Questions tagged [grammar]
文法. A collective term for syntax (the way sentences are put together) and morphology (forms of words, including the way new words are put together). Often used to describe function words such as particles, to describe word endings, and to talk about general sentence structure.
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How to ask for something, formally, but on the internet
I don't really have a great understanding of Japanese internet culture, but as a Korean, I'm guessing it would be quite similar to ours in terms of "formality," as both Korean and Japanese have "...
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Meaning of 「のでは」
What does のでは mean in the following sentence? What changes if we write this sentence like this - デカイ腹に集中した、というのが?
こいつは大らかというか・・・・・・いつも寝てばかりいる印象がある。ってかいつも寝てる。寝過ぎで余った栄養が全部そのデカイ腹に集中したのでは、というのが、...
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How to translate て-form + ろ
In the Japanese exclamation:
待ってろよ！
What function does ろ have and how should it be translated to English?
I've searched everywhere, but I can't seem to find a decent explanation. The only thing ...
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Meaning of でもない in this context?
While listening to the song "Yasashisa no Riyuu", I noticed the following sentence:
今は誰の名前でもない 輝きの彼方へ
Which by the fansub is translated like this:
Now it doesn't matter whose name it may be. ...
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How can a verb be in the beginning of a sentence when it is usually at the end? Ex. 折れた淡い翼。
When composing sentences in Japanese, the verb tends to be last right? For example,
バナナを食べました。 --> I ate a banana
But recently I came across a sentence where the verb was at the beginning of the the ...
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女性の身体は本来美しいもの. Is this sentence grammatical?
I found the sentence:
女性の身体は本来美しいもの。
'The female body is a fundamentally beautiful thing.'
in the following passage:
毎食後2錠から3錠、油っこい食事のあとは少し多めに飲むだけと、とっても簡単にダイエットできてしまいます。
'An effective diet can be ...
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Why does replacing だ to である changes the meaning of a the sentence?
「彼は映画スターであり、政治家もだ。」 means "He is a movie star, and a politician is a movie star, too" (from Tsuyoshi's comment below this other post)
「彼は映画スターであり、政治家でもある。」 means "He is a movie star and also a ...
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Why is ある preferrable to 残る in the sentence お金があるうちに欲しい物を買っておこう ? Is 残る still a valid option or is it just wrong?
The following sentence belongs to a multiple-choice exercise about the grammar point うちに in the book 新完全マスターN2文法:
（ ）うちに欲しい物を買っておこう。
a) お金がある b) 給料をもらう c) お金が残る
I chose c) お金が残る, but according to ...
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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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なのに vs. だけど in the sentence
I was corrected when I said the following.
勉強は大変なのに、諦めちゃだめ。
I was told that 大変だけど had to be used instead of 大変なのに.
Although in English, the word “although” works in a similar sentence, it doesn’t in ...
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Role of をする in 学習の助けをするおもちゃ
I am triing to figure out the use of をする in 学習の助けをするおもちゃ translated as toys to help you learn in this article
I learned a bit about noun + する / をする in this post but for what i understand so far we use ...
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Evolution of が (ga) particle: How did use as conjunctive arise from use as a subject marker
As mentioned in this post,
が started as an attributive case particle, became a subject particle, and then turned into a conjunctive particle.
and in modern Japanese it has its main uses as both a ...
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Are there placeholders in spoken Japanese?
I've seen discussions of placeholders in Japanese which seem to centre on how to pronounce written placeholders like ＯＯ, XX, etc. See below for reference:
How do you pronounce "☓☓" as a ...
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is Vてはじめて it's own grammar construction or simply something made up to help Japanese learners?
The Vてはじめて、construction is generally taught as its own grammar point to mean "not until X", "only after X". However from what I've been told by other learners as well as natives, ...
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What do you say for "junction" or "fork" in a path in terms of direction?
For junction I know of 交差点 but is that only for traffic junctions or can it be used generally, say, in a mall when the path splits 3 ways or more in front of you.
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Word order in 犬のホワイトチョコレート
Some time ago I was speaking with a Japanese teacher, and to say "A white chocolate dog" she said 犬のホワイトチョコレート; I asked, shouldn't it be ホワイトチョコレートの犬, since 犬のホワイトチョコレート sounded to me like "A white ...
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「その＋名詞」ｖｓ「この＋名詞」
I am currently working through the N1 grammar preparation book 「新完全マスター 文法」and one of the later chapters of the book deals with the difference between 「その＋名詞」and「この＋名詞」.
There are two examples given:
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Research on かのように, and other よう constructs
I wanted to learn more about よう constructs, in particular the かのよう(な)(に) and かのようだ constructs, so I did some research. The following is what I've found so far.
よう - a noun that can turn into a ...
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adding んー to the end of a phrase (e.g. いつ帰ってくるんー？)
A friend recently texted me 'いつ帰ってくるんー？'. I understand the question, but I don't understand why んー would be added to the end of the verb. Is this to add emphasis or emotional context?
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〜か知らない or 〜か不安だ
I came across the following sentence in an exercise:
インターネットで注文したセーターは、実際に着てみるまでサイズが_____が、ちょうどよかった。
Although only B and D make sense to me, here are the four propositions:
A. 合わなかった
B. ...
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Writing style of Imperial Army signal messages
I'm doing some research into battles during the Pacific War and want to include as much as I can from Japanese sourcs. The Senshi Sosho contains valuable accounts, but I keep coming across an odd ...
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How do Japanese speakers determine the implied topic when none has been mentioned?
I imagine this is something that Japanese speakers naturally build up as they are exposed and communicate in the language for many years. However, take the following scene:
「おお、豪華な魚料理だなぁ」
「...
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Relationship between radicals, components, kanji and words
As a novice learner, I'm finding understanding the relationship between radicals, components, kanji and words difficult.
For example, this post on tofugu.com says that:
The kanji is 町, which means ...
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What does 弟は友だちの大きいくるまで学校に行きます properly translate to?
I was asked to translate the following sentence:
弟は友だちの大きいくるまで学校に行きます。
I first split it up (in my head) so it looks easier to read, whilst recognising the particles.
弟は 友だちの 大きい くるまで ...
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Question about the uses of "を" particle besides being a "direct object" and "spatial object" marker
I know that the former is for transitive verbs and the latter is for intransitive verbs (specifically motion verbs like 出る、向く、上る) but how do I explain the following sentence:
明日、会社を休む。
At first, I ...
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あり+と: What does と do when preceded by a verb stem?
In the following sentence:
彼女はそれを手に入れるためにありとあらゆる方法を試みた。
She tried every possible means to get it.
と is preceded by あり, which I take to be the verb stem of ある. I do not see what this ありと adds to ...
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Does A が B となる mean "A becomes B"?
The sentence in question:
店員さんに話を聞くと、「１０年ほど前から海外のだっこひもが人気となり需要が高まった。
For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/web_tokushu/2018_0521.html?utm_int=news_contents_tokushu_004
My attempt at ...
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What is the difference between でありながらも and でありながら?
On this site, I came across this JLPT N2 question:
これはシンプルで _______ 純粋で魅力的なスピーチです
あってながら
あるながら
ありながら
ありながらも
I chose 4 while 3 is correct.
I was having difficulties choosing between 3 and 4. 1 and 2 ...
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「～ようか・～まいか」の後の正確な表現はどれでしょうか？
新完全マスタN2文法に、この問題があります。
「親に本当のことを言おうか言うまいか（ ）。」
a) わからない b) 3日も考えている c) 関係ない
どうして (b) が正解ですか、また (a), (c) はどこが間違いですか。
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What is the difference between “ippou da” (一方だ) and “bakari da”(ばかりだ)?
On jlpt grammar list n3 i found ippou da and bakari da,but i don’t really get the difference.
I know that they both need the dictionary form but still is there a certain difference betweeen them or do ...
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What does 望むところだ mean?
I've seen the expression 望むところだ twice in manga (both times spoken by a very rough speaking male character). The context of the situations (the character who spoke was just threatened or warned in both ...
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is sarcastic usage of さすが allowed
Is there any difference between 流石 and 予想した通りでした?
In the two replies to this, one implies it could be used sarcastically, while the other reply says it would be out of place if not meant to praise ...
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What does ...のなんでやろ。 mean? Is that a やる verb? is の a normalization particle? If so, what is なんで？
Some Youtube comments:
1) 日本人にとっても日本語ってクソムズイのに、外国人に簡単だとか言われると腹立つのなんでやろ。しかもカタコトでwww
誰もこのコメの意味分からんだろうけどさwww
2) 文化を知らずして日本語を喋る人は大体ただの糞外人
What does ...のなんでやろ。 mean? Is that a やる verb? is の a ...
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Meaning of "だけに"
I know that だけ can mean only and I'm learning its seemingly new meaning as in an expression だけに from a 日本語の森 video.
An example sentence given there is:
人気者のズン先生だけに授業がとても面白い。
and it's ...
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普通形／じしょ形 (Futsuu Kei / Jisho Kei)
Are 普通形 and 辞書形 different? If so, how do they differ? I would appreciate an example.
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Is きれいそう a mistake?
In class we had some sentences with intentional mistakes to fix. One of them was "きれいそうなsomething". The mistake was that you don't say that because if you're looking at something, you can tell if it's ...
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Why 不便 instead of 不便利?
Is there a grammatical (or semantic) reason that explains why the opposite of 便利（な） is 不便（な）rather than 不便利（な）。 I'm asking because I noticed a similar thing possibly occurring with 満足 and 不満 and was ...
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Causative verbs in descriptions of people
目を輝かせてアメを作っていたおじさん。
The man with sparkling eyes who made the sweets.
期待で目をくりくりさせながら...
While wide eyed in anticipation...
Both these clauses use a causative form of a verb to describe a person'...
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What is the か for after だから here
新宿区立新宿中央公園は西新宿、都会のど真ん中にある公園。
ジョギングブームだからか、一昔前まではなかったジョギングコースの案内板があり、
ここでジョギングをする人たちもちらほら。
I cant seem to wrap my head around だからか here, what exactly is the か and what is it trying to emphasize? Here ...
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で or に: how does the meaning of a sentence change?
Supposing I wanted to say "I see the fireworks at the summer festival". Would this be:
夏{なつ}祭{まつ}りで花{はな}火{び}を見{み}ます。
or
夏祭りに花火を見ます。
If both are correct, how does the meaning differ between ...
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What does ます形 + そうになった mean?
While reading an article, I came across this sentence (the article is describing people's reaction to a movie):
若い女性は「泣きそうになりました。すばらしかったです」と話していました。
A young girl said, "I started crying. It was ...
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そういうふうに meaning
At the start of the book (no previous context) the teacher asks this question:
「ではみなさんは、そういうふうに川だといわれたり、乳の流れたあとだといわれたりしていたこのぼんやりと白いものがほんとうはなにかご承知ですか。」
Well everyone, this vague white thing which ...
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A question about the usage of なるべく
I'm currently studying on my Intermediate Japanese book and I stumbled upon the usage of なるべく, with the meaning of as ~ as possible. The book gives me two examples and with the first one there's no ...
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Understanding したことまで
The speaker is defending her teacher:
「毎日クラス全員のこと、こまかくノートに書いてるんだよ。会話したことまで」
Every day, in her notebook, she made detailed notes about all the class. Even as far as conversations.
Am I correct ...
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What kind of grammar is it in 「恥を恥とも感じない」?
恥を感じない means "not feel shame" so my question is
What is the purpose of 恥とも in 「恥を恥とも感じない」? Is it an adverb?
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Meaning of ってのも/というのも
ひとりで夕陽の中を走るバカってのもねぇ～
Idiots who run alone towards the setting sun ...
The sentence seems to be lacking a verb. What is the function of ってのも and is there an implied verb ending?
I read this link ...
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Difference between この and こんな
Can someone help me with the difference between この and こんな and when to use each?
Also I see that こんな is almost always with に particle, why's that?
Does the rules to when to use each of those apply ...
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Help understanding these 2 sentences
I have trouble understanding these 2 sentences below...
Note: There is no further context provided.
発車{はっしゃ}のベルが鳴{な}っているので飛{と}び乗{の}ったら、反対方向{はんたいほうこう}の電車{でんしゃ}だった
My attempt: Because the ...
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ぶん after a standard form verb vs ほど or くらい
I came across an example like this:
頼り無さげに 見られるぶん；生徒達に慕って もらえるのは 素直に嬉しい
tayorinasage ni mirareru bun; seitotachi ni shitatte moraeru no wa sunao ni ureshii
After searching several grammar ...
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Subject and object of a passive sentence are interchangeable?
I am a bit confused with passive sentences in Japanese. For example, when I want to say "My back was pushed by someone on the train.", if I am correct, the Japanese version can be phrased in 2 ...
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