texts: Help understanding the grammar of this sentence

texts:
「―――八人目は良かった。帰ったらもう一度やってみよう」
  黄理は今夜殺めて回ったうちの一人、三十余人の中で最も迅速に仕留められた手段を思い返す。
  そこには楽しみも苦しみもない。
  七夜黄理には、そういった感情が欠落している。
  故に彼は七夜の当主に相応しい。
  殺人を愉しむのでもなく恐れるのでもなく。ただ行為として没頭できる事が、殺人鬼としての天性なのだ。

  [The eighth one went down pretty good. When we get home I'll try again]
  Kiri Nanaya...
  In that there is no enjoyment nor regret.
  Nanaya Shiki Lacks those emotions.
  That is why is well fit for the position of family head.
  Without enjoying killing nor fearing it. Simply as an act in which he can immerse himself is because of his natural predisposition of a killer.

殺めて回った=Is 回る　an auxiliary verb here? What does this compound mean?
うちの一人=One person out of a group
三十余人の中で=amongst 30 people of the other group
最も迅速に=Fastest
仕留められた=To dispose of/ To kill (potential)
手段=Concrete way to reach a goal.
思い返す=Think back.

I tried to analyze how all of this ties together grammaticaly but I am no sure.

  黄理は今夜殺めて回ったうちの一人、三十余人の中で最も迅速に仕留められた手段を思い返す。
  Kiri, tonight one out of the people he killed, amongst those 30 of the other group he thinks back about the fastest way he was able to kill.

So rephrasing that

  Tonight amongst the 30 members of the other group he thinks back about the one of those who he killed with the fastest method.

Could It be parsed like this?

今夜殺めて回ったうちの一人 and 三十余人の中で最も迅速に仕留められた手段 are coordinates and both of them together are the Direct object of 思い返す.

I do not understand why after
黄理は今夜殺めて回ったうちの一人
there is no conjunction to
三十余人の中で最も迅速に仕留められた手段.
I would think there would be some conjunction.


texts: How do I remember a Kanji with more than two readings and when to use them

texts: I'm currently studying Kanji using a flashcard app on my computer. I do know that there are two readings for each character, On and Kun. What I don't understand, is when a Kanji has more than two readings. Three or four readings I can remember, but once I get to more readings with say 10 readings, that both confuses and concerns me. Say for the Kanji 上. I know its three On readings: ジョウ ショウ, and シャン. but the Kun readings scare me. うえ、 -うえ、 うわ-、 かみ、 あ.げる、 -あ.げる、 あ.がる、 -あ.がる、 あ.がり、 -あ.がり、 のぼ.る、 のぼ.り、 のぼ.せる、 のぼ.す、 たてまつ.る. My question is when do I use these readings, and do I need to know all of them?


texts:
I am quite confused as to how "見る" has suddenly changed into another word, albeit similar meaning when you do this: "見な."

My question is, how has the "na" appeared and the "ru" disappear?


texts:
Could someone please help with the correct answer to this N3 challenge? I thought the correct one is　ために　but apparently I'm wrong.

今度の試合に勝てる　（ために）一生けんめいがんばります。

Variants given: ために　ことに　ように　みたいに


texts: Is "着物デート" the Japanese for "kimono date", and what exactly does it mean?

texts: I came across the English term "kimono date" (example 1, 2, 3), and I assume it's the English translation of a Japanese phrase. Is the equivalent Japanese "着物デート", and does it mean a romantic date done while wearing a kimono (or a yukata)?


texts:
人気者がそろっているというだけで、華やいだかんじになるというものだ。
  Simply having popular people around makes for a cheerful feeling.

I think the ものだ used here is number 2) from this answer. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I was wondering what additional nuance という adds. Can it be omitted without changing the meaning?

I guess the same question can apply to the first half of the sentence (というだけで). Do the two というs pair up somehow?


texts: does maigo work as a name for a musical artist

texts: I have been pursuing a career in music under the name “Maigo” and I even have the kanji writing of the word tattooed on myself.  Would this make sense in japan


texts: What's the difference between [沈黙]{ちん・もく} and [静寂]{せい・じゃく}?

texts:
My inclination is that 沈黙 is more about the objective lack of sound/talking, while 静寂 has a more serene feeling to it (like a "quiet" picture of a lake; a baby sleeping in its mother's arms; swinging on the porch at sunset; etc.)

Am I correct, or am I looking too much into it and they are more-or-less interchangeable?

Edit:  Hmm, maybe my Google Image search of 静寂 confirms this?


texts: What are the moistened wrapped towelettes called in restaurants?

texts: What are the moistened packaged towelettes called in restaurants? They are used to wipe the hands prior to eating. Thanks!


texts: Can someone help me understand Japanese particles?

texts:
This my first post, so hello everyone!

wa vs ga: When I introduce myself to someone, is it always assumed that my name is already the topic even though nobody has mentioned it before? I've never heard anyone say "boku no namae ga". We always say "wa". Also, what happens if I am already talking about a topic, but provide completely new and astounding information about it, e.g, I spend an hour talking about my dog to my friend and then I suddenly tell him: "my dog can fly"? Ignoring the absurdity of the statement, would I use ga or wa here?
Does the subject always need to be a specific word, e.g, if I am talking about food do I still need to use "ga" for every new food that I mention?
o vs wa: For example, when do I use "gohan o tabe masu," and when do I need "gohan wa tabe masu." Gohan may be the topic but it is also the object of an action. Is it interchangeable in this case?


texts: What are these suggestions in hiragana typing?

texts: What are these in hiragana typing when I want to type wa?


texts:
When saying that someone or something is both this and that, is XもYもです appropriate?

  彼は画家も教師もです。

I ask both for written and spoken. I feel like the copula is already a である so it should be something more akin to:

  彼は画家(で)も教師でもあります。

Or something. But then that sounds formal or written-only.

As a non-beginner, this question is frankly a bit embarrassing to ask, as it's so fundamental, but I feel like it was never really specifically covered. Either that or getting used to reading more written form Japanese has messed with my expectations.


texts:
I came across the word in a manga in a situation that a teenage boy is going to explain something to a group of kids. I cannot find the word in online japanese dictionary.

Here is the sentence.

耳{みみ}をかっぽじってようく きくがいい!


texts:
Consider the following quote from this article:

  和菓子は季節とともに変化するもの。パッと見て何を模したかわかる形もあれば、どんな意味が込められているのか考えるものもあり……。

As I understand it, the last clause is supposed to mean "there are ones (ie. certain 和菓子) that make you ponder about what kind of meaning they have been imbued with". However, the phrase 考えるもの suggests that it is the 和菓子 that does the pondering. There are hence two possibilities:

This is informal, poor use of the language.
This is a pattern of the language that I have not been aware of.

I would be thankful for an explanation.


texts: Why is と being used after the past tense in this sentence?

texts:
鳥が警戒声というものを発する。敵が来たと仲間たちに教えるために。

I thought it was only used after 辞書形 in these cases.


texts:
Does this bit contain 2段, for instance?

Would 3段抜き refer to a write-up containing 3 such 段?


texts: How to say "He likes something" without using は?

texts:
Typically, you would say 「彼は寿司が好きです。」 to say "He likes sushi." But assuming the "topic" of the sentence was something else and you couldn't use は without repeating it (if that's an option), what particles would you use?
…彼◯寿司◯好きです。

Edit: Should also clarify that I mean the subject is necessary. Removing 彼 or the person's name is not an option.


texts: What is the subject of this sentence? Is it the book (mentioned) or the author (who is not mentioned)?

texts:
The following sentence/phrase comes from the Progressive (プログレッシブ）dictionary:

  この本は自然主義について論じている｜This book deals with naturalism

In English people often say something like "This books addresses the issue of...." or even "This book discusses...." instead of "In this book the author deals with....".  Is it possible to use verbs such as 論じる (to discuss) in the same way in Japanese?

Although the topic of  this sentence is clear, I am not sure whether the subject  is the book or the author (who is not mentioned).  If the sentence was rewritten to make the subject clear would it be:

  著者がこの本で自然主義について論じている

Or is the following possible:

  この本が自然主義について論じている

Or are both possible?

(I can't tell from the entry for 論じる in my other dictionary (大辞泉) and I am not 100% sure the locational particle is required with は (it is for example optional in the sentence 彼[に]は英語ができない), or whether it would be で or に.)


texts: Meaning of the verb 受ける in the phrase 試験を受ける

texts:
I wonder, how to say just  "I took the exam"?

The thing is, that saying 試験【しけん】を受ける 【うける】 could have two meanings, right?
1) The fact, that you took the exam, and 2) success in passing actually.

Am I right? If yes, how should I say "I took an exam", not "I passed an exam" - as f.ex. I am still waiting for results.


texts:
I'm trying to understand the phrase 素朴概念 in the following context (this is regarding pair programming):

  たとえば，ペアの選定を無作為とするとき，偶然，同じトピックの理解に行き詰っている二人が選ばれたとき，この二人だけの学習を放置することが，素朴概念を強化したり，あるいは，典型的な誤概念に陥ってしまう事態を引き起こさないのでしょうか？

I've found some blogs and webpages using 'naive concept' as a direct English equivalent, but I don't get how that fits with the above sentence in context. Is the jist of it something like, "If both people hit a roadblock with their understanding of a certain topic, it strengthens their misunderstanding of the topic?"

Edit: I'm also having trouble with 誤概念, another term I've never heard of and can't seem to track down a translation of online to help me understand. I'm guessing 'false concept' may be the meaning, but would love any opinions.


texts: this sentence containing an attributive phrase or is it 2 separate sentences with an omitted comma in between

texts:
I found this paragraph with a translation:

  この選択に至った理由はたくさんありますが、全て私の意思であり、その意思をKONAMI様は尊重して契約解除を決定して下さいました。
  I have many reasons for reaching this conclusion but it is all my decision. I am grateful for Konami for respecting that decision.

I don't know how to interpret this part :

  その意思をKONAMI様は尊重して契約解除を決定して下さいました。

Is その意思をKONAMI様は尊重して modifying 契約解除?  because I don't know how to parse it to match the translation


texts:
彼は、外見はともかくとして、性格が良く、信頼できる人だ。
Leaving aside his outward appearance, my elder brother is a trustworthy person with good personality.

Question
In my understanding, the sentence should be as follows.

彼は、外見はともかくとして、性格が良くて、信頼できる人だ。

Why was て omitted in this relative clause?


texts: What is the term for Japanese Language Stack Exchange in Japanese?

texts: What is the Japanese Language Stack Exchange called in Japanese? I came up with 日本語のスタック交換.


texts:
I am currently studying for JLPT N5 using Nihongo So-Matome, and one of the practice questions requires me to choose a sentence with a similar meaning to the one that is given, which is

たいてい宿題をしてから寝ますが、時々朝します。

Which i interpreted as

"Usually, I sleep after doing homework, sometimes I do it in the morning"

This itself already sounds a bit wonky to me, but the answer given is

朝か晩に宿題をします

I'm not sure if か is a short for から here, but even if it is, the 2 sentences don't seem to share the same meaning? Is this a case of a bad translation from the textbook, or am I missing some basic grammar that is preventing me from understanding the sentence.

Thank you!


texts: *冷えた*スープを温める: Is 冷える a misuse?

texts:
My understanding is that 冷える describes the state of going from room temperature to a lower one, e.g. to chill beer, to get cold (weather, relationship), etc. On the other hand, 冷める is about going from a high temperature to room temperature.

If the above holds true, how come this sentence found under a dictionary entry defies such definition:

  ･冷えたスープを温める
  (Entry "温める," taken from ルミナス、研究社)

I do not think they are referring to gazpacho (served cold) and the like, because it does not make much sense to heat up something you intentionally let chill, that which is meant to be cold in the first place. Neither do I think it is a mere typo, since I believe a mistake as simple as such would have been edited out in a published dictionary.

*Much to my dismay, found under their 冷める entry:

  スープが冷めないようになべをストーブの上にのせておいた。

ご指導いただけませんでしょうか。お願いいたします！


texts: Difference between [行く末]{ゆくすえ}, 将来{しょうらい} and 未来{みらい}

texts: I've been looking around and I got that the three words can mean "future". Is there a way to differentiate them? Can they be used the same way?


texts: origin of western names for eating utensils

texts: Did Americans introduce western words for forks, spoons and knives?


texts: Whats the difference between meaning and connotation of the different parts of まるで。。。かのように

texts:
Lately I have come across two new “Grammar structures.” (I struggle to call them grammar because they are just phrases, but whatever.)

まるで。。。ように and かのように.

I understand they can both work together, but what’s the difference between each of them.
For example comparing:

彼はまるで天才のように俺たちを見下げた,
彼は天才であるかのように俺たちを見下げた; And
彼は天才のように俺たちを見下げた.

I take it that まるで and かの add an aspect of ‘just’ like something. But does each of these just add emphasis or am I missing something majorly?
And to sum it up I guess what is the connotation if it is all together:

彼はまるで天才であるかのように俺たちを見下げた。


texts: Romanization of kanji compounds: when are spaces used?

texts:
I don't know if the answer depends on the system used. Information on this is welcome too, but mainly I'm interested in the Hepburn system.

When romanizing a kanji compound, how do you decide if you should use a space or not? For example, should 女教師 be "Onnakyoushi" or "Onna Kyoushi"? Should 生徒会長 be "Seitokaichou" or "Seito Kaichou" or perhaps even "Seitokai Chou"? What about 沖縄開発庁長官, 銀河鉄道, 銀魂, 修学旅行?

Is there even a correct\established method, or is it just a matter of preference and there are no right or wrong answers?


texts: How to say "about" as in "to read about"

texts:
I wonder how to say something like

  Now I'm reading about ways to get to Kyoto from Tokyo.

I know the necessary words but I wonder how to say this "about". Will it be okay if I just write this?

  今、東京から京都まで行く方法について読んでいます


texts:
In my textbook it states there are three groups of verbs used with て form when followed by the helping verb いる

  (1) verbs that describe continuous states  (2) verbs that describe activities that last for some time  (3) verbs that descirbe changes that are more or less instantaneous

based on the "semantics"(I take that to mean characteristics) of a verb it can fall into any of these three groups.

For the first group I all know is ある and いる and they are never used with いる. As for the second and third group this is where the confusion starts. Some verbs fall into group 2

  verb group 2 ex: たべる、よむ、まつ

and some, fall into group 3

  verb group 3 ex: いく、 くる、 わかる、 のる

I can't tell which category each verb goes into and depending on the category depends on the meaning of the verb. Although the chapter gives a lot of examples and shows me which category they go in I can't seem to figure them all out. I know in the following chapters it will give more verbs too so I'd like to be able to figure out where they go.  The chapter also gave a good example on how determine whether a verb belongs to group 2 or 3 by checking if the verb allows for a phrase describing duration if it doesn't its in group 3. I've been trying to use this to sort the two but I keep running into examples that I think make sense but are in group three.

  ex. コンピューターは いちじかんけしました   the computer turned off for 1 hour

This makes sense to me but is also a verb in 3. So I'm just wondering if anyone could teach me a trick or give me advice as to how to tell what category a verb is in. (sorry for the longer question)


texts: Help with nuances of a list please? X や Y も..."X and Y, as well" or "X as well as Y"?

texts:
I'm just double-checking the nuances of a translation. The speaker is listing several people here:

  オレやひろしも藤岡さん【ふじおかさん】やお前【おまえ】の両親【りょうしん】だって黙まってねえ

Contextually, the speaker, listener and Hiroshi are a group of three close friends. The presence of the も is kind of confusing me on whether the speaker's saying "I, as well as Hiroshi," or "Hiroshi and me, as well".

Basically, like the subject header said: "X and Y, as well" or "X as well as Y"?

I mean, is the speaker using the も to add Hiroshi to the list?

  "I, and Hiroshi too, Fujioka-san and even your parents, we won't stay quiet."

Or is the speaker using the も to add himself and Hiroshi to the list?

  "I and Hiroshi, as well as Fujioka-san and even your parents, we won't stay quiet."

I'm assuming it's the second one, both because of the context and the や there.

I mean, if the speaker had wanted to treat himself and Hiroshi as separate incidents using も, then he'd have said "オレもひろしも" right? "I, as well as Hiroshi,"

But, instead he used "オレやひろしも" which leads me to believe the speaker is treating himself and Hiroshi as one item with the や and then linking them to the rest of the list with the も "Hiroshi and me, as well as etc."

Anyway, some confirmation would be nice.


texts:
I've been learning Japanese for a few days and there is one thing that I want to know:

How is "forbids" expressed on signs in Japan?  And how in formal texts?

I suggest that the form "[x]は　きんし　です。" is more colloquial and that in signs and in formal text there is the form "いけません" (= it is forbidden to...).

You can, if you want, make examples (e.g. for signs: Smoking forbidden ...; or formal texts...)


texts: Correct romanization for ベオウルフ (Beowulf) and the use of ō

texts:
I want to know the correct romanization for ベオウルフ.

For me, it's Beōrufu, because the pronunciation of Be-o-wulf has a long vowel (oo/ou/ow/oh). However, some people discord for being a foreign name.


texts: How can I tell whether a Japanese company's name is in hiragana or katakana?

texts:
So today in class, I actually learned that the Japanese game company "Sega"'s name is actually written in Katakana, not Hiragana.  I learned the same also applies to some other notable companies, such as Toyota and Honda. But it seems there are also companies that don't have katakana names, such as Mitsubishi.

Is there any way to tell right off the bat whether or not a Japanese company's name is in hiragana or katakana?    When I asked my teacher, she mentioned it might have something to do with how famous or popular the company may have been.


texts:
Can は mean "at least" in some situations?

For example, 10回は＝"at least 10 times?"

How does this work?

This is an example:

美味しかったぁ。腹いっぱい。今日のところはジャスミン茶は諦めよう。何回もドリンクバー行くの恥ずかしいし。一人じゃなかったら余裕で10回は行ってやるんだからな！


texts:
I am trying to say something like "The button labeled 'blue' at the lower right is red."

I know that adjectives can be connected together with their て-form. It seems like maybe the the same should happen with verbs, but the ordering and sentence connection implied by the て-form makes this sound awkward to me. For some reason, I also cannot find examples on this.

The two verbs I am thinking of are ある and 付けられる (labeled?).

My current translation is 右下にあって「blue」と付けられたボタンは赤いです。

May someone explain how to connect with multiple noun-modifying verbs? Also, what is a natural translation for my example sentence?

Thanks.


texts: Can someone explain the use of こと in these types of sentences?

texts:
Ok, still a newbie to Japanese. I've run across the word こと more and more recently. I'm having a hard time understanding what effect it's having on the sentence. For example, although I know the meaning of all the sentences below, I can't tell you what こと means or what it's doing to the sentence. Can someone give me some insight into its meaning? Thanks. See examples below

最初は国道を走りましたが、混んでいましたので、高速道路で行くことにしました。 First I took the National Road, but traffic was heavy, so we decided to take the subway.

トラックを追い越すことは難しいです It’s hard to pass trucks.

静岡辺りでスピード違反でパトカーに捉まってしまいました。すごい罰金を払うことになりました Around Shizuoka, we were stopped by a police car for speeding. I had to pay a huge fine.

雨が降っていましたから、地下鉄で行くことにしました Because it was raining, I decided to go by subway


texts:
しかし、許可をもらわないでコピーした漫画をインターネットで読む人が増えているため、漫画全部の売り上げは少なくなっています。
  However, because the number of people who read manga on the internet – that has been copied without permission – is increasing, total manga sales are decreasing.

No problem with understanding (I hope), but 漫画全部の売り上げ looks weird to me. I feel it ought to be 漫画の全部の売り上げ. Is this a typo? If not, why is it okay to write it like this?


texts: In Japanese, how do you tell the reader that a quotation is literally translated from the original when the original sounds strange?

texts:
In cases where the original wording of a quotation sounds strange, and thus the Japanese translation of it sounds unnatural, my advisor says I need to add a note each time in my academic paper to tell the reader that the quote is literally translated to Japanese from unusual wording in the original.

Is there a standard format for this in Japanese academic writing? Or how can I indicate this to the reader so he/she doesn't assume I mis-translated?

For example, my translation:

  保子夫人が回復したという電報の知らせを受けたとき、宮部は「…もしかしたらあなたが危篤状態だったのかもと思い、電撃を受けた」と述べ、

from the English original wording:

  When Miyabe received a cablegram notifying him that his wife was feeling better, he confessed that “it gave me an electric shock, intimating you had been once perhaps very seriously ill,”

"It gave me a shock" sounds normal in English but Miyabe's extra-dramatic "electric shock" is not common, so how can I let the reader know that 「電撃」 is a translation of his specific word choice? Should I put a brief note in parentheses inside of the quotation, like this:

  保子夫人が回復したという電報の知らせを受けたとき、宮部は「…もしかしたらあなたが危篤状態だったのかもと思い、電撃（宮部の創造的な原作に忠実である翻訳）を受けた」と述べ、


texts: Position of volitional form and scope of かな ending

texts:
Referring to throwing away old clothes to improve your life:

  この中のいくらかを捨てて、スッキリしてみようかな。
  Maybe I will throw some of them away and try feeling refreshed.

My translation is a bit silly.

1) Does かな act on the whole sentence or just the second clause, i.e does she wonder if throwing clothes away will make her feel refreshed or does she wonder about the act of throwing away the clothes too?

2) I don't really understand してみよう here. Presumably this is the volitional form of してみる (I will try to doing ...). But, you don't normally 'try to feel refreshed'; it sounds weird.

I'd like to move てみよう to the end of the first clause so that I get "I will try throwing some of them away, and maybe I'll feel refreshed", but then I don't think you can add a second clause, because 捨ててみよう can't be turned into て形 can it? Is that why it all has to move to the end of the second clause?


texts:
Is て sometimes dropped in Japanese Novella?

I'm asking as I recall being told (in one of my previous question's comment section) that て is sometimes dropped in Japanese novels. And yet, when I went to double check this information by searching the individual comment section of all my previously asked questions, I couldn't find the above claim.


texts: What's the Japanese word for the stuff after the credits of a movie?

texts:
In English, we call footage that plays after the credits of a movie a "stinger". See, for example, the wiktionary entry, definition 8:

  A scene shown on films or television shows after the credits.

What would you call this in Japanese? I guess you could describe it as エンドロールの後の映像, but is there a more concise / punchier way of referring to it?


texts: The one answer I have really found says there is no semantic difference. Is there a formality difference? Is する為には more formal than するには?


texts:
Back to basics. Sometimes I see something that undoes everything I think I know.

  私はあなたがいつも忙しいことを分かっています。
  私はあなたがいつも忙しいと分かっています。
  I know that you are always busy.

Which of the above is correct? I have seen several instances of 分かる used with と, but I'm confused because nothing is being quoted, either directly or indirectly when using this verb.

When/is it ever correct to use と分かっています if there isn't an implied verb like 思う/言う etc. in between.


texts: Legal characters for first names include: hiragana, katakana, jinmeiyo and joyo kanji. What about latin letters?

texts:
Is it legal for parents to give to their child a first name with latin letters (romaji, I guess), instead of using katakana, hiragana, or kanji?

For example, if Japanese parents want to give their children the English name John, can they avoid using katakana and just use the original latin letters?  Is this legal or not?


texts: Words implied after saying "終わりだ。何も。" in footage of the Mar. 2011 tsunami?

texts:
In video footage of the tsunami in March, 2011, someone said while watching the beginning of the destruction of a harbor:

  終わりだ。何も。

Is he thinking

  終わりだ。何も残らない。

So the correct translation is:

  This is the end of everything here. Nothing will remain.

To inject explicit "future tense", could I say something like this:

  終わりだ。何も残らなさそうだ。

But that "future tense" Japanese sounds stilted and weird even in writing?


texts: What are the ways to conjugate "I" and "to be" (in romaji)

texts:
I think being able to to specify who you are talking about and yourself is very crucial in a language so, how do they do it?

To clarify I know in French there is 6 ways to specify a person:

Je (I), tu (you (informal)), il/elle (he and she, respectively (can also mean it)), nous (we), vous (you guys/formal you), and ils/elles (the boys and the girls, respectively).

And in French the verb To be is specific to the type of person:

Je [suis] (I am), tu [es] (you are (informal)), il/elle [est] (he/she/it is), nous [sommes] (we are), vous [êtes] (you guys are/you are (formal)), and ils/elles sont (they are).

So my question is, how would that be done in in Japanese keeping in mind both genders?

For example:
How would you say:
I am happy. (In French it would be: Je suis content(e if you were a girl).

If Japanese is different, then what makes in different. What does it have that French/English don't and what is similar.


texts: Alternate expressions for "a little while"

texts:
I noticed in my daily Japanese there are many opportunities where I want to express the concept of "in a little while". For example:

Let's go home in a little while.

Typically I would say this using the following Japanese:

もう少しで帰ろうね。

I think this is somewhat natural (if I am wrong please let me know), but I am looking for other similar phrases that are also natural and appropriate for everyday spoken conversation.
How are these?

もう少ししたら帰ろうね。
もう少し経ったら帰ろうね。

I think I can replace 少し in the above expressions with ちょっと, but I am looking for alternate ways to express a similar idea.


texts: What is grammar of strange form of やめる verb like "やめたくなったら"?

texts:
I found the word やめたくなったら. I think it's a conditional past form of やめる. Or maybe it's やめた conjugated with なったら (conditional form of なる). But the く in the middle distracts me: I can't find this form in a dictionary. Can you help me to find some grammar for that?
And all I can guess for translation is only like "if want to stop".


texts:
What's the difference for using these?
Examples:

さんじごじゅうぷん
ろくじよんじゅうごふん


texts:
A famous Napoleon quote is sometimes written like this:

余の辞書に不可能の文字はない。
The word impossible is not in my dictionary.

Does 文字 actually mean "word" in this sentence? I thought it always means "character". Or is it used as a plural that refers to all three symbols? Would the "feel" of this quote change if I put 言葉 (or maybe even 単語) there instead? Are there other situations where I can replace these words with 文字?


texts: What quality would 勝手 describe in these contexts?

texts:
I looked it up in online dictionaries and they didn't really prove useful. "Selfish" or "convenience" doesn't seem to fit.

So this is a quote from Niji-iro Tohgarashi

  勝手な奴だ。

This is the sentence a brother said about his sister, after he found out that much as she hated insects, she seemed to like fireflies (which are insects), a lot. I figure what he means is "she hates insects, yet she likes fireflies which are insects, so she's kinda self-serving in a way, likes what looks beautiful and hates what doesn't". But "selfish" sounds a bit misleading/confusing, and harsh, and I'm not sure about the connotation of "self-serving" either.

Yet, the same word is used later

  害虫も雑草も人間の勝手な都合で分類されたもんだろ。

In this case, it describes the way people classify insects and grasses into categories like pests and weeds to their liking. They like what's good for them, and hate what isn't. In this context, both "selfish" and "self-serving" sound apt.

If both of these contexts were independent from each other, I would go with "Whatever suits her" with the former sentence, and "The selfish means" with the latter. But they are not independent within the bigger context of the manga. And both sentences use the same word. So I wonder is there a good way to describe those similar qualities ("a little self-serving, but not that serious" and "it's self-serving and now we're talking seriously") with the same word(s) in English that will sound natural and soothing for both sentences.


texts: Why is 「昨夜」 pronounced as 「ゆうべ」 {yuube} and 「今日」 as 「きょう」 {kyou}?

texts:
「ゆう」 is neither the kun'yomi nor on'yomi of 「昨」 and 「べ」 is not a pronunciation of 「夜」 either. The same can be said about the pronunciation 「きょう」 for 「今日」.

So how come the pronunciations of the two words are like those? If they are special, what was the origin of such pronunciations?

EDIT:

To respond to Mark Hosang answer on ゆうべ, from my dictionary software:

p/s: yup, the "sakuya" pronunciation is also there :)


texts:
When I was sentence mining, I found the following sentence:

  自分の名前も顔も出さず ただ傷つけるためだけに

Could someone explain how 出さず was conjugated from 出す?


texts: Does 「もう〜Vている/ていた」always imply a resultant state?

texts: I learned that e.g. while 「彼は食べていた。」means "He was eating.",「彼はもう食べていた」means "He had already eaten." In that case, does using もう in this context always transform the meaning from a continuous state to a resultant state, or is it ambiguous? That is, what if I want to say "He was already eating?" I guess I can say something like 「彼はもう食べ始まっていた。」 to be unambiguous, but is simply 「彼はもう食べていた。」 still correct?


texts: First of all, I know next to nothing about Japanese, but this question came up to me recently. I was playing this board game called Shadow Hunters with my friends and on the cards below the English name, the Japanese name of the game was also written: シャドウハンタアス. Well, I noticed that the end of シャドウ was オウ and not オー and I thought that it was kind of wierd. My friend pointed out that maybe it should be read as ou and not ō. Which way is it? Are there rules for this? Thanks in advance.


texts: これしか食べない vs これ食べるしかない

texts:
Is there any nuance difference between having しか　before or after the verb? If not, which is more commonly used/sounds more natural?
I get a feeling like
これしか食べない translate to don't eat anything but this
while
これ食べるしかない translate to no choice but to eat this
but I'm not sure why this is the case grammatically.


texts: Why is "there" pronounced あそこ and not just あこ?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Irregularity of あ-series in demonstratives

Maybe this is a little hard to answer, but I'm curious why the typical これ/それ/あれ pattern doesn't apply to ここ/そこ/あそこ. Is anyone familiar with any etymological reasoning behind choosing あそこ as a reading over あこ?


texts: Comparing the "severity" of words of amount, degree, etc

texts:
I'm looking for lists of words/phrases of degree, ordered by how strong they are relative to each other.

For an example in English, I ran across this research recently: http://www.businessinsider.com/quantitative-perceptions-of-probability-words-2017-5

I was wondering if there are any similar lists for:

Degree... わずか　＜　なかなか　＜　とっても etc
Amount... すこし　＜　そこばく　＜　たくさん etc
Frequency... めったに　＜　よく　＜　しょっちゅう　＜　いつも etc
Severity/strength... やんわり　＜　つよく　＜　たいへん　etc
Surety... たしか　＜　きっと　＜　ひつぜん etc

By the way, I see a lot of questions about pairs of words on this list, i.e. "is this word more or less on the degree scale than this"... so if a good answer can be found that has a bunch of examples hierarchicalized, it might answer a lot of future questions all at once. 一石無限鳥 :-)


texts: Is a sentence ending with 誰だ but without か a question?

texts:
I found the following sentence in tangorin.com,

  台所をこんなに散らかしたのは誰だ。

And it is translated as

  Who's responsible for this mess in the kitchen?

Is it really a question or just a statement? Do we always need to translate it and end with a question mark (?)?


texts:
The first character starts by saying their view on a situation, the second then replies with an opinion that is viewed as ridiculous and unbelievable by the first. This first character then replies:

  ボクも大概だけどキミも相当だな

In the subtitles this is translated as:

  I have issues, but you're just as bad.

While I understand the translation for the second half, 「ボクも大概だ」 doesn't seem to make sense.「大概」 meaning 'generally' or 'mostly', is it akin to the phrase 'I'm not all there' in English?


texts: ［ターミネーター2］ How to pronouce Terminator 2 (name of the movie)

texts:
There is a famouse movie by James Cameron "Terminator 2"
In English it is pronounced "Terminator two".

In Wikipedia I found how the name of this movie is written in Japanese (katakana, of course)
［ターミネーター2］

But I do not know how Japanese pronounce it.

  ta:mine:ta: ni
  ta:mine:ta: futa
  ta:mine:ta: futatsu

Which one is correct?

or maybe deal is pretty crasy and the right answer is?

  ターミネーターチュ
  ta:mine:ta: tyu


texts: What is the difference between 日曜日【にちようび】and 日曜【にちよう】?

texts:
In all the japanese learning books, they teach you that xxxday ends with 曜日.

But sometimes I get to see xxx曜 only without the "Day" Kanji.

Can I shorten it when speaking too or is it only written ? And when can I shorten it ?


texts: An expression that means "speaking of X" or "while we're on this topic..."

texts:
I've been looking a way to introduce a topic when I think of something without just blurting out a new subject.

Say you're having a conversation about Oreos and how there used to be gingerbread Oreos (a real conversation topic I just had) and you wanted to say "speaking of things that are made with gingerbread, have you ever heard of X / there's this other thing."

Maybe "speaking of X" is a little different (I'm not entirely sure) like someone having a conversation about Donald Trump and you want to say "speaking of Donald Trump, have you heard about his scandal?" But maybe they're functionally the same.

Either way, is there an expression for this?　Xを言えば?


texts: Can ～たり～たり end with verbs other than する?

texts:
In the past, I have come across several examples of ～たり～たり seemingly being used with other final verbs than する, which is generally taught to be mandatory at the end of ～たり～たり phrases.

Is this grammatically acceptable?

Here are some example phrases from some quick googling:

立ったり座ったり働く
話したり笑ったり食べる

Also, these seem to be describing that final verb. They could be rephrased (as I understand them) as Vながら～たり～たりする, or something to that effect. Am I understanding this correctly?

Edit #1

As @snailboat pointed out in chat, my interpretation of these can also be rephrased as:

立ったり座ったりして働く
話したり笑ったりして食べる

Is this what those mean? Or are they, for example, 立ったり座ったり働いたりする?

My feeling is that they mean the former. However, one example I found which I feel could go either way is　「のんびりしたりうろついたり食べるのが好きです」. I'm not really sure how to interpret that one.

Edit #2

Can this also be done with adjectives? I have come across several examples:

可愛かったり美しい
ダルかったりキツい日


texts: What is the preference if reading a single Kanji?

texts: For example the term 人, is the preference for reading it hito or jin? There are no other characters associated with it.


texts: How do you say that you have/do not have a body part

texts:
For example, someone who was born without an arm, or has an extra leg and wants to be able to express this in words. Or perhaps in a fantasy setting have retractable wings, and wants to tell people this.

"I have wings"
"I have an extra arm"
"I only have nine fingers" etc.


texts: Is there any significant difference between ～ないと、～なきゃ、なくちゃ when they mean 'must'?


texts: I've seen the word for scissors "Hasami" written in hiragana " はさみ"  katakana "ハサミ" and kanji "鋏". which is the most common?


texts:
The scene goes like this. Takada and Tetsuya are talking about Reiko possibly having romantic feelings towards Tetsuya. Tetsuya says there is no way this is true since she flat out rejected him before (but the truth is that she rejected him because of her extremely ツンデレ-like character, plus she felt a certain social pressure since he is a "common man" and she is sort of like an お嬢様).
Takada responds :

哲也、俺お前のストレートな性格好きだよ。でもな、人の心ってのはもっと複雑なもんなんだ。麗子ちゃんだって恋する男には健気なんだと思う。それが上手く出せないだけだ。
(rough translation)
Tetsuya, I like how straightforward you are. But people aren't always so logical. I think even Reiko-chan is 健気 to a person she's in love with. She just doesn't know how to express that love.

And after that Tetsuya thinks to himself:

麗子さんが健気に俺を…

I'm having troubles grasping the exact meaning of 健気 here. From reading definitions and some articles I understand it has to do with her caring about him very seriously (and it also means that this attitude of hers is admirable and worth praise?). But I'm not quite sure why Takada uses 健気 here to convince Tetsuya, and I find difficult to put it in English words in a way that would sound nice.
What would be a good way to translate 健気 here? Would I need to restructure Takada's speech to convey the idea better?


texts:
To add some additional context, the character appears to have family problems (particularly father problems). Her birthday is on Christmas, however her father never celebrates it with her.

I don't quite understand what 実感 is referring to in the below.

  「……お父さん」

  見知らぬ人だ。

  わかってる。

  ちょっと口にしてみただけ。

  手にはケーキの紙箱と、赤と緑のクリスマスカラーのリボンでラッピングされた袋。

  ケーキにプレゼント、お約束中のお約束で、子供のためという父親の意気込みが見て取れた。

  「ひねくれたこと考えてるな、私」

  そういう言葉の端から実感が欠けていく


texts:
What does 'タメを作る' mean?

What exactly is being 'made/created'?

What is a 'タメ'(as I understand, is being used as a noun here)?

I see the phrase frequently being used in the context of sport, such as

'スイング中タメを作る方法' (how to create a タメ during your swing?) or

'タメを作るエクササイズ' (exercises for creating a タメ?)

is this phrase strictly a sports term or is it also used in non sports contexts?

I found a post on japanese yahoo answers where a person asks the exact same question in the context of soccer.(http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1353818073) The OP thinks it means '味方の上がりを待つこと？', and people are saying that's mostly correct. However this leaves me even more confused. 'Waiting for your allies to advance'? I'm perplexed.


texts:
あの、考古学者なんですが、インディ・ジョーンズみたいな帽子を被ってなくてすいません。

Although I am an archeologist...? (Although I assure you that I am an archeologist...)
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xs-XWk_oQA
0:23


texts: How to use 生かす to express "you'll do your best"?

texts: I have to answer the question "日本には「好きこそものの上手なれ」という 諺 がありますが、どんな意味だと思いますか。" using 生かす and my idea is to answer that if you are interested in something, you'll do your best. I started writing "あなたが何かに興味があるなら、あなたは..." and I don't know how to continue the sentence with you'll do your best using 生かす.


texts:
I came across with this term "使われ始めて". It was translated as "Started to use". My question is why the first verb is not in TE form, ie. 使われて始めて ?

Thanks a lot.


texts: Did I interprete the interaction of より and　前 correctly?

texts:
The following is an excerpt from an explanation by my language partner about the difference between "simple past" 送りました and 送っておきました。
She references a situation where she first sent me new-years stickers on Skype before sending me another message on italki where she reference her sending the stickers on skype before sending the message on italki via using a 送っておきました construction.

「送りました」 の場合、過去形になっているので、メッセージを書くよりも前に送ったことになりますが、メッセージとの関係は示されていません。

I think that よりも前に means something along the lines of "from before", although I dont really know what this も does here.

My attempt at translation:
"In case of '送りました', because it is past form, even though it takes the meaning of having it (=the skype stickers) sent from before writing the message, it doesn't demonstrate the relationship with the message."


texts: ご近所様に配達 - Where exactly this will be delievered?

texts:
One of the options on Japan Post re-delivery form is ご近所様に配達.

近所{きんじょ} neighborhood
配達{はいたつ} delivery

Delivering to customer's neighborhood is a little bit obscure.  Could someone explain where exactly my mail will be delivered if I select this option?


texts: Some grammar and sentence structure questions from a japanese game

texts:
So I am having a bit of trouble with some grammar/sentence structure from a native speaker. I think I have managed to translate most of the items correctly. it is worth noting this is a video game and a lot of this has to do with salvaging things from an ocean or sea.

One of the lines is 「おたからかいしゅ 」which I believe means treasure captured/caught/acquired. 「拐取」 or 「かいしゅ」 means abducted which I mean he did retrieve the chest from the bottom of a sea so that kind of makes sense. my problem is it does not appear that 「拐取」 is a verb or its one I don't understand also there's no particles like “wo” or “no” for me to make sense of this sentence. I am assuming it can be written as a full sentence that I would understand but the shorting process has left me confused about how it can be said like this.

The other thing he says when he's about to jump into the sea is 「みんあきたいしまたね」 again I'm a bit confused on how this can be grammatically said. I think it's supposed to mean everyone wait with anticipation I'll be right back. but no idea how to construct something I would consider grammatically correct from it.

「rex おみやげがきたいしてるプー」 I think this means "rex do bring back a souvenir" and then some random noise at the end it just sounds like ”puu ”to me. Which would make sense other than the ramming of the second verb「してる」 on the end of the verb「来たいし」 also not sure where the particles or even what particles should follow rex.

The last one I can't even translate he does a special little dance when he comes up from the sea and put his arm in a y and says 「せこうじょう」 or 「せいこうじょう」 it could be without the long sound on one or both of the “ko” or “jo”. It's worth nothing this is a particularly spectacular treasure he brings up when he does this little dance and says this but I can't find any word like it.


texts: What's the difference between 「か嫌いだとか」 and 「か嫌いだったり」

texts:
人を第一印象で好きだとか嫌いだとか言うのはやめなさい。

Can I say this like:

  人を第一印象で好きだったり嫌いだったりと言うのはやめなさい。

What is the difference between these two sentences?


texts: 「探してくる」には「見つける」という意味は含まれますか？

texts:
今まで、「探す」には「見つけようとする」という意味しかないと思っていました。辞書が挙げる語義にも、現代において一般的な用法（下記1.と2.）では「見つけようとする」以上の意味は含まれていません。

  1. 必要なものや失ったものを見つけようとする。「安い下宿を―す」
  2. ものを見つけるためにかき回す。「押し入れを―す」
  3. 中にある物を表し出す。「このふる里の女の前にてだにつつみ侍るものを，さる所にて才―しいで侍らむよ」〈紫式部日記〉
  4. 他の動詞の連用形に付いて，度を越して…する，の意を表す。「ふみ付け〱ふみ―されて土まぶれ」〈浄瑠璃心中天網島上〉
  （「スーパー大辞林」より、例文を一部割愛）

しかし、「探してくる」「探してきた」という表現になると、文脈によっては「探した上で見つけてくる」「探して見つけて帰ってきた」という意味が入っているように思われます。

  例1: この犬は毎回ボールをちゃんと探してくる。
  例2: じゃあ僕が探してくるよ。
  例3: 友達が適当な動画を探してきた。
  例4: 今日は家具を探してきた。
  例5: これまで長い年月探してきた。
  例6: せっかくまぼろしの親子丼を探してきたのだから、食べて帰らないわけにはいかない。
  （Googleで検索した結果を参考にひねり出した例文です）

これらの例でいうと、例1と例3です。

例1と例3は、実際に犬はボールを見つけ、友達は動画を見つけたという意味になるのでしょうか？
その場合、その意味はどこから生じているのでしょうか？文法用語に詳しくなく、的確な表現ができませんが、「比喩」ではないし、「文脈にもとづいた慣習的意味付け」のようなものでしょうか。


texts: What are the differences and usage patterns for 常套句, 言い草, 決まり文句, 諺, and 名言?

texts:
This is a little bit of an encyclopedic question, but I would like to know what separates the four expressions in the title, i.e., what separates them when they are close to referring to the same thing.

I am also interested in learning what would be a more modern/usable replacement for 常套句, since it seems to be a little antique for daily use.


texts:
I have two examples:

  噂に違{たが}わぬと言ったところか. -- Then, he really lives up to the rumor!
  この建物の建設にかかる費用はおおよそ100億円といったところか -- That would mean that we need 10 million to build this building!

I would bet that か here is used in the following sense 驚きや感動の気持ちを表す。(that is how I translated it above). Is it really so?

Related question: Ending a sentence like that may seem blunt. How it is possible to keep the tone of surprise (as long as I have guessed right) but with a softer ending?


texts: How do you express that you are playing a game?

texts:
I would usually say something along the lines of
「マリオを遊ぶ」but I've been informed that 「マリオする」is a more natural say to say this phrase. Doesn't make sense to me, so I was hoping someone could explain


texts: Looking for the japanese word for "cat collar"

texts:
I'm searching for the word for this, a kind of cat collar accessory
I've searched everywhere, ask to many people but just found it in Korean but not in japanese.

Thank you for you help


texts:
While reading a short story I came across the following: 大判小判.

I understand that [大判]{おおばん} can refer to a large traditional Japanese coin and [小判]{こばん} can refer to a smaller traditional Japanese coin. As there was no particle placed between the two I was wondering if they had a special meaning when written together like this?


texts: Can the て-form + ね indicate present progressive tense?

texts:
While translating a song for Japanese practice and I came upon this phrase 「あきらか増えてね?」。
From the context of the song, I think it is saying, "It (referring to hair) is obviously increasing/growing, right?" The next line even has someone confirming this statement in an actual present progressive tense, saying,「うん　増えとるね」。（Jisho tells me とる is an -ing form Link:https://jisho.org/word/%E3%81%A8%E3%82%8B)。
However, when I looked up the て-form plus ね in a Japanese dictionary, it only mentioned this construction being used as a command. (link: https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AD/)
I also tried to see other examples of it on the internet, one example I found was「コロナ増えてね」, which also seems like the -ing form, not a command.
Is this just slang? Or do you think it is a command. Thanks in advance for any help :)


texts: Why are the words 「とうもろこし」 and 「とうきび」 used more commonly in Hokkaido than 「コーン」?

texts: Why are the words 「とうもろこし」 and 「とうきび」 so commonly used in Hokkaido, whereas 「コーン」 seems to be more commonly used on the other islands of Japan?


texts: 貧しい【まずしい】 poor 貧乏【びんぼう】な poor What's the difference?

texts:
Example sentences do not suggest a big difference. Is there?
貧しい【まずしい】 poor
貧乏【びんぼう】な poor

[貧乏]{びんぼう}だけれど[彼]{かれ}は[幸福]{こうふく}だ。
Poor as he is, he is happy.
[貧]{まず}しいといえども[彼女]{かのじょ}は[幸]{しあわ}せだ。
Though she is poor, she is happy.


texts:
Here is the sentence:

  おおっ　くせえのう…　おらあぶた小屋だけはマスクなしではそばにもよれんわい。

It is probably said by Kansai speaker which I'm not certain.

I understand that よれん or よれない means 'not to get twisted'. But I think it would be conflicted because if he is coming near pig pen without wearing a mask, his face should be getting twisted because of stinky smell.


texts: "you know what?" or how to change your mind

texts:
What are some ways in which one can express "you know what?" expressions with a nuance of either "i've made up my mind" after debating something internally for awhile? I see that やっぱり or 実は are somewhat close but doesn't quite fit.

For example

A: "You going to the meet up tomorrow?"

B: "I'm not sure..."

A: "Well let me know before Friday"

B: "You know what? I'll go."


texts:
I found this sentence on a game cover. (I left out unimportant parts)
I am especially wondering about 'meguri' and 'uzumaku'.

Shoujo wo meguri, … tairiku ni jaaku na yabou ga uzumaku.

I have used hours trying to understand it. I read it off a game cover, mostly as kanjies without furigana. I have read what the words are supposed to mean in dictionaries, but the sentence doesn't seem to make sense to me.

My best guess is: Upon the return of this young girl, the continent was swept with evil ambition!

Can someone more acquainted with these words and the jargon help solve this mystery!


texts: What difference between ほしい (hoshii) and したい (shitai)?

texts:
What is the difference between those two ways of saying "to want"?

shitaindesuga
hoshiindesuga


texts:
example sentence: コレステロールが高めの方の食品

I'd like to know how 高めの is made (verb stem + no?) and how it should be used. I'm guessing the example sentence means "food which heightens your cholesterol". Does 方 mean type/category here?


texts:
It is only a word but every time I look it up they give me a different meaning

Here are some pictures with the meanings that I found:

This is from the book "The preparatory course for the japanese language proficiency test N4 読む":

This is from the book "はじめての日本語能力試験 N4単語1500":

This one is from Jisho.org:

Can you give me the meaning you think it have and some examples? please


texts:
I would like help with how 限り is used with a negative verb:

奇跡でも起きない限り あり得ないわよね

Jisho.org translate it as "unless". But how would this translation make sense then:
Unless (限り) even if miracle does not occur (奇跡でも起きない), its unlikely you know (あり得ないわよね)
How can we make sense of 限り  with negative verbs ?


texts: What is the proper way to say "to use/open an umbrella"?

texts:
I have the following options:
傘を_______

かけます
します
あびます
差します (さします)

But I'd like to know which is the correct one and why.
Thanks in advance!


texts: な adjectives vs い adjectives when it comes to conjugation

texts:
When conjugating い adjectives it is all fine and dandy, you get rid of the い and replace depending on past, present, affirmative and negative (unless present and affirmative).

*1 But then I am slightly confused with な adjectives, because it seems like to me that you don't ever see the な ending in some words when it is written in a sentence.

Is this true? If so, does that mean when conjugating な adjectives you imagine that the な is there and just replace it (which is the same as adding the past, present affirmative or negative suffix).

I hope I explained my confusion well enough. It is weird that I am asking this because I learned how to conjugate adjectives a few weeks ago but I only just had this thought now.

*1
For example I have never seen 元気な in a sentence before.


texts: Why is katakana sometimes used to replace hiragana?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Why “dame” is written as katakana (ダメ) in manga?

The question title kinda says it all! This confuses me, as I thought katakana was used exclusively for loan words. For example,

  ホウキ雲 (the name of a J-Pop song)

Isn't ほうき a native word already?


texts: If you want to state what you think you can put と思います at the end of a sentence. However I noticed that sometimes you're supposed to put だ before と思います so that it becomes だと思います, and sometimes you're not. How do you know when to put だ before と思います and when to leave it out?


texts:
When one of my girlfriend asked her friend, if he is in Osaka now, he said "yes, that's right" (in japanese) and then "さすがお尻マイスター".

I didn't understand it, but I didn't ask her or him back either.
Now when I google it, さすが means "just what one would expect", お尻 is "butt" and マイスター is "Meister" in Katakana.

But what does the combination of さすが お尻 マイスター mean?

I don't even understand the direct translation: "Just what I / you would expect from butt master". Can someone help me or explain it to me?


texts: How do you avoid multiple が in a sentence

texts:
I would like to ask on how to avoid multiple occurrences of the particle ga in a sentence. For example:

詳細{しょうさい}のクエリは削除{さくじょ}フラグが0がありません。

What I meant in the sentence:
The Detail query does not contain the condition of "delete-flag equals 0".

Right now I would work around this by using equals symbol or change the verb like fukumemasen.

詳細{しょうさい}のクエリは削除{さくじょ}フラグ＝0がありません。

or

詳細{しょうさい}のクエリは削除{さくじょ}フラグが0を含{ふく}めません。

Is the original sentence's grammar correct? If not, are my alternative sentences correct?


texts:
「あける」、 regardless of the kanji, is transitive. Therefore:

While the object is「新年」、 what is the subject of「あけましておめでとう」?
Regardless of what the subject is, is 「あけましておめでとうございます」 a metaphor?


texts:
「朝、起きる」という基本中の基本の生活習慣が身に＿＿次の行為へとつながっていくのだ。

I think that both「ついてこそ」and「ついたからこそ」can be fit into the above sentence. However, the textbook gives「ついてこそ」as the right answer and I don't know why.


texts: 「彼氏と彼女の　三三九度に　坊やおなかで　高砂や」?

texts:
Saw this 都都逸 "彼氏と彼女の　三三九度に　坊やおなかで　高砂や" on the TV show 笑点:

http://www.ntv.co.jp/sho-ten/02_week/090329/week_01.html

My dictionary says 三三九度 = "perform the ceremony of the three-times-three exchange of nuptial cups", but I still do not understand the second half & hence the whole thing.


texts:
Hi,
 I am looking for the middle kanji in Kutani Wata xx sei. I guess it is ''no'' but this particular form of the character does not exist.

Thanks


texts: When should I use a verb stem by itself?

texts:
I was recently listening to the Hunter x Hunter anime, and during a conversation, a passing character that the protagonist meets states,

  頑張って、いいハンターになりな

This struck me as a bit odd, as I expected to hear:

  頑張って、いいハンターになるな

When I checked the unofficial captions I'm using, it reads, "Do your best to become a good Hunter."

I asked another Japanese learner his thoughts, and he theorized maybe it was a short form of "[stem] + に + [verb]". This would make sense given the caption being "to become" rather than "and you will become", but neither of us were really sure.

What is this usage of the verb stem, and when should/can I use it?


texts: Where does the phrase だらけ come from? I only know だ as a copula and ら as a conditional marker or pluralizing suffix, are either of these at use in this phrase? My dictionary lists it as "implying (negatively) that something is full of".


texts: Usage of てーform in this example sentence

texts:
食事は良く噛んで、食べましょう。

The first clause is to tell the listener to chew their meal carefully. The second clause is more of "Let's eat". What does the で do in this sentence? I understand it is to join two clauses and that て form has many usage, but for this context, can I assume it is a sequence of event?

E.g. Speaker tells the listener to chew his meal carefully, followed by suggesting to eat?


texts: 「こんなに」と「こんな風に」difference?

texts:
As far as i'm aware, both me to "this kind of" or "like this" but what is the difference. I was talking to someone but they said that 「こんな風に」 is more natural, the original sentence was 「こんなに見えなければイギリスではない」 with a picture of my my slightly flooded driveway.

my original sentence:

  こんなに見えなければイギリスではない

corrected sentence:

  こんな風に見えなければイギリスではない

what i wanted to say in english:

  if it doesn't look like this, it's not britain


texts: Why is the particle の used instead of が in these phrases?

texts:
Why is the particle の used instead of が in phrases like 身寄りのない人 or the sentence 琵琶湖の向こう岸に虹の立つのを、麻子は見た。?

While I understand the meanings of these examples, I would have expected to find the nominative particle が. I've mostly seen this kind of pattern in dependent clauses and noun phrases. Does that have anything to do with it?

Does が have to be replaced with の in all cases like this, or would が be acceptable too? If so, is there any difference in nuance or style?


texts: Does my translation of "I want to bring your art to life." make sense?

texts:
私はあなたの版下作品に命を吹き込みたい.

is supposed to mean

  I want to bring your art to life.

I'm just wondering if I'm in the ballpark or not.


texts: What is the nuance of か and ね together, e.g. ありませんかね?

texts:
A friend approached me asking what some text meant in this game he was playing which said:

  スリーサイズを当てるって課題、ありませんかね☆

I feel like I understand the gist of what this means but I've been unable to render this into English. I am mostly having trouble with the nuance/meaning of the particles か and ね put together.

If I had to give a translation it might be:

  You don't have any questions, like what are my three sizes, don't you?

Which I feel is horribly wrong, but it's all I can muster at the moment.

From what I understand スリーサイズ is Three sizes, i.e. body measurements,　当てる means to guess, so in this case, guess her three sizes, and the って課題 is a contraction of という課題 I think, which would be like a noun modification/qualification in that the 課題 is the スリーサイズを当てる.

Aside from ありませんかね, 課題 also is giving me some trouble because I traditionally understood this to mean topic or subject usually in the context of like schoolwork and textbooks, but looking it up in the dictionary it also lists the meanings "task, challenge, question," and so forth.


texts: Why does the word 昨夜 have multiple pronunciations?

texts:
I picked up Japanese just recently, and I am confused as to why the word 昨夜 has so many different ways to pronounce it. In my dictionary, the pronunciations are listed as ゆうべ、ゆんべ and さくや. Do the different readings convey the same meaning, or do they mean different things?

Additionally, can someone explain how 昨夜 differs from 前夜?


texts: What is the difference between -さん and -さま?

texts:
Recently I watched the film "The Wind Rises" by Studio Ghibli in Japanese with English subtitles. I heard one of the children referring to an elder as [name]-さま. I was wondering, what is the difference between -さん and -さま?

Any answer would be appreciated.


texts: is  a variant of 廾, or is it another radical with another meaning?

texts: 廾 is part of kanjis like 弁 .  is part of kanjis like 発. In Wikipedia 廾 is listed to mean "2 hands" or "twenty". is  the same? or does it have another meaning?


texts:
I read the following sentence in a book

  そのため、税務上の課税所得の計算は、「一般に公正妥当と認められる企業の基準」に基づく収益・費用の認識を原則としながらも、一定の調整を加えることとなっています。

I'm wondering what the difference is between

  公正妥当と認められる

and

  公正妥当だと認められる


texts:
So I'm working my way through a JLPT 2 question and came across this one, in the "stick the parts in the right order" section.

今になって１週間も前になくした ＿＿　＿＿　＿＿　＿＿　っこないよ。

1.　見つかり
2.　探した
3.　財布を
4.　って

The meaning of the sentence as a whole was immediately clear and it's not the order I need an explanation for but the use of って. The correct sentence reads:

今になって１週間も前になくした財布を探したって見つかりっこないよ。

I learned that って was used in colloquial speech as a replacement for the quotation marker と. I also half-remember it being used by the speaker to highlight something/someone/a topic that the listener will know. Is this right and, if so, can you use it these ways:

*昨日って、寒かったね。
*田中さんって、パーティに行きますか。
*吉田さん、知らんって言った。

They would all be okay? So in the case of the first and second example, they are also being used to mark the topic (which in this case is something the listener should also already know).

So in the example N2 question, it's being used to mark 財布 as that's the subject of the sentence but also the listener has pre-knowledge of the lost wallet, with the nuance being something like: "(You know) that wallet that I lost..." or "(about) that wallet that I lost..."?

So you could say something like this: "昨日の試合って、雨のために中止になった。　"You know that game I had yesterday..."?


texts: What's the difference between these similar phrases for oblivious person? I.e. 気が利かない人

texts:
These are all pretty close but I don't get the nuance difference.

気が利かない人
気が付かない人
気が知れない人
気が回らない人
空気が読めない人

Kikanai seems to be someone that doesn't have a lot of forethought, ie doesn't plan well for others, like a bad administrative assistant.

Yomenai (KY) seems to be someone that can't read the room, like not realizing everyone is a certain political party and then badmouthing that party.

But the middle three are all fuzzy to me, and I don't know how they differ from each other or those two.

Any insight would be appreciated.


texts: what's the difference between 領域 、範囲 and 分野?

texts:
Could anyone explain to me the difference between these 3 words, especially between 範囲 and 領域　？
For example, I have these 練習問題:

a.分野 　b.領域 c.範囲

①　試験の……… は、17課までです。
②　外の大学との交流が進んで研究の………　が広がった。
③　この賞はスポーツの………で活躍した人に与えられる。

the right answers are :
c. , a. , b.

Does 範囲 carry the meaning of "covering a certain(/established) range(/area)", or something?

Then I have this sentence, where 範囲 and 領域 seem interchangeable:

彼の知識の範囲（・ 領域）はとても広い。(His range of knowledge is very wide.)

Thank you :)


texts: 「ではなく」 in: 「x」ではなく「y」を使うべきでしょうか？

texts:
EDIT: Although very similar, this isn't a duplicate of the thread linked by @binom. The linked thread deals with how 「ではなく」 is formed; this one, with the sense in which 「ではなく」 is used.

I read the following phrase in a Japanese forum, regarding whether to use "something" or "a thing/ things" in English.

  自分が何の用事があるか分かっている場合は、「something」ではなく「a thing/ things」を使うべきでしょうか？

In my question title I changed the quoted parts of the sentence to 「x」 and 「y」
 respectively, because the focal point of my question isn't about them, but the 「ではなく」 part.

I was wondering if my attempt at translating the sentence is correct?

  Shouldn't (you) use "a thing/ things" instead of "something" if (more lit: in the event that) you know (what it is) you're doing?

That's the gist I get from it, despite not having come across 「ではなく」 used in this way. In my (admittedly limited) experience I thought the plain form 「じゃなくて」 would be used within the bulk of the sentence, as polite forms were usually reserved for the end? Furthermore, I expected a 「より...の方がいい」  construction to express preference. Obviously there's more than one way to say something, but this isn't one I've encountered until now.

Much obliged!


texts: What is the difference in meaning and usage between 母 (haha) and お母さん (okāsan)?


texts: Use of the particle を/に indicating target of an action - animate vs inanimate?

texts:
Currently learning Japanese from Rosetta stone, and so far, whenever a verb is acting on something, I've always seen the particle を used - eg:

  彼{かれ}は本{ほん}を読{よ}んでいます。

Now the program has thrown に into the mix - eg:

  彼{かれ}は奥{おく}さんにキスしています。

So my question: is the particle を only for inanimate objects?  In the sentence above, could I use を after 奥{おく}さん since she's the direct object of the action, or is に the only answer because the direct object is an animate being?  Would I ever use に in the other sentence, like 彼{かれ}は本{ほん}に読{よ}んでいます?

Or is this just one of those "That's just the way it is, just roll with it" kind of quirks with the language?


texts: Inferred particles - should I infer は or に in this sentence?

texts:
I was translating this song (https://www5.atwiki.jp/hmiku/pages/31606.html) and there was a line that didn't make sense without an inferred particle, but I'm not sure which particle to infer.

(あの子は私のよう - (I just included this for context))

救いようのない人　恋をしてた

Should I infer it like this:

救いようのない人は恋をしてた

"A pathetic person in love."

Or  救いようのない人に恋をしてた

"In love with a pathetic person."

Can someone tell me which particle is more commonly inferred, or is more likely in this context?

Thank you!


texts:
Are snowclones common in Japanese?

  A snowclone is a neologism for a type of cliché and phrasal template
  originally defined as "a multi-use, customizable, instantly
  recognizable, time-worn, quoted or misquoted phrase or sentence that
  can be used in an entirely open array of different variants".

  An example of a snowclone is "grey is the new black", a version of the
  template "X is the new Y". X and Y may be replaced with different
  words or phrases – for example, "comedy is the new rock 'n' roll".
  The term "snowclone" can be applied to both the original phrase and to
  any new phrase that uses its formula. Many Internet memes are
  snowclones: for example, the meme "obvious troll is obvious" has been
  generalized to many other statements of the form "X Y is X".

If I use snowclones myself, am I likely to be understood (all other things being equal), or will it just cause confusion?

EDIT: To expand a bit on the definition given above, a snowclone is a phrase pattern cliche. Unlike most cliches which use the same words every time, a snowclone is a cliche whose parts can be replaced to make a new (but recognizable) cliche. The term was requested, and eventually coined mainly for terms journalists use.

"X is the new Y" is a comment on fads/fashions, indicating that "everyone who was excited/worried about X is excited about Y now", regardless of what domain X and Y are in. (It's not limited to pop culture, I've heard "Portugal is the new Greece" in reference to the EU's economic issues)


texts: Meaning of シャキン or シャッキン used to support someone

texts:
In a manga, before the start of a boxing match, one of the boxers looks at his friends in the audience and says:

  シャキ〜ン

Then they reply more or less in the same way:

  しゃっきい〜ん

What is the meaning of this expression? Is it an onomatopoeic word used to support someone? Since the match has a special prize of one million yen for the winner, could it be 謝金? Here you can see the page where it is taken from. Thank you for your help!


texts: How does ようにして work when followed by a verb/al?

texts:
Off these excerpts from 夢十夜:

A 「田圃｛たんぼ｝へかかったね」と背中で云った。

B 「どうして解る」と顔を後うしろへ振り向けるようにして聞いたら、

A 「だって鷺｛さぎ｝が鳴くじゃないか」と答えた。

"asked by turning my head towards my back"?

この時代の藁沓は深いものであった。立つと膝頭｛ひざがしら｝まで来た。その端｛はし｝の所は藁｛わら｝を少し編残｛あみのこ｝して、房のように下げて、歩くとばらばら動くようにして、飾りとしていた。

"decorated in the manner of"?

How does ようにして work in general?


texts:
My understanding is that 「学習{がくしゅう}」 is a very interesting word. It has all of the following meanings?

(1) 「勉強{べんきょう}」. To study new material.
We learn new kanji, vocab, grammar, etc.
(2) 「練習{れんしゅう}」. To review already learned material.
We perform drills to keep already studied kanji remembered.
(3) 「研究{けんきゅう}」. To research the origins of the material being studied.
As opposed to studying how to speak/write Japanese, we research etymologies, etc.

(question #1) Can I substitute 学習 for 勉強、or for 練習、or for 研究?
(question #2): If I want to specify all of 勉強、練習、and 研究、can I just say 学習 (acting as a superset of those 3 items)?

thank you.


texts: is it okay to regularly say 気をつけてください to someone departing out?

texts:
I just want to ask if it is okay to say to your boss who is going home after work お疲れ様でした気をつけてください or it is impolite?

Thank you


texts:
In the famous 1952 film 生きる (Ikiru), the government-office employees frequently use 僕 to refer to themselves (even the female character used it).  Based on this understanding of 僕, 僕 is basically a pronoun which boys use; but that doesn't explain this frequent use in an office. This formal definition mentions a social status element ("対等またはそれ以下の人に対して用いる。") but isn't very clear on exact situations.
In what situations would 僕 be used outside the context of boys? In what professional or social situations would it be appropriate and natural for an adult man to use, as opposed to 私?


texts: Past tense of i-adjective + past tense of verb

texts:
Can the past tense of an i-adjective and the past tense of a verb be in the same sentence? For example: "I bought a book that was heavy."

  重かった本を買いました。

Does it sound unnatural?


texts: What is ～やまさりけん and what part of sentence is it used as?

texts:
In the scenes of fight in old stories, I sometimes encountered a phrase ～やまさりけん usually in the compound form:

  力やまさりけん
  腕やまさりけん

What is the exact meaning of the phrase and what part of the sentence is it?

  太郎の力やまさりけん突き出した槍は相手の体に突っ込んできた。

At first I assumed it was 勝り{まさり}剣, but in the above example it was used in a spear fighting scene and it does not seem to work grammatically. It seems neither an adverb nor an adjective.

Also, shouldn't comma be used after まさりけん in the above example?


texts:
By credit, I mean to properly write the name of the contributor on a project. Like how to tell that something is Made in ___, we use -製{せい} as in 日本製{にほんせい}.

Here is one case... In English we can use:
1. Author: John
2. Written by: John

Point 1 in Japanese might be 作家：John . I guess point 2 would be John によって書かれた (but it sounds like a sentence and not something that is written as a credit. I mean... it's quite long)

And that case only cover about books, how about a broader case such as:
- Originated from:
- Edited by:
- Created by:
- Translated by:
Is there a pattern we could use as a basic guidance?


texts: Do the word 場当たり and ゲネプロ similar in their meaning?

texts:
This is from the twitter of a stage actor. He supposed to perform for a show in the next day, so I assumed

  場当たり was from 場当たり稽古 = dress rehearsal

but the word ゲネ also seems to derive from

  ゲネ = ゲネプロ dress rehearsal

I was wondering if these words really mean the same? or whether they have any significant difference?


texts: Can't understand this kanji use in my song lyrics

texts: I know this is probably a stupid question, but 嫌だ was in a song I was listening too. Is this incorrect usage? I know 嫌い means hateful but you don't drop the い to add だ do you?


texts: verb + としよう; verb (non volitional) + とする, what is it used for?

texts:
The sentence:

  とある田舎の村が魔獣の被害にあっているとして、偶然そこに立ち寄ったとしよう。お前ならどうする？

What is verb (non-volitional) + としよう used for?


texts:
The following is an excerpt from a dialogue with my language partner.

For some context:
もちろん、学習法は人によって違います。私は多角的に学んでいくのが好きです。本を読む、ラジオや映画を観るのは1人でもできます。この２つは reading と listening の練習になります。文章を書く（writing）も1人でできますが、相手がいる方が楽しいですよね。会話（speaking) の練習も1人でできますが、会話の目的はコミュニケーションなので、相手がいた方がいいです。
コミュニケーションしたいという強い気持ちがあれば、リーディングもリスニングもライティングも、もっとずっと楽しくなります。がんばろうという強い動機（motivation) になるからです。
こうやってメッセージのやりとりをするのも、コミュニケーションの1つですよね。

The two sentences in question:
コミュニケーションしたいという強い気持ちがあれば、リーディングもリスニングもライティングも、もっとずっと楽しくなります。がんばろうという強い動機（motivation) になるからです。

My attempt at translation:
"When there is a strong

A)...communicationmotivation..
B)...motivation called communication...

Reading and Writing become much more enjoyable.
This is because it becomes a
...A) 'let's do this'-motivation."
...B) motivation called 'let's do this'."

The problem is that I very well know that という is in many cases NOT to be translated literally (="he/she/it says or "is called"). I also know that it has many more functions than just marking a designation/description for the following noun. I must also admit though that I'm having a very hard time describing these other functions and therefore my skills handling these cases where the other functions apply are not the best.
So, while I understand what she wants to tell me, I don't really know what function という is taking the respective sentences. It also confuses me A LOT how がんばろうという強い動機 works, since here a set expression is attached to the following nominal phrase. I haven't encountered something like that by now.


texts:
The kids are expecting a trainee teacher. Their normal teacher comes in and says:

  「みなさん、席について静かにしてください」
  Everyone please sit down and be quiet
  戸川先生は教壇に立ち、みんながあわてて席につくのを待った。
  Teacher Togawa stood on the platform and everyone got confused and waited to sit down.

I'm confused about who is waiting for whom as regards sitting down.

The topic of the sentence is the teacher 戸川先生は so I think he should be the person waiting to sit down.

The children seem to only be the subject of あわてる (the meaning of which I'm not clear about).

I see three possibilities:

The children are waiting to sit down because they are confused (they were expecting a different teacher)
The children are waiting for the teacher to sit down first (politeness).
The teacher is waiting to sit down (because he is about to introduce the trainee teacher).

Note that if it is the children that are waiting to sit down, the teacher does not correct their behaviour in the later sentences.

Can you please untangle this for me and help me to understand why the correct scenario is obvious and how the sentence would change for the other scenarios?


texts: Why is くなかった wrong and ではありません preferred in this sentence?

texts:
I was taking a n5 grammar test and I came across the question:

  あの人{ひと} は有名{ゆうめい}　＿＿＿＿

The answer I chose was くなかった. However, the quiz said the correct answer was ではありません. Why is that?


texts: Word order of actions when using nagara (while)?

texts:
I am studying Japanese using the Michel Thomas Method. It says you can use nagara to show that one action happens while another occurs.
It then gives the following example:

nominagara shigoto o shimashita
I drank while I worked / I drank while working
konban sushi o resutoran de tabenagara Nihon no tomodachi to hanashimasu
Tonight I will eat sushi in a Japanese restaurant while I talk with my Japanese friend.
tabenagara terebi o mimasu
I eat while I watch TV / I eat while watching TV
koko no resutoran ga suki desu kara shigoto o shinagara koko de tabemashita
Because I like the restaurants round here, I ate here while I worked.

The last one really confuses me.
In all the others, the order of the actions in the English translation mirrors the Japanese.
However, in the last one, the English translations mentions eating first and then work, whereas in the Japanese it's the other way around.
Is there are a reason for this, or, like most things in Japanese, does the order not matter?


texts:
Consider the following sentence:

Bobはこの女の子を自分の子供と思って育てることにしました。
Bob thought of this girl as his own and decided to raise her (my rough translation).

I have several problems with it:

It is hard to think of an example where I would expect 思う to take an object, other than when thinking about something e.g. 母のことを思う. I wonder if the を here is the object of 育てる rather than 思う. Which leads me to ask can を act through a て joining two clauses such that it is the object of the second clause?
I've never seen 〜と思うcome after anything other than a verb/adjective/copula. Can it act on a noun e.g. 猫と思う　(I'm thinking of cats)?
If I were asked to translate into Japanese I would probably try something like Bobはこの女の子が自分の子供だと思って育てることにしました。Would this be wrong and, if so, why?
Can someone please break down the original sentence to explain why it is correct?


texts: I don't understand the usage of で in this sentance

texts:
This is from the headline of a news article in NHK News Easy.

  日本の人口が減る　赤ちゃんが今まで「で」いちばん少ない

Can someone explain this one to me? Thanks!


texts: 今までに vs. 今まで - what is the difference in meaning?

texts:
I recently used a following sentence in my homework:

  今日までに　私は　二百まいしゃしんを　とりました。

Now, in my homework I actually used 今日まで, without に, and I got it corrected. What's the difference between 今日まで and 今日までに?


texts:
Google translate lists "be madly in love" and "be infatuated" as alternate translations for 参｛まい｝る.
When I saw it I was like, huh?
I searched 参｛まい｝る　意味｛いみ｝ on Google too and the first couple sites did list things relating to love, but I didn't understand it that well.
So, could someone paint this picture for me about why 参｛まい｝る has these definitions and in what contexts it would fit those definitions?
Thank you!


texts: Meaning of こともあるもんです

texts:
How should I translate こともある in this sentence (response to '何それ?'):

  あなたが辞書を使うなんて、はなはだ珍妙なこともあるもんです

Literal translation of はなはだ珍妙なこともある would be 'there are also really odd things', but that makes no sense.

One suggestion seems to be that it means 'among other things' so I get:

  Because (もん), among other things (こともある), it's really odd that (なんて) you use a dictionary

Is this a correct translation? If so can anyone offer a suggestion as to how we arrive at that from the literal translation? (and why do I have to keep reaching for my advanced grammar book to read a children's story? It's really dispiriting.)


texts: How do you say 町 (in addresses) in English?

texts:
I know that in a normal context, 町 means town.

But I'm pretty sure it's different in Japanese addresses, where it typically goes like:

＿＿県＿＿市＿＿区＿＿町＿＿＿＿＿＿

I know that 県 means prefecture, 市 means city, and 区 means ward.

But how do you say 町 in English? I've been searching around and I couldn't find an answer.


texts:
I understand all of the words other than "クソ" in the phrase "クソコラグランプリ". "コラ" means photomontage, photoshop or the like (from "collage"?). "グランプリ" transliterates as "grand prix", which roughly means competition.

But what about "クソ"? Its literal meaning is faeces, and some people have translated the whole phrase into English as crappy collage grand prix. I'm suspicious that it doesn't have a nuance of inferior quality, which is a common meaning of "crappy" these days. Instead, might it have a nuance of extremely unpleasant, or maybe be used as an intensifier?

Kotaku mentions that the phrase has previously been used in the context of Final Fantasy 15.


texts:
How would one explain this -te form of the verb + mashou here:

姫, 城の中で隠れてましょうよ

Does it mean:

隠れて (い)ましょう  [Lets hide and stay] - where the て is used as sequential action

OR

隠れて (い)ましょう [Lets keep hiding] - where its present-progressive-volitional tense


texts:
I am writing an essay in Japanese and want to talk about non-skilled labor, but found two different words for the opposite of a skilled laborer: 「未{み}-」and「不{ふ}-」+「熟{じゅく}練{れん}労{ろう}働{どう}者{しゃ}」. I was wondering what the difference in meaning/connotation/usage is between these two words (if there is such a difference), and in any case whether there is an obvious choice between them (based on how commonly used they are, etc.) or whether they are perfectly interchangeable.

Edit:

I also found 「非{ひ}熟練労働者」, which appears to be a synonym of the latter, but might also be slightly different. This doesn't change the original question, it merely adds a third point of comparison.


texts:
In the very famous song called "Chiisana Koi no Uta - 小さな恋のうた", there's a sentence:

  ほら　あなたにとって大事な人ほど　すぐそばにいるの

what does "ほど" mean here? I've tried to search, here're some results I've got:

Look, the person who is that valuable to you is right beside you.(All sentence's translation)
大事なひとほど : the degree to which a person is important (?) / as valuable as a person (such?)
ほど : degree, extent /to do smth as well as x (x ほど)

They make no sense to me. Anyone give help?


texts: How to say "It was fun to have been able to go there" in Japanese?

texts:
Which of these sentences is correct? and why?

  そこに行くことができた楽しかった
  そこに行くことができて楽しかった


texts: How to politely phrase "what problem are you trying to solve?"

texts:
I'm struggling to find a way to phrase:

  "Could you let me know what problem you are trying to solve with ${COMPANY_PRODUCT}?"

in a business email. The context is that we're offering a product that helps companies maintain high-quality products of their own, and we want to be proactive in offering support, and try to understand what they were hoping our ${COMPANY_PRODUCT} could do for them. In particular, it is not in a reply to a complaint. I admit it has been a very long time since I've used Japanese in a formal setting, and my keigo is a bit rusty.

My current guess is:

よしければ、${COMPANY_PRODUCT}でどの問題を解決なさいますのを理解させてくださいませんか。

But this sounds wrong to me, although I'm struggling to come up with something better.


texts:
The whole sentence is:

[布]{ぬの}はたくさんの[人]{ひと}から[人気]{にんき}があって、いつも[高]{たか}く[売]{う}れました。

Source: https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-lessons/3-4-the-crane-of-gratitude/
In my best understanding, it sounds: "Because there are many people [buy?] the cloth, it gains popularity and always sold at a high price.". But I feel something wrong in this translation...


texts: What's the difference between the usage of these terms: 信念　信用　信頼?

texts: I understand these words roughly translate to "trust" or "reliance" but I don't understand the nuance between these words.


texts:
I am reading a book about the life of 国友一貫斎. For reference, the title is 「夢をまことに」. There is the following courtroom scene, in which reference is made to 権現様, a Shinto-Buddhist term for a god. The full sentences are perhaps not needed, but I included it in the second example for context. The story takes place in the early 1800's.
How should these sentences, specifically the part with the word in question be translated? Is it really "we cannot find that the gods have forbidden..." or is it referring to something else, like the court?

権現様のころは、。。。
じつは役人達に古い記録を調べさせたが、権現様が諸大名の大小鉄炮張り立てを禁止したという法度が出てこなんだ。

I am also curious about the end of the second sentence. Is believe it is a shortening of こんなんだ, as in 来ないのだ。


texts:
How to say "Let's have a quick chat" in an informal environment, e.g. among colleagues?

The emphasis is on the usage "chat", i.e. it's not "Let's have a discussion", or "Let's have a meeting". It's "Let's have a chat" as the word is used in English.


texts:
鳥の絵が得意になり、クリスマスにハトの絵を贈ってくれるようにもなった。

I cannot understand the meaning of ようにもなった in this sentence.

I know that

  鳥の絵が得意になり、

means "I became good/strong at drawing birds and..."

  クリスマスにハトの絵を贈ってくれるようにもなった.

Could the meaming of this be "I received for Christmas a drawing of a dove"?


texts: Why do some loanword sounds get "contracted" when katakanized, but not others?

texts:
Not sure the best way to word this.  Why is it that some sounds from a loanword get combined down to a shorter or different sound while other do not?  Here are some examples:

Shortened, but sound weird to me/many Japanese learners

  Pineapple　→　パイナップル　not　パイン・アップル　→　The 'n' and 'a' sound combine to ナ instead of remaining separate
  Menu　→　メニュー　not　メン・ユー　→　'n' and 'y' combine to ニュ instead of remaining separate
  Double-"you"　→　ダブリュー　not　ダブル・ユー　→　'r' and 'y' combine to リュ instead of remaining separate

Separate, seemingly breaking the above patterns

  Time-out　→　タイムアウト　not　タイマウト　→　'mau' becomes 'mu' + 'au' seemingly unnecessarily
  Backup　→　バックアップ　not　バッカップ　→　why not similar to the "pineapple" pattern?
  Piano　→　ピアノ　not ピャノ　→　Similar to "menu" in my eyes

What gives?


texts:
Good evenings folks,

Currently I'm here in Tokyo learning Japanese for about 2 months now from scratch, and our sensei is teaching us N4 level grammar structures already. My question is, what's the difference between ~te oku vs regular masu form? For example:

  旅行の前にきっぷをかいます。

vs

  旅行の前にきっぷをかっておきます。

For me, both of them have a meaning similar to Before going on a trip, I'm going to buy a ticket, so I'm having a hard time knowing what the difference is.

P.S. sorry for putting wrong tag, I don't know which category my question belongs to.


texts:
Sentence is:

  うん俺の嫌いな杉木さんとこの一人息子な

Translation is:

  Yup. The only son of the Sugiki I hate.

What does とこの do here?


texts: When do I use which word for admission? 入場 vs. 入所

texts:
I came across the both words in the title and wondered, if there is a general difference in their usage and/or meaning. In which cases do I use 入場, and when is it 入所?

Thank you!


texts: I have often seen ”とても” translated as "very" in English. However, I also have seen direct translations (automatic translations, so I don't know if this still applies) where what is being translated, makes ”とても” seem more like an adverbial or adjectival modifier which could be directly translated as "very anxiety" (from とても不安) or other such like phrases. Was the previous example just a mess-up from the translating software, or is ”とても” more just a modifier for either adjectives or adverbs that denotes a more extreme version of the word it is modifying?


texts: Use hiragana for name that I only know in romaji

texts: Suppose I have seen the name of a Japanese person only in romaji because all communications has been in English so far. When I want to address this person in Japanese, is it okay to write their name in hiragana only? Or is it plainly wrong? I feel it safer at least than guessing the most common kanji for that name.


texts: How do you find pitch accent? Is it important?

texts:
I've seen some people say it is unecessary to learn pitch accent, but with my current knowledge, there are multiple ways to say a word with pitch accent and if you don't know the pitch accent, the word would mean something else, so wouldn't it be extremely important?

Also, do all words have multiple pitch accents?


texts: Mixed Fractions/Mixed Numerals in Japanese

texts:
So I know how to read normal fractions (like 1/2) in Japanese but I was wondering how to read mixed fractions (such as 3 1/2). Would one just say 三と二分の一?
Thanks.


texts: Should I use スタート for "start a new game" or something else?

texts:
I want to say, "Are you sure you want to start a new game?" (I'm developing a game for Japanese users, and this question is asked when it finishes.) I'm not sure whether スタート is the correct word to use in this context or whether there exists a Japanese word that should be used instead.

  新規ゲームをスタートしてもよろしいですか。


texts: Why is ネコ (cat) used in ネコ目 (Carnivora) while the order also includes the suborder イヌ亜目 (Caniformia)?

texts:
(The Japanese scientific classification for animals is explained a bit in this answer)

The English term Carnivora comes from Latin like most of the scientific terminology. It means simply "meat-eating". This order can be divided into the suborders Feliformia ("cat-like") and Caniformia ("dog-like").

The Japanese equivalent for Carnivora is ネコ目{もく} (also [食肉目]{しょくにくもく}), but the only definition for 「ネコ」 that I've heard of is "cat". ネコ is also used in ネコ[亜目]{あもく} (Feliformia), but under the same order there is also イヌ[亜目]{あもく} (Caniformia).

The question is, why is ネコ目{もく} (lit. cat order) used to classify animals such as イエイヌ (domestic dog)?


texts: Meaning of 「振り回される」 and 「身になる」in this sentence

texts:
I usually do not like to ask a simple meaning question, but I have serious doubts if I get this sentence at all.

(It is uttered pretty much without any context)

「個性的な友達がふえたのは嬉しいけど、振り回される方の身にもなってほしい。」

(The parts in bold give me the most trouble in this sentence)

From what I was able to find out to find out on the internet
「振り回される」 is often translated as being wrapped around someone’s finger, however, the explanation here says the following:

https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E6%8C%AF%E3%82%8A%E5%9B%9E%E3%81%95%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B

https://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E6%8C%AF%E3%82%8A%E5%9B%9E%E3%81%95%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B

In my opinion they slightly differ and the Japanese to Japanese explanation is easier to apply here, especially taking into consideration that other people or rather at least one person is negatively affected by that.

I understood as　「方の身にもなって」as similar to 「 相手の身になる」explained here:

https://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E7%9B%B8%E6%89%8B%E3%81%AE%E8%BA%AB%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B

All in all I understood the sentence as the speaker being on the one hand happy about having gained a lot of individual friends, but on the other wanting them to be a bit more considerate about the people (or the speaker) being (negatively) affected by them. As mentioned above I am very unsure about whether this understanding is correct or not; therefore, I checked the English translation of the sentence that says:

“I’m happy to have gained so many close friends but I want people to have me wrapped around their finger!”

I am not a native speaker of English either (and used this explanation as reference: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/to-have-someone-wrapped-around-ones-finger.55250/ ) and have to admit that I do not get the sentence in English either. I am totally aware of translations being able to be incorrect or somewhat off (from the original meaning); however in this case, my understanding and the English translation are completely different.

What is it that I am getting wrong about the sentence?


texts: Detailed distinction and relationship between 文、文書、文章、本書、本文、作文、文字、作成、表記 (and possibly others)

texts:
Every time I come upon these words, I get confused, because the meanings of them are either very similar with each other or have more than one meaning. For example, on goo辞書, the first meaning of 本書, shows to me 主, and this kanji has various meanings! Besides, it shows 文書, too (主となる文書). Apparently, 主 means しゅ, but I didn't understand very well the meaning of this expression 主となる (it becomes the main thing?). As you can see, when you try to understand 本書, you have to know if it's exactly the 主（しゅ）reading, the meaning of that expression and possibly of 主 by itself, and 文書. Very confusing for someone who doesn't have a deep Japanese knowledge. Besides, 本書 has more 3 possible meanings!

If I use an English-Japanese dictionary, like Jisho.org, I get only similar meanings without further explanation (everything looks like to mean "writing"; argh). On the other hand, if I choose a Japanese dictionary, like goo辞書, either I get more confused because hard new words are exposed to me, or one of these words from the title appears again.

Please, could you provide in detail the main meanings of these words? For example, in English, the word "writing" can mean more than 10 things! So, if you're going to use a word that repeats between the translations a lot, or that it has a translation of other word that can mean more than one thing, prefer to say, for example, "writing, as in...", or its contextually specific use (for example, apparently, 表記 seems to mean "to write on a surface", but is it the action, the result of it, or both? Is it writing on a surface like a table, or a paper on a table? Also, 文書 seems to mean something related with "paper", which I didn't find on goo辞書; I guess so). Furthermore, it would be appreciated if you explain the various meanings of a specific word, but that are in fact used. As I said before, for example, 本書 has 4 meanings, but are these 4 meanings really used?

I know that I'm asking too much, so if you say just the single and main meaning of these words, it helps me and the community a lot; I didn't find a post showing the difference between all of these words. I tried to do by myself, but I feel like walking in circles with the meanings (English is not my first language, maybe the word "writing" is straightforward to you, but I'm confused).


texts:
Here is the excerpt,

  学校というのは、とにかく「みんな仲良く」で、「いつも心が触れ合って、みんなで一つだ」という、まさにここで私は「幻想」という言葉を使ってみたいのですが、「一年生になったら」という歌に象徴されるような「友達幻想」というものが強調される場所のような気がします

Here is my try at it,

  学校というのは、とにかく「みんな仲良く」で、「いつも心が触れ合って、みんなで一つだ」という、

It is said that school is a place where  "everyone are getting along with each other, mutual touching and together as one". (Assumption: I've never heard this song)

  まさにここで私は「幻想」という言葉を使ってみたいのですが

I want to try to use the word "idealised image" right here,

  「一年生になったら」という歌に象徴されるような「友達幻想」というものが強調される場所のような気がします

I feel like it was emphasized by thing called "a fantasy friend" that was symbolized by a song, "become first grader"

I am not quite sure of the last part. Also from where should I start to translate? From the last word? And I'm confused about two ような and 受け身 here.


texts: why does "ら" follow "山中{やまなか}" here: "山中ら、予備検診{よびけんしん}で異常{いじょう}なし"

texts:
In the newspaper article titled 山中ら、予備検診で異常なし…ＷＢＣバンタム級, what meaning is created by placing "ら" after "山中"?

Does it make "山中慎介" plural, and then "山中ら" means something like "Yamanaka and his hangers-on".

Maybe, "Clintonら" means "Hillary Clinton and her senior campaign staff"?


texts: What's this word I always hear in anime? "Oh no!" or "not good!"

texts:
Sometimes when a character ends up in a bad situation they'll say a word or phrase that sounds like "matsui!" or "natsui!" It's usually translated as "not good!" or "oh no!" I'm curious as to what the actual word is.

It can be heard at 8:58 in this video
https://youtu.be/RLwo30N0lUI


texts:
Here is how Wiktionary defines オブジェ in the context of art:

  表現の対象となるもの、前衛美術では，幻想的効果のために取り入れられる物体。

My very hesitant attempt at a translation:

  It depends on the represented target, but in avant-garde art it is an object that has been transformed in order to produce an illusionary effect.

Could you improve my translation of the Wiktionary definition?
Is the result a good definition of オブジェ?


texts: 「残業代」と「残業費」の違いを教えてください。

texts:
皆さん、お聞きしたいことがあります。
残業代と残業費のどちらが正しい言い方ですか。そのほかの言い方はありますか。
教えていただけますか。


texts: Metaphorical equivalent of Timbuktu or Outer Mongolia

texts:
Does Japanese have any metaphorical equivalent to Timbuktu or Outer Mongolia (or, in the case of Australia, perhaps Woop Woop), meaning a remote or inaccessible place?

Wiktionary recognises the metaphorical meaning of Timbuktu, but doesn't have a translation for that into Japanese.


texts:
めったに～ない
～するのはほとんどない。
〔例〕店長【てんちょう】は優しい【やさしい】人【ひと】で、めったに怒らない【おこらない】。
'The store manager is a nice person and rarely gets angry.'

What does で mean in this sentence?


texts:
In the song "Eien no tobira" (永遠の扉) by Yonekura Chihiro (米倉千尋) the chorus starts with this line:

  言葉じゃなくて約束もなくて

Since じゃなくて is contraction of ではなくて, I would have expected the second clause to say でもなくて, but it became もなくて with the で omitted instead. There is possibility that the lyric writer really wanted to say "there is no my promise either" instead of "it is not my promise either" but that would make it not parallel to the the first clause "it is not my word" (sorry I can't find a better translation for 言葉 in this context).

Assuming if the lyric line's second clause was supposed to say 「約束でもなくて」, is it okay to omit the で particle and yet still retain the intended meaning through parallel structure with the first clause? In the context of a song or literature, does this kind of trick work?

N.B. It is a really nice song. I recommend trying listening to it if you haven't :)


texts: アニメと漫画で日本語を勉強することについて (On learning Japanese from anime/manga)

texts:
最近、漫画好きな外国人が増えたので、日本のアニメや漫画で日本語を勉強する外国人も多くなっています。アニメの日本語が日常の会話であまり使わないので、アニメで日本語を勉強することで日本語をちゃんと学べると思いますか。

(Many foreigners have been learning Japanese through manga and anime due to its popularity outside of Japan. Due to the fact that many phrases in anime are not used in normal Japanese conversation, can you learn real Japanese from anime/manga)


texts:
In everyday language and for early learners, when the verb ends in おう or よう, it is conventionally called the "volitional" form, for example:

  今夜はもうねよう (I'll just go to sleep for tonight).

It can also be used as sort of a hortative of sorts, such as:

  早く、学校に行こう (Hurry up, let's go to school).

So far, there aren't really problems with calling this form "volitional"; it expresses a will of some sort. However, in a more literary, less conversational context, the form can also be used to show a sort of certainty or "the way things are" (I'm not really sure how to explain this, so hopefully my example will help).

  光を持つ者に道は[拓]{ひら}こう (The road shall open for the one who bears the light). (Imagine this being written on a signpost in a video game or something).

This is where we start to run into problems: How does this relate to the meanings above, exactly? We begin to see that calling it "volitional" is more of a work-around we're using to attempt to translate something absent in our language. There are other phrases where this categorization fails as well, such as:

  彼が[足掻]{あが}こうが足掻くまいがどうにもならない (Whether or not he struggles, nothing will come of it).

This also introduces the issue of the negative "volitional," which, although rarely used, does not quite carry the meaning one would expect from a form known as the "volitional." I could mention other issues, like why we usually translate だろう as "probably," "surely," "most likely," etc., but this question is getting pretty long-winded as it is, so I'll ask my main question now.

What is the actual "idea" that this form is trying to express, and how does that lead to the interpretations of it we use in these situations? Also, if any of my examples are incorrect or using the form wrong, please tell me (I'm aware they don't all sound like something someone would actually say, though).


texts:
I may just be misunderstanding the etymology of certain words, but I think of certain jukugo e.g. 「大学生」as being derived from patterns like 「大学の学生」, where there is a kanji-level shiritori, leading to a single occurrence of overlapping kanji when the two are merged. Is this merely a misconception on my part, where in fact it is properly treated as 「（学）～生」applied to 「大学」; or is this actually valid?

In general, is there a [name for the] phenomenon where jukugo consisting of several atoms have certain kanji elided (*but not as in the case of 「東京大学＞東大」) ?

Other examples that I would tentatively cite as possible examples of this unverified pattern would be cases where duplicated/overlapping kanji are elided, such as:

「新入部員」(new club member) = 「新入」+「入部」+「部員」 (newly enter + enter a club + club member)

If this is not the case, would it be 「新-」+「入部」+「～員」, or something between the two?

or cases where non-overlapping kanji are elided such as in

「入院」=「[病]院に入ること」, as opposed to 「×入病院」?


texts: How did 面白い end up meaning "Interesting"?

texts: 面 by itself means "face", while 白 by itself means "white". How did these two words combine together to mean "interesting"?


texts:
I’m sure you guys are well aware of the Japanese dictionary Goo.

https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/

Why is it called “Goo”? Even in romaji, Goo sounds unusual. I doubt it refers to the English meaning of the word. I did some research on google and as far as I can tell, it’s not a company either.

Is it an acronym for something? I’d really like to know.


texts: Meaning of を in 東京都庁をスタートする

texts:
「東京マラソン」は、東京都庁をスタートして、銀座や浅草など観光地を走る人気のマラソン大会です。
  The Tokyo Marathon is a popular race that runs through tourist areas like Ginza and Asakusa and starts at the government office.

Clearly this を is not the object particle (the race isn't starting the office). I know that を can also mean 'through' like the second time it appears above. But I'm sure the race doesn't start through the office either.

So を must have another meaning I don't know, or it's a typo for で. I assume the former.


texts: ～まくる as a suffix, what does it mean and how is it used?

texts:
I found this phrase 「家族に突っ込まれまくった」 and I believe it means "[my] family really stuck it [to me]" but I'm not familiar with the suffix まくる.

Any examples and clarifications would be appreciated.


texts:
平民が、貴族にそんな口[利]{き}いていいと思ってるの.

Above is the full sentence from a book I'm reading. I get いいとおもっている part = think its nice (roughly), and already looked up 貴族に, そんな口利き, but the sentence as a whole makes no sense at all to me. Please help, and thank you.


texts: How often are です and 〜ます used among friends?

texts: since they are polite forms are they ever often used in informal settings among friends? or would people think you’re being overly polite?


texts: How to say "I see things differently than any others do" in Japanese?

texts:
I am a Japanese language student in the beginner level. I have just learnt a grammar as follows.

  パンとごはんとどちらの方が好きですか。ごはんの方が好きです。

I am impatient to learn something like,

  I see things differently than any others do.

Could you give me a crash course for this?