Tagged Questions
1
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0answers
75 views
Habitual aspect
My (poor) understanding of things is that there are two ways to get habitual semantics in Japanese:
use the dictionary form of the verb:
毎日、映画{えいが}を見に行く "I go to the movies every day."
use the ...
4
votes
2answers
369 views
Plural in ancient Japanese?
It is known to Japanese learners that the Japanese verb isn't affected by the subject (number or gender). Today, a linguistics professor of my university told me he heard from his teacher that ancient ...
8
votes
1answer
208 views
Expressing hope: to nozomu and koto wo negau
I have a question about these two verbs for 'hope':
と望む (to nozomu)
ことを願う (koto wo negau)
I also write down two examples, since I have a particular question about their use:
...
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?
1
vote
2answers
93 views
Questions about this sentence
"当時の関係者何人かにあたって記憶を確かめてみたが、人の記憶の欠落部分というのは、捏造で補われる仕組みになっているらしく、共通の体験が、しばしば、お互いに矛盾する記憶になっていることに驚かされた。"
What does "にあたって" mean there ?
"驚かされた" is referring to what/whom exactly ?
Does "関係者何人か" mean ...
13
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2answers
257 views
9
votes
1answer
158 views
Usage of doubled non-past tense “た”
I've recently been noticing some patterns which look like two repeated past-tense verbs, but I think which indicate a command rather than the past tense. For example:
さあ、行った行った。
"Get along with ...
6
votes
1answer
227 views
What's the difference between these two transitive verb forms?
I've always been little fuzzy on transitive verbs, something which I was reminded of when looking at this answer.
The answer says that 終{お}わらせる, 終{お}える, 済{す}ませる, and 済{す}ます are all transitive. They ...
11
votes
2answers
281 views
What are the valid potential forms of special “suru” verbs?
Good afternoon all,
From what I understand, special "suru" verbs only have one potential form which is formed using the syntax:
[verb-stem] + [せる]
For example, 愛す・愛する → 愛せる and 訳す・訳する → 訳せる.
...
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.
5
votes
2answers
216 views
How many verb endings to express “do this (please)”?
I'm familiar with the て and てください forms of a verb to give a command/request and request, respectively. However, I've run across these other forms and really don't know which to use in what situation. ...
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 ...
4
votes
3answers
363 views
How do you express “did” + verb in Japanese?
For instance, you can ask someone:
Did you go to the store today?
or
You went to the store today?
Would those both be translated as: 今日、乾物屋{かんぶつや}に行ったか？
Or is there another way to ...
0
votes
1answer
171 views
How is this verb being conjugated and contracted?
" こんな馬鹿みたいな帽子かぶせやがって！！”
" こんなくそみたいな帽子かぶせやがって！！”
" こんなくそみたいな帽子かぶせんじゃねーよ！！”
I believe I'm looking at a conjugation and contraction of the verb かぶる. What is the original conjugation and ...
1
vote
2answers
180 views
もらえる, 見える rules
From what I learned,
もらえる = もらうことが出来る
'can be got'
見える = 見ることが出来る
'can be seen'
This looks like there is some kind of a more general rule for this transformation.
If there is a ...
5
votes
2answers
414 views
How is なっている different from なっていた?
I apologize if I am beating a dead horse with this question but is this correct?
なっている: have (already) become
as opposed to
なっていた: had become
so often the meaning of なっている can be thought ...
4
votes
2answers
183 views
How can a verb be in the beginning of a sentence when it is usually at the end? Ex. 折れた淡い翼。
When composing sentences in Japanese, the verb tends to be last right? For example,
バナナを食べました。 --> I ate a banana
But recently I came across a sentence where the verb was at the beginning of the the ...
7
votes
1answer
334 views
Verb volitional form (動詞の意志形) - usage
I have a couple of questions about the volitional form of verbs that I've become unclear on lately. Here is a Bible passage containing the grammar in question:
(Note that I'm using a Bible passage ...
18
votes
3answers
612 views
How do I express sentences like: He is dying?
For instance, "He is eating" is "Kare wa tabete iru". However, "He is dying" is not "Kare wa shinde iru". Another example is "He is going to Japan" is not "Kare wa nihon ni itte iru". So if I can't ...
5
votes
2answers
940 views
Does the volitional form of a verb mean both “lets” and “I want to”?
I was taught ages ago that the volitional form of a verb means "let's" do something. For example, if you take 行く and change it to 行こう, you get "let's go".
However, I feel like I can use the same form ...
3
votes
3answers
187 views
How does a noun phrase translate into a verb?
Ok. The whole sentence is:
Person A bandages Person B's arm.
Person B says: ありがとう。ずいぶん慣れた処置ね？看護婦でもやってたの？
I get what the sentences are saying.
But! For the life of me I can't parse ずいぶん慣れた処置ね？ into ...
4
votes
2answers
185 views
女性の身体は本来美しいもの. Is this sentence grammatical?
I found the sentence:
女性の身体は本来美しいもの。
'The female body is a fundamentally beautiful thing.'
in the following passage:
毎食後2錠から3錠、油っこい食事のあとは少し多めに飲むだけと、とっても簡単にダイエットできてしまいます。
'An effective ...
13
votes
2answers
362 views
“太ってる猫” vs “太った猫”
Greetings people I saw this sentence in a textbook: 彼女は太った猫が好きじゃない。, which was translated to "She doesn't like fat cats".
I was under the impression that 太ってる猫 means something like "cat that is in ...
1
vote
1answer
155 views
“一目ぼれから長持ちする関係は望めません。” この表現のニュアンスを説明して頂けませんか？
一目ぼれから長持ちする関係は望めません。
Falling in love at first sight won't bring you a lasting relationship.
I found this sentence and translation without any other context, and
have a few questions about ...
3
votes
1answer
198 views
How does うんざり work in the Present Indicative, Causative, Passive, and Causative-passive tenses
Consider the following:
そいつはひどく鼻持ちならないやつで、私をすっかりうんざりさせる。(That guy is so obnoxious that he really turns me off.)
あなたをうんざりさせるものは何ですか？(What turns you off?)
痛み以上に私をうんざりさせるものはない。(Nothing turns ...
3
votes
1answer
283 views
What would be the literal meaning of the causative form here? 暴風警報発令中のため本日の営業はお休みとさせていただきます。
暴風警報発令中のため本日
bōfū keihō hatsurei chū notame honjitsu
の営業はお休みとさせて
no eigyō wa oyasumi to sasete
いただきます。
itadakimasu.
暴風 bōfū = storm winds
警報 keihō = warning
発令 hatsurei = official ...
2
votes
1answer
105 views
How is the あげたい working here?
On a TV show, an idol was given this task to think of:
心が晴れやかになる一言
'A word (or phrase) to lift someone's mood' (My loose translation)
The idol responded:
アナタの心の雨を[止]{や}ませてあげたいな
'Let me ...
1
vote
1answer
358 views
Verbs +「~てくる」 , which verbs? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Difference between -て行く and -て来る
my doubt is which verbs I can use with ~てくる (~ていく)
ABOUT ME
I don't want to say "I undestand", but I'd like to say "I'm understanding" ...
18
votes
3answers
749 views
When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state?
Last night, when I asked my wife to send an email to me, she said もう送っている which I took to mean that she was "sending the message". (The message had a big attachment so I imagined that it could take a ...
8
votes
1answer
287 views
Can と and を be interchanged with 思う the way I think they can?
Compare the following two sentences:
あそこに[行]{い}こうと[思]{おも}っている
あそこに[行]{い}こうを[思]{おも}っている
If I'm right about this, they both mean that the speaker is thinking of going somewhere.
However, the ...
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
...
17
votes
3answers
492 views
ことができる versus V~える form
Way back in the day when I was first learning Japanese, I learned that you could add ことができる to a verb to indicate potential. Like so:
食{た}べることができる
(I) can eat (something)
It became my ...
6
votes
3answers
466 views
Are there verbs that are neither intransitive nor transitive?
i was taught that verbs are either transitive or intransitive.
but what kind of verb is 分かる ?
WWWJDIC lists it as intransitive.
Yet the replies/comments from this thread Why is it 日本語 [[が]] わかります ...
6
votes
1answer
189 views
Is it true that all verbs have a corresponding noun form?
Is it true that all verbs have a corresponding noun form (which is formed by making the -masu form and removing the -masu)?
Like 遊び and 遊びます
飲み and 飲みます
生き and 生きます
死に and 死にます
8
votes
1answer
236 views
What form is 恐るる?
In Final Fantasy VIII, Bahamut has a little speech:
…G.F.とは我らのことか
我らを力として使うとは…
恐るるべきは人間どもよ
I'd never seen two るs doubled up like that. Which conjugation is this? It seems to have plenty of ...
6
votes
1answer
202 views
can we omit verbs when speaking casually?
I've heard that we can usually omit nouns and stuff like that, but can we actually omit verbs or must they still be there?
Example sentence: アイツ帰るなり、すぐに部屋にな～
Edit
Can we omit verbs in the main ...
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 ...
3
votes
1answer
228 views
What are the “slots” in the Japanese agglutinative verb system?
In another question we established that Japanese is an agglutinating language (more here), if only in its verb system.
Since it is not traditional in Japanese grammar or teaching to go into this ...
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 ...
7
votes
3answers
147 views
Are there inflections/endings that can be applied to verbs but not i-adjectives? (or vice versa)
After reading in an answer to another question that Japanese adjectives are less inflected than Japanese verbs I'm wondering if there are inflections that can be applied to verbs but not i-adjectives? ...
10
votes
3answers
937 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
...
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.
...
3
votes
1answer
110 views
Can 差す be an intransitive verb?
WWWJDIC lists 差す as an intransitive verb, but in all of the example sentences I've seen it looks more like a transitive verb.
So my question is, is 差す a transitive or intransitive verb?
7
votes
2answers
269 views
Can placements of adverbs be altered freely?
I'm curious if there is any difference in nuance between these two sentences:
彼は少なくとも週に一度車を洗う。
彼は週に少なくとも一度車を洗う。
I'm aware that grammatically speaking both are 100% right, but this question is not ...
7
votes
5answers
185 views
Is there a general rule for deriving xasu→xaseru intransitives such as 死なせる from 死なす?
There are a number of verbs where there is a 〜xasu → xaseru transformation to produce an transitive verb from an intransitive, eg:
死なす→死なせる
生かす→生かせる
飲ます→飲ませる
Is this some kind of generalized rule? ...
