Questions tagged [verbs]

動詞. A class of words which describe events or states and can be inflected to indicate tense, aspect, voice, and so forth. In citation form, all Modern Japanese verbs end in -(r)u.

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Full っている vs shorter ってる: slang or official tool

I know, that I can skip い in building continuous form of a verb. For example: 雪が降っている。 雪が降ってる。 are equal and mean: [It's snowing.] Question: how legal is it to skip い in case like this? ...
Tchibi-kun's user avatar
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2 answers
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~くて on a verb? How do you indicate desire?

「右手【みぎて】で描【か】いた、今ここに避難所【ひなんじょ】はないんだ。息【いき】を吸【す】いこんだ。つまらない世界【せかい】壊【こわ】したくて。」 Translation: Drawn with my right hand, here, now, as for the shelter, there is none. I inhaled. The boring world wants to be ...
Teru Hayama's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
548 views

Meaning of 小せェもんに縛られてる

Context: in a flashback, a Cuban boxer is thinking back to when he was in Cuba before seeking asylum (亡命) and migrating to America. He had just won a gold medal for his country in the Olympics. ...
Marco's user avatar
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~め ending, apparently not imperative?

Context is the song 「その血の記憶」: 空白のラストページに…       Into [dative of motion towards] a blank LAST PAGE, そのこぶしを叩き込めーッ!     [Star Platinum] will throw that fist (???) End of THE WORLD!その血の記憶! End of THE ...
Q Science's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
3k views

What is the Japanese verb for vaping?

Is there a term for vaping? The use of flavored type devices for vaping. I found the word denki tabako for the device. I was wondering what the verb would be. Thank you.
Jack Bosma's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
724 views

What does やられてる mean in this sentence?

I came across this line today which left me a bit confused: 彼らには子分を二人もやられてる。 The speaker is referring to men from a gang. I've struggled with the meaning of やる outside of its most basic usage, but ...
croutons's user avatar
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What is the meaning of 上げて落としたみてー?

I'm reading this manga, and came accross the following monologue: たかが弦ごときで世界の終わりみてーなツラしやがって 俺が上げて落としたみてーで後味ワリーだろがッ 俺の昼寝返せ!!! I can't understand what 上げて落としたみて means. Is this an expression? Are those ...
Guent's user avatar
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Meaning of もったいぶらず in the following sentence

Context: while talking about himself, a boxer says: 今持ってるモノはもったいぶらず全て出す。それが俺の武器に繋がるんでねェ。拳に表れるんだよォ ――――[生き方]【スタイル】ってヤツは。 According to dictionaries, the meaning of もったいぶらない is unpretentious, modest. ...
Marco's user avatar
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Difference between 虫取り and 虫取りをする?

I'm a beginner, so I'm sorry if this is obvious: I was just reading a text which said 虫取りをしました which, according to google, means "I took insects", which confused me at first because 取り is already ...
Santiago Bosch's user avatar
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1 answer
114 views

Why is 探そう not 探しそう?

In a manga I am reading, I came across the following sentence. 注目集めてるな。早くミクを探そう。 The speaker just crashed on his skis and a crowd of people started to gather around, thus garnering a lot of attention ...
UCProgrammer's user avatar
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What is the meaning of している in this sentence?

I know from looking at the title many of you are thinking "Frey, you should KNOW THIS by now." And to be honest I should, its just a matter of the more research I did only served to further confuse me....
Toyu_Frey's user avatar
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Japanese equivalent for "get to do something"?

I'm looking for a natural way to express that you're happy or surprised about an action. In English, "I got to spend the whole day reading", or "I get to interview him tomorrow". Does something like ...
fastwayze's user avatar
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Use of 抱く in "聞かせていただいてありがとうございました"

In my textbook the sentence: 聞かせていただいてありがとうございました is translated as "Thank you for telling us about all these things" I know: 色々 is "various" so probably means "all these things" 聞かせていた means "...
PolymorphismPrince's user avatar
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わける vs 振り分ける -- What is the ふり doing here?

Consider the following example: divide the main folder into sub folders (in case of mail) フォルダを振り分ける フォルダをわける What I want to know is why do we add "ふり"? Why can't we just use "...
Abi's user avatar
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1 answer
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Is the pattern V + に行く used with -する verbs?

Is it natural to say, for example 散歩しに行く? Or would you rather say 散歩に行く? If both are acceptable, is there any difference in meaning or usage? よろしくお願いします。
jarmanso7's user avatar
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Which is more appropriate? 大学院に入る/入学する/進学する?

Please explain which of the following (or any other) is more appropriate to say "enter postgraduate school/studies": 大学院に入ります 大学院に入学します 大学院に進学します
arkkus's user avatar
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Which categories of verbs (transitive, atelic, etc) can you use with ~そう (seems to; appears)?

I've just studied そう (as in: seems like; about to) in class and I wanted to know why you can use some verbs and not others. For instance, 雨が{あめが}降りそう{ふりそう} works out semantically and grammatically, ...
Beza ベザ's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
186 views

How to use ふと correctly?

I am struggling in understanding how to use ふと ふと: suddenly, unexpectedly, unintentionally Based on the brief explanation on this post, ふと is used to express something unimportant that you don't think ...
shade549's user avatar
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Difference between 呼ぶ声がします and 呼びます

The full context of the first original phrase is: 「・・・浦島{うらしま}さん、・・・浦島さん」と、誰かが呼{よ}ぶ声{こえ}がします。 I was just wondering, why is 声がする in the sentence when there is already 呼ぶ? Or rather, what would be ...
user154989's user avatar
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1k views

Is the function of this ある a pre-noun adjectival, or is it a verb that forms a relative clause?

I'm going over my previously done translations to see if any need further editing, and the following comes up. 背後{はいご}で聞{き}き覚{おぼ}えのある声{こえ}がして、思{おも}わず一歩後{いっぽあと}ずさってしまった。 I relearned yesterday that ...
Toyu_Frey's user avatar
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Do you always need the passive voice when saying what happened to you?

For example if I wanted to say “He told me what I needed to know.” would I say 彼に知らなきゃことを教えられた? Or would it be something different? And do I always need to use it if I’m telling someone what ...
jacoballens's user avatar
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1 answer
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Verb Classification of あげる (to give)

I've been doing some housecleaning for the sake of correct grammatical conjugation, which includes classifying verbs. Jisho.org's top result doesn't have あげる as meaning 'to give' (granted it's ...
Noah Jensen's user avatar
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Explanation of 「雪も降ってきて」

What does it mean to have も plus the て form and きて?A translation gives me “Now that it’s snowing...” so does するもしてきて mean “Now that it’s X...”? Or is there another meaning to it?
jacoballens's user avatar
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Meaning of 荷重が乗りきる

Context: a boxer has just landed a great uppercut with an upward movement. His father describes the punch in this way: 荷重が乗りきってからの急激な〝縦〟一閃 I think here 乗りきる means "to overcome", so my rough ...
Marco's user avatar
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1 answer
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Meaning of 身分をわきまえず

Context: a martial arts master is talking (offensively, I think) about one of his students: たばこを栽培する山から降りて来たサルですよ。うちの武術学校にスカウトされたからと身分をわきまえず李【り】と組んで演武を狂わす厄介者なんです。 What is the meaning of 身分をわきまえず? ...
Marco's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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past tense vs non-past in a book

I'm reading 大きな森の小さな家 (Little House in the Big Woods). This sequence of sentences are all describing a particular occurrence in the past, but some sentences are in non-past forms: ある晩、父さんは、...
Kristi Wachter's user avatar
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0 answers
165 views

Explanation of でもあります? [duplicate]

I saw this in my Genki I book and I don’t quite understand how to use でもあります. Also, how would I say this informally? パットはアメリカ人でもある?
jacoballens's user avatar
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4 votes
4 answers
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Translating “different”?

I’m having trouble figuring out how to translate “different.” I know the words 違う and 違い but I don’t know how to incorporate those to mean “different” or if that would even be correct. 「違う色がきれいだね。」 “...
jacoballens's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
115 views

Reason for と particle after adverb さっき in sentence about something previously mentioned

I came across this sentence and I believe I understand what it is saying, but I don't understand why there is a と particle being used after さっき. Why is it not just さっき言ってる? As there is nothing that ...
Tylersanzura's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Is there any rule for hiraganas after the kanji in a verb

The hiraganas go after the kanji in a verb are so confusing. I know there's always an U character, like 行く, 話す ... but sometimes i see there are 2 characters after the kanji, like 終わる. My question is ...
Ren Chen's user avatar
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explanation verbs form 座る 座って 座り

Hi may I ask for explanation of the following, I read here form verb 座る (sit) and polite form 掛ける for form Please sit down there is this forms 座る -> 座れ (very rude) -> 座って (better form) -> 座ってください (...
user34609's user avatar
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1 answer
186 views

言ってた I said or You said

While translating something, I was wondering how should I do a certain a line because I can't determine exactly whether the speaker says it in a way talking about himself or is referring to another ...
Alice B. Rabbit's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
108 views

Don't understand meaning of verb stem + ちぎれない

I'm playing a game and looking at an item description. But for the life of me I cannot find out what grammar concept is behind the bold portion of the description. I know the verb being used is 噛む (...
Tylersanzura's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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だ and です godan or ichidan

Can we say, that だ and です are godan verbs with ru-ending, because they are just simplyfied versions of である and であります?
Tchibi-kun's user avatar
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1 answer
97 views

Why is the volitional form used here?

このアカウントをフォローして、写真や動画をチェックしよう。 Why was しよう used instead of して? I was thinking して because it appears to be a request.
jacoballens's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
536 views

When is it okay to not use desu?

I've been looking around for this, but all I can find is pretty basic stuff about desu. I've studied Japanese, but writing texts in Japanese still stumps me sometimes. Right now I'm wondering about ...
SleepyDwagon's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
551 views

なります intransitive verb - volitional/non-volitional

なります is an intransitive verb, but it could either be volitional or non-volitional, right? Please see the below examples; are they correct? 日本語が上手になるように、毎日勉強しています。(なります is non-volitional) 弁護士になるために、...
Agnes's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
183 views

What does 歩けというの mean in this song?

In the song Cry by Garnidelia there're two lines that go: ひとり どこへ 歩{ある}けというの The second line is what I don't get. I've tried looking up というの but didn't see anything about it at the end of a sentence,...
OtheJared's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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Verb (とどめる) and its meaning in these sentences

I was looking for the meaning of the verb (とどめる) and how it differs from (とめる). I understood that (とどめる) means (to stop "potentially" from moving). But how does that meaning relate to the following ...
Mohammed Ali Melhem's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
280 views

Doubts about 判明する and verb tenses

I was checking the example sentences of 判明する on the Weblio EN-JA dictionary and it seems that, when it means "to turn out (that)", 判明する is written in the dictionary form (it turns out) or in the past ...
E. Matsunaga's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
376 views

Difference in meaning between 掴む and 捕まえる [duplicate]

掴{つか}む and 捕{つか}まえる both mean to catch and both are transitive verbs. Is there a difference in meaning or usage? Note that there is an intransitive to be arrested: 捕{つか}まる - to be caught/arrested, ...
Met's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
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Making adverb form of verb + なります

I was reading an NHK article and came across this line: お金{かね}を払{はら}うとき「キャッシュレス」を利用{りよう}する人{ひと}が増{ふ}えて、現金{げんきん}をあまり使{つか}わなくなっているためです。 It comes after a line that says "This is the first time the ...
katatahito's user avatar
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1 answer
129 views

Negative adjective 恐怖せず [duplicate]

恐怖せず I think it means “fearless”, but I don’t know the particle sezu. Is this old-fashioned?
Ragaroni's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
2k views

How to say "that" as in "the cow that ate" in Japanese?

I'm sure there are plenty of resources on this topic, but I don't know what keywords to use to find them. I want to know how you might create a noun by saying that the noun does something. For ...
PolymorphismPrince's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
302 views

Can you answer the question 何を飲みますか? with 水です。?

It doesn’t seem that natural, as 水です seems to mean “It is water”, rather than a shorter form of 水を飲みます.
Roger Wang's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
341 views

What part of speech is the 「〜たい」 form of a verb?

To say that one wants to do something, one uses the 「〜たい」 form of the verb, for example, 「日本に 行きたい です」. In the 「〜たい」 form, the word behaves like an adjective, using similar patterns such as 「〜くない」 ...
rgov's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
162 views

How to interpret intransitives in non-past tense

I've been reading linguistics books lately and they've gotten me reexamining things I've learned in Japanese textbooks for foreign learners. Susumu Kuno's book The Structure of the Japanese Language ...
Fluffer's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
199 views

What is the implied-verb represented by the sentence-ending を in the following context?

I am trying to understand the dialogue being spoken by the narrative character on the page below, specifically the fourth line of dialogue from the right in the picture. 「……さっきは何で、あんなことを?」 What is ...
Toyu_Frey's user avatar
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0 votes
3 answers
3k views

How does "suku" (empty) become "suite"?

Just started learning Japanese two weeks ago. I have so many questions. If my question sounds a little silly, please bear with me. I just learned that adjectives + desu and verb + imasu. But how do I ...
Chloe CZ's user avatar
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2 answers
859 views

The meaning of いた in this sentence related to be left surviving

The whole sentence is: だが、偶然にも生き残ったサイア人たちがいた。 Could it be: However, fortuitously surviving sayajins remained. In this case, this いた is the past of 居る? If this right, 居る could have the reading "...
Limanido's user avatar
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