How to use certain words, phrases, particles, endings, constructions, and their variants.
25
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the difference between the nominalizers こと and の?
As Derek mentioned in his postscript, both こと and の are nominalizers that can turn a verb into a noun.
ピアノを弾【ひ】く。 I play the piano.
ピアノを弾{ひ}くのが好{す}きです。 I like playing the piano.
...
9
votes
2answers
233 views
What are some well known exceptions for 居る (いる) and 有る (ある)?
Today I heard 人形がいる, so I googled around because I thought 居る was only for living things, but I found many examples of this usage. Many for 人形がある as well.
Are there other exceptions for いる／ある？
17
votes
3answers
1k views
The many ways to say “and” in Japanese
In English, we just have one word for the conjunction and which works just fine for many categories, but in Japanese, there are separate words:
と joins nouns together in a closed list
や joins nouns ...
20
votes
3answers
934 views
Difference between -ていく and -てくる
Can someone explain the differences between v-ていく and v-てくる for me. I know that they both express some kind of ongoing action (like a place getting crowded). For example, what's the difference between ...
10
votes
3answers
932 views
Usage of ～じゃん (～じゃない)
I'd like to know if I can put ～じゃん at the end of every adjective, if there are any exceptions to that usage, and if it's different from ～じゃない.
Adj (na) + じゃん
便利じゃん
便利だったじゃん
便利じゃないじゃん
...
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 ...
9
votes
2answers
314 views
います and あります usage
I just learned about: います and あります.
I know I should use います for people and moving things and あります for plants and inanimate things.
I have two doubts:
Which one should I use with "dead body". For ...
6
votes
2answers
246 views
Making sense of transitive usage of 行く and 来る - 「を行く」 and 「を来る」
I think it's known that some intransitive verbs can take を particle and be used as transitive verbs such as for example 「私のことを分かってくれない」. While using 分かる transitively would require specific scenarios ...
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 ...
24
votes
8answers
939 views
Particles: に vs. で
I have progressed pretty far in Japanese, but when I construct Japanese sentences, I still get these two particles mixed up. For example, when talking about being inside something, I don't know when ...
11
votes
4answers
203 views
History of 十干（じっかん）and modern uses
As I was studying vocabulary today, I happened to come across the titular 十干 which are as follows:
甲（こう）• 乙（おつ）• 丙（へい）• 丁（てい） •戊（ぼ）• 己（き）• 庚（こう）• 辛（しん）• 壬（じん）• 癸（き）
There's a somewhat lengthy ...
10
votes
2answers
647 views
What is the difference between なぜなら、だから、and なので？
I'm trying to get clarification on how to use these three pieces of grammar and whether or not they all hold some kind of "Because" meaning.
19
votes
6answers
453 views
Pluralization in Japanese: usage of -たち and -ら
I know that -たち and -ら pluralize the nouns they come after (or indicate a group that the noun is part of), but most of the time the plural in Japanese is implicit. When is it appropriate or necessary ...
7
votes
3answers
411 views
How rude is it to say 寝ぼけてるんじゃねぇよ！
I've heard this used (also as 寝ぼけんじゃねぇよ！) in informal situations with nothing but smiles all around. But when I tried to use it in an informal situation with a colleague, I got the distinct feeling ...
24
votes
3answers
314 views
Do 以上 and 以下 include the number preceding them?
I was having a discussion with a colleague and we couldn't recall how they both worked. Does 一人以上 mean a) 1 or more persons or b) more than one person?
10
votes
3answers
495 views
When describing time span, are 間 {あいだ} and 内 {うち} interchangeable?
Both 間 {あいだ} and 内 {うち} can be used to describe time span relative to specific situations, similar to "while" in English. But are they interchangeable all the time? Are there any scenarios where one ...
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 ...
9
votes
3answers
258 views
Difference between ゆくすえ, しょうらい and みらい
I've been looking around and I got that the three words can mean "future". Is there a way to differentiate them? Can they be used the same way?
5
votes
4answers
430 views
Are 終{お}わる and 済{す}ませる synonyms?
I know that they both mean "finish". But I wonder if there are situations or contexts where you can use one but not the other.
25
votes
3answers
763 views
How indistinguishable is blue from green really?
青 ao seems to be used very much interchangeably for both blue and green. Why is that so, and how does 緑 midori play into this?
16
votes
4answers
472 views
Are there cases when two or more particles will occur next to each other without intervening lexical words?
Most particles seem to be postpositions but I'm sure I've seen say a noun followed by a location particle followed by "wa" or "ga" or possibly "wo" but when I've tried to use it I've only confused my ...
4
votes
3answers
263 views
Can 【～たら】 be a short form of 【～てから】?
I picked up a bad habit of using ～たら (a form of conditional) when I mean ～てから (once something happens, something else will happen) from a friend many years back while learning Japanese.
In the years ...
11
votes
2answers
233 views
can we optionally include (or exclude) an を particle in between the noun of the する-verb and the する itself?
when we have a する verb, (e.g. 支度する、案内する、心配する) is it true that we could optionally insert an を particle in between the noun and the する?
Because in the example sentences here and here, we can see this ...
17
votes
3answers
333 views
Use of 自分【じぶん】as a personal pronoun in direct speech
Yay, yet another first-person-pronoun question!
I know that 自分 is commonly used as a personal pronoun in indirect speech, e.g.:
マイクは、自分はなんと不注意なのだろうと言った。→ Mike said that he was very careless.
...
15
votes
1answer
908 views
What does っつの mean?
I recently saw 冗談だっつの. What does it っつの mean, or how does it modify the meaning of a sentence?
13
votes
4answers
324 views
What are the fundamental differences between the ～と一緒に and the ～とともに fragments?
I'm accustomed to saying together with using the ~ to issho ni fragment, but I've been noticing that some people I talk to phrase this using ~ totomo ni instead.
i.e.
彼女と一緒に日本へ来た。
Kanojo to issho ni ...
12
votes
3answers
282 views
What is the difference between 完了 and 終了
Both 完了 and 終了 both seem to have the connotation of finished/complete, but what is the difference if any in usage?
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
9
votes
3answers
310 views
How do you say “You have gotten better at X”?
I was just reminded on another site that "being good at something" is expressed as [上手]{じょうず}/[上手]{うま}い, not いい. How do you tell someone they "have gotten better at something"? Xさん, 料理することがもっと上手いですね。 ...
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 ...
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 ...
14
votes
4answers
417 views
What is the difference between 「食う」 and 「食べる」?
I've often seen 「食べる」 used, when should we use 「食う」 ? Are these two interchangeable ? Can you provide examples ?
14
votes
2answers
628 views
Does the particle “を” (wo) have a special use when at the end of a sentence?
I thought the character "を" (wo) was only used for the particle whose only job was to indicate the direct object of a verb.
But today I saw it at the end of an exclamation on a sign I think on a ...
12
votes
3answers
8k views
でも (demo) versus けど (kedo) to mean “but”
I learned that you can use でも (demo) at the beginning of a sentence to mean "but," and that you can use けど (kedo) at the end of a sentence to mean "though." However, I don't see a difference between ...
12
votes
4answers
510 views
Where does なう on Twitter come from?
If you follow any Japanese speakers on Twitter, you'll almost certainly see them use なう at the end of a sentence, to say "I am in this place/doing this thing now". Where does this use come from? Who ...
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。
...
7
votes
2answers
276 views
Difference between 行ったから and 行ってから and 行くから
What is the difference in usage between 行ったから and 行ってから and 行くから?
Is there a sense of sequence implied in one and not the other?
In the following examples where would i be buying the book and where ...
14
votes
1answer
214 views
Temperature abbreviations?
A certain dialog in my book has a man describing the symptoms of his cold to the doctor. It reads thus:
医者：熱はありますか。
...
11
votes
3answers
259 views
When is it appropriate to refer to yourself by これ?
I have occasionally heard and read instances, where a person has referred to themselves as これ. My Japanese dictionary also lists "Me, I." as a definition of これ.
Now, this obviously isn't used as ...
9
votes
2answers
464 views
What is the meaning of ～んです?
This sentence ending has started to creep up more and more in my current Japanese classes, and I'm still a bit unsure what all it can mean, how to use it, or even when I should think to use it. My ...
9
votes
2answers
322 views
お金と「ちょうど」の使い方 (usage of “chōdo”)
What is the reason/meaning for cashiers to use ちょうど when accepting money?
500円ちょうどいただきます。
This I understand, since 500 Yen are a "round" amount. "Exactly 500 Yen."
812円ちょうどいただきます。
If I'm ...
9
votes
2answers
208 views
8
votes
3answers
485 views
In what situation can I use ~かい (for interrogative question)?
One day, I asked my japanese friend how I could invite some friends to eat.
He said
"一緒に食べに行くかい？"
I know that we could also say:
行きましょうか（行こうか）？
行きませんか（行かない）？
行きますか（行くの）？
but I got interested ...
8
votes
3answers
195 views
correctness of い adjective + です
Generally, in all Japanese language classes, the rule you're taught is that です does not follow い adjectives. Instead, い adjectives can act like stative verbs, and as such terminate a sentence by ...
8
votes
3answers
352 views
In what situations can you use "ぞ” as a sentence ender
When can one use the sentence ender ぞ? I've only ever heard it anime, so I'm unsure of it's actual usage in the real world. Is it not used that often or limited to specific age/gender groups?
6
votes
1answer
159 views
How do we roll a ball along a street from A to B?
This question is a follow up to この道をまっすぐ行ってください。Why “を” and not “で”? posted earlier.
If:
道で転ぶ = fallover on the road
ボールが道を転がる = a ball rolled along the street
〜を転がす = roll something ...
6
votes
3answers
413 views
Does the (USA) English metaphor “Unable to see the forest for the trees” keep its meaning if translated verbatim into Japanese?
The phrase "Unable to see the forest for the trees" implies one is too entangled in a situation to understand what is transpiring from a larger context, and thus, unable to determine the correct ...
5
votes
3answers
288 views
Is it normal to use ただいま in situations other than ただいま戻【もど】りました?
By itself, I would say that 「ただいま」 means something like "just now". I've used it a few times in sentences like this, but it feels somewhat awkward, as I am always reminded of ただいま戻【もど】りました.
So, for ...
3
votes
1answer
229 views
Examples of when passive form in English takes active/non passive form in Japanese
Can anyone give a few more common examples (or even more insight) of when we should be "switching" from English passive into Japanese active/non-passive?
(A joint effort might help a lot of us to ...
2
votes
2answers
188 views
What's the difference between the に祈る【にいのる】 and を祈る【をいのる】 forms?
What's the difference between the に祈る and を祈る forms?
Like what's the difference between 1) and 2):
1) うまく行くのに祈ってくださいね。
2) うまく行くのを祈ってくださいね。
==
EDIT:
What's the difference between the ように祈る and ...
