That class of words which describe events and states and can be inflected or conjugated to indicate relative time, as well as many other nuances.
3
votes
1answer
95 views
How to distinguish between words with identical okurigana?
There are a ton of verbs with multiple readings and the exact same okurigana. Sometimes they mean totally different things and sometimes they have very similar meanings, so in the cases when they have ...
1
vote
2answers
152 views
隣村まで足にのばす。Best way to interpret this sentence?
隣村まで足にのばす。
隣村：the neighboring village
足：foot/leg
のばす：aside from growing a beard... stretch, extend...
The best I could think is that it's like a literary way of saying you're heading out (extending ...
3
votes
2answers
181 views
What are the ways to conjugate “I” and “to be” (in romaji)
I think being able to to specify who you are talking about and yourself is very crucial in a language so, how do they do it?
To clarify I know in French there is 6 ways to specify a person:
Je (I), ...
-1
votes
0answers
93 views
What is the general syntax of Japanese? (in romaji) [closed]
In English we're taught that sentence structure is subject/verb, is this the same (or somewhat the same) in Japanese? Do they have subject/verb, or some other structure that would seem totally bizarre ...
3
votes
1answer
109 views
Origin of 楽しみ and 楽しみにする
楽しみ is derived from 楽しむ isn't it? Despite this, it's used as if it were an adjective, and I don't completely understand why it can be used in 楽しみにする.
What is the name of the form that 楽しみ is relative ...
2
votes
2answers
157 views
What are the general principles of using verbs to modify nouns (ex 焦げるトースト/焦げたトースト)?
In all the time I've studied the language, I've never heard or seen anybody even hint at whether the principles from a given language (like using burnt toast vs. burning toast) carry over, or if the ...
3
votes
0answers
100 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
254 views
Why is 〜に受かる used to mean “to pass”?
I'm having trouble understanding why 〜に受かる means "to pass". What would the equivalent logic in English be for this phrase? (Something like the intransitive form of receive?)
Also, why is the particle ...
3
votes
3answers
384 views
How to say “you may not [verb] here”?
たとえば、おすしを食べてもいいですか？ is for "May I eat sushi?". However I know that ちょっと、食べなくてもいいです。Is not the right phrase because that means: "Well, you don't have to eat (that)." So what is the response for ...
2
votes
3answers
248 views
Japanese construction verb+noun, how do I interpret it. I am confused!
A) lets take just transitive verbs first:
食べる人
食べられる人
B) now lets take intransitive verbs:
起きる人
起きられる人
起こす人
起こされる人
OK, this thing has confused me for a very long time now, like really long. ...
8
votes
1answer
321 views
Is 感じる {かんじる} transitive or intransitive? Which particle to use?
Please consider 一段 {いちだん} verb 感じる {かんじる}. Sometimes I see particle に applied and sometimes particole を. In the Jisho.org vocabulary it is not specified if this verb is 他動詞 {たどうし} (transitive) or 自動詞 ...
3
votes
2answers
206 views
What is なく・ない and why is it used?
This question showed the following:
言わない (negative)
言わなく・ない (negative+negative)
言わなく・なかった (negative+negative+past)
I've never seen this conjugation before. Why would you have a negative + ...
4
votes
3answers
388 views
What the difference between these two uses of toki?
国へ帰るとき、かばんを買いました。
国へ帰ったとき、かばんを買いました。
According to the book I'm reading, they both translate to: I bought a bag when I went back to my country.
Now the nuance, if I understand correctly, is that 1. ...
0
votes
1answer
127 views
Why “you don't have to want to hold”? [closed]
ベルボーイがいますから、にもつをもたくなくてもいいです。
The sentence above has --for me-- some confusing verb tensing. In particular, もたくなくてもいい. This much I think I understand: Because there is a bellboy, I don't need to want ...
6
votes
3answers
326 views
Positive Past Plain form of Iku is Itta not iita?
I thought when you get a type one verb ending with "ku" you replace it with ita. For example Kaku (to write) goes to Kaita. So I'm guessing Iku is an exception, does this happen with other verbs too ? ...
6
votes
1answer
116 views
Difference between progressive verb forms and i-adjectives
I'm wondering, for adjectives such as 太い and 悲しい that also have a progressive "to be" verb counterpart (i.e., 太っている and 悲しんでいる), what is the difference between using the i-adjective form and the verb ...
5
votes
1answer
210 views
What is the relation between the two verbs 思われる and 思う?
If 思われる is "its own verb," meaning "to seem; to appear," and is independent of the separate verb 思う, meaning "to think," is there a conceptual relation between the two? I ask because I initially ...
7
votes
2answers
251 views
When to use 聴く vs 聞く vs 訊く?
When should one use 聴く instead of 聞く? Is there a precise rule for which one to use in which situation?
I have a feeling that 聞 is used more when the source of the sound is a person or other living ...
4
votes
1answer
176 views
Is 来おった the 連用形{れんようけい} of くる plus おる → おった?
I came across the following dialogue, which occurs right as the hero arrives:
「やっと来おったか。」
I'm not sure how to parse 来おった. Is it 来{き} + 居{お}る? If so, what exactly does this form mean? Do other ...
5
votes
1answer
143 views
What's the difference between お待ちになる and 待たれる?
I know they're both polite ways to use a verb, but my materials never taught me what unique traits each one has. Is it just the tone, or is there more to it?
2
votes
2answers
158 views
What's the difference between 真似る and 真似する？
I'm just wondering if they are the same word or if there is an actual difference (in meaning or nuance). It seems weird to me that there would be two different verbs with the same kanji stem that mean ...
2
votes
1answer
149 views
How to say “to ride a bicycle”?
Is it 自転車に乗る or 自転車を走る? I know I've read the latter somewhere before. But I just came across the former today and didn't know if there was a difference.
2
votes
1answer
130 views
Verbs in application drop down lists
I am working on translating pick list items that appear in a piece of software from English to Japanese. There is a mix of verbs and nouns on the lists, ex: workplace, attack, wolf, assault, etc... ...
4
votes
2answers
376 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
193 views
Is it always ができる？
So I'm studying and I ran into an example that stated to go from a (noun)suru to (noun)dekiru is this:
私は車を運転する －＞ 私は車の運転ができる。
Why isn't 私は車を運転できる。
4
votes
3answers
364 views
Usage of ~まんねん (関西弁)
Steven Seagal stars in two TV advertisements for the energy drink アリナミン, as seen here and here. In the first commercial he is shown using martial arts two dispatch his opponents, while in the second ...
11
votes
3answers
442 views
Would the plain form of a verb usually be translated as future tense?
In a recent question I asked, this example sentence was offered:
映画を見る。 (I will watch a movie.)
What struck me about this was that the translated version was the future tense.
However, I always ...
8
votes
1answer
218 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:
...
3
votes
1answer
170 views
What is 死す doing in this question?
My friend recently played through a game called Persona 4, and he took plenty of screen shots. He showed me this one containing 死す:
It says:
巽 完二
「言っとくがなぁ…
可愛すぎてキュン死すっぞ！」
I understood ...
10
votes
1answer
137 views
Meaning of せい conjugation of する?
I came upon this line of dialogue in a book I'm reading, from a character who has old-fashioned speech patterns:
できる限りの鶏肉を用意せい…
I assume this せい is some form of the verb する, though I'm not even sure ...
8
votes
1answer
190 views
What's the difference between 思う and 考える?
These two words both seem to mean "to think", but is there any difference between them? Is it related to the difference between 言う and 話す by any chance?
14
votes
2answers
809 views
Passive-transitive-verb vs. Intransitive-verb （他動詞の受け身 vs. 自動詞)
Here's another question for you experts out there. I think I know the answer to this as well, but it still creeps up in my mind all the time; something I'd like to research more. I want to know ...
7
votes
1answer
225 views
When to use 洗濯する and 洗う？
今日ふくを洗う。
今日ふくを洗濯する。
昨日食器を洗った。
昨日食器を洗濯した。
I know that 洗濯する means: washing or laundering (clothes). And 洗う just means washing. When I'm talking about washing in general can I use the two words ...
0
votes
2answers
219 views
Possible ways to express remembrance and recall
How is it possible in Japanese language to express concepts of recall and remembrance?
I mean, recall is generally referred to the way we take out something from our memory which is related to ...
8
votes
1answer
184 views
Relation between -ますよ and -ましょう
They sound alike. Are they cognate historically?
Morphologically, is よ in both cases a particle or part of the morpheme in -ましょう?
10
votes
2answers
238 views
About -eru and -aru verb pairs that are not transitive/intransitive counterpart of each other
Most -eru and -aru pairs of verbs that I know are transitive/intransitive counterparts of each others. For example, 見つかる is the intransitive counterpart for the transitive 見つける, and 変わる is the ...
2
votes
2answers
192 views
I am confused about the meaning of the conjugations of [買]{か}う
I am on Livemocha and it says that 買います。 means "I am going to buy it." But I figure that should be 買いに行きます。 . Also I know that ぎゅうにゅうを買っています。 is "I am buying milk." But for some reason, I thought that ...
7
votes
1answer
203 views
Volitional + と + Verb
(In this question, I will use "Volitional" to mean "V-(よ)う".)
As I understand it, Volitional + と + する is a phrase meaning "to try to do something". I've also seen similar phrases, but with different ...
2
votes
1answer
330 views
What's the difference between Ichidan/Godan and Ru/U verbs classification?
I've come across two different ways (at least, apparently for me) to classify verbs. Please note that this question is fundamentally different from Verb classifications by japanese learners.
The ...
3
votes
2answers
111 views
Can もらう mean to keep?
While studying I came across this short 会話{かいわ}：
A: この本をもらってもいいですか？
B: ええ、いいですよ。どうぞ。
A was translated as: "Can I keep this book?" Now, I've learned that もらう means to receive (something). I would have ...
3
votes
1answer
104 views
What is the difference between 越える and 越す and are they truly transitive verbs?
My question arose when I was trying to rationalise the first two sentences below. I wondered if these two verbs (越すand 越える） formed a pair with one transitive, one intransitive (like 消える & 消す）with ...
5
votes
2answers
160 views
What's the difference between 捕らえる and 捕まえる? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Fun with synonyms - “to grab/catch/capture”
From my current understanding, 捕らえる means 'to capture', while 捕まえる is used to mean 'to arrest'. Is this correct? And is 捕まる ...
6
votes
3answers
161 views
Which forms of a verb do I need to memorize to distinguish ichidan from godan?
Can I get away with memorizing only these two forms of a verb?
Dictionary form かえる ("to return")
Positive polite non-past form, like かえります
If I compare these two forms, I can determine whether ...
4
votes
2answers
143 views
What's the proper verb for opening a web page?
What's the proper verb to use when you want to ask somebody to open (or load up) a certain link on their browser?
2
votes
0answers
49 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?
2
votes
1answer
80 views
What is the correct kanji for the verb to sweat 汗をかく
What is the character used for the verb to sweat? 汗をかく
2
votes
1answer
90 views
Trouble with 応じる [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What makes に基づいて instead of に応じて the correct choice for this question?
I am having trouble with the following sentence.
情報はシナリオの進行に応じて追加されていきますので、時折覗いてみると良いでしょう。
I ...
1
vote
2answers
95 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 ...
3
votes
2answers
242 views
Reading 捻る: when is it ねじる or ひねる?
How can I tell whether 捻る is read as ひねる (P. ・ N.C.) or ねじる (P. ・ N.C.)?
I assume the answer is "based on which verb is appropriate", so I've been trying to learn the difference between them. Based ...
6
votes
3answers
157 views
Expressing: “Send them over/up, please”
This should be a rather straightforward (if a bit specific) bit of translation, but I cannot find a form that makes sense to me and gets corroborated by Google.
How would one translate the typical ...
