Particles, conjugations and endings for verbs and adjectives, and general sentence structure.
4
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1answer
165 views
Is it true that only movement verbs can take [V-stem]に to express a purpose?
I decided to split this into a thread by itself because I was afraid of cramming too much into the first thread.
Is it true that only movement verbs can take [V-stem]に to express a purpose?
Will it ...
3
votes
1answer
162 views
What is the meaning of ようで?
I think ようで means "to look/look like", but I'm having trouble understanding it in the context of this sentence:
感動に水を差すようで悪いのだが、さっさと爾子に乗ってくれ。でなくば、城とともに潰れるぞ。
Also, is でなくば another form of でなければ?
3
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2answers
148 views
Why is も used instead of が in the sentence 「日本ではクモを見ると良いことがあると言う人もいますよ」
What is the exact sentiment expressed by も in this sentence as opposed to が?
日本ではクモを見ると良いことがあると言う人もいますよ
It's a sentence in response to someone saying "I saw a spider in my room, I was scared".
3
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1answer
113 views
How is あっての used to define something?
I've previously asked about あっての, but now it seems to me that I've run into an additional usage of it (or perhaps the same usage I just can't wrap my head around it...).
When the sentence is simply ...
3
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1answer
164 views
Can ごとに be replaced by それぞれ in this question?
正月は家ごとに門松を立てる。
For example, could I say
正月はそれぞれの家に門松をたてる。
If so, the meaning remains the same, or are there any subtle nuances that comes with each word? It seems to me, whenever i see sentences ...
3
votes
1answer
183 views
What is the difference in terms of grammar between ～かける and ～っぱなし?
Spawned from What is the difference in terms of grammar between きり and っぱなし?; I started thinking about ～かける. Don't these essentially mean the same thing? I'm failing to see any difference except ...
3
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2answers
141 views
Does ～たり～たりする mean “and” or “or” in dictionary definitions?
I think that ～たり～たりする generally means "do things like (among other things)", but in dictionary definitions, can the pattern ～たり～たりする mean "and", "or" or "and/or"?
In e.g. XたりYたりする would it imply ...
3
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2answers
239 views
Sentence ending に and のに compared to their non-sentence-ending form
Consider these:
[A] 僕はいい仕事があったら美智子さんと結婚出来ただろうに
[B] 僕はいい仕事があったら美智子さんと結婚出来たのに
Is に in [A] related to the case particle に?
Is のに in [B] related to the use of のに as a conjunction in ...
3
votes
2answers
239 views
Difference between Noun+な and Noun+だという
I came across this sentence:
四月だというのに、結構寒いね。 "It is April, but it is rather cold isn't it?"
Recalling what I learned about the のに conjunction, I can also make the sentence:
四月なのに、結構寒いね。
...
3
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1answer
244 views
入らない versus 入れない in a JLPT question
This question is in my JLPT practise book:
このチームの試合{しあい}の切符{きっぷ}はなかなか手{て}に____ない。
A 取{と}れ B 入{はい}れ C 入{はい}ら D 持{も}て
My translation is, "I can't easily get the tickets to this team's games".
...
3
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1answer
120 views
Does this と mean “and” or “with”?
Recenly, with Facebook's new "feed" feature, whatever the heck that is, I've been seeing this notification coming up a lot:
[Friend One]さんと[Friend Two]さんがフィード購読{こうどく}を許可{きょか}しています。
I have to ...
3
votes
1answer
384 views
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 ...
3
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3answers
208 views
Is this grammatical: 彼は映画スターであり、政治家もだ。
I was about to ask a question but I can't without first confirming,
Is this sentence:
彼は映画スターであり、政治家もだ。
grammatically correct, and mean:
He is a movie star and also a politician.
==Follow-up ...
2
votes
1answer
117 views
Is there a term for using conjugating verbs such that the sentence continues with another clause?
I'm referring specifically to using the て form to form a pseudo conjunction, and specifically the transformation of verbs in formal writing by using the verb stem instead of て form.
For example the ...
2
votes
3answers
201 views
Does contraction and elision affect formation of relative clause?
For example, やらなければならない can modify 時 to form やらなければならない時 and I know that the adjective い ending can simply have a noun appended after it.
However when it's contracted to やらなきゃ can I simply add a ...
1
vote
1answer
183 views
What's the difference between “な感じ” and “という感じ” when written after quotation marks?
な感じ was crossed out and replaced with という感じ in a sentence that I wrote that was similar to this one:
その文には「それは私にはもったいない」 な感じ という感じ があると思う。
I think that sentence has a feeling of "that's more ...
1
vote
1answer
112 views
Can things hope?
This sentence in my JLPT book is explaining the nuance of 映{は}える, but actually it's the use of ほしい that's a puzzling me a bit:
このピンクのスカーフが映{は}える服{ふく}を選{えら}んでほしい。
This is saying that the pink ...
0
votes
1answer
69 views
に[配慮]{はいりょ} vs. を[配慮]{はいりょ}
I want to know if there is any difference between に and を when used with 配慮する.
Example sentences:
[環境]{かんきょう}に配慮した家
環境を配慮した家
[相手]{あいて}の[立場]{たちば}に配慮する
相手の立場を配慮する
Are they ...
0
votes
1answer
99 views
What is the meaning of 「…みけんならみけん…」?
I'm reading a book on how to draw manga style characters, and I came across this sentence. It is part of a larger block explaining how to make a character look the same from all different angles.
...
