Tagged Questions
3
votes
2answers
167 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！ ...
5
votes
1answer
142 views
迷宮 vs 迷路
WWWJDIC says that both 迷宮 and 迷路 mean "maze / labyrinth".
Google Images suggests that they are about the same thing: link1, link2
However, what may be the differences in nuance and usage between 迷宮 ...
2
votes
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 ...
12
votes
3answers
316 views
What is the difference between 大事 and 大切?
These are two words that seem like they are basically interchangeable at most levels, as they generally are. The difference between them appears to be small, but what is the difference, if one exists? ...
7
votes
1answer
108 views
What's the difference between まだ and いまだ（に）?
My intuition wants to believe that いまだに is more formal, but all the examples I've seen do not indicate that. Are they freely interchangeable? Can't say I've ever heard いまだに in spoken context (or ...
3
votes
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?
5
votes
1answer
176 views
自分の vs 自らの when used for humans
What's the difference between 自分の and 自らの?
Both can be used to mean "oneself", but is there a difference in their nuances / usages?
(e.g. what would be the difference between あの子は、自らの命と引換に… and ...
4
votes
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?
5
votes
1answer
148 views
勤め vs 役目
What is the difference between 勤め and 役目?
Both seems to mean duty (something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation), but what is the difference in their nuance and ...
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
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 ...
5
votes
3answers
229 views
What is the difference between 寿司, 鮨, 鮓, 寿斗, 寿し, and 壽司?
It is likely that this is due to my poor understanding, but why are there so many names for「すし」? I think for the most part I have only seen the first three (寿司、鮨、鮓). For whatever reason in some ...
8
votes
1answer
244 views
What kind of a thing is a “やつ”?
I've been seeing やつ used for "thing" reasonably frequently in Manga/online etc, for example:
ほとんどは本とか食玩とか細かいやつかな。
"It's virtually all stuff like books, those small toys sold with food and small ...
3
votes
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 ...
5
votes
1answer
115 views
What may be the difference between the usage of 自尊心 ,誇りand 自慢?
I read a paragraph and the paragraph contains the word 自尊心.
I want to know meaning of 自尊心.
Dictionary says 自尊心 = pride.
Is it same with 誇り? or 自慢?
What may be the difference between the usage of ...
4
votes
1answer
350 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
223 views
How to decide to use どうせ or しょせん?
The dictionary translates both どうせ (WJDIC) and しょせん (WJDIC) as "anyway / in any case / after all".
But what exactly is the difference in nuance between them?
For example, what is the difference ...
7
votes
1answer
160 views
Can 一杯 be used to express the fullness of things without physical volumes?
According to an answer to this question, the word [一杯]{いっぱい} can be used to expess fullness; especially in relation to the capacity of whatever is containing the quantity. This, however, tends to ...
5
votes
1answer
124 views
What's the difference between 赤ん坊 and 赤ちゃん
Are both words interchangeable? Rikai-chan defines them both as "baby, infant". So what would be 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? ...
10
votes
2answers
212 views
“看護師” vs. “看護士”
Good afternoon all,
I was wondering is it true that
"看護師" is a gender-neutral way of referring to a "nurse",
Whereas "看護婦" implies that it is a girl,
And "看護士" implies that it is a guy?
...
2
votes
1answer
213 views
What exactly does “るぅ” mean?
Good afternoon all,
Sometimes I see that people like to "curl" the last mora of a verb, for example:
瑞生: ああそれから、亜湖にも特別ボーナスだ。
亜湖: えっ。
瑞生: ジャーン！
亜湖: 何それ？
瑞生: かわいいだろう？
瑞生: ...
8
votes
2answers
358 views
What is the difference between 悪い and だめ?
What is the difference between 悪い and だめ?
They're not really the same, but in English they both can be translated to "bad".
あの人が悪い。In my limited experience, this is bad in the sense of evil.
...
6
votes
2answers
186 views
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 ...
8
votes
2answers
282 views
What is the difference between 記憶【きおく】 and 思【おも】い出【で】?
Is there any difference between the meanings or connotations of 記憶 and 思い出?
I started thinking about this after listening to the song 「タイムマシーン」 or "Time Machine" by 少女時代, where these two lines occur ...
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 ...
7
votes
3answers
227 views
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 ...
5
votes
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 ...
6
votes
1answer
232 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 ...
8
votes
1answer
102 views
Does 「鳴く」 give any nuances about the sound being made?
When we say "birds singing", there is a positive connotation.
When we say "birds crowing", there is a negative connotation.
"The birds are making some sound" seems to be objective, and thus neutral.
...
5
votes
1answer
207 views
ねばねば食べねば, relation between ねば and なければ
I would like to know a bit more about the "ねば" grammatical construction.
Every now and then, I hear people say sentences like
東京に行かねばならぬ
粘々丼を食べねば倒れる
なんとかせねばいい
It's quite clear that ねば ...
5
votes
3answers
213 views
What's the difference between [V-ながら][V2] and [V-ている]間[V2]?
What's the difference between [V-ながら][V2] and [V-ている]間[V2] ?
For example, is there any difference in nuance between these 2 sentences:
トムはテレビを見てる間勉強していた
トムはテレビを見ながら勉強していた
5
votes
2answers
176 views
6
votes
2answers
313 views
Using 伯母 / 叔母 to refer to one's aunt
Is it true that when we see 伯母 it usually (90%) means "parent's elder sister" and sometimes (10%) can be used to refer to the parent's younger sister?
On the contrary, when we see 叔母 does it always ...
5
votes
2answers
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 ...
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 ...
9
votes
1answer
270 views
Qualitative intensifiers e.g. とても, とっても, 超, etc. How are they different?
How are とても/とっても, でかい/でっかい, 超 (and others that I have yet to encounter) used differently? I figured that for とても/とっても-type difference is that the double-consonant(geminated) version is stronger i.e. a ...
6
votes
1answer
171 views
ぼちぼち - related words
I am at present rigorously studying 擬音語／擬態語 (an entire world of its own!).
The definition my book has for ぼちぼち (also ぼつぼつ) is:
1. Gradually; slowly but steadily
2. Used to describe something that is ...
9
votes
2answers
313 views
do people actually respect the nuances of 探す vs 捜す?
Part 1
I understand 探す to be to search for something (general)
and 捜す to be to search for something lost
But do people actually care about the difference in nuance when they use it?
I mean do ...
10
votes
1answer
423 views
あまり meaning “too much”
When using あまり in the sense of "too much" (as opposed to "not very"), until recently I had always seen it as あまりにもA, with A being the thing that there was too much of. I never really tried to relate ...
5
votes
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 ...
9
votes
2answers
248 views
Confusion about “Seemingly not ～”
So there are several ways to express something is "seemingly not ～":
1) ～なさそう
2) ～そうにない
3) ～そうもない
4) ～そうにもない (is this one even real?)
I was always taught ～なさそう in ...
26
votes
5answers
664 views
How should I choose between [知]{し}る and わかる?
Both 知る and わかる get used for "know", "understand", "learn", "find out", and various other concepts. How do you know which to use when? Are there any rules to help you decide?
Additionally, both of ...
10
votes
2answers
228 views
what is the difference in the usage of [成]{な}るべく and できるだけ?
Hi guys what is the difference in the usage of 成るべく and できるだけ?
Don't they both mean as [x] as possible?
E.g.:
1) できるだけ多くの本を読みなさい vs なるべく多くの本を読みなさい
2) できるだけ早くお願いします vs なるべく早くお願いします
6
votes
2answers
129 views
What's the difference in the nuances that 呪縛【じゅばく】 and 呪い【のろい】 convey?
Is 呪縛 usually used to refer to a good spell or a bad one (like a curse)?
I mean the dictionary writes the english meaning as: spell/curse but I was wondering what sort of nuance would be attached to ...
7
votes
3answers
534 views
低い鼻 vs 短い鼻 and 高い鼻 vs 長い鼻 ?
After reading this thread: When would you use 低い vs 短い, I'd just thought of something.
I once heard that a long nose (witch / Pinocchio) is called 高い鼻 and not 長い鼻 whereas the opposite (short nose) is ...
9
votes
3answers
548 views
What exactly is the difference between <verb>-てしまう and <verb>- [切]{き}る?
I've read that both the ～てしまう and ～きる (18th meaning of 切る at http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MUE%E5%88%87%E3%82%8B) forms are used to signify something has been ...
9
votes
2answers
5k views
When is it appropriate to use お疲れ様 (otsukaresama)?
I know the general meaning of using お疲れ様です／でした to express gratitude for some work, but I'm a bit fuzzy about appropriate times to use it.
I know it is a common saying when leaving for the day, and ...
11
votes
1answer
277 views
When can I exchange くださる for いただく in expressions of gratitude?
Way back when, I remember being taught that when you want to say a really polite "thank you", sentences such as these are basically the same:
文章を訂正していただきましてありがとうございます。
...
