Particles, conjugations and endings for verbs and adjectives, and general sentence structure.
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What is the difference between あっての and とあって?
From what I can tell they both mean "Because of", and the only differences in meaning I can see seem to be very subtle.
あっての:
Because of A (strong emphasis), B
Thanks to (various ...
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1answer
218 views
Use of を and に with 頼る (to depend on)
Why is the direct object taking を in (1) and に in (2)? What are basic rules that drive these two sentence constructions?
(1) 叔母は父を頼っている
'My aunt is counting on my father's help.'
(2) ...
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1answer
255 views
When to use 他【ほか】の or 他【ほか】に
I always thought only 他の existed, but my teacher uses 他に a lot. Are there differences between when each can be used?
Here are two examples of each from my online dictionary:
だれかほかの人に聞いてごらん (Ask ...
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1answer
297 views
How the ～にあって form works - situations, places, times, what?
I finally started going through some JLPT N1 grammar the other day, and one of the ones I'm looking at has me a bit confused: the ～にあって・～にあっても form. The book describes its usage as such:
...
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2answers
555 views
The difference between からすると、から見ると、から言うと?
Are there any differences between these three sets:
からして、からすると、からすれば
vs.
から見て、から見ると、から見れば
vs.
から言って、から言うと、から言えば
These 'sets' seem to be used in 2 basic ways:
Presents something as ...
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1answer
206 views
Expressing hope: to nozomu and koto wo negau
I have a question about these two verbs for 'hope':
と望む (to nozomu)
ことを願う (koto wo negau)
I also write down two examples, since I have a particular question about their use:
...
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2answers
138 views
Use of に and を with 触れる
The verb 触れる challenges my concept of what を does; to mark a direct object.
Consider these uses of 触れる:
（人）の頬に指を触れる (Touch a finger to someone's cheek)
（人）の頬に手を触れる (Touch someone's cheek ...
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285 views
Ending sentence with ～だもの or ～ですもの
I've been listening songs and anime dialogues that end sentences with ～もの or even cuter version ～もん for so long that I am able to see how the word denotes reasons or excuses like:
おなか空いたもん (when ...
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1answer
248 views
Is 「３人いるだと」 grammatical?
３人いるだと！？
Can you say ３人いるだ as a statement? If だと is simply だ + と, I would expect ３人いるんだと. Is だと considered a particle in its own right, with different rules than だ?
Transcription of the ...
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216 views
“Grammatically-correct” particle-less phrases/sayings
I know that within an informal/familiar setting, people often leave out particles. Whether or not this is grammatically correct I'm not positive, but for the sake of this question, I'll say that it's ...
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2answers
279 views
ご～いただけます vs. ご～になれます
I know that you can use ご～いただく toward "clients" (which is something I've never really understood; maybe better as a question of its own) such as ご来店いただき、まことにありがとうございます ("Thank you (customer) for ...
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305 views
When is 「だ／である」required between a noun and the quotation particle と?
Note: Recent edits in response to comments have been added in italics
The sentence prompting this question is:
時下ますますご清栄のことと、お喜び申し上げます
Which I have always "loosely" taken to mean:
I am ...
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5answers
407 views
Who scolded whom in Aに怒られる?
I can see that someone got mad or someone made someone else mad. The things that make it difficult are に and the られる form of 怒る. What does this mean? How do you figure out who did what in these types ...
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3answers
350 views
What's the difference between ～てください and ～ていてください?
This question has come up on the side of at least a couple of other questions, but I don't think it's been definitively answered, so let's see if we can come up with something solid.
After going ...
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3answers
147 views
Are there inflections/endings that can be applied to verbs but not i-adjectives? (or vice versa)
After reading in an answer to another question that Japanese adjectives are less inflected than Japanese verbs I'm wondering if there are inflections that can be applied to verbs but not i-adjectives? ...
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2answers
202 views
What is the difference between あるまい and ありません？
From what I understand, they both mean "is not". But from what I've been able to gather from the few times I've heard it, it seems that あるまい may not be as strong or definitive as ありません. Am I on the ...
7
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2answers
203 views
What function does 「しいて」 serve in this sentence?
I have this sentence in a JLPT study textbook, as an example of the use of しいて:
食{た}べたくなければしいて食べることないから、食べられるものだけ食べてね。
The translation is, "If you don't want to eat it, you don't have to, so ...
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4answers
280 views
How does the use of いかんによっては in this question determine one answer over another?
In my JLPT practise book, in a section explaining the use of いかんによっては, which roughly means "depending on", they have the following question:
...
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3answers
275 views
Help with the particle も
If you look at my translation of the sentence below from a text book (soumatome N3 dokkai), I think you will agree that I have guessed the meaning correctly but can anyone explain the grammar to the ...
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2answers
269 views
how do we tell if ばかり means “about” or “only” ?
If ばかり could mean approximately; about; and could also mean only; merely; nothing but;, then how should we know if this sentence ５０００円ばかりもっている。 means:
1) I have about 5000 yen.
or 2) I have only ...
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407 views
What exactly does とばかりに mean?
My JLPT textbook has a section on the use of ～とばかりに. It explains that the term means to do something with such a strong implication that the meaning is obvious, even though one isn't directly stating ...
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277 views
what's the difference between ところで and ちなみに ?
what's the difference between ところで and ちなみに ?
Are they always/often/seldom interchangeable?
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2answers
192 views
〜しては is this a grammar pattern?
I was trying to translate this sentence:
僕はアルバイトしてはレコードばかり買っていたから、一日半働けばLP一枚買えるな、と思って働いていた。
I think I get the overall meaning as: Because I spent all my wages on records I went to work thinking "If ...
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2answers
163 views
How to say two actions are the cause of a third?
I want to say I did something because of more than one reason. For example:
I stayed home so I could study AND feed the dog.
I'm not sure how to name the reasons in Japanese. How I'm trying to ...
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2answers
295 views
What is the difference between 言うな！ and 言ってんじゃねぇぞ?
1) What is the difference between 言うな！ and 言ってんじゃねぇぞ!, in other words can we use them interchangeably at all times?
2) which is ruder?
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3answers
533 views
低い鼻 vs 短い鼻 and 高い鼻 vs 長い鼻 ?
After reading this thread: When would you use 低い vs 短い, I'd just thought of something.
I once heard that a long nose (witch / Pinocchio) is called 高い鼻 and not 長い鼻 whereas the opposite (short nose) is ...
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4answers
311 views
遅刻 / 遅い when we wanna say “Hey hurry up! you'll be late!” which would be more appropriate?
when we wanna say "Hey, hurry up! you'll be late!" which would be more appropriate?:
遅刻するぞ！
遅くなるぞ！
？
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4answers
476 views
の cannot be used as a pronoun meaning “one” for “highly abstract objects” but what is a “highly abstract object”?(amended)
(Italics are used to indicate revisions to the orginal question made in response to feedback so far)
According to "A students' guide to Japanese grammar", by Naomi McGloin, の is used as a pronoun ...
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1answer
313 views
Usage of て-form in 知っての通り
I have just come across the phrase 知っての通り〜 (as you know...)
I have never noticed this usage of て-form before and can't find an explanation.
What is the difference (if any) between this and 知っている通り?
...
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2answers
350 views
Help on a specific usage of こそ
好きこそものの上手なれ。
We tend to be good at those things we like. /
People become best at what they love the most.
How does the こそ work here? Is this use of こそ common outside of proverbs?
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220 views
Translating “barely”, “hardly” etc
In English, "barely"/"hardly" can be used both with a connection to time ("just finished"):
I had barely finished eating when he arrived. (食べたばかり...)
or to express the idea that a goal was ...
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3answers
224 views
difference between ～の折に and ～の時に
While studying for JLPT N2 I came across this expression の折に. It appears to be almost identical to の時に. My reference suggests that it's basically the same, but simply less polite.
What I find ...
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5answers
185 views
Is there a general rule for deriving xasu→xaseru intransitives such as 死なせる from 死なす?
There are a number of verbs where there is a 〜xasu → xaseru transformation to produce an transitive verb from an intransitive, eg:
死なす→死なせる
生かす→生かせる
飲ます→飲ませる
Is this some kind of generalized rule? ...
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5answers
288 views
A は／が difference [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What’s the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)?
I've been trying to wrap my head around the は/が differences, and I'm trying to figure out the differences between the ...
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2answers
235 views
へ or に particle for 曲がる?
i was wondering what may be the difference in nuance between 右へ曲がる and 右に曲がる ?
Example: Take a right turn and you'll see the library.
1) 右へ曲がると、図書館がある。
2) 右に曲がると、図書館がある。
As for [noun-location] ...
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2answers
265 views
Can placements of adverbs be altered freely?
I'm curious if there is any difference in nuance between these two sentences:
彼は少なくとも週に一度車を洗う。
彼は週に少なくとも一度車を洗う。
I'm aware that grammatically speaking both are 100% right, but this question is not ...
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1answer
177 views
Passive form - The exact difference between を and が
I've seen this question asked before, but i feel the answer didn't quite answer all my questions, so here goes.
Now, I am rather sure that this:
ケーキが食べられた
Means:
The cake was eaten. (by ...
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2answers
159 views
What does 「のいう」 mean in this sentence?
I'm familiar with 「という」 and was somewhat confused why I saw 「のいう」 in the following sentence:
人間対応能力は、ドラッカーのいう「他の人間とともに働く能力」のことです。
What is the role of 「のいう」 in this sentence? Is it incorrect to ...
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152 views
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434 views
How does -ki form of i-adjectives work? (e.g. 愛しき)
In one of the Bleach anime ending songs, "Hanabi" has the following line:
繋ぎゆく この想い 愛しき 君
"itoshiki" seems to come from "itoshii", but how does this -ki form of i-adjective work? I found a few ...
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2answers
153 views
の performing back referral? の used adjectivally?
Consider the following sentence:
その薬は去年期限切れのだったので、捨てました。
I'm trying to explain what the bolded の does in the above sentence.
This is what I came up with:
の is used as a back referral
...
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1answer
174 views
どうか, どうにか, どうかして - differences?
I was just wondering what the essential differences are between these and how I would use them in everyday speech. Thank you.
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195 views
Does くりかえし mean a single iteration or multiple ones?
For example, in this sentence:
彼は、失敗をものともせず、 何度もくりかえし 挑戦し続けた。
くりかえし is modified by 何度も, implicitly stating that the action was repeated multiple times.
My question is that if the sentence was ...
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1answer
129 views
ところ vs どころ: Interchangeable or different meanings altogether?
I have two questions.
A) Why do they use どころ instead of ところ in this sentence? Is it possible to use ところ without changing the meaning?
...
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1answer
147 views
おいてきてしまった vs おいてしまってきた
Is there any difference in the sentence when we mix the order of the conjugations in this sentence:
1) あいにく私はカメラを家においてきてしまった
2) あいにく私はカメラを家においてしまってきた
Or are both "correct" and mean the same thing ...
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2answers
287 views
Come to ～: ～てくる vs. ～ようになる
Can someone please explain the fine nuances of these two? Things such as:
Are there conditions/restrictions of when you can use one or the other?
What are the "approximate" time periods that each ...
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1answer
211 views
When is it appropriate to use [v] ないでくれ instead of [v] な?
Initially I wanted to compare the rudeness level of [v]ないでくれ。 and[v]な。 but since that may be a rather vague question:
In what situation is it appropriate to use [v]ないでくれ。 but not [v]な。 ?
In what ...
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2answers
307 views
What does こと refer to in だけのことはある
I'm trying to figure out what "こと” is referring to in this idiom/grammar point.
In the following example sentence:
彼は若いころから日本に住んでいただけのことはあって、さすが日本語がうまいんだね。
What does koto refer to here?
...
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1answer
284 views
Does the nominalizer 〜の require the adnominal form before it? If yes, why?
A while back I was trying to break down 〜なの, and this is what I decided on (with the help of some of Bart Mathias's posts on mailing lists).
My hypothesis is that the nominalizer 〜の requires ...
7
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1answer
179 views
思っている/言っている with third person subject?
So i was reading A dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, and in the part where it explains the uses of いる as an auxiliary verb after て、 it says something like that: "(...) Also, verbs like 言う and 思う ...
