texts:
I'm just wondering if I'm using the word でも correctly here.

  わたし は たいてい おちゃ を のみます。 でも ときどき おさけ を のみます。

From what I've read you don't usually use でも in the middle of a sentence and I've seen a lot of comparisons with a word called けど, but right now I'm just really concerned with whether or not this example I made is the correct way to use でも.


texts: Is it common to censor or soften 馬鹿 as ばしゃ?

texts:
Unless I misheard, in an anime I am watching (安達としまむら), a character, in self-ridicule, said to themselves:

なんだばしゃぁぁ…

I assume this is supposed to mean

なんだ、馬鹿!?

but censored/softened.
Is this common?
If so, how would one write it? (Maybe 馬車? Not sure whether this is done in English, but in German, using a completely ordinary word that starts the same way as a curse word is a common way to curse softly.)
If not, is 馬鹿 ever censored/softened in this kind of way? Or is it not "bad" enough to need censoring?


texts:
Assume that the employer gives a presentation to the public audience. After the presentation, you as the employee want to appreciate it.

What is the best expression used by an employee to appreciate his/her employer?

For example, is it polite to say "Anata no happyoo ha ii desu." ?


texts: What is the difference between でありながらも and でありながら?

texts:
On this site, I came across this JLPT N2 question:

これはシンプルで　_______　純粋で魅力的なスピーチです

あってながら
あるながら
ありながら
ありながらも

I chose 4 while 3 is correct.
I was having difficulties choosing between 3 and 4. 1 and 2 are blatantly wrong. I eventually went with 4 because I always thought that も adds some "strength" or "emphasis", as in よりも sounds stronger than より

地球よりも大きい Even bigger than the Earth

So I thought ながらも works similarly in that it expresses a stronger 逆接 sentence.

This is an even though simple, but pure and charming speech.

I know the English sounds weird but the point is, I thought that も adds that word "even" there. I thought this would be appropriate here because the two things here are very contradictory.
I looked the ながら grammar up and all I could find were sites like this, which don't point out what different the も makes. The linked site seems to put も in parentheses as if to say that it's optional.
いったいなぜ３が正解なんですか？


texts:
I have found three different words meaning parents-in-law:

[舅姑]{きゅうこ}
[義父母]{ぎふぼ}
[義理]{ぎり}の[親]{おや}

But I'm sure the words are not interchangeable.

How are the words different? What would be the right way to use each of the words?


texts: Confused in determining the rule of composing ～さえ～ば sentence

texts:
Let's consider the following conditional sentence but without "ONLY".

  ボタンを押せば、ジュースが出る。If you press the button, the juice comes out.

When "ONLY" is inserted with さえ, the conditional sentence becomes as follows.

  A: ボタンを押しさえすれば、ジュースが出る。

Question

Why do we not use B instead of A?

  B: ボタンさえ押せば、ジュースが出る。


texts: Is やなこった just 嫌な子, or does it mean something as a whole?

texts:
Another phrase from 犬夜叉 that is puzzling me is やなこった. Apparently it means something as there is a quite lot of results on the interwebz. They are not much of a help though.

I saw it in a comic, where a character explains that he wants to fight alone without a girl that has been only a nuisance. So I though that it would be something like 嫌な子. The common usage together with the った confuses me though.

Is it possible that this mean something en bloc? If that’s not the case, what is the meaning of that った? I guess it can be something like: „I have already said that the girl is only a nuisance“ But I am not sure.


texts: could anyone help me with a sentence? It was from an article in the Asahi about the leadership change in North Korea. The full sentence is 拉致被害者の早い救出も、そこによるところは大きい。I understand the first part of the sentence - the rapid rescue of the abduction victims as well. However, I am not sure about the second part. How do you translate そこによる and ところは大きい into English? Is による　似寄る or　に拠る? Thank you for your help.


texts: How do we say ''Please give me your advice'' in Japanese?

texts:
Please give me your advice

in Japanese. Is あなたのアドバイスを教えてください。 appropriate?


texts: で role in 他言無用でお願いします

texts:
で is a hard particle for me because I see a strange use of it that I don't understand.

For example, I bump up in this sentence

  他言無用{たごんむよう}でお願いします

I know that で is used to indicate an action that occurred inside a place (dance inside the house), or used to clarify by what means the action has been done (went by bus). But this is not one of these usages.

What does で mean here?


texts:
The many ways to say “and” in Japanese thread showed me that ～し, ～し can be used give reasons for something.

  この部屋は綺麗だし広いし間取りもいいから人気がある。This room is clean, wide and also good partition, so most of the people like it.
  ねむいし仕事があるし (I'm sleepy, and I have work to do, and...[I really don't want to] [so I can't do what you're asking])

Seems kind of like ｘし、 ｙし　[だ]から　ｚ.

Can it be used the other way around: ｚから、 ｘし、 ｙし.
For example, 今は休暇だから本を読んでるし、泳げるようになってるし、リラックスしてる。

And how about for just serial actions, for example in reply to something like 今日は何をしてる？

By the way, I don't remember seeing ～し in any textbooks so far, is it something you'd only use with friends?


texts: Why is there no rendaku occurring in the word ふかふか?

texts: Why isn't the second ふか changed to ぶか in ふかふか; thus, becoming ふかぶか? I would expect to see ふかぶか instead of ふかふか for the same reason that ひとびと is ひとびと, not ひとひと. There is no voicing; thus, Lyman's Law cannot be suppressing it.


texts: [subject][に instead of が] before transitive verb

texts:
先生に教えていただいてはじめて、プログラミングの面白さが分かりました。
=I didn’t realize how interesting programming was until my teacher taught me.
教える is a transitive verb. So why is に used over が?
I didn't find my issue in
Q: Distinction of using を/に instead of が


texts: I'm confused about the use of the adverb in this sentence

texts:
I was reading a story when I found this sentence:

「そしてその後部座席は水に冷たく濡れていたのである。」

Why did the author use the adverb 冷たく? When I translate can I just skip it?


texts:
北海道の海岸に向かう途中で、川に入ってしまったのかもしれません。
  They might have ended up entering the river en route to the Hokkaido coast.

What is の (in bold) doing in this sentence? It was my understanding that かもしれない came straight after the predicate.

My guess is that this is the so-called 'explanatory の' rather than a nominaliser. Please can you confirm or correct my thoughts?


texts: Many times I find myself saying thanks to a store clerk, flowed by their saying thank you very much. I am used to walking away saying bye or have a nice day, but am not sure what the equivalent is. What is the proper phrase for someone I don't know but a polite have a nice day. If this isn't common to do that is also good to know.


texts: とこ, ってやつ, sneezing and other considerations

texts:
I'm having trouble with a bit of dialogue. I'm pretty sure I have the first part nailed down, but I am wondering about the choice of words in it.
It all starts with character A "saying" this: へくちっ
After some searching, apparently this is onomatopoeia for sneezing? It fits the following bits but I'm not sure.
Then comes this exchange:

B: もしかしてナツカゼってやつ？
A: いや～これは誰かが噂をってやつですね

Which I think is:

B: Is it maybe something like summer cold?
A: Nah. This is someone talking about me

The problem for me is twofold here. For one, is it a Japanese superstition that when someone talks of you you sneeze, similar to Western where you would have hiccups when someone is talking about you?
And secondary why the use of ってやつ. What function do they serve here. Previous question on this mentioned this expression being rude and being used to reffer to a person, which makes sense given that やつ=奴. But why use it here for a virus? And it's even used in the reply?!?
The last bit is this:

B: それならよかった ここのとこ毎日来させちゃってるから さすがに負い目がね
B: Oh, then it’s okay. I dare say I would feel indebted to you since I have been making you come here every day.

The basic jist is that B would feel responsible/bad if her making A come to her every day recently got A sick. I have just noticed as I was typing this in that ここの所 is apparently an adverb? that indicates this has been happening recently. I guess my google fuu has failed me on this one. Probably because ここのところ form is used pretty much allways for this.
Or am I mistaken here?
PS: I am sorry for making this basically a three part question, but I gathered that it would be better to put it in a single one, since it really is part of a single context rather than scatter it throughout different questions. If it's a problem, I'll gladly split it.


texts: What is the sentence structure in Japanese and how do you know the correct order?

texts: Let’s say we have “この建物にいいレストランがあります”。Why does “建物に“come before “レストランが”？How do you know in what order the words are to be said and does it matter?


texts: Is the construction 'Verb + adjective + noun' possible?

texts:
I saw a scan of an official manga that's to be released, however the first speech bubble's grammar confused me.

I am unsure if it is to be read as:

  1) 水も滴るイイ男!!

or as

  2) 水も滴る。イイ男!!

(1) makes question if a construction allows for a relative clause to modify a noun which is already modified by an adjective. Perhaps this is exclusive to colloquial Japanese? (2) seems unlikely due to the stylistic choice of katakana before 「男」, but makes more sense to me.

However, this may all be due to me misinterpreting how vertical Japanese is meant to be read?


texts: Can anyone help me decipher the two middle kanji in the name of this newspaper? The first two are obviously 日本, the last two being 新聞, but I cannot manage to figure out the two others... A Japanese OCR suggested winter solstice as the first of the two, however it split the kanji into two separate characters, and as far as I know, Japanese kanji are not combined into one form very often, if ever at all.


texts: How to say "Why I started studying Japanese"

texts: I have a Japanese assignment that requires me to write about anything I want. I decided that I wanted to write about why I want to learn Japanese. I think the title should be "Why I want to study Japanese"; would 私は日本語を勉強したい理由 work? I am not sure if I am using 理由 correctly here.


texts:
I was reviewing my Anki N1 cards when I saw this sentence

観察が鋭くて頭脳の働きが早いときているので、情報を集めてくる手先としては理想的だった。 (His quick observation and
active brain made him an ideal agent for gaining information.)

Based on this, ときている shows emphasis. Does this mean that からこそ can be used instead, without causing a big difference in nuance?

観察が鋭くて頭脳の働きが早いからこそ、情報を集めてくる手先としては理想的だった。


texts:
Is the を interchangeable with が in this case?

And if I say 私が総てを愛している does it mean  'I'm everything that I love'?


texts: Mostly on the news I always hear 「～と思う」 very often at the end of a sentence, so i started to wonder, Does it has other meaning besides of "I think"?


texts: What is the difference between 確かに and 誠に? I found that: 確かに means: certainly, indeed, surely, sure, definitely;誠に means: indeed, truly, really, surely.Looks like the meanings are almost the same. When each of those words should be used?


texts: I'm trying to translate the main line "どうして君を傷つけたのだろう" from Yasushi Nakanishi's song of the same name. Can this be "Why would I possibly hurt you ?" Thanks !


texts: Method for deciding whether to use katakana or kanji version of the word?

texts:
I often see words in sentences written in カタカナ or 漢字 that could be swapped for a common word of the other form.  I am aware that there are lots of カタカナ words that do have a 漢字 form, but where the 漢字 form is not commonly used.

I was looking up how to translate the word "tattoo" and found that both 「タトゥー」 and 「入れ墨・刺青」seem to be used interchangeably.「タトゥーといっても本当に刺青ではなく、簡単に貼って落とせる水転写シールです。」 I'm sure there are better examples then my tattoo one, but you get the idea.

Is there a rule/method for deciding which form to use?  Maybe level of politeness/familiarity with the other person, or medium of communication would lead to the decision?

(I found both What determines whether a word gets a kanji compound or katakana? and When writing for general public, is there a general guideline for selecting kanji? questions very informative, but I don't feel they addresses this facet of the kanji/katakana choice relationship)


texts:
It seems to be a pattern for i-adjectives (in their "dictionary-form") to have low intonation on the first and last morae and high intonation in between, at least if they are three morae or more in length.
Since forms like 帰らない and 帰りたい seem to convert verbs into i-adjectives, does the pitch accent follow? Going with the 帰る-example, is

[かえる]{HLL}

[かえらない]{LHHHL}

[かえりたい]{LHHHL}

correct?


texts: 好き【すき】でした。付き【つき】合って【あって】ください。

texts:
I found many people say 好きでした when they actually mean 好きです. I think it is short for ずっと好きでした. I know ずっと～していた and ずっと～している can well mean the same, but I still do not know the nuance between 好きでした and 好きです.

The question is about the difference between 好きでした and 好きです. The following do not have to be relevant, but I hope it can inspire discussions and answers.
My first thought is that ずっと may be the culprit. It is often used with た even when る is possible and more logically correct. ずっと is often used with していた and している. The two expressions often happen to be interchangeable. And I think compared with している, していた often implies the process/action/state is interrupted or something else happens in the meanwhile, like in

彼女に電話をかけようと考えていたところ、彼女の方から、電話をかけて来た

My another observation is that た is often used to in experience-based expressions. It seems that た (as well as the particle だ, adjective ending い) is especially common in expressions involving expressing emotions, and る is rare in this usage. All following sentences are stative, very different from verbs. I assume 好きでした has something to do with it.

Impressions, reports

(After watching) いい最終回だった
(Looking out the window, then coming back and saying) 誰もいなかった

Feelings

(Hearing good news) よかった
(After the issue is solved) ありがとうございました

Something between 1 and 2

(When you finally got to see someone) 会いたかった
(Same as above) 待っていました

There are many other usages of た, but I do not think they are particularly relevant.
I feel that 好きでした is more or less the same as 会いたかった and 待っていました. Unlike case 1 and 2, both sentences can be used with ずっと, which is similar to 好きでした. But it can be argued that the uses of た in both sentences are logical, because both imply 会えた so the speaker is no longer 会いたい or 待っている. Nevertheless, I think 好きでした conveys the same level of emotional intensity as 会いたかった and 待っていました, if you compare them with 待たせたな, 遅い、すごく待った. I think people say 愛してる rather than 愛してた probably because 片思いのほうが辛い.
To emphasize the feeling over a long past period of time, is this the reason that makes た often fit better with ずっと?


texts:
A group of friends are talking about how each member of their group is getting married one by one. One of the group says the following line of a still single friend who has just had a woman flirt with him:

  兄ちゃんに色目使ったって、相手にされないよ、どうせ

Is the translation:

  She is making amorous glances at brother but he still does not have a partner.

How do you tell when 相手 is partner or opponent?


texts: In "宿題をしなくてはいけなかった" meaning "Had to do homework.", is the word "いけなかった" derived from "いける" (verb conjugation) or from "いけない" (i-adjective conjugation)?


texts: Why is the radical of 午 listed as ⼗ and not ⼲?

texts: I am having a lot of trouble determining the radicals and other components of various kanji.  I figure that there's some historical reason, but does anyone know exactly why the radical of 午 is ⼗?


texts: What are the benefits of learning radicals?

texts:
How useful is it to learn radicals? I have just started learning kanji and while I don't find too difficult so far (I only learned a dozen), I doubt things will go this easily with a couple thousands more ahead of me.

So does learning radicals first make it easier to learn kanji? Are there any studies on whether learning radicals speeds up kanji learning or whether it has any other benefits for the memorization of kanji?


texts: Is there anything special about single vowel words?

texts:
I'm not sure if this is a useful question or not. But I was surprised to notice まさか (masaka) was using a single vowel (a) for the whole word. The surprise came from the connection to "bakana" (バカな) which apparently is two words, so never mind that.

I set out to discover more of these single-vowel words in Japanese, but I don't really know Japanese or how to search for such things. So I found a list of words and analyzed them here https://colab.research.google.com/drive/194vb5Ajw4mMlUcb1HqF4YF2aP1LjeVlS

This prints out:

Found 22 single column words
あなた
うつむく
からだ
くぐる
さまざま
せめて
そのもの
そもそも
そろそろ
だから
つくる
つづく
ところ
どころ
なかなか
ながら
ふつう
まさか
もともと
ものの
よほど
わざわざ

Which I guess is a cute tongue-twister. The question is - does this class of words have a name? Are these words more poetic in a way? Are there other, longer, words like this that I missed?


texts: Meaning of お世話になる vis a vis place of work or place where someone is being trained

texts:
I am aware of the usual meanings of the お世話 in reference to someone helping, taking care of someone. But recently I ran into sentences where it was used to describe a place where someone is being trained and working:

First one (context described here):

  実際に「凄いところ」やあちらの世界、お世話になっている場所を見せて頂いたので受け止めるしかないところではあるんです

Second one:

Context: Mother B is entrusting her daughter to Mother A who will be working at the same place as her daughter.

  A, 娘がお世話になる職場の方としてご近所の母親友達として母子共々よろしくお願いします

Given these examples it seems it can also be used to describe work places/places of training? Can someone explain the logic behind this? Because I can't really find any interpretation that isn't it meaning that someone is doing someone some favor/help, so could anyone explain the logic behind this?

I'm assuming it's something cultural/politeness thing.

EDIT: Clarification:

It's as goldbrick assumed. The problem here isn't so much the grammatical side of things and the relative clauses, I tend to get them. Problem is more that in my cultural background if you said:

  place where someone is taken care of/looked after etc.

or

  workplace where someone is taken care of...

frankly I'd assume they are talking about a hospital or something and not in a million of years it would occur to me that it could be tied to a workplace or somewhere someone is being educated trained.

Context wise, the character has basically joined a type of military, so they will be trained in using their skills and will work for that organization. So it's definitely not one way thing where some place or some work place is where someone is just being given help.

NOW that it has been brought to my attention I kinda can see it, thinking is probably that colleagues/company will look after someone or something. Unless someone has a better way of explaining how Japanese think about this.

To put it another way, SPECIFICALLY, I wonder how one should go about translating this into English so it makes sense to English speakers. I guess simply dropping that bit or replacing it with what we ASSUME/what kind of "help" is being done is one way to go about it but that feels like making a bit too many assumptions about authorial intent.

I hope I'm now clearer about what my question (if it's even a question TBH) is about.


texts:
How would you say "pour your heart out" in Japanese? Is there a phrase for this?

As in "I poured my heart and soul out to you".


texts: What is the Japanese phrase to convey the meaning of "to declare attendance"?

texts:
We as employees of a relatively big company are often prompted to log on to and log out from by wiping our fingers on a bio-metric scanner, for example, to declare our attendance.
Shortly speaking, what is the Japanese word or phrase to convey the meaning of "to declare attendance"? In other words, what is the word or phrase to fill the following blank space?

社員は平日にバイオメトリックスキャナで　＿＿＿＿＿　(し)なくてはならない。
The employees must declare their attendance on weekdays using a bio-metric scanner.

Edit:
Another example,

太郎：寝坊してしまいまして、すみません。
Taro: I am sorry for coming late.
店長：悪いですね。じゃあ、早く ＿＿＿＿　して、このネギを切ってください。
Store manager: It is bad, isn't it? Well, please quickly "declare your attendance" and cut this onion.


texts: The difference between transitive verbs 窮める, 極める, 究める and intransitive verbs 極まる, 窮まるand 谷まる?

texts:
I'm sorry if this question has been answered before, but I did not find a suitable answer. Please provide reliable link if that is the case.

I would like to know the differences between the transitive verbs :

極める{きわめる}
究める{きわめる}
窮める{きわめる}

And also, for the intransitive verbs related :

極まる{きわまる}
窮まる{きわまる}
谷まる{きわまる}

Could you provide some simple sentences to understand the meaning of each better ?


texts: What are the differences between these ways to say "How?"?

texts:
「どう」is used to ask what state something is in, right? 「今日の天気はどうですか」
「どうやって」and 「どうして」are used with verbs to ask "how do you..." 「どうやってこの字を書きますか」, but 「どうして」is mostly avoided because it can also mean "Why", correct?

Is there a way to say "how do you..." that is more polite than 「どうやって」and yet is not as ambiguous as 「どうして」？
What do I use to say "How" as in, "to what extent", e.g. "How beautiful is she?" I am thinking it may be 「どれぐらい・どのぐらい」as 「くらい」has the meaning of extent, but I may be wrong. These two words also implicitly mean "How long" as well, right?
Is there a way to say an emphatic how? E.g. "How is SHE beautiful!?" (In what way is she beautiful?)


texts: auxiliary verb くれた being used in context of "having questions"

texts:
This question is closely related to a similar question I asked not long ago:

送ってくれた : Why is both "sending" and "giving" being used together here?

I now understand くれた being useful as an auxiliary verb meaning "did for his/her/my (benefit)"

In this case I wanted to express a story to my Japanese friend about how when I visited my girlfriend's father for the first time, he had a lot of questions to interrogate me with.

My friend told me to say this:
父さんはたくさん質問してくれました.

I did some more research, but I don't undertand how くれました is being used here.

It seems like it should mean this:
"Her father had a lot of questions to give me (for my benefit)"

I also came up with this variant on my own (is it correct?):
お父さんはたくさん質問して聞きました。
"Her father had a lot of questions to ask me."

Anyway, in the first case, the questions are interrogative, and thus not necessarily wanted by myself, or for my benefit. Interrogative questions feel more forced or imposed upon me, than "given" to me.

Am I misunderstanding the usage here? Is there a better way to express this?


texts: Katakana (potentially gibberish) "sentence" in Bibara Bibara: meaningful or not?

texts:
In the middle of Bibara Bibara by Stereopony (lyrics here), there is this weird Katakana "sentence":

  ホートトトギスがホーホー

I cannot make any sense of it, but I do see a Hiragana syllable in the middle of Katakana, and it happens to be a particle, which makes me wonder: can this be made any sense of? Is this a meaningful sentence in Japanese? Are the sounds chosen for some reason, or is it just plain "scat"?

Update

I looked stuff up on JEDict and found the following. 蓬々{ほうほう} means "confusedly, perplexedly", and 方法{ほうほう} means "method", while 方途{ほうと} means "path". That is all I can see in there. Well, there is ホトトギス meaning "toad lily" or "cuckoo"… maybe "the toad lilies are confused" with a few extra syllables because why not?


texts: Two implicitly specified distinct subjects in a single sentence

texts:
Consider the following sentences.

  A: 私は相手に安過ぎる質が低い物をあげれば、相手は怒る可能性がある。

Is it natural and understandable if I remove the subjects as follows?

  B: 相手に安過ぎる質が低い物をあげれば、怒る可能性がある。


texts:
On a certain online correction site, my sentence:

  正直に言うと、最近アメリカのドラマを観ていたばかり。

Was given many possibilities. Some people crossed out 「ばかり」 like 「観ていたばかり」 in the following sentences so I'm inclined to think I might've been wrong:

  正直に言うと、最近アメリカのドラマを観てばかりいた。
  正直に言うと、最近アメリカのドラマばかりを観ていた。
  正直な話、最近はアメリカのドラマばかり観ていた。

One of the answerers also wrote the same ending as I did though, so I'm slightly confused:

  正直、最近アメリカのドラマを観ていたばかり。

Is there a reason why there's so many usages of 「ばかり」, and is one or more of these more "correct" than the others or are they somehow arbitrary?


texts: To what extent is 御目出度う御座います used? Is it considered bad form?

texts:
Relatively recently - probably in the last few months or something - I've noticed the much more Kanjified version of おめでとうございます - 御目出度う御座います.  Personally I think this looks cooler than the strictly kana version, and it's also a little more "grown up"-looking.  Since it is both cooler and less childish, in my eyes, I started using it.
However I've noticed that, no matter who I write that to, they always reply back, if anything, with the [strictly] kana version.  This doesn't matter their age, sex, whether they're a native speaker of Japanese, or anything else.  In a way, it almost looks like Japanese people are very subtly trying to correct me.
So is using 御目出度う御座います the equivalent of using phrases such as, "Hast thou need of mine art?"  Or is it still considered acceptable Japanese?  In other contexts, I have occasionally seen 御 getting used, where something like お or ご would be more common, so I know that one specific Kanji should be okay.  jisho.org also does not list the Kanjified phrase as "archaic", so...is this ever really used?


texts:
I'm attempting to translate something but this sentence is confusing me.
It's the "お" and "スーシ" that I don't understand.
I hope this isn't too dumb of a question..


texts: In what situation would くださり（れ）たい△ be plausible Japanese

texts:
According to this source it's strange but possibly not ungrammatical:
https://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/9649701.html
But I can't for the life of me think of a way to make it work.


texts:
I'm currently studying for N4 of the JLPT, and came across this conversation.

山田：「田中さん、そのバッグ、素敵ですね。どこで買いましたか。」
田中；「日本で作られたものですが、ハワイに行ったときに、買いました。」

In the above example, 田中 said 「日本で作られたもの」Is there a particular reason why the passive form is used here? I have made a few guesses, namely it may mean that it was made by someone else in Japan, or he was just being polite. But I wanted to ask here to get a more experienced opinion just to be sure.

Also, would the sentence be wrong if just 「日本で作ったもの」is used here?


texts: Is "bless" the best translation of 祝福{しゅくふく}?

texts:
As far as I understand it, 祝福{しゅくふく} means "bless". I came across it in this sentence, and it struck me as weird:

  だれもが彼の成功をうらやむと同時に、心から祝福した。

My rough translation is, "At the same time that everyone was envious of his succes, they blessed him from their hearts."

I think I get the grammar and syntax, and I also get that people can be envious and grateful at the same time, or something like that.

It's just that to me (perhaps only to me), the word "blessed" has a lot of weight to it in terms of religious origins and conveys implications of ritual. I don't want to get too much into the English meaning of the word "bless", though.

My main point is that I wonder if "bless" is really the most accurate translation?

Perhaps it means more like "grateful"?


texts:
In English, "to have enough" has several different meanings. One of them is "to be fed up": If you have an argument and want to express that you're fed up and about to walk out of the room and you can say "Enough!" or "I've had enough of this.".

Can you say

（私は）十分にあった！

to express anger and fed-up-ness? Or does it only apply in the literal sense when you want to say you had enough to eat, etc.?


texts: Trouble understanding grammar in 「名を、柊という。」

texts:
In the novel I'm reading now (「キッチン」 by 吉本{よしもと}ばなな), there's this section where the protagonist is talking about her boyfriend's brother for the first time, introducing him to readers and giving his description. There's also a sentence which gives the brother's name:

  名を、柊という。

I have a problem understanding grammar in this sentence:

What is the purpose of 「を」 in this sentence? I guess the predicate is implied but I cannot figure out what it could be.
The sentence ends with 「という」. Should I interpret it as 「と言う」?

Let me know if more context information is required.


texts: What is it called when staff at a clothes shop serves a customer

texts: Is this service called サービス or are there better verbs? e.g. 接する


texts: So I know that hana-bi (はなび) means fireworks but if I want to say in more artistic way (and not about fireworks) flower of fire/flames can I say hana hi (はなひ)? Whether it will be understood? And can i still write it as 花火 or something different. Or maybe it will always be a mistake. Thanks in advance!


texts: Can a て conjunction be used in a relative clause?

texts:
I considered a situation where two modifying clauses are joined by a て conjunction and wondered if such a thing was too ambiguous to be commonly used. (Brackets show what is being used as a modifying clause in each interpretation)

私が食べて｛飲む｝人を迎える
= I will eat, and welcome the person who will drink

私が｛食べて飲む｝人を迎える
= I will welcome the person who will eat and drink

｛私が食べて飲む｝人を迎える
= I will welcome the person who I will eat and drink / (with)

Are these interpretations correct?
Can two clauses joined by a て conjunction be used as a whole modifying clause-unit?
Would this always be technically ambiguous, with context and common sense being the only tools to disambiguate it?


texts:
「やー……あたしもねえ、狙われたままの生活っての窮屈だし、封印できるもんならしてもらって構わなかったんだけど……やっぱ駄目っぽいわ。なんかごめんね、無駄足踏ませちゃって」

Source: https://syosetu.org/novel/9452/63.html
I am familiar with the grammar pattern 「名詞1+という+名詞2」. But this っての／というの baffles me. How can というの connect two nouns? Shouldn’t we just say って?


texts:
The text in question is on page 2, number 2:
https://www.docdroid.net/gMfeMMP/img-20170823-0002-new.pdf

  A: 席は、1階と2階とどちらがよろしいでしょうか。
  B: 1階の前の方の席をお願いします。
  A: あいにく前の方はもういっぱいなんですが。
  B: じゃ、後ろの方でもかまいません。

In this text, they are talking about a ticket for a train, bus or something the like?
The 1かいの前の方の席 suggests to me that the ticket is for public transport. 前の方 means "facing in the direction of travel" in this context, am I right?

Since this text seems to make every effort not to be too specific about what these 2 are talking exactly, I merely wanted to ask for confirmation ^^


texts: Difference between 簡単{かんたん} and 易しい{やさしい}

texts: I only know that both mean "easy". But when would I use 簡単{かんたん} or 易しい{やさしい} respectively?


texts:
I'm reading an old book (こころ by 夏目漱石) and there's an unfamiliar grammatical phrasing that has fallen out of fashion and/or that he was rather fond of: ~だの~だの, e.g.:

。。。イサベラ何何の墓だの、神僕ロギンの墓だのというかたわらに。。。

The dictionary I use suggests it's similar to など/とか in meaning&usage. Are there any important differences?


texts: What's the correct pronunciation of 思 in と思つ?

texts:
In this manga, 思 is being pronounced as おもう.

However, on Google Translate, I'm getting shita. (In the same sentence: かわいいと思うよ.)

Why is this?


texts:
What is the nuance difference between 取り返しがつかない and 仕方がない?

When would one use one rather than the other?


texts: What kind of Japanese is used for a nonfiction book translation?

texts:
I have been looking into the different types of Japanese (hiragana, katakana, kanji, romaji) and am unclear which would be the best choice for a nonfiction novel to be translated into. The original text is in English, with an occasional word or phrase from a different language, like Hindi, Cherokee, and Hebrew. It is around 85,000 words, and is a spirituality/self-help type of book, if either of those points make any sort of difference.

Because I can't read, write or understand any Japanese, are there other things that would he helpful for me to know in overseeing this translation process?


texts: Why would someone write "為" , "貴方" and "又" rather than use ため、あなた、また?

texts:
Sometimes when I am looking at videos or scripts of Japanese games to practice my translation skills, I occasionally come across unfamiliar kanji usage where words usually written in hiragana are written in Kanji. For example, instead of "ため",　"為" or "あなた" "貴方" and finally "また" to "又". I don't really understand its purpose.

For the record these Kanji I have found in two games meant for high school age readers. My question is, why are these kanji used when in most settings they are not used? What sort of effect on the reader does it produce?

Finally, I noticed in some of these cases, they write in kanji words that are not usually in kanji, but then proceed to write other words that use kanji a fair bit such as おまえ or わかる in hiragana. Why would it be written towards one extreme but then ignore other words?

I know there are similar questions about Kanji usage but not exactly what I am looking for. So I apologize if this has been answered.


texts: Is ~と used the same as ~ないと in this case?

texts:
誓うか必ず戻ると was used when a character asked another to promise to return.

Isn't it supposed to be 戻らないと? Promise that you must come back?

My understanding is "~nai to" is used for "must" where as "~to" is used for "if/when" you do something.

What meaning the "~to" mean in this sentence?


texts: Meaning of 素直に甘える in the following sentence

texts:
Context: a person is trying to convince another that having other people worry about you is a good thing.

  『心配』って『勝手にさせておけばいい』ものらしいよ。してくれる人がいる時はただ素直に甘えちゃえばいいんだって。

My attempt:

  "Worrying" is like "letting other people behave freely". When you have people that worry about you, you can obediently behave like a spoiled child.

Of course my translation doesn't make much sense. I found on dictionaries that 甘える has two meaning: behave like a spoilt child and take advantage of. I don't think it is the second one, but the first one doesn't make sense either, how can you behave like a spoilt child in an obedient way? About 素直に, all its meaning are similar to obediently. Can it be interpreted in a different way that I'm not getting here? I think that the general meaning of the sentence is "When you have people that worry about you, you can relax and do what you want (without worrying yourself)", but I'd like to understand the specific meaning of the words used. Please also correct the translation of the first sentence if I got it wrong. Thank you for your help!


texts:
This word/set of words/whatever it is popped up in something I am reading, and I cannot find any clue as to what it is referencing. The book is a taiko performer's biography, and this is the very last sentence of the introduction, where he is reminiscing about Sado Island and his deep connection to it.

The sentence in question:

  真野湾沖に三二の漁火を数えた夜、ケステンGチンキをぬりながら・・・佐渡で

I know the beginning is something along the lines of "The night that I counted 32 fish-luring flames out on Mano Bay," and I assume 「ぬりながら」is "while painting...", but even if I assumed 「ケステンGチンキ」were the name of some kind of paint, or a reference to coloring on the water, I don't really understand what this phrase is trying to convey.

Here's the rest of the paragraph for context:

  この本は、一九八四年一月から月刊「鼓童」に不定期連載されはじめ八五年七月 で一二回（一打）になったー表題の『万里の未知も一打から』と、八二年・三年季刊「鼓童」に載った太鼓の話三編をまとめたものです。ウンコがながめた金魚のお話、最後のページまでお付き合い願えれば幸いです。真野湾沖に三二の漁火を数えた夜、ケステンGチンキをぬりながら・・・佐渡で

Thank you for your help!


texts: What's the difference between なぜ、どうして and なんで when meaning 'why'?

texts:
I've been meaning to ask this for a while.

What is the difference between these 3 words. I was taught they all mean "why", but obviously, being different words they convey different nuance and would be used in different situations.

What would be the difference between these 3 sentences and in what situations would they be used?

なぜここにいるのですか？
どうしてここにいるのですか？
なんでここにいるのですか？


texts: What does ここじゃ何だ means in this sentence?

texts:
「そ、そうか。何か大変そうだな……ここじゃ何{なん}だ、取りあえず私の店まで来いよ」

I couldn't find the meaning...


texts:
I have a couple of questions about the volitional form of verbs that I've become unclear on lately.  Here is a Bible passage containing the grammar in question:
(Note that I'm using a Bible passage as I have before because it directly relates to the topic.  I'm not trying to bring any spiritual discussions into this post.)

「主{しゅ}の名を呼び求める者はだれでも[救]{すく}われる」のです。ところで、信じたことのない[方]{かた}を、どうして呼び求められよう。聞いたことのない方を、どうして信じられよう。また[宣]{の}べ伝{つた}える人がなければ、どうして聞くことができよう。[遣]{つか}わされないで、どうして[宣]{の}べ[伝]{つた}えることができよう。　ー　ローマの[信徒]{しんと}への手紙 10[章]{しょう}:13-15[節]{せつ}
As the scripture says, "Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved."  But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed?  And how can they believe if they have not heard the message?  And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed?  And how can the mesage be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? - Romans 10:13-15

So, my questions are:

How does the volitional form work in this type of rhetorical question (without a か I might add)?  Would the same meaning come across if these questions simply ended in 辞書形＋か (like どうして信じられるか)?

Can Verb-意志形 always be replaced by Verb-辞書形＋でしょう／だろう in this type of question?  Because substituting that into these questions seems to make a little more sense to me.  どうして信じられるでしょう　→　"How can they (possibly) believe?"
Of course, it does not make sense that you could substitute it when Verb-意志形 means "let's do X".  (あとで外食しよう　→　"Let's go out to eat later", is clearly different than あとで外食するでしょう　→　"We'll probably go out to eat later")


texts: Is there a major difference between ～だろうと and ～でも constructions in nuance? Can ～だろうと only be used with question words? I've seen any volitional followed by と for an effect like ～ても, but usually only with question words. Do the ～だろうと type constructions sound more or less formal?


texts: What is the difference between Oyasumi and Oyasuminasai?

texts: Why are these 2 words different? Google Translate says they mean the same thing. When would each be used?


texts: What's the difference between an adjective's adverbial form and continuative form?

texts:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/adverbs
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/verb_sequences <-also covers adjectives

Following Tae Kim's guide, those two forms of 青黒い are

  (adverbial form): 青黒く
  (continuative/て-form): 青黒くて

In English, an adverb is used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. But in my previous thread, What conjugation of what word is ぐろく?, 「青黒く」 is also referred to as the "continuative form" meaning "bluish-black and".

So now I have to ask, what's the difference between these two forms? If both the adverbial form and the て-form can be continuative... then how can I tell if a word is meant to modify an upcoming verb/adjective or just link to it?

Example:

  空は青ぐろく、一面の星がまたたいていました。

  Adjective/Adverb: 青ぐろくUpcoming Verb: またたいていました

  I would've read that sentence as "As for the sky, the stars all around were bluish-blackly twinkling", with the adverb modifying the next verb.

  But it was translated by l'électeur as "The sky was bluish-black and the stars all around were twinkling", with the adverb not modifying the upcoming verb at all, just linking to it.

Can someone clarify the difference between a "true adverb", an adjective's adverbial form, and an adjective's て-form?
And why an adverbial form can be continuative?


texts: What conjugation/form is the ませ (for example: いらっしゃいませ)?

texts: I know it's used for greetings in a restaurant or store. But what type of verb conjugation (ex: polite, plain, honorific, imperative, or something else) is it? Is it used with other verbs? Is it archaic Japanese or modern Japanese?


texts:
I haven't been able to find the definition of ずっきり in any dictionary.

A few examples:

今のほうがずっきりしてて好きです。(source)
しかしどうもずっきりしない。 (source)
ずっきり雨の日は腰が痛い、リュウマチか (source)
「何も御会計と御相談さ。」と、ずっきり言う。 (source)

It can seem to be a verb because it is sometimes attached with する, した, して, etc.

By the way, is ずつきり the typographical error of ずっきり?


texts: What is the difference between 「けれど」 and 「けれども」 and 「けど」?

texts:
「けれども」と「けど」と「けれど」はいったいどう違うんですか。「けれども」はテレビ番組でよく使われているが、「けれども」は「けれど」より丁寧ですか。

English translation: What exactly do 「けれども」 and 「けど」 and 「けれど」 mean? They often use 「けれども」 on TV programs, but is 「けれども」 more polite than 「けれど」?


texts: だんだん読めないようになった versus だんだん読めなくなってきた

texts:
What are the differences between the following 2 sentences?

A:　僕は小さい字がだんだん読めないようになった。(Lit: I gradually became unable to read small characters.)

B:　僕は小さい字がだんだん読めなくなってきた。(Lit: I gradually became unable to read small characters.)


texts: Where to put the possessive pronoun in a sentence?

texts:
If I want to talk about a friend of mine who studies psychology, can I say following?

  心理学を専攻している私の友達。

It sounds like I'm the one studying shinrigaku.
Then I could say

  私の心理学を専攻している友達。

But it sounds that I'm talking about "my psychology", even if I now it doesn't make sense. So how could I translate the following nominal group ?

  My friend who studies psychology.


texts: Why is 空【くう】, and not 無【む】, used to define "void", "emptiness" in a buddhist context? What are their nuances?

texts:
Feel free to participate to the meta-discussion on whether this type of question (relying on buddhist terms) should be allowed on JLU.

A while back, looking at a reproduction of some famous zen buddhist scrolls in a nearby Kyoto temple, I was somewhat surprised to see that the  quintessential notion of "void, emptiness" is represented by '空', rather than '無', to which my eminently non-scholar mind always gave a more spiritual overtone (beyond its everyday prosaic use).

A typical example would be the common sentence:

  色即是空【しきそくぜくう】→ "form is emptiness, matter is void"

Can anybody better versed in Japanese and/or buddhist terms explain to me the nuances in meaning between these two kanji/words in a religious context?

Are there other cases where "void, emptiness" would be translated with '無' in a buddhist context?

Edit: to give a famous example of why '無' would seem a good candidate for the same concept, Yasujiro Ozu's grave in Kamakura famously bears nothing but the kanji '無', ostensibly standing for the buddhist concept of 'nothingness'.


texts: Misreading Japanese text due to bad kerning (rn→m, cl→d etc.)

texts:
Kerning

  In typography, kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result.

In English and other languages that use the Latin alphabet, certain characters placed close to each other can be confused with another character that is visually similar to the combination of the merged characters. Some notable examples are rn↔m and cl↔d.

Japanese writing doesn't use spaces between words, so the other type of ambiguity introduced by bad kerning doesn't apply to it because Japanese people already live with it.

Are there any characters among ひらがな, カタカナ(ｶﾀｶﾅ), 漢字 and ローマ字 that, when placed close to each other, are often confused with characters that look similar to their combination? I'm not looking for a comprehensive list, but I'd like to know whether this happens in Japanese as well. I'm mostly interested in computer-displayed and printed text, but examples from handwritten text are welcome, too.

To clarify, I'm not interested in visually similar characters such as タ (katakana ta) and 夕{ゆう}.


texts:
I'm watching Yae no Sakura and occasionally trying to understand grammar terms. I came upon this phrase:

殿様のため 会津のため しっかりと学んでまいれ｡

(for the sake of our Lord, for the Sake of Aizu. Study with all your efforts!) (my aided translation)
What role is 〜でまいれ playing here?
Is it the potential form of 参る (まいる)?
Jisho.org: to go; to come; to call. Humble (kenjougo), Usually written using kana alone.
So maybe: "You can go, and study with resolved effort!"?
It appears in a few other locations too:

即刻 戦を止めてまいれ｡
江戸に戻る｡ ついてまいれ｡
賊徒の首を取ってまいれ！
ひるまずに 戦ってまいれ！

--
Thank you for any insight!


texts: 願わくばこのまま穏やかなままとはいかねぇもんだろうか meaning?

texts:
In episode 3 of Shingeki no Kyojin at 8:30 there is this sentence:

  願わくばこのまま穏やかなままとはいかねぇもんだろうか

I tried my hardest but I couldn't understand what it means; can any expert here explain the structures used in 「このまま穏やかなままとはいかねぇもんだろうか」?
Thank you very much!


texts:
I've been told by my teachers not to use んです and から/ので together, but I encounter them sometimes, both by sight and by ear. When I try to use it myself, it's always marked wrong.
For example, I am quite sure the sentence 10時半のバスに乗るんだから、早く支度しなさい。in this link would be considered incorrect by my teacher, but it's stated to be correct here.
jgram also states that んです should never be used with other words/ constructions that also indicate reason, like から、ので、ものですから.
Which of the following are grammatically sound?

んですから / んだから
んですので / んだので
んものですから / んものだから

[I am not sure which tags to place on this question; please advise]


texts: Order of multiple nouns and adjectives modifying the same noun

texts:
I'm wondering if you guys have any in-depth answers/links regarding:

-multiple adjectives modifying one noun (I'll go into the specifics below, I don't mean just the て form conjugations)

-order of adjectives and/or の when used in sequence

Adjective order:

In English, we say “big black bear” but not “black big bear.” Is there a similar preferred order for adjectives used together to modify the same noun? If certain orders are preferred, does it have anything to do with whether the adjective is a「な」or「い」form? (ex. 静かなかわいい子 vs. かわいい静かな子) Or does it have to be 可愛く静かな子？
What other sentence structures/conjugations can be used to link adjectives in a relative clause to modify the same noun? (Not structures like: 彼はダサくてきもい。)

When の comes into the equation:

When a lot of のs are chained together, which modifies which? (ex. In「理想の店員の態度」, does it break down into 理想の店員の態度 where “ideal” modifies “store clerk’s attitude” to mean the ideal attitude of a store clerk or into 理想の店員の態度 where “ideal store clerk” modifies “attitude” to mean the attitude of an ideal store clerk?) I know in this example it doesn’t make much of a difference, but in some cases it would, like 最初の日本の専門家 (Disregard the fact there are better ways of saying the same thing). Does that mean “the first specialists in/of Japan” or “the specialists of early Japan?” Basically, is it open to interpretation or is there generally an order of which のs are considered first? such as AのBのCのD being Aの[Bの(CのD)]
What about when using の and an adjective to modify the same noun? (ex. 天来の美しい歌、美しい天来の歌)


texts: 「の向って」The point-of-view in this sentence/ when giving directional information after 「向って」

texts:
Sentence taken from 君の膵臓を食べたい

「彼女はのそのそと緩慢な動きで大きなベッドの向って左側に寄って仰向けに寝た。」

This sentence made me question whether my understanding of　「向う」is correct or not. It may be important to mention that the story is told from the perspective of a first-person-narrator (and this narrator is in the same room with mentioned 「彼女」). From my understanding of this definition,
むか・う〔むかふ〕【向かう】
１ ある物・方向を正面に見るように位置する。顔やからだをその方向に向ける。「鏡に―・って化粧する」「舞台に―・って右側を上手という」(https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%90%91%E3%81%8B%E3%81%86/#jn-214576)
the girl moves to the left side of the bed, seen from the perspective of the narrator (or anybody else) facing the bed. I tried to make this a little bit clearer with the attached image.
In other terms, my question is, if I understood it correctly that 「向って」means that the directional information of “left side” is given from a viewpoint looking at “the large bed”.


texts: Help using noun + までも without ない; and とってあく

texts:
I'm reading a manga about a person who becomes a bodyguard for the head of a Yakuza syndicate, due to various reasons including debt. There's a part where the body guard is being threatened after being kidnapped as bait, the real target being the kumicho. The bodyguard starts laughing after the kidnappers say that they are the body guard that the kumicho is most attached to/fond of, and so he will be disturbed and horrified from the bodyguard's death.

Then the bodyguard says:
「残念だったね　僕は彼にとってあく　までも　ただのボデぃガード．．．」

I know how to use までも with verb-ない form and I know までもない but I'm not sure what it means without ない. I tried to search for how to use it on grammar sites but everything had ない.

On a side note, I believe とってあく in this context (since there is no kanji to clarify) may mean "scum (that has been skimmed off the top of something)" but I am not sure. I looked in several dictionaries and also searched for related idioms, but was unable to find anything relevant.


texts:
好きこそものの上手なれ。
  We tend to be good at those things we like. /
  People become best at what they love the most.

How does the こそ work here? Is this use of こそ common outside of proverbs?


texts: Is there a (historical) connection between this オツ construct and Pig Latin?

texts:
Recently I was reading this post about conversions like おしゃれ->シャレオツ and I thought: "Wow, that seems very similar to Pig Latin!"  (where e.g. "pig" becomes "igpay"; the main rule is that leading consonants rotate to the back of the word and get an extra "ay" appended).

I wouldn't be surprised if this is just a coincidence, but, is there a historical connection between these two?  Whether yes or no, I'm looking for an evidence-based answer.

Side question: does this オツ construct have a "name" that would facilitate further research?
[EDIT: Thanks to user4092: "it's generally called 逆さ言葉 and slangily 業界用語, and it seems that the linguistic Jargon is 倒語"]

[Fun side note: when I was trying to find the answer, I found out that there is something called babigo (バビ語)].


texts:
When asking for permission to do something in Japanese, a common form is the te form verb + もいいですか .
My question is does the te form "nounify" or nominalize the verb and what grammatical purpose does the も serve in this construction.


texts:
In the first opening of One Piece titled "We are", there's a section that goes 「個人的な嵐は誰かのバイオリズム乗っかって思い過ごせばいい！」. Upon some googling, I found following explanation:

  個人的な悩みは誰かの生きていく上で繰り返す感情の変化、寝る起きるなどの生活リズムを見習って、忘れてしまえばいいという意味

which seems to make sense and is how I would have interpreted it initially. Though upon looking up the word 思い過ごす itself, I found this entry in the goo dictionary:

  余計なことまで考える。あれこれと考えすぎる。「つい、いらぬことまで―・す」

「過ごす」itself also has following meaning in its own entry:

  （動詞の連用形に付いて）
      ㋐適当な程度を越して事をする。「遊び―・す」「寝―・す」
      ㋑そのままにしておく。「見―・す」「やり―・す」

Is 「思い過ごす」in this case supposed to have the meaning of "to stop thinking about it"? I can't see "to overthink one's own issues with the help of sb else" making much sense here (if we were to go with the original meaning of 「思い過ごす」).

Any thoughts?


texts:
In episode 24 of the Japanese anime Shin Atashin'chi, around 13:45, a boy on the verge of tears collects a heap of dirt or sand with his hand while holding a sack in the other. This happens in reaction to hearing that his secret love interest finds an older boy attractive.

I assume this is a metaphor for somebody in despair or with their hopes shattered.

Is this interpretation correct?

Is the act a reference to a Japanese fairy tale, story, myth or legend?

Or is he digging his own grave because he is preparing for death from sadness?

The episode is focused on the sport of Baseball. I mention this after reading the answer.


texts: How do I translate the names of types of school, without reference to the US school system?

texts:
Whenever I see Japanese school years translated to English, either in vocab lists or in manga/anime translations, it's always with reference to the US school system (i.e. n'th grade). As I'm not American, that makes no more sense to me than the original Japanese. How old are the children in a 小学校, a 中学校, a 高校 (and any other kinds of school I've missed), and how are the years named/numbered in each?

In short, if a schoolchild tells me they're in such-and-such a year of such-and-such school, what does that mean? (Or conversely, if I want to describe my school year in Japanese, which type of school do I say?)

Any other information that would help to describe the differences, such as which years have big exams, would be a useful part of the answer.


texts:
I was reading a few articles about 依り代 and there's one thing I'm wondering about. Most of what I read say that 'yorishiro' are objects or sometimes people that attract kami. The following is just my assumption because I did not find something that would specify, but, I wondered if the objects or 'vessels' (this is how I would translate in a particular context) need to have certain qualities/certain aspects in order for the kami to posses it?
I'm asking this because it might help me with something I came across for which I have formed a theory.
Thank you!


texts:
いいんですか。

  いいですか。

Both sentences translate to "Is is OK?" (context: It is OK if I take this umbrella?)

According to my textbook, んです　is used for explanations. But in this context someone is asking for permission, as far as I understand. Does ん make the question sound more polite?


texts: When a dog in pain whines or howls, is it 「泣いている」 or 「鳴いている」?

texts: 鳴く seems to be the bark, cry, etc. of animals, and 泣く seems to be crying, weeping, etc. of humans (at any rate, associated with pain, sadness, etc.). However, when a dog in pain whines or howls, which of the two will be used?


texts: Expressing  "not greater/less than" and "greater/less than or equal to"

texts:
I'm having trouble coming up with a way of saying "not greater than 0" and "not less than 0".

Would the following sentences be natural/grammatical? If not, in what ways can the following be expressed?

greater than 0/less than 0

  0より大きい/0より小さい

greater than or equal to 0/less than or equal to 0

  0以上である/0以下である

not greater than 0/not less than 0

  0以上ではない/0以下ではない

Space ALC says that greater than or equal is ～以上で and less than or equal is 以下の.

I thought that 以上 meant "above" and 以下 "below". If that's the case, is there any way to tell that usage and their usage as "greater/less than or equal" apart?


texts: What's the difference between じゃない and じゃないんだ?

texts: I was learning how to conjugate the state-of-being and I didn't see じゃないんだ in the conjugation chart...I often hear people use it in movies and dramas... is it part of the conjugation for the state-of-being or part of some other conjugation? Sorry if my question is sort of confusing.


texts: Is the main clause in the relative clause construct an actual clause?

texts:
I know that relative clause compounds are generally made with the following format.

  sentence/verb/adjective + noun

My Genki I textbook supports this with the following example of a relative clause compound, with the noun 学生 being italicized in English.

  あそこで本をよんでいる学生はみちこさんです。

  The student who is reading a book over there is Michiko.

However I remember browsing Japanesestackexchange last year and finding some users referring to the noun part of a relative clause compound as a 'main clause'. This has recently made me question where the noun/'main clause' ends in Japanese sentences.

Edit:
In other words, using the above example once more; is the entirety of 学生はみちこさんです the main clause which the relative clause modifies, or is it only the noun that is being modified; thereby restarting the sentence after the noun?

I'm asking as in the word doc for a book I'm translating I have two different examples of relative clause compounds, and I'm wondering which example is correct.

  Example 1:
  返事をした女の子がこちらに近づき、僕の手にナイフを[握]{にぎ}らせる。

  Relative Clause: 返事をした

  Main Clause: 女の子がこちらに近づき

  Example 2:
  荒野を渡る風よりもなお、アインの声は冷たかった。

  Relative Clause: 渡る

  Main Clause/noun: 風


texts: Does 本 work as a general purpose prefix?

texts:
The motivation for this question is the phrase 本法廷 which I recently read.

Does ほん (本) work as a general purpose prefix? By this I mean can I look in the dictionary and pick any noun and put 本 in front and have a grammatically correct phrase?

When it acts as a prefix, can it always mean either 'this' or 'true' depending on context?

If it is a prefix to a word starting with h-, is rendaku applied to make it start with p-? For example is 本法廷 ほんほうてい or ほうぽうてい？


texts:
For example:

  自分の名前が呼ばれたとき、私は自分の耳を疑った。I couldn't believe my ears when I heard my name called.

Would it be appropriate if I said 私? When is it appropriate to use 自分? What is the difference?


texts: Does 個 have a specialized usage as a counter?

texts:
I usually hear 個 referred to as a general purpose counter (which is how it is used in Chinese) similar to hitotsu, futatsu, etc... I just read a source which claims that it tends to refer to 3-dimensional objects and contrasts with 本 in this way:

ni-hon no nasu = two (long) eggplants

ni-ko no nasu = two (round) eggplants

Is this correct or would "ni-ko no nasu" be better left as "two (unspecified) eggplants"?


texts: Why is あすぶ an "out-dated or obsolete" kana usage for 遊ぶ?

texts:
I saw this note on the jisho.org page for 遊ぶ:

  Other forms
  遊ぶ 【あすぶ】

  Notes
  あすぶ: Out-dated or obsolete kana usage.

And I'm curious what this means - did it used to be read this way? Or do some people still read it this way? What happened?


texts: How to say "Custom order is available" in Japanese?

texts:
Can I say "Custom order for XXX is available. I am currently living in YYY. If you wish to order, please visit the following website." as the follows?

XXXカスタマーオーダーOK！私は今YYに住んでいます。ご注文をご希望の場合は、以下のウェブサイトをご覧ください。

Thank you very much if someone can help!


texts:
Is there a difference in meaning between 匹敵 and 互角?
Besides that one is a suru verb and the other a noun/adjective


texts:
I was reading this particular answer, when I found something interesting and confusing to me.  The answer stated:

  If one had to insert a particle in [会社{かいしゃ}など２３０の会社] that made sense, that particle would be 「の」. It would, however, be slightly wordy because there will be another 「の」 coming soon in 「２３０の会社」. It would also make the sentence sound unnecessarily informal as well.

It makes sense to me that it is more wordy.  However, I would have guessed the opposite for formality.  I assumed that by adding the extra particle it would become more formal.

So, this claim that adding the particle is 'unnecessarily informal' is at odds with my understanding.

How is it unnecessarily informal?


texts: What's the difference between 合意 and 同意？

texts:
They both translate to agreement, but I can't quite figure out what the difference is. Based on the answer here, 合意 implies that there was some effort from both parties (e.g., negotiation, compromise) for an agreement to take place, but 同意 doesn't give that nuance.

Also, how did 合 and 同 contribute to the meaning of these 熟語? 同 means same, so it makes sense, but understanding 合 is a bit hard. Is it closer to 合う or to 合わせる？


texts: which are the technical names for these verb transforms?

texts:
what are the Japanese, and English, technical terms for these verb transforms:

読める、買える、書ける、...

and this:
読まれる、買われる、書かれる、...

and this:
読ませる、買わせる、書かせる、...

Is there a standard term that textbooks use to call the changing of verb stems into those 3 different forms? "Verb conjugation" sounds natural, however "conjugate" does not sound correct in the context.

What do Japanese students call the changing of verbs into those 3 different forms?

thanks.


texts: What's the meaning of ともすると and かとも in this sentence?

texts:
I would like to understand the meaning and usage of those two sets of particles in here.

  左の腋窩と右の脇腹に箆深く射された矢がなかったなら、 それはともすると羅馬の競技者が、 薄暮の庭樹に凭って疲れを休めている姿かとも見えた。

ともすると: I've read it works as an adverb "[subject] tends to/is prone to... [verb]". It's composed of とも, which basically means "even if" and could be replaced with やや as in ややすると, and すると "if [it is] done", just as すれば, in ともすれば, and　したら, in ともしたら.  I would like, however, a more literary translation of this adverb.

かとも: I think it has, not a conjunct, but a separate meaning, that would be [dubitation] + [conjunction-quotation] + [inclusion], and so, it can't be effectively translated. It marks a response to なかったなら in the first sentence.


texts:
ゟ is a digraph that is read より. Where does it originate from?

Is it a ligature, like & <- et, or German ß <- ſs -> ss? (Wikipedia claims this, citing no source.) Also, if it is a ligature, what did the ligation process look like (e.g. what are the intermediate forms between より and ゟ)?

Alternatively, could it be a derivative of 与 or another kanji? (Another non-authoritative source which I have now lost track of claims this.)


texts:
Hi I am a complete ignoramus as far as Japanese language is concerned. Please forgive me my silly question:
Can you create the word YAMA DO - the way of the mountain, like the word KARATE DO - the way of karate?
Thank you.
Tom


texts:
context are from here, it's a comic sample

  相棒をああして亡くしたショックで退職したもんね…かわいそうに

I would like to ask

The meaning of ああして
Can we tell the subject/the one who killed 相棒 from "相棒をああして亡くした"?
The meaning of もんね

I could figure 1. 2. despite my effort of searching, but in the case of 3. I doubt もんね is equivalent to ものね, since one of the entry in my dictionary says,

  もの：(｢ものね｣｢ものな｣などの形で)理由を表す。｢ね｣｢な｣などによって、軽い詠嘆の意が加わる。例、｢よくおわかりでしょう。前に行ったことがありますものね｣

I noticed that ものね is succsessive to the reason in the dictionary example. (前に行ったことがある is the reason and よくわかります is the result/conclusion.) Apply this logic to the sentence in my question, we can conclude that 相棒を亡くしたショック is the reason, and that the result should be "彼は退職前より随分元気がない", cannot we？

It is also much appreciated if someone provide how they use "ああして" and "もんね".

Thank you for any help you provide.


texts: Is there any difference between 講義 and　講演?

texts:
According to my dictionary both of them mean "lecture".

But is there any difference between them in nuance?


texts: When/why would one write a word using 直音表記?

texts:
I looked up 釈迦 at goo辞書 and noticed that there were two alternate readings presented for this word: さか and しゃか. The さか reading is given as being 『「しゃか」の直音表記。』, so these two are clearly the same lexical item, just with different kana representations.

I then looked up 直音 and found that this term basically refers to any mora that can be written using a single kana - so it includes あ・き・す・て・の but excludes きゃ・しゅ・ちょ, as well as non-standard two-kana morae like グァ. One can respell 拗音 (i.e. non-直音) as 直音 by "removing" the middle phone, e.g. /sha/ → /sa/, /myu/ → /mu/, etc.

So I understand what 直音 are, but I do not know why one would choose to take a perfectly good word like しゃか and then rewrite it using only 直音 so that you get さか. When, historically, did people prefer 直音表記 and why? Are there some types of words where the use of 直音表記 is particularly common, e.g. Buddhist terminology?


texts:
I noticed today, while playing Grisaia no Kajitsu (English version, since my Japanese is really bad), that when I click on a menu option while using Michiru's voice to voice the menus, she ends her sentence with

じゃないんだからね

(one example being clicking "Extras," which causes Michiru to say

おまけじゃないんだからね

). I'm not entirely certain that she uses the ん sound, but it sounds like it to me. It sounds as if she is telling me that there is no omake, but I feel like I'm missing the importance of the "んだからね". She is supposed to be a tsundere (well, a fake tsundere anyway), so that likely plays into this.
Here is a short clip of her saying it (4 seconds, made with Windows 7's sound recorder), so that you all may tell me that I terribly misheard everything and should give up on Japanese forever.
I converted it to a wav (using online-convert.com), so it should play without being downloaded, I think.


texts: How to write a sentence with several verbs associated to different objects?

texts:
I have searched the internet for help on using several verbs in one sentence when they are connected with different objects and performed by different people, but every search comes back with an explanation of the て-form which is not quite the same thing. Every example of this form I have seen is used for listing verbs a single agent performed. What I have in mind, however, is something like this:

  The professor asked me to ask you to teach me about your research.

I have been trying an attempt at a translation of my own, but it is always so clumsy I'm not sure about it.

  先生は私にあなたにあなたの研究について私に説明するように頼むように頼んだ。

This is confusing to me because, since the order of the words is not important, and since the particle に is used twice, it could mean that the teacher asked you to ask me to explain to you about your research.

Can you help me?

Thank you very much.


texts: Meaning of 安そう in 永代使用料とか安そうよね

texts:
I need some help understanding what 安そう means in the following context.

Is character 3 saying that the 永代使用料 for this cemetery looks like it would be inexpensive? This seems a bit out of place to appear where it does in the conversation which makes me think they are saying something else.

  辿り着いた場所は多くの引出しのある棚があるだけの薄暗い部屋だった。

  character 1「火葬場に書かれていた案内図だとここが墓場のはずだが……」

  character 2「間違いないな。ここが墓場のようだ」

  引出しにはネームプレートが結ばれ、 そこには様々な番号が彫られている。

  character 3「なるほど、この設計ならお墓の土地に悩まなくて済むわね」

  character 4「高いところの引出しだと首が痛い、かもしれないね」

  character 5「お墓参りという感じがしませんね……」

  character 2「これが墓だとすると数が少なすぎないか？」

  character 1「古いのは別の場所で他の遺骨と一緒にされて合祀されるんじゃないか。普通のお墓でもそうだぞ」

  character 2「え、そうなのか！？」

  character 3「永代使用料とか安そうよね……」

  character 1「まあ仲間がいれば寂しくないだろう。……これでよしと」


texts:
One of the dictionary definitions for えぐい is "amazing".

I've never actually come across this sense of the word in any sentences. Does anyone have examples of where native writers have used えぐい to mean something like "amazing"?


texts: Why is 九時 (9 o'clock) pronounced "Ku-ji" and not "Kyu-ji"?

texts:
Why, when saying times in Japanese, does the pronunciation for 九 (9) change?
I recently had to figure this out when my Siri wouldn't recognize it when I asked him to set an alarm for 9 o'clock, he would always misinterpret as 10. When I plugged the sentence into Google Translate and synthesized the voice, it replied with "Ku-ji"

So I used it on Siri and indeed it worked.

But why is it this way? Is there a rule to follow that I don't know about?


texts: How to write the English "sh" ⟨ʃ⟩ in Japanese?

texts:
I've learned that if you're translating a name into Japanese you have to translate it by the sound.
I want to translate the name "Tymoteusz". I think the name itself is Greek but the writing is Polish, however it's not Japanese so I need katakana.
I started translating.

The first sound is a "t" and then "y" (you read the "y" in polish ⟨ɘ⟩). There is no sound in Japanese that sounds like this so I used チ.

Then the next sounds are pretty easy. First just a モ.
Then テ.
And then ウ.

So I got チモテウ. Now I need the last sound. You read "sz" like a English "sh" (⟨ʃ⟩). I've heard Japanese People using this soind, but I have no Idea how to write it. Can someone help me?

How to write ⟨ʃ⟩ in Japanese?
And is my translation correct (all sounds without IPA sound like the Japanese ones)?


texts:
For example, the kanji for "one" has a kun reading of "hito(tsu)." I looked it up and found that it's the difference between "one" and "one thing," but how could you have known that without specifically looking it up? I'm looking to learn whether there is a pattern to the significance of okurigana.

Also, when are the kun readings of numerals used if you count with on readings?


texts:
Same sentence, different question:

  「あんたなんて甘やかしたらどこまでもツケあがるタチだから、厳しくされてちょうどいいのよ。」
  If I pamper the likes of you, you'll be endlessly spoiled, so ...

The grammar in the clause in bold is confusing me. 厳しく is "strictly", and I believe ちょうどいい is "just right". されて is presumably the passive て form of する.

Is the て form providing the usual role of joining clauses (i.e. 'and' etc) or does the combination of て and ちょうどいい form a single unit like てある, てほしい etc? So, for example, can I always treat verb-てちょうどいい　to mean "doing verb is just right"?

Finally, how should I translate する? The only translation I can make is "Being treated strictly is just right", but I can't find any dictionary that says する can mean "to treat".


texts:
if お腹が空いた means "I'm hungry",

then what would be the past tense of お腹が空いた since (i think) it's already in the past tense?


texts: From my Japanese reading, I've learned the word 冷やかし, but only in a negative context, connoting that the window-shopper is wasting the salesperson's time. Might it also be used in a positive way? For example, if a shop assistant offers me help, can I decline by saying, 「冷やかしをします」(or maybe 「冷やかしです」; IDK which is better), or does it sound like I'm winding them up? If a friend asks me what I did in town, is 「冷やかしをしていました」 a reasonable answer, or is it tantamount to saying "I went and pulled faces at all the shopkeepers"?


texts: What is a ladder-like practice tool called in Japanese?

texts:
I often find a ladder-like practice tool as shown in the following figure in many dojos or sport halls in Japan.

What is it called? As a bonus, what is it for?


texts: How to translate ‘To be or not to be, that is the question’

texts:
This is not a 100% serious question, but I find it interesting. How could we translate in Japanese the famous sentence from Hamlet? The absence of be as a verb makes it challenging.
I saw the following translation on a Japanese website.

  生きるべきか死ぬべきか、それが問題だ。

Fair enough. I understand that literal translation is impossible and should not be the pursued goal, but this is too different from the original IMHO.
Shakespeare did not write ‘should one live, should one die, that is the question’.

I thought of this one, which is rather bad:

  いるのかいないのか、それが問題だ。

This is bad because it sounds like we are talking about someone else. This sentence sounds like ‘is he there or not ?’ and does not sound like ’whether or not to exist’.

So, I would like to know how real translators, language experts and scholars translated this sentence.


texts:
Is there a difference (or nuance) or is it just two ways of saying the same thing?

For example, どうして、とぶか？　（１）　こわいんです。　（２）　こわいですから。

Obviously, those are very simple examples. But are there times where you couldn't use one in place of the other to explain "why" you did something (or you did something "because")?


texts:
In english you can call objects an 'it', as well as people, and generally seen as rude to call a person an 'it'. Is it possible for something similar to be done in japanese? Call a person an 'it'?
If not, is there a way of addressing/ talking about someone that invokes the same feeling of 'i see this person as an object'?


texts: Past tense and continuous tense of verb (持った・持っている)

texts:
I was watching a Japanese video and it seems it is more accurate to say 傘を持った
rather then 傘を持っている to indicate that I am holding an umbrella. For example if someone asks "傘を持った？" the grammatically correct reply would be "持ったよ" rather then "持っているよ". Why is this so? To me, 持った sounds like I held the umbrella (and don't have it now), whilst 持っている sounds like I am holding an umbrella now. Therefore, 持っている sounds more correct, but that doesn't seem to be the case.


texts:
The sentence: "息子は一年浪人しました。"

The translation provided(I don't know if this translation is really correct though)
:"My son failed his university exams so he's retaking them in a year."


texts: Often hear it in conversations with young Japanese people. Is it their version of "like" along the lines of なんか?


texts:
重要ないくつか
I came across this and was wondering what it meant. One can parse it this way:
重要ない ___くつか
Or
重要な  ___ いくつか
Which does makes more sense? And can you give example sentences?


texts:
The sentence is:「『恋』じゃないかもしれないけど　『愛』ならあるよ」

I tried looking up the difference between 恋 and 愛 , but I feel like I still don't have a complete grasp over it.

A temporary translation I have is: "I might not be in love, but maybe I can learn to love you."
I got it from the idea that 愛 focuses more on the person who is the object of your love, while 恋 is more on the feelings you have for the person.

If anyone could help me with my lacking understanding, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you!


texts:
In Japanese version of Magic: the Gathering cards, there is a common idiom

"[target description] を対象とする。[subject] それに [action]."

For example, in this card:

the Japanese text says "クリーチャー１体かプレイヤー１人を対象とする。稲妻はそれに３点のダメージを与える。"

The english text says "Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to target creature or player."

What does the と in the sentence mean? Wouldn't 対象する work alone?
Is there a simpler, less wordy, way to say the same thing, similar to the way that in English, we can use "target" as an adjective?


texts:
The sentence is:

  あの    狐ねばばあに  餌付けでも   　されたか？

餌付け - is a potential form of the verb.

What role is でも playing here?


texts:
I’ve encountered this kaomoji:

  ﾖﾛ(｀・ω・´)ｽｸ！

quite a few times already:

However, I’m stumped as to what it could mean. I have noticed the half-width katakana「ヨロ」and「スク」, but am unclear on what word/words they are referring to.


texts: Can「病気【びょうき】」be used as a 形容動詞【けいようどうし】 (na-adjective)?

texts:
I came across this multiple choice question as part of my homework. There is only one correct choice.
Question

心配【しんぱい】しないで。悪【わる】い病気【びょうき】 { ______ } と思【おも】います
Don't worry. I think { ______ } a bad illness/disease.

Answers

①　かもしれない it might be
②　なわけではない it's not that it's
③　だろう it probably is

At the first sentence, it is said "Do not worry", so it's clear that the disease should not be bad or serious. Therefore, the right answer is ②　なわけではない "it's not that it is [bad]". The other choices do not make sense because if the disease "might be [bad]" or "is probably [bad]", then you definitely should worry.
The problem is that choosing ② implies that 病気【びょうき】 is a 形容動詞【けいようどうし】 (na-adjective), because the choice contains a particle 「な」, rather than 「の」, but in my experience and according to Jisho.org, 病気 is not a 形容動詞【けいようどうし】 (na-adjective), but a 名詞【めいし】(noun).

②　なわけではない / のわけではない
心配【しんぱい】しないで。悪【わる】い病気なわけでわないと思【おも】います。

Is this a legitimate use of 病気【びょうき】, or maybe I picked the wrong answer in the first place?


texts: To my understanding, ”いいですね” means something along the lines of "that's good" or "that's fine." However, the ending particle ”ね” is used to prompt a response from the listener. As I've seen it used in my textbook, ”いいですね” does not anticipate a response. So, what is the function of "ね”?


texts: Would someone be willing to check my reading of の in this sentence?

texts:
I'm not certain why the の is in the 2nd sentence:

  「それから、おれのくちばしやつめを見ろ。そして、よくお前のとくらべて見るがいい。」
  「鷹さん。それはあんまり無理です。」

It seems like the meaning should be "And then, often you are compared with [me] and you look good."

But if that's right, then the の seems unnecessary. (Shouldn't お前とくらべて = "you are compared with [me]?)

So, I guess the の is saying that the comparison itself belongs to お前? e.g."And then, often [there is the] comparison of you with [me] and you look good."or"And then, often [there is] your comparison with [me] and you look good.

Are either of those right?


texts:
I just came across an unfamiliar phrase: ありきたりっちゃありきたり.

Does anyone know what this means? Mainly its because I don't know what the function of the っちゃ is here.


texts: What's the difference between いつ and 何時{なんじ}

texts:
They are both written as 何時 (what time) in the dictionary but they seem to be different words.

My understanding is that "なんじ" asks for "exact hour" while "いつ" is like a general "when". Is that right?


texts:
The narrator says that he has a life flying around the world as a pilot, and then says:

  そんなふうに生きてきたなかで、僕はいわゆる有能な人たちと、ずいぶんつきあってきた。
  Living in this way,  I have come to associate with many people who are supposedly capable people.

I don't think I've got the first clause correct, because I think I could translate 'Living in this way,...' simply as 「そんなふうに生きて、...」

My other guess is that it means "among the people who are living like this..." , but wouldn't that be そんなふうに生きてきた人のなかで? It seems a bit far-fetched to omit 人.

So, I don't know what なかで is doing here and I've also failed to get the auxiliary verb きた into my translation.


texts: What is the term used for a baby's age at birth?

texts: Is a babies age determined by date of conception or date of birth? What is the term used for determining the age? A Japanese friend told me that a pregnancy is 10 months. I have always used tanjoubi to mean a person's birthday, but is age actually determined by date of conception? Is a baby considered to be zerosai/marusai/reisai at birth, or older?


texts: What does ウ○ク mean in ウ○クの方の、中○、韓○嫌いは異常。?

texts:
So, I was looking on OKWAVE, because I wanted to know if anyone is asking about xenophobia in Japan.

So there is a question asking, “外国人嫌悪症について、どう思いますか？” This can be translated as “What do you think about xenophobia?”

In one of the responses to this question, it discusses hatred between countries and how extreme it can get. It brings up the following sentence: “ウ○クの方の、中○、韓○嫌いは異常。”

I am pretty sure that ○ is a censorship symbol. I heard that there is pretty extreme hatred between Japan and China as well as Japan and both Koreas, but I didn't think it got to the point of partly censoring the names of those countries in Japanese.

I think the sentence says something like, “Their hatred for people of ???, China, and South Korea is unusual.”

Does anyone have a clue what ウ○ク means?


texts: って to mean "I said" rather than "I heard"

texts:
大丈夫って

can either mean "I heard someone said it's ok" or it can mean "I said it's ok"
How do I know which one is being implied if someone says that to me?


texts: Can native speakers spot if a clause is relative or not ahead of time?

texts:
Whenever I read a long multi-line article written in Japanese, the hard part for me is that a lot of the long sentence like clauses suddenly end as a noun-phrase, making it a relative clause.

This really confuses me, you know, throws me all out of wack. So I'm wondering, while I'm sure parsing it comes naturally to Japanese people, I'm just wondering if they can spot a relative clause in advance, before actually reaching its punctuating noun-phrase?

You know, are there things that make a clause look like a relative clause in a way that doesn't make it one, but hints that it is by its presence?

So, can they?
And if so, by what trends and patterns?


texts:
I've got a question about the two instances of の in 君が代:

  さざれ石の巌となりて
  苔の生すまで

First, is さざれ石の巌 to be interpreted as a boulder made of pebbles (analogous to, say, 木製の槍)?

Second, is the の in 苔の生すまで essentially が, akin to the が/の alternation in relative clauses:

  太郎の焼いた魚 / 太郎が焼いた魚

If so, at what stage of the development of Japanese was this alternation possible outside of relative clauses?

(Bonus: what stage of Japanese does 君が代 even reflect and why? I know it was cobbled together in the Meiji period; the Wikipedia article says it's based on a waka from the Heian period, but doesn't provide the original text.)


texts: Foreign names in Kanji. On'yomi, Kun'yomi or a mix of readings?

texts:
It is known that Japanese names often have multiple readings depending on what reading (on'yomi, kun'yomi, nanori ...) is applied to each kanji.

But my question is about foreign names written in kanji phonetically.

When someone gains Japanese citizenship, they usually change their name from katakana to kanji (at least the given name or the surname).

Examples:

Alessandro Santos
三都主 アレサンドロ   （Santosu Aresandoro)
Sergio Escudero
エスクデロ 競飛王   （Esukudero Seruhio)
Brendan Neilson
ニールソン武蓮伝  （ニールソン ぶれんでん)
Wagner Lopes
呂比須 ワグナー   （Ropesu Wagunā)
Martti Turunen
弦念 丸呈   （Tsurunen Marutei)

Seeing this, my question is if it is possible to mix the on'yomi and kun'yomi readings. I mean, can you choose the most suitable reading of a kanji (on'yomi or kun'yomi) to build each part of your name in kanji?

By example, Spanish footballer Sergio Escudero has this name: 競飛王  (Seruhio).

The first kanji 競 has Kun'yomi reading SERU
But the second and the third kanji have the On'yomi readings HI and O respectively.

It makes me think that it is possible to choose the most convenient reading to write our foreign names in Kanji.

However, in the past, I read things like this..

https://thejapanesepage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15189#p169635
(see the last post)
...stating that you can't mix the readings to write your foreign name in Kanji.

What do you know about this? Do you think it is possible to mix the readings?


texts:
I heard the phrase of "ぼくとお茶しませんか" from a rather odd Japan Times article by a presumably Japanese woman called Kaori Shoji. It's also mentioned elsewhere, such as in a native speaker's blog about Japanese.

It literally means "Won't you have green tea with me?", but there's two things I don't know.

What venue is implied by the phrase? Is it implied to be a public venue such as a cafe, or instead is it somebody's home?

Also, is the phrase still used nowadays, or considered out-dated?


texts: What is the reason for the odd vowel values of Japanese ココア?

texts:
I've done a bit of digging, and for the life of me, I cannot find any clear record or explanation for why Japanese ココア is pronounced the way it is.
Sources researched to date:

Lots of different sources at the Kotobank entry for ココア, including Britannica Japan, Daijisen, Kokugo Dai Jiten, MyPedia, Chocolate / Cocoa Dictionary, etc etc.
Lots of different sources at the Kotobank entry for カカオ
Chocolate & Cocoa Association of Japan's site
Snippets from the journal of Tokugawa Akitake (1853–1910), listed as a source on the Chocolate & Cocoa Association's page, wherein Akitake described drinking ココア one morning when visiting the Paris World Fair in 1868, as listed also in the Japanese Wikipedia article about him

Lots of information is out there about カカオ and ココア, and what each of them are, and how the former is turned into the latter.  I can confirm in various sources that カカオ is borrowed from Spanish, and ココア is borrowed from English.  But I can find nothing about why ココア is pronounced as //ko.ko.a//.
My suspicion is that this is the result of "book pronunciation", based on the English spelling cocoa and simply reading it out vowel-for-vowel.  A distant alternative possibility is that the Japanese word somehow metathesized the vowels after borrowing cacao, the common term for this in many other European languages, including the Japanese-contact trifecta of Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese.  English wound up with a pronunciation of //ˈkoʊ.koʊ// (US) or //ˈkəʊ.kəʊ// (UK) not through any metathesis, but rather through early confusion with coco (as in coconut), as best I can tell.  (See also the Wiktionary entry.)  If ココア were borrowed from spoken English, we'd expect something more like //kóꜜò.kòò//, instead of the //kóꜜ.kò.à// and //kó.kóꜜ.à// pronunciations evident in modern usage.
Does anyone have any solid evidence for why we have this unexpected word form?  Or any leads on academics or references that discuss this oddity of etymology?


texts: The thin line? What is 線がうすい's meaning and etymology?

texts:
I just found this phrase in my book (I don't know how much context is relevant, this is the entire sentence):

  それにな、わたしが商人の線がうすい、といった理由はもうひとつある。

I looked up the phrase and found this 線が細い. It means "feeble, sensitive, fragile", and I assume that using うすい changes little in the meaning. What I gather is that the わたし is talking about the 商人's fragility. Question 1: Are these two things about right?

Question 2: Is there a clear etymology here? What exactly is someone's 線? It doesn't seem to be possible to say 線が厚い and have it mean "robust"...


texts: Is ちょっと待って。 grammatically correct? Since 待って is an adverbial and must be attached to another verb (as far as i heard/know).


texts: Does 両目 have a special meaning or is it just a mistake?

texts:
Today I found this sentence on my Japanese textbook (みんなの日本語中級I - 本冊 pg. 70) And it didn't make any sense to me.

  前から２両目の電車を降りたところで待っています。

I looked for 両目 on 電子辞書 and it says it means both eyes. Still didn't make any sense to me so I put it in Google Translator and the result was... well the expected one:

  We are waiting in the place where I got off the train two eyes from the front.

Does this have any special meaning (I mean the use of 両目) or is it just that there is a mistake on the textbook and it should just be:

前から２目の電車を降りたところで待っています。

Which means the 2nd train.


texts:
I recently started talking with a Japanese "pen friend" on Skype, and I'd like to ask her "Should we speak in Japanese or English?"

If I said:

  わたしたちは　日本語を　はなしますか。　英語を　はなしますか。

does that convey what I'm trying to say? Or is there a better way to express it?

I would appreciate it if you could reply in kana, I know precious few kanji.


texts:
Consider the following question which requires you to order four items in a sentence:

  市民の _ _ _ _ 目指しています。
  1. 街づくりを   2. 願いに   3. こたえる   4. しっかり

At first I answered it as

  市民の願いにこたえる街づくりをしっかり目指しています。

But it turned out to be

  市民の願いにしっかりこたえる街づくりを目指しています。

I don't know why しっかり modifies the verb こたえる better than 目指す.


texts:
I was just wondering how to properly ask when the last bus to somewhere is.

Could you say (using Tokyo, for example)

  When is the last bus to Tokyo?
  東京 に 終バス は 何時ですか Tōkyō ni shū basu wa nanji desu ka?


texts:
in the company culture why do they say

  ご確認の程お願いします？

what is the purpose of 程? is it to add a level of politeness?


texts:
What is the proper usage of 出かける because most of the time I am only using 行く or 出る

for example 川へせんたくしに行く and I don't get its difference from 川へせんたくに出かける

thanks for the responds


texts:
While looking up マイカー in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gairaigo_and_wasei-eigo_terms, I came across マイ・ワイフ. Is マイ・ワイフ used in real life, or mainly in anime?

If the former, what differences does it have to other words for "wife"?


texts: Why is 及び being used to mean "a.k.a." in this sentence?

texts:
So this sentence in a Vtuber video (which has English and Chinese translation available) caught my interest:

今回の事件ははあちゃま及び赤井はあとがデビュー当初から秘められし能力を封印していたこと原因であり、すべてははあちゃまの責任です。

I initially went into this video to analyze the relationship between Haachama (はあちゃま; 心酱) & Akai Haato (赤井はあと; 赤井心), two vaguely-defined aliases/personas of said Vtuber.
If I understand 及び correctly, it is somewhat like a formal version of と in that it is used to lists several items. So then why does both translations interpret this sentence as "Haachama a.k.a. (also known as) Akai Haato"? Shouldn't it be "Haachama and Akai Haato"? Surely two items in a list can't be the same thing (a.k.a.)?

As this incident was caused by Haachama, Akai Haato keeping her abilities sealed from debut onward...

本次事件的原因 是心酱 也就是赤井心出道时所隐瞒的能力之前一直处于封印状态．．．

If "Haachama a.k.a. Akai Haato" was the original message they were going for, shouldn't the conjunction between Haachama and Akai Haato be something like はあちゃまこと赤井はあと, not 及び? Could this possibly  be a mistranslation or translation liberty?


texts:
I have found this kanji in a PC novel

It is so small that I tried to draw it

The context is the following:

"(Kanji)廃棄物処理場
区の(Kanji)廃棄物処理場

So it's related to "garbage process", but is also used in

区だよ区!
でも区の(Kanji)は...

(and here it is used as "address" or "place" based on the context, it can be related to a dump place or something similar?)


texts:
いもうとは東京に行っています。

How can I discover the meaning of this sentence? I'm studying the te-form and I'm a little bit confused. The correct translation will be:

  My little sister is in Tokyo (she´s already there)

or

  My little sister is going to Tokyo (progressive action) ?

Or I see by the context? This verb form is SO damnnn cruel to learn ;___;


texts: What does the volitional for do in this sentence: 今までリーゼには見せたことの無いであろう優しい目

texts:
Sentence:

  今までリーゼには見せたことの無いであろう優しい目をして微笑ほほえむと、カイルはリーゼを抱きしめた。リーゼも素直に身体を預ける。

My attempt of translation of the said part:
Smiling with kind eyes Rize never displayed so far


texts:
ロシアは、イギリスの事件とは何も関係がないと言っていて、これからどうするか決めると言っています。
  Russia says that they have no connection to the incident in the UK, and say they are deciding what to do next.

I can't understand the function of 何も in this sentence. I'm sure that I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem to be needed to me. I can't fit it into the sentence grammatically, or give it a useful meaning.

I wonder if it's the same as in this answer. If so then please close as duplicate.


texts:
Context: From a blog about Death Note, the author is talking about Light not wanting to trade his eyes for half his lifespan. Then he says something like Light is the only death note holder to not want to do the trade/deal, then comes this sentence:

  原作を知っている身としては先の先まで見据えた末での選択か、それとも単に保身に走っただけなのかはっきりとは判別できません。

Which I interpreted as:

  As someone who knows (has read) the original
  work (original manga) I'm not sure if would
  make the choice (to accept the deal for the
  shinagami's eyes) after gazing at the end of
  the future; or I would simply just run in self
  protection.

But I'm not sure if 身 refers to the author or other person and I don't know if my interpretation of 末での選択 is correct (selection/choice at the end of..)

Then I have this part:

いやリューク、アンタ仮にじゃなくて正真正銘混じりっけ無し純度
100％の死神だろ。きっと他の死神から常々死神らしくないと言わ
れ続けてきたものだから、リュークも自分が何者なのか自身が持て
なくなってきているのでしょう。まさしくアイデンティティー・クライシ
ス！　デスノート第三部はリュークの自分探しの旅です。いつものこ
とですが嘘です。

This is a comment I found of what Ryuk says when Light complains to him
about not telling him important stuff earlier.

What Ryuk said was:

  仮にも死神である俺を恐れることもなく、媚びることもなく、こういうこ
  とに関してはガンガン突っ込んでくる

It seems like the author of the blog is making fun of Ryuk referring to himself as a shinigami but I can't really get the meaning of what he's saying. This line in particular:

  いやリューク、アンタ仮にじゃなくて正真正銘混じりっけ無し純度100％の死神だろ

I think this line means: well/no Ryuk, not hypothetically, you seem like a 100% of purity Non-mixed genuine shinigami.

But why does he use 仮にじゃなくて? is it related to that part where Ryuk says 仮にもも死神である俺を恐れることもなく?


texts:
In「である」、my previous understanding was that the「で」functions the same way as the "method/means" particle「で」by making everything that came before it attached to「で」and that「ある」is just regular「ある」just like usual.
However, I have been told elsewhere that this「で」is a copula. This begs the question as to why it is before「ある」。 Furthermore, whenever I see a chart of です conjugations, I don't see「で」on it. So, is the「で」functioning as a copula for the preceding portion of its clause? If so, then why is it not「だ」？
I also have a comprehensive Japanese Linguistics book here, but its explanation (while extremely thorough like a legal text) does not describe how it works.


texts: What does something like 'ウオエエエエエ' express?

texts: The context is that the character was in the middle of a long winded speech about something, then noticed their friends weren't paying attention, and got a super annoyed looked on their face, like this, before making the sound. Anyone know? Because Google and my usual sources turned up extremely little


texts:
そんな素敵なライブにナレーションで参加させて頂けて本当に嬉しいです

What does that sentence mean? I'm confused with the use of particle "de" there. As far as I know, "de" is used to indicate location or time of action. And ナレーション is neither location nor time.


texts: What situations can 初めてのX and 最初のX be used in?

texts:
大谷選手がアメリカの大リーグの初めての試合でヒットを打つ
  Ootani makes a hit in his first (ever) match in the American major league.

I started wondering about when you can use 初めてのX. I understand はじめて means 'for the first time', so I'm assuming this is his first ever game for America. If it was his first game in his second season for America, for example, would 初めての試合 still be appropriate? If not, what would you say?

My guess is to use 最初の試合, but I really don't know. I saw this question on the difference between 初めのX and 初めてのX, but I wonder where 最初 fits into this?

This question is also highly related but I'm not sure it quite answers my question.


texts:
マリコの部屋へ 電話をかけて
男と遊んでる芝居 続けてきたけれど

My translation would be something like:
I called the place of Maiko to talk about the boy that I am playing around with

Is my translation of playing around with correct?
Also, it refers to just 1 man, right?


texts: Does XをYと感じる　here mean to feel X to be Y?

texts:
I am not confident I parsed this correctly (text from Mishima's Patriotism). Please confirm or deny:

  中尉は麗子が「お供をする」と言った言葉を、新婚の夜から、自分が麗子を導いて、このばに及んで、それを澱みなく発音させたという大きな教育の成果と感じた。

Can this be summed up as 中尉はA言葉を、B成果と感じた。, as in the lieutenant felt the words (described by A) to be the product (of his "education", described by B). (I am not not looking for translation, but rather for whether I understood the underlying syntax correctly).

Thank you.


texts: どうしようもない vs 気がしてならない

texts:
What's the difference in using どうしようもない and 気がしてならない. For example:

どうしようもなく行きたい
行きたい気がしてならない

I think both of them translate to "I can't help but want to go".


texts: 行かせる means "send" rather than "make someone go"

texts:
行かせる - Make someone go

I saw this sentence, "息子を公立学校に行かせてください" and it seems to translate to "Please send your child to a public school" instead of "please make your child go to a public school". The question is, why does the causative form of 行く translates to "send" instead of "make someone go"


texts: Is there any clear distinction in Japanese for the words 拉致 and 誘拐?

texts: I'm writing an essay about the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens. In English literature I found that the concepts "abduction" and "kidnapping" are used interchangeably. I'm not familiar with Japanese language, but some languages have clear distinctions between words where other languages have not. I wondered if the Japanese translations of the words can be used interchangeably and if not, what the distinctions are. Do they have different connotations?


texts: Can someone explain me the use of は and が in this sentence?

texts:
田中さんは今日来ますか。
はい、来ますよ。あ、田中さんが 来ました。

Does Tanaka san come today?
Yes, he does. Oh, Tanaka san came.

I don't understand the use of が in the second sentence. Can someone help me?


texts: Does 青少年を外出させないように refer to to letting a youth out alone, or in any circumstances?

texts:
Over at Travel.SE, there's a bit of a debate on how to parse this piece of Tokyo legislation:

  (深夜外出の制限)

  第十五条の四

  保護者は、通勤又は通学その他正当な理由がある場合を除き、深夜(午後十一時から翌日午前四時までの時間をいう。以下同じ。)に青少年を外出させないように努めなければならない。

I glossed the bolded part as "guardians... must endeavour to not let youth go out" late at night, which seems clear enough.  Now the question is, does this refer only to youth going out by themselves (alone)?  Or is it also illegal for the youth to go out together with their guardian if there is no "good reason" (正当な理由) for them to be out?

Specifically, the original question was asking whether it would be illegal for a visiting tourist to take their 15-year-old son out shopping or sightseeing late at night.


texts: Is there a word for the type of onigiri that comes in the triangular wrap that keeps the nori fresh?

texts:
The term "onigiri" covers all kinds of rice balls, with or without filling, and with or without nori seaweed around it.

Is there a specific term that only covers the one class of onigiri available in supermarkets and konbinis that is triangular in shape, has a filling, and is wrapped in a special way that keeps the nori separate from the rice until it is opened so that it stays crisp?

(Side note: In Korean I don't know of a generic term for onigiri but there is a term for this specific kind: "삼각김밥" [samgak gimbap].)


texts:
同じで分かり合ってる is a sentence in a lyrics of this song https://utaten.com/lyric/jb81104032/

Some sources translate this as “We understand each other the same”

Some as “We understand each other because we are the same”

Which one is correct ?

In my opinion I think 2nd sentence is correct. Because I think that it has to be 同じく to form 1st sentence.

Thank you in advance.


texts: noun + ばかり [exclusivity sense] ambiguity

texts:
My understanding of ばかり so far (please correct if any of this is wrong):

After TE form, the meaning is unambiguous as it applies to the verb, e.g.:

  本を読んでばかりいる。Do nothing but read books.

However, placed after the noun

  本ばかりを読む

The meaning is left ambiguous as it could mean

1) "read books only (i.e nothing else, not magazines, not brochures etc., no implication on how much time the person spends actually reading.).

Alternatively, same as before
2) ONLY read books (i.e. do nothing else BUT read, no implication on the actual material).

However, in another example from a grammar book:

  ジョンはビールばかり飲んでいる

It's listed as "John is drinking beer the whole time (he doesn't do anything else)."

I'm not sure whether the meaning is left ambiguous here with this particular translation picked arbitrarily (which would confirm my previous understanding) or one-way only (which would oppose it, to some degree). Looking for help!


texts: くださるんじゃ...: Formal, semi-casual, poor usage, etc.?

texts:
それって先生が決めて、一緒に行ってくださるんじゃ…。

*From Japanesetest4you.

My understanding:

くださる is the honorific version of くれる
ん is from の, explanatory
じゃ, contracted では, usually in the form of rhetorical じゃない, or the slangy じゃん

My problem here:

Is ない left out of the sentence? I think I've only seen じゃない/じゃん so far.
くださる is 尊敬語 unless I had been hopelessly mistaken for months. However, this くださるんじゃ somehow looks, and sounds really casual to me. Is the speaker sneaking in a hint of 砕けた言い方 in the guise of 敬語? I also feel that by speaking this way, the speaker is hiding a sense of affected ignorance of responsibility, but I may be reading too much into this.

教えていただけませんか。お願いいたします！


texts: な directly after a noun (not a な-adjective)

texts:
While reading a grammar book, I read the following explanation of な

  な na, a masculine ne

  Both sexes use ne, but male speakers often use na instead. There are other uses of na common to both genders, but it's mostly masculine to use it as the equivalent of a rhetorical tag question that expects or solicits agreement. One important difference: na cannot be used directly after a noun the way ne is used in the example 「まあ、ふきのとう。春ねえ。」 whether as an exclamation or as a tag question/request for confirmation.

Why can't な be used directly after a common, non-な-adjective noun without declarative だ like ね? What would the meaning be if it were? For example, if a Japanese speaker read「まあ、ふきのとう。春なあ」how would the interpretation change?

Edit: わ, ぞ, and ぜ also require the declarative だ at the end of noun-type sentences. Why?


texts: Appropiate anime or media to learn japanese

texts:
This might be an off topic question. If it is just close my question.

I want to know what anime do you recommend to learn japanese? The problem with the anime I've watch so far is that they tend to speak pretty casual and some of them use yakuza way to talk. Is there any appropriate anime for those who want to learn Japanese or should I give up on anime and learn from a different media (drama, news, etc.).

I don't pretend to learn only from listening (I've been studying japanese for about 5 years). It's just that I think that learning any language is not only reading books.


texts: There's a series that started airing where I live, 謎解きはディナーのあとで, and along with greatly enjoying the style, I've been very fascinated by the butler's very formal manner of speaking. What I never got, though, was what powers お忘れなきよう, which is what he says after telling his mistress about what the main lesson she needs to take with her is. Does anyone know? Is it something along the lines of "Let us never speak of this again"?