Topics related to differences in meaning between two words.
2
votes
2answers
88 views
Question about 仕事 vs. 仕事場
While studying Japanese through Rosetta Stone, I've run across these two sentences:
私は仕事に行きます。
私は仕事場にいます。
I'm confused as to why the first sentence doesn't use "仕事場" since the person is going to ...
3
votes
1answer
200 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 ...
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 ...
3
votes
1answer
91 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
1
vote
2answers
215 views
Konnichiwa and Konbanwa
What is the difference between Konnichiwa and Konbanwa? Is it appropriate to use either one in everyday conversations?
4
votes
2answers
175 views
Difference between “そば”, “となり” and “よこ” [duplicate]
While doing exercises, I am bit confused with "そば", "となり" and "よこ". Can anyone explain me the difference between them. Is it so that "よこ" is used when the object is at either left or right side of the ...
6
votes
2answers
204 views
How do I say “requirements” in an IT context?
So I work at a Japanese company as a developer
and I have seen the word "requirements" written as both 要件 and 要求
What is the difference between these 2 words?
Which one would I use in these examples?
...
9
votes
3answers
271 views
What's the difference between 三角 and 三角形?
I just had this terrifying conversation:
What is "triangle" in Japanese?
me: 三角 right?
Then what's 三角形?
me: Uhh... triangle?
I've confirmed both of these translate to "triangle". ...
3
votes
1answer
94 views
What's the difference between 程 and 程度?
What the difference between 程 and 程度?
I haven't been able to find any using my dictionary.
5
votes
1answer
110 views
Readings of 漏斗：じょうご vs ろうと
Is there any difference in meaning between the words じょうご and ろうと, both meaning something like "funnel", both written with the kanji 漏斗?
There's some indication in the answers here that ろうと may be a ...
4
votes
1answer
147 views
Difference between すべて and ぜんぶ [duplicate]
Title basically says it all. I think meanings are very close. Are they interchangeable? Are they appropriate for different contexts or situations? Can one be applied to animate objects and other ...
8
votes
1answer
194 views
What is the difference between 部屋 and 室?
When referring to a room (in a building), what is the difference in usage, if any?
I looked up the definitions and checked some sample phrases, but I could not see any real difference.
I usually read ...
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, ...
5
votes
1answer
183 views
Is 青色をしている different from 青い?
I recently learned 青色をしている as a synonym for 青い, but I don't have a good idea of what the difference is, or even if there's any difference at all.
On chat, Flaw suggested the difference might be ...
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.
12
votes
3answers
318 views
What is the difference between 大事 and 大切?
These are two words that seem like they are basically interchangeable at most levels, as they generally are. The difference between them appears to be small, but what is the difference, if one exists? ...
7
votes
2answers
375 views
Non-distinguished animal pairs in Japanese
This is something I first noticed when I was at an aquarium in Japan (as evidenced in my examples) and continued to see ever since. There are certain pairs of animals, that while extremely similar, ...
5
votes
1answer
217 views
Difference between the many words for son and daughter
There are three words to refer to somebody else's daughter (According to my dictionary): 娘さん、お嬢さん、令嬢。
There are also three words to refer to somebody else's son: 息子さん、子息、坊ちゃん。
What are the ...
5
votes
2answers
202 views
How do I differentiate all these terms for “illiterate”?
I looked up the word "illiteracy", and was offered many different possibilities. Here they are, with my personal take on the nuance behind their origins:
活字{かつじ}離{ばな}れ ("removed from printing"?)
...
7
votes
2answers
233 views
Differences between the many words for dinner
According to my dictionary, the following words all mean the same thing: "Dinner":
[夜]{よる}ご[飯]{はん}, [晩]{ばん}ご[飯]{はん}, [晩飯]{ばんめし}, [晩食]{ばんしょく}, [夕]{ゆう}ご[飯]{はん}, [夕飯]{ゆうはん(ゆうめし)}, [夕食]{ゆうしょく}
A similar ...
1
vote
1answer
106 views
What is the difference between こんにちは and もしもし?
I will be in Japan in a few weeks and I am trying to learn the basic to be as polite as possible.
One of the first things I did was try some basic stuff with Google Translate but I feel lost already.
...
8
votes
1answer
182 views
What's the difference between 思う and 考える?
These two words both seem to mean "to think", but is there any difference between them? Is it related to the difference between 言う and 話す by any chance?
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
152 views
The difference between (な形容詞)さ and (な形容詞)性?
I'm in the middle of writing a paper in Japanese, and I can't quite figure out which is right. If I want to nominalize a な形容詞, should I affix さ or 性 at the end? I've been checking on search engines, ...
7
votes
1answer
184 views
島人{とうじん} vs 島民{とうみん}
I was looking for a word to say islander, i.e. someone that lives/was born in an island.
I've come across 島人 and 島民 and asked two native speakers about their user meaning. While they both agreed that ...
11
votes
1answer
196 views
What's the (real) difference between 飲む and 食べる?
When I first started learning Japanese, I learned that 飲む meant "drink" and 食べる meant "eat". These translations seemed to work for a while, but then I learned that you could 飲む things that you can't ...
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
190 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?
5
votes
3answers
199 views
Difference Between 修理 and 直す
Although both means repair, but I am not able to understand the differences between them.
Is it that, when human efforts are involved in repair its called 直す and when it is being repaired by any other ...
4
votes
2answers
126 views
Difference between words that describe the idea of neighborhood/being close to something
Can somebody describe the difference between these words(physical distance and maybe politeness of these words, or any aspects that you think are important to understand these).
Can all these words ...
3
votes
1answer
118 views
Difference between ともあれ and とかく
According to ALC ともあれ とかく they look pretty similar and express "anyway, anyhow". I came across the following excercise where you need to choose between those two:
...
5
votes
1answer
86 views
What is the difference between 家屋, 家 and 住居
I've found yet another word that's translated as 'home' which now makes it 3. Could you please tell me if these words have the same exact meaning or is there any difference between their usage?
7
votes
1answer
206 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 ...
3
votes
2answers
235 views
Reading 捻る: when is it ねじる or ひねる?
How can I tell whether 捻る is read as ひねる (P. ・ N.C.) or ねじる (P. ・ N.C.)?
I assume the answer is "based on which verb is appropriate", so I've been trying to learn the difference between them. Based ...
6
votes
1answer
151 views
Is there any difference between 大の好物 and 大好物?
This might seem like a ridiculous question, but I heard from a native that there is an emphasis when using 「大の好物」 instead of 「大好物」. Is this true?
If this is so, why would 「大＋の」 indicate more ...
12
votes
2answers
323 views
Different conventions for animal meat
After reading this awesome question, I got to thinking about different animal meat. Upon researching a little, there seems to be different conventions in referring to different meats.
Using 訓読み
...
6
votes
1answer
142 views
what's the difference between にさせる vs にする（幸せにさせる vs 幸せにする）?
what's the difference when we say 幸せにさせる compared to 幸せにする ??
I'm now confused between using させる and にする。
Can anyone please provide an in-depth explanation please?
Thanks
5
votes
3answers
178 views
Why use 数年 in あれから１０数年?
My question is on 「あれから１０数年」. My understanding is that this translates to roughly, "It's been 10 years since then."
The dictionary says「数年」 means "several years" or "a number of years". How does ...
4
votes
2answers
229 views
What's the difference between 上る、登る and 昇る?
According to jisho.org, they all have the same meanings, to climb, to rise, to ascend. Is that true? And do they have differences in usage?
5
votes
1answer
115 views
What's the difference between いつだって and いつでも?
Pretty simple, like the title says, what's the difference between いつだって and いつでも? I can tell there's a little difference, but it's so very difficult for me to pin down.
7
votes
1answer
75 views
How is 発行 different from 刊行?
Also, how does 発刊 fit into all of this?
Is it that 発行 can be used for magazines, newspapers and books while 刊行 can't be used for newspapers?
23
votes
7answers
946 views
Difference between negative forms {-ず} and {-ぬ}
{-ず} and {-ぬ} are two alternatives to the negative form {-ない} / {-ません}. But I noticed that depending on the word, it's either {-ず} or {-ぬ}, although it seems like some words can take both suffixes. ...
8
votes
3answers
240 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 ...
8
votes
1answer
192 views
What is the difference between とはいえ and と(は)いっても? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
と言っても vs とは言え .
Apparently they mean the same thing (although, that being said) and yet there are cases when only one of them can be used. For example: ...
5
votes
2answers
274 views
Difference between sentence final ものだ and ことだ
My understanding is that ものだ is used to assert things which are mostly known to everyone.
誰かの家に招待されたときは、何か手土産をもっていくものだ
'When invited to somebody's home it's customary to bring presents'.
On ...
11
votes
2answers
289 views
Adjectives functioning both as イ- and ナ-adjective
This question has made me think about the class of adjectives, which can function both as イ- and as ナ-adjective, e.g.
大きい 大きな
小さい 小さな
真っ白い 真っ白な (etc.)
細かい 細かな
暖かい 暖かな
四角い 四角な (etc.)
柔らかい ...
9
votes
1answer
194 views
Difference between Fire : 火【ひ】and 火事【かじ】?
Both of them mean fire. But what are the difference between the two ?
For the sentence : There is a fire in my room. Can I use both of them ?
And what about for the sentence : Fire is part of the 5 ...
8
votes
1answer
133 views
What is the difference between 恰好 and 格好?
Is there any difference between the words 格好 and 恰好? Can I actually call them different words, or is it that they are just the same word written differently? I've been told that they have exactly the ...
7
votes
2answers
387 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 ...
6
votes
3answers
266 views
In general/Generally: 概【がい】して, 一般【いっぱん】に, 全体【ぜんたい】に, 総【そう】じて, なべて, 一体{いったい}に, etc
When I look at them in the dictionary, they all mean the same thing. How to know which one to use?
If I want to say: "Generally, I go to school by bus" or "Generally, people grow taller" or even ...
