texts: Is there a contradiction in these sentences?

texts:
Context: after being defensive for the whole match, a boxer finally decides to fight with all his power out of respect for his opponent. These are his thoughts:

  選手生命を捧げているキミにとってボクシングの存在　感謝でも愛でも到底届かない域に達していることを

  それ程のボクシング愛を持つキミとのこの試合…　敬礼したくなる

My non-literal translation attempt:

  Your boxing creed, which implies sacrificing your own life, is at a
  level that can't be reached with gratitude or love.

  I want to honor this fight with someone like you that loves boxing so
  much.

In the first sentence he said that level of boxing can't be reached with love, so why in the second he says ボクシング愛を持つキミ? Is this a contradiction or did I misunderstood the two sentences? Does 愛 in the second sentence have a different nuance? Here you can see the whole page and the previous one for more context. Thank you for your help!


texts:
I know Wine is written as ワイン. I've also seen Whiskey as ウィスキー. In both english words, the 'w' sound are relatively similar (although slightly different).
I'm assuming ウァ would be somewhat like ワ.
But then there is 'Valentinus' written as ウァレンティヌス and I don't understand why ウァ is used as VA (instead of ヴァ).

Could anyone please point out what the differences (especially between ウァ and ワ) are, I think I'm confused (maybe because we don't have the english 'w' sound in German).


texts:
how to write a Indian name 'Agrawal' in Japanese language? Any help will be appreciated.

Is it same as "アグラワル "?

Thanks.


texts: How to say: "What's the longest you have gone without sleep?" or the pattern for "the longest one can go without something"?

texts:
I've decided to start practicing speaking by answering random (sometimes ridiculous) questions from the internet. My first step is to try and translate them from English to Japanese as best I can, since it helps thinking of the answer.

So I came across this question and cannot find a way to translate it.

  What's the longest you have gone without sleep?

I thought of 睡眠なし and 寝ずに and 最長 and 時間がかかる, but I cant know for sure if these make sense and I cannot put it all together.
I would really appreciate if anyone could tell me the best way(s) to do it.


texts:
「それじゃあ放課後、茶道室に来て下さい。
そこでこれからのことを話し合いましょう」
先輩は校舎のほうへ走っていく。
それに遅れまいと、こっちも校舎へと走り出した。

Why is the negative volitional used in the last sentence?


texts: How to interpret 「ニッポン死ね」 in the following context

texts:
In the manga Dead Tube, the presenter of a gossip video is talking about the adultery committed by a female politician called 山岡. He says that the woman was also the winner of the buzzwords contest (流行語大賞) with the phrase 「ニッポン死ね」, which I would translate as "death to Japan". Then he says:

  あのフレーズは…　保育園に落ちてしまった主婦の嘆きを表現したもの。つまりその言葉の受賞式に現れた彼女は…　その主婦達の代表だってこと…！

What has the sentence 「ニッポン死ね」 to do with desperate housewives in a nursery school or with adultery? Here is the page where it comes from for more context. Note that this is the first and last time that the presenter talks about this woman, so no other information is provided. Thank you for your help!


texts: Which term is better to use ? さんじゅうにち or みそか?

texts:
My textbooks says the 30th is さんじゅうにち but can also be called みそか .

Is みそか often used ?

Which one do Japanese people use most ?


texts: Meaning of 引く in ひょっとして俺が一発で正解引いたから、怒ってるのか？

texts:
im having trouble figuring out the significance of 引く in ひょっとして俺が一発で正解引いたから、怒ってるのか？

Is it something like "pulled (the correct answer) out of thin air" kind of meaning?

None of the definitions on jisho.org seem to fit.


texts: Is よう used for first person or second person imperatives?

texts:
The volitional form is often translated as "let's," but that's a first person plural imperative and I am not sure if that's the case for Japanese. In Japanese dictionaries, one of the definitions for the volitional form is:

  勧誘や婉曲な命令を表す。下に「か」「じゃないか」などが付いて，意味を強めることがある。 「いっしょにジョギングでもしよう」 「少しおなかがすいてきた。すしでも食べようか」

At first glance, it seems that it's a second person imperative such as in expressions like 私と行こうよ. It would seem strange to order yourself to go somewhere with yourself. However, it being a second person imperative doesn't seem to work with other sentences such as みんなで行こうよ and 全員で行こうよ where "I" seems to be included with みんな and 全員. This leaves me at a loss as to who the 勧誘や婉曲な命令 is directed to when the subject is omitted and it's just a verb. For example, if a group of people were about to go somewhere and someone said 行こう, is it a second person imperative with 私と omitted or a first person plural imperative?


texts: 「Verb + たら」always have ambiguous meanings?

texts:
I agree that ～たら is one practical tool that could express lots of meanings. but sometimes it became one problem for students of japanese.

If I say:

日本に行ったら、友達を訪ねます。

it's : If I go to Japan, I will visit my friend.(?)
or: When I get to Japan, I will visit my friend.(?)

卒業したら、旅行したいと思います。

it's : If I graduate (it's a possibility), I want to travel.
or: After graduating (it's certain), I'm think of traveling.

.

Does the meaning depend on the context? or Is there a better way to say that sentences?


texts:
I maintain a flashcards app (called AnkiDroid), it is open source so various users contributed the Japanese UI localization.

Unfortunately, for the term "flashcards deck" (a file containing a number of cards about a particular topic), there seems to be two schools of thought: Some are using デッキ while others are using 単語帳.

For the sake of consistency, I must choose one, but I have no idea which is better.
Which one would you keep?


texts: When reading a japanese newspaper there's a lot of kanjis, but how do you know the correct reading if you come across a kanji you dont know? Is there some easy way to look it up, or do you just have to know the word beforehand?


texts:
What is the correct construction of "unsolvable problem"? Is it "解{と}けられない問題{もんだい}"？(Question 1)

Plain(intransitive): 解{と}ける "To be solved".
Potential form(of intransitive): 解けられる "can be solved".
Potential + Negated(of intransitive): 解けられない "cannot be solved"

Plain(transitive) 解{と}く "(Some agent) solves".
Potential form(of transitive): 解ける "(Some agent) can solve".
Potential + Negated(of transitive): 解けない "(Some agent) cannot solve"

Does 解けられない問題 mean it intrinsically cannot be solved? (Question 2)
Does the transitive version "解けない" implies that some agent is unable to solve, but does not mean it is absolutely unsolvable? (Question 3)
*(Agent: one who initiates and/or completes an action or event)


texts:
I have a real patchy understanding of this sentence in Danganronpav3.

The speaker is 星 (Hoshi) and is incredibly cynical in contrast to the main character's optimism. He sometimes explains things in a difficult to understand way:

  理想{りそう｝だけじゃ救｛すく｝えるものも救えない。救えたはずのものまで見捨｛みす｝てるハメになりかねない。

Attempted translation: "Some things can't be saved just through ideals. Sometimes even what you thought was saved can end up lost."

My assumptions are:

The じゃ is a colloquial では
That もの is 物 and not 者.
That the use of も implies some cases were in the positive.
That the まで is being used as an "even in the case of

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.


texts: I saw a few bits here and elsewhere on it, but I have yet to find something that explains its usage, in detail(e.g. in positive and negative contexts and in different tenses). Anyone know?


texts:
I'm trying to understand something here, I have the following question I need to answer:

  あなたの部屋はきれいですか？

to which I should answer something like

  ええ、きれいなです。

Why is the question does not contain the な?


texts: The meaning of という in 言うことを聞かないというのなら

texts:
Here's a few examples of the point in question:

言う事を聞かないというのなら
どうしてもというのなら
もし、君が例外だというのなら

In these examples the words in "quotes" were never directly said. Is it correct to view these usages as "indirect quotes" which represent the view/stance/etc of the listener as interpreted by the speaker due to the listeners actions/words? Or does it serve some other function?


texts: Is there a standard for furigana? ふりがな vs フリガナ

texts:
When writing furigana I was told if it's written「フリガナ」write it in katakana. If it's「ふりがな」then write it in hiragana.

I'm curious if there's a standard or everyone that makes a document just kind of chooses if they want it in hiragana or katakana?


texts:
何かそのちょっと

Could you please explain me this expression?


texts:
In this video it is said that "な-adjectives come from Chinese and tend to be written in all kanji or sometimes in hiragana because the original kanji is too complicated." But い-adjectives are written in kanji too, aren't they? (e.g. 楽しい）So, in terms of writing, is there really a principal difference?

Is it true that all な-adjectives come from Chinese? It's rather surprising because some な-adjectives express such common concepts (e.g.元気、賑やか、静か、etc.)...


texts: use 一触即発 to refer to someone's personality? someone who "easily gets upset"?

texts:
I think "一触即発" can be used to refer to the personality of a person and means "quick to anger or get emotionally upset". If it cannot, please just say "no it cannot" and no reason to read further.

This is how I think it can be used:

talking directly to the person:
「さすが一触即発の性格でしょうね。えと、なのに、ふつつかな私を許してください。申し訳ありません。」 (You have such a personality that is quick to anger. Um, anyway, please make allowances for my incompetence. I have no excuse.)

talking with someone about a third person who is not present (Tanaka-san):
「田中さんは一触即発の人だと思わない。」(Do you think that Tanaka-san is quick to anger?)

Does it make sense to even refer to a personality as 一触即発? Does it sound funny, make a native speaker laugh? Or, a personality cannot be defined that way?
Should it be "一触即発の人" or "一触即発の性格がある人"?
Either way, it is very informal / humorous way among friends to describe someone who easily gets upset?
人柄 instead of 性格?


texts: Difference between とかの + noun and とか + noun

texts:
I recently bumped into these two sentences

サッカーとか野球とかスポーツをする
'テニスとかサッカーとかアメフトとかの球技が大好きだからね

Which I noticed is that they are very similar and in the latter, after 「とか」we find the particle 「の」. What I want to know is if we could rewrite again these sentences, the former with the particle 「の」and the latter without it as follows:

'サッカーとか野球とかのスポーツをする
'とかサッカーとかアメフトとか球技が大好きだからね

Which is the nuance of the particle 「の」in these exemples? What is the difference between using the particle and not using it?


texts: Why 梱入 does not appear in any dictionary?

texts:
On a parcel that came from Japan, there is this sentence:

お客様のご注文の品が梱入されております。

The meaning is clear: “There are customer’s goods in the package.”
What puzzles me though is, why I could’t find the word 梱入•する in any dictionary. I mean, スーパー大辞林, weblio, JMdict… none of those lists this word. (My bulky paper dictionary of Kanji doesn’t even contain 梱.) I am asking because there may be a reason for that. Like, is 〜入(れ)•する some kind of a productive suffix forming words with a meaning of „contained in ~“?
What’s the reading then? Is it こんにゅう, or possibly こりにゅう, こりいれ? The last one is what Yomikatawa says and it would mean irregular okurigana, but that’s not that uncommon. My Japanese keaboard fails to convert こんにゅう, with こりいれ I got at least to 梱入れ almost instantly.


texts: How do you tell when 持つ is stative or dynamic?

texts:
I am confused on how to distinguish if a verb is stative or dynamic when used in a sentence. For example, 持つ appears to have two definitions, one for a dynamic meaning and one for a stative meaning.

物の一部分をつかむ
所有している

How do I tell the difference between the two definitions when used in a sentence? For example,

武器を持った乗っ取り犯たちは乗客をりつ然とさせた。

Is the interpretation "The hijackers who had weapons terrified the passengers" (stative) or "The hijackers who had obtained weapons terrified the passengers" (dynamic)?


texts:
As I've treated it, the しな at the end of the sentence is just し("not only, but also")+な(=ね). But Jisho.org says it could also mean "having just started...".

Is this true? Is there an example of this usage?


texts: How do you translate "My hovercraft is full of eels"?

texts:
The good old nonsense phrase of foreign languages is Monty Python's classic "My hovercraft is full of eels".

Accordingly in Japanese one of the first things I learned was "私のホバークラフトはうなぎがいっぱいです".

However, today I have been told that this is wrong, that I should in fact be using "私のホバークラフトはうなぎでいっぱいです"

Can anyone shed some light on this? Does the first one truly make no sense (as far as the sentence can make sense anyway)?

Why is it で and not が?


texts:
The いとへん (aka 糸部｛べきぶ｝) has two written forms, one written with three dots on the bottom and one written with a 小 on the bottom. In modern Japanese computer fonts (esp. Mincho fonts), the latter form is used. In the K'ang-hsi (康熙) Dictionary (which is the de facto standard for the Japanese 旧字体), the later is treated as the standard writing shape.

The 当用漢字字体表 also uses the latter form as the standard, but meanwhile it also states that, for the いとへん, 「点画の...方向...必ずしも拘束しないものがある」. (see, e.g., the 文化庁's page here).

Therefore, could both written shapes of the いとへん be considered equally correct in handwriting? Which would be more common, in casual and formal handwriting, respectively?


texts:
Can we use 青空 and 青い空 interchangeably?

Is there any difference between the two? Which is the most natural?

Thank you!


texts:
According to people I've asked, and this page, if I pay 20 Australian dollars for my meal, it seems I say ni ju doru (20-ドル), and that ni ju-en doru (20-えん-ドル) would be ungrammatical - "dollar" acts as the counter.

Is it possible to refer to the Australian dollar as a noun in other circumstances (eg while talking about how the dollar fared on the exchange market)? If so, is this only because it's a loanword, or can the same apply with native Japanese words?


texts: How to use ところだった to express time related events

texts:
Can someone explain how だった changes the meaning when put after ところ?

From what I understand, ところ can be used to express when an action takes place：

するところ　- about to do [verb]

  今から家にかえるところだ。I am about to go home.

しているところ - in the middle of doing [verb]

  氷が溶けているところです。The ice is in the middle of melting.

したところ - just finished [verb]

  今着いたところです。 I just arrived now.

していたところ - was in the middle of doing [verb]

  あなたのことを話してたところだよ。I was in the middle of taking about you.

However I don't understand the nuance or how the meaning changes when だった is put after ところ.

するところだった - I understand this to mean "was about to do [verb] (but it didn't happen)"
しているところだった
したところだった - How is this different from したところ?
していたところだった

I would appreciate some example sentences to help me understand the difference between ところ by itself and ところだった


texts:
I was watching some Let's-players on YouTube, where I saw this sentence:

  それすら来ないと言うことは……きっと、よほどのことがあったに違いない。

I'd like to know what the first part of it means. Moreover, the entire meaning of the sentence is still a little fuzzy to me.

For some context, here's the sentence before it:

  「璃紗の、あの性格上……元気じゃなくても、相手に心配かけないように、無理してでも元気だって返事をするに決まってるわ」


texts: What are the differences between the usage of は and では in negative sentences?

texts:
I understand that in a sentence such as

わざわざあなたが行くことはありません。誰かに行かせます。

the general meaning of ～ことはない is that there is no need to do something.
But why would it be wrong to say ではない ?
Is there a complete different meaning behind では ？
Thank you in advance for your help! :)


texts: What is this Kanji? I can’t find it anywhere?

texts: I’ve been searching radicals on Jisho and other places but I can’t find a kanji to match this one.


texts: Does "敬語" (keigo) just mean "politeness" or is it a technical term specifically relating to Japanese grammar?

texts:
What is the difference between the Japanese term "敬語" (keigo) and the English term "politeness" (Specifically regarding language)?

I assumed politeness is more general covering things like "please" and "thank you" and that "敬語" (keigo) specifically referred to those aspects of Japanese grammar that deal with politeness in a technical way that has no equivalent in English.

But upon reading a bit and using this site a bit I'm not sure anymore. What are the overlaps and differences in meanings?

(I considered asking this as a meta question concerning the keigo and politeness tags but I decided it's of much broader interest.)


texts:
The sentence in question:

  現場の海域や付近の海岸では、これまでにも北朝鮮から来たと見られる木造船がたびたび見つかっていて、海上保安部は２人が北朝鮮から来たとみて、さらに詳しく調べています。

For full context, see here.

My attempt at translation:

  "At the actual spot in the ocean and the neighbouring coast, also until now there are frequent sightings of wooden ships which are expected to come from korea, and the coastal guard observes the two people who came from korea and investigates more and more details."

I'm confused because 見て connects to ２人が北朝鮮から来た with と. I so far can only remember the combination of みる and と in とみられる which translates to "regarded as". But this doesn't make sense here, so I used the interpretation I usually only use if I have "object + を + みる". I'm not very confident about this though, so I'm asking for your advice.


texts: What does the Japanese word "Shalaku" mean?

texts: I bought this pencil from Uniball which is a Japanese made. It is a beautiful product. The name of the pencil is Shalaku. I wish to know what it means.


texts:
What does the word 「こいや」 mean?
The full sentence is 「ちょっと こいや」.


texts: Openings and Closings (Salutations and Valedictions) When Writing a Letter/E-mail

texts: This question came to me because I am writing a personal thank-you letter to a friend's family who hosted me in their home over the holidays.  What is the proper way to address the entire family?  For example, in English, I would use "To the Ito Family".  Beyond this, it would be good to compile a list of typical Japanese openings and closings (salutations and valedictions) used in written correspondence.


texts: adverbial form of an adjective to modify a noun?

texts:
I am learning from Japanese From Zero! online website, and came across this sentence:

きょう、近くの こうえんに 行きませんか

I would expected 近く to read 近い

I have never seen the adverbial form of an adjective used to modify a noun before?


texts:
What does 'よ' do when placed after a single noun like '今'?

  今よ

Would it be considered a question, like "Now?" ?


texts: Does using the characters です at the end of a sentence make almost everything(depending on the sentence) sound polite?

texts:
For example if i say something like,"あなたはやさしい人です”。

Versus if I say,"あなたはやさしい人".

Is the second sentence (stated above) grammatically correct or does there "need" to be a particle at the end of my sentence?

I appreciate all the help I can get from you wonderful people.

Please give me your knowledge and help me better educate my self.

~A man seeking to improve himself


texts: My name is Midori, but I have never known the Kanji

texts:
My parents are not Japanese but they named my sister and me with Japanese names for the meanings they had:
Mariko - Child of Truth
Midori - Youthful Immortal.
With these definitions as guidance, can anyone help me to find Kanji for our names? My sister has also named her daughter Emiko - Graceful child - and it would be very special for us to have the Kanji for our names.
I have tried a few searches but not found what I was looking for.
Many thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer - particularly if you know anyone (or are anyone) called Mariko, Midori or Emiko!
I am a lady, by the way, not a man :)


texts: What is the difference between もう少しで and ほとんど?

texts:
Consider these sentences:

(×ほとんど/○もう少しで) いうのを忘れるところでした。
プールの中の水は、(○ほとんど/○もう少しで) 満杯である。
宿題は、(○ほとんど/×もう少しで) 終わった。
(×ほとんど/○もう少しで) あなたのお家に着きます。

In some cases it is ok to use もう少しで but in others it is not. The same goes for ほとんど. Sometimes both can be used.

I have heard explanations like ほとんど is mainly used for "possibilities" and are used for 1-D things like time, distance or level and things that have a "span". And もう少しで is used for possibilities. But I have no idea what this means at all.

Can someone explain the grammar behind this and why sometimes they are interchangeable and sometimes they are not?


texts: Showing gratitude for omiyage yet to be completely finished (ごちそうさまです？）

texts:
Can I say ～をごちそうさまです if I want to show gratitude for edible omiyage I’ve received but have yet to finish?
For example, I received a box of cookies recently and want to say thank you as soon as possible, rather than after I’ve finished the whole thing, in which case I’d say ～をごちそうさまでした.
Does ～はおいしいです accurately express this or is there a specific phrase for this situation?


texts:
From what I understand, it means "Do your best three days after the fact"? But it doesn't make much sense in English
Here is the line that precedes, if it is any help:

テストも授業も却下可能
三日後に　本気出せ


texts:
I'm reading a book, and the antagonist was released from prison early because he bribed the district prosecutioner.

The main character says:
野郎。。。　法なんてあってねーようなもんじゃねーか

This is my translation:
Bastard... It's like there is no law (lacking in lawfulness?)

But I'm not sure how もんじゃない functions here. I know もんだ/です can function as giving a reason for something. Is もんじゃない used similarly but ない is used because it is a negative verb?


texts: Usage of 用意 with different conjugations of 出来る

texts:
Is there a difference in meaning between the following two sentences?

昼食の用意が出来ました。
昼食の用意が出来ています。

Which one is more appropriate when announcing to your family that lunch is ready?


texts:
A native speaker of Japanese has asked if ゴールデンウィーク is wasei eigo.

The Wikipedia article on Golden Week in Japan claims that the term was created in 1951.

However, a google ngram search for English indicates that the combination "golden week" (and possibly "Golden Week") gets some hits before 1951.

I was also confused by the fact that China also has a Golden Week, but that seems to have been created fairly recently.

Is the term ゴールデンウィーク wasei eigo?


texts: Is it ungrammatical to say Nがなく instead of Nなく when it means "without N"?

texts:
The phrase Nなく means "without N" and is used to modify verbs, as in:

  彼は私を躊躇なく殴った。
  He hit me without hesitation.

In sentences like this, is it ungrammatical or unnatural to say Nがなく instead of Nなく?


texts: Is there an order of adjectives in Japanese?

texts:
In English, if we have multiple adjectives modifying a noun, there is a preferred order for those adjectives, for example:

nice long red car
*nice red long car
*long red nice car

I was wondering if there are similar restrictions in Japanese. For example, take the following three sentences.

おもしろくてハンサムで親切な人
ハンサムで親切でおもしろい人
親切でおもしろくてハンサムな人

Do any of these sound strange, or unnatural? Or are they incorrect? Or do no such restrictions exist in Japanese?


texts:
I’m having trouble breaking down sentences in Japanese. A lot of the sentences in my book (Tobira) are so long and complicated for me!

Could someone please break down this sentence for me?

  今会社で大きい問題になっているco2の削減に効果があるハイブリッド車の技術や、自動車のリイサイクルシステムについてもっと勉強したいと思っている。

I think I would like to study more about the big issues at my company such as (like), the technology of the hybrid car that has an effect on cutting co2 and Auto mobiles recycling systems.

This one is what I’ve translated it into but in order for it to take this shape, doesn’t など need to be in there? Or is it implied by the usage of や?

If the translation is wrong or needs changes please let me know and fee


texts: 四つ仮名 yotugana - pronunciation difference

texts:
Many of you probably know about the so called 四｛よ｝つ仮名｛がな｝, じ ぢ ず づ, and that in standard Japanese only two different pronunciations for them exist, that is じ=ぢ=/=ず=づ. However, they used to represent four distinct sounds, something that has been preserved in some regions, especially on Kyushu. See this map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotsugana

Now to my question, my own Japanese is from a 二つ仮名 region so I never had the opportunity of actually learning the other sounds. Therefore I was wondering if any of you know of any recordings, preferably videos, that clearly highlights the different pronunciations.


texts: I've been told that いや (in its use similar to いいえ) is a mainly masculine word, but I've heard many female speakers use it, both as a filler and a content word expressing disagreement. Is it that young female speakers use it these days?


texts:
I have the following Japanese sentence:

  身につけているのが、病院で着せられる検査服のようなものだから仕方ないのかもしれないが、どう見てもここは病院なんかじゃない。

and I was wondering if the bolded のが nominalizes the 身につけている before it, as
Darius says  that

  "...Basically, all the 〜の does is make a verb act like a noun, and then syntactically-speaking, that noun-like thing can fit into any spot a noun would normally go, and that spot will already be marked with が, の, or some other case particle" (Darius).

But I'm unable to wrap my head around what the nominalization of 身につけている is, which in turn makes me doubt the のが's ability to nominalize 身につけている in the above sentence.


texts: Should the tense of predicate in main clause be the same as the tense of predicate in the relative clause?

texts:
It is a very basic question that I need to be confirmed. Consider the following sentence (taken from a book titled Essential Japanese Grammar by Masahiro Tanimori and Eriko Sato).

  スミスさんが昨日見た学生は背が高かった。

The relative clause スミスさんが昨日見た modifies 学生 with past tense. The main clause also uses past tense 高かった.

If I translate it to English, it becomes

  The student whom Smith saw yesterday was tall.

For me it sounds a bit awkward because the student may no longer be tall now.

Question

Should the tense in relative clauses agree with the tense in main clause?
Compare to the previous one, what is the difference in meaning and nuance for スミスさんが昨日見た学生は背が高い。?


texts: How would one say "red snow" in Japanese?

texts:
This is a simple question, but Google translate hasn't exactly provided an adequate answer.
How would one translate "crimson snow" or "red snow" to Japanese? And what would the transliteration be?
Alternatively, how about "bloody snow" (further "snow soaked in blood") or something along those lines?
The only answers I've found so far are せきせつ (sekisetsu) and あかゆき (akayuki) but I do not know if those are any good!
Thanks in advance!


texts: Why does "子" often come at the end of a woman's name, but comes at the start of the term for a baby animal?

texts:
"子" (or "こ") often comes at the end of a woman's name. But for baby animals, "子" is at the start of the term. Why is it different for the two?

(I've heard of the name "Koichi" belonging to a Japanese man, but I don't know if that literally means "child one", uses "子", or is cognate with "子")


texts:
This question refers to the hiragana notation of different syllables, where you indicate the "soft-spoken" or "hard-spoken" variants of syllables by marking them with a small circle or double strokes. So for instance く would become ぐ where "g" is a "voiced" version of "k" and a lot of languages make that distinction between "voiced" and "unvoiced" consonants.
Now to my question: How does "b" correspond to a voiced version of "h"? In my understanding, the sounds originate from very different locations in the vocal apparatus - "h" being just the sound of breathing out with some tension created in the throat or with the tongue while "p" and "b" originate from the lips.
Why does the Japanese language e.g. refer to ぼ as a voiced ほ?


texts: double use of と as grammatical construct or choice of literary style?

texts:
日本で最も有名な小説家は？　と問われれば、多くの人が「太宰 治」と答えるでしょう。

IF [と+ verb(1)] asked, many "would answer" [と+verb(2)] Osamu.
OR translated as
IF [と+verb(1)] asked, many answer "with" [と+ after noun] Osamu.

Since the first と seems unnecessary, since the IF is already expressed in the conditional verb conjugation, I ask is it a literary style to begin this type of sentence with と or is it linked to the second と+verb as a standard grammatical construct?

What is the function of the second と, either [with] the noun, or why the second [と+verb]?

Thank you in advance for your efforts and time in clarifying this matter.


texts:
I recently came across the expression 前提に:

  feature1はfeature2と同じく各コンテンツに分類用の識別子を埋め込む機能ですが、統制を重視したユースケースを前提に設計されているため柔軟さに欠けます。
  'feature1, just like feature2, is a way to embed classification into content, but it is designed for rigidity-focussed use cases, losing in flexibility.'

I think it means "to require", but I am very unsure, could someone confirm/infirm this?


texts:
I commented in a Japanese Youtube video of a game.
I said not to release it globally because it's just a chibi version of an already released game and they replied to me with チビバージョンは草. And when I used a translator it says "chibi of grass". I guess it's wrong.
Can you help me plz?


texts: Classical: On the subject of a sentence with 連用形/て clauses + ば condicional

texts:
I'm having some trouble with this beautiful passage from the Kana Preface to the Kokinshū, which is talking about us (spaced for clarity):

   1 人まろ なくなりにたれど、
   2 うたの こと ゝどまれるかな。
   3. たとひ とき うつり こと さり、
   4. たのしび かなしび ゆきかふとも、
   5. この うたの もじ あるをや。
   6. あをやぎの いと たえず、
   7. まつの はの ちりうせず して、
   8. まさきのかづら ながく つたはり、
   9. とりのあと ひさしく とどまれらば、
  10. うたの さまを（も） しり、
  11. ことの こゝろを えたらむ人は、
  12. おほぞらの 月を みるがごとくに、
  13. いにしへを あふぎて いまを こひざらめかも。

The Iwanami and Shogakukan anotated editions tell us two pieces of cultural context needed to understand it:

The modifier clauses starting each line in 6-9 are traditional images (序詞) for the things that follow: green willow threads for "not ceasing", pine needles for "not scattering", the masaki-no-kazura vine for "reaching long", and bird tracks for "lasting a long time".  It may seem strange that bird tracks would be an image for 久しく とどまる, but this is due to the fact that:
鳥の跡 is a conventional metaphor for "written characters" (due to the legend that Cangjie invented characters by imitating the footprints of plovers).  So this particular image also echoes the point of line 5 above.

(grammar note: if とどまれらば seems weird, it's because ら here is the 未然形 of the perfective/progressive suffix, り.)

Now here's Lamarre's translation:

  Although Hitomaro has gone, the acts of songs have remained.  Even though eras shift and deeds pass, and delights and sorrows come and go, the characters (moji) of songs continue.  Should they be retained as changeless as birdtracks and transmitted as long as rampant vines, just as the evergreen needles never scatter and vanish, just as the threads of green willows always trail, then the people who know the designs of songs and obtain the hearts of words surely will look up to the high ages and yearn for this day, just as we look to the moon in the great heavens. [emphasis mine]

A bit liberal in some aspects, and it glosses over the "bird tracks=characters" motif, but my question is regarding the parts in bold.  I don't see how we came from the morphology and syntax of 6-9 to an interpretation where:

The moji or uta of the previous sentence ("they") is supposed to be the subject of the conditional (todomareraba), and
The 4 images (aoyagi, matsu-no-ha, masaki-no-kazura, tori no ato) are targets for the condition: "if they last as long as the bird tracks"… (and not, as I'd expect from the isolated clause: "if the bird tracks last long"…)

I've checked the modern translations/explanations in Iwanami and Shogakukan, and also the Portuguese one by Wakisaka, and they all agree on this point; e.g. Shogakukan:

  この歌が青柳の糸の絶えぬごとく[…]鳥の跡の久しく残ることくに、長く後世に伝わりますならば […]

But I'm not used to Classical, so I don't understand where are the ごとくs coming from…

TL;DR: In the first citation above, why does 鳥の跡久しくとどまれらば translate to "if the poems last as long as the bird tracks" and not just "if the bird tracks last long"?


texts:
I thought when you have a consonant-stem verb ending with -ku you replace it with -ita. For example kaku ("to write") becomes kaita.

But this doesn't happen with iku, which becomes itta, so I guess that makes it irregular – are there any other such verbs?


texts:
In studies on contemporary Japanese culture, they use "Gemu Otaku" in the sense of "video game nerd", "game freak".

Is this an academic term only or do people actually use this term in Japanese everyday speak?
I was wondering, how is it spelled correctly? Or at least commonly? Many sources read "Gemu Otaku", Google Translate spits out "Gēmuotaku" or Gēmu no otaku".
How is it written in actual Japanese, i.e., not romanized?


texts: Does 防具による攻撃 mean "attacks with armor" or "attacks depending on armor"

texts:
This is a vhs promotional video about a videogame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUhd8qoQl6E&t=4m55s
さらにタクティクスオウガでは、ユニットの武器や防具による攻撃、魔法攻撃、各ユニットの特性を生かした攻撃など、バラエティーに富んだアクションをもフルアニメーションで構成。
My question is, if 武器や防具による攻撃 means "weapon and armor attacks", how can "armor" attack?


texts: What's the difference between ちゃんと, きちんと, きっちり and ぴったり?

texts:
The four of ちゃんと, きちんと, きっちり and ぴったり all seem to mean something like "perfectly", "precisely" or "exactly", and there seems to be a lot of similarity between their definitions.

Daijisen says that all three of ちゃんと, きちんと and きっちり can mean something like "without disorder and well arranged" and きっちり and ぴったり "without deviation", but I think they're used in different ways.

I think just from the way I've seen them used that ちゃんと might often, though not always, be close to "(do something) the way you're supposed/expected to", きちんとした "spotless", きちんと "to the letter", きっちり "firmly" and ぴったり "(suits) perfectly"/"perfect (match for)", but I'm not really confident and I don't have sources to back it up.

What is the difference between them and how do their usages differ?


texts: I just can't figure this Kanji from an old newspaper out, I am guessing it is a printing style not used anymore.I was trying to go by the 3-character radical on the left but I can't find anything that includes the 2 strokes in the middle.


texts: Interpretation and some questions about NHK article

texts:
異性にトイレの世話をしてもらっているお年寄りや、体と心の性が同じではない人などから男性や女性のトイレに入りにくいという意見が出ています。渋谷区は、駅や店などのトイレをみんなが使いやすくするために「トイレ基本方針」を決めました。

  「トイレ基本方針」によると、男性のトイレと女性のトイレとは別に、どんな性の人も使うことができるトイレを作ります。目に障害がある人のために、壁とトイレは違う色にしてわかりやすくします。赤ちゃんのおむつをかえる
  台や、服を脱ぐときに使う台は、もっと増やしていろいろなトイレに置きます

Could someone please break down what exactly the uses of に and から are here?

I am have a bit of trouble parsing the first paragraph in english and making understanding of it, my attempt is the following:

  To better help serve the opposite sex whom is aging （お年寄り), and also
  those whos bodies and heart ( mabye this means mind actually?) do not
  correspond directly with male or female and have trouble entering
  standard gendered washrooms ( where does 意見が出ています come into play?).
  For the purpose of making toilets easy to use "Toilet 基本 ( how would kihon be translate exactly here?) policy" was
  put into plan in places like stores and train stations in shibuya.

I would appreciate any feedback.


texts:
I've come across these two sentences and have been trying to wrap my head around them for a while.

  「出られたくないんだよ」and 「縛られたくないんだよ」

Both use the potential verb form and 「くない」

When I look up the translation, they say "I do not want to leave" and "I don't want to be tied up."

But they end with 「られた」, which is used for something done in the past. I would have assumed they'd be translated as "I did not want to leave."

If I'm missing something please tell me.


texts: 平日 - What's the difference between the two readings へいじつ and ひらび?

texts:
平日 can be read へいじつ or ひらび. What's the difference between the two readings? Is one more formal than the other?
The basic meaning seems to be "Weekday" (ie Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)


texts:
What is the difference between 賢い{かしこい} and 利口{りこう}?

For exemple, sentence 1 and sentence 2　have the same meaning?

1.彼は若いが賢いよ。

2.彼は若いが利口だね。

Kotobank.jp explains  賢い{かしこい} through 利口{りこう} (reference) and  利口{りこう} through 賢い{かしこい} (reference), but is there any subtile difference between those two terms?

Thank you.


texts: Can someone explain the usage of おかないんだ in this sentence

texts:
何故もっと早く来ないんだ。質より量を......数に任せて、非力な魔法使いを捕えておかないんだ。

So this is from an RPG. You go in a dungeon and find the 魔法使い (who was captured by the bandits). Then the bandits appear. Then the main character says this line to the bandits.


texts: Difference between ～に伴う【ともなう】 and ～を伴う【ともなう】

texts:
このしごとはきけんを伴う

I am aware of the にともなう construct.
Is this any different?
When would ともなう take the を particle rather than に?


texts:
Would

私を見て突っ込む所はないか

translate to something like "Would you come take a closer look at me?"
I've done a lot of context searching for 突っ込む所 but I can't quite pin down a solid meaning on it.


texts: How do I make sense of this use of だったのである?

texts:
In my JLPT practise book, there is this section of text. Sorry, it's a little long, but I hope the question isn't overly complex.

  （前略{ぜんりゃく}）かつて私{わたし}たちの国{くに}では、花{はな}の美{うつく}しさというように、抽象{ちゅうしょう}観念{かんねん}によって美{うつく}しいものをとらえようとする言{い}い方{かた}も乏{とぼ}しく、したがってそのような考{かんが}え方{かた}もほとんどなかった。（　　）、というようなことばや考{かんが}え方{かた}を私{わたし}たちに教{おし}えてくれたのは、やはり西欧{せいおう}舶来{はくらい}のことばであり、その翻訳語{ほんやくご}だったのである。

Not a direct translation, but my general understanding is that, "Japan (well... "our country") didn't used to have words for abstract concepts, like the beauty of a flower. Abstract concepts were learned from the west, drawn from terms used in translation." Maybe. Something like that.

The question is to place one of the following two terms in the brackets:

花{はな}の美{うつく}しさ
抽象{ちゅうしょう}観念{かんねん}

I chose  抽象{ちゅうしょう}観念{かんねん}, but the correct answer turns out to be 花{はな}の美{うつく}しさ.

I think where I got confused was with the very last sentence, after where it says やはり.　It says something like "Of course, there are words from the west, those translation terms were there"...? I think maybe it's だったのである that is throwing me off.

What would be an accurate translation for the last sentence in this text, and how does it support the right answer for what goes in the brackets?


texts: How to differentiate between 異常 and 異状 in speech？

texts: I believe I roughly understand the difference in meaning between the two. However, as far as I can tell, they have the same pitch accent - 大辞林 lists them both as being [0], ie 平板. Would context always dictate which 「いじょう」 is being used?


texts:
I learned that てしまいます can both express regret and having finished a task.

How can one differentiate between the two meanings without context ?

Example: 水を飲んでしまいました. - I have finished drinking the water / I drank the water (with a sense of regret)

If one cannot differentiate without context, is there a way to make explicit which meaning is implied ?


texts:
これはアメリカ人にも読める日本語の本です。

I received this sentence as an example of に being used with potential form in a passive sense, but even though the person said they were Japanese (online) I have never seen anything like this ever.

What is this grammar point? Can I have any other examples? If it is incorrect, how would you say "Y can be done by X" where it is both potential and passive?


texts: 未然形 of である and 連用形 of だ

texts:
When I checked the entry of 助動詞 「だ」 in the dictionary, I found the following example sentence:

  「学生は怠けるべきではない」

Does the fact that で is in bold mean that で in ではない is actually the 連用形 of 「だ」?

But how could this be possible considering the fact that ではない is, in itself, the negative form of である ? Which is what 「だ」 actually comes from ?

Are there 2 ではない ?


texts: Can the tense of a subordinate clause be non-relative?

texts:
To my understanding, the tense of subordinate clauses is relative:

  私は泣いている人に会った。

  I met a person, who, at the time, was crying.

  私は泣いていた人に会った。

  I met a person, who, sometime before our meeting, was crying.

Is it however possible for the tense of a subordinate clause to be non-relative given the right context?

If one were for example to have the following conversation:

  A: 留学している友達がいるよ。

  I have a friend who's studying abroad.

  B: ええ, 誰ですか?

  Huh, who's that?

  A: 覚えていないの? 一緒に旅行した時 留学している友達に会ったじゃない

  Don't you remember? When we traveled together, we met my friend, who
  is currently studying abroad (but might not have been at the
  time).
  Don't you remember? When we traveled together, we met my friend, who, at the time, was studying abroad.

Which of the above interpretations are correct?

Are there situations in which the tense of a subordinate clause is not relative to that of the main clause?


texts:
What is correct answer for the question もう ジョンさんは 来ましたか。

いいえ, まだ ジョンさんは 来ません。
or
いいえ, まだ ジョンさんは 来ません でした。


texts: What is the difference between Nigiyaka and Isogashii

texts: It seems they both mean busy. Can someone tell me what the difference is between them?


texts:
I few minutes ago on NHK news 「注目」 I've heard/saw the phrase 「やるっきゃない」.
I have no idea what it means.. And what grammar rules are here?


texts: What role does もう play in this sentence?

texts:
頭痛に頭を掻き毟り{むしり}つつ、震えるもう片方の手が宙を泳いだ。

Does もう modify 泳いだ here, as in "already moved (lit. swam through air/space)"? So that "while X (tearing hair with one hand due to headache), the trembling other hand already moved"?


texts: Why is 猫 at the end of this sentence "目の色が違う猫"

texts:
This sentence was translated as "a cat that has eyes of different color". Now using my Spanish speaking mind I wouldn't phrase that sentence that way, it would be 猫の目の色が違う.

So how come it is 目の色が違う猫?

Is the way I wrote it also valid, or it is syntactically wrong or unnatural?


texts:
This is a line from a game that I'm attempting to take apart and understand. A man has committed a murder, and is panic-thinking he doesn't want to be caught for it. He thinks/says out loud this sentence:

  誰か ... 誰かがやったことにするんだ ... ！

I'm guessing this is essentially, "Someone ... someone [else?] will have done this," as in, he's going to pin the crime on another person.

I'd like to make sure that I'm understanding 「やったこと」 and 「するんだ」 correctly. The first, breaking down やった and こと would probably be something like, "thing that was done." But the second is probably me not quite clicking with the ~んだ ending - is that him answering his own thoughts? Or is it a tense of some kind? I understand it's meant to be explanatory, but it's not until after this that he decides he'll accuse a man he saw, so I would have guessed the tense would appear there instead.

In case it has to do with him answering himself, for context, the lines before this one are:

  ... くそっ！なんでオレがこんな目に ....

  ... つかまりたくねえ ... こんなことで ....

Thanks!


texts: Making relative clauses in passive and active forms for every part of a sentence

texts:
I have a base sentence as follows.

  AさんはBさんに足を踏まれました。(A's feet was stepped on by B.)

I am trying to make a relative clause for Aさん, Bさん, and 足 each as follows.

Aさん

Passive: Bさんに足を踏まれた人はAさんです。
Active: Bさんが足を踏んだ人はAさんです。

Bさん

Passive: Aさんが足を踏まれた人はBさんです。
Active: Aさんの足を踏んだ人はBさんです。

足

Passive: AさんがBさんに踏まれた器官は足です。
Active: BさんがAさんに踏んだ器官は足です。

Are there any grammatical mistakes in my sentences above?


texts: Can you add a "cause" to an intransitive verb with に

texts:
I was wondering if when you have the transitive statement

誰が窓を[開]{あ}けた？

You can make an intransitive version like

窓は誰に[開]{あ}いた？

I can't find any sources that tell if you can add the "actual" subject or cause to the verb with the particle に.


texts: Customer who bought from you in the past, and buys again because they like the product

texts:
I am looking for a shorter word to convey the fact that a customer buys again:

  去年のお客さんが今年も買ってくれたので、価値があるかと思います

I want to insist on the fact that a customer buying again means that they like the product and think the price is fair.

It is only the second time they buy, though, so "regular" is probably a bit too strong.

I haven't found anything similar on ALC.


texts: What is the meaning of the radical 手 as a part of character?

texts:
I know that the radical 手 means "hand" but I wanna know meaning does 「手」 contribute as a part of a character

If anyone can give me five examples and it could be better if he can bring example with a different usings to this radical please do it.


texts: Cases where として and にとって are overused/ cannot be used

texts:
I've been reading through Imabi, and one of the notes on the site was about inappropriate use of として and にとって in contexts of contrast and although phrases. These three were listed as examples of misuse.

彼女は学生として、学校へ行かず、遊んでばかりいるよ。X  外国人として大変なのは食べ物だと思います。X
僕にとってその色はあんまり好きじゃない。X

I would like a clearer explanation on why these are not appropriate usages of として and にとって. I think I understand that in the first example, the phrasing is inappropriate because it sounds like she is using her position as a student to play around, which doesn't make any sense.
In the second sentence, I'm guessing にとって would be more appropriate because 外国人 isn't really a qualification? But at the same time you can say 私としては, so I'm not too sure why this is incorrect.
Third sentence: No clue why this is wrong.


texts: What is the difference between 見つける and 探す

texts: I think they have a same meaning: find or search. Could you help me to show the differences between them ? In the detail cases ?


texts: I have looked these two words up on WWWJDIC and there doesn't seem to be much difference.  Are they interchangeable, or do they infer different things?


texts: Does であるため mean "due to" or "for" in this sentence?

texts:
大臣認定に係る性能評価は、申請材料の仕様に対する評価であるため、「商品名」は記載しない でください。

Does in this case 「X であるため」 mean "for X" (in the sense of "when doing X") rather than "due to"? Here's my attempt:

  According to the quality evaluation approved by the minister, for the
  evaluation of the specifications of the requested materials, don't
  write the "trade name".

Also, could you check the rest of my translation? I'm not sure about the value of the first 「は」 which I translated as "according to". Thank you!


texts:
それでは、このお金をあげるから、おじさんにカメを売っておくれ

What does おくれ mean in this context? What is this verb form?


texts:
How do you say "glow-in-the-dark" in Japanese?

Specifically, I am referring to substances that absorb light and then emit the light back in a way that is visible when you remove all other light sources.

I am not referring to substances that rely on a one-time-use chemical reaction such as glow sticks, or substances such as fluorescent highlighters or black light posters that rely on a separate catalyst like a "black light" to create the glow effect. (While I wouldn't mind knowing how to describe these too, they are not the primary subject of the question.)

Examples of what I would like to be able to describe:

Note that in the third reference image there is text describing the product that reads: "Glows in the Dark". This is a literal explanation of what the product does, but I think the term "glow-in-the-dark" as an adjective is more useful, as it can be placed before any noun to explain that the subject in question has glowing properties. Whether this has any relevance regarding how this could be explained in Japanese, I don't know - but I think it's worth mentioning because a term that can be used to describe any object is most handy.

Thanks!


texts: What's the short way to say "me too" and "me (n)either"?

texts:
I am just learning about the も　particle and the textbook has examples like this:

  やまださんはがくせいです。わたしもがくせいです。
  Yamada is a student. I am also a student.

I am wondering whether the repetition of　がくせいです　is really necessary. Can I say something like:

  やまださんはがくせいです。わたしもです。

or maybe

  やまださんはがくせいです。わたしも。

The other question is whether も works with negative statements too. I.e. will the following be grammatical?

  やまださんはせんせいではありません。わたしもせんせいではありません。

And the similar question of the possible contraction of this. Can I say

  やまださんはせんせいではありません。　わたしもではありません。

Can I make it even shorter to say "Neither am I"?


texts: What is the difference between「下げる」 and 「下ろす」?

texts: I know both involve lowering something from a higher position to a lower one, but what is the difference in connotation? I know that when おろす is written as 降ろす it has some other meanings, but when represented as 下ろす, what separates it from 下げる?


texts: Why 無茶ぶりした and not 無茶ぶりされた

texts:
In the below I would have thought　無茶ぶりした時　would have been 無茶ぶりされた時. Am I missing something?

でもあんたって、どんな仕事でも途中で放り出したりしないでしょ？　無茶ぶりした時こそ必死になって動くのが、あんたの昔からの長所だからね


texts: Terminology: Does the term 美化語 include all ご・お・etc. prefixes, or only ones outside of a 敬語 context?

texts:
This seems like a basic question, but I can't find an answer to it:
As far as I know, 美化語 refers to the ご・お・etc. prefix on words for mere beautification. However, I have seen some ambiguity in its usage, and now I am wondering: is the ご・お・etc. prefix that words take in the 尊敬語・謙譲語 conjugations also referred to as 美化語？ How about the お in cases where it has been lexicalized, or nearly so (e.g. お休み、お八つ)?


texts: I was looking up the use of the 豆 radical and I noticed something strange in multiple dictionaries.  Of the 60 kanji that use 豆, 59 of them are also said to use 口.  The the 1 that does not is 鱧.  Numerous other kanji appear to use 豆 in the same way as 鱧, so why is 鱧 an exception?


texts: What are the durable shopping bags called?

texts: When people shop they bring their own bags/totes and reuse them. They are durable and come in many different varieties.


texts:
サマリー
十五さいの男の子とニ十七さいの女がこ園であいます。その男の子の名前は高尾さん。
そして、その女人の名前は雪乃先生。彼らは雨がふるときにあいます。
高尾さんと雪乃先生が食べものを食べたり、話をはなしたりしました。
高尾さんは雪乃先生のくつを作ります。

レビュー
私は映画がよっかたと思いました。映画はみじかいです。でもストーリーラインをおもしろいです。アニメションをきれいだった。そしておんがくをすばらしだったでした。


texts: Besides the obvious 'snow', someone listed the name Yuki on a name website as also meaning happiness, blessing, or good fortune using the characters 幸き. Dictionaries list that 幸 can become こ / さき / さし / さっ / とも / ひろ / みゆき / ゆ / ゆき / よし. Yu and Yuki are listed at the end, but is it accurate to say that this name means happiness?


texts: Question about ている ていた for explaining state for something

texts:
What is difference between 財布が落ちていた and 財布が落ちている? Both refer to the state of 財布, right? So, what is the difference?

(My main question is I want to know the difference between (が/は)～ていた and (が/は)～ている when they refer to the state of something)


texts: Which diference are between のように and みたい

texts:
For example:

  犬のように
  犬みたい

Or:

  子供のように歌ってください
  子供みたいに歌ってください

There is only one similar question to this one in this website but the answer is incomplete. Please help me with this!


texts:
春の終わり告げる 花御堂{はなみどう}
  霞む花 一枚{ひとひら}

This is from Time After Time, and translates to:

  The hanamidō tells us about the end of the spring,
  A petal from a misty flower.

How is the petal linked to the rest? Is it at all? Is it meant to be an extra subject of tsugeru, along with hanamidō? And what does "misty flower" mean?


texts: What is this character that looks like 人? Is it some kind of quote?

texts:
I want to convert this text to kanji.  A translation is optional, I really want to just figure out what the kanji is electronically.

人サベージ？

I'm really not sure about the first character "hito" or the last character which looks like a 2 stroke something, but my dictionary has no such kanji.  Maybe these characters are some kind of enclosure similar to quotes?


texts: Does うるさい have a "negative" connotation?

texts:
Is it true that when someone uses the word うるさい,  it means that there is a feeling of "discontent" ?

Like for example, we will take this sentence: "It will be noisy in the factory"

"It will be noisy in the factory"  is neutral. (no nuance of annoyance )

But is it true that if we translate that sentence into japanese using うるさい as a replacement for noisy, immediately we will have the nuance that the speaker is "annoyed" at the noisyness?


texts: 教授 vs 先生 when adressing a university professor

texts:
I will soon be visiting research laboratories in Japan and meeting with the professors in charge.

The english website clearly lists their position as "professor" and not "teacher".

Of course, the direct translation of professor is 教授, but I am uncertain whether 先生 would be a better (more natural) term to use when talking to them. As in X-先生 or X-教授 where X is the professor's last name.


texts: "Also..." interjection in Japanese; appending an additional request or afterthought

texts:
In Japanese, how would one go about appending an additional request or afterthought?

For example:

  1: お水【みず】をお願【ねが】いします。

"Water please."

  2: あっ、（・・・）、氷【こおり】を入【い】れていただけませんか。

"..Ah also, could you add ice (to that)?" / "Additionally, could you add ice (to that)?"

More specifically, what would be the most natural way of filling in （・・・）? The closest word I know of would be それから, though I feel this word may be incorrect in this situation.

Also, is there a more natural way of phrasing the example sentences?


texts: Use of なんと to begin a phrase, but not as a question

texts:
学校は創立一年目にして、なんと天文部が存在していたんですよ

in the first year the school was established, (なんと?) the astronomy club existed.

what purpose is it serving here?


texts: What is the correct reading for べき乗打切り待機法?

texts:
On this page, different readings are give in different dictionaries for べき乗打切り待機法: べきのりうちきりたいきほう in JMDict and ベキジョウウチキリタイキホウ in コンピューター用語辞典. The English translation given in both dictionaries are the same: "truncated binary exponential back-off".

Which of these readings is correct? Or, if they are both correct, can they be used interchangeably?

I know the べき乗 for exponent is read as べきじょう. Where does the reading べきのり come from?

Note: I don't actually use the word, nor do I understand its exact meaning. I saw it on this answer. I know べき乗 is read as べきじょう, which means exponential, so I thought the reading in the answer was wrong. I tried to find out what it actually means, but search results from the internet are mostly dictionary results. Most of the readings given are べきのりうちきりたいきほう.


texts: Meaning of auxiliary ゆく/いく in this context

texts:
While translating a song, I've stumbled upon the following sentence:

落ちた希望を拾って明日に繋いでゆけば

Which got me wondering what the difference between the following two is:

落ちた希望を拾って明日に繋いでゆけば

落ちた希望を拾って明日に繋げば

I have a feeling that the first sentence includes a sense of "doing continually from now" based on what I've read earlier, but I am rather unsure.
Is there a possible meaning which  I'm missing?


texts: Long phrase translation: あの子とも違う秘密を持ったみたいで後ろめたい気分だ

texts:
Context: 15-year boy speaking to himself
  あの子とも 違う秘密を持ったみたいで後ろめたい気分だ

I brought this long phrase here because I have several points of doubt in it.

First: あの子とも doesn't seem to be the same as here or here. I suspect it is just an emphasis (like: "That kid!!"), but I would like someones confirmation, just to be sure.

Second: 違う秘密 Another secret, right?

Third: 持ったみたい Now, this one I really have no idea :) Is it even parsed like that? Like "Motta Mitai" being something on its own...

Last: 後ろめたい気分だ Ok, he's feeling guilty.

So, can someone provide explanation for these parts (specially the first and third)? A full translation would also be desirable, to see how these things connect.


texts: I'm beginner in Japanese, and I was analysing some kanji. I was noticing the parts of 燃. I see a dog there, a fire, another fire, and then there is this 夕 with two strokes in the middle instead of one, that apparently, as far as I could look it up, doesn't actually have a meaning, or does it? If not, is there many kanji with meaningless parts like this? How does it come to be?


texts:
I've seen お疲れさま and ご[苦労]{くろう}さま used to say "Thank you" after some had done work of some type. After reading the お疲れさま thread, I realize that the two are not interchangeable. So when do you use ご[苦労]{くろう}さま?

When is it appropriate to use otsukaresama?


texts:
I am reading a manga and two characters are playing badminton. They take turns hitting the birdie, and each time they hit it, they say「そーれっ」.

This word is actually in the WWWJDIC dictionary, with a definition of "oof; umph; whoosh". There was also a note in the margin of the English transliteration of the manga I found that said it's like a happy grunt.

I am still a little confused. I think I have heard それ (or a variation of it) used as a way of saying, "take that!", like a form of smack talk when doing some kind of move.

How does 「そーれっ」 relate to this? Is it really like a happy grunt, or is it more like smack talk?


texts: Help with phrase: えらく[愉]{たの}しい[事]{こと}[続]{つづ}きなんだ

texts:
I'm having trouble with the following: えらく愉しい事続きなんだ

I don't know the meaning of えらく as I've never seen that word before.


texts:
I came across a passage in my text book that reads, 「私は科学的に正しいと考えられていることの中にも正しくないことはあると思う」
For my 中に has two means which both don’t really fit this sentence. Inside and out of (something).
Could some one explain this sentence and maybe this proper meaning of 中にも.
Feel free to use examples!

Thankyou.


texts: What is the difference between wakaran or wakaranai?

texts: Wakaran or wakaranai? Am I correct in assuming that both terms mean do not understand or not understanding? Thanks.


texts: What's the use of で at the end of this sentence?

texts:
the sentence is :

  よかった　ご無事で！

so is it for emphasis? and if yes mostly men use it or women ? and well when doing Japanese people usually use it?

thanks for reading and I'm waiting for your precious answers ♥


texts: Is 「ごとと」 used as a particle or just plain word?

texts:
I wonder what does 「ごとと」 does in this sentence

  そもそも陸上部は恋愛ごとと断絶していたのに

I've tried to use Jisho.org but to no avail, there are no definition of it which are relevant to the content of the sentence.


texts: Why do textbooks and other sources pretend special katakana don't exist?

texts:
Take, for example, katakana such as ウェ, ティ, or ジェ.  Many, many textbooks and other language sources, when showing a list of katakana, omit these.

For example: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Table_katakana.jpg

In particular, a lot of Japanese language books show full-looking hiragana and katakana charts, and they'll mention the special "f-" ones (ファ, フィ, フェ, and フォ), but not breathe a word about most of the others

This is very, very common, but...why?  These are not obscure, archaic devices.  They are used in everyday life.  The Japanese word for "Sweden" uses ウェ.  The Nintendo Wii uses ウィ.  "Jason", a common English name, is best transcribed as ジェイソン, which uses ジェ.

So since these special syllables are not unusual...why is the culture surrounding the Japanese language such that so many sources pretend they don't exist?


texts: Counting objects modified by relative clauses

texts:
I found this sentence:

  ２人が亡くなっているのが見つかりました。
  Two people were found dead.

and thought the structure was a bit strange. If I had to say this I would have  tried:

  亡くなっている人が2人見つかりました。

Sentences like this don't appear in a Google search so I conclude that I must be wrong. Why?

Also I wasn't sure if the original sentence was "two people were found dead" or "two people were found dying". Is the sentence ambiguous?


texts:
I am still stumped on understanding this one sentence:

今打った方が格段に実力はまさっています
ですが、彼の打つ手に正しい手はひとつもありません

(source context panels)
In this case the speaker is talking about a go player who is bullying a weaker opponent by playing aggressive but meaningless moves.
I tried to translate it as:

"He would be much stronger if he played with his real ability, but he's not playing a single correct move."

I tried to interpret 打った方 as A方がB that is described in pages like this post, but still I think I am on the wrong track.
How is 〜た方が actually being used here, and how do I make sense of this sentence, grammatically?
Related:
方 - also read ほう when referring to a person?


texts: How to translate まさか with this context- disbelief or surprise?

texts:
For some background: MC asked his girlfriend questions about wedding arrangements without specifying who the wedding is for (he's arranging his cousin's). Later, MC realises his girlfriend thought the wedding talk was about them the whole time:

彼女はもしかするとー

「なあ、おい。。。まさか」

I know that まさか is usually used to indicate disbelief, but I'm a bit torn as to whether here まさか would mean 'It probably wasn't that, right.' (disbelief, unsure that's what she thought) or 'To think that you had thought that.' (surprise, but realising that's what she thought).

I'm leaning towards disbelief, but I feel like that conflicts with his thought process all 'it's possible she could have thought--'

A second opinion would be much appreciated.


texts:
I have a question about this construction: (This is from NHK Easy news)

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10011625431000/k10011625431000.html

  寝る時間が足りないと、心の病気になったり、太りすぎたり、血圧が高くなったりする心配があります.

I want to know the use of "ーたり" in this sentence. Is this a conjugation of some sort if you are listing items? Also, in 高くなったりする, why did it become たりする？

Insights welcome


texts: Which verbal tense is used in the sentence ビールを飲んで運転するのはダメだ。 for the verb nomu?

texts:
I'm trying to understand which verbal tense is used for the verb nomu in this sentence.

ビールを飲んで運転するのはダメだ。

According to http://www.japaneseverbconjugator.com/VerbDetails.asp?txtVerb=%E9%A3%B2%E3%82%80

all the verbal tenses used with "nonde" also have another word (such as iru, imasu, ita, etc. ) Which verbal tense is used here then and why the 飲んで is alone?


texts:
I was practicing the jlpt n3 audios and found the next passage:

男：山口さん、帰らなくていいんですか。6時までに「みなと市民ホール」に行くって言ってたじゃないですか。

女：市民ホールはみなと駅でしたよね。ここからは電車で二つ目ですから、まだ大丈夫ですよ

1)Why is it saying "Is it okay if you don't go home?" 「帰らなくていいんですか。」

2)What does 「ここから電車で二つ目」 mean?

悔しい質問ですから、申し訳ありません。

お願いします


texts: Can we use negative form before ～てしまう : f.ex. なく+～てしまう？

texts:
Using the form ～てしまう we mean, that something happened in a way we did not expect. But what if we use a negative form before the ～てしまう ending? Will it be also grammatically right?

For example:

  昨日メッセージを書いていなくてしまいました。


texts:
So 「バスに乗って、会社に行きます。」means "I go to work by bus."
Yet, 「バスで会社に行きます。」also means "I go to work by bus."

Do these two sentences convey the exact same meaning, or is there some kind of nuance that exists when using で instead of te form (for this kind of situation in general)?


texts: "slightly/somewhat" の 「～[目]{め}」: Usage and limitations

texts:
I'm somewhat confused about the usage and limitations of the　～め　suffix that means "somewhat/slightly".  I've only ever heard it on a handful of words:

  大きめ
  小さ目
  多め
  少な目
  早め

and maybe a few others that I can't recall at present.

1) Can these be used with any イ-adjectives, or only certain ones?
2) Can they be used with ナ-adjectives at all?  Can't say I've ever seen one.
3) What are the limitations of its usage?  For the イ-adjectives, is ～めに interchangeable with ～く for forming the adverb?
4) などなど


texts: I don't understand how お世話になっております is a valid expression

texts:
In a post about the validity of お待ちになっております:

The grammar おVになる is 尊敬語, respect language. You can't use it to talk
about yourself. -ておる, on the other hand, is 謙譲語 (well, in the
standard dialect at least). So what you said didn't make sense. It's
like saying "I humbly give you the priceless privilege of witnessing
me waiting."(source)

I don't understand why the same logic can't be applied to お世話になっております even though it's the same structure?


texts:
故に客観的に見れば、怪物祭は都市の運営に目を瞑{つむ}らせる、市民へのガス抜きと捉えられてしまっても仕方がなかった。それこそ、先日バベルの中で誹謗{ひぼう}され、エイナ自身がそれを耳にしてしまうくらいには。

I'm having trouble with the last sentence, especially the くらいには at the end. What exactly does it do?

Can someone help break that sentence down for me?

Thanks!

Context:


texts:
This is an example from the Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary:

  彼は短刀を柄{つか}も通れと男の胸に突き刺した
  He thrust his dagger home [up to the hilt] into the man's chest.

What is the grammar behind this verb form of 通る? Is this a fixed expression?


texts:
I've noticed that there seems to be different usage for 下さい and ください.  Is this purely a personal preferences or is there an actual difference their usage?

This was actually a question the Japanese people at my work had a discussion about, but couldn't come to a consensus.


texts:
It seems strange to me that 負{ま}けず嫌{ぎら}い means "hate losing" and not "hate not losing". (食わず嫌い for example seems to mean "hate a food without trying it".)

Providing credible sources if possible, what is the etymology of 負けず嫌い? Is there any difference in meaning or strength between 負け嫌い and 負けず嫌い?


texts: Is it okay to switch from kanji to hiragana in a sentence?

texts:
I'm learning Japanese but I find it extremely difficult to write out
exams in kanji. The hiragana version is much easier but I'm not sure if it's okay to do that.

For example, I would like to write

  今日は試験だ。

as

  今日はしけんだ。

Is that okay?


texts: Four verbs meaning "to pursue": 追う, 追いかける, 追っかける and 辿る

texts:
Consider the following four verbs:

追う【おう】 - ou (view in jisho.org)
追いかける【おいかける】 - oikakeru (view in jisho.org)
追っかける【おっかける】 - okkakeru (view in jisho.org)
辿る【たどる】 - tadoru (view in jisho.org)

They all can mean "pursue". What are their differences?

Note: I did read their definitions and tried to catch some nuances by myself, but I am not sure about them. My thoughts was that the first three seem to carry an idea of a chase that requires effort, while the fourth allows an "easy" pursue, such as following a hyperlink on the internet. But even if this guess is correct, the difference between the first three verbs would remain unknown.


texts: What's the difference between つれて行く and 送りします

texts:
つれて行く means to take someone somewhere, eg: 毋はびょういんへつれて行ってくれました
However in the classic ご覧のスポンサーの提供でお送りします,送りしますmeans like "bringing you, taking you." Are these two phrases interchangable?


texts: Do people only end sentences with ように after the -ます form?

texts:
Someone left a comment on the answer to this ending sentences with ように question saying that it only works with the -ます form.

I tried looking up （どうか）～ように。sentences and all the ones I found were in the -ます form, like this page http://jp.wordmind.com/ecmaster-cgi/Jsearch.cgi?kwd=%A4%DE%A4%B9%A4%E8%A4%A6%A4%CB, so is it true?

Are there exceptions? Are there other particles like this? Why is it the case if it's true?

Thank you~


texts:
Full Text: 本製品は、IPsecとQoS機能の同時利用により、安価なインターネットVPNにおいても遅延やゆらぎのない高品質かつリアルタイムな通信を実現し、IP電話サービスを高い通話品質で利用できます。
My Issue: What is おいて in 安価なインターネットVPNにおいても遅延やゆらぎのない高品質かつリアルタイムな通信を実現し?
My understanding of the text: "Implements real-time, high-quality communications on low-price internet VPNs without any latency or fluctuation." but I do not know what to make of おいて.


texts: I was trying to memorize some Japanese words using Memrise app (Duolingo's new memorizing app). I came up with this word which means "milk/cow milk" according to memrise. But I couldn't find any translations for this one on any Japanese dictionaries. Is this a real word or memrise just made it up?


texts:
I came across a 東方 remix called 形のない花, which translates (apparently) to "Shapeless Flower".

Now, I see the words 形、ない、花 for, of course, "Shape", "Not", and "Flower" respectively. However, I'm at a total loss when it comes to what exactly the syntax is supposed to be doing.

Is ない a noun or adjective? Is の a possessive or a が in a relative clause? I'm at a loss for this stuff and am wanting some help; as I simply don't know where to start, even if I can understand the meaning.


texts: Could 十角形、九角形、七角形 be read as デカゴン、ノナゴン、ヘパタゴン？

texts:
As per dic.yahoo.co.jp the following four geometric figures seem to be read as (ateji / gairaigo) 十角形、九角形、七角形、十二角形 (decagon, nonagon, heptagon, dodecagon). As per the same dictionary, all the other sided figures that have less than 12 sides, ((triangle ---> 6-sides) + octagon + 11-sides), are read using each kanji's standard 音読み。

So, are these readings ok?

七角形{ヘプタゴン}

八角形{はっかくけい} <--- for some reason, normal 音読み reading.

九角形{ノナゴン}

十角形{デカゴン}

十一角形{じゅういちかくけい} <--- for some reason, normal 音読み reading.

十二角形{ドデカゴン}

Are those less commonly known English names (the only one an English native speaker might know is "decagon") for geometric shapes burrowing their way into the Japanese language as "ateji / gairaigo"? Or, is it that I'm not understanding the *dic.yahoo.co.jp" dictionary, and "〜角形" is a straight-up normal counter that is read with standard 音読み？


texts:
The following is an excerpt from a conversation between me and my language partner:
ニンニクも植えていますので、丸ごとアルミホイルで包み、オーブンで焼いて食べることがあります。

My attempt at translation:
"Because we also grow garlic, we also eat it baking it fully wrapped in aluminium in the oven."

I translated 包み as "wrapped" because I couldn't find a way to translate it as a noun. Even if my translation is right, Im still very confused because there is NOTHING attached to it, no する, no particle, no nothing. I rather expect that my translation is wrong, but then again I don't know how to translate this in a different way.

Then there is "dictionary form (present) + ことがあります"。 I actually only know of た-form + ことがあります. I translated it without any semantical additions, even though I found a source where the "dictionary form (present) + ことがあります" pattern is described: http://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-jlpt-n3-grammar-%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8C%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B-koto-ga-aru/
I'm not sure wether I should translate it as it is described there since my sentence is lacking the adverb たまに. However, I got the impression that the "dictionary form (present) + ことがあります" pattern expresses this "there are times..." meaning by itself. But I don't know, so I wanted to ask you^^


texts: Is there any difference between 汗をかく and 発汗する? Are there any subtle nuances between the two or is one more common than the other? I've checked WWWJDIC and I can't find any way to distinguish between the two.


texts: How is 「なう」most commonly appended to verbs?

texts:
I read the other two questions on なう on this site, and I want to know what the most common way to add なう after a verb is.
I've seen なう most frequently with nouns. This is supported by http://nanapi.jp/258/ which was linked in one of the previous なう threads. Some examples of なう after a noun from that site:

東京【とうきょう】なう
Twitterなう
年末【ねんまつ】なう

I did a quick search on Twitter for なう and found a few examples with verbs, but they were in different conjugations. I've (slightly simplified and) listed some of these below:

楽屋【がくや】にいるなう (dictionary form + なう)
終【お】わったなう (past tense + なう)
寝【ね】てるなう (ている form + なう)

There are probably more, but those are the few I found quickly. I'm not sure if the fact that there were no long/polite conjugations of the verb is due to people being casual on Twitter or if it's part of the "grammar" here.
Since it's slang, I doubt that there is any actual, grammatical rule that comes into play here, so I just want to know what the most common way to conjugate a verb when placing it before なう is.


texts: Is there an etymological connection between 奇数 in Japanese and "odd number" in English?

texts: I couldn't find any etymological information about 奇数{きすう} online. I found it interesting that it has the characters for "strange/odd" and "number", and wondered if it was influenced by English, or if the same meanings arose independently.


texts: い-adj in く form + する what is the meaning?

texts:
I was reading an article at nhk news web site and I found a sentence which I'm not pretty sure what the meaning really is.
Here's a fragment:
試験ではまず、日本の県や町などで、将来どんな問題が起こるかが書いてある文章を読みます。そして、どうやってその問題をなくしたらいいか、スマートフォンやパソコンを使って情報を集めて、レポートを書きます。大学は、試験を受ける人が外にいる人にメールなどで試験の問題を送ったりしないように、チェックする人を多くします。
What i'm a little bit concerned about is the 多くします part.
多く is an adverb which means something like: a lot, much, abundant so I might think that the meaning would be something like " to do very much" or "to do something with frequency"
Am I right?
Please help.


texts: How do I convert ちょうしょく to rōmaji with the modified Hepburn system?

texts:
I have seen two variations of this and I am confused now:

  chōshoku
  Choushoku

The second one makes the most sense to me but I am not 100% certain if it is correct. If the first one is correct then can someone explain to me why as I cannot see that there is a long "o"?


texts:
I just started watching "Eden of the East" and noticed that the Katakana used for Eden was エデン. I'm wondering why isn't it instead イデン which would be pronounced the same way as in English (which I was assuming was the source).

My only guess is that the source is actually something like Spanish that pronounces it differently but I have no way of checking that.


texts: Difference between 入れる{いれる} and つける when expressing 'switch on'

texts:
入れる{いれる} can mean to turn on (a switch, etc.)
点ける{つける} can mean to turn on; to switch on; to light up

I do not see the difference. When would I use which?

「入れる{いれる}」と「点ける{つける}」の違{ちが}いは何ですか。


texts:
Same as with my question about a Kanji I tried to identify on a bad image source, I have a katakana word I need to understand / translate.

The word reads トッツケ, as marked in this image:

I tried to find out what it means, and I am thinking it might be some kind of 'foreroom' a room you go through before entering the actual house?
I might be totally wrong though, so I would be very happy about any input.

again, thank you very much in advance!!


texts:
I'm perfectly comfortable using いる、ある in Japanese, except today I came across one question of ambiguity. People say ロボットがいる, which makes sense given that they move as if they were alive.

For dead people, such as 飛行機の墜落事故の死亡者, would it be more natural to say いる or ある for the deceased victims?


texts: How should I understand 何回目か in this sentence?

texts:
One assignment for my Japanese class is this Japanese elementary reader, which contains the story of Kenta and his dog, Koro. They are playing catch with a ball, and the previous sentence I translated as:

In the field, whenever Kenta throws the ball, Koro happily runs and catches it.

Now, the sentence in question is the next one:

何回目かにボールを投げたときのことです。

I get the basic idea on how to break this down:

何回目か is the amount of times in a sequential order, made as a question clause with か; this entire clause is targeted by the verb [clause] with に.

ボールを投げた時のことです is "when the ball is thrown [general event]." The last part makes the "when" clause a relative clause able to be ended with a state-of-being (です). the former portion is just a clause using when with とき.

However, the use of 何回目かに confuses me, as I have not a clue how to relate it to the second part of the sentence. How should I understand its usage? Why is the 目 relevant to add? How should I comprehend the sentence as a whole, since 何回目か is the target, and an important part of the sentence?


texts: Trying to ID a printed character that looks like a script M

texts:
I am reading a movie scenario magazine and came across this character:

Here is an example with some context:

I can't tell if it is a Japanese character or a typographical mark or something else. What could it be?


texts:
What is the main difference between 北 and 北部?
I heard that's words that contain 2 kanji sounds more polite, but not sure that it's the current situation.


texts: 泣けばいいと思ってて綺麗事ばかりな主人公にイライラする。

texts:
The excerpt in the title of this question is a comment someone made about a manga I’m reading, ブラックジャックによろしく.

I have two questions:
① What is the て preceding て綺麗事 for? Is it a typo to have two て like that in succession?
② Is イライラする an example of a verb which is based on mimetic sound?

Source:


texts: I'm looking for some pointers on polite, standard sentences when working in a service-oriented capacity

texts:
I've recently begun work in the tourism sector, mainly behind the hotel's bar and in the restaurant. I'm expecting some Japanese guests in the next few months.

While I've studied Japanese language and culture in university, I haven't spoken it at all in at least 4 years. I know each culture has those "standard" sentences that you expect to hear from service personnel, but I can't really seem to find what I'm looking for by scouring dictionaries like jisho.org .

I'd greatly appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction or offer a few example sentences.

Thanks.


texts:
Person A: 頑張って{がんばって}！

Person B: ありがとう！がんばする！

Is it right to use that last phrase by person B?


texts:
How do you say "I have begun studying Japanese"?

I have memorized all of the hiragana characters along with some grammar rules.

I have made sentences on my own but I can't seem to get this right.
I have tried this

  にほんごべんきょうはじぇました

It sounds weird to me but I'm not completely sure if this is right or wrong

If possible, please write it in Romaji along with hiragana.


texts:
Could somebody please give me a hint about the meaning of に in 「反抗的な態度に映ったのか、隊長は舌打ちして前を向く。」. If I'm understanding correctly, に here has the same meaning as として.

 内容・状態などを示す。「ーとして」の意。「ほうびにもらう」

Some sort of translation:

  Maybe he took it (Luis's laugh) as a rebellious attitude, the captain tutted, facing forward again.

With context:

  隊長「おい、うるさいぞ。ふざけるな」

  助手席からの苛立たしげな声が、俺たちをぴしゃりと打つ。

  こちら隊長様だ。

  瑚太朗「すみません」

  ルイス「ごめんなさーい」

  反抗的な態度に映ったのか、隊長は舌打ちして前を向く。


texts: Reason for に particle in sentence instead of の

texts:
I have come across sentence and I understand what its trying to say, but I don't understand why に is used with 特別. I was really expecting a の particle instead to modify related noun phrase 旅のサポート

Why wouldn't it be の? Why is it に?

  今回は特別に旅のサポートをしてくれる方も来てるんです

  My translation: This time, there are even people coming who will provide special trip support!


texts: Couple of slangs I've heard when watching anime

texts:
In one of the animes I've watched recently (can't recall the title), I heard words like "チーズ" (not sure if this is how it's spelt in katakana since I only heard the word, but as for how it's pronounced in English, it would most probably sound like cheeeeesee) and "をっと" (English pronunciation : wotto).
Judging from context, the former means "hello" and the latter, "whoops". And there is also "うわあ" (uwaa) which probably means "yikes" (I'm guessing, in a bad way, something like "やばっ") in English.
So the questions that arises are, since I am only translating based on context, I am not sure if they mean what I think they meant. Can anyone correct/ advice on this?
Secondly, are these words even used in real life (I have only heard them on anime) ?


texts: How to understand this sentence with 次第 and 締め切らす

texts:
I am not sure I understand this sentence,

  定員になり次第、締め切らせていただきます。

In particular, I can't figure out what is omitted.

Here is what I understand,

  As soon as you will become a regular member, I would like to close (something)

I did a quick a search on Google and this set phrase seems to be really used a lot. In what context is it used?


texts: can we omit verbs when speaking casually?

texts:
I've heard that we can usually omit nouns and stuff like that, but can we actually omit verbs or must they still be there?

Example sentence: アイツ帰るなり、すぐに部屋にな～

Edit

Can we omit verbs in the main sentence clause when speaking casually?

Example sentence: [アイツ帰る]なり、すぐに部屋に[verb missing]な～


texts: What is the English equivalent of "~っぺ"?

texts: According to romanjidesu.com, "っぺ" is a familiar suffix used after a personal name. What level of relationship is necessary to use this? Is this similar with adding -y in the name of the person? Example: Mike -> Mikey?


texts:
I recently ran into this term, which is apparently a hairstyle (Google has some images if you need). Does anyone know:

How it is meant to be Romanized (Gibson Tack? Gibson Tac/k?)
Where the term comes from?


texts: Why does 「借りる」 become 「借りします」 in the title 「彼女、お借りします」?

texts:
I recently noticed the title for the anime 「[彼女]{かのじょ}、お[借]{か}りします」 uses the verb 「借りる」.
It is well known that it is a ichidan verb and the expect inflection is 「借ります」, but in the anime title it is seen as 「借りします」.
What function does the extra 「し」 provide and more importantly, why is added?


texts: How to translate 大好き as a noun/name modifier

texts:
大好き (daisuki): Simply 大 (dai, meaning "big, great") added to 好き (suki), which is normally either an adjective ("liked, favorite") or a noun ("fondness, favor") but is also idiomatically used in a verb-like capacity to mean "(I) like (you)"; in the case of adjectival use, it would be followed by an appropiate particle to denote its grammatical position (most commonly な na). Typically, 大好き would be translated into English as "love".

But how is one supposed to translate a phrase where 大好き is used as a modifier to a noun that comes after said modifier (i.e. the order is "modifier-noun"), with no particles whatsoever? Or more specifically, a person's name?

For the specific example that brought me to consider this issue, I've recently encountered a Japanese comic with the title 大好きモーさん Daisuki Mō-san; with the premise being about how the eponymous "Mō-san" is in love with someone but does not have the courage to confess on the one hand, and a typical lack of any indication whether said someone reciprocates Mō-san's feelings on the other hand, it seemed to me that the title should be translated as "Mō-san in Love" or something to that effect. However, a few other people that I know argued that the title's structure is grammatically ambiguous enough that "Beloved Mō-san" is an equally valid translation. It is out of my confusion at the logic behind this alternate choice of translation that I come here to seek clarity about the issue.


texts: Confusion between 貸して vs. 借ります for Vて-form もらいます structure

texts:
For the below sentence:

When you have no money who would you borrow from?

I think the Japanese translation would be:

お金がないとき、誰に借りてもらいますか？

And using Google Translate, it translates to:

Who would you borrow when you have no money?

Which matches with the expected sentence at the top.
However, the textbook chooses this sentence instead:

お金がないとき、誰に貸してもらいますか？

But 貸します means to lend and the sentence without もらいます, I think, would be:

お金がないとき、誰にお金を貸しますか？

Which means:

When you have no money, who do you lend money to.

And it doesn't match with the expected sentence.
Also with the above sentence (in textbook), Google Translate translates to:

Who do you want to lend when you have no money?

Which is odd, isn't it?


texts: How to unambiguously express sentences with lots of relative propositions?

texts:
Background, problem statement

Very often, I find myself in situations where I have to build structurally complex sentences in Japanese, and find myself struggling, trying to put all I want to say in a single sentence.
As far as the other languages I know well enough go, it's not an issue since

they have relative pronouns that resolve many ambiguities (that, which, who, whose, qui, que, dont, auquel…),
their grammar allow incremental stacking of relatives, starting with the base of the sentence (see example).

I guess there are two viable solutions to my problem, but I never really paid attention to which was usually chosen in spoken (nor, in fact, written) Japanese.

Solution 1, the most likely

Break your sentence in many small chunks, make a sentence of each chunk, and convince yourself that unlike French or English, it's not awkward to have a train of sentences like "Aです。Bです。AとBの関係はCです。Dです。CとDの関係はEです…"

Solution 2, the "wished" one

It is possible to express unambiguously sentences like

  On Monday, the dog that ate the pudding that I cooked and whose owner's sister I met yesterday will be castrated.

My attempt at this sentence would be like:

  月曜日には昨日妹さんにあった飼い主がいる私が作っていたケーキを食った犬が去勢手術を受ける。

But even though I feel quite satisfied with this simple, quite linear one, I don't think it's likely to be heard…
(FWIW, the sentences I build are often describing inter-related complex mathematical relations, which makes thing even harder…)

The recent remark on "invertion" makes me wonder even more if this common to have such sentences, because inversion may cause ambiguities to arise:

  日本人の相手がいる人

The person with a Japanese interlocutor? The Japanese with an interlocutor?

  相手の日本人がいる人

The partner with a Japanese person?  The person with a Japanese partner?

Questions

Do you have issues expressing complex relations in Japanese?
How do you get round this issues?
Are there relation patterns in English that you will definitely break into several Japanese sentences?
Do you have trouble understanding the aforementioned kind of Japanese sentences?

And subsidiary question, if ambiguity is definitely a major issue to all: how could the language not evolve to avoid ambiguities?


texts:
その地域では今も戦争で日に何人もの人が死んでいる。

I encountered the above sentence. But, if it were me, I would write something like this:

  その地域では今も 戦争で(日々or日)に何人も死んでいる。

Is there any difference between the two in terms of meaning? Moreover, is there any other example containing "何XものX" (X could be 人 or other words)?

Thanks for your reply in advance.


texts:
I am very new to Japanese, but I noticed this today.

In Wiktionary article on 一歩 we see that the pronunciation is いっぽ. In article for 一 we see that there is a nanori reading いっ. On the other hand in the article for 歩 we see that only sensible reading here would be ほ. But put together we get いっぽ. Also in Wikipedia article for っ, it says that sokuon won't appear before h, except in loanwords or nonstandard speech.

So, why there appears to be a っ before h here? And why does it appear to transform the ほ to ぽ?


texts:
I know that phrases like  [Noun A + to と+ sonoその  + Noun B] can be translated as "A and his/her/its B".
However, when there is no 'to' と, I get a bit puzzled about the meaning.
For instance, which is the meaning of sono その in the following sentence?

静かな自然、その無の世界と、心で対話するだけでいい。

1) Silent nature (and) ITS world of nothingness  OR Silent nature, the world of nothingness (that is, nature = world of nothingness).
I am inclined to think that the latter translation is the right one, though I am not sure that nature can be regarded as the world of nothingness in Buddhistic terms... Thank you in advance for your answer!


texts:
I know "と" sometimes connects two sentences, implying consecutive actions, reasoning or conditions. But none of these meanings fits here. My best guess of its meaning is "I won't call you because I promised so."

But what does "と" actually imply here? What's the difference between:

貴方を呼ばない約束するから
貴方を呼ばないと約束するから


texts: Use of -です／-ます in the middle of a complex sentence

texts:
I have always thought that -です／-ます should be use only at the end of a sentence but some japanese friends told me it sound more polite to use it with every verbs.　What should I say between, by exemple:

映画を見に行くので、今日は会えません。　(this one seems more natural for me)
映画を見に行きますので、今日は会えません。

道にいる男は面白いですね
道にいます男は面白いですね　(this one feels definitly wrong)

彼は弟だがそんなに仲が良くないです。
彼は弟ですがそんなに仲が良くないです。
(and this one sounds to be the correct one with me)

do you know the precise rule?


texts: What's this JRPG Famicom game shopkeeper saying to me: ごようは　どちらです？

texts:
The scene is I'm a totally knightly dude trying to save the world and all that and I walk into a shop. The shopkeeper says to me: ここは　ぶきとぼうぐの みせです (This is the weapon & armor shop.) The game is old so no kanji in this one.
The next thing they say to me is: ごようは　どちらです？
Then I have 2 options I can pick:

ものを　かう (buy thing)
ものを　うる (sell thing)

I'm not certain what the ごようは　どちらです？ line means. My guess would be something like "Which do you desire?" I'm not sure though. The ご I think is just to be honorific and the よう is desire?
Edit
Thank you for the answer Jimmy. I marked this as answered. That sounds much more accurate than what I had. I'll add this to my study rotation. Thanks again!


texts: How do Japanese pronounce microseconds (μ秒)?

texts:
From this sentence I read:

  これらの手法はクリティカルセクションが（例えば100μ秒以内などの）一定時間以内に終わるよう精密にプログラミングすることを要求する。

How am I supposed to pronounce μ秒 ? Should I pronounce it as "mu byou"? or "micro byou"? I also looked up μm (micrometer) and found that it is マイクロメートル. I found a few other ones that are just loanwords like マイクロアンペア for μA. Can this convention be applied to 秒 as well?

Is there a convention to use with other measurements too? For example "pico", "nano", "femto"?


texts: Were women unable to learn kanji during the Heian era?

texts:
I've read that The Tale of Genji, and similar Heian-era novels such as The Pillow Book, and The Gossamer Years were predominantly or exclusively hiragana, which is also called "women's writing" (女手).

Was this because women weren't given the same level of education as men (as claimed by the English Wikipedia's hiragana article), and that Chinese characters (and possibly Chinese words) were seen as a masculine pursuit (as claimed by its article on The Tale of Genji)?


texts:
What are the uses of に and とは in this sentence?

  俺のような学生生活に夢も持たない人間とはまったく違う人種。

I know this sentence says something along the lines of 'Those people are like a completely different race than someone who has a dreamless school life like me'.  What I don't understand is the use of に on the 学生生活 and also the とは but I think that it might be a shortening of というは?


texts: What is the difference between 文{ぶん} and 文章｛ぶんしょう}?

texts: I think that 文 means "sentence" or "text"; 文章 means the same and also can mean "writing" or "letter". Is that the only difference?


texts: Meaning of いいようにしなさい

texts:
Someone did tell me this:

  龍ちゃんの、いいようにしなさい。

However, how is it actually translated?

Could it be:

  It's alright if it's Ryu's
  I don't mind if it's Ryu's

Thank you


texts: How to interpret なりました at a baseball game radio broadcast?

texts: On my local radio station baseball games translations take the most of the broadcast slots. Commentators speak very fast and the only thing I can differentiate is なりました. なりました is repeated literally every two seconds. What could possibly "become" or "change state" so often? What is possibly said in front of なりました?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  About ご[馳走]{ちそう}: two “runs” would give you “a feast”?

ごちそうさまでした
gochisousamadeshita
 【ご馳走様でした · 御馳走様でした】

expression:
That was a delicious meal (said after meals);  What a wonderful meal

(lit. You were a Feast (preparer))

Is the literal translation here accurate, and is there a longer phrase that preceded this contemporary one?


texts:
「なんて立派な干しシイタケ。上等のどんこだよっ。」
  What splendid dried mushrooms! They're first-class ????

What is どんこ in this sentence? The dictionaries only mention a kind of fish.


texts:
I'm still playing Game Boy Wars Advance 2, and I keep running into colloquial forms I'm unfamiliar with.  Here's one I haven't been able to look up:

  じゃ、さっそく、はじめよっか。

My guess is that はじめよっか is a colloquial form of はじめようか.  Is that right?  If so, can I generalize and say okka is a colloquial form of ooka?

Image for context:


texts: What's the meaning of ~までして/までした in these sentences

texts:
I'm reading Japanese Harry Potter (賢者の石）I am nearly at the end and there is this grammar that I have encountered twice so far that I have no idea how to interpret.
The two sentences with this grammar that I have found:

男が、街中でハリーとしっかり握手までしてそのまま一言も言わずに立ち去った。
ちょうどあの日にクイレルに会っているし、「漏れ鍋」で握手までしたじゃないか。

My attempted translation would be:

1: In the middle of town, a man shook hands firmly with Harry and then left without saying a single word.
2: It was that very same day when he met Quirrel at Leaky Cauldron and shook hands with him (wasn't it?).

I find it strange that both times this structure was paired with the word 握手 although I feel like that's probably just a coincidence.

I have no idea what the までして (I'm assuming it's from までする)　means here. Using まで as "until" makes no sense to me here and using the meaning "even" which apparently まで can have as well makes little sense to me either.
Any help is appreciated, thank you.


texts:
When a verb in the passive voice is used in the ている form, what nuance does that carry?
Some examples:

図書館はいろいろな情報が集められています。
米は特にアジアで食べられています。
漢字は中国や日本などで使われています。
中国からお茶が輸入されています。

My interpretation is that ている is used because these are recurrent actions, things that happen all the time, such as customs or established practices.
But this is just an intuition, so to paraphrase my question, how would "図書館はいろいろな情報が集められています" be different from "図書館はいろいろな情報が集められます"?
Thanks in advance!


texts:
In a German newspaper article an interviewed professor says:

  For a long time the Japanese didn't have any interest in clocks: Until
  1871, there hadn't even been a word for time and therefore no time
  measurement.

(Original text:)

  Auch die Japaner hatten lange kein Interesse an der Uhr: Bis 1871
  hatten sie nicht mal ein Wort für die Zeit und daher auch keine
  Zeitmessung.

(Text available in German here.)

Is it true that there was no word for time before the Meiji Restoration? Which word is he referring to? 時間 or the kanji 時?


texts: how to join negative sentence in japanese

texts: Can I use soshite to join negative sentences in japanese? e.g. I am not a girl and he is not a boy. 私は女の子ではありません そして 彼は男の子ではありません。


texts: How to say 'I want to be red' in Japanese?

texts:
Watasi wa akaku sitai. ?
Watasi wa akakaritai. ?

How to say 'Be red!'?

Akaku siro!  ?
Akakare!  ?

How to say 'It's being red at the moment (as in: it will turn purple and then blue soon)'?

Kore wa akaku site iru tadaima.  ?
Kore wa akakarete iru tadaima.  ?

For na-adjectives:

How to say 'Be polite!'

Teinei ni siro!   ?
Teinei nare!    ?

And how to say 'He's being polite (as in: he's usually not but in order to get what he wants, he's being polite at the moment).'?

Kare wa teinei ni site iru.   ?
Kare wa teinei narete iru.   ?


texts: 同｛おな｝じ that means "same" is a noun but 違｛ちが｝う that means "differs" is a verb

texts:
When I asked Japanese about the opposite of 同じ, they always answer 違う. For me, it sounds strange that 同じ which is a noun has an antonym 違う which is a verb.

Is there a pair of adjectives in Japanese that convey the same meaning as the pair of "same-different" in English?


texts: What is the difference between 〜にできる and 〜ができる

texts:
For instance:

  僕ができること

vs

  僕にできること

I would translate the both as "something that I can do." Is this correct or is there a more subtle nuance?


texts: よかろう - What does it mean? Where does it come from?

texts:
This is another question that's come from a 昔話。

We have the following section:

  大きい箱と小さい箱がありますが、どちらがいいですか。
  どちらも結構じゃが、どうしてもと言うのなら、小さいほうでよかろう。

I'm having trouble with the second sentence. My translation is:

どちらも結構じゃが - Either one is fine. - Here, I think じゃ is a contraction of では and has the same effect as using です.
どうしてもと言うのなら - If you say I must - の seems like the explanation modality to me.
小さいほうでよかろう - The little one would be better. - I'm guessing that ほうで is a less emphatic version of ほうが. Just going on context for よかろう meaning good.

What I'm really interested in is where よかろう came from. At first glance, it seemed like some crazy old volitional form (行こう!）, but It seems kind of ridiculous for there to be a volitional form of an adjective. It really seems like it could be the adjectival form of だろう. (I read something that sounded similar to this that was the adjectival form of だろう, but cannot find the link again.)

What does  よかろう mean?
Is it equivalent to いいだろう?
Is this just one of those old fashioned feeling Japanese grammatical forms?
Is there a case where I could actually put this to use (other than reading 昔話)?


texts: 「遊び倒す」の意味は、「飲み倒す」や「食べ倒す」と全然違いますか？

texts:
辞書で「遊び倒す」がこういう意味で記述されていました。

それ以上ないくらい遊びつくすこと、あるいは徹底的に遊ぶことを意味する表現。

XX倒す は「徹底的にXXこと」ということだと思っていました。
しかし、「食べ倒す」と「飲み倒す」の意味は全然違います。
この二つの意味は「店の代金を払わないこと」です。
それなら「徹底的に食べ/飲みこと」はどうやって表現するのですか？
https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E9%A3%9F%E5%80%92%E3%81%99/
https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E9%A3%B2%E3%81%BF%E5%80%92%E3%81%99


texts:
この夏、新たな一歩を踏み出した女子大学生を取材しました。(source)

1)a student of a women's college

or

2) a female university student

?


texts: a natural and short way to say I'm currently learning Japanese, and it isn't very good?

texts:
background: I'm playing Shogi 将棋 on a Japanese site since there are no good english ones, and every once in a while someone tries to open a converstaion with me. While I try to participate as much as I can I'm not really sure how to say in a short manner "I'm not from Japan, I'm currently learning Japanese but it's not very good yet, sorry" or something like that.

I've been thinking about stuff like
すいません、私は現在日本語を勉強してる。日本語にはもう苦手。
But it just doesn't sound very well to me (I'm not even sure it's correct).
any better ideas?


texts: Horizontal writing in the middle of vertical writing

texts:
My character dictionary is written in vertical style.  In this dictionary, columns of text are sometimes divided into two smaller columns, which are read right-then-left.  I've read that this is called 割注{わりちゅう}.  It looks like this:

This says りんれつ.

Sometimes, when there's only a single character in each column, it looks like horizontal writing: right-to-left.  Based on this experience, I figured any horizontal writing in the middle of vertical writing would be read right-to-left.

However, on the first page of the novel 魔術{まじゅつ}はささやく, I came across this:

I think it says 24.  But that would be left-to-right!  My intuition tells me it should be so, because they are not Chinese or Japanese characters.  But is this really correct?  My experience with my dictionary tells me it might say 42 instead.  Which is it?

More generally, how do I tell which way to read horizontal writing in the middle of vertical writing?


texts:
I saw an ad for a japanese radio station which had this in it. Here's the full facebook post for context. https://bit.ly/2vXWVHg

  「一発解決お悩み相談」を始めました。

What I'm wondering here is how 一発 would translate. Explosive Solution? Homerun Solution? Perfect?

Also, why is there no particle between お悩み相談 and 一発解決?


texts: What is the difference between 「Adj-さと言ったらなかった」＆「Adj-いと言ったらなかった」？

texts:
Could someone explain the difference between the following two expressions:

恐ろしさといったらなかった
恐ろしいといったらなかった

I am struggling with the first which my text book tells me means とても恐ろしかった. Why is the さーform of the adjective used in favour of the normal 恐ろしい？
Another sentence that gave me a problem, together with my best guess of the meaning is the following:

飛行機の窓から見えたオーロラの美しさといったらなかった
The aurora I saw from the plane's window was too beatiful for words

Would the following sentence mean the same?

飛行機の窓から見えたオーロラが美しいといったらなかった  [~美しかったといったらない？]


texts: 落ちてしまいました versus 落としてしまいました

texts:
If I lose my wallet and want to report it to the police officer, what is the correct expression between the two sentences below?

財布が落ちてしまいましたが、。。。
財布を落としてしまいましたが、。。。


texts: 簡単{かんたん} and 単純{たんじゅん} seem to both mean simple. Are they used in different situations or have slightly different meanings?


texts:
I think it is came from 「ちょっとまって」and would be alternated by a certain dialect and archaic usage.

I would like to know why the manga character said it in the past tense.


texts:
Different sources have given me different pronunciations.

I figured it must mean "Doujin aimed at males", but if that's the case, from what I know, it should be written [男性向け同人]{だんせいむけどうじん}。
Is 男性向 an abbreviation, and still pronounced だんせいむけ, despite the け not being there?