Questions tagged [nuances]
ニュアンス. Subtle differences between two seemingly interchangeable expressions.
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Nuance between 技法、手法、方法、テクニック、 etc
Basically just wanting to know if there's a clear difference between these words. I get the feeling that テクニック is more like one person's own specific technique for doing a thing (entirely guessing ...
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Talking about yourself in Honorifics [尊敬語]
Can one talk about themselves in Honorifics? Example:
俺様が宅へお出でになった [I went home]
俺は寿司を召し上がれる [I can eat sushi]
俺は勉強為さってらっしゃる [I am studying]
etc etc
And what instances is it used and the nuance ?
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Can we use やばいぞ instead of やばいよ?
Does "ぞ" make it more masculine-sounding or is it a different dialect?
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What is the difference between に似る and のように (～みたい)?
I understand that のように (or ~みたい) are used to indicate similarity, but I recently stumbled upon the form "に似る" while listening to a song, and after looking at the dictionary, I learned that ...
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遅れる vs 遅刻 for "To be late."
I'm trying to form this sentence, "First day on the job, and not only am I late, I'm lost." and I'm unsure if using the verb 遅れる or the noun 遅刻 would make any difference here. I'm thinking ...
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Using ここ vs この場所 for "This place"?
I know ここ can be used to say "this place" like "ここが好き" and この場所 literally means "this place" like "この場所が好き". But is one preferred or more natural than the other ...
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Difference between 接続 and つなぐ
In the context of connecting things, like a printer to a computer or a computer to the internet, is there a difference between these or are they interchangeable?
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Good word for explicit?
As in like "Explicit material" or "Explicit violence"
I'm thinking it's either 露骨 or 明白 but I'm unsure of if there's a difference in nuance between the two.
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Difference between ように VS ために
I have the next sentence in the book:
締め切りに間に合う『？』必死でレポートを書き上げた。
1)ために 2)ように
The answer is ように. But from my point of view, there is absolutely no grammatical difference between the 2 of them in the ...
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Difference between 迷子になる and 道に迷う
I'm trying to translate this sentence, "Not only am I late to the first day on the job but I'm lost, too." and I can't decide between 迷子になる and 道に迷う.
What I have right now is, ...
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What's the difference between 会話 and 対談?
This question and this other one explain the differences between 会{かい}話{わ} and other words related to "conversation," but they don't cover 対{たい}談{だん}, which I've also learned has the same ...
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Difference between ラジオ and 無線?
I've seen both used fairly often, but I've unsure if there's a difference in nuance/usage. Is 無線 more like an actual radio and ラジオ more like a car's radio?
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Translation help, 思う vs 思っている when the subject of the sentence is the speaker
I'm working on a translation for a comic and I'm kind of stumped on this one line. The specific context is the character talking to herself and musing about what someone else thinks of her, the line ...
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苦しんでいる vs 苦しめられる
次の文章を読んで、どう違いますか分かりません。
① 胃潰瘍に苦しんでいる。I suffer from stomach ulcer.
② 胃潰瘍に苦しめられる。I suffer from stomach ulcer.
両方は「胃潰瘍のせいで、僕は苦しんだ、今も苦しい」。
②は受身形で、「僕は苦しめられる、誰に？、胃潰瘍に」っていう意味でしょ？
それは Suffering Passive ですね。
...
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Trouble parsing a sentence with a postponed は
The other day I was reading a book and came across the following passage:
そう言われて端の席に座り、私は団子を自分の皿に乗せた。
At first I thought this was a simple enumeration ("I was told this, I took a side seat and ...
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What is the difference between 世の中 and 世界 when meaning "the world" and "society?"
世{せ}界{かい} has a few different meanings, but when I looked it up in the dictionary, I saw one definition as a noun had some overlap with 世{よ}の中{なか}, a piece of vocabulary I'd learned earlier:
世の中: ...
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Difference between 光景, 風景, 景色, 情景, 景観, 眺め, 見晴らし and 場面
I am aware that there is a similar question with a great answer, however I feel like it could be expanded upon. I don't have enough points to comment, so I decided to post it as a seperate question.
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Differences between [心証/心象]を[害する/損なう]
I am confused about the differences between the following terms:
心証を害する
心証を損なう
心象を害する
心象を損なう
Based on my understanding, 心証 means the impression other people get from you. For example,「上役の心証を害する」...
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Choosing between ーそうだ and ーようだ
I'm doing a translation for a comic and I'm having trouble deciding between ーそうだ and ーようだ.
The specific context I'm looking at is a character exploring a seemingly abandoned building, but eventually ...
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Nuances between 差し出す, 突き出す, and 出す
I know 出す obviously has a broad set of meanings, 突き出す can mean "to hand over" or "to push out," and 差し出す can also mean "to submit," but when each are used roughly in the &...
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What does this mean in this context ? しっかり甘えんぼアピールを忘れないところは流石だな。( MC's thought about his little sister )
しっかり甘えんぼアピールを忘れないところは流石だな。
Context: MC's little sister made a curry dish for dinner, but it was too spicy and MC can't even swallow it (although he loves spicy foods). After that he decided that he ...
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Difference between the verbs 探す, 捜す, and 探る？
To my understanding, they all mean "to search for" but I'm unsure of the differences between the two and in what contexts I should be using one over the other. (Edit) Just found out about 捜す....
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What is the difference between 毎回 and 毎度?
Both 毎{まい}回{かい} and 毎{まい}度{ど} share the meaning of "every time" or "every occurrence."
I know 毎回 can be used to mean "every turn", and that 毎度 can be used to mean "...
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How does 助ける relate to 手伝う and 救う?
I'm going to answer this myself, since I haven't seen good complete answers online. 助ける occupies a role overlapping with both word, which is particularly confusing for native English speakers, since ...
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Nuances between 災難 and 災い
As the title says, I'm not sure of the difference between 災難 and 災い. Both seem to be mainly used for "personal" disasters (as opposed to 災害). There is a GOO Thesaurus page, but it doesn't ...
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using 再想像 or 再創造 for reimagined?
I'm trying to decide between 再創造 and 再想像 for reimagined, specifically in the context of a "reimagined story", like 再創造された物語。
I'm leaning toward 創造 because, to my understanding, 創造 refers to ...
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What's the difference between で and において?
I get that において represents like the 場所, 時 and 分野. However when we are talking about a place, what is the difference?
Like why is the first one correct but not the second?
○ 教室で友達と昼ご飯を食べた
× ...
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頭の回転 vs Just 頭 Alone
小回りの利く機動が得意しかし頭の回転が やや鈍い
In this line from Attack on Titan, how is the nuance of 頭の回転がやや鈍い different than just saying something like Atama ga yaya nibui?
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Changing word order in「彼らは一緒に敵と戦っていた。」
Consider the following two, almost identical sentences:
(A) 彼らは一緒に敵{てき}と戦{たたか}っていた。
They fought the enemy together.
(B) 彼らは敵{てき}と一緒に戦{たたか}っていた。
They fought mutually with the enemy.
Understanding the ...
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Good word/phrase for crazy?
The context is like "He'll probably think I'm crazy." The expressions I see mostly are 頭がおかしい and 気が狂う. I've also seen イカれる be used, but I've heard that's really slangy. Are there better ...
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What's the difference between 心, 念, and 意?
I can say that after much research on this, I'm more thoroughly confused than before I started. I'm talking mostly about when they are used as suffixes, but the concept applies when they stand alone, ...
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What does 流れ mean here? - 「その流れ 気に入ってるのですか？」
In the anime Quintessential Quintuplets, the mc 風太郎 is walking home with the quint girls. When the quints are curious about his test results, he is hesitant to give it to them, but in reality he wants ...
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Correct Understanding of Stative Verb in Masu Stem + いく・ゆく
死にいく
死にゆく
These more of 'resultative verbs' that when put into ている form mean a resultant state, like how 死んでいる means dead not dying, when put into にいく・にゆく form, do they mean something different that ...
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Difference between 退屈 and つまらない
I found some answers online, but I don't really understand the nuance.
People seem to say that つまらない is "boring" in the sense that it is uninteresting to you. And 退屈 is "boring" in ...
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What's the difference between 作家 and 作者?
Is there a difference between 作{さっ}家{か} and 作{さく}者{しゃ}, both meaning author?
I've also found 著{ちょ}者{しゃ}, but this one the dictionary says usually refers specifically to an author of a specific book.
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Differences between various words for "person in charge"
Particularly I am thinking of 係員, 係官, 担当者, 主任, 主任者, 責任者, and 担任.
I know that 担任 is almost exclusively used for teachers/education but there are examples outside of this (weblio examples: ある仕事を担任する, ...
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What's the difference between 支店 and 支局?
What's the difference between 支{し}店{てん} and 支{し}局{きょく}?
They both share the definition of "branch office" but 支店 uses the kanji for store, while 支局 uses the kanji for bureau or department.
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Can an odachi be called a katana?
I was arguing with a friend about the meaning of the word "katana". There are very large swords (some of them longer than 200cm) known as odachi. My friend claimed that calling them a katana ...
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How is 節 being used here? [closed]
In a visual novel I am currently I am playing, the MC says this while thinking to himself:
ここは....嫌われたにしろ怒らせたにしろとにかくまずは謝るのが節のはずだ
The context is, that he is currently going out with his girlfriend, ...
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is たがる here correct?
誰かゲームを遊びたがっている?
i thought this たがる is for making assumptions, therefore i find weird that someone would say "does somebody seem like wanting to play..."? or am i wrong? is it correct?, if ...
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Can てしまう mean 'end up' with a positive connotation?
While てしまう is how you say 'end up' when it's something regrettable, Can you also use it to say 'end up' if it's something good and unexpected such as:
I ended up making friends with everyone at the ...
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What are the nuances for various words referring to "facial expression"?
The words I am thinking of in particular are 表情, 面持ち, 顔色, 顔つき, and 面相.
I understand that 表情 is the most common, 面持ち is only for negative expressions, 顔色 more often refers to complexion rather than ...
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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 ご[苦労]{...
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Nuances of using 政党 vs 党
I know 党 on its own can be a suffix, but it can also be used on its own.
What is the difference between using 政党 and 党? Is one more formal than the other?
For example (using Goo examples): 党の方針 vs ...
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What is the difference in nuance between しなきゃ and しないと
Obviously, なきゃ is the short/casual form of なければならない like in:
病院へ行かなきゃ。
I need to go to the hospital.
But I've also seen negative + と be used to express the same thing.
病院へ行かないと。
I assume と here is ...
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When should one use まとまる over other similar words?
I know that まとまる has 3 meanings:
The first is of some matter being settled/agreed upon, which overlaps with a bunch of words (eg: 決まる, 片付く, 解決する, 成立する, 成り立つ). When should まとまる be used?
The second is ...
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は vs なら in this sentence
I'm trying to understand the difference between は and なら in these two sentences.
彼はきっと大丈夫。
彼ならきっと大丈夫。
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Can someone explain to me the grammatical structure of this sentence?
うん、少々偏ってるくらいでどうにかなっちゃうものじゃないから
The whole sentence means a little 偏って doesn't matter but why does じゃないから not acting as a negation for どうにかなっちゃうもの
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Difference between "今日の会話これ意味わかりました？" and "今日の会話の意味わかりました？""
Would someone be so nice as to explain to me the fine nuances and subtleties between the two sentences:
今日の会話 これ 意味わかりました？ (Source: Lower intermediate season 4, lesson 1)
今日の会話 の 意味わかりました？ (...
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自分になりたい。 自分でありたい。 What's the difference?
I know both sentences more or less mean "I want to be myself", but I'm not sure of the subtle differences.
When would you use でありたい over になりたい ?
Source: Tsurune season 2 trailer. Both are ...
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