Subtle differences between two seemingly interchangeable expressions.
8
votes
2answers
238 views
(noun) です vs. がある when either is appropriate
~するつもりです
~するつもりがある
~する予定です
~する予定がある
These are just two examples. Obviously you can't stick in any noun, but I don't know if these fall into some well defined class either.
Anyhow, ...
2
votes
1answer
133 views
Is まい as in あるまい really only used in literary texts or TV?
My understanding --admittedly limited-- is that in Japanese, people say as much as they can with as little words as possible. So I wondered why ないだろう would be used in everyday speaking instead of まい? ...
3
votes
2answers
129 views
“俺が一番” vs “俺が最高”
I was reading through " How do I say "I am the best" ? の,は or が and 私 or 俺? ", and I was wondering what's the difference between "俺が一番" and "俺が最高"?
From what I know, both roughly equates to ...
7
votes
3answers
220 views
What is the difference between 一緒【いっしょ】に and 二人【ふたり】で?
I think in all situations where either 一緒に could be used, 二人で can also be used, and vice versa. I suppose 三人、四人、五人、etc. can also be used here if that's the number of people you are talking about.
But ...
4
votes
1answer
139 views
What's the difference between 威厳 and 尊厳?
What's the difference between 威{い}厳{げん} and 尊{そん}厳{げん} to mean "dignity"?
From what I can tell, the two seem to be similar, but slightly different. In what ways do the nuances and usages of the two ...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
Difference between 妬【ねた】ましい and 羨【うらや】ましい
Considering "How to define 羨ましい?", it does not seem that 羨【うらや】ましい conveys a strong intensity of jealousy.
How does 妬【ねた】ましい compare to 羨【うらや】ましい then?
Does 妬【ねた】ましい convey a stronger sense of ...
4
votes
1answer
110 views
Additional nuance of より with time
It seems to me that より has virtually no meaning when used as shown below.
Consider these:
Please come before five O'clock:
五時前に来てください
五時より前に来てください
Please come after five O'clock:
五時後に来てください ...
9
votes
1answer
332 views
How do you use 〜と知る?
I've often seen and heard the expression 〜と知る（知っている）. When I think about it, it makes sense in the context of the quoatation-と, like with 〜と言う or 〜と思う. It seems like it means "Know that 〜".
...
10
votes
2answers
213 views
“看護師” vs. “看護士”
Good afternoon all,
I was wondering is it true that
"看護師" is a gender-neutral way of referring to a "nurse",
Whereas "看護婦" implies that it is a girl,
And "看護士" implies that it is a guy?
...
7
votes
1answer
314 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?
...
8
votes
2answers
359 views
What is the difference between 悪い and だめ?
What is the difference between 悪い and だめ?
They're not really the same, but in English they both can be translated to "bad".
あの人が悪い。In my limited experience, this is bad in the sense of evil.
...
2
votes
1answer
213 views
What exactly does “るぅ” mean?
Good afternoon all,
Sometimes I see that people like to "curl" the last mora of a verb, for example:
瑞生: ああそれから、亜湖にも特別ボーナスだ。
亜湖: えっ。
瑞生: ジャーン！
亜湖: 何それ？
瑞生: かわいいだろう？
瑞生: ...
8
votes
2answers
149 views
“乗せる” vs “乗っける”
Good afternoon all,
I was wondering when someone gives someone a ride (bicycle, car, etc), what's the difference in nuance between using the verb "乗せる" and the verb "乗っける"?
For example, I was ...
12
votes
4answers
414 views
How to “shoo away” a sales clerk?
When I go window shopping, the sales clerk would usually come near me asking what I like. How should I politely shoo them away? Can I simply say
いいえ、けっこうです
or something like
自分で見る
I know ...
6
votes
2answers
186 views
When is it appropriate to use ごくろうさま?
I've seen お疲れさま and ご[苦労]{くろう}さま used to say "Thank you" after some had done work of some type. After reading the お疲れさま thread, I realize that the two are not interchangeable. So when do you use ...
10
votes
1answer
311 views
How to differentiate friend level in Japanese?
I am sometimes having difficulty differentiating friends level when explaining it to a Japanese. For example, when I am telling a story about a friend, I want to specify the level of friendship we ...
6
votes
1answer
121 views
What is the difference in usage between [問]{と}い[合]{あ}わせ and [依]{い}[頼]{らい}
Both 問い合わせ and 依頼 can mean to ask, but my co-workers are using both words in the application we are working on as if they are two different words.
I have a suspicion one is transitive and one is ...
7
votes
1answer
213 views
How to ask person to guess for something during conversation?
I was conversing with my Japanese colleague:
Me: Do you know how much a melon costs in my home country?
Colleague: I do not know.
Me: Take a guess.
I asked him how to say take a ...
3
votes
1answer
182 views
How do you say I am emailing something and attaching it to the email?
I am usually confused if I am going to use 入れます or 付けます when specifying that I attached something to the email.
For example:
最新の帳票サンプルを添付して入れます。
or
最新の帳票サンプルを添付して付けます。
I would usually say that ...
7
votes
1answer
272 views
How to ask for a refund?
I want to ask for a refund? For example, if I want to refund a train ticket. How do I ask the train master?
I think it is not a 返品。
Do you need certain politeness?
2
votes
1answer
82 views
How is 候 used in this line of Nōgaku dialogue?
I am studying some nōgaku. In particular, the play 卒都婆小町, which I find has some interesting, beautiful lines.
At the start of the play, a priest says:
...
3
votes
1answer
141 views
How to hope something is going well?
I would like to hope that someone's small business is going well.
I know is someone's business is going well they can say:
「店は繁盛している」
but, how can I say "I hope your store is prosperous/I hope ...
10
votes
1answer
166 views
Fun with synonyms - “flattery"
What are the difference in the following words meaning flattery / to flatter:
お世{せ}辞{じ}
追{つい}従{しょう}
おべっか
胡{ご}麻{ま}をする
阿{おもね}る
諂{へつら}う
煽{おだ}て（る）
美{び}辞{じ}麗{れい}句{く}
Which ones are honest, sincere ...
5
votes
2answers
164 views
Fun with synonyms - “freeze”
I'm a little confused on the difference between 凍る 【こおる】 and 凍える 【こごえる】.
From what I've researched, it seems like 凍る focuses more on the physical process of something freezing, and the result being ...
5
votes
2answers
243 views
Need clarification on a particular use of から
I saw this sentence recently and I'm particularly confused on the use of から in the sentence.
まず君から殺す。
What does から mean here? What's the difference between that and まず君を殺す? How does から replace the ...
6
votes
2answers
185 views
Any books or websites dedicated to Japanese tech/IT language?
I work in IT in Tokyo, so most of what I do doesn't require interaction with our Japanese customers, but every so often we get that one phone call where someone wants something explained, and I can ...
17
votes
4answers
938 views
How can I differentiate between feet and legs?
Feet are 足, and legs are also 足.
Is there a word or method with which I can easily talk about one and not the other? And if not, why is there no word for feet in the Japanese language?
Caveat: I ...
3
votes
1answer
133 views
Asking superior to mark a document with 印鑑{いんかん}
What is the proper way to ask a superior to sign their hanko for approval? When I need a superior to sign their hanko for a routine log (not for reviewing a document or stuff, just routine logging off ...
7
votes
3answers
229 views
When should 男の人/女の人 be used instead of 男/女?
My teacher always corrects me when I use 男 or 女 by themselves, without adding の人 to the end of it. But in various Japanese media (music, drama, anime, etc.), I know for sure that I have heard them ...
4
votes
1answer
159 views
Difference between 「～のない～」 and 「～がない~」?
For example, plugging these into Google, I can find stuff like, 自信のない人 and 自信がない人. Or, 愛のない生活 and 愛がない生活. I found a movie called 顔のないスパイ. How is this any different from 顔がないスパイ?
I've asked ...
12
votes
4answers
712 views
What's the difference between せっかく and わざわざ?
せっかく and わざわざ seem to be pretty close in meaning/usage, but is there ever a time you would use one and not the other? Or is there a small nuance there?
Just to give some example sentences:
...
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 ...
8
votes
1answer
195 views
What's the difference between 電光石火【でんこうせっか】 and 疾風迅雷【しっぷうじんらい】
They both seem to mean "quick as lightning". What are the nuances between them? In what sort of context would they be used? Are they interchangeable? etc.
9
votes
1answer
236 views
usage of「ご迷惑をおかけ・・・」variants for a business apology
I have to apologize for a procedural error at work, and am unsure about selecting the right form of apology from the variants of 「ご迷惑をおかけ・・・」:
1.「ご迷惑【めいわく】をおかけして申【もう】し訳【わけ】ございません。」
...
10
votes
4answers
213 views
Are there differences in nuance and usage of [内]{ない}[緒]{しょ}, [秘]{ひ}[密]{みつ}, [隠]{かく}し[事]{ごと} and [秘]{ひ}め[事]{ごと}?
They all carry the meaning of "secret" in English, but are there differences in nuance and usage of each of them:
[内]{ない}[緒]{しょ}
[秘]{ひ}[密]{みつ}
[隠]{かく}し[事]{ごと}
[秘]{ひ}め[事]{ごと}
...
26
votes
5answers
665 views
How should I choose between [知]{し}る and わかる?
Both 知る and わかる get used for "know", "understand", "learn", "find out", and various other concepts. How do you know which to use when? Are there any rules to help you decide?
Additionally, both of ...
2
votes
1answer
105 views
How is the あげたい working here?
On a TV show, an idol was given this task to think of:
心が晴れやかになる一言
'A word (or phrase) to lift someone's mood' (My loose translation)
The idol responded:
アナタの心の雨を[止]{や}ませてあげたいな
'Let me ...
7
votes
1answer
201 views
Nuances of “give” - あげる／与える／授ける
Can someone give some good context and scenarios for using these? Not only when to use them, but when NOT to use them as well. I know あげる is kind of the most common, but I'm just not sure of the ...
11
votes
2answers
237 views
What is the differences in nuances between とうとう and やっと?
What is the differences in nuances between とうとう and やっと?
is it true that やっと has a more "happy" feeling attached to it?
9
votes
1answer
430 views
How to use 〜かのよう{に・な・だ}
I understand fine how to use 〜(の)よう{に・な・だ}, but I'm not sure when or how you can add in the か. Here's an example from my book:
４月になって雪が降るなんて、まるで冬が戻って来たかのようです。
How is this different than if it ...
9
votes
3answers
549 views
What exactly is the difference between <verb>-てしまう and <verb>- [切]{き}る?
I've read that both the ～てしまう and ～きる (18th meaning of 切る at http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MUE%E5%88%87%E3%82%8B) forms are used to signify something has been ...
7
votes
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 ...
37
votes
8answers
1k views
What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ?
There were a lot of great answers here. I gave the checkmark to ento's answer because I felt it most completely explained all aspects of this use of こと. But many of the other answers are excellent, so ...
8
votes
2answers
170 views
When are ふう and よう interchangeable?
Lately ふう has been on my mind. Often it seems interchangeable with よう:
これを｛こんなふう／このよう｝にしてください。 Please make it like this.
あれを｛どういうふう／どのよう｝に解釈しますか。 In what way do you interpret that?
...
7
votes
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 ...
5
votes
3answers
213 views
What's the difference between [V-ながら][V2] and [V-ている]間[V2]?
What's the difference between [V-ながら][V2] and [V-ている]間[V2] ?
For example, is there any difference in nuance between these 2 sentences:
トムはテレビを見てる間勉強していた
トムはテレビを見ながら勉強していた
6
votes
3answers
266 views
What is the significance of the “の” in the sentence “誰が盗んだのか、誰か知りませんか。”
In another forum, someone said the difference between
誰が盗んだのか、誰か知りませんか。
and
誰が盗んだか、誰か知りませんか。
is that the former has more emphasis on the verb 盗む. Another person said that that's not the ...
11
votes
3answers
248 views
How are 化け物, 妖怪, 幽霊, etc. related to each other?
In the past few years, reading light novels and the like, I have come across many different terms for ghosts, spirits, monsters, etc. in Japanese, and I'm wondering how they relate to each other. What ...
6
votes
1answer
171 views
ぼちぼち - related words
I am at present rigorously studying 擬音語／擬態語 (an entire world of its own!).
The definition my book has for ぼちぼち (also ぼつぼつ) is:
1. Gradually; slowly but steadily
2. Used to describe something that is ...
10
votes
2answers
229 views
what is the difference in the usage of [成]{な}るべく and できるだけ?
Hi guys what is the difference in the usage of 成るべく and できるだけ?
Don't they both mean as [x] as possible?
E.g.:
1) できるだけ多くの本を読みなさい vs なるべく多くの本を読みなさい
2) できるだけ早くお願いします vs なるべく早くお願いします
