All Questions
0
votes
0answers
5 views
「可能な額を払う」= Pay what you can?
In ALC, I found the following example sentence:
支払可能な額を払う
pay what you can
It's the first time I see the word 額【ひたい】 used in this way and I wonder if this is just a case of mistranslation ...
1
vote
0answers
27 views
Questions on a usage of じゃない
I found this usage of じゃない. Perhaps the translation is too loose in meaning.
A: Is your girlfriend cute?
B: Why wouldn't she be?
A: 君の彼女、かわいい？
B: かわいいに決まってるじゃない。
Does ...
4
votes
1answer
86 views
Is ending question sentences with の really feminine?
In What differences should I look out for between male vs female speech?, a lot of answers explicitly mention that ending question sentences with の is feminine.
However, this makes very little sense ...
5
votes
2answers
110 views
How is the Kanji of 口実 related to the meaning?
口実
noun:
excuse; pretext
Literally translated it seems to mean mouth-truth.
Most excuses seem to avoid the truth, so what is the logic here?
1
vote
2answers
80 views
What's the meaning of しない as in …するしない？
My textbook contains the following sentence
参加するしないにかかわらず、必ず返事を葉書で出してください。
(Regardless of whether you participate or not, kindly make sure to RSVP by postcard.)
as an example of the expression ...
3
votes
1answer
74 views
Which readings were changed in the 2010 Jouyou kanji reform?
I'm looking for pointers on which readings (on/kun) were changed in the 2010 reform. By that I mean which kanji has additional readings and which kanji has had one or more readings removed? Is there a ...
5
votes
1answer
126 views
Terms for Royalty
Why are there so many terms for royalty? And I'm talking about generic words like "king", "queen", etc. I seem to remember from my studies that certain terminology was used specifically for Japanese ...
6
votes
1answer
118 views
What's the difference between 心, 念, and 意?
I can say that after much research on this, I'm more thoroughly confused than before I started. I'm talking mostly about when they are used as suffixes, but the concept applies when they stand alone, ...
6
votes
2answers
212 views
Encountered な with ten-ten
I am currently reading a manga for studying Japanese and encountered something strange. A girl exclaims「な゛?!」
The situation is that she has just had water squirted up her nose, so I am guessing it's ...
2
votes
0answers
141 views
How important is gendered language in reality? [closed]
Many people say that gendered language is especially important in Japanese. To a point, I can understand this, but only to a certain distance. For example, if I (Fe/male) were to say 'Wow, that show ...
0
votes
0answers
79 views
1
vote
1answer
85 views
Question about subject
I cannot understand what is the subject in the following sentences, mainly in the second one 「迂闊に手が出せなくなった・・・・・・」. Is it 「強力な力を持った天魔には」 ? Something like 強力な力を持った天魔には迂闊に手が出せなくなったのも、当然というものだろう。 ?
...
1
vote
1answer
144 views
Use of はじめて and どれだっけ?
I don't really know where to ask for help, usually I got the meaning of a sentence on my own but, well this sentence is giving me a hard time, it seems easy but I can't figure out what's the use of ...
6
votes
2answers
182 views
Questions with some usages of で
From my understanding, "で" have many different usages in Japanese. I have some questions regarding the following particular uses of で. It would be very helpful if someone could also come up with other ...
1
vote
2answers
68 views
What verb is in 覚えてみたい?
I found this YouTube comment:
きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅとっても可愛い〜(*ﾉ∀ﾉ)ダンスとか覚えてみたいと思いまーすww
I'm not sure how to parse 覚えてみたい. The context seems to make it have nothing to do with 覚る, and in any case the え 送り仮名 ...
2
votes
1answer
87 views
“Cleaning”: [掃除]{そうじ} vs. [清掃]{せいそう}
Mostly I've seen 掃除 "souji" for "cleaning". Here recently I noticed an anime had a floor-sign for "closed for cleaning" using 清掃 "seisou". What's the difference?
Looking at the kanji didn't help ...
6
votes
1answer
157 views
“Reason”: [事由]{じゆう} vs. [理由]{りゆう}
What's the difference between 事由 "jiyuu" and 理由 "riyuu"? Both are translated to mean "reason", as in why something happened.
I even noticed in Tae Kim's Grammar Guide that both words are listed, and ...
3
votes
2answers
137 views
への対へ/に-Difference between への and へ/に
This is actually following a recently asked question on how to say "for."
I thought that saying あなたに私の愛 sounded perfectly fine - "toward you, my love."
However another user changed it to あなたに対する愛, ...
9
votes
3answers
207 views
Addressing a friend's parents when meeting them for the first time
I have met the parents of a close Japanese friend two times in my life and have never been sure how I should address them. Both times I've asked the friend beforehand but never got a satisfactory ...
2
votes
1answer
92 views
How to say “for”
I will use a specific example.
I was trying to write "My love for you is hurting me."
"私の愛ために貴方は私を傷つけている。" Is what I came up with, however, I am unsure about the usage of "ために" in this situation.
...
5
votes
1answer
112 views
What is the correct way to say 小さい『つ』?
This is a two part question.
1.) When spelling out a word in kana, what is the correct way to call the small つ (for example the small っ in ちっちゃい)?
I only have experience with my Japanese friends ...
0
votes
1answer
106 views
Typing Japanese text from images or clothing
Is there a way of typing Japanese characters when you have no knowledge of the language? I've cut and pasted from Japanese websites before and used translation websites from English to Japanese with ...
3
votes
1answer
87 views
Help translating this japanese sentence please?
I really really need help with this sentence I have tried everything but I don't get its structure and how to translate it so I'd appreciate if someone could help please?
オレ一人 ore hitori
...
1
vote
0answers
143 views
キリンとゾウ：どっちが大きい？ [closed]
My Japanese colleagues are having a heated debate about which animal is the most 大きい : giraffe or elephant?
Both sides have their arguments (height/volume), so is it entirely a matter of personal ...
5
votes
4answers
239 views
What's the most appropriate negative potential form for this situation?
This morning my co-worker asked me if I wanted some coffee. I said, "No thanks, I can't drink coffee because it upsets my stomach." I was thinking of how I'd say this in Japanese, but I'm not sure ...
5
votes
1answer
212 views
Why is 〜に受かる used to mean “to pass”?
I'm having trouble understanding why 〜に受かる means "to pass". What would the equivalent logic in English be for this phrase? (Something like the intransitive form of receive?)
Also, why is the particle ...
0
votes
1answer
150 views
Can 助動詞(auxiliary verbs) be used with other 助動詞?
I've been learning about these for awhile, but everything I've seen them used in doesn't use more than 1 at a time. Is there a reason for that?
Also my materials don't really explain the subtleties ...
4
votes
2answers
130 views
The differences between 速さ, 早さ, and 速度
I was emailing a friend and used the phrase "タイピングすることの早さ" which I discovered was very incorrect. I did some searching on Google and here is what I discovered:
タイピングの速度 <-rare
タイピング速度 ...
5
votes
1answer
98 views
Can ご存じです function as a transitive verb?
I recently got an automated email from Twitter with the following subject (except with real user names):
username さん、username さん、username さんをご存じですか?
My question is about を paired with ご存じですか. ...
1
vote
1answer
144 views
What is the meaning of “beta”?
Can somebody please explain what "beta" means in the following sentence:
Tsugi no mokutekichi wa beta da keredo, Shikago.
3
votes
1answer
196 views
Why should we use 世界で and not 世界に for 日本で一番高い山は富士山です
Why do we always use で in the following situations? 日本で一番寒い月は二月です。 日本で一番高い山は富士山です。 Why can`t we use use に here? There is no action in these sentences yet we use で,rather we are indicating the place of ...
2
votes
3answers
209 views
Japanese construction verb+noun, how do I interpret it. I am confused!
A) lets take just transitive verbs first:
食べる人
食べられる人
B) now lets take intransitive verbs:
起きる人
起きられる人
起こす人
起こされる人
OK, this thing has confused me for a very long time now, like really long. ...
2
votes
1answer
170 views
Who are Mrs. Fuji and Mrs. Gas?
Is there any etymological relationship between the -さん suffix in 富士山 or 月山 and the -さん suffix you put at the end of a person's name? Or are they unrelated?
7
votes
1answer
123 views
What's the difference between ぜひ and きっと when inviting someone to do something?
You can say for example
ぜひパーティーにいらしてね
そのうちまた是非お出かけください
「今晩お伺いしてもいいですか」「ぜひどうぞ」
and
きっと来てくださいね
きっと訪ねて来てください
I would translate both ぜひ and きっと in these sentences with "by all means", but I'm ...
4
votes
3answers
259 views
Why use あんなに instead of こんなに when expressing one's memories?
My textbook contains the following dialog where 鈴木さん interviews her 課長 about what he did last evening:
鈴木「焼き鳥屋ですか。その店、いかがでしたか。」
課長「安くて、おいしかったよ。あんなにおいしい焼き鳥を食べたのは初めてだなあ。」
鈴木「そんなにおいしかったんですか。」
...
3
votes
2answers
183 views
Which romanization system should I use in my word game?
I have developed a word game quite similar to Scrabble, and I am currently considering adding a Japanese word list to it.
Please note that I have no real knowledge of the language, apart from knowing ...
3
votes
2answers
130 views
Question about もらう
As I learned, we can use もらう like this 「私は彼女に弁当を作ってもらいました。」, where noun before に(から) - giver and は(etc.) - reciever. But I saw sentence like
「もっとも・・・・・・そんな風になっちまった以上は、因縁なんざ意味がないだろう。悪いが俺に譲ってもらうぜ」
...
1
vote
1answer
113 views
Why does Kanji radical not have the same definition for all kanjis
Well radical is a portion of the kanji that is used to list that kanji in the Kanji dictionary. It could represent the "general" meaning (whatever that is), it could represent the sound, or it could ...
3
votes
2answers
131 views
Translation of Name and “saying” sentance
I have the following sentence I need to translate for my intro Japanese class.
私の友達の名前は、安田味子さんといいます。
There are 2 parts I am having trouble with.
First, the name translation. I think it should be ...
4
votes
1answer
116 views
Can a 読点{とうてん} (“comma”) join two complete sentences?
Can 、 join two complete sentences? In other words, can 、 replace 。?
I thought it could, but in this answer, user1205935 seems to suggest that it cannot. (Rather than ask about it in a comment, I ...
1
vote
1answer
109 views
Is ゴールデンウィーク wasei-eigo?
A native speaker of Japanese has asked if ゴールデンウィーク is wasei eigo.
The Wikipedia article on Golden Week in Japan claims that the term was created in 1951.
However, a google ngram search for English ...
3
votes
1answer
115 views
Using two or more quotes
How would one combine two or more quotes together?
In English we just do something like "He said 'Quote A', 'Quote B' and 'Quote C'".
In chat, snailboat gave these possibilities:
「Quote A」「Quote ...
8
votes
1answer
301 views
Why censor this one kanji?
I was watching an old Saturday Night Live sketch from the 1970s, called Night of the Moonies, making fun of the Unification Church by putting them in the context of the movie Night of the Living Dead.
...
-1
votes
0answers
76 views
Appropriate way to say thank you [duplicate]
What are the different ways to say thank you and when do you use each use? with friends in business etc.
5
votes
2answers
100 views
what's the difference between 領域 、範囲 and 分野?
Could anyone explain to me the difference between these 3 words, especially between 範囲 and 領域 ？
For example, I have these 練習問題:
a.分野 b.領域 c.範囲
① 試験の……… は、17課までです。
② 外の大学との交流が進んで研究の……… が広がった。
③ ...
3
votes
1answer
83 views
Using 着 Classifier
One of the kanji we recently learned in class was 着. We learned it could be used for to wear 着る, to arrive 着く, and as either a "classifier for arrival" or a "counter for jacket".
In our homework, we ...
2
votes
2answers
175 views
Question about 相手
I'm confused in describing 相手 here, I cannot understand is it "Partner who can show their true self" or "Partner to whom can show your true self"(sorry for a bad translation)? Oh, and here ぶつけられる is ...
2
votes
1answer
158 views
How can I understand など followed by a noun phrase?
The following two sentences are from 日本語文法ハンドブック, page 116:
移動を表す表現にはいくつかありますが、「行く」と「来る」は補助動詞としての用法を持つ点で文法的に重要です。補助動詞としての「〜ていく」と「〜てくる」（この場合は普通ひらがなで書きます）には、話し手など文中の特定の人物の視点を基準にした空間的な移動の方向性を示す用法と、特定
...
3
votes
1answer
90 views
Difference between った and ってた
Can someone explain me the difference between the following forms?
思った
思ってた
思っていた
Thanks a lot
2
votes
1answer
126 views
Does all kana in the う line rhyme?
I've heard many people pronounce す, つ, く, and る as if く and る rhyme, す and つ rhyme, but not any other pair. It seems as if す is sometimes pronounced [sɨ] and く is pronounced [ku]. This doesn't seem to ...
