Tagged Questions
7
votes
1answer
126 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
1answer
191 views
What's the difference between 招待, 招く and 誘う?
I've stumbled upon these 3 words. I think meaning of 招待 is:
invite (as in a formal invitation)
The other two seem rather confusing to me, though.
6
votes
1answer
101 views
What's the difference between 向こう and 向こう側?
My textbook (An Introduction to Modern Japanese) introduced 向こう as meaning "the other side of" and 側{がわ} as meaning "side". On page 76 it states that
側 can be added to some, but not all, of these ...
5
votes
1answer
121 views
What's the difference between 姿{すがた} and 形{かたち}?
Could someone explain the difference between 姿{すがた} and 形{かたち}?
I've looked up both words, but I'm still not clear on what the distinction is, or how much overlap there is between the two. My mental ...
5
votes
2answers
192 views
What are the differences between「目的」and 「目標」?
Both「目的」and「目標」have a common meaning which is "goal", but what is the difference? When can we use one but not the other?
6
votes
1answer
280 views
Difference in nuance between 頂ければと思います, 頂けませんか, and 頂きたいんですけども
I've recently started using the expression 頂ければと思います, but I'm not 100% sure about its precise nuance.
Is there any difference in nuance between
頂ければと思います
頂けませんか
頂きたいんですけども?
To my non-native ear, ...
7
votes
1answer
208 views
Difference between うーん and ううん
What is the difference between うーん and ううん?
In a comment on Pronunciation of ううん, paullb said that he usually sees the negative interjection ううん written as うーん. This confused me, because I thought ...
8
votes
3answers
241 views
Difference between （遊び）方 and （遊ぶ）方法
I'm struggling to understand the difference between the verb suffix ～方【かた】 and the noun 方法【ほうほう】. As an example, the difference between 遊び方 (which seems to mean something like "manner in which someone ...
7
votes
2answers
389 views
What is the difference between 彼氏が出来る and 彼氏を作る?
I often hear both of the following phrases:
彼氏が出来る
彼氏を作る
Both of them seem to mean the same thing(?). Why is it that 作る is used in this way? I had previously thought 作る meant to "create" or ...
13
votes
3answers
259 views
What is the difference between 向かい and 向こう?
I am unable to locate objects and their orientation with respect to myself when 向こう and 向かい are used.
Consider:
向こう側
向かい側
向こうの店
向かいの店
Where is 向こう側 and 向かい側 with respect to me? Are they the same ...
7
votes
1answer
221 views
Why is 口が軽い the opposite of 口が堅い?
Why is 口が軽い the opposite of 口が堅い ? It seems interesting to me why 軽い／堅い would be chosen for this phrase.
As far as I know, most of the time phrases that are coupled with 軽い usually have the ...
6
votes
2answers
179 views
When is the correct situation to use 案外 or 意外?
I think this is a question I should have asked a long time ago.. What is the difference between 案外 and 意外? What does the correct situation look like when using either?
Example with 案外:
...
2
votes
2answers
164 views
Is there a difference between these words for “hero”?
I've learned that hero could be translated as:
ヒーロー
えいゆう
ゆうしゃ
けっし
Aside from ヒーロー (which seems just to be roumaji version of hero), is there any usage difference among them?
10
votes
2answers
270 views
What exactly is 我, and how is it used?
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 ...
10
votes
1answer
311 views
How to differentiate friend level in Japanese?
I am sometimes having difficulty differentiating friends level when explaining it to a Japanese. For example, when I am telling a story about a friend, I want to specify the level of friendship we ...
4
votes
1answer
142 views
What's the difference between 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい}?
Both 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい} seem to mean "world" in the sense of "a sphere of human activity or interest", or "a particular way of life", and that sort of thing. (As opposed to 地球{ちきゅう}, the literal ...
3
votes
1answer
167 views
When is 顧客{こきゃく} used for “customer”?
In daily life, I usually hear the words お客様{きゃくさま}, お客{きゃく}さん, and maybe other variants that use 客{きゃく}/客{かく} to refer to customers at a shop.
However, in the dictionary, the first word that comes up ...
2
votes
1answer
196 views
What is the difference between these words for “audience”?
What is the difference in usage between these three words for "audience"?
観客{かんきゃく} (audience, spectators)
聴衆{ちょうしゅう} (audience, attendees)
観衆{かんしゅう} (audience, onlookers)
The ...
7
votes
1answer
215 views
When to use 種別 and when to use 区分 when programming
I am having trouble when naming a variable, deciding if I should use ABC種別 or ABC区分. I have been reading a lot of software specifications and the Japanese description usually uses 種別 and 区分 to specify ...
6
votes
1answer
212 views
Taking Class, Course, Lecture - Which verb is fit?
I would like to know how we say taking class or course or lecture in japanese.
I have heard about 「クラスを受ける」 and 「クラスを取る」.
Are there significant difference? And Is there any other verb we can use ...
