Questions tagged [auxiliaries]
助動詞. Inflecting function words or endings such as 〜ます and 〜ない. Many inflect like verbs (such as 〜(ら)れる), but many others do not (such as 〜たい), so here we will call these simply "auxiliaries" and not "auxiliary verbs". These should be distinguished from 補助動詞（ほじょどうし）, which are tagged "subsidiary verbs" on this site to avoid confusion.
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How to parse ～なくたって?
I've been running into verbs such as 言わなくたって recently. I found these sentences using a sample sentence search and it seems to be a stronger form of ～なくても
見てなくたっていいよ。
You don't have to stand over me.
...
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What is it about ～まして?
Is it just the て-form of ます? So, could I just use 食べまして instead of 食べて? Leading to my next question (everything from here on is assumed):
Since 食べまして is the polite form of 食べて, why wouldn't you use ...
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Understand the difference between [dictionary/ない + ようとする] and [volitional + にする]
I have come across a couple of concepts that seem relatively similar, but I would like an understanding on their differences, if any.
The first is the dictionary/ない form + ようとする. And the other is the ...
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What dialect is ！〜べ?
What dialect is それはねぇべ （それはないだろう）?
It seems I hear it a lot from people from Chiba. Is it from a specific part of Chiba or even a wider area?
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Auxiliary verbs in Japanese
What are auxiliary verbs in Japanese language?
Which verbs are auxiliary and how to tell which are auxiliaries, and which are normal?
It looks like the word です is an auxiliary verb. But why? What ...
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〜たい form vs. 〜てほしい
When first learning Japanese grammar, one is usually taught that to express a desire to do something one should use the 〜たい form of the verb:
東京へ行きたい
On some occasions, however, I've also seen ...
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Difference between さえ、でさえ
Could you explain to me the difference between さえ and でさえ?
Example:
そんなこと、子どもでさえ知っている。
Can I use さえ instead of でさえ in this sentence?
そんなこと、子どもさえ知っている。
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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)?
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 ...
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Is ない an "auxiliary verb"?
My dictionary says 助動詞{じょどうし} means "auxiliary verb". This sounds intuitively correct; 動詞 means verb, so 助動詞 sounds like a type of verb.
But the 助動詞「ない」 looks like an auxiliary adjective, not an ...
user1478
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が vs を in sentences of desire (-たい)
According to Genki, expressions of desire ( -たい sentences such as in the examples below) which use the particle を can also use the particle が interchangeably, and besides stating that, they give no ...
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What's the rule for expressing "I don't want to"
As far as I know, for expressing you want to do something, you have to just attach たい to the verb stem like in カニを食べたい。
Then, what's the rule for saying "I don't want to". I've seen in this phrase ...
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Difference between 「彷徨う」 and 「彷徨える」、「狂う」 and 「狂える」 etc
In 大辞林, the definition of さまよえる as in さまよえるオランダ人 is
あてもなくさまよっている。
while the (primary) definition of さまよう is
当てもなく、あるいは目指す所が見つからずにあちこち歩き回る。
What's the difference between the two words, and ...
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how to use ~そう past tense
If I want to say, "you look tired", 疲れそう doesn't work, as that is "looks like I/you will get tired", but is 疲れたそう a thing? feels wrong...
Is it possible to use ~そう past tense? past negative? Is there ...
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Is there really any difference between だなんて and なんて?
1.「精霊の力を封印できるだなんて規格外の能力、持っているのはこの世にあなた一人だけよ。ーーそのあなたが嫌だと言うのだもの。もうどうしようもないじゃない」
2.「む……そうか。そうだな。シドーから鳶一折紙の匂いがするだなんて、私はどうしてしまったのだろか。シドーがあの女をおぶったりでもしない限り、匂いが付くだなんてありえないというのに」
Hi. I’m reading a novel and I’...
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ほしがっている versus ほしそうだ
I don't really understand the differences between the following sentences.
彼は新しい車をほしがっている。
彼は新しい車をほしそうだ。
In both sentences, the speakers made conjectures based on the sign that the third person (彼) ...
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Can たい and たがる be used for a 1st/2nd/3rd person's desire?
もし生まれ変わっても見たい映画は あなたにありますか？
When I saw the the above sentence, I started to wonder. Is it an over simplification to say that たい can only be used for your own desires? However the sentence above might ...
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Origin of ません (-masen)?
I understand that polite forms like yomimasu are actually (or originated as) infinitive yomi + auxiliary verb masu in its plain non-past form. Then past form yomimashita is just infinitive yomi + ...
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What is しか here?
[至誠]{しせい}に[悖]{もと}る[勿]{な}かりしか
[言行]{げんこう}に[恥]{は}づる[勿]{な}かりしか...
What part of speech is it?
Wiki translates it as 真心に反する点はなかったか, which going by meaning only fits with 2（連語） here, but I couldn't find ...
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What is ～やまさりけん and what part of sentence is it used as?
In the scenes of fight in old stories, I sometimes encountered a phrase ～やまさりけん usually in the compound form:
力やまさりけん
腕やまさりけん
What is the exact meaning of the phrase and what part of the ...
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Why is there a な in this sentence?
I am translating the following sentence I found in my workbook.
美味しそうな写真を見て、思わず[涎]{よだれ}が出た。
美味しい is an i-adjective, so why is there a な?
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Difference between だと vs と before 認める
そのため、税務上の課税所得の計算は、「一般に公正妥当と認められる企業の基準」に基づく収益・費用の認識を原則としながらも、一定の調整を加えることとなっています。
I'm wondering what the difference is between
公正妥当と認められる
and
公正妥当だと認められる
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What is the etymology of 〜ません（でした）?
I have always been interested in the negative polite (〜ません) and negative past-polite (〜ませんでした) inflections of verbs.
My understanding is that ます is an inflectable function word (助動詞), so I'm ...
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Can desire be expressed for entities that do not hold volition?
We can personify things. By using "want" with an inanimate object, it is personified:
An object with inertia wants to maintain its state of motion.
(Question) First, is it possible in ...
Flaw♦
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~すまいて after a verb
I've come across this sentence with ~すまいて after a verb. I've never seen it like that before, but I'm assuming it is a form of ~済まい:
「いくらも進んでおりませぬよ。儂の命のあるうちに終わりますまいて」
I can't make any progress. It ...
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Origin of -tai desiderative suffix
Japanese verbs can take the suffix -tai, which attaches to the ren'youkei form and turns the verb into an -i adjective, expressing desire to do what the verb says. I have recently wondered where this ...
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がる passive form
In the following sentence, the verb がる appears to be used in passive form when the speaker is describing herself as a child:
私は少し奇妙がられる子供だった
What does がる indicate when used in passive form? ...
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未然形 of である and 連用形 of だ
When I checked the entry of 助動詞 「だ」 in the dictionary, I found the following example sentence:
「学生は怠けるべきではない」
Does the fact that で is in bold mean that で in ではない is actually the 連用形 of 「だ」?
But ...
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Which categories of verbs (transitive, atelic, etc) can you use with ～そう (seems to; appears)?
I've just studied そう (as in: seems like; about to) in class and I wanted to know why you can use some verbs and not others.
For instance, 雨が｛あめが｝降りそう｛ふりそう｝ works out semantically and grammatically, ...
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Are there any differences between 〜けらず and 〜ざりけり? Are they interchangeable?
Was ~ざりけり used in place of 〜けらず, for example in 知りけらず, to indicate the past tense in the negative form? Did 知らざりけり exist?
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meaning of みんべえ
The full sentence comes from the story of 力太郎.
Here it is:
「ばあさん や。この あか で にんぎょう を つくって みんべえ。」
I understand all the words except みんべえ, which I couldn't find in my dictionary.
Is this an old ...
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ください without て form and auxiliary verbs
I read the following sentence on the shinkansen:
かけ込み電車は危ないのでおやめください
I looked up on Google but I could not find any mention of やめる being used without the て form. So why is it the case in that ...
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How to translate 'She was made to make him give me the book'?
How to translate 'She was made to make him give me the book'?
(as in: 'someone made her make him give me the book.')
Can I translate it to:
Kanojo wa watasi-ni kare-ni hon-o kure-sase-sase-rare-ta.
...
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What does 開けたかった mean?
From the novel The Old Man and the Sea.
Japanese translation on Aozora:
http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001847/files/57347_57224.html
「食ったほうがいいか？」
「そう言ってるじゃないか」少年は優しく答えた。「サンチャゴの用意ができてから蓋を開けたかったんだ」
...
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When can "~たがる" not be used in a continuous tense?
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 ...
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What is the meaning of らん in ゆくらん?
I saw it in this tanka that I'm trying to translate:
偽のある世にだにもふるさとの契りわすれず雁のゆくらん
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What is the meaning of Noun + なら
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 ...
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Why 寝たよう instead of 寝そう in this example
I was going through a JLPT grammar practice book and am confused on a question:
「一郎、まだ起きているかな。」
「部屋の電気が消えているから、もう＿＿＿＿＿よ。」
I choose 寝そう since ～そう is often used to make conjectures based on visual ...
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じ/ず conversion in 人は動かじ
There is this famous quote reputedly from 山本五十六:
やってみせて、言って聞かせて、やらせてみて、 ほめてやらねば人は動かじ。(source)
やってみせ、言ってきかせて、させてみて、誉めてやらねば人は動かじ。(a different version. source)
Do it and show'em; say things and make'em ...
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Does the ''te form'' literally mean something on its own?
All other forms of verbs inherently seem to have some kind of meaning but te needs to be combined with things before it means anything. Does it mean anything on its own that makes what it ends up ...
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なさい and ください using い-stem instead of う-stem
I'm curious as to why these two verbs use their い-stem, instead of う like ます does after the い-stem and くれる/あげる/おく do after the て form. (I know the two are aru special class verbs.) Does this have to ...
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Grammar justification for 連用形 ＋ 係助詞「は」＋（ない・ある）
So recently I came across these two answers to two very interesting questions, and related: one and two.
Both mention the following form:
(連用形{れんようけい} of something) + (optional 係助詞{かかりじょし}) + (...
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たる? What form is this?
So I've been reading Tsukihime the past few weeks and I found this sentence.
君の理論はわからんな。それでは命題たる永遠には程遠いぞ、蛇よ。
The fan translations says:
I do not understand your reasoning. That is far from the ...
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Why can 言ってんじゃねーぞ be an order?
I've been learning japanese for quite a while and always wondered why :
言ってんじゃねえぞ
could be an order. Whereas something like :
言わない
can't be an order.
Because basically, 【言ってんじゃねぞ】 is just :
言う の ...
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Auxiliary verb ん
I came across this sentence in a grammar book (Japanese Postpositions: Theory and Practice by Noriko Katsuki-Pestemer):
生きんが為に働く。
In order to live, I work.
It is then briefly explained that "ん ...
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Is ～がる used to speak about animals?
Does the practice of not speaking directly about others' minds, but using ～がる to be indirect, apply to animals? i.e., would you ever say something like "犬は外に行きたがっている"? If so, does this vary ...
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Why じと instead of ず in その機を逃さじと? [duplicate]
硝煙で、鏑木肆星氏の姿は完全に覆い尽くされてしまう。その機を逃さじと、二匹のバケネズミが突進した。
I think その機を逃さじと means "not letting their chance slip away". But why isn't it just その機を逃さず?
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連用形 of 「だ」 - difference between 「だっ」「で」「に」
Out of the conjugations of だ, the 連用形 is what is confusing me.
I understand だ、だろ、な、なら fine, but I'm confused about だっ、で、に.
I think my question might be a bit too broad and that's because I really ...
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Why is 売っています correct, as opposed to 売ってあります?
As I understand, inanimate objects are referred to using あります. Why, then, is it
コンビニでお握りを売っています
Both subject and object are inanimate. Are we still assuming a salesperson? What if it's a self-...
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How does 形容詞+かる work in Classical Japanese?
I remember reading previously that かる could not be used attributively(1), but that does raise the question: For what else could a 連体形 have been used in the first place?
Was it simply an alternate form ...
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Can よ from volitional form be dropped? Heres some context
Recently, I saw this in a Hinative answer.
使うとするなら
I know that とする means to "try to" and なら means if so I'm guessing it means if try to use, but why not use 使おうとするなら? This brings up the ...
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