Subtle differences between two seemingly interchangeable expressions.
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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 ...
5
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1answer
161 views
で終わります: trying to close by? で帰ります, trying to leave by? It depends on the sentence?
I can say 売り場は九時で終わります、 and 三時で帰ります、 which I've learned mean something like, "They'll be trying to close from," and, "I'll be trying to leave from." I've also learned that ２月２５日で帰ります is not correct. ...
5
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1answer
188 views
“きのう、何をしていた。” vs. “きのう、何をした。”
What is the difference in nuance between きのう、何をしていた。 vs きのう、何をした。? To be fair, I can't really tell the difference between these two english sentences:
What were you doing yesterday ?
What did you do ...
5
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2answers
160 views
What's the difference between 捕らえる and 捕まえる? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Fun with synonyms - “to grab/catch/capture”
From my current understanding, 捕らえる means 'to capture', while 捕まえる is used to mean 'to arrest'. Is this correct? And is 捕まる ...
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1answer
156 views
の要領で as “in the same way as”/“in the manner of” vs. のように
Full text is over here.
This is part of the description of how 茄子餃子{なすぎょうざ} is prepared at a particular restaurant:
天ぷらの要領で水で溶いた小麦粉をつけて中火の油で揚げる。
If の要領で was replaced by のように, would there be any ...
5
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1answer
180 views
What is the difference between むかしっから and むかしから?
In my book I found both むかしっから and むかしから within the span of a couple pages, in very similar contexts. What is the significance of that small-tsu (with regards to the meaning, not the pronunciation)?
...
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1answer
431 views
Fun with synonyms - “perhaps/maybe/probably”
What are the differences when using the following words/phrases to mean "perhaps", "maybe" or "probably"?
多分
恐らく
蓋し {けだし}
もしかして
ひょっとして
なかろう (negative -> probably not)
だろう / でしょう / であろう
かも知れない
...
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2answers
176 views
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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 ...
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1answer
86 views
What is the difference between 家屋, 家 and 住居
I've found yet another word that's translated as 'home' which now makes it 3. Could you please tell me if these words have the same exact meaning or is there any difference between their usage?
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2answers
123 views
what is the difference in the nuances / usage of 気に病む and 心配する ?
I was wondering what is the difference in the nuances / usage of 気に病む and 心配する ?
(E.g. If I want to tell my friend not to worry about a test (albeit an important test), is it more appropriate to use ...
4
votes
2answers
230 views
Help with the difference between causative and the causative-passive for the verb 笑う
I've always had a hard time immediately understanding the differences between passive, causative, and causative-passive. If I really sit down and try to work out the meaning I can generally get it, ...
4
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3answers
134 views
Expressing “I like to <do something>”
I was trying to express the idea of "Like + do something", as in "I like to drink tea" or "I like to eat pasta".
After a quick search I found that you can express it like this, omitting the parts to ...
4
votes
2answers
106 views
Difference in nuance between 証明 and 証拠?
I know that both of these words mean "proof", but I can't figure out what the difference is, or if there's any at all. Can anyone explain to me the difference in nuance between these two words?
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2answers
146 views
Meaning of あくまで in あくまで私個人の意見です
What is the meaning of あくまで in the sentence あくまで私個人の意見です ?
ALC: back and edge, consistently
GJiten: to the end; to the bitter end; to the last; stubbornly; persistently; to the utmost
What nuance is ...
4
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2answers
187 views
餌食 vs 獲物
What is the difference between 餌食{えじき} and 獲物{えもの}?
Both mean "prey", so how do we decide when to use which?
What is the difference in their nuances?
4
votes
2answers
180 views
How to exhaustively list predicates in a non-temporal way?
Supposing that you want to express a list of events or actions exhaustively and without significance in ordering (for example: Yesterday, I ate some ice cream, went to the store, and read a book, but ...
4
votes
2answers
228 views
What's the difference between 上る、登る and 昇る?
According to jisho.org, they all have the same meanings, to climb, to rise, to ascend. Is that true? And do they have differences in usage?
4
votes
1answer
174 views
What is the difference between 出す and 始める when used as a suffix?
Judging from examples I've seen, these are some differences I think there are:
始める:
1: More formal than 出す
2: When the focus in more on the beginning of the verb than the verb itself
3: When the ...
4
votes
2answers
126 views
Difference between words that describe the idea of neighborhood/being close to something
Can somebody describe the difference between these words(physical distance and maybe politeness of these words, or any aspects that you think are important to understand these).
Can all these words ...
4
votes
1answer
370 views
Stative verbs: ～ている vs ～てある vs ～（ら）れる
I'm not sure if I'm wording this properly, but I want to know the nuances of these "stative" type verb forms that act kind of like adjectives.
For example, you could describe an open window with any ...
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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 ...
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votes
1answer
142 views
What is the nuance of この + [first person pronoun]?
For example, from the song Fare Well by L'Arc~en~Ciel:
あなたは いつまでも この僕のこと 愛してくれたのかな
and countless examples from manga, like:
だが このオレは 死なん...
こんどは このオレが きさまを 滅ぼす
このオレに 勝てるわけがない
My ...
4
votes
1answer
348 views
“causative of negative” vs “negative of causative”?
Wikipedia (Japanese Verb Conjugation):
Negatives [verb negative-conjugations] are not normally made into causatives. Instead, a negative ending is added to the causative of the verb. Thus, for ...
4
votes
2answers
242 views
Using な in positive instead of negative imperative (e.g. 行きな)
Putting な after a plain verb turns it into negative imperative.
But I noticed that in spoken Japanese, putting な after conjunctive form (連用形) turns it into positive imperative. For example:
...
4
votes
1answer
116 views
Fun with synonyms - “evaluation/investigation/etc.”
Explain the differences in the following vocabulary. They all essentially mean some form of investigation, inspection, etc. Please don't just write the definitions; I'm lost on how they differ, when ...
4
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2answers
185 views
Explaining cause in response to the question “why?”
Alright, lets give this another go.
I'm having trouble understanding the best way to respond to someone asking "why".
My study guide advised,
To answer the question with "why", make a statement ...
4
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1answer
92 views
What is the difference between 義務and 本分?
Now, I try to brush up my vocabulary in Japanese.
In dictionary, both 義務 and 本分 mean "duty". Is there any differences in usage?
And can I use 本分 instead of 義務 in following sentence?
...
4
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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
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 ...
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0answers
188 views
What's the difference between 欲{ほっ}する and 欲しがる?
Is there one? One of my dictionaries lists them as
欲{ほっ}する → to desire/to want
欲しがる → to desire/to want/to wish for/to covet
Only the latter sounds like it includes more "bad"/selfish ...
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 ...
3
votes
1answer
181 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
96 views
Different between 可決 and 許可？
I want to know the different between 可決 and 許可.
I search into dictionary and the meaning is quite the same whose meaning are approval or permission.
So, what different? and how to use it ...
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 ...
3
votes
1answer
184 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
votes
1answer
107 views
What's the difference between どうして and どうやって?
I've read on stackexchange that どうやって can be used to mean "what did you do in order to x"
どうやってお医者になったか? - What did you do in order to become a doctor?
This definition makes alot of sense to ...
3
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1answer
66 views
Meaning of auxiliary ゆく/いく in this context
While translating a song, I've stumbled upon the following sentence:
落ちた希望を拾って明日に繋いでゆけば
Which got me wondering what the difference between the following two is:
落ちた希望を拾って明日に繋いでゆけば
...
3
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1answer
104 views
火を噴く vs 火を吐く
What's the difference between 火を噴いて{ふ} and 火を吐いて{は} ?
Both seems to mean fire-spitting, like a fire-breathing dragon, but is there any difference in their nuances?
3
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1answer
132 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 ...
3
votes
2answers
166 views
How does the addition of のか to the end of a sentence affect the meaning?
I've always had trouble understanding か (question particle) in casual speech. I read that in casual situations, か can be used to give the sentence an exasperated or sarcastic tone. Like in:
負けっかよ！ ...
3
votes
1answer
166 views
How to write “Ikigai”
I'd like to use Ikigai ("something one lives for; purpose in life; raison d'être") for a Calligraphy (ShoDo) work.
According to Tangorin there are three possible ways to write this:
生き甲斐
生きがい
...
3
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1answer
111 views
Difference between the usage of 知恵 , 知能 and 知力
I have read the sentence
"12歳の小児の知力しかない".
In this sentence , I would like to know the usage of 知力 .
In dictionary , it means "intelligence "
Can I use 知恵 or 知能 instead of 知力.
Is there ...
3
votes
1answer
139 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 ...
3
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1answer
91 views
2
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1answer
117 views
降参する vs 諦める
What's the difference between 降参する and 諦める?
Both seems to have the meaning of "to give up", for example:
ぜったい降参しない。(I will never give up.)
ぜったい諦めない。(I will never give up.)
What's the difference ...
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? ...
2
votes
3answers
230 views
What is the difference between 覚える and 見覚える?
I only have basic 和英 definitions to go on, but I'm guessing the nuance is that 覚える has more to do with things you learn or study, and 見覚える is more like remembering experiences. Or is there something ...
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:
...
2
votes
1answer
107 views
The difference between 添削 and 訂正
I used to always use 訂正{ていせい} rather than 添削{てんさく} to mean "correction", but recently I haven't really seen 訂正 being used. When used in the context of correcting English translations etc, it seems to ...
