Grammar or words that express temporal information. Whereas tense is always relative to the moment of utterance, time is more absolutely located on an imaginary timeline.
15
votes
1answer
471 views
Can you say “half hour” or must you say “30 minutes”?
I know that to say an hour and a half you can say 一時間半, but is it possible to express simply half an hour even though the counter comes before 半? Or would you just have to say 三十分?
If both ways are ...
14
votes
1answer
157 views
Is 以降 inclusive?
If I say:
16日以降参加できません。
It means I cannot participate after the 16th.
However, what about on the 16th? Is it also implied that I cannot participate on the 16th either? Or, that I can ...
12
votes
3answers
843 views
When did you last…?
I am searching for a way to ask a question like "When did you last see her?" or "When did you last do the laundry?, or also "When did we last meet?" Basically, how do you construct a question with ...
10
votes
2answers
237 views
What's the difference between 今日{きょう} and 本日{ほんじつ}?
I also see both in different examples.
As in :
今日は暑い。
本日はおめでとうございます。
Both are translated as "Today", but when and how should I use either one?
Can we say : 本日はあつい。 And 今日はおめでとうございます。?
9
votes
2answers
230 views
Use of になります in the context of time
While attempting to translate the sentence "It will soon be two years since I started learning Japanese", I started wondering how になります works in the context of time. Ignoring any other translation ...
8
votes
2answers
260 views
How to express vague amounts of time?
I'm having trouble figuring out how to express vague amounts of time in Japanese, such as some number of months or some number of hours.
I want to use this in a context where the specific number is ...
8
votes
4answers
512 views
How can I say “Right now”, or “At that exact moment”?
Saying "now" is easy, with 今, but in my experience that doesn't express so much "right now, this instant" as it does "currently". I am looking for structure that translates these examples well:
I ...
8
votes
2answers
768 views
How to say “quarter to” or “quarter past” some hour?
For example, how do you say:
It's quarter to 3.
and
It's quarter past 3.
8
votes
1answer
94 views
Amount of time and 間
When expressing "It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes", would it be best to say
１時間１５分掛かる。
or
１時１５分掛かる。
or maybe
１時１５分間掛かる。
?
7
votes
2answers
141 views
What's the difference between じき and すぐ?
すぐ, and especially 今すぐ, is my habitual way to express "soon", or "right after this".
I know that じき means more or less the same thing, and when I hear it or see it written, I get the general meaning ...
7
votes
1answer
166 views
ここんとこ (ここん所) and other “every now and then” adverbs
I have been in the market for some good synonyms for ときどき, and I encountered one today that I wanted to share, and also ask for some opinions, since I can not find a correct definition online. The ...
5
votes
1answer
184 views
Why is it that some temporal nouns cannot be marked with に? And why do they become more acceptable with には?
Consider the following:
に here is used in its function of denoting the time where an event occurs (に1):
◯ 一時に1
◯ 一時半に1
◯ 月曜日に1
◯ 正月に1
* 昨日に1
?/◯ 昨日には
* 今日に1
?/◯ 今日には
* 明日に1
?/◯ 明日には
* 去年に1
?/◯ 去年には
...
5
votes
1answer
138 views
Can I say 行ってきます if I don't plan to come back?
When can I safely say 「行ってきます」when leaving home or another place? How loosely can this phrase be used? Can you use it even if you don't plan to come back until a day/week/month later?
If it is going ...
4
votes
1answer
380 views
Difference between ほとんど～ない, めったに～ない and まれ
is there a difference in nuance or formality between ほとんど～ない, めったに～ない and まれ?
3
votes
1answer
110 views
Which time expressions take the に particle?
The textbook Japanese for busy people 1 tells me, in lesson 6, that "relative time expressions like あした, らいしゅう, こんげつ and きょねん generally do not take any particles."
They exemplify this with sentences ...
3
votes
1answer
101 views
How to express duration of an activity?
For example I want to say "I ran 5km in 23mins 59 secs" or "It took me 23mins 59 secs to run 5k" or "It took me an hour to tidy my room" etc etc etc.
1
vote
1answer
113 views
Is まで inclusive or exclusive when marking a range of dates?
I've recently received a notice from a library. It says:
あなたへの貸し出しは2013/02/13まで停止されています。
Should I visit the library on 13 or 14 of February? To put it another way, does まで include the date ...
