texts: Syntactic Properties of "Bare Numerals": 「一」in「其の一」

texts:
I am currently attempting to research the syntax of nominal classifiers (i.e. "counter" words like 「〜台」and 「〜個」) and wanted to look for references to the irregular phenomenon of "bare" numerals: numerical literals without any classifiers.

Before looking for specific examples of the patterns in which unclassified numerals appear, several types sprung to mind:

Lemmas ending with numerals: e.g. 「唯一」,「統一」
Yojijukugo with idiomatic meaning: e.g. 「無二無三」, 「四当五落」
Purely idiomatic expressions consisting of bare numerals: e.g. 「七五三」, 「八百万」、「万が一」、「一か八か」

One case that stood out to me, however, was the case of the productive pattern「其の＃」where ＃ can be freely replaced with any number (up to a certain point; somewhere between 百 and 千, the construction starts to lose plausibility, at least to me).

I would ideally like to understand the linguistic interpretation of this pattern, but it is quite hard to find specific mentions of  the pattern 「其の一」, as most of the results that seem to come up are actual uses of this pattern in the body of a paper, or contain 「其の一〜」where a counter word  directly follows the numeral in the query.

Does anyone have an explanation for this pattern, or any advice on how to find material referencing it?


texts:
「決まった人たちが『なんでそんなしゃべり方なの』ってずっと言ってくる」 「いつも笑わない人たちが発表のときに急に笑い出した」(source)

'People that are decided/selected' doesn't make sense in this context?


texts:
Which is the correct translation in Japanese?

  He both sings and plays the guitar.
  彼は歌うのもギターを弾くのもする。
  彼は歌いもギターを弾きもする。

  He neither sings nor plays the guitar.
  彼は歌うのもギターを弾くのもしない。
  彼は歌いもギターを弾きもしない。

Thank you


texts: What salutations (if any) can I use after the first email in an ongoing exchange?

texts:
I am exchanging polite (but not heavily formal) emails with a former co-worker whom I know well. My initial email, and his reply, opened with 先生、こんにちは　and [name]、こんにちは respectively.
What is an appropriate opening for my reply to his reply, and for subsequent emails in the same conversation?


texts: Meaning of font variation in the case of the character 賭

texts:
Some Kanji characters are written slightly differently in the Mincho/Gothic typefaces or handwriting. Ones that come to mind are 令、心, and these have been discussed before  [1].
This font-dependent variation is consistent when the character occurs as a sub-element of another character (e.g. as in 冷).

Today, I encountered the character 賭 (as in 賭け, 賭博) that looks like it's consists of the sub-elements 貝 and 者. Interestingly, the Mincho font on my machine puts one extra stroke on the top right of the 日 on the right hand side.

I was puzzled because the character 者 by itself doesn't show this variation. Thoughts?

[1] Why are there two versions of the kanji for 冷?


texts:
So in my N4 textbook, I have the following explanation for a grammatical construct:

  Noun + なら:
  Use "〜なら" when you say that options are no good, but "〜" is possible, okay or not a problem.

The examples don't make a lot of sense, so I go and google なら. All I can find is stuff about how なら is a particle used to express conditionals, i.e. it's one of the ways of saying what 'if' says in English. This is a meaning of the なら particle that I'm familiar with. I can't find anything about any other meanings of なら.

Can someone explain what my book is on about? Is this related to なら's 'if' meaning, or is it an entirely different word/meaning completely?

The book examples are:

  1) 日曜日なら時間が取れるから、いっしょに買い物にいこうよ。

I think this is supposed to mean - I have time on Sunday, let's go shopping together. The なら supposedly implying that days other than Sunday are no good.

  2) A: 今度のパーティーでつうやくをしてもらえませんか。
  　 B: すみません。手紙のほんやくならできますが、つうやくはちょっと...。

So now it's lost me, I have no idea what this is supposed to mean, and what なら is doing here.


texts:
what does "ねぇぞ" mean in this sentence?
 "出てねぇぞ"


texts:
The English word "funny" means "something that makes one laugh". What is/are the closest Japanese word/words that match the meaning and the nuance of the word "funny"?

Two possible matches are 楽しい【たのしい】 and 面白い【おもしろい】. However, 楽しい is more like "fun" and 面白い is more like "interesting". There is also 可笑しい【おかしい】, which in my experience is often used with negative connotations. The word "funny" can also have negative connotations, but is usually positive. Another possible match is 滑稽 but this seems to have the sense of "extremely funny".


texts:
I've been puzzling over this sentence from the (excellent) Kanji in Context.

昔は、スポーツをして汗をかいた後でも水分をとってはいけないと言われていた。

I get that it means "In the past, I was told not to drink water (even) after doing sports and sweating."

Do we interpret the particle usage as 後で＋も (afterwards + even) or 後＋でも (after + even/although)? The second one seems better, as the first one seems to imply I was told not to drink water under any circumstances.


texts: Any help recognising a handwritten kanji?

texts:
I've recently gotten into translating fancomics for a manga, although I'm still a beginner at Japanese. Naturally, I don't really know my kanji and I have to rely on a lot of looking up radical and kanji lists or using OCR (the few times it works).
In one of those fancomics, I've encountered a kanji that I've been unable to recognise successfully for a few days now.
Here's a pic of the kanji in question.

If I'm not mistaken the top-left radical is 广 and I tried to search based on that (as well as other similar radicals in case I am mistaken). I also tried to look based on the furigana at the left (or at least I think it's furigana) that based on other instances of the artist's handwriting, I took to be に. However, with either of those methods I couldn't find any kanji that seemed to fit the image well enough nor any that seemed to make any sense meaning-wise (though I will admit I could have been missing something as my Japanese is beginner level, after all).
For the context of where the kanji appeared, I have this:

告白する相手を間違えてませんか ("Haven't you made a mistake about whom to confess to?" as per my translation)
(?)では
ないですね
The two latter lines are different speech bubbles, but I suspect they might be a single sentence.

If someone can recognise the kanji, I'd grateful for the help, but I'd also appreciate tips on how I might go about this kind of research more efficiently myself. After all, it's very possible I'll come up this problem again in the future and I can't always rely on others.

In any case, thanks in advance for any help.


texts: I've just come across "〜していたりして" at the end of a sentence in a post on Facebook, so it's probably very casual. Does anyone know the correct meaning and typical usage?


texts: Grammatical purpose of replacing the ~る to ~れ and ~ろう, how does this affect the tone of voice?

texts:
I am wondering how this informal grammar works.

For example, 頑張る、頑張れ、頑張ろう - they all mean try hard, but how are they different in the tone of voice? In what situation should I use れ and ろう?

Thank you very much~


texts:
So I've seen this usage of 為 pop up twice now and I still can't figure out what its exact meaning is supposed to be, here's the two cases in question:

I found this one in a videogame, where the information filtration system of a facility is explained:
「多様性学習の為のエラー許容率は７．２１％」
The accepted diversity-learning error rate is 7.21%.
Disregarding whatever this sentence is supposed to mean, could I replace「の為の」with just「の」or even「による」and retain the same meaning? What would the difference be?

This one's from a scene in the Jojo manga where the protagonist is fighting somebody underwater - he's charging his attack to launch it at the enemy and as is customary for Japanese media, announces and shouts his attack while doing so, exclamating:
「水中のための青緑波紋疾走（たーコイズブルーオーバードライブ）」
Underwater turquoise ripple dash (or somesuch, where does the 'blue' part come from anyway?)
Now I'm really unsure what the「のための」here is supposed to insinuate exactly. Could I just leave that part out and still end up with the same meaning?

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Edit: For reference, I'll add the full transcript I found the first sentence in question in:

『塔』システム概略
"本『塔』は射出装置を中心に資源回収ユニットから送られた各資源を処理・情報化する為の施設である
256階層から成る構造体は情報濁度2300以
下の情報物質を濾過処理・圧縮から射出体への記
録まで27分32秒で行う(※)
アンドロイド達を分解消化する為のルートについては詳細を別途記載する
※多様性学習の為のエラー許容率は7.21%"


texts: What are the ''special class'' suru verbs on the jisho dictionary?

texts:
On jisho.org, words like ''達する'' are marked as ''Suru verb - special class''.
What is this so called ''special verb class?''


texts:
あまりにも子供じみた言動に呆れる。
  だが、こういった[A]の対応には少なからず救われている部分があった.
  深く踏みこまずに居場所を与えてくれるこの距離感に、周囲の人間も惹かれて集まってくるのだろう。

I'm tripped up on the second sentence. Is the 部分 part of the childish behavior, or the person on the receiving end? Can にはhere be used to indicate both location and causative source?


texts: Please help me understand the following sentences

texts:
ご来店頂きました様でありがとうございます。宿泊もしています。SAMURAI Inn で。今後とも宜しくお願い申しあげます。18日なら舞妓、小花さんの撮影会していましたよ。

I think I know all the vocab but still I don't quite understand what it means. Especially the particle で in the first sentence.

Does the sentence means something like:

  It seems like you have came to our store, thank you very much. We also do holiday accommodation. SAMURAI Inn. So, I am looking forward to have you in the future. On the 18th, we were having a photo shooting event with maiko, Kohana.


texts:
I thought that の always had to modify a noun... so how come a sentence like the following is possible despite there being no nominalization of what follows の ?

  たたみに布団を敷いて寝てみたものの、背中が痛くて寝られなかった。

Is this a different type of の? or does の work differently to how I imagined it? I there any elision??? If the ものの construction has no such explanation then I am ok with that, but if there is one I'd like to hear it.


texts: What is the meaning of はった when modifying a noun?

texts:
I found the following sample sentence in an Anki deck:

  食い意地のはった少年は料理を全部たいらげた。
  The greedy little child ate all the food.

I am wondering what the function of はった is here. The meaning of the sentence would not seem to change if it were omitted. Is this the verb 這う? If so, is the sense "crawling with greed" in the way that "crawling with" is used figuratively in English to mean 'covered in'?


texts:
I'm having trouble parsing the second sentence said by B below:

A:「先生の仕事を始めましたね。どうですか？」

B:「先生は辞めました。ゴールデン街でお店を持てるかもしれないからです！」

The first sentence seems pretty clear to me (I quit my job as a teacher), but I'm not sure I'm fully understanding the grammar of the second sentence. My best guess is something like:

"It might be because I can have a store/bar at Golden Gai."

Some questions:

(1) I have seen in past threads here that「かもしれない」can be translated as "might be", but it seems strange to me that you would express uncertainty about why you quit a job. Is this the correct interpretation here? Or is the the uncertainty actually about whether or not B can have a store in Golden Gai?

(2) What is the best way to interpret「持てる」in this context? Is it that B will own/manage a bar? Or that they will work at a bar? Or that they're being treated well at a bar?


texts:
I was taught that [私]{わた(く)し}, [僕]{ぼく}, and 俺{おれ} are the most common first-person pronouns.

Recently, I stumbled upon the word [我]{われ}, which supposedly means the same thing. An online dictionary lists all of them as common. Since I haven't heard about 我 until now, I wonder how common it is. What is 我, and how does it differ from the other common first-person pronouns?

Which is the right plural form: [我々]{われわれ} or 我ら{われら}?


texts: Is there a more natural way of asking this:「どんなカメラを使いましたか。」?

texts:
I'm trying to ask a photographer what camera they used for some pictures they took, but I'm not sure if what I think I should say is correct.

I was gonna ask: どんなカメラを使いましたか。

Is that correct? It kinda sounds unnatural/stiff to me so I'm asking here just to make sure. Will using が instead of を make more sense? If I use the て form for 使う, would that be too impolite?


texts:
What's the real, definite difference between [寝]{ね}る and [眠]{ねむ}る?

I know they both mean "sleep", but also that each carries some additional (sometimes, figurative) meanings.

Where do the meanings overlap? In what scenarios are they interchangeable?


texts:
In the grammar sections of my textbook, I learnt that

SENTENCE + ことになる

Expresses that SENTENCE has been decided.

However, in this context, it seems more like ことになる indicates that there is/was a change of state.

  このように私たちが幸せな生活ができれば、私のゴールを果たしたことになります。
  "If we can all lead a happy life this way, it will be that I have achieved my goal."

If I regard なります as representing present tense, then I could imagine the "decision" semantics working to a degree, but it would make less sense:

"If wen can all lead a happy life this way, I decide that I have achieved my goal."

Again, since my textbook only taught me that ことになる expresses a decision, I wanted to ask for clarification/confirmation in this case.


texts: Why use 受身形 in "便利になったとはいえ、問題も残されて"?

texts:
I came across this sentence in my textbook:

  便利になったとはいえ、問題も残されている。

I notice that the sentence use passive voice of "残す". Is there any reason why it doesn't use active form as follows?

  便利になったとはいえ、問題も残している。

Thanks in advance


texts:
「でも、人間ご飯食べなかったり寝なかったりすると死んじゃうけど、どんだけセックスしなくても死なないんだよね。不思議だね性欲。確かに子孫残すのには必要だけど、なんか『三大』ってカテゴライズに入ってるの違和感ない？四天王最強の男は実は無能者だった的なアレじゃない？」(source)

I know 的 is usually used after a noun and turn the noun into an adjective. But it’s the first time I’ve seen it used after a sentence. So how should I understand this usage of 的? How is different from “noun+的”? And what does アレ mean in this context?


texts: Possible meanings of the expression 退職金返上

texts:
From what I understand, 退職金 can refer to severance pay or retirement (pension, etc.).

If a company is in financial trouble and the members of the board are asked to resign and "退職金返上", does this refer to severance, pension, or both?


texts:
Look at the following words:

意 Idea
圧 Pressure
おとこ Man
女性 Woman
子 Child
ヘア Hair
想い Thought

Some of the above words are single kanjis, some kana, and some combination of kanji-kana.
Is there a standard way to make this words adjective i.e. ideal, high-pressure, manly, womanly, childish, hairy, thoughtful, etc?
Can this be done by adding a prefix or suffix kana, similar to what we do in English by adding "ly", "ish", and "ful" to nouns?

Or does Japanese use independent words for adjectives that do not have much common with their related noun?


texts: Does トイレ refer to the British "toilet" or the American "toilet"?

texts:
I learned that トイレ is loaned from the English word "toilet".

However, in the US, toilet usually refers to the thing that you sit on when you poop. And in the UK, toilet usually refers to the whole place where you wash your hands and poop.

Hopefully you know what I mean...

So which of the above does トイレ refer to?


texts:
Why do the names of some Japanese prefectures contain 『しま』when, clearly, they are not island prefectures?

For example, 広島　means "spacious/vast island," doesn't it? However, Hiroshima is not an island... And there are more examples like this: 福島、徳島、and 鹿児島.

I hope you can clear this up. Thank you!


texts: Why would one change from using polite form (です/ます) to using the plain form in the middle of a conversation (and change back later)?

texts:
I am reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon in Japanese.

Towards the end of chapter 67, Christopher is talking to Mrs Alexander, trying to find out who killed Wellington the dog.

I noticed that Christopher started off by speaking politely, using です and ます, but then he says something that ends in る. I am very confused by this.

Here is part of the conversation. Note that I removed all the other non-dialogue text and C for Christopher and A for Mrs Alexander.

  A: あなたのうちには犬はいないでしょ？

  C: ええ

  A: あなたはきっと犬が好きなのね？

  C: ネズミを飼っています

  A: ネズミ？

  C: トビーという名前です

  A: おや

  C:
  大概の人はネズミを嫌がります、なぜかというとネズミは腺ペストをうつすと思っているから。でもそれは彼らが下水管に住んでいたり、珍しい病気のある外国からやってくる船にこっそり乗り込んでくるせいです。でもネズミはとても清潔です。トビーはいつも自分の体をきれいにしている。それからトビーをわざわざ散歩に連れて行く必要もない。ぼくの部屋にはなして走りまわらせて、運動させるだけでいい。それからときどきぼくの肩に座ったり、巣穴のつもりでぼくの服の袖に隠れたりする。でもネズミはかならずしも巣穴には住みません

  A: なかに入ってお茶を飲まないこと？

  C: 他人の家には入らない

I have made all the polite forms bold and all the plain forms italic. Christopher is starting with ネズミを飼っています and then changes to plain form here: トビーはいつも自分の体をきれいにしている. He then continues with the plain form until this: でもネズミはかならずしも巣穴には住みません. And then changes to plain form again here: 他人の家には入らない.

Note that I understand that plain forms should be used in a relative clause like 珍しい病気のある外国からやってくる船, I'm talking about why he ends his sentences with plain forms.

I have never seen this kind of thing before. Characters in other books I read don't seem to do this. The forms they use seldom change and changes are few, and never more than twice in a single dialogue! Why does Christopher switch between the two politeness levels?

My guess is that this is a symptom of Christopher's autism. Because he is autistic, he mixes up the two forms.


texts: Is there a perfect translation for the word tipsy in Japanese?

texts:
I have talked to friends here and there and looked up words.

So far I have：

ほろ酔い、
生{なま}酔い、
酔{よ}いが回{まわ}る／回った、
酒{さけ}の気{け}、
微{び}醺{くん}

ちょっと酔っ払ってる

In English tipsy has a positive connotation so I was wondering which one would be the best fit. I feel like most of the examples I listed can be used in both a negative or positive way so if anyone any idea about this please let me know.

Thanks.


texts: Meaning of 抱える other than "hold or carry in the arms"

texts:
I found some sentence and I am a bit perplexed by the 抱える, whose first meaning is “hold or carry in the arms”
I found it also meant : to have problems  but how did it acquire its second meaning ?

Some example: it is some reflection from a high school student who has some cynical (but also quite lucid) views about his classroom students.

  肉食獣にはヒエラルキーがありボスになれなければ死ぬまでストレスを抱え続ける

  There's a hierarchy among carnivores.　If you can't become the alpha,
  the stress will continue to pile up until you die.


texts:
What impact does the 「で」 add if placed like this:

  秋の風は静かで  vs. 秋の風は静か

or

  心配しないで vs. 心配しない


texts:
I came across this phrase in Yotsubato! manga. (ch.82, pg.35)

Source: http://raw.senmanga.com/Yotsubato!/82/35

What does そうするの mean here (middle panel)? As far as I can tell, it の is most probably an explanatory `の. I think it means "yea just like that" or literally "to do so" but the literal meaning somehow doesn't feel right. I think it is most probably "just like that" from reading the text bubble that comes before it but I am confused here.

I tried searching そうするの on the web but couldn't find much that relates to above context. As a phrase what does そうするの mean here ? I couldn't find any more examples that use そうするの. Any examples would be welcome.


texts: What's the difference between 建てる and 築く?

texts:
I recently came across the word 築く, meaning "to build", but I already knew a word for it, 建てる.

Looking a bit further into it, 築く seems to include the figurative meaning of "build" as well, such as in "to build relations" or "to build/amass riches", but still has it's literal meaning in actually building some structure.
I notice in my example sentences that 築く is commonly used on "bigger" structures, such as a castle. Is this the case?

What is the difference between these two words, and how are they used differently, if any?


texts: Meaning of 資料共 in the context of web conferencing

texts:
The literal translation for "資料共" seems to be "total" (Google Translate) or "Documents" (Rikaichan).

How would you parse it and interpret it in the context of web conferencing? It's supposed to be the equivalent of "web conference".


texts: What is the difference between 末 and 終了?

texts: I know that both 末{すえ} and 終了{しゅうりょう} mean "end," but is there a difference between them?


texts: Are there means (formal rules or conventions) of use-mention distinction in Japanese writing?

texts:
With English, when writing and looking to mention a word (as a word vs wanting to use the word as its semantic referent), writers have at their disposal quotation marks (punctuational) and italicized font (typographical) with which to make clear their intention.

As examples:

  The is the definite article of the English language.

and

  'The' is the definite article of the English language.

both make clear, via typographic and punctuational devices respectively, that the first the they contain is being used differently and means something different than the two other instances of the that follow.

Is there anything (typographical or punctuational —as with English— or otherwise —I know Japanese often employs [平仮名]{ひらがな} marker words to indicate things that English would via typographical effects or punctuation) afforded to writers writing in Japanese which can be leveraged to similar effect?

I ask 'cause, as someone learning Japanese, much of what I write in Japanese is meta; I'm usually asking about Japanese itself —about vocab, aspects of grammar like particles, et cetera. As such, in terms of mention vs use, many parts of my writing are mention and I worry that, without some sort of annotation, the distinction may be less than clear.

Here's the Wikipedia article on use-mention distinction in English writing for reference.


texts: What is the difference between 見る and 見える?

texts:
I've been coming across this weird verb conjugation that seems to happen in some verbs, where you replace る with える, e.g. 見る → 見える。

Is this a different verb form, how does it change the meaning of the verb?


texts: What is the use of the first の in this sentence?

texts: "色の薄いものと濃いものを両方使うときれいに見えます。" I thought this was the case where の substitutes が but this is not a relative clause. I'd just like to know about this particular use of の.


texts: I'm trying to describe a bird hopping from branches to branches

texts:
Respected readers,

I would very much appreciate your help for this problem,

So, I want to say: 'These birds prefer hopping over flying, so normally you would see them hopping from branches to branches.'

My sentence is: '飛ぶことよりホッピングするが好きなので、普通に...(I don't know)...枝と枝をホッピングするを見える。

I think the second part of the sentence has some major grammar issues... Additionally, I have no idea how to say 'they', as in the birds I'm describing, which is highlighted with the brackets.

Please help me and point out any other mistakes,
Thank you so much!


texts: Is the difference between ワクチン (Wikipedia article) and 予防接種 (Wikipedia article) that the former refers to the medication that is injected into you (a vaccine), whereas the latter refers to the act of injecting it into you (a vaccination)? Or are there other differences between the two, such as which context it'd be used in for example everyday versus technical?


texts: Slightly mundane question here. Do negative verbs  translate as x "does not" do this action or simply "not" e.g　食べない "not eat" as opposed to "does not eat". The reason I ask is because On Tae kim's site all the verb examples are translated as "does not", When suddenly 買わない becomes "not buy" - which is it? I know it's a silly a question, but I'm pretty curious, so I'd really appreciate any answers.


texts:
Here is the sentence containing the word.

おことわりだね　おまえみたいな　弱｛よわ｝っぴいと組むなんて！
やるんなら　おれひとりでやらあ。

In my opinion, I think it would be transformation of the word 弾き or 'player' but I'm not uncertain if it is correct because the word ends with 「い」. I have searched on some dictionary sites but there is no one describing about it.


texts: Translation of ハッピーニューイヤーンバカーン

texts:
I ran across this phrase アンハッピーニューイヤーンバカーン spoken by a manga character. Basically I see this reads as "A Happy New Year", but I'm not sure what the addition of ン's mean after ア and ハッピーニューイヤー.

At the end there is also バカーン, which I'm not sure whether it's a sound effect like 'BAM!' or 'idiot', as in 馬鹿（バカ), with the added ン as I mentioned above.

Can anyone help me with this?


texts: When does omission of です constitute casual speech?

texts:
In many textbooks, polite style speech is taught, which means です and ます endings are introduced, and used in many sentences.

However, I have encountered sentences with omissions, for example sentences which omit verbs. They may also end with particles. I think this is done to introduce vagueness, or simply to make the sentences shorter.

In what context do such omissions constitute not polite speech anymore, but plain speech? For example, in the drama Meguri Ai, Episode 8, there are some "incomplete sentences" that have differing levels of politeness (I have some context and sentences written here, but if more background is desired, the specific video segments are listed below - please visit https://youtu.be/mNOOEfpjuUM):

Video time: 02:35 - 03:30:

  社員：おつり、いいから。 (plain)

  A boss (社長, name 修二) is in the back of a taxi with his subordinate (社員), and the subordinate says this to the driver. Although polite forms were used with the driver up until that sentence, I feel that this sentence is in plain form as the subordinate feels superior to the driver due to a perceived difference in social status.

Video time: 11:25 - 11:45:

  修二：じゃあ、早稲田まで。 (polite)
  絵里（運転手）：この時間だと電車で行くほうが早いとおもいますけど。。。(polite)
  修二：いいんです。行ってください。 (polite)

  Apparently this sentence is still polite, according to my teacher. I am not sure why, though.

Video time: 12:53 - 13:10:

  修二：そういうわけにはいかないんです。 (polite)
  絵里（運転手）：どうして？ (plain)
  修二：そいつにだけは、幸せになってほしいから。そうおもって２年前に別れたから。(plain)

Eri (絵里) asks どうして, which apparently is in plain style, and Shuuji (修二) replies in plain form with two occurrences of から without です.

There are many sources that state that ending with から is informal. However, まで is another particle, yet ending with まで without です (second bolded sentence) seems to leave the polite style speech unaffected. Again, どうして without です seems to be informal.

When does omission make sentences casual / plain? Examples would be greatly appreciated.


texts:
研究室を出た。おやおやおや、追い出されたの間違いでは？

I encountered this line when watching a drama and could not understand why "追い出されたの間違い" is grammatically correct (compared to 留学したのきっかけ（×）、留学したきっかけ（〇）、留学のきっかけ（〇）). I wonder why it is not "追い出されたという間違いでは？" or "追い出されたのを間違ったのでは？".
A Japanese friend of mine gave me a few more examples. Now I am convinced that it is a natural expression, but I still don't understand the underlying grammar. Could you help me figure it out?

Aさんが断ったのは、Aさん自身の本心からではなく、Bさんに脅迫されたの間違いでは。
→（Aさんが否定したのは、Aさん自身の本心からではなく）Bさんに脅迫されたの間違いでは。
Bさんは病気で死んだのではなく、本当は医者に殺されたの間違いでは？
→（実際には、医者に）殺されたの間違いでは？
Cさんが会社を退職したのは、仕事が自分に適していないからではなく、辞めるように上司から追い込まれたからの間違いでは。
→本当は、上司から追い込まれたの間違いでは？


texts: Why are し/ち transliterated as 'shi'/'chi', and not 'si'/'ti'?

texts:
In Japanese あいうえお are pronounced 'a i u e o', かきくけこ are pronounced 'ka ki ku ke ko'. The spelling is simple and natural. However, when it comes to サ行, さしすせそ, its relevant roman spelling is 'sa shi su se so'; the same issue also exists in タ行, たちつてと, for which the roman spelling is 'ta chi tsu te to', which makes me confused.

The question I want to ask is that why is it spelled 'sa shi su se so', but not 'sa si su se so' for サ行, and 'ta chi tsu te to' instead of 'ta ti tu te to' for タ行?

Just to make its spelling correspond with the pronunciation? I don't think so, if you spell it phonetically like the book tells you, the pronunciation would be strange.
In order to let you type the relevant Japanese letters? If you type 'ta ti tu te to', for instance, you can also get 'たちつてと', without needing to type 'ta chi tsu te to'.


texts: Is なくなく an emphatic negative expression (e.g. in 力なくなく)?

texts:
I guess it is an archaic form...

Sometimes I hear an adverbial phrase 力{ちから}なくなく used in context when someone resigned something after an effort. Let's say a warrior was pursuing another one to no avail and …力なくなくお城へ引き返した.

Does なくなく correspond here to 無く無く and does the repetition emphasise the first 無い? Or perhaps (I doubt it, but cannot really exclude the possibility from the context) does it negate it (like 無くもない), ie. "he resigned not having lost all his strength"?

Or maybe it is something else? 泣く泣く? But then how does it relate to 力?


texts: Is ょう still one single word/助動詞 in the expression しましょう?

texts:
Kuromoji is a Japanese tokenizer. When using it on the expression しましょう, it gave the following analysis:

Surface form    Part-of-Speech  Base form   Reading Pronunciation
し              動詞,自立,*,*       する             シ
ましょ          助動詞,*,*,*        ます         マショ
う              助動詞,*,*,*          う             ウ

Somebody noted that it doesn't seem to make sense to separate ましょ and う, and he believes that grammatically -mashō should belong together.

In the Wiktionary entry for う, it is noted that う is used to make the volitional form of verbs, but "the volitional form of Group II (ichidan) and Group III (irregular) verbs are formed with よう (-yō) instead of う (-u)."

Interestingly, if I change "しましょう" to "しましよう" (note the way the よ is written), the tokenizer gives the following result instead:

Surface form    Part-of-Speech             Base form    Reading Pronunciation
し              動詞,自立,*,*                する               シ
まし            助動詞,*,*,*                 ます             マシ
よう            名詞,非自立,助動詞語幹,*     よう             ヨウ

Could it be the case that する is just a special word, and due to the way "ょ" is written in this word, the tokenizer just failed to recognize "よう" as an entity? So then, the correct grammatical interpretation should still be the later table of results, right?

EDIT: I guess this (breaking the expression into three parts (しーまし(ます)ーよう), i.e. (do-polite-volitional)) might just be some formal grammar analysis thing. Possibly few people think in this way (i.e. breaking this expression into three parts) in their daily lives. So maybe many people on this SE would find it weird.


texts: How to use both causative and て欲しい grammar at the same time?

texts:
I want to say the following in Japanese.

  I want the police officer to make the dog bite the snatcher.

My attempt is as follows.

  私は警察官に犬にひったくりを噛ませて欲しい。

Is it correct? Is it possible to use just one に?


texts:
Which words most commonly follow どういう?

I know certain collocations already, such as どういうこと and どういう意味.  But my speech isn't always very natural-sounding, and I'm curious if there are any common collocations I don't use at the moment.

Is there a list?


texts: Don't quite understand sentence in Japanese folk-tale video

texts:
The video is the following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkfT0NMsGz0

Towards the beginning, it says:

  むかしむかし　ゆきぶかい　やまおくに、
  しょうじきものの
  おじいさんと　おばあさんが　すんでいました。
  ふたりは　なかのよい　ふうふでしたが、
  とても　びんぼうでした。

From what I've been told, ものの means although.  So I understand the first sentence as: Although humble, the old man and the old lady lived.  It really doesn't sound very logical to me.  Am I missing something?


texts: How do you form relative clauses that involves first person action? For example : "There aren't people I can talk to". Basically my doubt is about all those questions that require a particle like "to", "ni" and the like, when you can't use V-te ageru/kureru/morau to explicitate who's doing what to whom..Don't know if it's clear >.<


texts: In a complex sentence, what does the second part of the sentence refer to?

texts:
Taking a sentence for example:

普段はスプーンで食べるがないから箸で - I normally use spoon to eat but because there is no (spoon), I use chopsticks

I made that sentence up so it might be wrong

In the sentence above, what is the ない referring to?Is it referring to the スプーン(marked by で particle) or is it referring to the 食べる(verb), or is it referring to the 普段 (marked by the は) particle.

Also, for the second part of the sentence, I am assuming the 箸で refers to the verb that comes before the second part of the sentence. In this case, the 食べる. Is this correct? Are there any general "rules" in a complex sentence as to what the second part of the sentence refers to?


texts: Does the etymology of 星 suggest the japanese/chinese knew the sun was a star?

texts:
星 contains the radical 日 meaning sun/day. This makes sense from a modern understanding, as it is well known that the sun was a star. However, it appears this has only been known since the 19th century, suggesting that the connection is not so intuitive.

How did the 日 radical come to be used here? Was there an understanding that the sun was the same/similar to a star, or was there another reason for this?


texts: What is the difference between 処置 and 措置?

texts:
I wonder what is the difference between 処置【しょち】 and 措置【そち】. Could you please explain their differences on the next two phrases? :

  是正処置【ぜせいしょち】 and  是正措置【ぜせいそち】


texts:
沈んだユグドラシルのエンジン、今頃深い沙の下で泣いてるのかなぁ……。
いや、あいつはあそこで眠ってるんだ。 あそこが一番安らかに眠れる場所にちがいない。
そうでも思わないと……。

I'm not really understand this sentence - そうでも思わないと……

I think it's - I guess you don't think so...... or - If we don't believe so......

Is there some part omited here?


texts:
I'm reading the To the Little Ones story (『小さき者へ』).
I wonder what does the writer mean in this sentence

電燈の消えた薄暗い中で、白いものに 包まれたお前たちの母上は、夢心地に呻き苦しんだ。

"呻き苦しんだ" has a negative meaning, right? and he puts before it "夢心地に" which has a positive meaning so what does he mean? I don't get it.


texts:
I know the meaning of this phrase I believe, it is used to give the most common or important example when you are abbreviating a list. I can't come up with anything that sounds really good as a translation.

  Policy A, Policy B をはじめとする guidelines on the topic of X.

What I have at the moment is

  Guidelines on the topic of X including Policy A and Policy B.


texts: Kanji 何: why is it missing in 今なにしてる (facebook text in status editbox)?

texts: I had the impression that 何 is pretty common kanji and that it is used in situations as above (after all, 今 is there, so it is not that it wanted to be hiragana-only). Do I understand it right that it could be written as 今何してる and if yes, what is the reason it is written 今なにしてる instead?


texts:
かわいい is sometimes spelled in kanji as 可愛い. This seems to be an 音読み reading which points to a Chinese loan, and Chinese does have this word.

However, the meaning of 可愛 as "cute" in Chinese seems to have been a borrowing from Japanese. Originally it meant what its individual kanji meant, "able/deserved to be loved". For example, the Chinese Union Version of the Bible, translated in 1919, often uses 可愛 to mean "deserving of love", which is incongruent with its modern meaning borrowed from Japanese.

Also, かわいい seems to have been かはいい in 歴史的仮名遣い. はい would have come from "pai" which would be a stretch from on'yomi.

So 可愛い seems to be 和語. Why then did it get assigned a pseudo-音読み reading?


texts: Where does the -a stem come from with auxiliary-constructed transitive/intransitive verb pairs if the base verb is a 二段活用 (or カ行変格活用)?

texts:
It seems to be generally understood that transitive/intransitive verb pairs, when they are not a 四段活用 and a 二段活用 that share the same 終止形, were created by taking a base verb, whether transitive or intransitive, and adding an Old Japanese auxiliary - す for transitivity, and る or ゆ for intransitivity - to the 未然形 to form the verb of opposite transitivity. For example, [減]{へ}る (intransitive) + す = [減]{へ}らす (transitive).
But something confuses me - since auxiliaries like す、る、ゆ、ふ、etc. only attach to the 未然形, what is the deal with 二段活用 verbs? For example, [覚]{さ}む is a 下二段活用 intransitive verb, and [覚]{さ}ます is its transitive variant.
Where does this -a stem in [覚]{さ}ます come from? The 未然形 of [覚]{さ}む is [覚]{さ}め, not [覚]{さ}ま like if it were a 四段活用. Would it not logically be [覚]{さ}めす instead? [上]{あ}ぐ becomes [上]{あ}がる, [満]{み}つ becomes [満]{み}たす - all of these are 二段活用 verbs, which do not feature an -a stem in their 未然形, yet the opposite transitivity uses an -a stem. What is the reason for this?
This also seems to appear for カ行変格活用 verbs as well, as [出]{で}[来]{き}る -> [出]{で}[来]{か}す instead of でこす.
According to the Wiktionary etymology of あぢさはふ:

The initial adi is likely from the 䳑鴨 (ajigamo, “Baikal teal”),[1] while the derivation of sapapu is unknown.
One theory states from 障ふ (sapu), basis for modern 障える (saeru, “to hinder, interrupt”, transtitive) and 障わる (sawaru, “to disturb, harm”, intransitive). This is problematic as sapu is a 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verb and not a 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”) verb required for a 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis form”) ending in -a.

This seems to suggest that 二段活用 verbs cannot simply swap to an -a stem when an auxiliary is added (here being ふ).
There are also some verb pairs where both the intransitive and transitive verbs have auxiliaries on a non-verbal-未然形 root, like [外]{はづ}す and [外]{はづ}る, and there are also some curiosities like [消]{け}す and [消]{き}ゆ where the roots are not the same vowel. What is the reason for this as well?


texts: What's the story behind 黒 and 黑? Why are they different?

texts: In Chinese 'black' is 黑 and in Japanese it's 黒, but the kanji are not the same. In traditional Chinese it's exactly the same as in simplified so both are 黑 but Japanese is different. Was 黒 simplified?


texts:
こんにちは! I'm new to this site and Japanese language. I haven't learnt the entire Hiragana alphabet yet and don't know any Katakana. I'm trying my best to stay away from Romaji, so please be aware that I am working at a very basic level!

I want to be able to understand the structure of sentences, first and foremost.
I have been told that Japanese sentences are structured using SOV.

Is this sentence correct? If so, could it be improved? If not, where did I go wrong?

  わたし は にほんご へた

As far as I know, it translates to
'[Subject] - I am / [Object] - Japanese / [Verb] - bad at'

Thanks!


texts: Can ところで be used with statements as well?

texts:
Many Japanese-English dictionaries define "ところで" as something similar to "by the way" or "incidentally", but is it also used with statement-type sentences as well? If not, what would be the most appropriate phrase to use?

I am looking to say something along the lines of:

  By the way, I ran into Alan at Starbucks the other day.

Here are some of the examples I have seen listed, but I am having trouble finding examples that are not questions.

  ところで例の件はどうなりましたか。

  ところで、今日はおひまですか

  ところでよ、そのおめーのおとうさんはどこにいんのさ？


texts: I want to thank the people who are helping me on this website. Would  助けてくれて有難う be the appropriate thing to say to everyone?


texts:
What does 9月とか10月なんですよ mean?

  日本で台風と言うと
  9月とか10月なんですよ
  7月に上陸とか聞いたことありません

We were chatting about typhoons. Does it mean "What? We still have September and October, you know"?  In particular, I want to know what the "なんですよ" means.


texts:
Is は a particle in こんにちは and こんばんは?
Is は a particle in こんにちは and こんばんは?


texts: What does it mean when a sentence ends with しなくもない?

texts:
A friend posted this in a comment on Facebook:

  これは深{ふか}い意味{いみ}があるような気{き}がしなくもない

I think I get the general meaning, which is "This seems to have a deep meaning." But I'm fuzzy on the implications of しなくもない.

Is it a contraction of かも知{し}れない? Something else?


texts: Does linking adjectives allow you to talk about multiple variations of something?

texts:
For instance, if I want to say:

  I want to see traditional and modern culture

I would try to use:

  近代的{きんだいてき}で伝統的{でんとうてき}な文化{ぶんか}を見たい。

But does this imply the culture I want to see is simultaneously modern and traditional? Or could it mean I want to see both modern and traditional variations of culture as intended?


texts: I saw this in my Genki I book and I don’t quite understand how to use でもあります. Also, how would I say this informally? パットはアメリカ人でもある？


texts: 昨週 - when is it used? (compared with 先週)

texts:
Are they interchangeable, or is 昨週 an old way to say it, and not used as much any more?

  昨週レストランに友だちと行った。

If anybody knows any kind of nuances or differences, such as where one would be more appropriate, it would be interesting to know. Thank you very much!


texts:
そんなトコで何ばしよる。

I'm reading a manga and from the context of the pictures I think this sentence reads, "What are you doing up there," but I have no idea what part ば plays. The character speaks in a dialect so my confusion could be a result of that, but any help would be much appreciated.


texts:
I've been singing on a karaoke app recently and I wanted to comment on a person's voice. How would I go about saying "You sound like a rockstar!"
I was thinking 「Aさん、ロックスターみたいなぁ～」


texts: understanding hōgejaku -- an archaic imperative?

texts:
I would like to understand this Zen calligraphy:

I gather that it says "hōgejaku" and that this means something like "let it go", "throw it away", "throw it down". According to this page, the kanji are 放下著, but I find it hard to see the similarity, especially for the last one. The first two do have on readings of "hō" and "ge", respectively, and the New Nelson character dictionary has the compound 放下 with reading "hōka" and meaning "throwing down; juggling". The last one, however, appears to have neither a reading "jaku", nor a meaning indicating an imperative.

The page offering the calligraphy for sale says:

  The three characters of this print express the Zen principle of releasing all negative, selfish thoughts and emotions [...].

This book says:

  In Japan's traditional interpretation of Zen, either grammatical markers appearing in Baihua were accepted in the form of Chinese or individual characters as grammatical markers were read in Japanese as follows: [...] -zhuo2 (Imperative): -jaku-seyo. This is ascribed to the fact that bilingualism was practiced at the Zen temples in Kamakura Gozan when Zen was imported to Japan.

A translation of Shobogenzo Zuimonki relates the Zen connection as follows:

  Hoge in Japanese means to let go, throw away, give up, abandon, lay down, etc. Someone asked Joshu, “I have nothing. How is that?”
  Joshu replied, “Throw it away (hoge-jaku).”

However, this book gives a different meaning:

  There is a Japanese Zen expression "Hogejaku". This expression is often interpreted as "to throw away or give up everything," implying from now on. But this isn't what it means. Rather, the meaning is that "everything has already fallen away or been thrown away," and it points to your condition right now.

I'd appreciate any information related to the expression, the calligraphy and/or the Zen background; in particular:

How would you translate this phrase into English?
Which kanji are being used?
Is it an imperative, and if so, how is it being formed?
Is this something a present-day native Japanese speaker would readily understand?
Is there a "canonical" version of the associated Zen story?


texts: What is the difference between 市, 都市, 都会 and 市街

texts: And in which context are used. Why are so many words for city in japanese T.T


texts: What exactly is the difference between -てしまう and - [切]{き}る?

texts:
I've read that both the ～てしまう and ～きる (18th meaning of 切る at http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MUE%E5%88%87%E3%82%8B) forms are used to signify something has been finished/done/completed.

If so, what exactly is the difference between the two conjugations (how do we decide when to use which)?

example:

1) もう荷造りしてしまった。

2) もう荷造りしきった。


texts:
In a Shimajiro educational book I saw a line similar to this:

  ___ちゃんが知ってる乗り物は何ですか？

(the actual one had less Kanji but you get the point)

The question is why was ちゃん used here as a generic term. I thought ちゃん was used more for girls and くん for boys, and since I think the audience for Shimajiro might be more boys, why didn't they choose くん here? Or is ちゃん actually a more neutral term?


texts:
In constructs like ～が原因で起こった～ is the で the て form of だ?

For example in:
旦那や子どもへの嫉妬が原因で起こったママ友トラブル

I assume it is for the が to make sense, but I can't find any information on this, so if anyone knows an answer would be greatly appreciated!


texts: used of と侮る in these sentence and ~と侮る vs ~を侮る (perhaps related to 知る as well)

texts:
speaker is someone that normally fights demons, but fell for a trap
set up by A, a human. Speaker has always hated A.

私としたことが……相手が、魔族じゃないと……Aごときと侮って、視野が狭くなってた…… pass out
I, of all people.... A...isn't a demon....underestimating (someone) like A, I became conceited.

from what i can tell ~と侮る seems common as ~を侮る
from 「たかが過換気」と侮ってはいけない, i assume that this is used as a quote to describe the preceeding claused just like "ミユキちゃんが結婚した"と知ってる
are both 相手が、魔族じゃないと and Aごときと attached to 侮って or is it 「相手が、魔族じゃないと……Aごとき」と侮って?
more generally
If a random sentence had ~を侮る instead of ~と侮る, i probably wouldn't bat an eye. I suppose i could say the same for ~と知る vs ~を知る. CTRL-F'ing my past texts i found を知る is used 5x more often than と知る。
After this encountering this ~と侮る sentence i realized i really can't tell the difference between ~と知る vs ~を知る either.
Thank you for any clarifications.


texts:
The other day I saw a banner outside a convenience store. It read:

パートさん
アルバイトさん
募集中

I had been under the assumption that these words were more or less synonymous, but seeing them both being explicitly advertised side by side on the same banner makes me wonder if there's some nuance I'm missing.


texts:
Just a quick question on the て form, as what I am about to say isn't really made clear by textbooks. Is the tense of a verb in て form dependent on what follows? for example if someone was to say 教えてあげた, would the 教えて become past tense (or completed, as at doesn't have to take place in the past)?

Thanks is advance.


texts: Can someone explain how to use the passive here

texts:
Im having a bit of trouble understanding the passive

I would like to translate

"You really want me to say that I'm weak don't you ?"

  俺は弱いって かなり言われてほしいですね

Is this right?

Another line that I'd like translated is
"Why do you want x to hate me so much?"

  なんで x で あんまり きらわれて ほしい の

I sure both my translations are wrong

Can someone explain how to use the particles with the passive form ?


texts: What is the difference between 最高 and 一番いい? Both mean the best. But they should be used in different situations. What would be the right use of the words? Thank you!


texts: What is the difference between these words? Which one is the most common?


texts: Are all kanji compounds considered words?

texts:
A friend once commented to me that Japanese has a larger vocabulary than English. I said I didn't think it did, because it wasn't really accurate to call all kanji compounds "words". My friend said I was crazy.

Words like 新車【しんしゃ】(new car) and 愛車【あいしゃ】(one's own car / "beloved" car) are in the dictionary, but... aren't they really just the application of prefixes to the word "car"?

Put another way, in English I wouldn't consider "neopragmatism" it's own word, it's just the addition of the prefix "neo" to the word "pragmatism". (I don't even know if it's in the dictionary or not and won't look it up, because my point is that as a native/fluent English speaker, I can stick 'em together if I want, dictionary be damned!) Aren't some kanji compounds the same kind of thing... not really words, but just obvious in meaning when combined correctly?

Put yet another way, if one were trying to learn Japanese vocabulary, it would be ridiculous to have a list that included all the possible kanji combinations that get used in the real world. It's more efficient to learn a concept like 新 as a prefix and you instantly have potential understanding of many kanji compounds - 新語【しんご】(new word), 新貨【しんか】(new currency), 新地【しんち】(new territory), etc...

So, is any valid kanji compound really considered its own word in some kind of official or commonly understood sense, or are some kanji compounds considered merely "combinations"?

If I combine kanji in some new and useful way, have I invented a new word, or am I merely using the kanji in the Lego-like combinative way they're intended to be used?

Another way I might ask is, do Japanese consider "words" and "combinations" as separate things?


texts:
To be more specific, why can I say,

  木村{きむら}さんなら、もう帰{かえ}りましたよ。

and not,

  木村さんなら、もう帰っていきましたよ。

Thanks in advance!


texts: Parsing a humble form expression (maybe)

texts:
その鞄は機内へのお持ち込みはできません
You cannot bring that bag on board

I'm struggling to understand the grammar of this sentence. I'm aware that you can make the humble form of a verb by adding an お onto the masu-stem and then adding する. I assumed that is what was going on here. So we have 持ち込む --> お持ち込みする
Turning する into できる seems okay to make the potential form. But then we also seem to be treating the お持ち込み as an independent noun. I'm happy that masu-stems can be used as nouns but what's troubling me is that none of that humble form structure we made has remained unscathed. In a plain sentence I would have just said 機内に持ち込むことができない (is that okay?).
I'm happy with the への part (田中への手紙 etc) but I don't understand why it is necessary here. Why not simply 機内にお持ち込みはできません as in my plain example?
I guess I'm also nervous about the は in the middle of お持ち込みはできません. It makes me think that may my analysis of it being the humble verb form is completely wrong.
Anyway I'm rambling now. The bottom line is that I have no idea how to parse this sentence correctly. Could someone please explain the grammar and provide some additional simple examples?


texts: How to say, I/you need [a] better [noun]?

texts:
もっと良いインターネットを要ります。
もっと良いインターネットが必要です。

The scenario being that either I have a crappy connection or a friend of mine has a crappy connection. Is either of those examples too literal for I need better internet or You need better internet? Is there something more idiomatic?


texts:
So what is the difference between「~らしい」(hearsay)　vs　「~そうだ」(hearsay)?

この料理はおいしいらしい。This dish, I've heard it is delicious.

この料理はおいしいそうです。This dish, I've heard it is delicious.

Both report an indirect source, information.
「~らしい」seems more polite, more softer than「~そうだ」? or more subjective maybe?
Can you help me ?
Thanks.


texts:
Good afternoon all,

From what I understand, "~ておく" basically has 4 meanings:

to do something for a purpose / reason
used as a softener (source)
to do.. for now or for the time being (source, source), in other words to leave a situation as it is for now or for some time (source)
used as a request / command (source)

I was wondering which of the above meaning is the implied meaning of "~ておく" when we use the word "任せておく" in the sentence "任せておけ！" ?

Is it the first meaning: "Leave it to me! (and your reason being that I will get the job done for you)",

Or is it the third meaning: "(For the time being,) Leave it to me!" ?

PS: Btw just to confirm, is it true that the "~ておく" of "放っておく" implies the third meaning?


texts:
Spanish is my mother tongue and I almost can't differentiate じょ and よ sounds.
Maybe the same thing happens to English native speakers. How do you solve that problem in English... is there a common English word that uses the sound じょ and another that uses the sound よ?


texts: When asking for holidays, should I be more polite than usual?

texts:
I saw an colleague's email asking for a few days of vacation, and I was surprised by the ultra-polite level. This colleague is usually on relatively casual terms with the boss, so it was quite unexpected. Selected extracts:

以下の日程で有給休暇を取得したく申請いたします。
PMのXXXさんに許可をいただいております。
以上、よろしくお願いいたします。

Is it usual for Japanese people to add an extra level of politeness when asking for holidays?

I feel I will sound hypocrite if I do the same.

Japanese company, I am the only foreigner.


texts:
I'm trying to find an expression akin to a "gem" in English (as defined by the OALD here):

  This picture is the gem (= the best) of the collection.

While 宝石{ほうせき} is the literal translation of the word, I wonder if there is a word that resembles something that is special in the Japanese Language.

While not the same as "masterpiece", by searching this term I have come across words such as 絶品{ぜっぴん} and 名曲{めいきょく} (this one fitting the object I'm trying to define, since it's music), but I am not sure to what extent they relate to the meaning I'm trying to get from the word nor how common they actually are in the language.


texts: ひとつでもいいからだめな例が当てはまらないものさえほとんどない。-- Deciphering -- triple-negative?

texts:
私は仕事柄、米国系企業のプレスリリースやプレゼンテーション資料の翻訳をよくするのだが、 ひとつでもいいからだめな例が当てはまらないものさえほとんどない。

When you read this part (above) and nothing else,  does it sound like he (the author 私) is saying that the American presentation slides (プレゼンテーション資料 in English) are good, or bad ?

ひとつでもいいからだめな例が当てはまらないものさえほとんどない。

I think such awkward sentences usually result from making longer versions of an earlier, simpler sentences.  But I can't think of an earlier, shorter version.  Can anyone?

Is this a triple-negative? Is it (awkward but) logically correct / precise ?

『スティーブ・ジョブズ 驚異のプレゼン―人々を惹きつける18の法則』  出版社: 日経BP社 (2010/7/15)

■訳者あとがき
本書の翻訳は物欲との戦いだった。欲しくなるのだ。ｉＰｈｏｎｅが、ｉＰｏｄが、そして、マックブックが。
ジョブズのプレゼンテーションはすごい。　. . . . . . （略） . . . . . .
「誰も思いつかなかった世界一のアイデアを思いついても、周りを説得できなければ意味がない」 ― 本書冒頭の言葉である。そういうもったいないことが起きる原因として、著者はわかったようなわからないようなバズワードの羅列などを挙げる。個条書きにいたっては諸悪の根源と手厳しい。私は仕事柄、米国系企業のプレスリリースやプレゼンテーション資料の翻訳をよくするのだが、ひとつでもいいからだめな例が当てはまらないものさえほとんどない。その米国人と比較してプレゼンテーションが下手だと言われるのが我々日本人だ。周りを説得できずにいいアイデアを殺すなどというもったいないことが、きっと、毎日、たくさん起きていることだろう。

＞　個条書きにいたっては諸悪の根源　・・・　個条書きが 「だめな例」 なんなら、プレゼン資料はほぼ全滅だわな。ｗ
 「もったいない」が二回も出てきて、両方とも気持ち悪い。　（１～２時間のうちに消えた回答が凄く参考になりました。　熟読しておいて良かった！）


texts:
On chat, Chocolate helped me find some examples of adjectives produced from verbs using the しい suffix.  In the following examples, it appears to attach directly to the 未然形:

  勇む　　→　　勇ま　＋　しい
      悩む　　→　　悩ま　＋　しい
      喜ぶ　　→　　喜ば　＋　しい
      妬む　　→　　妬ま　＋　しい
      呪う　　→　　呪わ　＋　しい
      慕う　　→　　慕わ　＋　しい
      好む　　→　　好ま　＋　しい
      好む　　→　　好も　＋　しい
      頼む　　→　　頼も　＋　しい

But in these last two examples, there seems to be an extra わ inserted:

  嘆く　　→　　嘆か　＋　わ　＋　しい
      忌む　　→　　忌ま　＋　わ　＋　しい

I can't seem to find a dictionary entry for わ or わしい.  What is this わ?


texts: Difference between Muromachi and Ashikaga

texts: One of my books notes that the Muromachi and Ashikaga Periods, 室町時代 and 足利時代 respectively, can be used to name the same period of time (1333-1568), but I'm lost on what the difference is and when I should use which.


texts: Can a noun + suru have an adjective modify the noun as well?

texts:
”I did some difficult studying last night."

Could I say, "昨夜、難しい勉強しました。”?

Basically, my question is: can an adjective, relative clause, or adjectival phrase modify a noun that has する attached, for example 勉強をする or 勉強する?　And does it make that word or phrase actually adverbial when applied like that?


texts:
Trying to figure out what 譲れない equates to in English. Context is that this is from a manga, and the conversation is:

Character 1: はぁ、相変わらず熱心だなァ。
Character 2: 無論、僕は庭師だからな。庭だけは譲れん。お前も料理に関しては譲れんだろう？それと同じだ。

I'm under the impression that 譲れない means "non-negotiable". However, if I were to use that meaning, in English the above sentence would be something like:

Of course, I'm a gardener after all. Gardening is the one thing I don't negotiate on. You also don't negotiate when it comes to cooking, do you? It's the same as that.

But I feel like I'm missing another meaning for 譲れない as "non-negotiable" in this context doesn't seem to make much sense.


texts: function of そう in the middle of a senctence

texts:
So far I encountered そう (if it doesn't mean "appearing, seeming ...") at the beginning of a sentence most of the time. Lately however, I read two sentences putting it in the middle.

The first sentence is about a guy, who speaks about the time he learned about the new marriage of his ex wife:

  再婚すると聞かされた時、しっとするどころかそう思ってひどく安心したの覚えている。

The other one is about the the same guy learning that his new girlfriend has a child　and wondering where it does live.

  僕も知っているように、今彼女は一人暮らしだ。では、赤ん坊は夫側が引き取ったのかというとそうではない。

Its not so much the meaning of the sentences than the grammatical structure that confuses me. Would be great if someone could clear it a bit up!

  　それに離婚した時、何よりも彼女が二度と僕の顔など見たくないし、息子にも会ってほしくないと言ったのだ。僕はそれを承諾した。新しい結婚相手は僕も知っている男だった。僕と元妻の共通の友人のそのまた友人というところだ。僕との離婚が成立してすぐに再婚話が持ち上がったようだから、別居している間にもう二人は付き合っていたのかもしれない。ルックスはいいとはいえないけれど、誠実で明るい男だ。彼ならきっと大丈夫だ。僕の息子も僕の元妻も大切にしてくれるだろうし、僕が苦手だった彼女の母親ともうまくやっていけるだろう。再婚すると聞かされた…


texts: The expression "but" used twice in row in a sentence

texts:
Why does it look like this sentence is using "but" twice in a row?

  でも、 そうかと言って、 もう一つ下のレべルのクラスだと、 やさしすぎてつまらないと思いますよ。

To my knowledge, でも means "but". On the other hand, my textbook says the phrase "そうかと言って" also translates to "but, still".

Is the sentence being redundant here? If it's not, what kind of "feel" am I suppose to get from this sentence?


texts: Is there a Kanji for the Japanese word イクラ as in salmon roe?

texts:
I can't find anything in the dictionary.

My book gives the word in hiragana but the dictionary also shows katakana.

A quick google revealed that it is a loanword from Russian so katakana seems more appropriate.

But is there a Kanji for this word?


texts: Saying い adjectives without pronouncing the い

texts:
As the title above, why do japanese locals remove theいfrom the いadjective when speaking. For example, I have heard words like 早、やば、高 being used when speaking. Is this only used amongst friends (very casual), or can it also be used in formal situations?

I know that removing the い from the adjective and appending a さ turns the adjective into a noun. But if さ is not appended, will it stay as a verb, rather then bring turned into a noun?


texts:
Nihongo no mori states that before 際 you can use either a "dictionary form" verb or a "-ta form" verb. How does this influence the meaning of the phrase?

Nihongo no mori gives the following sentence as an example:

東京へ来た際は、ぜひ私に連絡してください。

But, can I also say next sentence?

東京へ来る際は、ぜひ私に連絡してください。

If so, what is the difference between those two?


texts:
What's the difference in using くれば and くれれば? For example:

教えてくれば感謝
教えてくれれば感謝

They both mean exactly the same thing. I am assuming くれれば is really くれる conjugated to it's if form, but isn't くれば also the same?


texts: What is the difference between あお and あおい?

texts:
I know あおい means "blue (adj.)" and あお means "the color blue". What does "blue (adj.)" mean? Like "I am feeling blue?"

Note
I have just started with Japanese. I am on first column of Hiragana. I did do google search but I wasn't able to understand the answers that come up.


texts: What is the difference between 「でがす」 and 「です」？

texts:
Here is the sentence I came across the word 「でがす」.

とりあえず　これはアッシからのおみやげでがす。 受け取っておくんなせえ。

I'm not sure if it is an archaic form of the copula「です」. Is there any nuance between them?


texts: Could you please check the translation of my English sentence into Japanese?

texts:
My sentence: Most nights, when I'm asleep, I'll suddenly wake up and experience (an episode of) sleep paralysis. Seeing things that don't actually exist, and hearing voices, while your body is paralyzed is terrifying. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis before?
My attempt: ほとんどの夜、寝ている時にふと目覚めて金縛りを感じます。自分の体が麻痺しながら存在しないものを見えて声を聞こえるのは怖いですよ。金縛りを感じたことがありますか。
That's what I'm trying to say, but I couldn't figure out how to use 金縛り in a sentence, and I was unable to find any example sentences. Would it be better to say 「自分の体が麻痺する時」instead of「自分の体が麻痺しながら」or would there be a better way to express this?
Would someone possibly be able to help make my Japanese sentence reflect the meaning of my English sentence? I know my attempt is probably way off, so I'm hoping for someone who is more experienced to see this. I would also really appreciate it if you could point out my mistakes as it will help me learn. Thank you in advance to anyone who can lend me their support!


texts:
一秒として同じ姿を保っていない

I get the feeling it means something like "Not even for a second" but what exactly does this として do?


texts: とし in this sentence, among other problems

texts:
I was trying to translate this song (full lyrics here: http://vocadb.net/S/87131 )
and I'm having a lot of trouble with these two lines:

  混沌に鎖されし　喪服纏った我を　蝕む右手の薔薇
  宿命とし　後罪滲む

"Trapped by the chaos, having put on my mourning clothes, a rose in my worm-eaten right hand, I make a decision to blot out my crime (btw 後罪 is pronounced クライム)" is what I could figure out. Mostly I'm confused about とし here. I would think it's a continuative of とする, but the only uses I could find with とする are the typical を~とする and volitional + とする, which doesn't seem to apply here. And I'm not sure if 宿命 (which is pronounced 定め) should even be "decision" or "fate." Literally I could only translate the last line based on context also; as you can see, I'm very confused!

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!


texts: i-adjective specific intensifiers/qualifiers? e.g. 物凄い {ものすごい}

texts:
I noticed that some i-adjectives have specific prefixes that can be used to intensify the quality of the states that are described by the adjectives, similar to "flaming hot", "freezing cold" etc in English. Some examples:

  物{もの}凄{すご}い

  蒸{む}し暑{あつ}い

  膚{はだ}寒{さむ}い

  [容易]{たやす}い

  手{て}厳{きび}しい

  真{ま}新{あたら}しい

With color adjectives, there is 真 which intensifies as well as makes the i-adjectives into na-adjectives:

  真{ま}っ白{しろ}

  真{ま}っ黒{くろ}

  真{ま}っ赤{か}

  真{ま}っ青{さお}

However, there are prefixes that focus rather than intensify the i-adjectives. Examples for 苦しい {くるしい}:

  重{おも}苦{くる}しい = gloomy, heavy (focus on the atmosphere)

  息{いき}苦{ぐる}しい = choking, suffocating (focus on the air)

  寝{ね}苦{ぐる}しい = unable to sleep well (focus on the sleeping/rest)

  見{み}苦{ぐる}しい = ugly (focus on the look)

  狭{せま}苦{くる}しい = cramped (focus on the space)

  堅{かた}苦{ぐる}しい = strict (focus on the flexibility)

So my questions are:

Is there special categories and treatment for these prefixes in Japanese language?
Are there websites/resources/lists where I can look up if a particular i-adjective has an intensifier or not?


texts: Multiple rounds of "continuing action" conjugations

texts:
I got this question from a JPLT quiz app:-

  ドラマを見つづけていたら、朝になってしまいました

I'm guessing it means "As I was watching the drama, it became morning", but noticed both clauses go through the "continuing action" conjugation multiple times. Wouldn't a simpler way of saying that be:-

  ドラマを見つづけたら、朝になりました

What other nuances are being implied here?


texts:
This is a shot from a manga called 飴色{あめいろ}パラドックス by 夏目{なつめ}イサク. I was wondering what dialect the police-man was speaking in?

I know he's in 田舎{いなか}/東北{とうほく} as that's all the mangaka specifies, but I was wondering if it was a specific dialect. Thanks!


texts: Can "ので" be used to give the reason after that the consequence is mentioned?

texts:
I've been told that it's correct with this example:

  遅れちゃった、寝過ごしたので

But I don't understand why it's used like this because ので is the conjunctive form of のです so it's used to connect the sentence with the result after (I know that the result can be omitted) but it's not anymore logic if the result is given before, why not simply use のです in this case ?


texts: The title explains it all. I think that one would say (mind you I'm just starting out, so I will write everything in hiragana) わたしはとりがながめるのすきです。Would that be correct? Or am I totally wrong, and if so, how do you actually say it?


texts: Are there any differences between だんだんと and だんだん?

texts:
I found だんだんと in this sentence but I'm not sure how it's different from だんだん?
女は毎日働いたので、だんだんと元気がなくなっていました。
(Source)


texts: What does 「とある」 mean in these sentences?

texts:
The following sentence appears in this video at around 7 min:

教科書の中でキツツキは木に穴をあけるとありましたが、一秒間のうちに何回どんどんどんどんってできるでしょうか？

The follwing sentence appears in this answer:

"メニューには売り切れとある" (menu says [it is] sold out.)

I want to know what do 「と」 and 「ある」 mean in these sentences?
In this Japanese dictionary, 「とある」 got a meaning:
according to; reads; reading; is written; says; states. Abbreviation, See also と書いてある

but, how does it abbreviate from と書いてある?


texts: Was "The Tale of Genji" really written completely or almost completely in hiragana?

texts:
My question is about the script of Genji Monogatari. It is easy to find many anecdotal claims that it was written in hiragana, and that this is explained by Chinese characters considered unsuitable for women to study and use at the time.

However, I ran into difficulty trying to establish if there's an actual scholarly consensus about this. The statements in English-language books - I can't read Japanese - about the history of Japanese seem more cautious; as a typical example, Bjarke Frellesvig in "A History of the Japanese Language" says that 10-11th centuries begat a large body of monogatari literature, "much of which was written in hiragana". At the same time, he mentions other genres, such as setsuwa tales, that employed the mixed kanji/kana style in the same period.

If I understand correctly, the earliest surviving manuscripts of Genji monogatari date from the 13th century, and are in mixed kanji/kana style, which might of course be due to the fact that it became standard by that time. I imagine that the question of how the original manuscript had been written has been intensely studied. Is there a consensus about whether it did or did not employ a nontrivial number of Chinese characters? If there is one, what is it based on? (e.g. maybe there are surviving period manuscripts of other monogatari writings all in hiragana, or unambiguous references to the script of Genji monogatari in some other writing from the period).


texts:
My question is: has anyone else ever experienced the following situation?

Several times I've used Japanese words or phrases that I learned from movies in actual conversations with Japanese people, but they either correct me or look confused. When I hear a word in a movie that I don't know, I assume it is something most native speakers use, so  I learn that word. For example, I learned the word 完全主義者 in a movie recently, and I tried using it in conversations with two different Japanese people. Both of them corrected me with 完璧主義者. As far as I can tell, both words essentially mean 'perfectionist'.  Of course I know that the normal word is 完璧主義者 but why would they actually correct me if both words mean the same thing?

Has this ever happened you? Do you think there is a difference between movie Japanese and real conversational Japanese?


texts:
What's the meaning of "つくってゆしゅつしてます" here?

A：はじめに、ぱくさんのかいしゃのこと、おしえてもらえませんか。
B：いいですよ、うちのかいしゃは、いろいろなきかいをつくってゆしゅつしてます。せかいじゅうにししゃがあるんですよ。


texts: What does 「学校が学校」, 「年が年」and such mean exactly?

texts:
So I came across this sentence when reading "Kokoro" by Natsume Souseki:

  ...友達は中国のある資産家の息子で金に不自由のない男であったけれども、学校が学校なのと年が年なので、生活の程度は私とそう変りもしなかった。

And a translation says:

  ...My friend was from a wealthy family in the Central Provinces, and had no financial worries. But being a young student, his standard of living was much the same as my own.

which shows that the pattern "AがA" expresses something along the lines of "regarding A", "considering A". Am I wrong?

I wonder if there are any rules or restrictions in this use, as well as any possible indications and nuances. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank your in advance!

The full book:
http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000148/files/773_14560.html

(I'm not native English speaker and this is my first question here (geez, I'm nervous!) so, I'm sorry if there're any mistakes or confusions in my question.)


texts:
とっさにシートに触ってみたら、ぞっとする程冷たかった。

Does the structure in bold mean: "I have immediately tried to touch the seat"?


texts: What would be the most commonly used and understood term for copulation? (i.e sex)

texts: I know there are a lot of ways to say it, but what is the most commonly used form?


texts: Syntactic structure of "what is something which is done"

texts:
What is this sentence syntactic structure?

お国では何語を話すのですか。

If what the sentence is all about is "which language", why does the action verb ("to talk") need to be nominalized?
I can't clear my mind about what this sentence means literally.


texts: Looking for help sorting out how some verbs work and hopefully a good resource for sorting such things out

texts:
I am having a bit of trouble figuring out which of these is for what; which i have to admit as i am learning more ways to say the same thing then the polite, humble ways to say one or more of those i am getting more and more confused. Ideally i would like a good resource to sift through such examples and clarify which situations belong to which. If you have such a resource i would really appreciate it i will try and piece together my understanding of the "to give" i have in my list.
くれる　this one isn't even give its receive, sender is subject and speaker/recipient is marked with に.
もらう　this one is receive but is the reverse of the particles of くれる
あげる　this one is give for most things with speaker subject and recipient marked with に。
施す this one seems to be used when the speaker is donating to someone/thing speaker is likely the subject followed by に for the recipient.
与える I think this is to award or bestow something on someone of lower standing than yourself. 下さる this says its honorific of to bestow i think its maybe the honorific of あたえる does this means its like bestowing something to someone of higher social standing than the presenter? Like a swordsmith presenting a sword to a samurai or something? 授ける is maybe to bestow or award something of similar social standing but i am not sure.
贈る i think this is used for giving a present
差し上げる appears to be the humble version of あげる but also can be used to graciously offer something?
if i remember correctly it cannot be used like てあげる?
給う is honorific version of something? maybe means to give?
賜る seems to be a way of humbling speaking about something received.
I realize this may look like there is a lot because i am combining receive and give (though my resource lists all as give.) but i have several other such examples that are unclear. if you look at what to use for the English word "clear" or "to hit" you will run into at least as much confusion.


texts:
Typically there is no pluralization in Japanese unless specified. For example:

  この車【くるま】は綺麗【きれい】。
  This car is clean. / These cars are clean.

Does スポーツ work in the same way? Considering the romanized form of スポーツ is supōtsu (sports), which is plural, does the no-plurals rule work backwards? In this case:

  そのスポーツ が好【す】きです！
  I like that sport! / I like those sports!

My guess is that it does, but I want to make sure. Thank you!


texts: Different stroke order in two similar kanji 戚 and 歴

texts:
According to some databases, (see 戚 vs
歴), the order of strokes of the upper part (厂) of the kanji 戚 is different from the same part in 歴. They may have been some historical reasons, but as they look identical now, one should not expect from the writer to write them any different if they are in fact the same. Is it acceptable to write them the same way, or is there any reason why we should not do it?


texts: Does なんて = なんと (いう)?

texts: I know that なんて is a contraction of なんと, but has it also picked up the いう in its meaning? Because なんて means something, and I feel like 何という, which means "something called" (right?) could have just been reduced to なんて because saying "something" is such a common thing to say. Is this right?


texts: What is the difference between 試合 and 競技?

texts: They both mean 'game' or 'contest'. Are they interchangeable or is there a difference?


texts: Questions on the (underlying) meaning of the word お化け

texts:
If ばけもの / ばけもん / お化け can, in general, be understood to mean ghost/apparition/monster, what is the connection to the meaning of 化け, meaning "transform?" (or "transforming one's appearance")

Is it implying a creature transforming its appearance, or the appearance of person transforming from corporal body to ghost, or a combination thereof? (or perhaps it refers to the state of flux that a ghost exists in, or even something theater-related)

I am interested if anyone has any insight as to the etymology of the term and how it came to mean "ghost/monster".

Furthermore, does anyone have an idea if the け of 化け derives from the verb 化ける, or did the noun predate the verb?


texts:
Steven Seagal stars in two TV advertisements for the energy drink アリナミン, as seen here and here. In the first commercial he is shown using martial arts two dispatch his opponents, while in the second he is depicted clinging to the top of a car involved in a police chase. In both ads he looks worn out and the voice-over says 「こう見えても、疲れまんねん」.

Wikipedia gives the example of 行きます becoming 行きまんねん on the 大阪弁 page, so 疲れまんねん presumably corresponds to 疲れます in 標準語.

How commonly is ~まんねん used? This answer from Yahoo! 知恵袋 suggests it's rare - if this is so, are the Seagal ads trying to portray a certain image by using this pattern?


texts: How many times should 「お」 and 「ご」 be used in a sentence?

texts:
In this Chiebukuro question about whether it should be ご心配無用 or 心配ご無用, one answerer says the following:

  「ご」とか「お」で丁寧とか尊敬とかを表す場合、
  一番最後のものにだけつけておけば
  全体にかかると言われているようです。
  たとえば
  「住所氏名年齢職業を”お”書きのうえ」とかです。
  ご住所 おなまえ お歳 ご職業 などとは言わないそうです。

Quick translation:

  When you add 「ご」 or 「お」 to show politeness/respect, if you just stick it on the last thing it will work on the whole sentence.
  For example we say: 「住所氏名年齢職業をお書きのうえ」 rather than ご住所お名前お歳ご職業...

This got me thinking about the topic of how many times to use 「お」 and 「ご」  in a sentence. For example, I've always wondered why it's not ご設定 in the following common train announcement:

  優先席付近では携帯電話の電源をお切り下さい。それ以外の場所では、マナーモードに設定の上、通話はお控え下さい。

Similarly, on the buses where I live, it's:

  [...]マナーモードに設定の上、通話はご遠慮下さい。

But, on the other hand, I've seen plenty of sentences like this before:

  電源をお切りいただくか、マナーモードにご設定の上、ご使用をお控えください。(source)

So I want to ask:
・Are there any prescriptive rules (from 文化庁 for example) that govern how many times to use 「お」「ご」 in a sentence?
・And how do people actually decide how many times to use 「お」「ご」 in a sentence?


texts: What is the difference between 意味 and 意義?

texts: I have learned (意味) and (意義）as "meaning". I am confused these two words. Are they same or is there any difference in usage?


texts: I want a tattoo meaning Fate/Destiny please help me out

texts:
I've seen Unmei (運命) Which apparently means destiny that can be changed by your will.
and Shukumei (宿命) meaning destiny that is pre written and cant be changed.
Are these correct or is there any other word that means Destiny/Fate that guides us.
Please help me out thanks very much


texts: How to ask "What are the necessary things to bring?"

texts:
I am going on to WWOOF in Hokkaido soon (a programme where you help out at a cafe/pension/farm in exchange for room). Kind of like a working holiday.

I am just starting to learn Japanese so the following part is rather beyond me at the moment:--

I would like to ask/check with my host via email what I need to bring there, and I also want to state some examples, for e.g. (i) do I need to bring my own toiletries such as shampoo and conditioner, washing powder  (ii) whether any special work clothes or items are needed, such as gloves, aprons etc. Basically what things I should bring there.

How should I ask these questions in Japanese politely?
Is it something like:

  何か必要なものを持っていますか？
  たとえば　せんざいとシャーワのアイテムなど、そしてほかの必要な物など？

I appreciate if you could include romaji translation to help me read the kanji easier (also for me to learn to read that word). Gomen nasai >_<

P.S.
If you could think of other things I should ask my host, or how I should end the email politely, feel free to include the extra phrases here :)


texts:
このアカウントをフォローして、写真や動画をチェックしよう。

Why was しよう used instead of して？

I was thinking して because it appears to be a request.


texts: Is there a reason why the passive and the potential form are identical (at least for える/いる verbs)?

texts:
Is there a reason why the passive and the potential form in Japanese are identical (at least for える/いる verbs)? I mean, does one etymologically derive from the other? Or were they perhaps modelled on a similar original form? If so, how does the え form for other (non-える/いる) verbs fit in?

Thank you,

Yair


texts:
An exchange goes like this 「from 第三夢」:

A「どうも盲目は不自由でいけないね」と云った。
B「だから負おぶってやるからいいじゃないか」
A「負ぶって貰もらってすまないが、どうも人に馬鹿にされていけない。親にまで馬鹿にされるからいけない」

I thought the first [subordinate] clause ended at 馬鹿にされる, so compound particle にまで (?) would apply to 馬鹿にされる to mean "even my father makes a fool of me", before the sub.conjunction から followed by いけない [main clause] to show speaker's discontent at 親にまで馬鹿にされる.
Something like

I don't like that even my father looks down on me.

However, the English translation goes:

And I particularly do not like being looked down on by my own father.

This means 親にまで applies to いけない instead of 馬鹿にされる, leading to a totally different translation. This implies から here must be a particle (??) instead of a conjunction.
What's going on here?
In simple terms, do I look at it as

[親にまで馬鹿にされる]からいけない
or [親にまで馬鹿にされるからいけない]

And why?


texts:
What does テラス means in the context of declining an invitation, like below?

  うううううう！！いきたい！けどその時間帯もろに仕事だ：：：またやって！！テラスーーーーー

I guess it is slang?

I am familiar with テラワロス but it seems different in both spelling and context.

More context: Public comment sent on a night-time birthday event page on a social network. テラス is not her nickname.


texts: Differences in meaning of using へ, に, or で in marking locations.

texts:
in "明日、姉とデパート＿買い物に行きます。"
why is へ favoured over で in my workbook?
If i ask myself the question "明日は、何をする" Can i answer it with "買い物に行く" and make ”デパート”　an incidental location? That was how i justified my choice of "で"

To justify the choice of へ, I tried to reason like this:

If "デパート" is the domain for which "買い物に行く" is true, it would make no sense because there would be no "行く"-ing to be done. "買い物に行く" would only make sense if my domain is outside of "デパート". If my domain cannot be "デパート", I cannot use で to mark it.Am i right?

Is デパートに買い物に行きます grammatically correct? If it is grammatically correct, then how is it different from the case where へ is used?

To distinguish them, I tried to reason like this:

I'm interpreting the case where へ is used to mean "I'm going to the store to shop (but it does not mean all the shopping is going to be done there since へ only ever indicates direction)" and the case of に to mean "I'm going to the store to shop (and only the store which i mentioned will the shopping be done)"

Or is it just a simple case of "degree of politeness", and for both cases they mean the same thing just that when へ is used, it's more polite by virtue of referring to the location more indirectly than if に were used?


texts: What word is a good replacement for から used as "because" in informal speech?

texts: What word should I use in informal speech for connecting cause and effect just like から does in polite form?


texts: Slip of the mouth instead of a slip of the tongue?

texts:
This sentence is in my JLPT textbook:

  つい舌{した}がすべってしまい、うそがばれてしまった。

I thought that it meant something like, "with an unintentional slip of the tongue, my lie was exposed." However, the sentence is marked as being an incorrect usage of すべる, and it doesn't explain why.

I know that one can say つい口{くち}がすべる, which in English I would equate with "a slip of the tongue," to accidentally say something one didn't intend to say.

In Japanese, is it only mouths that slip, not tongues?

(A helpful answer would not only confirm this with a yes or no, but ideally offer a little insight on how 口{くち} and 舌{した} differ in metaphorical terms.)


texts:
「使徒になってもらったけど、私はアヴァロのことまだ全然知らないなぁって思って」
  「そうだなぁ。まだ知り合ったばっかりだし仕方ないんじゃないか？」

These are some lines from a game I'm currently playing. Does the second line mean "There's still a lot to find out about each other[...]", まだ知り合った being an implicit negative? Thank you in advance.


texts: Why is the potential form of 滑る 滑れる and not 滑られる？

texts: For る-verbs we usually drop る and replace it with られる but I noticed this exception?


texts: How are 化け物, 妖怪, 幽霊, etc. related to each other?

texts:
In the past few years, reading light novels and the like, I have come across many different terms for ghosts, spirits, monsters, etc. in Japanese, and I'm wondering how they relate to each other. What are the differences? Is there some kind of Venn diagram that illustrates this? An article that describes the differences maybe? Your help is appreciated.

I will list all of the words that I've heard that fit into this category, in no particular order. I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I can recall.

  化け物（ばけもの）/ お化け（おばけ）
  妖怪（ようかい）
  怪物（かいぶつ）/ 怪獣（かいじゅう）
  魑魅魍魎（ちみもうりょう） (I particularly liked this one)
  怪異（かいい）
  幽霊（ゆうれい）
  鬼（おに）
  変化（へんげ）

First Update: I've grouped synonyms as suggested in the answers below, and added one more.

The answers below provide quite a bit of information, but also leave quite a bit unanswered. In @Kafka Fuura's response, 「怪異」 is defined as 「化け物」 or 「変化」 -- so is it an umbrella term, or are these all actually synonyms?

Additionally, 「魑魅魍魎」 are described as 怪物, but then are further defines as "various types of 化物". Does that mean that 怪物 are a subset of 化け物?

I guess what I was wondering is how these groups inter-relate with each other. Can anybody tell me what the taxonomy of these groups is, or at the very least provide some sort of reference which does so (even in Japanese)*?

* One possible such reference is the novel 魍魎の匣, suggested by @Kafka Fuura, but I'd prefer something more detailed.

Second Update: Since my last update, I have come across more information which is relevant to this question, specifically, The Kaii-Youkai Denshou Database.

According to their introduction, 妖怪 are supernatural creatures (examples given include kappa and tengu), while 怪異 are essentially unexplained, strange phenomena. They also say earlier in the introduction that the terms もののけ, 化け物, 変化, etc. are words which were used to refer to 妖怪 and 怪異. So is it safe to say that these two are umbrella terms which encompass everything else?


texts: Can ている be used for stating activities that are not being performed habitually

texts:
I was going through ている, and a question popped up in my that, whether ている be used to denote those acts that are being expressed that haven't been performed habitually?
ている, as we know, can express habitual things e.g. 私は毎日新聞を読んでいる (meaning I read newspaper daily)
Can ている be expressed to show that I don't perform an act habitually (lets say I don't do something daily, weekly etc.) E.g. 私は毎日新聞を読んでいない?
Thank You


texts: Is there a general counter word for objects that you can fallback on if you're not sure which one to use?

texts:
I guess we could use the native Japanese numbers, 一つ, 二つ, 三つ...but we'd run into a problem at or after ten (not sure how とお works — same for はたち).

Is there a general counter word that we can fallback on? For example, if something is mechanical I'd probably fallback on 台 (だい), if it's flat 枚 (まい). For more general objects like 11 motorcycle helmets, or 15 packs of cigarettes, or 24 clothes hangers, could I fallback on something?


texts: How can I say "even today" or "even now"?

texts:
I would like to say "even today" or "even now".

I want to talk about Japanese culture and customs. Would it be something like:

  今日まで日本の中でたくさんしゅうかんで、文化があります。

I want it so say something like "even now or even today there are many customs and cultures in Japan." but I am having trouble saying it.


texts: The use of passive voice to describe the Emperor's activities

texts:
The Imperial Palace gardens were opened to the public recently  to celebrate the Emperor's 80th birthday. Can someone confirm the use of the passive voice in the following sentence on the subject in context of using the passive form to show respect and addressing the Emperor？（see note below).

  この特別公開は、天皇陛下が昨年１２月２３日に８０歳の傘寿を迎えられた記念として実施されたもの。

Or, in other words, is the passive voice used here to show respect to the Emperor and aren't people supposed to use more elevated language to refer to his activities, or at least お迎えになる which I think is more honorific than the passive?

Note: example of normal use of 迎える：20歳の誕生日を迎える＝celebrate one's twentieth birthday


texts:
For context: my language partner wrote me back and she explained to me in Japanese the use and grammar behind "て-form + いる" in the context of one's personal past.

The sentence in question (including some pretext):

  「 大学の勉強の間、移住者の子供にドイツ語を教えるアルバイトをしています」
  について考えてみましょう。

  アンドレアスさんが言っているのは、「経験・経歴を表すテイル形」のことだと思います。

My attempt at translation of the bold part:

  "Concerning what Andreas said, I think it is 'experience/personal history revealing TAIL-FIGURE'".

This "Tail-figure" doesn't make much sense, at least to me since I have no idea what it is supposed to tell me...^^

I would be happy if someone could elaborate :=)


texts: When does a suru-noun require し in front of a purposive-に?

texts:
According to Chocolate's comment to a question, some suru-nouns can be followed by the purposive に directly, but others require (the stem of) する in between.

  　面会しに行く
  　面会に行く
  　料理しに行く
  × 料理に行く

Other examples that Chocolate gives are:

  　{観光/謝罪/調査/返却/回収/撮影/報告/面会}に{行く/来る}
  × {雑談/読書/料理}に{行く/来る}

When can a suru-noun be used directly before the purpose-に without (the stem of) する?


texts: How to say "within" / "in the context of"/ "as a part of"?

texts:
Many times I have interchanged the English phrase "in frames of" into Japanese "~の一環｛いっかん}として" or "~の一環で". Although not so long ago I have noticed, that it is not as natural expression in Japanese... could you please tell some better way, in which I should express this English phrase? I will also write some examples:

入社手続き{にゅうしゃてつづき}の一環として
within/in the context of/ as a part of formalities related to entering the company
是正措置｛ぜせいそち}の一環として :
within/in the context of/ as a part of  corrective measures
日系企業｛にっけいきぎょう}での実習｛じっしゅう}の一環として
within/in the context of/ as a part of  practice in Japanese company

Sorry for any confusion and thank you for your kind support.


texts:
I came across the sentence  「宇宙KOMAなりき」in a Dragon Ball song. The context is like this:

回り磁極踊れば
大地も空も
世界は巡る
宇宙KOMAなりき

The song lyrics are here: http://www.kget.jp/lyric/112532/KOMA_CHIHO

What can possibly mean なりき? My first guess was that it came from a verb (なりく？？) or be a な+Noun pattern. Or even なり＋気. What do you guys think?


texts: When can "~たがる" not be used in a continuous tense?

texts:
I always place verbs with the "~たがる" ending (called a helping verb?) in the present continuous, or past continuous state:
行きたがっている。
食べたがっていた。

I am having trouble with using the non-continuous tenses (行きたがる、食べたがった) to express myself. The meaning of "~たがる", as I understand it, lends itself too much to being in a continuous state of "wanting to do something" or "having wanted to do something".

I kind of see my strategy as always using the continuous tenses to express myself. And, if I ever hear the non-continuous tenses, then I can understand (but, I cannot remember ever hearing the usage of a non-continuous tense).

Examples of when "~たがる" cannot be used in a continuous tense (the "~たがっている" and "~たがっていた" continuous tenses) would be very helpful to me.


texts:
目覚めは、唐突なものだった。
否、それが果てして一般的な『目覚め』に当たるのかどうかは議論を呼ぶところではあったのだけれど。
とにかく、狂三は意識を取り戻した。即座に周囲の状況を確認する。

Source: Date a live, novel
Context: 狂三 had transformed her current consciousness to her past body with her power and just woke up.
As far as I know, the construction 「verb(る)+ところ」has three usages.

電話が鳴った時、私は家に帰るところだった。(be about to do)
この字は赤で書くところだった。(should)
すんでのことで川に落ちてしまうところでした。(almost ... to some degree or result)

I’m not sure which usage apply to the ところ in the excerpt. Is it no.2? Or the ところ has other usages?


texts: translation for "It serves as a good reminder for me"?

texts:
After I've say watched a film with some friends (or read a fable or something) and learned something from it, i want to say "It [the teachings of this fable/film] serves as a good reminder for me". I'm wondering is there a phrase in japanese which conveys this meaning?

If not could I say this: 僕にとって良いリマインダとして提供してる。?

Or will it sound awkward (like a non-native speaker)?

If so what are the alternatives?


texts: "Arigatō" and "gozaimasu" combined into a single word?

texts:
In Japan for three years, and I've noticed that the locals often sound like they're combining the two words "arigatō" and "gozaimasu" into a single word, "arigatōzaimasu".

Am I hearing things (possible, as they speak very quickly), or is this a common practice?


texts:
I am trying to learn the readings for various words that include 月, and am having a hard time remembering when to use がつ or げつ for the on'yomi readings.

The month names, 一月、二月、etc all use がつ, as far as I can tell.
何月 uses がつ, but 毎月 uses the げつ reading.  Is there a pattern or principle governing which reading is used, or is this a matter of rote memory?


texts:
I've encountered sentences like this several times:

たしかに村での戦闘の直接の原因はその……ギアが不時着したことかもしれない

The literal translation would be: "Certainly, the direct cause of the battle in the village might be......that Gear that made an emergency landing". But it doesn't make sense. It's either "certainly" or "might be". How should I translate this?


texts: Potential forms of verbs that have gained a spontaneous meaning (e.g., 泣ける)

texts:
English
I was thinking about the word 泣ける and how it has a usage where it's not really a potential — in particular its usage where it gets used to mean something was moving and caused the speaker to cry.
Pulling up the definition in 明鏡, there's the following:

な・ける【泣ける】
〔自下一〕
①〔「泣く」の可能形〕泣くことができる。
　　「悲しくとも泣くにー・けない」
②〔①から〕感動のあまり涙が出てくる。また、泣きたくなるほど感動する。
　　「ひとりでにー・けてくる」
　　「ー話じゃないか」

This entry suggests that the etymology is indeed from the potential form, and it's not that there was originally an intransitive verb with this meaning.
I was curious if there are any other verbs where the potential form can be used with this sort of spontaneous (自発) intransitive meaning, or otherwise more information about this phenomenon.
(This is slightly reminiscent of 見える and 聞こえる, but those are not standard potential forms and were formed much longer ago than this usage of 泣ける.)
Japanese
「泣ける」という言葉について考えていたら、本来の可能の意味の他に、可能の意味があまり入っていない使い方もあることに気付きました。明鏡では②です。

な・ける【泣ける】
〔自下一〕
①〔「泣く」の可能形〕泣くことができる。
　　「悲しくとも泣くにー・けない」
②〔①から〕感動のあまり涙が出てくる。また、泣きたくなるほど感動する。
　　「ひとりでにー・けてくる」
　　「ー話じゃないか」

この項目から考えると、②の語源は「泣く」の可能形であって、別の自動詞に由来しているわけではないようです。
こういった自発っぽい意味を持った可能動詞は他にもあるでしょうか。またはこの現象について何か情報はあるでしょうか。
（「見える」や「聞こえる」も思い出されますが、「見る」と「聞く」の一般的な可能形ではないことと、昔から使われている動詞だという点で少し違うかなと思いました。）


texts: Japanese dictionary with IPA pronunciations

texts: Is there a reasonably complete dictionary of Japanese that includes IPA pronouncing keys? I can find plenty of sites with audio files, but I'd like to be sure I'm getting the phonemes exactly right.


texts:
Yamato and Takeo are discussing why their friend Suna is acting strange lately and Yamato suggests that Suna may be lonely.
I heard this expression a lot lately and was wondering what it could mean.


texts: Can homophonic kanji (in this case 怨 and 恨) be used purely to avoid repetition?

texts:
I came across this sentence in 雁:

  一体お玉の持っている悔やしいと云う概念には、世を怨み人を恨む意味が甚だ薄い。

My understanding is that 恨, unlike 怨, can convey not only resentment but also regret. My questions are the following:

(1) Does 恨 carry anything like this connotation in the context of "人を恨む"? Does "人を恨む" express something less aggressive than "人を怨む"?

(2) Are two different kanji for うらむ used here simply to avoid repeating kanji within a short span of text? If so, does this practice generally nullify the particular connotations of the homophonic kanji in question? For example, if 恨 were used purely to avoid repetition, could it ever connote regret, or would it only express resentment?


texts:
The sentence below is from an essay. I'm confused about the grammatical components of "夫の働きいいように" ("to make the husband's work easy") — shouldn't there be a が just after 働き, or is it being casually omitted? Usually が isn't the type of particle to be casually omitted, and this is a professionally written essay. Or am I understanding the whole structure wrong?

子どもを産み、育て、家事をやり、夫の働きいいようにとりしきるのが主婦でした。


texts: 山には多く雪があります。 what does ”は” after ”に” mean?

texts: Why can't I say ”山に多い雪があります”? What does ”は” after ”に” mean?


texts:
The words 頑な{かたくな} (na-adjective, "stubborn") and 固い{かたい} (i-adjective, "hard" or "stubborn") sound similar and have a similar meaning. I was thinking if these words are related to each other through some conjugation that has lost its meaning over time.

I think 「固く{かたく}な」 would be ungrammatical, but it still reads 「かたくな」. I don't recall seeing other na-adjectives that consist of i-adjective continuative form + な (and another な when modifying the following noun). Maybe it is just a coincidence that these words resemble each other.

The only similar "word class" I can think of are words like 「小さい」 →「小さな」and 「大きい」→「大きな」 but they consist of i-adjective stem + な. They are also rentaishi and not na-adjectives.

Are these words related to each other? If not, what is 「かたくな」 based on?


texts: What is the difference between 見える【みえる】／聞こえる【きこえる】 and 見られる【みられる】／聞ける【きける】?

texts:
In Japanese, there is a potential form to express that it's possible for something to be done.
My own examples of potential form:

辛【から】い食【た】べ物【もの】が食【た】べられる。 (I can eat spicy foods.)
ギターが弾【ひ】ける。　(I can play the guitar.)

But I also know of 見【み】える and 聞【き】こえる. I've heard them used as also meaning it's possible for something to be done (seeing for 見【み】える and hearing for 聞【き】こえる). But this isn't the potential conjugation of the original words, 見【み】る and 聞【き】く. The potential form would be 見【み】られる and 聞【き】ける.
What is the difference between the normal potential form and their "special" forms?


texts: Sentences using humble expressions and multiple verbs

texts:
I was solving exercises from the Genki II workbook when I stumbled upon this sentence: ”私は先生に東京の大学について聞きました”. It had to be changed into a sentence using humble expressions. There appear to be 2 verbs つく and 聞く, so I thought that both of them should be changed. However, according to the answer key, only the latter one should　(to お聞きしました/伺いました). It made me wonder if in sentences with multiple verbs only the main one is changed to the humble speech, and if there are any additional things one should know when making a complex sentence using it (though I might be simply misunderstanding the original sentence).

The textbook doesn't appear to talk about this subject, and I can't seem to find an answer using google (maybe my google-fu is just too weak).


texts: What is the official way to call females/males in the sex sense?

texts:
女&男 both seem age specific since there is a の子 ver for both. So is it safe to say 女性/男性 are what I would say if I was referring to the entire sex regardless of age?
Is that would would be put in officials bills concerning diff sexes?


texts: Why are some words (e.g., 処方箋) sometimes partially written with hiragana?

texts:
Some words with complex Kanji are sometimes written in a mixture of Hiragana and Kanji. For example 処方箋 (prescription) is often written as 処方せん in pharmacies. This is used by native speakers that have clearly received a Japanese education and can read Kanji, yet they still use Hiragana in some cases.

What are the reasons for the use of Hiragana here? Are Japanese people able to read Kanji like 箋? What contexts would they use Hiragana instead? Why is it acceptable to use Hiragana mixed with Kanji but not Katakana?

Is this kind of usage limited specifically to signs in stores that can be read at a distance or is it written in kana in other contexts as well?


texts: おつかれさまでした vs おつかれさまです

texts: I learned おつかれさまでした (otsukaresama deshita) as a form of good bye, used in the office. But I often hear my Japanese colleagues say おつかれさまです (otsukaresama desu) instead, or at least that's what I think I heard. Is the た just silent, somehow? Or if both are valid, what's the difference between the two forms?


texts: Specifying location: Do you use ga/wa and does the word order matter?

texts:
Here are some Japanese sentences:

A)

Uses ga. Subject comes first

  Who is (existing) over there? / Dare-ga asoko-ni imasu ka?
  だれが　あそこに　います　か。

B)

Uses ga. Location comes first

  There is a dog over there. / Asoko-ni inu-ga imasu. あそこに　いぬが　います。

C)

Uses ga. Location comes first

  There are comic books here./ Koko-ni manga-ga arimasu. /
  ここに　まんがが　あります。

D)

Uses wa. Subject comes first

  Where is the hotel (located)? / hoteru wa doko ni arimasu ka

In these sentences, the order of the subject/location is different. The marker also changes (ga & wa).

Is there are rule to follow, or does the order/marker not matter?

I know Japanese makes a difference between imasu and arimasu for animate and non animation subjects. I'm not sure if that affects the marker and word order.


texts:
友達申請をしてくださって、ありがとうございます。

=>"Thank you that you have given the favor of doing a friend request."

What I expressed in my translation is something which usually gives me a lot of trouble when I try to express it in japanese.
Until now, I wasn't aware that て-form is suitable in japanese for the phrase which is expressed through the "that-clause" in my translation.
However, is the construction in the sentence in question always appropriate?
For example:
車の修理をしてくださって、一万円をはらいます。

Is it formal/colloquial? Is it used in both written and oral communication?


texts: Can someone with intimate knowledge of the language break down this phrase "何食べたら大きくれるの"

texts: I know the meaning of this, but I want to understand the structure of it like the grammar/or conjugation used to get that meaning.


texts: What's the difference between 消える and 消え失せる?

texts: In what situations would you use 消え失せる instead of 消える, and 消える instead of 消え失せる?


texts:
I'm working in an IT environment, my supervisor explained that is not "Development rules" in developing/coding. It is about departments in a company...??? Somehow I still not understand.

I looked at another site (https://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E9%96%8B%E7%99%BA%E4%BD%93%E5%88%B6) but unclear too.

This is full sentence:

  開発体制をきちんと整えもっと仕事が進む状況にできればと思っています。

Could anyone explain for me?


texts:
何事も最初は難しく、やがてやさしくなる。
  All things are difficult before they are easy.

I've never seen an い-adjective used in this way (難しく). Would using 難しくて (which is what I would have used) change the meaning of the sentence?


texts: 外来語 (gairaigo) replaced by Japanese word?

texts: Are there cases where gairaigo used in every day speech (パン, アイスクリーム, etc...) have been ousted by native Japanese words?


texts: 名詞の修飾と「～か」・「～かどうか」についての質問

texts:
日本語の名詞を修飾する時、「が」しか使えないでしょう？

例えば、

  私がいつも遊んでいたところはあの川の傍の公園です。
  友達が買ってくれたパソコンはこれだ。

今私の質問は、～か／～かどうか　についてはそういう文法がありますか？？

そして、そういう思いの上で文を書いてみました（英語で同じ意味を表してみました、意味は正しくないなら　是非教えてくださいね）：

  あなたは何をしているかを知っている。 "You know what you are doing."

  あなたが何をしているかを知っている。 "I know what you are doing."

以上の文の意味は違うのでしょう？？　違うのなら何処が違うかを教えてください。

質問が多くてすみません。


texts: Where does the word ダイヤ come from that means "train schedule"?

texts: For the longest time I've been hearing the word ダイヤ and just always assumed it meant "Diamond", but found recently it all means "train schedule".  My question is, what word/language did this word originally come from?