぁ ending all about?


texts: What is a meaning of 予約 on the washing machine?

texts:
According to JMDict 予約 is translated as

reservation;  appointment;  booking;  advance order
contract;  subscription;  pledge

None of the meanings above seem to make sense to one of the function labels on a washing machine.


texts: What does 包みこまれる ("tsutsumikomareru") mean in the Spitz song "愛のことば" ("Ai no kotoba")?

texts:
I am trying to translate the chorus for the Spitz song "愛のことば" ("Ai no kotoba"):

傷つくこともなめあうことも包みこまれる愛のことば
Kizutsuku koto mo nameau koto mo tsutsumikomareru ai no kotoba

Using various dictionary resources I translate this as:

Words of love that can be all wrapped up, even in the event of being injured, or licked

However, I feel that there must a more idiomatic meaning for 包みこまれる that will make this line more sensible.
I am also wondering if "licked" is the proper translation for "なめあう".
Can someone provide a better translation for this line?
For context, the previous line is

今煙の中で溶け合いながら探しつづける愛のことば
Ima kemuri no naka de tokeainagara sagashitsuzukeru ai no kotoba


texts:
I've come across this form many times in my Japanese Bible.  The meaning is quite obvious based on context, and seems to be one of the following: ～べきです, ～ほうがいい, ～なさい, or ～ように (let it be ～).

Here are a few verses with this form:

  神を[畏]{おそ}れる人は皆、聞くがよい...　―　詩編　６６編１６節　／　Come and hear, all who fear God... - Psalm 66:16
  イエスは、「友よ、しようとしていることをするがよい」と言われた。すると人々は進み寄り、イエスに手をかけて捕らえた。　―　マタイによる福音書　２６章５０節　／　And Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him. - Matthew 26:50
  イエスは、「さあ、あなたがただけで人里離れた所へ行って、しばらく休むがよい」と言われた... －　マルコによる福音書　６章３１節　／　And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” - Mark 6:31
  しかし、たとえわたしたち自身であれ、天使であれ、わたしたちがあなたがたに告げ知らせたものに反する福音を告げ知らせようとするならば、呪われるがよい。　－　ガラテヤの信徒への手紙１章８節　／　But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be cursed! - Galatians 1:8

How is this form "allowed" to exist without a こと／の following the verb?  Is this only a literary written form or something?  Because I've never seen this form anywhere except my Bible.


texts: I have a question about this form そうな/そうに

texts:
ねむくなってしまいそうに癒される。

I can't figure out what this sentence is saying. I've asked my girlfriend and my coworkers (both Japanese) about そうに and they can't explain it. (One of my coworkers said it means 'a/an' but I can't see it being that. I've looked around online but have only found そうにもない。


texts: grammatical and semantic difference of "嘘と思う" and "嘘だと思う"

texts:
Before I move on to the topic, here is my analysis based on my grammar book:

    これを嬉しいと思う。

    これを親切だと思う。

The bolded part are quotation (引用), and the と behaves as a 格助詞 (quotation particle).

    これを嬉しく思う。

    これを親切に思う。

The bolded part are adverbial phrases.

Following this logic, I conclude that

    これを嘘だと思う。　→quotation (引用)

    これを嘘と思う。　　→adverbial phrases

Hopefully someone could comment on my analysis, and more importantly, the difference of their usage. I mean, the situation when the two sentences are not interchangeable. One Japanese told me that the two sentences have little difference and can be used interchangeably, but I wonder if there is any exception.

Feel free to add more/change words to make the sentence sound more natural, 違和感がない.
For instence, 「それをうそと思うかはあなた次第だ」

"当然のことと思う"/"当然のことだと思う" is another pair where I have the same question.


texts: Please explain the end of this conversation, especially the あってこそ part of it

texts:
I've taken up reading the manga "Fruits Basket", with the intention of trying to understand every word and grammar point if I possibly can.

There is a conversation, starting on page 27 of the first volume, between Shigure and Yuki. They are cousins, sharing a house. Shigure is an adult, Yuki is a high-school student. They are not very good at house work like cooking and cleaning. In this scene they are walking through a forest, returning home from dining out:

  [紫呉] あーあ、もうこんな時間か。毎日夕食が出前か外食だと疲れちゃうなぁ。

  [由希] じゃあ紫呉が食事作ってよ。

  [紫呉] 作ったって文句言うじゃないか君は。

  [由希] カレーの中にたくあんが入ってれば文句の一つも言いたくなるよ。

  [紫呉] 由希君は頭はいいくせに家事一般だけはだめだし、やっぱだらけた男二人暮らしには“花”が必要だねぇ。

  ＊　花ってなす女性の事さ。

  [由希] 気楽だね紫呉は。

  [紫呉] 何を言う。花あってこその男じゃないですか…

(Conversation ends here as they spot the main character nearby)

My problem is mainly with the last two lines there.

What is Yuki saying, exactly? It seems to mean something like "You live comfortably, Shigure", but I don't understand how it relates to what Shigure said about needing a woman around the house.
What is Shigure saying?

What does 花あってこその男 mean? I tried to look for similar expressions and it seems that [noun]あってこその[noun] is not uncommon, but I can't figure out what it means exactly.
What confuses me even further is the じゃないですか at the end. I'm not sure if it's a genuine question or the common rhetoric question that is really an assertion...
And so, I'm not sure whether the 花あってこその男 refers to Yuki or to Shigure himself.
And how does it relate to what Yuki was saying?

Edit

Here are a few similar あってこその phrases that I picked off Google, but couldn't really understand:

あの時代あってこその今
人あってこその環境省
マイナスあってこそのプラス
失敗あってこその現在

Note that in none of them is there a particle before the あってこそ, and there is a の following it.

Note also: the なす in the footnote about 花 is suspect - this part is written in handwriting so it was hard for me to decipher. Nevertheless, Shigure is absolutely talking about needing a woman around the house, as by the end of the chapter, they get one - Tohru Honda, the main protagonist.


texts: How does がかえ connect this sentence together?

texts:
Please consider the sentence highlighted in bold (other text is given for context):

  俺、さっきまでゲームして寝てたはずで、親丸がかえの高校生だったんだぞ。

I know that 親丸 means "parents circle" and 高校生だったんだぞ means "was a high school student", but how does がかえ transition or connect this sentence together? が　かえ can be inferred as "went" but I don't understand how this is actually connecting.


texts: What's it called when furigana push characters apart because they're so long?

texts:
Here on Japanese.SE, sometimes we see furigana like 司る【つかさどる】, where the characters beneath the furigana get pushed apart because the furigana doesn't quite fit.  Sometimes when I'm writing answers I find myself avoiding furigana because I think it makes it harder to read having things pushed so far apart.

But I've noticed that even in professional published writing, sometimes furigana seem to push characters apart.  For example, I took this picture of a page from 連環宇宙 (the Japanese translation of Vortex):

On this page, 流暢【りゅうちょう】 and 上唇【うわくちびる】 each take up three squares instead of two because of how tall the furigana are.

I decided to search online to see what native speakers thought about this sort of thing, but I couldn't figure out what it might be called!

Is there a special term for this sort of thing?


texts: How acceptable is it to use 持たす instead of 持たせる?

texts:
The following is an extract from 窓際のトットちゃん.

..ひいては、劣等意識を持たさないのに役立つのではないか..

Interestingly, jisho.org doesn't seem to have an entry for 持たす but other dictionaries like goo, do.

「持たせる」に同じ, 「もたせる」の文語形

I understand that it's used only in a literary context. Even so, is it considered less acceptable in a literary context now than it was earlier? Or is it just a case of jisho.org not carrying this word?


texts:
Are 戦う{たたかう} and 叩く{たたく} related?

They have a similar pronunciation, and their meanings are close enough (fight vs. hit) that I think they could stem from the same origin.

My theory is that 戦う started off as たたき合う but then the sound blended into たたかう, becoming its own word and branching off into its current meanings. But I have basically no knowledge of etymology at all so I am probably way off the mark.

Are they related? And if so, how?


texts:
I would like to know which is the difference between には...がある and は...がある to express possession.

For example, which would be the difference between
彼には友人をつくる才能がある。
and
彼は友人をつくる才能がある。

Or between
彼には車が二台ある。
and
彼は車が二台ある。

Thank you so much!


texts:
What does 耳 stand for in these sentences?

“ パン耳どしてますか” From what I know this means “do you have any bread?” I wanted to use it in another way, just to see if it would form a similar sentence translation, so I changed “pan” to “gohan” (ごはん耳どしてますか), but instead I got a translation of “Do you listen?” I want to know what mimi/耳 stands for in this context.

I’m aware not all character positions are interchangeable, just curious about the characters (耳) meaning in a sentence. Thanks!

Update: Thank you Foogod for the answer! I didn’t process that “bread ear” could refer to the crusts.
Thank you l'électeur for the updated explanation, it definitely helps a lot!


texts: ～て、～て、～します versus ～てから、～てから、～します

texts:
In my understanding, ～てから、～てから、～します is used to express several consecutive actions that are done one after the others. However, I always find the sentence A below but I never find the sentence B. I think the sentence B conforms to the fact one action is done after the others.

A: 右に曲がって、まっすぐ行って、左に曲がって、まっすぐ行くと、突き当りにあります。
B: 右に曲がってから、まっすぐ行ってから、左に曲がってから、まっすぐ行くと、突き当りにあります。

Shortly speaking, when do we have to use the first grammar and the last one? Any comments are welcome.


texts: Meaning of 切りかかるなら初手だったね

texts:
Context: One of the antagonists comes into the room and they talk with one of the other characters for a while. As the antagonist turns around and is about to leave, one of the other characters takes out their sword and tries to attack her. She uses her magic to reflect the attack and they are sent flying across the room and then she responds with:

  切りかかるなら初手だったね

Is she saying that if he was going to try and attack her, he should have done it at the start or does this mean something else?

Thanks.

Edit: If it is of any help here is a link to a video which contains the scene. The scene is from the 10:20 point to 10:50. This video contains spoilers for the game ルフランの地下迷宮と魔女ノ旅団.


texts: Need help with のが and のある in this sentence

texts:
で、そのときに私がいつも思い出すのが、映画『シンドラーのリスト』のある場面です。ご覧になった方いますか？シンドラーのリスト。
  (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xs-XWk_oQA at 0:47)

Can anyone shed some light on the uses of のが and のある in this sentence?


texts: What's the rule for expressing "I don't want to"

texts:
As far as I know, for expressing you want to do something, you have to just attach たい to the verb stem like in カニを食べたい。

Then, what's the rule for saying "I don't want to". I've seen in this phrase 怖い映画は、見たくないよ , they added "たくない" to the verb stem, but is that always so, or how is it?


texts: Can we use Kanji for 「もらう」(to receive)? If so, is it recommended?


texts: What nouns can ながら turn into adverbs, and how does this differ from に? (残念ながら、当然ながら...)

texts:
I learned 残念ながら quite early on and simply took it at face value, but as I've gained experience in Japanese I've come to question why this piece of grammar has two seemingly unrelated uses - expressing the simultaneity of two actions and turning certain nouns into an adverb.

I'm unsure which nouns beyond the one in the title this works with, if any. (Can I say 普通ながら?) Are they simply set phrases? Is this a different ながら from the other meaning? How does these constructions differ from, say, 当然に?


texts:
So, from my search it seems a lot of people say that there are almost no differences between による and によっては. Nevertheless, my grammar books says that によっては can be used like for "on the possibility of something happen". An example:

  国によっては安楽死が認められている。

So this sentence, instead of translating like "Depending on the countries, euthanasia may be allowed", a more proper translation should be "Depending on the countries, there is a possibility that euthanasia may be allowed".

Whoever it also adds, that there are some exceptions, and 晴れ時々曇り、所により雨 also has a nuance of possibility that something will happen.

Can someone please add some more example sentences to explain this? It seems that による has just so many uses, and I´m getting quite confused distinguishing between them all. Thank you.


texts:
Both 青々とした and 青々した essentially mean green. Is there any difference between the two expressions?
eg. from JapanesePod101:

羊｛ひつじ｝が青々｛あおあお｝した芝生｛しばふ｝を食べている。
The sheep is eating the green grass.

Would adding the extra と after 青々 change anything?


texts: What does のに at the end of a sentence mean?

texts:
Does it have a similar meaning to "が、ので etc." which basically make the sentence "softer" and imply something that isn't stated but that should be obvious to the listener?
Is it something like "though" in English ?
2 examples:

彼が出て行けばいいのに。
あの建物さえなければ、きれいな景色が見えるのに。


texts:
What is the grammar behind the use of the quote marker と in this sentence?

雨がいつ降るかと大変楽しみにしていましたが、なかなか雨が降りません。
He was looking forward to when the rain would come, but...

Can I also write

雨が降ることを大変楽しみにしていましたが、なかなか雨が降りません。
He was looking forward to the rain coming, but...

and does it change the nuance?


texts:
I cannot understand what exactly is ように modifying in the following sentence. And is it grammatically possible for 流れる濁流のよう to modify 急激な感情の? Because in phrase like this - 完璧に思ったとおりの仕上がり, 完璧に modifies  思ったとおりの. It is the question I've asked some time ago. But in this sentence it's also 急激な which modifies 感情, so I'm not sure if it's correct.

  一人残された俺は考えを巡らせている。どうしようもなく流れる濁流のように急激な感情の波を止められずにいる。


texts: Does it matter whether you drop vowels in spoken Japanese?

texts:
(This question started as a dual question about when to drop vowels and whether it matters. The first question is well answered at What are the rules regarding "mute vowels" ("u" after "s" and "i" after "sh")?.)

I'm just starting to learn Japanese, and one thing I've noticed is that vowel sounds--in particular, i and u--are often dropped by Japanese speakers. For example, "suki" is usually pronounced like the English word "ski", "desu" usually has the final "u" dropped, and I sometimes--but not always--hear "ichi" pronounced without the final "i" sound.

My question is: how much does it matter whether you drop vowel sounds or not? Will native speakers notice either way?


texts:
What does this phrase mean and how would I use it? I saw it in a sentence but I couldn't figure out what it meant.

  僕は赤の他人もいいところでうんやらかんやら。

Thanks!


texts: Why might this device have both 原稿面上向き and 送信面上向き as equivalents of "face up"?

texts:
Recently, I found the following instructions on a multifunction printer/scanner/copier/faxer:

Curiously, there are two lines in Japanese (as opposed to just one in each of the other languages): 原稿面上向き and 送信面上向き. I guess these would be equivalent to "front of the page facing up" and "the side you want to send facing up" (for faxing), but this appears to be redundant. To me, it seems that 原稿面 would subsume 送信面.

Is this just an artefact of how this particular sign was translated, or would devices manufactured for sale in Japan also feature two separate instructions where an English-language device would just have "face up"? If the latter, why? (e.g. might there be some sort of distinction between 原稿面 and 送信面 in Japanese that I'm not aware of?)


texts:
I have such sentence 「いつ果てぬとも分からぬーすぐに壊れて消えてしまいそうな名前でしょう？」I can not get grammatical role of "と" and "も"
Maybe "と" is like a citing and "も" as particle which connect two verbs? Theoretically "も" has possibility to connect two verbs?


texts: In front of "ほうがいい," is it always past tense?

texts:
ほうがいい means:

the particular way "ほう"
is "が"
good "いい"

So, for example, if it looks like it's going to rain, I might say to a friend:

"今日は雨らしい。傘を持った方がいい。"

But what I'm curious is, why is "持った" past tense? It feels like it means, it WOULD'VE BEEN good to carry an umbrella, so it feels quite inappropriate tense-wise. I ask this question because there's no distinction between future and present tense in Japanese. For example,

"明日来る人は私の友達です。"
The dude coming tomorrow, is my friend.

"今、あそこから来る人は私の友達です。
That dude coming our way, is my friend.

So logically, I thought "take your umbrella" would be:
"今日は雨らしい。傘を持つ方がいい。"

Instead of
"今日は雨らしい。傘を持った方がいい。"

So, why is it that it's past tense?


texts: What is the difference between 光る{ひかる}, 輝く{かがやく}, and 光り{ひかり}輝く{かがやく}? According to my dictionary, they all mean "to shine" or "to be bright", but I'm sure they aren't always interchangeable. Looking at example sentences, it seems that the sun, moon, a star, and a diamond can both 光る and 輝く, but eyes mostly 輝く. I can't figure out anything based on that, though, and I'm not even sure if it's correct.


texts:
First of all, sorry for any mistakes. English is not my native language, nor is Japanese, obviously.
Just curious, but (title). I saw some people romanizing "ように" as "you ni" and others romanizing it as "youni". The same goes for "二度と"; "nido to" and "nidoto". I know rōmaji isn't really Japanese and there are a lot of ways to write hiragana/katakana/kanji with our alphabet and bla bla bla... But what would be the best way to write these?
Thanks.


texts: Choosing between 大丈夫 or いい when asking/giving permission

texts:
It seems like 大丈夫 and いい can be used interchangeably when asking or giving permission.

For example when asking for permission, you might use:

「...てもいいですか」 vs 「...ても大丈夫ですか」
「...はいいですか」 vs 「...は大丈夫ですか」

Similarly, when answering such a request (with a positive response), one might say:

「いいです」 vs 「大丈夫です」

Is my understanding correct that they are indeed interchangeable? If they are, can I reply to the request with the "other" word (e.g., 「...てもいいですか」 → 「大丈夫です」; or 「...は大丈夫ですか」 → 「いいです」)?

If they aren't interchangeable, when should I use one or the other?


texts:
I can't figure out the meaning of the following sentence found in a manga

  これアカンやつやぞ何か言わんとハードルガンガン上がってくやつやぞー！

I'm having not only one, but several doubts in this sentence.

Starting by ハードルガンガン, wich  seems to form an idiom along with 上がって

The use of やつやぞ, if it is a fixed expression or only やつ + や + ぞ

To put a little background, the speaker is thinking of ways to impress someone else and worried he is not gonna fulfill their expectations

Parsing it would really be appreciated!


texts:
Having translated a book dedicated to economy, I found out a bit unclear sentence for me. Could you please explain that?

  その手間が面倒な人がペットボトルのお茶を買うのであり、そう考えると、私たちはお茶そのものを買っているというよりは、「お茶を飲むために必要ないろいろな手間を節約してくれるサービス」を買っているのです。

Sorry for its length, but I really can't get the main point.

Like, we buy tea in the plastic bottle with thought that we pay for service and don't make any efforts instead of people who spend time and effort on that?


texts:
The title of a Take Free magazine I picked up at Shimokitazawa is

  とりあえず、シモキタで　降りなよ

What does 「な」 in 「降りなよ」 mean in this context?

I'm sure it isn't a negative; not dropping off by Shimokitazawa.


texts:
Okay, this is gonna be a strange question.

The character just says out of the blue (in order to lighten the mood) :

  ハナクソの秘密をそっと話{はな}くそう!! [with dots above the seconds は、な、く and そ]

Is it just a pun on 話そう？ => Let's talk discretely about the secret of the snot!!

Like, I don't know, if there was a verb "to sno" in english meaning "to speak" and the speaker voluntarily pronounced it "snoT" instead of "sno" : Let's snoT discretely about the secret of the snot!!


texts: Is it true that the べつに when used to mean "nothing particularly" is pronounced differently from when it is used to mean "separately / apart"?

texts:
Is it true that the べつに when used to mean "nothing particularly" is pronounced differently from when it is used to mean "separately / apart" ?

Like am I right to say that these 3 examples belong to the same "sound":

たまに朝飯を抜いたって別に悪いことじゃない。
「何を考えてるの？」「別に・・・」
べつにいがみあっている敵同士ではあるまいし。

and these other 3 belong to a different "sound":

ニンジンは別にして、彼が食べないものはない。
ソースを別にください。
別にサービス料を申し受けます。

Also I was wondering whether this sentence 私は別に怪しい者ではありません。 will belong to the first category or the second one?


texts: 混信 and 干渉 difference in terms of communications and computing?

texts:
I read an article that had the sentence

  1.9GHz帯を使うため、ZigBeeやWi-Fiで使われている2.4GHz帯の機器と干渉しないことが特徴。

I previously learned that 混信 means "interference" or "jamming". I saw this word used often. I'm wondering if 干渉 and 混信 are interchangeable and whether or not the sentence above would still be correct.

I think 混信 holds some property of something (a signal) being "mixed". However, I'm not able to derive the meaning of 干渉.


texts: Can the qualifiers "very" and "too" be expressed unambiguously in Japanese?

texts:
I've noticed that some of my Japanese friends with fluent but imperfect English often say "too adjective" when a native English speaker would say just "very adjective".

(I am asking about "too" in the sense "too big", not as in "me too")

Does this reveal that English makes a distinguish that Japanese doesn't make or one which Japanese speakers would find too subtle?

How would I unambiguously express each in Japanese?


texts:
Context: A guy is trying to differentiate his group from an old group (nwo) because some people may think they are doing the exact same things nwo did in the past.

  「よく『nWoジャパンと同じやないか』って、『あのパクリをしてるのか』みたいな、そんな同じようには見てほしくはないですね。『別物だよ』とそこは勘違いしていただきたくないですね。もし、思っている人がいるのであれば」

The last sentence seems to be saying: "don't confuse us as being a different thing". That sounds like: "We are not different than them" which I don't think makes sense. This is the translation from the US version:

  And I hear that a lot. About nWo Japan. “Aren’t you just an nWo ripoff?” I don’t want people to think that. If anybody does I want to let them know we’re a different thing.’

Is there something omitted? what's そこ referring to?


texts: nowa , to in the phrase "kimi o shiawase ni dekiru nowa boku dake da to shinjite imashita"

texts:
I'm trying to make sense of this phrase to me

  君を幸せにできるのは僕だけだと信じていました。
  Kimi o shiawase ni dekiru nowa boku dake da to shinjite imashita.

which I found translated as

  I always believed I was the only one who could make you happy.

"kimi o shiawase ni dekiru" is "be able to make you happy" or something like that

shinjite imashita is "believed"

"boku dake da"  , "I just am" (I suppose)

Question is, is the "who" given by some word or particles (such as nowa) or is it just the structure of the sentence who puts a "who" when translated there , and which meanings/functions have the "nowa" and "to" particles here?


texts: Is it possible to use 々 and co (ヽ、ゝ、...) even if the shortened part is from another word?

texts:
For exemple is it possible to write 部分々数 in place of 部分分数 or is it considered bad practice?

I am asking this primarily because it is convenient for taking notes. But I would want to know if it is possible to use in every document or if it should be reserved for personal use.


texts:
What does うえ mean in this case：

実行委員会によりますと、この冬は極端に気温が上がる日がなかったうえ、十分な量の雪も確保できたことで、雪像作りは順調に進んだということです。


texts: How does the addition of のか to the end of a sentence affect the meaning?

texts:
I've always had trouble understanding か (question particle) in casual speech.  I read that in casual situations, か can be used to give the sentence an exasperated or sarcastic tone. Like in:

負けっかよ！　As if I'd lose!

I think that I understand that usage reasonably well.  What confuses me however is when か is used with a sentence that clearly should be a question (i.e. it has a question mark or a question word). For example:

やってみるか？　Want to give it a try?

I believe I've read that か is unnecessary (and not used) in casual speech to ask a question and questions are simply conveyed through a rising intonation or the addition of の（だ）.  Could someone explain how is the above sentence different in terms of tone or nuance from the same sentence omitting か 「やってみる？」?

Furthermore, on a similar note I believe, the sentence final particle combination のか？！ seems to occur frequently.  I'm not really sure what to make of this one.  I thought の　might be the explanatory の but how can one both explain and ask a question?  For example:

そんな嘘にオレがだまされっと思ってんのか！？  Do you think I'd be taken in by a lie like that?! (I'm not confident of this translation)

How would that sentence's meaning be affected if it were instead:
そんな嘘にオレがだまされっと思ってんの！？ or
そんな嘘にオレがだまされっと思ってんか！？

Thank you very much for reading my post to the end : ). I know this question isn't that specific but any and all help is appreciated.  Thanks again!


texts: I understand meaning and uses of あの、えと。 But I get confused when people use さあ、まあ and なんか frequently while talking.


texts: In the Japanese version of Smash 4 for the Wii U, if you let the game come up with a name for you, one of the names it pops out is 4649. I'm assuming this is some joke based on the readings of the numbers being read as a name, but I can't quite decipher what it's supposed to be. Does anyone have any insight on this?


texts: 田 pronounced as "た" or "だ" in people's surname?

texts:
Is 田 usually pronounced as "た" or "だ" in Japanese people's last name?
Or is it pretty much 50/50?


texts:
一般的にどうかは置いといて、私の場合は遠のいているかもですね(笑) 実際してないですし

So the person (female CEO) is asked about if marriage and birth hinder ones job, so she answer with this. Does どうかは置いといて mean "not to mind it"?

結婚も考えた時に完全に私のほうが収入も上がるし、役職も上がるしって思ったんですけど(笑)

Is she saying that she preferred  increasing the income and having a promotion over marriage
Context:

就活している中で、私は将来、結婚したいなっていう気持ちもあるんですが。そこのところはどうですか? 出世で遠のいてしまうイメージがあるので。
一般的にどうかは置いといて、私の場合は遠のいているかもですね(笑) 実際してないですし。これまでも打診を受けるたびに悩みました。初めてマネージャーになる時に、当時付き合っていた方がいて。結婚も考えた時に完全に私のほうが収入も上がるし、役職も上がるしって思ったんですけど(笑) でも、その役職を引き受けるって決めて。


texts: Why is こと used at the end of this sentence?

texts:
I was writing a small essay about comfort dogs given to veterans. I had my friend review it for mistakes and they made this correction:

  お国の意図はその犬が兵士をなぐさめることだった。

They said that it is more understandable with the こと at the end.
Could someone explain why please?

Thank you.


texts: Is there an objective source of the origins of kanji?

texts: Is there an authoritative source that explains where the different kanji come from and what the radicals mean? I think it's hard to tell from most of the textbooks/other sources whether a shown kanji's origin is correct or if it's made up. Does it even make sense to talk about the origins of some kanji in terms of its constituent radicals if that kanji is a simplified version of a traditional kanji?


texts: Why are こんにちは and こんばんは used for greetings?

texts:
If they are translated literally it gives "today is" and "tonight is".

Is it some sentence that got shortened ?

(Also not sure how to classify this question so forgive me if I used the wrong tags...)


texts:
I couldn't find any explanation online anywhere, and I see it being used a lot as such an expression "[something] [発見]{はっけん}", like "shield is found." in Apex Legends game for example, and in some anime "いい[棒発見]{ぼうはっけん}", being another example.
Isn't it a noun? How is it being used here on its own, instead of its verb form?
Because of its tone I wonder whether it's originally a military expression?


texts: What counter should be used for baked pastries? 焼菓子は何で数えますか?

texts: Baked pastries 焼菓子【やきがし】 encompass a wide array of items. What are some ways to count some of them? As one might in a request.


texts:
I know that there are several types of counters of spoons/cups.

For example, a counter for cup is はい　while another counter is カップ。

Also さじ　and はい are also counters for spoons. What exactly are the differences between these counters?


texts:
I would like to hope that someone's small business is going well.

I know if someone's business is going well they can say:

「店は繁盛している」

but, how can I say "I hope your store is prosperous/I hope business is going well"


texts: Is this sentence about specific people, or a certain type of people in general?

texts:
In this sentence I have a problem of interpretation:

本来なら魔石やドロップアイテムは『サポーター』と呼ばれる非戦闘員が回収して確保してくれるんだけど、　『ヘスティア・ファミリア』の構成員は僕一人だけだから以下略
“To be precise, the non-combatant who collects me and provides me the magic stones and released objects is called "support", but, being the only member of Hestia family [ ... ]”

For me it is not clear if the subject is talking about non-combatants in general or if he is talking about a specific non-combatant.
I think that he is referring to a specific one for two reasons: the first reason is because there is 本来なら (normally) and this is why I translated: "the non-combatant who collects..." and the second reason is because before the text there was this sentence:

魔石の欠片を腰巾着、【コボルトの爪】を背にしょっている黒色のバックパックに放り込む。


texts:
Context:

  おれはおれの信念に後悔するような事は何一つやっちゃいねぇ！これからもそうだ！

What does the ちゃい in やっちゃい mean?  I suppose it's not やっちゃう aka やってしまう...


texts:
I have a question about the usage of ちゃわなきゃ with 寝る in the following sentence, 先週みたいに途中に寝ちゃわなきゃいいけど。

I believe that the ちゃ is for things that must not be done, but I have no clue what わなきゃ is doing here.

I think the speaker is trying to tell the person she is talking to that he must not fall asleep in the middle of the activity like he did last week. I'm not quite sure what the いいけど may mean here either. I think it is separate from ちゃわなきゃ but I'm not sure what purpose it serves if someone MUST do something. Literally, it means good but... .

Anyways, if anyone could help me out, I'd appreciate it. I feel that there may be a level of slang here that I cannot grasp.


texts: Native speakers, do you recognize the kanji 謳?

texts:
謳

I saw this character in a manga today and it was the first time I'd seen it. Is this kanji something most native speakers would recognize?


texts:
How can I understand any sentence with ってくらい

''脳みそうが耳から溶け出すんじゃないかってくらい柔らかい'' <---

Context:
MC was talking about his master

''師匠が言うには''
''ガキのうちは足が早いだけでモテる''
''中坊じゃ喧嘩がつよい奴がモテ''
''そっから先は頭がいいやつはモテる''
''つまり走って殴って本を読めってことらしい''
''時に厳しく時に淡く''
''擦り切れるような緊張感を放ち''
''脳みそうが耳から溶け出すんじゃないかってくらい柔らかい''


texts: Passive verb forms for intransitive verbs

texts:
Okay, so I'm confused about passive verbs.

From how I understand it, the verb is performed on the subject.

but how come you can say something like

明日の会議に行かれるんですか？
Are you going to tomorrow's meeting?

why not something along the lines of:
明日の会議に行きませんか？

so as far as I can tell, "go" (行かれる) is not performed on the subject, you (implied).

Could someone explain how this works in this sentence?


texts:
I came across the following sentence recently:

  バイトらしき女の子に優しく教えてくれた。

Strangely, it was my first time encountering this form of らしい and I understood the meaning immediately, but it brought to mind two questions:

1) How does it differ, if at all, from the suffix っぽい?
2) Is it as archaic as other -き form adjectives tend to be, or is it more commonly used due to the fact that it can be added to essentially any appropriate noun?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


texts: What is the difference between ている and ています?

texts:
For example, what is the difference between the following two sentences?

  私はメアリーとトムに会った事実を知っている。
  私はメアリーとトムに会った事実を知っています。


texts:
いま誰かが窓の外をのぞいても、ビーズのように光る目のダーズリー夫人でさえ、何が起こっているのか、この暗闇ではまったく見えなかっただろう。
  If someone were to peer out of the window now, even Mrs Dursley (whose eyes shone like beads) probably wouldn't be able to see what was happening at all in this darkness.

Clearly ビーズのように光る目 was beady-eyed in the original English. As a native English speaker when someone says beady-eyed I don't think of this literal meaning but something more like this.

Is ビーズのように光る目 a natural phrase in Japanese or is it just a poor, literal translation.

If it isn't natural is there a better translation?


texts: how to translate xfx and / or onomatopoeia of the one piece manga

texts: Does anyone know how to translate or any method to understand the xfx and / or onomatopoeia of the one piece manga?  If anyone knows please give me a hand.


texts: Where does the 'no' come from in tsukuru(no)? Is it a particle or part to tsukuru

texts: So i'm trying to figure this out why you put a の with a 作る(to make)...i.e. mary さんはすしをつくるのがへだです...


texts: Generic title for children redux & referring to self in the context of children

texts:
Continuing from this question

1. Generic title for children redux

Consider the following cases for each situation where a person speaks to two children of different age:

  How are the following done for the 2 situations below:

    A: A person (you/I) addresses the younger one directly
     B: A person (you/I) addresses the older one directly
     C: Referring to the older one when speaking with the younger one.
     D: Referring to the younger one when speaking with the older one.

  (Situation 1) There are two children present, one visibly older than the other and they are siblings.

Since there are two children, can they both be addressed as ぼく by the speaker? If the pronoun ぼく is contended, which referent gets priority? Would the speaker refer to the older one using ぼくの{お兄さん・お姉さん}? Would the most natural solution be to refer to them by name?

  (Situation 2) There are two children present, one visibly older than the other and they are not siblings.

If they are not related by kinship ties, can we still use お兄さん・お姉さん? Again, would the most natural solution be to refer to them by name?

2. Referring to self in the context of children

2.1 Is ぼく・わたし available to refer to self?

2.2 What is the age range of the speaker or age difference from the child to refer to self as {お兄さん・お姉さん・other kinship titles}. At what approximate age of the child does the use of kinship terms for self-reference become inhibited(if it becomes inhibited at all)?

2.3 Does the use of お兄さん・お姉さん for self reference contend with the physical presence of an actual older sibling? If it does, which referent gets priority? And does the use/disuse of the prefix お resolve the ambiguity?


texts: Etymology of the term お局 and how it is used in slang

texts:
Can someone explain the etymology of the word お局 as well as how it is used in modern slang? I took an educated guess as to the colloquial meaning but am unsure of its nuances, be they comedic, insulting or otherwise....

  お局に小言を言われることにうんざりしている。

  I’m sick of being scolded by “otsubone.”

  局: bureau; board; office; affair; conclusion; court lady; lady-in-waiting; her apartment;

  colloquial: an older single woman in a man's world/a term used to scornfully describe an unmarried veteran female employee [?]


texts:
what does もういわない mean?
I got this message from someone and i dont think it means what I think...


texts: Does「豊富なタンパク質」 mean “abundant protein” and「タンパク質が豊富な」mean “rich in protein”?

texts:
Trying to get a grasp of how to use the word 豊富な, I found a phrase saying 「タンパク質が豊富な」 from a Japanese website. I’m not sure if が must be used for it to be correctly mean “protein-rich” or “rich in protein”
And then there’s my own phrase: 「豊富なタンパク質」. If I mean “abundant protein”, is this correct?

EDIT: The full sentence is "タンパク質が豊富な食材13選"


texts:
I know use onyomi and kunyomi for kanjis but i confused for use other means of  kanjis for example 日 this kanji means sun,day
Kunyomi:ひ,び,か
Onyomi:にち,じつ
This example 昨日 means さくじつ why isn't use にち for kunyomi reading日曜日(にちようび) why is use び for this word we can use ひor か. I don't understand for Kunyomi or onyomi reading for kanjies


texts:
I’ve been studying Japanese for a while now and came across the following dialogue:

  A: 私のこと、知ってるんだ。(So you know about me then?)
  B: 知ってるも何も、有名人じゃないか。

I'm not quite sure how to make sense of B's reply. I thought it would translate to something along the lines of "I don't really know anything but you're a celebrity, right?" because of the use of 何も which I know means "nothing." However, the translation provided for B was "Of course I do (know about you), you're a celebrity, right?", which really confused me.

Initially I thought that the 〜も何も was just a combination of the particle も and the word 何も but apparently that doesn't seem to be the case. So my question is, what kind of meaning does「〜も何も」give to「知ってる」and how exactly does it translate to being an affirmation of one's knowledge about something? Can「〜も何も」be used with other words and what meanings would it have in those cases?


texts: Dictionary silent, but in the manga page, I met two such words. What does it mean?デコグッズ and タモ. Thanks for your answer!


texts: Is it strange to say おはようございます to family members at home?

texts: My teacher said that it is strange to say おはようございます to parents, brothers and sisters at home. Is it true?


texts:
Here's how it was used (taken from a JLPT listening question):

A: わたし、ジャンプジャンプのコンサートに行きたい。

B: もうチケットないよ、きっと。ファンクラブに電話して聞いてみる?

So, is this not literally a fan club?

Is this implying that you get tickets from a fan club? If they're fans, why would they sell tickets? Their own tickets? How does concert ticket selling work? (I am cultural-illiterate here I guess.)

Sorry if I'm overthinking it. よろしくおねがいします


texts: のだから vs のだ (んだから vs んだ）

texts:
When I learnt this grammar point a while ago, my teachers told me not to use it with "から". There reasoning for this was that のだ already implies a reason or supporting information for a conclusion.

Even reading through the answers for "What connotation does なんだ add?", it appears のだ is contrasted with から.

However, I see and hear this construction (んだから）all the time. It doesn't seem very rare at all, which leaves me confused as to why my native Japanese teachers told me that it was incorrect in the first place.

I'll use the first result from Google as the example.

お兄ちゃんのことがぜんぜんすきじゃないんだからねっ！！

This is a title for a movie. However, how would this be different if the title had have been:

お兄ちゃんのことがぜんぜんすきじゃないんだっ！！

If のだ is used as a way to indicate reason, then why is から also included? When would it be correct to use のだから instead of のだ?


texts: ～は止めた方がいい　or ～を止めた方がいい

texts:
I really don't get why I usually see that people use は instead of を in this case.
The reason why I do not understand it is this sentence:

～を選んだ方がいい

I have seen people using this sentence without は.
Then, my question is:
Why , in this specific case, with the verb 選ぶ people use を but with 止める people use は?


texts: Is ねえ、ねえ used by males, females or both?


texts: What changes are made to the pronunciation of gairaigo?

texts:
What changes are usually made to the pronunciation of gairaigo?

I notice that vowels are often added between multiple consonants and to the end of words (eg "programmer" => "puroguramaa" (プログラマー)), and that sometimes multiple words are turned into portmanteaus (eg "personal computer" => "pasokon" (パソコン)).

Are there other changes made?

Additionally, if you have an English word and you think it may have a gairaigo equivalent, will pronouncing it in a "more Japanese" style make it easier to understand?


texts:
Situation: B has asked A what she thinks of her clothes and A said 安心感がある。 (which makes little sense to me, but seems to be quite common when Japanese people talk about fashion). B's clothing is very recognizable, a fact noted by C. And then D comments:

  昔からずっとアレなら安心感と言うのなら流石Aさんというところ・・・

Several things I don't quite understand:

Should there be a full stop after 昔からずっと? (it's a manga) Because it doesn't seem to fit into the rest of the sentence.
How do アレなら and 言うのなら play together?

My best guess about the translation is something like "If anyone would say about that horrible outfit that it gives off anshinkan, it would be A-san."


texts: conditionals: "...といったら、...." vs. "...というなら、..."?

texts:
(1)「元気そうだと田中さんがいったら、信用できる証拠と思う。」
(2) 「元気そうだと田中さんがいうなら、信用できる証拠と思う。」

Are both grammatically correct?
Were I to want to say:

If Tanaka-san were to say that X appears to be in good health, then I think that that is evidence that you can trust to be true.

Are both #1 and #2 correct with regard to meaning?
Which sounds natural?


texts:
The speaker was holding his girlfriends hand as she was sick in bed and he said:

いい加減寝てもわらないと手が痛いんですが

However I am looking at this and wondering whether this should be parsed as two separate parts i.e.
いい加減寝てもわらないと（駄目）。手が痛いんですが。
Or whether this is actually already a complete conditional. In this case, I'm not quite sure I understand how it works. To me it reads something like, if you don't go to sleep already my hand　will/does hurt.


texts: Is this the correct way of saying attending a school?

texts:
My friend and I were having a debate.

Basically, the line　「あんたは一人でこの家から学校に通っている。」 in an anime was translated as "And you live here alone, attending school."

A direct literal translation of the Japanese seems to give a different English sentence. However, my question is: XからYに通っている the normal way of saying "(You) attend Y"? He seems thinks that saying "You go back and forth from home to school" is a weird, if not too wordy, way to say "attending school".

(Added after Chris' answer:)

I'm providing the whole response from the character in the anime (for context).

ゆうむら家の３人は、半年前にこの家を購入し、転居してきた。間もなくあんたの両親はアメリカに赴任し、あんたは一人でこの家から学校に通っている。

The subtitled translation:

The Yuumura family of three bought this house half a year ago and moved in. Soon after, your parents went to America to their new job posts. And you live here alone, attending school.


texts:
i'm asking myself what 運を消費していく means?

Context: My penpal won concert tickets and i congragulated him with おめでとうございます！ and he responded with ありがとうございます!!運を消費していく. Unfortunately i had not the time to ask him because he was busy. I looked it up and saw the literal translation is something like consuming luck. Is it an expression, because for me if i understand it correctly it means for i used my luck or something similar, am i right or wrong?


texts: 前 or 後 when placing an event in temporal reference to "now"

texts:
Consider this phrase:

　今は(event)二十分前です。

Deconstruction of the above phrase yields:

Now is twenty minutes before (event).

(Q1) Can I reconstruct the statement using 後 in this manner?:

　今は後で(event)に二十分がある。(I'm not sure if I used に correctly here)
(There are twenty minutes from now to (event)).

(Q2) Can 今は and (event) be elided once the context is set? That is to say 二十分前です and 後二十分がある are acceptable phrases?
I think that (event) cannot be elided to form 二十分前です and yet retain the meaning. By itself the phrase would mean "(it was) twenty minutes ago" and would be too vague to be useful to specify (event) in relation to "now".


texts: Position of the subject in this sentence

texts:
Yamada just told Maruko that he got a rhinoceros beetle larvae:

  　カブトムシときいてまる子が身を乗り出したので、山田はうれしくなってますます手足をバタバタさせた。
  Because Maruko had heard of the rhinoceros beetle and leaned  forward (with interest), Yamada became happy and shuffled his hands and feet.

I'm confused by the position of Maruko's name in this sentence. I would have expected either:

  カブトムシときいたまる子が...

or for the name to come before the verb 聞く.

It seems to me that if we imply the name from context for 聞く then we don't need to restate it for 身を乗り出す. Likewise, if we are not implying the name from context then we should use it as the subject of the first verb.

What am I missing here?


texts: 相変わらずだよWhat is the meaning of this ending -azu in verbs

texts:
Not long ago, I peeked into a slang book where I found the following expression:

  "あいかわらずだよ"

変わる　means to change but what happens in this case with the meaning? kawarazu
Thank you for your answer and help in advance.


texts:
Here is the sentence relating to the questions.

  こんなうすぎたねえ車の中で　また　おあいできるとは思わなんだぜ。

1) Why is the 「は」included with the particle 「と」? I think only 「と」would be enough to be used with the verb 「思う」. Or the 「は」used for emphasizing?

2) I think 「い」is missing to make the verb 「思う」 negative, becoming 「思わないんだ」. Or is this an exceptional case or something of the verb conjugation?


texts: Are words with the combinations of ia io and ea eo pronounced the same as iya iyo and eya eyo

texts: I see some words ending with eo or io and I try to pronounce as eyo or iyo but I do not know if that is correct.


texts: Which is the family name in 「工藤 拓 (くどう たく) 」?

texts:
I have been shown a Japanese name in three forms:

工藤 拓
くどう たく
Taku Kudo

I cannot tell from this whether the rōmaji form, which I need to use in an academic citation, has been written family name first or last.  Please tell me which is the family name.

(Advice on how to tell in general would also be welcome.)

(I can't speak or read Japanese. I do know that traditionally Japanese names were written family name first, but that modern speakers may use the Western family-name-last convention, especially in rōmaji.)


texts:
I drafted a sentence practicing causative form:

私はフレイザーに筆入れをあげさせます。

desired meaning : I made Fraser give me the pencil case.

But when I put this sentence on a correction site someone corrected it to just あげます. I wanted it to be causative (I made Fraser do it) so I am unsure whether the person who was correcting misinterpreted the sentence or if I was using the form incorrectly.


texts: This question covers the difference between でも and けど for "but", the difference being that でも can be used at the beginning of a sentence. But けど and が are used in very much the same way, syntactically. What exactly is the difference between these two expressions?


texts:
I cannot understand what の, right after で, is doing here. Could I rewrite this sentence without it?

  日本での留学のために、もっと日本語を勉強しなければならない。


texts: What's the difference between 体育 and スポーツ?

texts:
This may be my Chinese getting in the way of my Japanese again, but doesn't 体育 and スポーツ both mean "sport"?
What are the differences between them, and when is one used over the other?


texts:
あの人を匿うことで迷惑な事態にならないとも限りません。

I'm having trouble interpreting the above phrase especially the とも。

Would it mean something like

"Hiding that person might cause trouble(?)"


texts:
Like in the following sentence:

  藤岡、いろいろ、教えてやってくれ。

I know that ~てくれ is a command, but I don't understand what that ~や means


texts: How to say that a proposed date/time is OK without sounding condescending?

texts:
In a very formal context, how to answer properly when an unknown person who is hugely higher than you in the hierarchy (a recruiter, an N+3, an official, etc.) invites you to some unexpected event/lunch/interview/ceremony and suggests a date and time which turn out to be OK? I always struggle with this. Actually, I think it is even easier to say politely that the suggested time is not OK.

I refrain from using 大丈夫です or いいです because it seems overly familiar to me. So, most of the time, I end up with such a circumlocution as

  どうもありがとうございます。金曜日なら結構です。

just to say ’you proposed Friday, and this is OK’. I don’t know if 都合がよいです or is other sentences with 都合 are OK in this context. I don’t want to end up saying to a minister ’yeah, so you wanna meet me next Monday? I’m quite busy man, but I checked my schedule and it looks rather feasible’.

NB: this is a question about formal and especially formal written Japanese—before anyone says ’you can just send 大丈夫 with the poop emoji and he will understand’, of course he will understand, I agree with this ;-)


texts:
I've been listening songs and anime dialogues that end sentences with ～もの or even cuter version ～もん for so long that I am able to see how the word denotes reasons or excuses like:

  おなか空{す}いたもん (when the character was asked why she finished the cake all by herself)

I have no problem with the grammatical structure of the sentences that end with ～もの when the words before もの are verbs or adjectives, but I am confused when the words that precede the もの are nouns, they need to put the copula だ or です before the もの, for example:

  好きだもん
  女ですもの

Shouldn't it be の or な particles between the nouns and もの? How does that work, in term of grammar? Or is this usage of もの simply colloquial or slangy that does not have to follow any grammar rule?


texts: What's the difference between 〜に対しての and 〜に対する?

texts:
The question understanding 対する details [noun]に対する[noun], but what is the difference between [noun]に対しての[noun] and [noun]に対する[noun]?

Space ALC has a fair number of examples for both に対する and に対しての (though many more for に対する than に対しての).

The 日本語文型辞典 defines に対する as:

  「それに対しての」「それに関しての」…「その問に対しての解答」のように、「NにたいしてのN」という形が用いられることもある。

and 〜に対して as 「そのものごとに向けて／応じて」… with one of the examples being:

  現在容疑者に対しての取り調べが行われているところです。
  "Presently there investigations being performed in regards with the suspect(s)."

Would 容疑者に対しての取り調べ and 容疑者に対する取り調べ have the same meaning in that sentence?

Are the two are always interchangeable, or are there some situations where one is more appropriate/natural than the other?


texts:
I do not understand the meaning of として in this sentence:

  設備機器を固定資産として登録するために必要としているのでしょう.

Edit (from comment): There are 2「として」in the sentence above. In my opinion, the first one has the same grammar as this sentence: 彼はその箱を椅子として使った


texts: Understanding the true meaning in this sentence

texts:
#25の制作は「ほぼオリジナルなので、まずは原作サイドで書くべし」と始まりました。
  そしてできあがったきのこによる脚本モドキを前に頭を抱える制作陣。

It comes from this blog: http://www.typemoon.org/bbb/diary/log/201506.html

My translation: I began by thinking that #25's script was "mostly original, so I should write this as a side story to the original [the VN] story."
And so I, Kinoko, was at my wits end trying to write something approximating a screenplay.

I would like you to give me your translation of such sentence.

I'm particularly interested in the reference to the script and how it's supposed to be almost original. Any reference to that script (and where it comes from) I might have neglected is most welcome.

Edit: My translation wasn't very literal. Another approach would be something like:

The production of episode 25 began with "since it's mostly original content, it should first be written by the original author". And then the production team clutching their heads at the completed so-called script by Kinoko.

The question is the same.


texts: Usage of になる and こう in this sentence, sentence structure

texts:
I came across the sentence

  「新聞なんか見るわけないんじゃん」それが自慢になるかのように、こう言って智子は笑った。

I would translate the sentence as:

  ＞There is no way I would read a newspaper or something＜ said Tomoko as if it would be something to be proud of and laughed.

First thing which confuses me is the usage of になる. If I had to write a sentence like that I would have written: それが自慢なことかのように Does the usage of になる imply that not reading newspapers is one of many things one/she could become proud of?

The second thing ist about 、こう. To me it seems like a breach in the sentence structure which disturbs the reading flow. I would have probably written …かのように言った智子は笑う。

Could I rephrase the sentence like that? Does the usage of 、こう emphasize the aspect that the first half is the impression of the protagonist while the later half is rather objective/for everyone to observe?


texts:
It seems I can remove it and keep the same meaning...

暗黒物質は自然界の新しい種類の力を介して相互作用する雑多な粒子の集まりからなり，それ自体が私たちの宇宙にひっそりと絡み合う1 つの宇宙 なのかもしれない。


texts:
と、て、って
What's the difference between these three quoting particles?
Is there any grammatical difference, or are they just casual/formal variations of one another?

  田中さんは行きましょうと言った
  田中さんは行きましょうて言った
  田中さんは行きましょうって言った

Would all three of those sentences be grammatically correct?


texts:
どのくらいって、山と田地が少しあるぎりで、金なんかまるでないんでしょう

これは夏目漱石の「こころ」の中の一文です。

この「ぎりで」の意味や使い方が分かりません。

Googleでも、「あるぎりで」を使う文章は相当に少ないです。

これらは「ぎりで」に関するページですが、

https://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%8E%E3%82%8A%E3%81%A7
https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/en/%E7%BE%A9%E7%90%86/#je-18610
https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/146708/meaning/m0u/

その中にあるのは、justice(正義)や義務や人との交際などの人に関する解釈ばかりで、この質問の答えになりません。

ですが、「ぎり」で終わる語彙のページも見つけました。

https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/srch/en/%E3%81%8E%E3%82%8A/m2u/

その中には、「あるかぎり」の英語の例文集があります。

https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/en/%E6%9C%89%E3%82%8B%E9%99%90%E3%82%8A/#je-2005

その「あるぎり」を「あるかぎり」と解釈すれば、この句は理解できるはずです。


texts:
Given a simple pattern like this, I'm wondering what the topic of the third sentence is.
クラウスさんは学生です。
私も学生です。
日本語を勉強します。
After using も in the second sentence, is the topic of the third sentence still クラウスさん, 私, or both?


texts: Difference between 戦争 and 戦火 in this exchange

texts:
I need some help understanding the difference between 戦争 and 戦火 in this exchange to understand what is meant by 領地にも戦火が及びかねない危機に陥る.

To provide some additional context, カノ controls her own territory レフトハンド, and she was currently in someone else's trying to stop a war from starting, but she ended up nearly getting herself killed.

  「九死に一生を得たとはいえ、死んでいてもおかしくない状況じゃないですか」

  「いやあ、飛び降りたときは心臓が止まるかと思ったよ」

  「笑い事ではありません！！」

  「うう……」

  ヒイラギの怒りに気付いたカノは慌てて軽口を止めた。

  「戦争を止めるためとはいえ自ら死地に飛び込んだ挙げ句、領地にも戦火が及びかねない危機に陥るなど……」

  「レフトハンド家当主の自覚が足りません」


texts:
内容を必ず確認のうえ、平成29年度の申告書を作成してくだ
  さい。

I noticed that 内容を必ず確認のうえ is used quite frequently in banks' websites and financial documents, like in the above example. It must be something simple and well understood, but I have difficulty reconciling the structure of the sentence:

Why the direct object 内容を does not have any verb?
Why the adverb 必ず is used before a noun?
What does のうえ refer to? I cannot relate anything in the contents of the document.

Is 確認 kind of an abbreviation of 確認する here and could possibly answer questions 1 and 2?


texts: Meaning of スイッチ in the following sentence

texts:
Context: in a boxing match, boxer A is fighting against the particularly tough boxer B. Even after having taken a lot of punches, boxer B is still standing. During a break, the trainer of boxer A says:

  タフネスにもスイッチがある。ちゃんと殺しきれよ…　ガキ…

I think that スイッチ has a metaphorical meaning here. Since it is usually associated with switching things on/off, could it mean something like a way to stop or a way to defeat? How would you translate it? My translation attempt:

  Even toughness can be stopped in some way. You must totally destroy him, kid...

Thank you for your help!

EDIT: for more context, I can say that boxer B is a 打たれ強い boxer. He's an ex kick-boxer who says that boxing punches are 'light' compared to the kicks you get in kick-boxing. Being not afraid of punches, he advances to get close to his opponent even while being hit. He is an infighter, a boxer who fights at close distante from his opponent. Here's the entire page the sentence is taken from. In this page Boxer B has just got up after being knocked down by Boxer A. For further context, here are the following pages: 28-29 and 30-31. The manga is called リクドウ.


texts: I'd like to know the difference between various ways of saying 'Capacity' and 'Implement' in Japanese

texts:
I am confused about some similar words in Japanese. Where in English we can use the same word for "implement" and "capacity", Japanese seem to be using different words depending on situation. Any chance someone could explain the difference between the words in the two sets of words below:
実装 = 実現 = 実施 = Same implement meaning?
容量 = Capacity (e.g. for a hard drive)
容積 = Capacity too?
体積 = Capacity for tangible things?
Which word to use in which situation? I'm very confused.
Many thanks in advance!


texts: I really can't understand the use of に + と USED TOGETHER in this clause

texts:
I'm reading a book, and I found this:

  二十歳のお祝いにと店長がプレゼントしてくれたカメラ

Now, why are に and と used together? I can understand the function of に (meaning "at", I suppose, if お祝い means "celebration"), but what is the meaning of と?

I also think that the meaning of the whole sentence depends on the meaning that we want to give to this お祝い, since it can be "celebration", but also "celebration gift".

So, to conclude, what is the role of these に and と after お祝い? and how would you translate this in English?


texts: Almost similar looking sentences with and without に particle

texts:
I am having confusion with the follow two sentences. Currently I am preparing JLPT N5 so please answer accordingly (I can't understand very advanced explanations).

私は日曜日国へ帰ります
私は誕生日に国へ帰ります

So there are expressions of time where we should use に and some where we shouldn't . Can anyone classify for which expressions of time we should に particle and where we shouldn't. I read that for specific "time" we should use に but then also it seems like 日曜日 is a specific time. So why are we not using に particle here. These examples are from a book.


texts:
I have some sentences that involve the usage of と that I still don't understand:
1. This is from another user's post

私はあなたがいつも忙しいと分かっています。

2. My previous question

いつもと変えてたまに外で食事しよう。

At the very basic level, this post pretty much sums up what I understand about と. I added a few more usages based on what I learnt so far.

Quotation or defining particle

e.g. [X]は日本語でなんと言いますか？How do you say [X] in Japanese?
e.g. 日本語は難しいと思います。(I) think Japanese is difficult.
e.g. 彼は明日来ると言った｡ He said that he will come tomorrow.

Conditional particle

e.g. 彼は暇だといつもゲームをしているの。If he is free, he always plays games.

List of things

e.g. ナイフとフォークでステーキを食べた。(I) ate steak with a knife and fork.

With/Partner of interaction/Accompaniment

e.g. 友達と映画に行った｡(I) went to watch a movie with my friend.
e.g. 父と似ている。(I) resemble my father.

Objects of similarity/difference

e.g. 私の意見は彼の意見と異なる。My opinion is different from everyone.
e.g. いつもと同じ電車です。(It) is the same train as usual.

Sound/Onomatopoeia

e.g. 星がきらきらと輝いている｡The stars are twinkling.

I understand there are many more uses of と that I did not include in the list and that I may not be aware of.

I have trouble connecting both of the sentences above into one of the listed categories.
But if I had to guess, と under sentence 1 is used as a Quotation or defining particle? Such as the second example 日本語は難しいと思います。
And for sentence 2, I see it used like いつもと同じ電車です under Objects of similarity/difference.
But I'm confused here because 変える is not a "similarity" but a "change from usual". However, I might have a misconception that と is not just used for objects of similarity or differences in this particular case.
Can someone explain how と is used in each of the sentences above?
I would appreciate similar examples like ones provided above to help me understand how と is used in these cases, and I'm really thankful to anyone who can help clear up my confusion with this particle.


texts:
I realize that it's usually better to just learn / use hiragana but I have been asked to look into coding up a solution to convert from Hiragana/Katakana to the modified Hepburn Romaji.

One point I would like some advice on is the conversion of:

かいものをします

I see some converters changing this to:

kaimonooshimasu

and others to:

kaimonowoshimasu

Is there one or the other that I should aim for with the Modified Hepburn?


texts:
In the context of my actually being in Hiroshima, I think I could say

  すごいすごい。初めてです、広島は。

to mean "This is my first time in Hiroshima".

Is this correct?
Is that natural Japanese?
Do the gratuitous "すごい"s enhance the context?

Somehow helps clarify what I'm trying to say?

But, this would not sound ok at all?

  花粉症が酷くて、暑くて、初めてです、Floridaは

addendum
I'm now thinking that my assertion is groundless. My speaking is somewhat modeled after キキ in 魔女の宅急便. She is always so positive. Being negative when you visit a place just sounds unnatural to me. In any event, who am I to say what "sounds natural"...


texts: What is the meaning and root of 意味くじピーマン?

texts:
Recently a friend of mine threw the term 意味くじピーマン (imi kuji pi-man) into a story she was telling, and it totally threw me off. At first I thought, because I wasn't sure how to parse the くじ part, it meant something like "meaningful peppers."

Then a friend said it meant "no meaning at all", but that definition seemed to be a little mundane given how colourful the expression is. Surely it has more nuance?

I looked it up, but wasn't able to find a straight forward definition. And even if it does mean "no meaning at all", how do you get that from:

意味 = いみ, meaning
くじく = crush or break
ピーマン = pepper

...?


texts:
A sentence from Japanesepod101, with the official translation.

  赤のブドウも緑のブドウもよく搾｛しぼ｝るとワインやジュースになります。
  Both red and green grapes are good squeezed and turned into wine or juice.

Their translation of よく as good (i.e. the grapes good for being squeezed) doesn't seem right. To me よく should be referring to 搾る (i.e. if the grapes are well/properly squeezed, they become wine or juice). Here I have interpreted the と as "if/when". Was my interpretation correct?


texts: Is it considered natural to use ども (in the context of 'even if') in written or spoken Japanese today?

texts:
A beautiful thought by 小林先生 in 窓ぎわのトットちゃん is conveyed as follows:

世に恐るべきものは、目あれど美を知らず、耳あれども楽を聴かず、心あれども真を解せず。。。の類である。

I haven't seen this usage of ども much. How natural is it to use this form in written/spoken text today? In what sort of situations would one normally see this form being used?


texts: What does 「ような 」mean in the following sentence?

texts:
What is the difference between

  以下の条件を満たすような日本語スピーカーを探しています

and

  以下の条件を満たす日本語スピーカーを探しています

?