texts: Another language question regarding tomodachi

texts: my college product line for next year is currently called Tomodachi.  however because someone owns this word in the USA I was hoping to find something similar.  Americans really like the 'dachi' part so it would be ideal if it had dachi in it.  do people still use mabudachi?  is there something similar?  these mascots (120 of them) are all friends but also rivals.  is there any Japanese word that makes sense? any help would be greatly appreciated. my Nihongo is long gone from my days in Tokyo in 82/83.   here is what the characters look like again.  Thanks.


texts: What is the difference between 見てない and 見たことがない?

texts:
The title says it all, what's the difference between 見てない and 見たことがない?

Lately, I've seen japanese people using 見てない to express that they have never seen something, eg:

  この映画は見てない。

But I thought that 見てない would be used in the following fashion:

  今、映画を見てなくて、晩ご飯を食べてるよ。

And how different it is from:

  この映画を見たことがない。

is the usage of 見てない a set phrase or something?


texts: I don't understand the reason to learn Onyomi and Kunyomi of the kanji. Do they have any use besides reading out loud? Can't a person just learn the meaning and read?


texts: What is the difference between 殺{さつ}人{じん} and 殺{さつ}害{がい}?

texts:
What is the difference between 殺人 and 殺害? As I know, both of them mean "killing". I found the words in these sentences:

  秋田運転手刺殺事件、男を逮捕 強盗殺人容疑で。 金品を奪い取る目的で殺害した疑い。


texts: "Kimashita" is the past tense of "to come". But it seems like in this situation, よくて きました, kimashita means you did, or you were? What am I missing in this case?


texts:
Whilst it isn't always the case, I do occasionally see sentences that I think would be written out in full as 感じがする as opposed to 感じ. Take the following examples.

  お風呂って大好きなんです。心が休まる感じで
  心が休まる感じがするのでお風呂が大好きなんです

or

  恋した時ってどんな感じがするんですか
  恋した時ってどんな感じなんですか

So my question is:

Is it relatively common in normal speech to abbreviate 感じがする＞感じ?(If this is just me me misunderstanding and this isn't actually done, then please explain the differences in meaning between two suitable sentences)


texts: Should I include my step-siblings as 兄弟?

texts: If I'm asked, "兄弟がいますか。" and my only siblings are a younger step brother and younger step sister, should/can I respond "はい、いもうととおとうとがいます。"? Do I need to specify but still answer in the affirmative? Or does my answer need to be negative?


texts: What's the difference between ～てください and ～ていてください?

texts:
This question has come up on the side of at least a couple of other questions, but I don't think it's been definitively answered, so let's see if we can come up with something solid.

After going through the first ten pages of Google results for both "ていてください" and "ていて下さい" (very scientific, I know), I found 43 verbs and expressions that precede these forms. The most common:

待つ (まつ):                50 results
見る (みる):                33
楽しみにする (たのしみにする):  25
覚える or 憶える (おぼえる):  19
生きる (いきる):              9
期待する (きたいする):         5
見守る (みまもる):            4
強いる (しいる):              3
離れる (はなれる):            3
知る (しる):                 3
思う (おもう):                3

待つ is somewhat expected, but there are some interesting entries here, such as 生きる and 離れる. How is 生きてください different from 生きていてください, and likewise, how is 離れてください different from 離れていてください? At a minimum, let's try to answer:

What is the difference in nuance between these two?
When should you choose one over the other?

Bonus points if you can draw from a trusted reference.

Related:

What does the final て in 待ってて signify?
deceze's answer for Am I coming or going? 戻ってくる vs 戻っていく


texts:
Insight into 林檎 and 苹果

Are both forms used by Japanese people?

If so, which form is more common?

Is there some nuanced difference between them?

I know 苹果 more closely reflects the Chinese 苹果.

Also it's interesting that Rin Go resembles the Chinese Ping Guo and then the kanji 檎 is pronounced as Go.

I feel like the pronunciation ringo came from the Chinese píngguǒ, then the new kanji was adopted. Lin 林 was used as it sounds like Ping 苹. Then 檎 took on the pronunciation 果.


texts: Is it usual for men to use な instead of ね?

texts:
I was surprised when in this video:

https://youtu.be/m9rf63DsN-s?t=2m44s

I heard ごめんな instead of ごめんね.

Is this because men ten to use な instead of ね? So maybe men would say, for example, 怖いな instead of 怖いね?


texts: も particle — “exclamation” special usage, も/と nuance distinction

texts:
大雪｛おおゆき｝によって、電車｛でんしゃ｝は３時間｛じかん｝以上｛いじょう｝も遅れました｛おくれました｝。

彼女｛かのじょ｝が怒る｛おこる｝のも当然｛とうぜん｝だ。

I read a few grammar explanations that suggested in these contexts も serves as an “exclamation” marker, but I’m confused about these usages of も. Could you explain this usage of も? Could も be replaced by another particle in these cases, and if so, how would the meanings change?

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
What is the difference in nuance between the following sentences? Are either more common than the other? Are there certain contexts you would use one over the other?

私｛わたし｝は犬｛いぬ｝も猫｛ねこ｝も好き｛すき｝です。

私は犬と猫が好きです。


texts: Does the Japanese expression ''peko peko'' come from the English word ''peckish''?

texts:
I just learned that ''I'm hungry'' is :

Onaka suita

but can also be :

Onaka peko peko

I noticed that the ''peko peko'' was written in katakana.

Does it come from ''peckish'' ?


texts: What is proper letter ending greeting for a letter to a teacher?

texts:
In Chinese letter writing there is a phrase "教祺" that can be roughly translated as "good luck in teaching" and is used exclusively in the letter ending greeting. Is there a counterpart in Japanese letter writing? Or is wishing the teacher's health good enough?

Edit: found a rather long list of letter greetings and cannot find anything specific to teachers.


texts: How do ～以上 and ～あっての work in the same sentence?

texts:
彼がやらせてほしいと言う以上、見込みがあってのことだろう。やらせてみたらどうか。責任は私が負う。

"There must be something to it if he's saying that we should let him do it. How about we just let him? I'll take full responsibility." At least that's how I'd understand the sentence. What I'm unsure though is how ～以上 and ～あっての work together.

「～以上」＝「～だから、当然・必ず～」
「～あっての」＝「～があって、はじめて可能な～」

I just don't see how these two are supposed to work together here. "Because he's saying that we should let him do, there must be something to it - but because there is something to it (expectations for the future?), he's saying that we should let him do it?" You see what I'm trying to get at here?

Also how exactly does「見込み」work here? Is it the expectation the guy, who wants to be allowed to do it, has or is it from the point of view of the speaker of the sentence?


texts: I would like to ask what does "しっくりきます" mean?


texts:
EDIT : Part of the answer here :
meaning of ギッタンギッタン with reference

The speaker just said :

オレさまはおまえみたいなカスでもようしゃしねえぞ。
I won't show mercy, even to a scum like you.

And continues with :

メロメロのギッタギタにのしてやる。

I know めろめろ can mean "weeping uncontrollably", "to flare up" or "to collapse".
I suppose ぎったぎた is ぎたぎた and means "greasy, sticky".
And I guess のす means something like "To knock down someone" here.
But I just can't do the maths...


texts: をも: Is this sentence grammatically correct?

texts:
日本で英語を教えたい。彼も教えたい。
I want to teach English in Japan. He also wants to teach.

But if I were referring to myself in both sentences and talking about two different activities that I want to do:

日本で英語を教えたい。(1) 私も書道を勉強したい。(2) 書道をも勉強したい。
I want to teach English in Japan. I also want to learn calligraphy.

I'm not sure if (1) is the right way to go because it's like saying, "Me too" but I'm not referring to anyone else in the previous sentence. Is (2) grammatically correct? What's the correct way to write the second sentence?


texts: みんなの日本語って教科書**が**だれでも知っているね。it should be を not が right?

texts:
みんなの日本語って教科書がだれでも知っているね。it should be を not が right?
知っている is transitive verb.
same phenomenon in トムさん、さっき山田さんって人が探してたよ。


texts:
In the sentence like:

  ホテルに電話をかけます

Can we omit "電話を" and say:

  ホテルにかけます

The logic here goes this way: "かけ" means "to make call" so, the "電話を" should be implied. Is it correct?

Thank you very much in advance.


texts: What’s the difference between サクサク and パリパリ

texts: I have a question about Japanese onomatopoeia (擬態語). What is the difference between サクサク and パリパリ? Are there situations where using one instead of the other is incorrect? As I understand it, they both mean “crispy”.


texts: the logic behind "te" in "chotto matte te"

texts:
When someone says: chotto matte te, why does the te mean "... and I'll be back shortly". What's the logic behind it?

Why aren't there special expressions such as chotto matte X, where X could mean "I'll give food to my cat" or "I'll need sign an important document for Toyota" or "I'll fix my laptop which was broken by little sister"? Why come that te means specifically "...and I'll be back shortly"? And why is it "te"?


texts: How to say "She is the girl I said I like."?

texts:
I have some questions about relative clauses. How can I express "She is the girl I said (to you) I like"?
This is my attempt

僕はこの女子が好きなんですよ
I like this girl.

彼女は僕が好きな女子なんですよ
She is the girl I like.

彼女は僕が[...]女子なんですよ
She is the girl whom I said I like.

I don't know how to fill the blank here. I thought something like

彼女は僕が好きだと言った女子なんですよ

It makes me confused because it can mean "She is the girl whom I said to her I like her." Am I understanding「僕が好きだと言った女子」correctly?
Another question, if I turn this clause「僕が好きだと言った女子」from the sentence above into a full sentence like this「女子は僕が好きだと言った」. Does this sentence mean "She said she likes me"? I think this meaning is completely different from the original clause.


texts:
In 合格できる N3 (page 28), I found the following exercise:

うちの子{こ}は新{あた}しいおもちゃ見{み}ると、(　　　　)ほしがる。
1.　急に　　　2.　じっと　　　3.すぐに　　　4.しっかり

I have to fill in with the correct word. I think it's either 1 or 3, but I don't know the difference between those two. I think that to some extent both 急に and すぐに can be understood as immediately.
In this context, which is the most appropriate word and why?


texts:
When reading manga, I frequently notice that I have no idea what a character says. This is not because I do not know what the kanji is, rather it is very difficult for me to decipher what the kanji looks like. In printed manga, I measured that printed kanji are often times 4mm in width and just 2mm in length. This is exceptionally apparent with kanji that have increased strokes and are more intricate than others (亭 vs. 璽).

Now this is only really apparent to printed kanji (such as newspapers, manga, etc.) as

 a) When ink is involved in printing, intricate characters can appear to run together or strokes can become quite close together.
b) Characters on things like computer screens are more clear, not as small and can be magnified.

Now I attempted to perform a search on this topic online, and I found nothing. I am hypothesizing that maybe native and experienced speakers just recognize the kanji more easily? Are these problems experienced by others, and how can this be dealt with?

EDIT: Here's an example (however, this is not the same as it is on a computer screen):

(blue arrow indicated easy to read kanji, red is more difficult)


texts: Using the particle と or the particle に with あう

texts:
I've always thought that the only particle which is correct to use with 会う is に：

  明日あなたに会います。

But I've come across the sentence:

  きのう田中さんと会いました。

Is it correct? If it is, when shall we use と with 会う and when shall we use に?


texts:
Today in my JLPT text book, I came across the word 解{げ}す.

I know that the kanji 解 means "unravel", and it can be read 解{わか}る, and with that reading it's synonymous with 分{わ}かる, "to understand".

When I looked up 解{げ}す in the dictionary, it also seems to just mean "to understand" when read this way.

Which made me wonder - why use this reading instead of the usual 解{わか}る reading? Does it carry any extra or different nuance?

Is this reading as rare as I think it is, or is it just me that hasn't come across it very often?


texts:
「ねー、つれてってよ。七夕だよ」
  Hey, take me along. It's Tanabata.
  「七夕なんて行ってどうすんだよ。毎年同じような飾りばっかりじゃねェか。今年はいいにしろ」
  Go to Tanabata and do what? It's just the same decorations every year. Even if they're good this year...

I'm struggling to understand the 行ってどうすんだ part. I assume it's a contraction of 行ってどうするのだ, but I don't know what the function of どうする is here. Why is it not marked as a question with ?/か

Does it mean "what will you do if you go?". I guess I would have said something like:

  言ったらどうするの？　言ったらどうしよう？ or something like that

Would this be correct? Does it have the same nuance?

I can't understand how the て-form is being used in a place where I would have expected an 'if'.


texts:
だって大事なんだよ… それくらい、お前のことが大切なんだってば

I would translate it like:
You are important...
That is how much you mean to me

The story goes like this (context); One man punches his best friend (who he loved) because that friend wanted to have his wife. After doing that he says that sentence to his wife and they have a sweet love moment.

How important is it to the man in the following question? Does it imply the man considers his relationship with his wife is more important than his friend? If there's a subtlety I might have missed in that regard please tell me.

I understand what the sentence means, I'm asking about the emphasis it was said with in japanese.


texts:
" 時々" means "sometimes" and "しょっちゅう" means "frequently", right? And, the meaning is well short of "いつも".

Now, I can't imagine "しょっちゅう" is used in writing or formal speaking, right?

So, what is the proper way to express the idea of "しょっちゅう"?


texts: Is しまった an appropriate translation for "Oops"?

texts:
In the course of localising an app for the Japanese language I have been tasked with translating the Google-style error string "Oops", which will presumably be used as in

  Oops
  Please check your password and try again

Presuming we want to preserve this conversational interface style (such is the brief), would しまった be an appropriate translation?

Given that this app will be used by children, I would like to know if this is considered acceptable language or not. If not, are there some good "family-friendly" alternatives?


texts:
I understand that if the subject of the question is in question then it will be indicated by が. So we will have:
A: 誰が手伝いに行きますか？ [Who will go to help him a hand?]
And not:
A: 誰は手伝いに行きますか？ (x)[Who will go to help him a hand?]
What's odd to me is that in the next sentence that gives answer for A's question, the subject is also indicated by が not は, so:
B: カリナさんが行きます。[Karina will go to help him.]
Instead of:
B: カリナさんは行きます。[Karina will go to help him.]
After search the internet for some time, I found an explanation that says:

When a question word such as "who" and "what" is the subject of a
sentence, it is always followed by "ga," never by "wa." To answer the
question, it also has to be followed by "ga."

So far so good.
But soon I'm wondering whether this rule is also applicable for affirmative sentences.
So for the following English sentence:
Karina will go to help him.
The Japanese version of it should be:
カリナさんが彼を手伝いに行きます。[Karina will go to help him.]
And not:
カリナさんは彼を手伝いに行きます。(x)[Karina will go to help him.]


texts:
I have come across the word in a manga. It is said by a boy who was talking about the future plan of selling prizes awarded from playing Pachinko.

Here is the sentence including the word:

  いつまでも　たたき売{う}りなんぞしてやせんっ。

I'm not sure if the word is related to the word 痩{や}せる.


texts: The usage of そんな感じに to end a scene in narration

texts:
For example

  そんな感じに日は過ぎて行きました

which may appear at the end of the scene.

Do we have anything similar to this in English?

What is the purpose of using a construction like this instead of naturally letting the scene end (i.e. what meaning/etc. does it add)?


texts: Need help with particles to understand sentences

texts:
first english is not my mothertongue, so if i make mistakes, correction are welcome. i'm reading an adult light novel and have some problem translating and understanding precisely two sentences. First i will give the whole paragraph for context:

  自分の身体すらも認識することのできない、心地良い浮遊感。まるでゆりかごに揺られるかのように、ゆっくりと、 その意識は傾いては元の位置へと戻る。奇妙な感覚ではあったが、 それは決して不快ではなかった。すでに記憶にはない、母の胎内というのはこんな感覚なのだろうか、とぼんやりとした思考が生まれて、そして流れていく。

The first phrase i don't understand is this sentence:

  まるでゆりかごに揺られるかのように、ゆっくりと、 その意識は傾いては元の位置へと戻る

It's not that i don't understand the vocabulary,i understand it very well. It's about the two particles i marked in bold, と and へと, especially へと which giving me trouble in understanding the phrase and translating it precisely in my head.

The second i cannot translate it in my head at all, i don't know if it's because i got troubled with that other phrase but i really cannot understand the phrase. It's the phrase which I put in bold above:

  すでに記憶にはない、母の胎内というのはこんな感覚なのだろうか、とぼんやりとした思考が生まれて、そして流れていく

Why are there two は particles in the phrase? Can someone help me please?


texts: I'm watching Tanya the evil to learn some more complicated kanji and speech, and this one sentence I don't understand completely the usage of と in the sentence “つまりは勝利をめざさないと”. The translation that's given says "In other words, You wouldn't try to win?". Is と used to make a question?  From what I know about the usage of と, it's used to imply something in an If/Then format.


texts: Conditional counter-factual, main verb past vs nonpast?

texts:
I'm seeing sentences using a conditional counter-factual statement, using both the past and nonpast in sentences.

Examples:

  安ければ買います

According to the Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (DBJG), it can mean both the factual "I'll buy it if it's cheap" and the counter-factual "I would buy it if it were cheap".

What about:

  もっと安ければ買いました。

According to DBJG, this translates to "I would have bought it if it had been much cheaper".

Is there a difference? Perhaps this is more of a question about English than in Japanese?


texts: Why/when is である required for na-adjectives in grammar forms?

texts:
When shin kanzen master defines the connections for some grammar forms, it often notes that である must be used for na-adjectives.
For example, in the grammar point for ～にもかかわらず in shin kanzen master grammar N2, the following connection rule is given:

名・普通形（ナ形 だ - である・名 だ - である）　＋にもかかわらず

It seems this connection rule needs to be memorized to get the correct answer to exercises.
For example, exercise 10 on page 127 of shin kanzen master grammar N2 states:

（　　）の中の言葉を適当な形にして、必要なら「の」を加えて＿＿＿の上に書きなさい。
...
10　この本は、内容が非常に ＿＿＿＿ にもかかわらず、よく整理されていてわかりやすい。
(複雑な）

The solution for this exercise is 複雑である. In particular, the addition of である is necessary to satisfy the connection rule given in the grammar point's definition (as written above.)
There are many other grammar forms that require である for na-adjectives. Rather than naively memorizing all of these cases, are there general rules to know why/when である needs to be used to connect a na-adjective to a grammar form?


texts: Is Ippu a Japanese word or cultural reference?

texts: I was considering this word 'ippu' 2 syllables in English as a brand name - no meaning as far as I know but there were vague references online to Japan. Anyone heard that word before?


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

texts:
とりあえず、転入生は自動的に身辺調査をすることにしているんだけどね

This is taken from a visual novel

It translates to "So anyway I decided to to do a background check on the transfer student"

However I don't get the usage of は in this case.

Using は would mean that the preceding word (transfer student) is the subject and he/she is doing something.

However the something (investigation) is being done to the transfer student so shouldn't the を particle be used here instead of は ?


texts:
What is the function of そうですね　in the following conversation?

  山田さんはいつも何時間ぐらい勉強しますか。ー　そうですね。毎日二時間ぐらいです。


texts: I'm really confused how to use them. Please help me. Thank you.


texts: Help with understanding sentence in Manga (pic inside)

texts:
This is how I understand the sentence:
84 If you are a man who'd drop me for this
85 won't you fall in love with me first?

But it's such a weird thing to say. Something like "...you couldn't have liked me much to begin with." would make more sense to me, but it's not written. I think.

Context: It's a BL manga and one of the guys grew suddenly taller than the other and is now worried that his boyfriend doesn't want him anymore.

I am probably getting my grammar or something mixed up again. Help, please! :)

Much appreciated and have a lovely day!


texts: Translation help with a sentence, use of たる?

texts:
This is a sentence from a character bio, but for whatever reason -maybe the author's quirky- they've written it in a really verbose way in what seems to be classical Japanese. I get the general gist of most of it but this one phrase is getting me kind stuck.

  [彼【かれ】]に次代【じだい】の礎【いしずえ】たる資質【ししつ】を見出【みいだ】し

[She] finds in [him] an attribute that is the next era's foundation? A disposition of those who will be founders of the next era? I feel like I've gotten the general idea (I think?) but I just don't know what would be the right way to put it into words. This is the first time I've come across たる and it's...pretty confusing.

If it helps, I'm pretty sure the sentence is referring to a scene when the character who's bio is in question thought "he could become a good leader, because being able to change peoples hearts is like a requirement (the word used was 必要条件【ひつようじょうけん】 which I feel ties into the use of たる since たる is apparently used to refer to requirements?) of leaders."


texts:
What does 居酒屋 mean in Japanese? Does it refer to any place that primarily serves alcoholic beverages with less emphasis on food? Does it refer to what English-speakers would refer to by the English word "izakaya", which is native to Japan, typically has a small appetiser in place of a cover charge, and sometimes has smoking allowed?

If there's a difference of meaning between current and past usage, or between a technical definition versus everyday usage, please include that in the answer.


texts:
What is the meaning of 腹んばい and 腹んばいになって？

Also, is it read 「はらんばい」？

I understand that 腹んばい悪い seems to mean 'get mad' (腹が立つ), but this other usage seems like it isn't about anger.

Here is the context from Akutagawa's Nyotai:

  楊某
  {ようぼう}
  と云う支那人が、ある夏の夜、あまり蒸暑いのに眼がさめて、頬杖をつきながら腹んばいになって、とりとめのない妄想
  {もうぞう}
  に耽っていると、ふと一匹の
  虱
  {しらみ}
  が寝床の
  縁{ふち}
  を這っているのに気がついた。

From googling, this word still seems to be in use.
I can't find this word in my kokugo dictionaries, which includes daijisen and genius (mac dictionary/goo).  Why is that?


texts:
I have almost the complete definition of this sentence

  いざゆけ七変化

I'm using this website "www.jisho.org" to translate words that I still don't know in Japanese.

I'm aware that いざ is an adverb that translates to now, well or come(now) and that
変化 translates to change when used as a verb but what I can't understand on this sentence is this word ゆけ七 used in the sentence.


texts:
楽しみ is derived from  楽しむ isn't it? Despite this, it's used as if it were an adjective, and I don't completely understand why it can be used in 楽しみにする.
What is the name of the form that 楽しみ is relative to 楽しむ, and why can you use it in にする?


texts: Shorthand for [傘]{kasa} or normal use?　仐

texts: I was at a Japanese class and saw what I thought was a mistake, or at best shorthand for the character [傘]{かさ} -> 仐 I thought the four ([人]{ひと}) had been forgotten but my Japanese teacher told me this was regular Japanese like how other archaic characters get simplified (國 -> [国]{こく}, see Wiki page here). I am not convinced so if anyone could share more solid evidence on the validity of the character or your own opinions?


texts: Meaning of 半分間違っているんじゃないかなと思う部分があるから、アメリカチック,アメリカナイズされすぎているっていうか。

texts:
This is from a textbook, the person is trying to explain how his generation is different from his father's generation. He says that all his father did was work and save money.

  自分が楽しむとか、遊ぶために稼ぐとかいう感覚じゃなくて、なんか、ただ稼ぐみたいな感覚で稼いでたんじゃないかなと父を見る時に、ちょっと思って。

Then he says:

  半分間違っているんじゃないかなと思う部分があるから、 アメリカチック,アメリカナイズされすぎているっていうか。

From what I can gather, he is saying that (just working and saving money) is half wrong, and their working ethics (I suppose?) became too americanised.

Am I correct? What does it mean?


texts:
I searched for both they mean to wake up.

When do I need to use 目覚める and 起きる.


texts: What final sentence particle can replace の and is used more commonly by men?

texts: の has a female connotation and I wanted to obtain some alternative final sentence particles.


texts:
My book has these two sentences and I don't quite understand why they are using には in the first example and では on the second one. It seems to me that only では would be correct in this situation.

１）わたしの　[学校]{がっこう} には　アメリカ[人]{じん}の　[先生]{せんせい} が　います。
２）わたしの　[学校]{がっこう} では　[中国語]{ちゅうごくご} が　[習]{なら}えます。

To make things even worse, the explanation given is the following:

は is used to highlight a noun as a topic, and when が or を follows the noun, it is replaced by は. When other particles (e.g. で、に、へ、etc.) follow the noun, は is placed after them.

EDIT: Wow, thank you everyone for the very detailed and helpful answers. Since I cannot mark all as Answers, I'll mark the one with the most votes and then upvote everyone who has answered so far. Thanks!


texts: Can a noun with adverbial particle に be used to express "going somewhere with a purpose"?

texts:
I am familiar with the formula: 連用形+に+動の動詞　(行く、来る、帰る、戻る、出かける、出る) which means "moving somewhere with a purpose", where "moving" is a template for going, coming, returning, etc.
E.g.

林さんは何をしに来たのですか。Why did Hayashi come?
本を借りに来たんです。He came to borrow a book.

Can a noun+に be used in the same manner to express purpose?
E.g. can 健診に be used as the purpose for the verb いく?

林さんは健診に病院に行った。Hayashi went to the hospital for medical examination.


texts: How does the passive form of "to invite" work?

texts:
So I've got my tables of verb conjugations and I've settled down with
"Read Real Japanese", the short story edition, and the very first verb
in the first story is さそう - to invite - used in the passive. This
is presented as さそわれて and translated as "having been invited
by..."

I've spent a couple of days searching the Internet and piles of books
but although I have been able to find other examples of this verb
being conjugated this way, I can't find any explanation. Surely さそう
is a ru-verb [edit: I see that this was a confusion caused by differing terminology] and conjugates in the passive to さそられる?

I can sort of see that ら might become わ under some circumstances
(but I don't know what they might be) but how or why would る become
て?

What's going on here?


texts:
I can't quite understand the meaning of dakedo here.

  予定日は過ぎているから どっちかは分かるんだけどなぁ。
  We are passing the scheduled date.

(This is what I can understand from this sentence about a baby born date.) I'm really confused about だけど.


texts:
I read once that it means something like "reconstruction" or "restoration", but that it is an example of a word that cannot be "truly" translated into English.

Could anybody here explain in detail what it means and how common it is in everyday speech in the Japanese-speaking world?

What about the associated expression "the flow of fukugen"? Would you be so kind as to help me to unravel it too?

Thanks in advance for your knowledgeable replies.


texts:
Most natural way of saying something is better than or best.

  This picture is the best
  This picture is better than ...

The translations I see on Google are ベスト and べター. Looking for a way how Japanese would compare things.

Thanks!


texts:
I assumed not, but I saw

  言い知れぬ甘美なもの

Translated as "something inexpressibly sweet", as if 言い知れぬ modified 甘美な. Is it just a quirk of translation and both　the adjective 言い知れぬ and 形容動詞 modify もの (that is, lit: something inexpressible and sweet), or does 言い知れぬ modify 形容動詞 here somehow?


texts: How do 自他 triplets of related verbs work?

texts:
I thought this had been asked before (possibly by me), but I couldn't find it.  I'm wondering why for certain verbs/words, instead of just a 自他 pair, there is a triplet (or possibly more) where two of the verbs are one type (自 or 他) and the third is the other type.  Some examples:

  他　→　縮【ちぢ】める　：　自　→　縮【ちぢ】まる　：　縮【ちぢ】む　→　both?

  see @snailboat comment below - dictionary confirms.  Exs.

  自　→　寿命が縮む　：　他　→　「ちぢめるの文語形」in dictionary def.

  他　→　繋【つな】ぐ　・　繋【つな】げる　：　自　→　繋【つな】がる
  他　→　緩【ゆる】める　：　自　→　緩【ゆる】まる　：　緩【ゆる】む　→　both? (same as above)
  他　→　滅【ほろ】ぶ　・　滅【ほろ】びる　：　自　→　滅【ほろ】ぼす
  他　→　含【ふく】む　・　含【ふく】める　：　自　→　含【ふく】まる

What's the deal with these triplets?  Why are there two accepted verbs of one form for the same meaning?  Are they somehow different?  Is one of the two a classic/obsolete form like I talked about here?  Does one of the two somehow rise to dominance over the other?  I admit that I encounter 繋【つな】ぐ a lot less than 繋【つな】げる, but 縮【ちぢ】む seems just as frequent as 縮【ちぢ】まる to me.

Any other examples would be great to list too.


texts: Simple question really, is の needed when describing genre? For example: ホラー本が好きです or ホラーの本が好きです. SF本が嫌いです or SFの本が嫌いです. The same for music etc. Thank you!


texts: Is 日語 a good two-kanji stand-in for 日本語 ("Japanese language")?

texts:
This is a bit of an ad hoc question, but still should be well within the scope of JLU, so here goes:

While trying to come up with ideas for our new logo in the meta group (subliminal message: go and participate!), the idea of an inkan-like 2x2 kanji logo was bounced around:

用 日
法 語

(read vertically)

The design Derek made looks quite spiffy, but I am having some light doubt about the use of "日語" as a stand-in for "日本語" (for balance and style, using the full 3-kanji compound is not really an option). While the meaning is quite obvious, I wonder how accepted this "abbreviation" is, and whether it would look natural to a native.

My question is: has anybody ever encountered 日語 used to mean 日本語 in a similar context? Do you have any example to point me to that could put my worries to rest?

Alternatively: can you think of any good two-kanji compound to say the same thing? (I did think of 和語, but my dictionaries say it has a specific meaning, different from just "Japanese language").


texts: What's a good word for "offer", as in "...for offering us eternal life..."?

texts:
I'm trying to translate a sentence that includes the following phrase:

  ...for offering us eternal life...

Finding a good word for "offer" is apparently a little easier said that done.  jisho.org does say that there's always オファーする, but that seems like a last resort to me.  They don't even mark it as a commonly used word.

That's not to say I haven't found some "commonly used words" for "offer"; jisho.org has many listed.  The problem is that they all have alternate meanings and/or fairly specific contexts in which they're used.

I tried running a search for the word "offer" in the Bible, but I'm reluctant to go with the Japanese word used in verses having to do with sacrifices, and in other verses, the Japanese translation I have seems to sort of dodge use of the word "offer".

I don't want to use a word that is inappropriate in this context, and I am especially trying to avoid using a word for "offer" that has other, equally applicable meanings.  (This weeds out the prase 提供する, for example, because in this context, it could imply that we don't have to accept eternal life to receive it.)  So what's a good word?

EDIT

Here's the whole sentence:

  Lord, we thank You for all the blessings which You give us everyday, especially for what You did for us on the cross and for offering us eternal life through Your Son Jesus Christ.


texts:
In the song Chercher by Kotoko there's the line

  心配性｛しんぱいしょう｝と言｛い｝われても　ハラハラのしどおしよ

And in a subtitled video it gets translated to: "Even if you say I'm a worrier, you're anxious with me"

It all makes sense expect that どおし part...
Is it supposed to be 同士｛どうし} ? But if so, how come it's written with a different spelling that my IME doesn't acknowledge?

I tried researching this and the best I found is this https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1216623117
but I don't know. Does anyone know what this どおし is supposed to be and why it gets spelt this way?


texts: How come the sentence 白いのは、高い is ok, but the sentence 学生じゃないのは、学校に行かない is not? Wouldn't the second sentence just mean "the one who isn't a student does not go to school"? On Tae Kim's grammar guide, he says that to replace a noun with の, the sentence needs to be "about the clause and not about the noun that was replaced." I'm not really sure what that means, so can someone please explain it?


texts: What does 真っ赤な in the example sentence referring to?

texts:
I was playing some video game & I came across this sentence:

  スプラッタで真っ赤な、すりおろしリンゴが出てきそうで恐い

I want to ask what is 真っ赤な's role in this sentence, what does it describe?

I have an idea that it describes すりおろしリンゴ, but if that means "grated apples", then is "bright/deep red grate apples" a thing?

Appreciate your help!


texts:
In regards to this sentence why is it ある and not いる for 親 and 責任?

  親である限りは、子供に対する責任があると思う。


texts: What is the difference between 憧れる{あこがれる} and 焦がれる{こがれる}?

texts:
From Jisho.org, the words 憧れる{あこがれる} (akogareru) and 焦がれる{こがれる} (kogareru) appear to have the same meaning: to yearn for, to long for, to be attracted by. What is the difference between them?

Note: while trying to find an answer, I actually found what seems to be this exact question in Japanese, but I'm not in the level of understanding that yet.


texts:
So, I was reading a children's story and came across this sentence:

  「いいか、この最後{さいご}のローソクが消{き}えたら、本当{ほんとう}のお化{ば}けが出{で}るかもしれん。だが、どんなお化けが出ようと、お互{たが}いに逃{に}げっこなしにしよう」

What I'm having trouble understanding and dictionaries haven't been able to help is decoding the 逃げっこなしにしよう part. What exactly is happening there?

If more context is needed, the full text can be seen here (it's only about one page long, very short): http://hukumusume.com/douwa/pc/100monogatari/001.htm


texts: How do I interpret the Japanese construction of verb+noun?

texts:
A) Let's take just transitive verbs first:

食べる人
食べられる人

B) Now let's take intransitive verbs:

起きる人
起きられる人
起こす人
起こされる人

OK, this thing has confused me for a very long time now, like really long. Thus I am posting this here. I have asked the question once before but did not get a real answer.

What I am confused with about verb+noun sentence is how it is to be translated. e.g from A) we get

"The person that eats (person is subject, object omitted)" and
"The person that is eaten (person is object here, subject omitted)" right?

Now let's get to B) I think all 4 sentences are grammatically valid and sound as far as usage is concerned. I would translate them as

"The person that wakes up (person is subject and object - instransitive verb)"
"The person that is awaken (by himself) (person is subject and object - intransitive)" or in other words "The person that awakes himself (by himself)"

Then we have,

"The person that wakes (others) up (subject is person, object omitted)"
"The person that is awaken (by someone else) (subject omitted, object is person)"

Now what I want you folks to do is to make sure that I interpreted the Japanese sentences correctly. This will make sure that I understand how to make verb+noun sentences.

Thus 食べる食事 means "The food that eats (someone/something)". To refer to the food I eat I shall say 食べられる食事は… "the food I eat is..." right?


texts: After a Katakana word then "tto" are both Hiragana or Katakana acceptable for the Sokuon?

texts:
I have seen examples of both quite often, even for the same exact sentence, examples:
おなべの中からボワっと／おなべの中からボワッと。
This is a lyric from おどるポンポコリン（Odoru Ponpokorin)、A song for ちびまる子ちゃん（Chibi Maruko Chan)
In most cases, the lyrics are written with the first example, but I've also seen it as the second as well, which is more common for other words, because in other songs (also for ちびまる子ちゃん）、The lyrics were written like this:
グッとグッとグッとグッと水飲む
So which is more common？


texts:
I came across someone referring to the phrase "何様のつもりか" in the middle of an English-language discussion:

  if I were [person X], I would be shouting "何様のつもりか" (although I am not, and so I can't)

Weblio gives a translation of "Who the hell do ... think ... are?"

jisho.org says that 何様 means a person of importance, often used sarcastically, and つもり has meanings of intention, plan, conviction, or belief.

I guess the translation of phrase makes sense based on its component words (the author is accusing someone of taking over person X's project), but is there any other context I should know about this phrase?


texts:
I'm working through a KOTOKO song and there are these lines

幼｛おさな｝い頃｛ころ｝　きっと彼｛かれ｝と出会｛であ｝ってたと
なんだか不器用｛ぶきよう｝で
け散｛ち｝らすような視線｛しせん｝だけを　振｛ふ｝りまいた

出会ってた is something I'm not quite sure how to translate. I struggled to find examples of it online, and the best I have is that it's referring to the whole event of meeting someone, rather than the first couple of seconds where you say "Hi". I'm just not sure why it's that and not 出会った
Adding to the confusion is the と after　出会ってた. I thought と meant more of like when this happens, then something else happens. If I wanted to refer to the time when I met someone, I thought it'd be 出会ったころ
My attempt at a translation:
"When I was young, I bet when I met him I was kind of clumsy and just flashed scattered glances"
Just a confusing verb tense and particle for me. Any help is appreciated!


texts: Literal translation of "whatever will be will be"

texts:
The phrase, "whatever will be will be", is taken from the song "Que Sera Sera".

I understand the equivalent expression in Japanese is:

  しかたない

But I'm wondering how you will literally translate the phrase. In particular, I'm not sure how to translate "whatever" in this case.


texts:
https://ameblo.jp/kyawahara1026/entry-12360353230.html

  なみポリス出動
  あみちゃんスキスキ罪

Is this supposed to be "好き好き"? I thought that was supposed to すきずき though.


texts: Closed due to misunderstanding | How should I translate the sentence with ~のみ

texts:
There is a line in an anime said this:

  でも[高校生]{こうこうせい}のみ[運]{うん}ないな。

I understand all the vocabulary in the above line. However, I really don't know which one is indicated by のみ, the high school or luck?

So I try to translate it randomly, in the way I feel most comfortable:

  But, you're only unlucky high school student.

Am I right? Thanks for advance.

Update:
The context is a boss having a conversation with a newbie. It happens in workplace for graphic designer, btw. The previous lines of this boss is about how surprised she is when she learn how young her new junior is, just graduating high school.


texts: How to parse 後継者としての責務も卒業するまで代理を立てられた

texts:
私が遠野の屋敷に帰ってきていた理由は、一重に父がうるさかったからだ。
その父も亡くなり、父の後継者としての責務も卒業するまで代理を立てられた今、私が好き好んでこの屋敷に帰ってくる理由はない。なにしろ卒業してしまえば、あとはずっとこの屋敷で過ごすのだ。
The reason why I came back to Tohno's mansion is only one, my father was very annoying about it.
Since my father is no more and so are my duties as the successor, until I graduate the me which has been elected as the proxy,  will do as I please since I have no reason to come back to this mansion.
At any rate after I graduate, I will always stay here.

Is it correct or am I wrong?
The fan translation is:

The only reason I came back to the mansion was because my father wanted me to.
Now that father is dead and I do not have the responsibility as the successor until I graduate, there is no reason for me to come back to this mansion.
Because when I graduate, I will live in this mansion for the rest of my life.

I am not sure about this passage:

その父も亡くなり、父の後継者としての責務も卒業するまで代理を立てられた今、私が好き好んでこの屋敷に帰ってくる理由はない。

亡くなり refers to the father and I believe it also refer to the duties as the heir.
With 卒業 starts another different sentence.
That's how I understand it.
So I would say

その父も亡くなり、父の後継者としての責務も亡くなり, 卒業するまで代理を立てられた今、私が好き好んでこの屋敷に帰ってくる理由はない。


texts:
I am confused with verbs using Shimashou. At first I thought it meant to do something together (Let's do x...) because in most of the examples I heard that was the case.  食べましょう。/ 歩きましょう。 Then I started to see several sentences where it was used, but it meant I will do something. Two examples would be:

  市内をぐるっと案内しましょう。
  その事は、確かめておきましょう.

How can I tell the difference? I will do/we will do?


texts: Role of と in a particular sentence 満たされないと泣いているのは

texts:
Here is a sentence that I have trouble translating

満たされないと泣いているのはきっと満たされたいと願うから。

because I have difficulty understanding the role of the と located in the first part of it

満たされないと泣いているのは ...

The only reason I can think of for using the と is that it is there to indicate a condition. And if indeed と can be used for the conditional, it seems to me that for that, the sentence in the conditional must indicate something always true (obvious). However, at first glance this does not appear to be the case to me. So if I could have some clarification, that would be perfect!
Oh and sorry if my English isn't the most fantastic, it's not my everyday language.


texts:
I notice that it's different from the other verbs I know that end in -masu. Also I see that take a walk is sanpo o shimasu.

Can someone explain is there a verb for walking, is sanpo the verb and if so then why do I have to use sanpo o shimasu for "take a walk"?


texts: Conjugations of verb for sample JLPT question

texts:
One of the multiple choice questions in a book I was reading was as follows:

  まどを_____.
  はい、おねがいします。

  a) 開けましょうか
  b) 開けてもいいですか
  c) 開けなさい
  d) 開けてくれませんか

I selected b) as the answer, but the given correct choice was a).

I can see why a) would be a more natural fit than b), but could they both be considered correct? My translation for the dialogue was essentially: 'Is it okay if I close the window?' 'Yes, thanks', but would this seem unnatural/wrong in the context?


texts: I looked for the meaning of アフレコ in Jisho.org and after the meaning (dubbing) it says "Abbreviation, Wasei, word made in Japan". So since the word apparently it doesnt come from a foreign language, and since the dubbing process is a little over 100 years old, where does the word アフレコ come from?


texts: What is this て-form at the end of a sentence: 「まったく可愛くねー起こし方しやがって！」

texts:
That comes from Ranma 1/2. Ranma asked Akane to wake up him up, and she did that by throwing water on him.
He then said:

  何しやがるんだ！
  What the hell are ya doing!

When she left, he then thought out loud

  くそー　アカネの奴。　まったく可愛くねー　起こし方しやがって！
  That damn Akane, waking me up in the uncutest way ever!

I know "yagaru" is an unpositive version of "morau, kureru".

Yet, I'd instead say

  おい、何しやがる｜しやがった！
  ったくアカネの奴、全然可愛くねえ起こし方しやがった。

People said this "tte" makes the sentence more emotive. Can you guys explain this further, any give more examples of how to use it?


texts: how can I say "what about...?" in Japanese?

texts:
I was writing to my japanese friends, and I got some doubts.
Hope it wasn't asked here before.

How can I express "what about ..." in Japanese? Particularly:

  What about having some breaks?
  What about doing it on Mondays and Tuesdays?
  What do you think about this sweater?
  What do you think if we go tomorrow?
  How about openning the windows?
  What if we move this chair to another place?
  ...

I was thinking of:

  どうですか。
  いかがですか。
  よろしいですか。

Is the following correct?

  月曜日と火曜日するのはどうですか。


texts:
「恋愛成就のお守りを託されたくらいで、自己改革が出来る程度のものだったとは思えないの。」

What purpose does くらいで serve in this sentence? How would you translate it?


texts: What went wrong when I asked for a 衡器{こうき}?

texts:
I was in Bikku Camera earlier today, and I wanted to buy a small kitchen scale for measuring small amounts of food.

I looked up the word "scale" in the dictionary, and it said 衡器{こうき}. So I found a shop assistant and asked her for a 食{た}べ物{もの}を量{はか}る用{よう}の衡器{こうき}. (I'm not totally confident about my grammar there, so correct me if I'm off. However, I don't think it changes the main point of this question.)

She looked at me quizzically, so I asked again, and this time I said 食{た}べ物{もの}を量{はか}る用{よう}のスケール. This time she understood perfectly, and took me directly to where the scales were.

I walked away from that interaction a little baffled. I can see how some words are more commonly understood in katakana 外来語{がいらいご}. For example, how 写真機{しゃしんき} got replaced by カメラ, being that it was a concept imported from the west and the English word came with it.

But surely Japan had scales since forever, and there would be a native word. Is it not 衡器{こうき}? I didn't find any viable alternatives in the dictionary.

In any case, I'm always a little confused when I have to resort to katakana English to be understood. I feel like I'm cheating somehow. And I'm always surprised when it works.

How, and why, is it that the shop assistant understood スケール better than 衡器{こうき}?


texts: Is Japanese one of the Buddhist canonical languages?

texts:
The languages of oriental Buddhist traditions, be it Theravada or Mahayana, do not always provide complete and entire canonical texts.

Up to now, I am aware of Pali, Chinese and Tibetan versions of Buddhist canonical texts only.

My knowledge is not perfect, so can someone help me and shed some light on the situation with Buddhist canon in Japanese? Sorry for my question being so ugly set.

Has a complete translation of Buddhist canon into Japanese been ever made? Does a Buddhist canon in Japanese exist as a part of Japanese cultural context (just like the aforementioned canons in their respective cultural areas)?

If so, what is its writing system and to which degree does the language of canon differ from its modern Japanese version?


texts:
Wiktionary's entry for 冷奴 says:

Etymology
From 冷【ひ】や (hiya, “cold (in compounds)”) + 奴 【やっこ】 (yakko, “male servant”); the significance of the latter is debated.

Which fits Wiktionary's other entry for 奴:

Pronunciation 2
奴
やっこ
Noun
奴 (hiragana やっこ, rōmaji yakko)
servant, valet, footman

Wiktionary's entry for 冷奴 also notes:

Usage notes
The literal interpretation of the characters as “cool guy” has seen this word being used on T-shirts (and so on) for stylistic and humorous effects.

So is it “cold slave” or “cool guy” and what is the 奴 doing here in 冷奴? I realize that Wiktionary claims its "significance ... is debated," but what things are being debated I'm not even sure.


texts: 勉強に行きます or 勉強しに行きます?

texts: I am on みんなの日本語１chapter 13 and there is a sentence: 日本へ美術の勉強に行きました。According to their explanation, the phrase after へ can be either be a noun or a verbます-form so using 勉強します instead, is 日本へ美術を勉強しに行きました correct? If it is wrong, what is the correct way of writing it?


texts:
I have come across three main ways to indicate the idea of "where" in Japanese:

どこ

どこに

どちら

Can anyone shed light on when one is used or preferred over another? Or with what combination of word types?
Also any additional information about alternatives to those that I have listed is greatly appreciated.


texts: How to ask someone if it is okay to do something?

texts:
I often find myself wanting to ask if I can do something ie. "Is it okay if I ask you a question?" or "Can I switch seats with you?" Along those lines. I'm not sure if this is something naturally asked in Japanese.
My attempts are: 「質問をしたい、これはいいですか？」but I can imagine this in no way sounds natural.
Are there any alternatives that act as softening a question? as I often feel uncomfortable just straight up asking a question since I'm worried it will seem interrogative.
Thanks in advance.


texts: Katakana loanwords: is there data about their creation/evolution and acceptance as "new Japanese words"?

texts:
Disclaimer:

This is a topic that I hold particularly dear. This question is related to data so that it is acceptable for this community. However, as a languages enthusiast, what deeply concerns me is that this explosion in katakana loanwords is (and will be more and more) "re-shaping" a beautiful language like Japanese in a sort of hybrid language (this is of course a very pessimistic view).

Intro: (on purpose a little provocative)

I have just read an answer from Naruto to this question. In particular these last two sentences made me decide to finally start scraping the surface of this topic which I have been concerned with for a long time.

  Today, Japanese people no longer frequently coin totally new kanji
  compounds nor borrow new kanji words from Chinese. Instead, people
  introduce new katakana loanwords almost every day.

I totally agree, and want to build up on this.

Anyway, I will not ask whether you think or not that "katakana is just ugly, so isn't the less the better"? (Want to have a headache? Look here for example). Would be an opinion.

Although I am extremely curious to know about it, I will not ask "why do you think that Japanese people like so much to just adopt a katakana loanword rather than make up a "traditional" Japanese word for something new? (For example Chinese would (almost) never do that I believe). You would be surprised at the reaction many Japanese people when I ask: so, why has it been called エスかレター and not, say, 自動階段? (I came up with this example myself but people seem to agree that could make perfect sense). Would be probably be an opinion again.

Actual question:

I have the feeling that especially in the last decades the use of katakana loanwords has increased dramatically (and this seemed to agree with the quote above).

When exactly did it start? Do you know of any data/references where one could track the evolution of creation and use of such loanwords? I would be very interested to know what is the growth rate. Also, they seem not only related to technology or "new inventions" but my feeling is that more and more nouns, adjectives, etc are becoming popular (リーズナブル、インストラクター、 ディスカッション， and I could go on forever). So at what pace and why katakana loanwords are growing so much?

Related to this I would also like to clear the following. Again, my feeling and personal experience tells me that Japanese is probably one of the languages with the highest rate of loanwords in the world. Is this true? Is there data to back this theory up?

Bonus question (might be slightly an opinion):

Do you think that using katakana instead of the English alphabet also for words that are normally not considered Japanese words would in the long run (tens of years) contribute to the creation of a new loanword that will be adopted and integrated as a "Japanese word"?

Example: a building is called ビュータワー。 No Japanese today (I hope!) would use ビュー for "view" (they would use　景色，眺め、眺望， or whatever appropriate).

However, wouldn't using English alphabet make a much clearer distinction between what is a Japanese word and what is not? Doesn't using constantly a Japanese alphabet also for English words risk to lead, in the future, to people saying something like "綺麗なビューですね"?

Final Note:

Although it might be difficult to feel this difference from "original" and "loan" words from a native speaker point of view (they probably both would sound natural at the same level), IMHO Japanese is a beautiful language and this extreme growth in loanwords is doing some serious harm. Of course one could argue that every language evolves and will eventually change. But is it wrong to want to protect it's roots structure? I actually met Japanese people that seems to feel the same way I do and would be interesting to continue this discussion.


texts:
Is there a word that means "side" like the one in "good side" or "cute side"
I've searched and so far I found 面 so will it be 可愛い面? But the translation is face but I'm specifically looking for the word that means "side" or a word that is loosely like that.


texts: Term for multiple foreign words sharing the same loanword in Japanese?

texts:
Is there a term that describes multiple foreign words sharing the same Japanese-language loanword?

For example, Wikipedia's disambiguation page for フォーク (Romaji: foku) covers both the English word "fork" and the English word "folk", because Japanese-speakers don't have "r" and "l" different.


texts: To say new, the first way that I learned is to use the i-adjective 新しい. But I noticed that the na-adjective 新たな is used a lot in written texts. Is there any difference in when either is used?


texts:
So, this is the sentence I have come across:

でも、マルーシャは、少しもいやがらずに働きました。

I understand that Marusha worked without hesitating. I would like, however, to understand the grammar behind it. I have looked for the meaning of いやがらずに without success. Can you help me translate it?

Thank you very much.


texts: Does the だ get dropped after an い-adjective

texts:
I was told how an older non-native lady would say "it's okay!" and that it was perceived to be just like that person and cute many because it was grammatically incorrect. She would say, いいだよ

Now I didn't know that rule but I was sure I had heard いいだよ before. It is such a simple statement but even these things trip me up.

So I'm guessing the rule is like

だ after な-adjectives, nouns
No だ after い-adjectives

Can I get something definitive on this please?
What about adverbs?


texts: Use of 「ぬ」 as a sentence ending in literature

texts:
I am reading a Meiji era novel and I frequently sentences that have a verb and then end in ぬ for example:

  二階なる一室を下りて主人夫婦が足投げだして涼みいし縁先に来たりぬ。

or

  教師は筆おきて読みかえしぬ。

Can someone help me with this? I know that ぬ can be a variant or hold the same function as ーず　[per here Conjugation of negative auxiliary 〜ぬ but I don't see how that would work in these sentences.


texts: What does the ”なの” in this sentence mean?

texts:
ここは、おすしがぜんぶ百円なの？

I've read somewhat a lot on "na no" and just came to the conclusion that is something used to end a sentence similar to desu, but used mainly with females. So I was just wondering if this was the case in my sentence. Also the "お" written before "sushi" is just a honorific prefix right? Or does it meaning something else / have another use in the sentence?


texts: Reading numbers in Japanese numeral-by-numeral instead of as a number

texts:
I was taught that generally numbers in Japanese should be read as:

123 => ひゃく　にじゅう　さん

However, I was wonder if there is any case where the numbers are read one-by-one, like:

123 => いち　に　さん

I was thinking maybe for license plate numbers and room numbers, but I am not sure which method would be appropriate. If both are used, is there a connotation to using one pronunciation over the other?


texts: Are the grammatical forms ものか and だろうか questions?

texts:
For some reason, I have had the impression that か at the end of a sentence marks some kind of question that is being asked. However, in these examples from 日本語総まとめ　文法:

  うれしいもんですか。困っているんです。

  (I'm not at all pleased. I am not in a good situation.)

  デジカメが壊れた。なんとか直らないものだろうか。

  (My digital camera is not working. I wish I knew how to fix the problem.)

It appears to not be an adequate or translation of the grammatical forms. The first example doesn't seem to explain the existence of any question (if one exists). The second one might be better translated as:

  "My digital camera is broken. I wonder if something cannot be done to fix it."

I thought this conveys the idea of something being questionable. How would the first example be better explained/translated so that whatever is questionable is not lost?


texts:
From what I've seen, 「鳴く」refers to a cry different from 「泣く」, ie crying out in fear/anger/frustration and not a baby crying. I've also seen connotations of animal sounds (barking, roaring).
I've also heard「鳴る」be translated as "ring", like the ringing of a bell.
Are these definitions accurate?


texts: What does 表現とか感じるもの mean in this context?

texts:
The definitions for「表現」and「感じるもの」seem to take on different meanings in different sentences, I can't find which definitions are appropriate for this phrase, or if the phrase means something completely different entirely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBqCZeOtGV8&t=0m7s

えっと…このゼルダの伝説はですね、あのやっぱり、任天堂は常に世の中になかったものを作ると、今までなかったものを作るということをテーマにやってきていますので、えっと…同じ10年前のゼルダのテーマを引っ張ってえー、知恵と、えー、アクションを使う謎解きアドベンチャーゲームとして作っているんですけども、やっぱり、そこでの表現とか感じるものを絶対、世の中になかったものにしよう、ということでやってきました。

My translation attempt (may be completely wrong):

With this Legend of Zelda, uhm, Nintendo has always made things that have never existed in the world before, and has done things that have never been done before, so, um ... we are drawing from ideas from the same Zelda of 10 years ago,
and creating a mystery-solving adventure game that uses wisdom and action, but, after all, the expressions and feelings there that we came up with to use in this game is absolutely something that has never been done before.


texts:
Here is the sentence.

  はったりにせよ　おれたちをこいつらよばわりするたあ　りっぱな度胸だぜ。

Is it a particle for emphasizing the sentence or making the verb よばわりする as imperative or something else?


texts:
ジェームズは事務所で仕事をしています。
彼は毎日とても忙しいです。
彼はお客様と多くの会議をします。
ジェームズはこのような会議は好きではありません。
彼は「お客様がとても退屈しているのでは」と思っています。

The sentence ジェームズはこのような会議は好きではありません sounds like James does not like this kind of meeting (long meetings) BUT likes another kind of meeting. This does not make sense. Secondly, in 彼は「お客様がとても退屈しているのでは」と思っています, が makes it sound like James thinks the CUSTOMERS are the ones who are bored. But what is "customers" being compared that requires "customers" to be emphasized with が? Of course I am probably not aware of many of the usages of は & が because I am a beginner and apparently entire books have been written on these 2 particles. So if someone could point out what the exact usages of the particles are in this case, I would greatly appreciate it.


texts: Confusing words that sound like a name and a suffix

texts:
I don't know Japanese but from watching anime I remember the word (?) "taisan". I am also not a native English speaker so I'm not sure if I've correctly written how the word sounds. Google translate gave me this "退散" which seems to sound right.

So, anyway, I was thinking if that word sounds like "taisan" how would a Japanese person differentiate between it and calling a human, named "Tai", "mister", i.e. "tai-san"?


texts: Would the same counter be used to order a slice of pizza and a whole one?

texts: When I order a pizza, would I use ichimai 一枚 to order a slice or the whole thing? Thank you.


texts: Why is 羨ましい used here instead of a noun like 嫉妬?

texts:
https://www.kosodate.co.jp/bbs/thread.php?id=1027111

  心の何処かで羨ましいと思ってない？

I'm afraid I don't get the nuance of this sentence.

When an adjective is used with と思う, what does it describe?

What is 羨ましい supposed to mean here?


texts:
The complete sentence is this:

ハンジは仲間を喰った

その巨人の腹をかっさいた

I can't really understand the meaning, why is it ハンジは istead of ハンジの？

Then we have 腹をかっさいた.
腹 means stomach while かっさい means to cheer, to make an ovation?

Thanks for your help.


texts: What do you call the small wooden plates that people write wishes in and hang on some stand in a shrine?

texts:
What do you call the small pieces of wood(?) where people write wishes on and hang them on some stand close to where you tie folded o-mikuji (おみくじ)? Or are they also called おみくじ?

Related question:
Also, in some temples, there's also this little cabinet where you can put a lighted candle (I remember seeing one in a temple near Ueno Park). What do you call that?


texts: How to simplify a sentence with multiple ながら + たり?

texts:
How can I simplify what the student said in the following dialogue?

先生：昨日何をしましたか。
学生：お菓子を食べながら日本語を勉強したり、テレビを見ながら日本語を勉強したり、お酒を飲みなが  ら日本語を勉強したり、音楽を聞きながら日本語を勉強したり、寝たりしました。


texts: 低い鼻 vs 短い鼻 and 高い鼻　vs 長い鼻 ?

texts:
After reading this thread: When would you use 低い【ひくい】 vs 短い【みじかい】, I'd just thought of something.

I once heard that a long nose (witch / Pinocchio) is called 高い鼻 and not 長い鼻 whereas the opposite (short nose) is called 低い鼻　and never 短い鼻. but i couldn't be sure (i mean in english, a tall nose just sounds wrong)

Does anyone know what's the difference between a 低い鼻 vs 短い鼻 and a 高い鼻　vs a 長い鼻 ?


texts: The use of 恩着せがましい with と思う in this sentence

texts:
I understand most of the below sentence, but when I get to 恩着せがましいと思うのではないか, things get confusing.

日本人は人見知りが激しいので打ち解けあうまでは時間かかりますが、仲良くなると恩着せがましいと思うのではないかと思います。

My translation: A Japanese person's shyness is intense, so it takes a long time to get close to them, but I think that if you do, they might think you are condescending.

Is my translation right? If not, what would be the correct translation and why?


texts: I keep searching around for what it means, since I want to use the name as one of my characters. But the closest I've ever gotten to a translation was Mina Ashido's name being a pun on meaning Acid. And even then I feel like I'm missing alternate, more viable meanings depending on the spelling and their english meanings. Help?


texts:
In order to improve my Japanese, I have decided to attempt translating short stories/articles etc. There's one particular line in a story that's giving me a bit of difficulty with regards to parsing;

  部屋の外にも結構エクソの気配があるが……大半が死に損ないだなこりゃ。

With my best attempts I arrived at the following translation;

  There are considerable signs of Exos outside the room too…but most of them(?) have escaped death.

Whilst the "escaping death" part makes sense in the context (context here is an "エクソ"  waking up in a strange hospital room after a battle and saying the above sentence whilst looking around the unfamiliar room)  I don't understand the need for the conjunction (が) the way I interpreted the sentence in my head.

I mean, to me if the sentence was actually "There are considerable signs of Exos outside the room too… most of them have escaped death." With no が/but it would make sense to me.

But I know there something I'm misunderstanding which is leading me to confuse myself, if anyone can help explain the correct way to parse this I would be grateful.


texts:
反応速度論の目的は反応速度を解析することで、反応機構や化学反応の物理学的本質を解明することにあった。

The above sentence is from the Wikipedia article 反応速度論. I don't understand the use of the particle に at the end. In scientific writing, I expected であった or in this case である, since this field of study still exists and is not in the past.

Could this be a typo, or is it a real grammatical construction. If the latter, how is this structure typically used?


texts: What's a nice way to say "fingers crossed"?

texts:
What's a nice way to express any of the following -

"Let's keep our fingers crossed"
"I'll keep my fingers crossed!"
(We / I) (are / am) keeping (our / my ) fingers crossed"


texts:
とても受動的な感じで、どんな場面でも「教えてもらう」という姿勢が精一杯だったと思います。

I think that [Please teach me] is in every occasion an attitude filled with passivity.

Is it correct?

Link:http://ameblo.jp/c-partners/entry-10009534016.html

Edit.Added link to the original sentence.


texts:
There are quite a few examples were tsu actually means no.
まつ毛・睫毛・睫 matsuge actually comes from 目の毛 me no ke (ma is another pronunciation for 目 me)
沖つ宮 okitsumiya（aslo written 沖津宮, but, as Meikyou tells us, 沖津 stands for 沖つ which in turn stands for 沖の)
中つ国 nakatsukuni, Middle-earth (like Tolkien's middle-earth)

I'm thinking:

maybe みっつ、よっつ、むっつ、よっつ　and so on are just later modifications in the pronunciation of みつ、よつ、むつ、よつ etc., and
you can find these original pronunciations (みつ、よつ...) only as prefixes (as far as I know, but actually this is not that relevant), e.g. 三つ巴、三ツ星、三つ指、四つ切...

...so what I'm saying is it would make sense if つ (the generic classifier) actually meant の like in the words at the beginning of this post, meaning it was a particle with very similar use.
That would obviously imply numerals had been used without a counter-word (but with a particle1), but that's not such a surprise, because there's the same pattern in a few other words, like 二の腕、一の宮、三の糸、二の丸...
Also, looking at the pronounces of numerals, is it possible tsu always followed kun'yomi, while no followed on'yomi?

Have anyone here ever tackled this problem (or hopefully know or can find the answer)?

皆さん、よろしくお願いします

1 I add this because using a numeral without a counter-word and without a particle is even less of a surprise, since, due to lack of counter-words(?), you get expressions like 三次元 or ３説


texts: What do you say for "junction" or "fork" in a path in terms of direction?

texts: For junction I know of 交差点 but is that only for traffic junctions or can it be used generally, say, in a mall when the path splits 3 ways or more in front of you.


texts: 2 Translation Questions ( な and 所), and a Question about を vs. に when using おじぎしてまわる

texts:
「そこで、名前を変えるには、改名の披露というものをしないといけない。いいか。それはな、首へ市蔵と書いたふだをぶらさげて、私は以来市蔵と申しますと、口上を云って、みんなの所をおじぎしてまわるのだ。」

I have three questions about the bold characters.

I assume that それはな = それ + は + な, NOT それ + はな. So is な here being used similarly to its role as a sentence-ending particle? e.g. "If that is agreeable,"
What does みんなの所 mean in this context? I took it mean "each person's place/where each person is".
Why is おじぎして using を and not に? Wouldn't "bowing towards each person's place" make more sense than "bowing to each person's place" since the subject (presumably) isn't literally bowing to the place, but the person who exists there?EDIT: In answer to #3, be sure to read the comments and Chocolate's linked discussions.

As always, I'd be grateful for any help.


texts: 「~ない」 vs 「無/不/非/未~」, 「的(な)」, and general 熟語/漢語 affixes versus grammatical forms)

texts:
When trying to write in Japanese, I often come across words that have multiple possible translations into Japanese, and am unsure which one to use. Though it is difficult to make any general rule over what word to pick (as there isn't an obvious basis of selection), one particular kind of choice that I often see is whether to use lexical or grammatical forms of expression (namely, to form 漢語 expressions by concatenating words or adding affixes, or to split off words and modify them with 文法). This boils down into three main questions, though any advice on this general topic is appreciated as well:

When negating 漢語, is there a way to tell whether 「【無・不・非・未】〜」
or 「〜ない」is more commonplace/acceptable/appropriate.
When using 漢語 to modify other 漢語 (e.g. with 「〜的（な）〜」), is there a rule for when to break off and start using particles/okurigana, and when to create a compound (possibly with rendaku) as might be seen with gerund (not sure if gerund really makes sense here, but nominalized verb in case that is clearer) suffixes such as「〜狩り」and 「〜作り」
Is there a rule for determining whether certain jukugo or their naturally alternatives (「血色›血の色」、「天地›天と地」、「星学›天文学」）are more appropriate, or even when the 熟語 version is rare or obsolete

Examples (of the (1) and (2)):

【無関係】vs.【関係ない・なし】
【宗教的な意識】vs. 【宗教的意識】
【ケーキ作り】vs. 【ケーキを作る（こと）】


texts:
In the Genki I textbook, it says that the i and the u vowels are sometimes dropped when placed between voiceless consonants or at the end of an utterance preceded by voiceless consonants.

The example given, すきです, demonstrates both points.

Currently, I am learning about adjectives and was wondering whether the vowel drop is also applied to adjectives (or words in general) that end in "いい", for example かわいい and うれしい.

Since the i is at the end of an utterance preceded by voiceless consonants in both examples, I believe that the vowel drop is acceptable. Therefore, is it appropriate in speech to say "kawaides" and "ureshides" or do I have to say the long i-vowel?


texts: Why wasn't 欒 simplified to 栾, when 戀 was simplified to 恋?

texts:
A few pre-simplification kanji (旧字体) that had the 䜌 "radical" in them were simplified such that they instead used the simpler 亦 "radical" in its place, as with 戀 to 恋, and 變 to 変.

However, 欒 (as in 団欒) does not have a simplified form (新字体) that is used in Japanese (though it appears that 栾 is used in simplified Chinese).

Is there a reason that 欒 wasn't simplified, or is it just one of those arbitrary things for which there isn't a real explanation?


texts: 悟る vs 気づく vs 分かる Satoru vs Kizuku vs Wakaru

texts:
From my understanding, 気づく is more "to realise" and 分かる is more to "understand" right?

Where does 悟る fall in comparison to these 2? Is it more towards "realising" or "understanding"? Or is it completely different with some nuance I'm missing?


texts:
I am trying to state a goal to produce something, such as:
目的 は 成果 を 生むて います。
Is this the proper conjugation to indicate I plan to do this?


texts: Interchangeability of the position of しか?

texts:
I was recently told by a native speaker that both of these sentences are correct:

ちょっとしか時間がないから行けない
ちょっとの時間しかないから行けない。

Does where the しか attach not matter in this case? I feel like the meaning of both sentences are essentially the same. Perhaps, its like the difference between the English sentences "I only have a little time" and "I have a little time only"?


texts: What is the difference between 「慎重 」「用心深さ」and 「用心」?

texts: I was originally looking up the word 慎重 and came across the other words. All three of them are translated as "discretion." What's the subtle difference and/or nuance among all three of them?


texts: Can someone give me a thorough explanation on なって?

texts:
I get it that なって is a conjugation of なる  (to become)

However, there are some thing I don't get, for example:

  1 真赤になって怒っている.

  He is red with anger.

なっている is the present progressive.
However if you put a verb or anything of the sort between なって and いる  will it still have the same meaning or is the meaning different ?

  2  今週になって急速に株価が波乱含みになってきた.

  Share prices are getting confused rapidly this week.

A conjugation of なって by itself without anything following it like (いる/でしょう etc.) doesn't exist from what I know.
In that case what does it mean here? (The first one)

Also the きた which is after the なって (2nd) is also not a conjugation (from what I know)
So how does that work?


texts: What is this kanji on a Meiji era 2-sen coin?

texts:
I saw this picture of a Meiji era 2-sen coin in the 2013 game Tomb Raider:

Front:

Back:

The front is easily readable, and explained by the caption:

[大日本]{だいにっぽん}
[明治]{めいじ}[六年]{ろくねん}
２ＳＥＮ

The back is bit more difficult, but I think I got all but one:

[二銭]{にせん}
[五十枚]{ごじゅうまい}
？[一圓]{いちえん}

What is the one kanji before the 「[一圓]{いちえん}」? Since the rest of it reads legitimate, I believe that's an actual kanji, but it's not very clear.


texts: I have heard the word 付き合う used to mean "interact with/hang out with" but I have heard it more often to mean steadily dating someone. How can you tell the meaning from context and how could you say that you interact with someone in a way that's clear you're not dating them?


texts:
Possibly in Japanese do not exist therm like this. Even in English it could be rare. Anyway, how could I translate it in Japanese?
The meaning of sub-debtor should be "debtor of debtor".

Let me give the example sentence (please sorry in case if you will find it confusing):

"The pledge of receivables arising from the Respective Receivables created under the Pledge Agreement shall be considered as validly existing until the moment the Sub-debtor receives a notice from the Pledge on termination of such pledge."


texts:
切手を買ったり荷物を送ったりする時に行く所です

It seems that the verb before 時 is in the dictionary form. 送ったり is already a verb. Does that mean we always need する if we change the form of the verb?


texts: What does this けど at the end of the sentence mean?

texts:
「お兄ちゃん、わたし、病気のことなんとなく分かっていた。」
  「どうせお兄ちゃんのことだから一人で悩んでいるんじゃないかと思ったけど」

I don't really see what would come after the けど in this sentence.
Can anyone help explain?


texts: How do I properly tell someone to proceed with a transaction in an email?

texts:
Today, I received the following email after an online purchase:

  この度はご注文いただき誠にありがとうございます。

  頂きましたご注文の発送方法について、EMS(国際スピード郵便)による配送となりますので、 送料が1,500円かかります。

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I am having a great deal of trouble finding common phrases to respond to in e-commerce related conversations over email.

What is the proper way to give the sender permission to proceed?

Every phrase that I would like to use in English seems to have a dual meaning which does not work in Japanese (e.g. please go ahead), or produces very few google results for the phrase which suggests to me that no-one speaks in that manner.

I spent several hours trying to find a way of saying, "Is it possible to use registered shipping instead? If not, please proceed."

My best attempt is something along the lines of

「書留郵便ができるでしょうか？如何とも決済金額の変更して, 追加送料を払ってください。」

but I really have no idea how accurate my vocabulary is. Considering some of these words yield little to no search results when I google them, I suspect this is wrong.

Where can I even find examples of conversations of this nature to learn what to say?


texts:
I'm trying to say this in Japanese: "Woe be to those who near the swamp."

I wasn't really sure how to go about this, but I came up with this:

  それらのための災いは誰が沼に行きます
  Woe for those who go to the swamp.

Is this correct at all? I'm very unsure about this sentence. Perhaps there's a better way of saying this?


texts:
I was doing some JLPT N@ practice, and I got this question wrong:

  留学中は日本の言語や文学を学ぶ（　）、自分の国のことも伝えていこうと考えている。

  a 上

  b のみならず

  c ばかりか

I chose "a" while the correct answer is "b". According to my book, all three answer seem correct.

My book says that (only quoting the relevant parts):

  〜上

  前後には同じ評価の言葉が来る。

  〜のみならず

  「に限らず」と違って、同じレベルの他のものも同様だという場合にも使える。

  〜ばかりか

  〜だけでも十分なのに、さらに他のことも加わる。前の文で普通ではないことを言い、さらに後の文でも意外性を感じさせるのかのことを加える。

I thought it boils down to whether the former and latter half of the sentence are "at the sane level" or not, If they are, then 上 or のみならず. If the latter half is more "surprising" than the first half, then ばかりか. But still, why のみならず instead of 上?


texts:
The dictionary says that it means 'To bewitch.' Could you please give an example of it's use and when you'd use it?

Thank you immensely!


texts: How to say 'Can I continue studying Japanese?'

texts:
How would I say the following:

  Can I continue studying Japanese?

I was thinking something along the lines of

  Watashi wa nihongo o narau no tsudukimasuka?

It's probably wrong, and I could use some help.


texts:
I was emailing a friend and used the phrase "タイピングすることの早さ" which I discovered was very incorrect.  I did some searching on Google and here is what I discovered:

タイピングの速度　<-rare
タイピング速度 <-common
タイピング速さ　<-not found
タイピングの速さ　<-common

I'm curious as to what the differences between 速さ, 早さ,　and 速度　are.  Also, why is の used more commonly with 速さ and not 速度?


texts: What was the movement of tea leaves called before it was called ジャンピング?

texts: I recently learned that apparently the phenomenon of tea leaves moving up and down in very hot water is called ジャンピング (See example videos). This surprises me a bit as I would certainly expect that since tea has been around in Japan since before the word "jumping" could conceivably have been introduced to Japan that there is an older word to describe this phenomenon (perhaps it was just simply descriptive). I'm curious as to if such an older word exists and about the history of when ジャンピング began to be used to describe this phenomenon.


texts: What is the grammar explanation for 高くなり?

texts:
I'm trying to make sense of this sentence:

  一寸法師の背が高くなり立派な青年になりました

It's from the 一寸法師 story.

I don't understand the word 高くなり. It seems so be takakunarimasu, the same inflection but without the masu suffix.

Is that right? Is there any book that explains this? In the same story there are other expressions with verbs conjugated as masu form without the masu part.


texts: How long would it take on average to learn Japanese

texts:
i know a small bit of Japanese from back in high school but stopped when it was never made clear that Japanese went for 2 semesters instead of 1 and by the time they told me about it (even though i was the first to submit my class registration papers) it was full, i have picked up some more from playing Visual Novels with voices and unofficial English Translations (Fate/Stay Night, Kamidori Alchemy Miester, Sono Hanabira)

there are naturally hundred of resources saying that they will teach Japanese fast but i want to know how long on average it would take

The level I'm hoping to reach is to the point where I can understand text in video games so that way i can play them while at the same time being fully immersed in the story (which is why I can just keep looking to a dictionary every time I see a word).

I want to reach this level because I'm tired of having to wait to see if games get to be localized, even though i don't care if they get dubbed or not (Agarest: Generations of War is an example of a game that wasn't dubbed) and waiting forever for them to come out, even if they come out the limited edition items that originally was with the Japanese sales don't show up in the west a lot of the time.

Money isn't a problem as I know it will benefit me greatly in the long term.


texts:
When would I use 着（ki) as opposed to 衣 (i) to refer to a karate gi (空手着 or 空手衣)?

As I understand it, 着 refers to something you wear, literally being used as a noun for "suit of clothes" and being the root of "kimono."

衣 refers to clothing and is always a noun.

What is the usage case between the two? Is one more formal than the other, or more recognizable in writing?


texts: How to correctly understand a sentence that has に in it.

texts:
A few minutes ago after the World Cup ended, Shinji, guitarist of SID, tweeted this:

胸が熱くなりました…(^-^)/日本に勇気と希望をありがとう！

I'm having trouble understanding 日本に勇気と希望をありがとう！

Does it mean, "Thank you for giving courage and hope to Japan," or does it mean "Thank you Japan for giving me hope and courage?"

Sentences with に in them are often confusing to me.


texts: Usage of て-form in this sentence (Combining verb and adjective)

texts:
I came across this sentence,

星が光って、綺麗です

To my understanding, て form is usually used to link multiple actions or talk about multiple states. How does the て form work in this sentence with an adjective and verb?


texts: Should 入れる be used to express 'cutting with scissors' as a general action?

texts:
I came across the expression テープにハサミを入れる  in the context of an opening ceremony. As far as I can tell it means 'to cut a ribbon with scissors'.

Is 入れる the verb that would still be used to indicate the general action of cutting with scissors (e.g. cutting paper with scissors for a school project)?


texts: what is the meaning of this sfx/onomatopoeia? ダシーン

texts:
dashi (ダシ) sometimes is for "run"

but this sfx is nothing about running!

example (the ball is a dough, they make bread)


texts: I used to pronounce it as "Hi" but recently i paid keen attention to natives speaking words like 「広い」、「低い」 and I find out they pronounce it as somewhat "che" but when i try to say "che" what comes out of my mouth is 「し」("shi"), so please help me out... I really wanna sound native.


texts:
This is the kind of simple question I'm often too embarrassed to ask, because I should probably know this by now. But here goes...

I was ordering something at a cafe, and I noticed some slightly awkward English on the menu something that made me laugh. It wasn't super funny or anything, it just caught me a little off guard. The cashier noticed me laugh and looked puzzled. So I pointed at the text and said:

  これを笑{わら}わせた。

This happens all the time where I speak off the cuff, and then after the moment has passed, I realize I almost certainly said it wrong. Unfortunately, unlike other cultures, in Japan people rarely call you out. The cashier didn't look at me like "what the hell did you just say?", she just smiled. Leaving me unsure if I basically spoke complete nonsense and she was being nice, or that maybe I was close enough and she couldn't be bothered to offer any adjustments.

Passive and causative verb forms and the right particles to go with them have always been a source of trouble for me.

I think I should have said:

  僕{ぼく}を笑{わら}わせた

I am the thing being made to laugh, so it's acting on me, so I take the particle を. However, I want to make  the thing I'm pointing at the focus of my sentence, not me. So, maybe I should have said:

  これで笑{わら}わせた

In a sense, I was made to laugh by this thing I'm pointing at. It's a shortened form of:

  (僕{ぼく}に)これで笑{わら}わせた。

I often turn out to be totally wrong, so, am I wrong again? What would be the best way for me to express, while pointing at the text on the menu, "this made me laugh"?

Also see this question and answer about the causative and passive forms of 笑 for related information. A joke is an interesting edge case, because, as explained in answers below, a thing has no animacy, so it doesn't "make" people laugh, but a joke is the result of actions between people, so in a sense, the joke us a proxy that can be said to "make" people laugh.


texts: Is there any gairaigo based on Australian English?

texts: Has any Australian English become incorporated into Japanese as gairaigo? Or would most Japanese people only be exposed to Australian English from Australian-made shows such as "The Crocodile Hunter"?


texts:
こんにちは！

Recently, I've been practicing for the JLPT N5 using the website's sample questions. However, in sample question 5, where it asks to give the correct particle out of a choice of four particles, it reads that の is the correct particle to use in this sentence:

  弟{おとうと}は部屋{へや} [particle] 掃除{そうじ}しました。

Is this usage of the particle correct, and how so? Wouldn't を better fit the sentence?


texts:
I was wondering how 手伝わなあかん was conjugated.
I know that it consists of the words 手伝う and あかん but I don't know why the い was dropped. Is it slang?


texts:
I recently came across the term,「気にはなれない」, which seems to align with the phrase "cannot bring oneself to..." in English per the following examples from jisho.org:

私は彼の話を信じる気にはなれない。
I can't bring myself to trust his story.

とてもそんな男を助けてやる気にはなれない。
I cannot bring myself to help such a man.

I know that 「気になる」is a term, but I can't tell if 「気にはなれない」should be read

気　には（にわ）なれない or...
気　に　はなれない, as if it's the verb 離{はな}れる or 放{はな}れる


texts: How do I figure out what the implied subject is?

texts:
I was doing some JLPT N2 practice and I came across this:

あのう、山本先生でいらっしゃいますか。私、先日、先生の講演会で（　）鈴木と申します。
１　ご覧になった
２　お会いになった
３　お目にかかった
４　お伺いした

My thinking:
Some form of 会った should be filled in the blank. So 1 and 4 are wrong. All of the options don't have a subject. So I don't know whether it is:

先生の講演会で先生が会った鈴木
the Suzuki that you met at your talk

or

先生の講演会で先生と会った鈴木
the Suzuki that met you at your talk

Therefore I am not sure between 2 and 3. And apparently the correct answer is 3.
How do I know the subject?


texts:
I've been reading a manga and there was a sentence:

  無駄にコマから出てくるな

Can someone tell me what does it mean?


texts: Are 辞書形 + て and 「とらんで」 from some dialect?

texts:
I'm struggling to understand this sentence from a story I'm reading:

「あんたが心配することはない。高校ぐらいちゃんと通わせたる。それが、親の役目ってもんやないの」
おれ、高校に行ってもええのかと尋ねた息子に、母の由美子は一度、大仰に眉をひそめ、それから自分の胸をこぶしで叩き、はっきりと言い切った。
「おまえは小さいときから気を回しすぎなんよ。今日び、高校ぐらい出とらんでどうするの。兄ちゃんたちだって、仕送りするて言うてくれてるんや。うじうじ変な心配、せんときよ」

The general context is about a middle school which is being closed, and here the mother of one of the third year students is speaking with her son.
I'm guessing it's dialectal, since in that story there are a lot of things that sounds dialectal or gergal (「ええ」 instead of 「いい」, 「やな」 instead of 「だな」, 「できんようになる」 instead of 「できないようになる」), but I wasn't able to find anything about that, and I'm not sure how to look for info: I tried my grammars and googling for 「辞書形 + て」, but I didn't find anything (at least, anything in English).
I think the general meaning is something like, the mother is saying to her son to not worry so much, since he will be able to attend properly at least high school, and that's the role of parents, since if you don't at least graduate from high school you can't really do anything. But I'm having trouble understanding the parts in bold.
Is 「仕送りするて言うてくれてるんや」 equivalent to 「仕送りして言ってくれてるんや」, so something like "Even your brothers says to send an allowance"? It's the only meaning I can find, but it doesn't really fit... maybe it means the brothers went away to study and are getting an allowance to be able to keep going?
Does 「今日び、高校ぐらい出とらんでどうするの」 mean something like "Nowadays, if you don't at least gratuate from high school, what can you do?"? If so, how is 「出とらんで」 formed?
Also, is 「な」 in「気を回しすぎなんよ」 for emphasis, with a general meaning of "Since you were little you read too much into things"?


texts: How is という used in 「男の子の顔は父親より母親ににるという話を聞いた」?

texts:
I came across this Japanese sentence:

  男の子の顔は父親より母親ににるという話を聞いた。

But am not really sure about its meaning in English.

My translation will be "The man heard that his face resembles his mother more than his father".

But then, I don't quite understand why and how いう話 is being used here. I know that "どういう意味ですか" means "what does it mean" in English. But I can't seem to understand how いう is applied in both sentences. Can someone help me here?


texts:
本日はお忙しいところ、ありがとうございます

A book I'm learning from translates this sentence as
'thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule today'
Is the first part a set phrase or is it just an elaborate translation? (As an aside I feel like it would make more literal sense with の rather than は)


texts: Help with a lyric from Psycho Pass Ending

texts:
I was reading the lyrics from All alone with you by EGOIST, helping myself with translations to learn some japanese, but there's something that confuses me. When it says

  神さま気取りの人が言うの
  ねえ　人は強いって
  そんなの嘘だよ
  Do you agree?

some places translate it with

  Lord in Heaven, pretentious people say
  Hey, it's a total lie
  That people are strong
  Do you agree?

while others with

  Dear God, those who are pretentious say
  that people are strong
  But that’s a lie
  Do you agree?

From the other lyrics I'd say the second one is more appropriate, but I want to really understand how the sentence is constructed. So I'm wondering, in "人が言うの ねえ　人は強いって そんなの嘘だよ" does the って mean it's the end of the quoted text (meaning pretentious people say "people are strong" period, and it's the singer saying "that's a lie") or is it to say "the fact that people are strong", and そんなの嘘だよ is still in the quoted text, meaning that people say "the fact that people are strong, that's a total lie"?


texts: More of a history question... I understand です became more commonly used in late Edo, but before that (as I understand) it was commonly associated with low-society life, such as prostitutes and thieves as portrayed by theatre during the earlier era. So how did one of the most essential grammatical elements of contemporary Japanese language come to overtake the former standard?


texts: On "おてもと" and its many variants for "chopsticks"

texts:
I've always known the Japanese word for "chopsticks" to be (お)箸{はし}.

Today in my usual practice of reading everything around me I looked up what was written on the wrapper of the disposable chopsticks that came with my supermarket bento:

おてもと

I was firstly surprised to find out that it's another word for "chopsticks", and secondly on looking up WWWJDIC that it has many variants:

  おてもと 《お手許; お手元; 御手許; 御手元》 (n) (uk) chopsticks (often written on the paper wrapper)

From this I can see that it's usually written on paper chopstick wrappers and that all the kanji forms are uncommon, but nothing else.

I'd like to know the origin or history of the term. Does it have any other current uses besides on wrappers, was it more common in the past? And why does it have so many variants? Obviously the initial お is the honorific that can also be written 御, but what about the two possible final characters 許 and 元?


texts:
Asking this other question has reminded me of another confusion I often have, one of my long standing bad habits that you'd think I'd have sorted after all this time in Japan.

I'm never quite sure how to end a list of two or more things. So, I want to say "I like apples and oranges."

Saying it this way seems weird, because of having と and が together. It just feels weird in my mouth.

  りんごとオレンジとが好{す}きだ。

This next option also feels weird, though, because it's like saying, "apples and oranges and like".

  りんごとオレンジと好{す}きだ。

Which is right? Or are both wrong?

Does it make a difference if there's more than two items?

  りんごとオレンジとパパイヤと(が)好{す}きだ。


texts: What's the most appropriate negative potential form for this situation?

texts:
This morning my co-worker asked me if I wanted some coffee.  I said, "No thanks, I can't drink coffee because it upsets my stomach."  I was thinking of how I'd say this in Japanese, but I'm not sure which is the most appropriate way to say "can't" in this situation.

It seems like saying 飲めない or 飲むことができない would only be correct if I physically couldn't get the coffee down my throat.  Since that's not the case and I'm using "can't" to really mean "I won't because of the undesirable after effects", those two seem wrong.

Is either of コーヒーを・は飲み得ない, 飲むわけにはいかない more correct and/or preferrable?  Or would something without potential, like 飲みにくい・づらい・がたい work better?

Update:  I knew I was forgetting an option when I wrote this topic.  I left out the possibility of 飲みかねる, but that sounds really wrong to me.


texts: What would someone saying ... ンなこと mean?

texts:
I assume it's some alternative for 'nevermind'?

  ・・・ンなこと
  いーからさっさと
  帰ろーぜっ


texts:
私はにほんごとごべんきょします

i would like to say i came here to study or learn Japanese (language) and to play go. the best i have come up with is above which says to study both; i know how to say each sentence separately how i want but cant seem to figure out how to combine them as it would us two verbs. any help much appreciated.


texts:
I'm reading a manga in which a character mentions the following to another character:

  今月の"夢プチ"見たよ

I'm assuming that "夢プチ" is a play on something but I can't find anything via Google. Both characters are children too so I would assume it's a reference to some Japanese kids thing?


texts: Can the particle "no" の be used at the beginning of the sentence?

texts:
In the sentence

  Watashi no hon.

Can the owner be omitted?

  No hon.


texts:
Here is the sentence including the word.

おまえさん　とこのジョーは自{じ}分{ぶん}の身{み}を守{まも}るがためにわしらの子{こ}どもまでまきぞえにしとるんやで。


texts: Ｗhat is the difference between くつろぐ and のんびり?

texts: These words were used in a chat, according to jisho.org both terms mean being relaxed or taking it easy. How do you use them?


texts: People say that the correct way to ask "what do you like" is なにがすきですか but if I use すきはなんですか is that still consider grammatically correct? and will people raise an eyebrow at me?


texts: 「褒めても何も出ないよ」「褒めても何も出さないよ」

texts:
I think this is what people commonly say:

褒めても何も出ないよ

But I feel iffy about the switch of subject here. 褒めても of course talks about the listener. Why does the subject switch to an inanimate thing in 何も出ない? It is no surprise that て形 connected sentences have multiple implied subjects (e.g. お金を貸してくださって、助かりました), but why not something like this with the speaker as the subject of the second clause:

褒めても何も出さないよ

Google seems to indicate this is indeed something people say (example), but not as commonly. Another option that crossed my mind is subject conformity:

褒めてもらっても何も出さないよ

It sounds weird no end and doesn't appear idiomatic at all. Why do people use the first version? Why 出る? Why is it necessary to give an unspecified object agency?


texts:
俺のことは、みんなと同じように親父とでも呼んでくれや。親父のように強くたくましく頼りになるってな。

Is the speaker quoting what other people have said about him?


texts:
Is there any difference between 帰宅{きたく}する and 帰{かえ}る (return home) or are they just exact synonyms?

For example, in that sentence from Tatoeba :

  夜{よる}になったので、帰宅{きたく}した。

Can 帰宅{きたく}した be replaced by 帰{かえ}った?

When should 帰宅{きたく}する be used instead of 帰{かえ}る (or vice versa)?


texts: What does でござんしょうな mean in 馬車はいつ出るのでござんしょうな

texts:
馬車はいつ出るのでござんしょうな

Does this sentence mean "When will the horse cart come out?"

But what does でござんしょうな mean here? Should this be broken down into three parts as で + ござんしょう + な?

I know ございます means have. But ござんしょう becomes let's have?


texts: Is there a diffrence between saying "盗み聞き" and "盗み聞きとは?"

texts:
I know that "盗み聞き" would be "Eavesdrop" or "Eavesdropping," but I wasn't sure if the addition of "とは" modified the word in some way or if it perhaps just indicated something about the wording.

Edit: For context, the exact line of text is
"盗み聞きとは・・・。太陽の使者ともあろうものが行儀が悪いな？"


texts: Why should we say 応えられなくなってきて and not 応えられなくてきて?

texts:
Why should we say 応えられなく_なって_きて and not 応えられなくて_きて?
I have been told that 応えられなくてきて is not correct by a japanese friend of mine but the explications were... light.

Thank you


texts:
Context: Manga shenanigans. Some normal people were taken to another world and shown magic there and brought back. Now back on Earth one of them is commenting on how she still hasn't completelly accepted what happened there subjectively. Then she says the following line.

実際に「凄いところ」やあちらの世界
お世話になっている場所を見せて頂いたので

The line split is like that in manga so I'm assuming there is a comma missing there. But that's a bit besides the point.
The first line basically says:

Actually "amazing thing (probably reffering to magic)" and that world/universe

the second line is a problem. 場所を見せて頂いた is fine. She is just saying that she (they) were allowed to see that place.
The problem is this bit お世話になっている場所. Now I know that "お世話になっている" means basically to feel gratefull for or have obligation to someone who helped you. But how does it describe a place here? The only thing I'd guess is that it is the person speaking saying she is gratefull for being able to see that place and magic and like in it.
Additional context: The next line is:

受け止めるしかないところではあるんですが

So I think the entire thing is probably something like:

But given that we were able to actually see that “amazing thing” and that world, which we are grateful for, I have no choice but to accept that that thing (magic) is real, but…

So any help here?
PS: Additional additional context:
Yes, the background image of the text shows the daughter of the person speaking training to use magic at that place with her parents (one of them is the speaker) who are muggles watching. So I guess お世話になっている場所 in this context means place where assistance (in training) is received?
bump


texts: Is it possible to add なり after the past tense (過去形) of the verb？

texts:
This jGram entry says that if you add なり after the past tense of the verb, it has a similar meaning to まま。

  ～したなり≈ ～したまま

For example:

  彼女を見つめたなり、しばらくの間微動だにしなかった。

But when I asked about this to my Japanese friends, they corrected it as 「見つめるなり」. One of my friends told me that since the final and main verb of the sentence 「しなかった」 is in past tense, the first verb 「みつめる」 should be in dictionary form. This statement clashes with the jGram entry, so I'd like to learn when it is ok to use past tense + なり and when it is not.

Thank you.


texts: Why is 来る spelled with kanji and する is not?

texts: 来る and する are two irregular and most commonly used verbs. From my observations, 来る is spelled with kanji. Even though there is a kanji version of する 為る it is usually not used and I wonder why. Are there any cases where the kanji version of する is used in modern Japanese?


texts: Does 韓国車 refer to the Korean Automotive Industry or to Korean cars in general?

texts:
I came across this sentence, だが、韓国車には決定的な弱点がある。

and was wondering if 韓国車 referred to Korean cars, or the automotive industry in Korea.

Jisho says that it refers to the Automotive industry, wondering what the consensus here is.

If it depends on context, let me know.


texts: How to describe switching individual 漢字？

texts:
Apologies if this question title is vague but, is there a word in Japanese that describes a new word which is formed by switching the 漢字 around?
e.g

例文 -> 文例
運命 -> 命運
合併 -> 併合

How do you describe this?


texts: Can both Hepburn and Kunreisiki romaji be used to write a person's name?

texts:
I once asked why there are two input systems to type some of the same letters, like し or つ, which can be written as shi/si or tsu/tu. I was told that both are okay, I could choose the way I like to type the kana.

But if it is about people's names, for instance Yoshizawa or Abe Shinzō，can I write Yosizawa and Abe Sinzo instead?


texts:
I was trying to talk about films and (marvel) comics the other day, and stumbled upon "evil twin". Sure, I can translate it verbatim, but that usually works badly for such fixed expressions.

And then when I was trying to explain it, I couldn't think of a good word for "trope" too. Apparently, neither can jisho.org. There are a few for cliche, but none of these have example sentences that relate remotely to the meaning I am looking for.

Can anyone help me or send me in the right direction? (A Japanese tvtropes.org perhaps?)

Other Japanese trope names (e.g. つんでれ) are welcome.


texts: Saying 'In my opinion, the internet has more good points than bad points'. [Comparative]

texts:
To say 'In my opinion, the internet has more good points than bad points', would the following phrase be correct;

「僕のいけんでインタネットは悪い点よりもっといい点があります。」

Would this phrase be correct? Or would it make more sense to omit 「もっと」from the phrase. Or is the phrase entirely incorrect?

Thank you.


texts:
Here is the situation in a manga which includes the word.

A: ジョー　どないしよう？　みんながおきたら... みんなが目をさましはったら...
B: ばっきゃろ！　さっきからなにをワナワナふるえてやがるんだっ。

I'm not sure if it is the same word as 「ばかやろ」.
Extra question: Is there any hidden meaning for the intention of changing the 「わなわな」 into Katakana form?


texts:
So I get that 見つける takes an object and 見つかる doesn't, but can anyone tell me if there are any major differences between 答えを見つけた and 答えが見つかった

If I came across an answer by chance, does the second sentence do a better job at expressing that?

And also: 答えが見つけられた

What is different between sentence 2 and 3? (And aren't they both passive?)

Thank you :D And sorry if duplicate or dumb question


texts:
Each of the following sentences:

  今ではほとんど見ることのできないポケットベル、通称ポケベルは、当時の女子高校生の必須アイテムだった。

  Pokebell, the short version for Pocket Bell in Japanese, can’t hardly be seen now but it was the indispensable item for female high school students of that time.
  鼻より先を見ることのできないものもいる。

  Someone cannot see beyond the end of his nose.
  顕微鏡でしか見ることのできない生物。

  An organism that can be seen only through a microscope.

has the "見ることのできない" but the translation is different, like in example 2, the sentence is talking about someone that can't see something, but in sentence 1, the sentence is talking about something that can't be seen.

How do Japanese interpret these sentences?