Tagged Questions
1
vote
1answer
144 views
Use of はじめて and どれだっけ?
I don't really know where to ask for help, usually I got the meaning of a sentence on my own but, well this sentence is giving me a hard time, it seems easy but I can't figure out what's the use of ...
3
votes
1answer
89 views
Help translating this japanese sentence please?
I really really need help with this sentence I have tried everything but I don't get its structure and how to translate it so I'd appreciate if someone could help please?
オレ一人 ore hitori
...
4
votes
2answers
157 views
Meaning of でもない in this context?
While listening to the song "Yasashisa no Riyuu", I noticed the following sentence:
今は誰の名前でもない 輝きの彼方へ
Which by the fansub is translated like this:
Now it doesn't matter whose name it may ...
5
votes
3answers
182 views
What is くん doing in these sentences?
I have come across two sentences in a manga that is using くん in a way that I can't seem to find any information on, in both my books and online. I am guessing this may be some sort of slang, odd ...
2
votes
1answer
173 views
The uses & etymology of で
In Japanese, the particle で seems to have multiple uses:
Instrumental: 車{くるま}で大阪{おおさか}に行{い}った。 "I went to Osaka by car."
Locative: 図書館{としょかん}で数学{すうがく}を勉強{べんきょう}している。 "I'm studying math in the ...
6
votes
1answer
133 views
How to express “with (x) as well” and “even with (x)”
I am trying to express something akin to these sentences:
Even with a spoon, he digs well (でも?)
Even without a shovel, he digs well
I would also like to express this:
With a shovel ...
1
vote
1answer
110 views
Can より be used differently than saying “b more x than a”?
I could not find any examples of this usage, but what I'm basically asking is whether or not this is possible:
怒るより悲しいですよ
Rather than being mad, I am sad
Is this a legitimate way of using ...
2
votes
1answer
166 views
Limitations of に for emphasis?
I remember having learning that に can be used for a simple emphasis of the word before it, like so:
私はケーキを食べた - I ate cake
私にはケーキを食べた - I ate cake (the others may or may not have, but I did)
...
7
votes
5answers
288 views
A は／が difference [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What’s the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)?
I've been trying to wrap my head around the は/が differences, and I'm trying to figure out the differences between the ...
5
votes
1answer
148 views
The difference between (な形容詞)さ and (な形容詞)性?
I'm in the middle of writing a paper in Japanese, and I can't quite figure out which is right. If I want to nominalize a な形容詞, should I affix さ or 性 at the end? I've been checking on search engines, ...
2
votes
0answers
48 views
What is the difference between using なる with the particles に and と [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the difference between 〜となる and 〜になる?
What is the difference between using なる with the particles に and と? When should which be used?
5
votes
1answer
175 views
Obligatory zero particle
Sometimes, particles are omitted.
I've read, however, that this can be analyzed as inserting a "zero particle" instead. See for example Particle omission or zero particle by Mitsuaki Shimojo. See ...
8
votes
1answer
156 views
Can けれども be analysed further?
Consider the conjunction ども, e.g.:
行けども
言えども
Formation rule:
Verb Hypothetical form (仮定形) + ども
This leads me to hypothesise that the conjunction けれども (meaning "but; however; although") is ...
10
votes
2answers
776 views
How to say “also” or “too”
The sentence "I also ate in Tokyo" can mean three different things:
(Aside from my friends who ate there), I also ate in Tokyo.
(Aside from the other places where I tried local cuisines), I also ate ...
3
votes
1answer
173 views
What is よ doing as a connector before a comma?
I saw this as a comment someone posted on Google+ in response to NHK announcing a show:
本気{ほんき}なら地上波{ちじょうは}でやれよ、受信料{じゅしんりょう}返{かえ}せ
I think it's saying "If this is really what you intend to ...
8
votes
1answer
231 views
得意とするところ explanation?
As far as I'm aware this expression means "(a persons) strong points', but I'm not sure how とする is being used in this context.
My best guess would be something like "the thing (a person) tries to do ...
8
votes
1answer
122 views
What is the difference between あっての and とあって?
From what I can tell they both mean "Because of", and the only differences in meaning I can see seem to be very subtle.
あっての:
Because of A (strong emphasis), B
Thanks to (various ...
4
votes
2answers
212 views
ii na to omoimasu
I read that ... to ii na to omoimasu means "I hope that ...". Is the na here a final particle that adds the first person's subjective feeling to the proposition as in sawa’s answer to using ...
5
votes
1answer
220 views
What is this extra と in the sentence?
This is more than likely due to my lack of reading enough Japanese; however, in this sentence the particles と and に are placed together which I haven't seen before.
Sentence:
...
2
votes
1answer
140 views
What particles can be used in the ～よう ～まい pattern?
In the pattern ～よう ～まい, I've found from several sources that you can use が and と (i.e ～ようが ～まいが), and using one over the other doesn't change the meaning or have a particular nuance. What's confusing ...
7
votes
1answer
177 views
Can the word まだしも be broken up into distinct meanings?
I'm studying grammar, and one of the new forms that I'm learning uses the word まだしも. I looked it up and I found:
類語：
まだいいが / まだ何とかなるが
Based on how the word is used in the following ...
8
votes
2answers
216 views
“Grammatically-correct” particle-less phrases/sayings
I know that within an informal/familiar setting, people often leave out particles. Whether or not this is grammatically correct I'm not positive, but for the sake of this question, I'll say that it's ...
11
votes
1answer
258 views
“からだけ” vs “だけから”, which is grammatical?
Good afternoon all,
I was wondering when we chain particles, should "から" come before "だけ", or should it be the other way round?
For example, I'm expecting a mail from 健一, a mail from 健二, and a mail ...
12
votes
2answers
306 views
When does a suru-noun require し in front of a purposive-に?
According to Chocolate's comment to a question, some suru-nouns can be followed by the purposive に directly, but others require (the stem of) する in between.
面会しに行く
面会に行く
料理しに行く
× 料理に行く
...
7
votes
1answer
92 views
“10倍もの” vs “10倍の”
Good afternoon all,
I understand that "X倍の" means "X times of", however sometimes I see the phrase "X倍もの" and I was wondering what it means.
For example, in the sentence:
...
5
votes
2answers
375 views
This use より baffles me
From the anime Noir, Episode 2.
Context: The husband comes home and his wife and son greet him outside.
Wife: おかえりなさい。今日は早いのね？
Husband: ああ、思ったより早く仕事が終わってね。
The wife's line, I get. The ...
7
votes
2answers
202 views
What is the difference between あるまい and ありません？
From what I understand, they both mean "is not". But from what I've been able to gather from the few times I've heard it, it seems that あるまい may not be as strong or definitive as ありません. Am I on the ...
0
votes
1answer
160 views
Particle confusion
I'm about halfway through Genki II, and the particles are starting to mess with me like never before. In particular を, が and に.
I know the general principles like が and に making a subject or indirect ...
8
votes
3answers
314 views
Problems with は and が
Consider:
[A] 猫が好きだ
To me this means [A']"I like cats."
Contrast this to:
[B] 猫は好きだ
To me this means [B']"I like cats (among other animals)"
I based my understanding of [B] from Derek ...
5
votes
2answers
240 views
What is the って in 連れてってくれる?
ALC can give several examples of this, not only in 連れてって:
いつ私たちを湖に連れてってくれるの？ When are you going to take us to the lake?
これ、帰りに叔母さんとこ、持ってってちょうだい。Will you take this to your aunt on your way home ...
5
votes
3answers
796 views
How do I say “I am the best” ? の,は or が and 私 or 俺?
I'm making a shirt for a (rather egotistical) friend of mine and so am trying to do something with the slogan "I am the best" for fun. I need something with four characters only, and would like to ask ...
8
votes
1answer
255 views
When to use 他【ほか】の or 他【ほか】に
I always thought only 他の existed, but my teacher uses 他に a lot. Are there differences between when each can be used?
Here are two examples of each from my online dictionary:
だれかほかの人に聞いてごらん (Ask ...
1
vote
1answer
129 views
Does には in this sentence imply vagueness of the source?
This comes from a friend's post on Facebook. The situation is that my friend had injured his leg a while back, but it has since healed and he's now in for a checkup. His leg is in great condition, so ...
6
votes
1answer
230 views
When the agent takes を in the causative form
I've seen a few sets of terminology when referring to the causative form, so for the basic case, I will use the following:
instigator が agent に 〇〇 を ｖ－させる。
In its most basic, text-book form, we have ...
6
votes
2answers
287 views
What's the purpose of な in なのに?
I don't understand the role of "な" when used before "のに" as in these two sentences (with given translations):
朝目がさめて初めて、外が雪なのに気がついた。
He noticed that there was snow outside only after he woke up ...
2
votes
1answer
156 views
ほんの時々私の中で顔を出し、しばらくすると消えてしまうもの。Are there any other options to replace the で here?
ほんの時々私の中で顔を出し、しばらくすると消えてしまうもの。
My attempt at translation: "Every once in a while my inner feelings show themselves, only to disappear again."
The above was taken from the following dialogue:
...
13
votes
2answers
247 views
What are the various ways to express 'or' and when are they appropriate?
I'd like to get an idea of when it is appropriate to use different expressions for expressing disjunction (of the inclusive AND exclusive variety).
「AとBとCの中で...」、「どちら」、and 「か] come to mind, but I ...
3
votes
2answers
273 views
What is the とも in this sentence? 日本人は英語を学ばずとも暮らせる環境に居ます。
日本人は英語を学ばずとも暮らせる環境に居ます。
Japanese people are in an environment where they can live without having to learn english.
Is the とも in this sentence one word or is it two words: と and も ?
I guess it is one ...
5
votes
1answer
192 views
What is the nuance when は directly follows a verb in plain form?
It seems like this is a remnant of (or reference to) older forms of Japanese. Is that all there is to it, or does it have special meaning?
Examples from songs:
歌声 笑い声 満ちる大空 目指すは憧れ
...
5
votes
2answers
206 views
Is it true that all nouns must be able to accept a が particle and a を particle?
Is it true that all nouns must be able to accept a が particle and a を particle?
I was curious about how we could form a sentence with:
特別が
特別を
出色が
出色を
4
votes
1answer
172 views
Is けど a conjunction (接続詞) or particle (助詞)?
I have a book that claims けど is a conjunction (接続詞), yet another book that I have claims that it is a particle (助詞).
Seems it doesn't seem to make sense if けど is both a conjunction and a particle, I ...
17
votes
4answers
1k views
Why is it 日本語がわかります instead of 日本語をわかります?
From what I understand, は is the topic marker, が is the subject marker, and を is the object marker.
One of the first sentences I learned doesn't seem to fit the rules I described above. The sentence ...
2
votes
2answers
95 views
で used for abstract location?
Consider the sentence:
今度の旅行は全部で何人行きますか。
I would roughly translate it literally to:
For this trip, in the domain of "total"(abstract location), how many people will be going?"
And then ...
5
votes
4answers
760 views
How to say, “things like”
If you want to say "things like" you can use とか、など、and し。
What if you don't want to list out several things. You want to say, "things like A." Then what do you do?
-3
votes
1answer
138 views
Difference between ◯◯を掃除 and ◯◯に掃除
What's the difference between ◯◯を掃除 and ◯◯に掃除？
Trying to understand the following, which using "に"
引き続き執筆。合間のリフレッシュに掃除
8
votes
1answer
285 views
Ending sentence with ～だもの or ～ですもの
I've been listening songs and anime dialogues that end sentences with ～もの or even cuter version ～もん for so long that I am able to see how the word denotes reasons or excuses like:
おなか空いたもん (when ...
11
votes
2answers
205 views
Can't に always replace へ?
Me and the particle へ don't get along. It's not that we don't like each other, it's that we don't get each other. I'm in a pretty committed relationship with に.
I mean, I think I understand what へ ...
6
votes
1answer
221 views
Differences in meaning of using へ, に, or で in marking locations.
in "明日、姉とデパート＿買い物に行きます。"
why is へ favoured over で in my workbook?
If i ask myself the question "明日は、何をする" Can i answer it with "買い物に行く" and make ”デパート” an incidental location? That was how i justified ...
13
votes
3answers
433 views
When is it okay to use あります with a living subject?
When learning Japanese everyone's taught いる is for a living thing and ある is for non-living things. However, I recently saw the following sentence ...
あと、サッカー選手でもあります。
... which ends in ある / あります ...
9
votes
2answers
159 views
How does one use the “[V ます stem] に [Vタ]” pattern (as in 待ちに待った)?
Every now and then I hear 待ちに待った, as in:
待ちに待ったライブ a long-awaited concert
I started wondering if this pattern can apply to other verbs, and it certainly seems to, if Google is any indication. I ...
