The meaning of words or phrases within certain contexts, especially when it does not seem to match the standard definition.
14
votes
2answers
524 views
What connotation does なんだ add?
Specifically, in the expression 好きなんだ (I love you) why not just say 好きだ or 好きです?
9
votes
2answers
314 views
います and あります usage
I just learned about: います and あります.
I know I should use います for people and moving things and あります for plants and inanimate things.
I have two doubts:
Which one should I use with "dead body". For ...
6
votes
2answers
245 views
Making sense of transitive usage of 行く and 来る - 「を行く」 and 「を来る」
I think it's known that some intransitive verbs can take を particle and be used as transitive verbs such as for example 「私のことを分かってくれない」. While using 分かる transitively would require specific scenarios ...
8
votes
1answer
186 views
が and に interchangeability and difference in meaning
Consider these sentences:
だれ{が・に}これが出来るか
だれ{が・に}日本語が分からないか
When both が and に are acceptable, what is their difference in meaning and practical usage?
6
votes
2answers
264 views
に and で revisited
Consider the statement A: ホテル（に/で）泊まる. For both cases would translate to "I stay at a hotel" in English. However they are answers to different questions.
Consider the questions １．どこに泊まる and ...
5
votes
2answers
279 views
What is the function of と when it's not quoting, or doing exhaustive listing?
Consider these two sentences:
(1) 母はついてくるようにアリスに合図した (Mother signaled to Alice to follow her)
(2) 父は手で私に部屋を出ていくようにと合図した。 (Father gestured to me to go out of the room)
And another sentence ...
11
votes
4answers
300 views
“Unsolvable problem”
What is the correct construction of "unsolvable problem"? Is it "解{と}けられない問題{もんだい}"？(Question 1)
Plain(intransitive): 解{と}ける "To be solved".
Potential form(of intransitive): 解けられる "can be ...
10
votes
4answers
446 views
What's the difference between いいえ and English's “no”?
In "Japanese for Busy People I" page 2 (kana or romaji edition) it says that いいえ is 'virtually the same as "no"'.
It sounds like there are some differences, but they want to omit mentioning them for ...
10
votes
2answers
312 views
Ups and downs: かみ・しも vs うえ・した
So, we have the kanji 上・下 which can be read as either かみ・しも or うえ・した, and as I understand it, those two are antonym pairs. But what are the differences between the two?
The thesaurus isn't very ...
7
votes
2answers
324 views
Meaning of …立てちゃいなよ
I am organizing an event and posted a flyer on a famous SNS.
Someone commented on it saying: イベント立てちゃいなよ
From the context I guess it is advising me to create an event (SNS feature), am I mistaken?
...
6
votes
3answers
237 views
より not used for comparing?
The title of a piano arrangement of a Touhou song (Hakurei Reimu's Theme) is:
「東方永夜抄 - Imperishable Night.」 より 博麗霊夢のテーム
(Question) What does より do in the title?
If it were to mean "from the ...
5
votes
2answers
295 views
How can 「うん」 be used to mean both “yes” and “no?”
I was told by my Japanese teacher that 「うん」 can be used as a casual way to say "yes" as well as "no." If this is true, how can you tell the difference, absent any additional information?
5
votes
3answers
288 views
Is it normal to use ただいま in situations other than ただいま戻【もど】りました?
By itself, I would say that 「ただいま」 means something like "just now". I've used it a few times in sentences like this, but it feels somewhat awkward, as I am always reminded of ただいま戻【もど】りました.
So, for ...
11
votes
2answers
268 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
345 views
Did standalone noun “好き” mean a person in classical Japanese?
In classical Japanese, did standalone noun “好き” mean a person who likes something? I do not think that it does in modern Japanese, although it sometimes means a person when used as a suffix (e.g. ...
8
votes
1answer
349 views
Can I use 行っている間（に） in the sense of a habitual action?
Knowing that 行く is punctual, stative, and a motion verb, I also know that, 日本に行っている means "I/he/she have gone to Japan (and am still there)" rather than "I am currently going to Japan."
I also feel ...
5
votes
3answers
177 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
279 views
Can もの be used to imply the value of something that is a こと?
I thought of this question and quickly realized that I already knew a possible example. Japanese band ZONE's most popular song is called 「secret base～君【きみ】がくれたもの～」. The lyrics can be read here or at ...
4
votes
1answer
198 views
方 - also read ほう when referring to a person?
The following sentence is from "A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar":
留守番電話は、一方ではかかる方にもかける方にも便利な面もあるが、他方ではお互いに直接話が出来ないから、不自然な面もある
"The answering machine is, on the one hand, very ...
4
votes
1answer
471 views
What does 氏 mean after a name, how is it different from さん or 様?
If you look in the dictionary for the definition of 氏 you'll find it defined as: family name; lineage; birth.
However I have seen it used in such a way that it is doubtful that it means any of those ...
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
votes
2answers
430 views
What does やい mean?
Someone ended their sentence with やいな. What dialect is this? What does やい mean? I assume that な means the same thing as in standard Japanese?
Update: the original sentence was 「もう出来あがり？仕事はやいな～」.
2
votes
1answer
102 views
Translation of 竜すらも恐るるに足らない
The full text is...
この魔剣があれば… メルヴィンの言うとおり 竜すらも恐るるに足らない…
Is this a double negative? "Even dragons to be not afraid is not enough" = "Even dragons are [will be] afraid".
1
vote
0answers
127 views
What are some words with kanji/readings/meanings that don't match? [closed]
Maybe a hard to understand question, but for example, I love the word 百日紅 (さるすべり) because it's the name of a red flower and uses some very poetic kanji (one hundred days of red) but opts instead for a ...
