Questions tagged [nuances]
ニュアンス. Subtle differences between two seemingly interchangeable expressions.
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Need help with a few very confusing sentences, talking about fortune telling and people's fate/ destiny
Appreciates if anyone can help me understand the meaning of a few hard parts in this conversation.
Context: MC is in an isekai world. MC met a fortune teller while he's looking for a missing girl, she ...
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Need help with a few hard parts in this context - MC is talking with a male classmate, about the final test exam and the summer vacation
Context: MC is talking with his friend about the final test before the summer vacation start. His friend is confident that he will pass the exam (with an acceptable grade, enough to pass the red mark :...
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Possible missing nuances of card text translation
I was translating a Japanese Digimon card with the text 「このカードを自分のテイマーの下に置ける」. When I translated the text myself, I got "Place this card under your tamer", however an official translation ...
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Confused about 1 character's question in this context (MC is discussing with his party members, about the origin of the Demon King)
Context: MC are discussing with his party members about the meaning of a Demon King's saying ,after he had defeated her.
Then 1 of his party member ask him 1 question ,it's hard for my JP level to ...
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how does te form+ なる(ものか) work?
i pretty much know what it means, but i wanna know the nuance, what the person tries to actually say. what the なる here does??
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Causative use for the verb 習う (sense of achievement)
I learnt here that "the causative せる lends a sense of achievement or overcoming hardship to finish something".
My question is: is it common for Japanese students to use the causative form of ...
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Is it wrong to say お姉ちゃんに私のケーキを食べられた instead of 私はお姉ちゃんにケーキを食べられた ? (Passive voice)
I'm trying to better grasp the passive voice in Japanese based on these four sentences. So far I can tell that the first sentence is direct passive and the second and third one indirect passive.
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Does 同棲 always have a romantic connotation?
Take for instance the noun,
同棲組 which roughly means a group living together.
Does 同棲 always have a romantic connotation, or is it possible to use it in a non-romantic sense. For example, to ...
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Different words for "management"
What exactly are the differences between 経営, 運営, and 管理? I believe 経営 can only be used for private businesses, but are there differences beyond that?
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What is the difference between 楽しい, 愉しい, and 娯しい?
Recently I've been trying to understand the difference in nuance between the words 楽しい, 愉{たの}しい, and 娯{たの}しい, but I'm still confused after reading a few different explanations on chiebukuro and other ...
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What does の元で mean?
彼の元で護衛を務める。
Does it mean "for", "on behalf of", "in the name of"? Or "under the guidance of"?
What's the difference between that and の下で?
Can I replace で with ...
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What does ～ていく mean here?
すぐ傍から告げられた言葉に、胸の鼓動がどんどん高鳴りを増していく。
As usual, I have problems understanding ～てくる/いく. I've already studied their meanings, but whenever I encounter them, I don't know which one it is.
He hugs her, and ...
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What role is 一面 playing in "床は一面血まみれだった"?
The sentence
床は一面血まみれだった。
apparently translates to
The floor was covered with blood.
Question: What role is 一面 playing in this sentence?
It seems to me that if we omitted that word entirely, the ...
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What is the proper use of だろう, is it "masculine", and how is it different from と思 【おも】う?
Like a lot of other foreign guys, I picked up some of my Japanese from imitating the women I spoke to. Certain phrases may have made me sound unwittingly effeminate in the early days when I had less ...
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Why is それ marked with a で particle in "それでいいですよ"?
それでいいですよ。
I assume this translates to something like "That is good".
But why is それ marked by a で particle here instead of, say, a が or a は particle? It seems that それ is acting as the ...
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Nuances between the various words involving production
What are the full nuances between 生産, 制作, 製作, 作製, and 製造?
I understand that 制作 and 製作 are associated with movie/television production, and 製造 sounds like factory production, but beyond that, I don't ...
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Why is しない used for a past event?
植野：ちょっとからかってた的な…ことはあったかも
将也：まあ一応。僕もやめとけとは言ったんですけどね。聞かなかったし
石田：お前も一緒にやってたじゃん！女子なんてすげぇ悪口言ってたでしょ。ねえ！特に(植野)と(川井)が
川井：ひどい…。私そんなことしないよ。どうして…。石田くんひどいよ
Everyone's putting the blame on 石田 for bullying.
I ...
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What does もの stand for here?
真改とは薄桜鬼の第一作を「薄桜鬼 真改」としてリメイクしたものです。
It's from the official site.
What does もの refer to? The fact that led to the creation of the title? The title itself? Shouldn't it be こと?
Or is it もん? If so, doesn'...
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Nuances between 本人 and 当人
According to Goo's thesaurus
1.「本人」は、他の人ではなく、その人自身という意味で使われる。
2.「当人」は、そこで問題になったり、話題になったりしている当事者であるその人という意味で使われる。
I don't really grasp the nuance between these two, and the example sentences continue ...
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Difference between 芽生える{めばえる}・芽{め}が出る{でる}／芽{め}を出す{だす}
I encountered the following multiple-choice question in an unofficial JLPT N3 vocabulary practice test:
先週、スイカの種を植えたばかりなのに、今朝見たら、もう芽が（ ）いた。
１ なって ２ 出て ３ 散って ４ 生えて
I chose 「４ 生えて」, but the ...
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In some cases is "そうですね" synonymous with "そうです"?
I understand that "そうですね" is use to express agreement with the listener meaning something like "isn't it?"
But I saw some sentences where its meanings seem to be "That's right&...
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Whats is the difference between 開発途上国 and 発展途上国?
What is the difference in the usage of these 2 words?
I get the difference between 開発 and 発展 and my interpretation would be that 開発途上国 could refer to a developing country where the standard living ...
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Nominalizer vs te-form: which to use when subordinate to 望む?
The following are some song lyrics
あなたが望むなら
この胸を射通して
What's the difference between
あなたがこの胸を射通すの望むなら
And
あなたがこの胸を射通して望むなら
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という/っていう - a few of questions
I’ve scoured this website and elsewhere to get to the bottom of this and I think I’ve cracked most of all of the という usages and meanings. But I just have some few questions I hope you can help with.
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Why not use the past tense 知った in もうお前が知る俺らは いねえんだぞ
I saw this sentence in an episode of attack on titan
もうお前が知る俺らは いねえんだぞ
the subs translated it to
The people you thought we were no longer exist
I don't understand since in this case the speaker is ...
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When on earth do you use ごろ (goro)?
I was in class the other day and my せんせい was teaching us about using ぐらい (gurai) as in ...どの ぐらい かかりますか (how long will it take), and mentioned another form of ぐらい being ごろ (goro), and never elaborated ...
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について vs に関して - the internet tells me they only change in formality, but Imabi disagrees? [duplicate]
について vs に関して
1a. 今から韓国に関して話してください。X
1b. 今から韓国について話してください。〇
Why is Imabi saying that 1a is wrong? Source
All sources are saying that について and に関して have the same function, with the latter being more ...
CommunityBot
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Do 白雪{しらゆき} and 白雪{はくせつ} mean the exact same thing?
I always add context to my flashcards and use different sources to find suitable ones from high-quality bilingual dictionaries. Kenkyusha offer examples for 白雪{はくせつ} but not 白雪{しらゆき}. I know some ...
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What's the difference between である and ではある?
隊服の上から触れた彼の身体からは、かすかではあるものの温もりを感じられる。
I've already read the answers to these questions:
Meaning of ~つもりではいる in that sentence
What is a good way to translate ではある?
ではあるんだろうが meaning
However, I still ...
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Nuances between 思わず, うっかり, つい, and 知らず知らず
I've looked at things explaining the differences between the 4 words (思わず, うっかり, つい, and 知らず知らず), but I still end up confused with the explanations and examples. I get that 知らず知らず is more of a thing ...
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Difference between saying 外国の人 and 外国人?
I don't understand the difference in nuance. Is it like saying "person from another country" vs "foreigner"? Is the first one less formal?
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What is the difference between んじゃない and んだ?
…あの犯行予告、俺がやったんじゃないんだけどな。
I wasn't the one who issued that threat, but no matter. (English subs)
What's the difference between んじゃない and んだ as they're used here?
One would ordinarily expect んじゃない to ...
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Usage of より at end of sentence?
Just wondering a little bit about the mechanics of より in this sentence. The context as far as I can tell is that someone is saying they are better at doing Laundry and cleaning when compared to their ...
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What does やってくる mean in this sentence?
宿題をやってこなかったですか？
It's something like "Have you ended up not doing the homework?", I think, but what's the difference with just やらなかった?
What kind of てくる is this? Is it the same of 寒くなってくる?
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Is there any difference in connotation between 悪い人 and 悪人?
Context: I like to translate song lyrics for fun and casual practice; two I've recently been listening to are 悪い人 by syudou and 悪人 by ive, and the similar titles got me wondering whether I should be ...
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What does じゃあ at the end of a sentence mean?
そろそろ学校に行く時間じゃあ？
Is it like ですか? Or like じゃん/じゃない?
I've thought it could be that じゃ that is the same as だ used by characters who are old, but this one is young.
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Does と mean "with" or "for", here?
あたしと学校とりかえっこしてみない？
I already know it means "Why don't you try swapping school with me?", "Why don't you, and I, try swapping school?", but I wonder if it can also mean "Why ...
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What is the difference between 感触 and 触感
From my limited research both mean "tactile sensation". 触感 strictly means "tactile sensation" while 感触 can have a broader meaning closer to 感覚 and 印象. Also according to Anime, ...
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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 ...
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What does 男手一つで育てる literally mean?
紅緒を男手一つで育てた陸軍少佐。
It's from はいからさんが通る.
It means "Major who raised Benio with his own (male) help", right?
To me, if "help" could be countable in English, it would be "Major ...
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Help with monomorphic, polyphonic verbs
OK, I kind of invented that term. But I'm referring to verbs that have identical kanji and okurigana; have nearly identical meanings; but have different readings. I'm sure there are many others out ...
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とする(か) VS Volitional, conjectural and と思う
The speaker just finished preparing a ring for a tournament when he says this sentence by himself (there is no hearer in the scene) :
さて...テレビ局に行くとするか。
I know that とする can mean "to decide to&...
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Is 寝る a stative or active verb?
Looking at past questions I am still confused about the answers given:
The answer to this post suggests that 寝る is a continuation of some state.
昨日も全然寝てない。
Yesterday I didn't sleep at all.
Instead ...
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Express that something is trendy with 流行
Do these three sentences are right to express that something is trendy? What is the difference in meaning or nuances?
青色が流行になっている
青色が流行りになっている
青色が流行っている
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適応 vs 同化 for adaptation
Which word is better for expression meaning of my adaptation to environment, situation or person, which I don't like, but unable to change situation, stop or influence situation in anyway.
For example,...
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Is there a meaningful difference between 推量形＋と(も)/が and 過去形＋ところで?
I know that 過去形＋ところで is followed by a negative judgement, and 推量形＋と(も)/が can be either, but is there any other difference?
For example
どんなに説明したところで、わたしの気持ちはわかってもらえないだろう。
どんなに説明しようと、...
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Meaning of the word 水戸黄門. Is there a hidden nuance?
I was re-watching Usagi Drop.
When the MC tries to unfold a plastic bag or something, his hands are not slippery enough to separate the plastic handle. After harassing him in a cute way, the little ...
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Why does 「...ことと思います」mean "I hope that ..."?
In this Hinative question about the best way to translate the simple small-talk phrase "I hope you had a good weekend", two native Japanese speakers both reply with a "...ことと思います" ...
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What is the difference between 五大 and 五行?
Furthermore, is there a sensible way to combine either of the above with 龍 or 竜 to form a plausible given name (one that a native speaker would not find out of place) with a meaning akin to "...
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