The differences between two or more words or phrases and how to select the best one for a given situation.
3
votes
1answer
118 views
How to say “running total”?
I've looked around but haven't found a decent way to write "running total" like in the following table.
A Running Total
1 1
2 3
1 4
5 9
3 12
10
votes
1answer
214 views
Difference between さよなら and さようなら
I just saw the word "goodbye" spelt as さよなら. Having clearly heard the long o sound before, I thought the word was misspelled. However, a quick online search shows both さよなら and さようなら being used. Is ...
3
votes
2answers
124 views
まま + 放る{ほうる} used for emphasis or are they both needed?
A group of people are talking about the best way to get rid of a monster in their town and one of the villagers says this: 仕方{しかた}あるまい。このまま放って{ほうって}おけば村は[全滅]{ぜんめつ}するかもしれん…。
From what I understand, まま ...
3
votes
4answers
122 views
What is the difference between 楽しい and 面白い?
Google translates both of them to be interesting. And which can be used for a funny guy?
2
votes
3answers
211 views
Difference between 何の～ and どんな～
Consider the following:
{どんな・[何]{なん}の}映画を見ましたか。
{どんな・何の}本を買いましたか。
What is the difference in the type of information requested by the two interrogatives?
My hypothesis is that 何の is used to ...
8
votes
4answers
158 views
What is the difference in usage between 準備 用意 and 覚悟
The dictionaries translate these three words roughly as preparation/preparedness or ready/readiness.
I don't think I undersand the subtleties of their usage.
Not to mention できる also has another ...
2
votes
1answer
75 views
Difference between 〜げ and 〜そう [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the difference between ~げ and ~そう
What is the difference between 〜げ and 〜そう?
Consider for example:
彼が、何か言いたげに近づいて来た。
彼が、何か言いたそうに近づいて来た。
Or are they ...
5
votes
1answer
124 views
How to use いかがですか？
So I've read that いかがですか means "How about it?" and "How is it?". So if I wanted to say, "How's the coffee?" would it be コーヒーはどうですか？ or コーヒーはいかがですか？
Also is there an "informal" way of saying いかがです?
7
votes
1answer
204 views
Difference between うーん and ううん
What is the difference between うーん and ううん?
In a comment on Pronunciation of ううん, paullb said that he usually sees the negative interjection ううん written as うーん. This confused me, because I thought ...
4
votes
5answers
176 views
Rust: 錆 vs 銹 vs 鏽 vs 鏥
In doing some looking around today I found four characters that all mean rust and are all read さび. Is there any distinction that can be made between these characters?
錆
銹
鏽
鏥
8
votes
2answers
274 views
Do people use まい？
I see the ending まい all over the place in the JLPT books and in example phrases but I can't actually think of an example of somebody saying it or writing in an email (from SMS style messages to work ...
2
votes
2answers
112 views
How to say “To familiarise onself with”
I've been trying to figure out how to say something like:
"I'd like to familiarise myself with XXX before the meeting so do you have any information that you can pass me before hand." (I.e. I have an ...
8
votes
2answers
279 views
How do these 3 ways of saying “It can't be helped” differ?
So I have heard:
仕方がない
しょうがない
仕方あるまい
And the translation I've seen for all 3 is: "It can't be helped." Is there a particular difference among the 3?
Edit: Secondary question. Why isn't 仕方あるまい, ...
6
votes
2answers
218 views
How do you say “Please tell your wife to get well soon”?
How do you convey that you wish someone's wife (or husband, mother, brother, etc.) to get well soon? I understand that you say お大事に if the person you speaking to directly is the one who is not well. ...
6
votes
1answer
135 views
When is イングランド used and when is イギリス used?
It has always been my understanding that the word for England is イギリス. But the wikipedia page for English-American says イングランド系アメリカ人. Even rikaichan has イングランド as England. Is there a difference in ...
2
votes
2answers
207 views
生け花をします does it mean to practice flower arranging?
In my Minna no Nihongo book (Chapter 12), it says that 生け花をします means to practice flower arrangement. If that is so, they how do you expressing, "flower arranging or arranging the flowers or doing ...
6
votes
2answers
128 views
Expressing ethnicity that is different from nationality
How do you go about expressing ethnicity that is different from your nationality.
I happen to be of British decent from Canada (now living in Japan):
イギリス系のカナダ人です。
That's my best guess. Any ...
7
votes
1answer
103 views
Usage of 腱 vs 筋
What is the difference between the following characters: 腱 vs 筋 （すじ）
Both translate to tendon (as in the connective tissue between muscles and bones)
7
votes
2answers
188 views
What is the difference in usage between a plural using (a) the kanji repetition character 々, (b) a plural using -たち, and (c) the singular?
I know that there are some noun that are made plural by the kanji repetition character, such as 人々 and 国々. My question is, how does this differ from using the non-plural form of the noun? And how does ...
5
votes
1answer
123 views
What is the difference between 口元 and 口?
When talking about the body part (not, for example, entrances/exits), what is the difference between these two words. Based on looking at these two pages (for 口 and 口元) I'm guessing that the ...
4
votes
1answer
146 views
Difference between だけで and でだけ?
The だけ meaning "only", and で being the "at/in" particle. When saying "only in/at", does the で come before, or after the だけ? What does it mean, if anything, when it's reversed?
Example: "You can only ...
3
votes
1answer
138 views
When is it appropriate to use お宅 to refer to the second-person?
An answer to "What is the most natural way to refer to someone when you don't know their name and don't have a close relationship with them?" suggests that お宅 may be used to refer to the second ...
2
votes
1answer
259 views
Why do we use 楽しめそう and 楽しみ rather than 楽しい・楽しそう in these sentences?
Could someone explain why we use 楽しめそう instead of 楽しそう in the first sentence and what exactly 楽しみ means and why?
(The translations are my best guess at what the sentences might mean.)
...
7
votes
2answers
183 views
けど vs. が for “but” conjuction
This question covers the difference between でも and けど for "but", the difference being that でも can be used at the beginning of a sentence. But けど and が are used in very much the same way, ...
6
votes
1answer
155 views
Difference between 一段 imperatives ～よ・～ろ
一段 verbs may be conjugated to form imperative forms of ～よ or ～ろ.
For example:
見る forms either 見よ or 見ろ
食べる forms either 食べよ or 食べろ
How did the two forms come about?
What is the difference in ...
4
votes
1answer
109 views
What's the difference between 申し出 and 提案?
In the Kanzen Master N2 listening textbook, there's a table of phrases to be aware of, and it includes both 申{もう}し出{で} and 提案{ていあん} in the "function" part of the table:
提案:
〜たらどう？
こっちの色にしたらどう？
...
8
votes
3answers
240 views
Difference between （遊び）方 and （遊ぶ）方法
I'm struggling to understand the difference between the verb suffix ～方【かた】 and the noun 方法【ほうほう】. As an example, the difference between 遊び方 (which seems to mean something like "manner in which someone ...
3
votes
1answer
135 views
Difference between 切る and 切れる？
This question is prompted by the earlier question on the use of 書ける. Initially I thought the answer might explain the difference between these two (eg 彼は頭がよく切れる|
he is (very) sharp) but in most cases, ...
6
votes
1answer
129 views
referring to children: 子, 子供, or お子さん?
This is an issue that came up with my host family quite often. I have never been quite clear on which to use. In particular, 子 seems somewhat rude (much to the same effect as 男 or 女). On the other ...
6
votes
1answer
138 views
What is going on with 書けている? What is Potential Form+ている?
I'm having difficulty in understanding 書けている (initially observed from an answer to "パソコンが 得意だ/わかる/上手だ"). Also observed from SPACEALC:
この小説は上手に書けている。
最もよく書けている記事。
...
6
votes
1answer
161 views
How to describe the inside of one's mind?
On one page in my book, I came across 3 different phrases for, what seems to me, subtly different ways of saying the same thing.
The first was: 頭の隅に
Then: 脳裏に
The information I was able to find ...
3
votes
1answer
166 views
How to write “Ikigai”
I'd like to use Ikigai ("something one lives for; purpose in life; raison d'être") for a Calligraphy (ShoDo) work.
According to Tangorin there are three possible ways to write this:
生き甲斐
生きがい
...
4
votes
1answer
92 views
When is 着ける used in context of clothes? (eg in comparison to 着る, する、履く)
I recently read that:
着る（きる）is used for the wearing clothes for either the upper half of the body (eg 上着）or the whole body in general.
履く（はく）is used for bottom half (eg shoes, socks, ...
13
votes
1answer
217 views
When to read “その後” as “そのご”, “そのあと” or “そののち”?
I've recently been seeing あと as well as ご as Furigana on top of 後 in その後, but is there a difference in usage or meaning between the different readings?
Looking at the Yahoo thesaurus, it seems it can ...
5
votes
1answer
162 views
Spotting the N1 に N2 construction (eg パンにバター）
I have recently come to the conclusion that the N1 に N2 construction (eg パンにバター）is more common than I thought. It is the only explanation I think of to make gramatical sense of the sentences below. ...
6
votes
2answers
204 views
Difference between verb types (verbal nouns, transitive & intransitive: eg 開始, 始める and 始まる)
All three of these words mean "to start", but what's the difference between them and where are they used?
6
votes
1answer
206 views
When are 止める, 停める and 留める read as とめる, やめる or とどめる?
When are 止める, 停める and 留める read as とめる or とどめる (and in the case of 止める, やめる)?
I think 止めてください could be read as both やめてください and とめてください, which I think could maybe be translated as "cut it out" and ...
6
votes
1answer
206 views
What exactly is 我が家, and how is it used?
I know the phrase 我が家 means "our home" or "our family". My question is when would you use it, as opposed to say 私の家 or 私の家族? It seems poetic to me, or something that wouldn't exactly be used in ...
7
votes
1answer
194 views
must/need [必要]{ひつよう}がある vs. なくてはいけない and [必要]{ひつよう}だ vs. [要]{い}る
This is a two part question, both pertaining to expressions involving "必要".
What is the difference between 必要がある and -なくてはいけない/ -なければならない? The
difference between the latter two expressions is ...
7
votes
2answers
195 views
Does くりかえし mean a single iteration or multiple ones?
For example, in this sentence:
彼は、失敗をものともせず、 何度もくりかえし 挑戦し続けた。
くりかえし is modified by 何度も, implicitly stating that the action was repeated multiple times.
My question is that if the sentence was ...
6
votes
2answers
406 views
The difference between “follow” using についていく、「あと？」をつける、「あと？」をついていく
What is the difference between and how can we explain the grammar in the expressions for "follow" in the examples below?
子供が母親のあとをついていく
(A child is following his/her mother)
母親の買い物についていく (go ...
11
votes
3answers
448 views
What is the difference between ちょっと and 少し?
Specifically for when they mean "a little".
In what situations would they be used and are they completely interchangeable without any differences?
7
votes
2answers
296 views
Which word to use for “butterfly”?
I am aware of these words that mean "butterfly":
[蝶]{ちょう}
蝶々 (Is the alternate form of チョウチョ more common than 蝶々? Because 蝶々 would be チョウチョウ instead and it seems ウ is removed because of shortening)
...
7
votes
2answers
386 views
What is the difference between 彼氏が出来る and 彼氏を作る?
I often hear both of the following phrases:
彼氏が出来る
彼氏を作る
Both of them seem to mean the same thing(?). Why is it that 作る is used in this way? I had previously thought 作る meant to "create" or ...
8
votes
1answer
122 views
What is the difference between あっての and とあって?
From what I can tell they both mean "Because of", and the only differences in meaning I can see seem to be very subtle.
あっての:
Because of A (strong emphasis), B
Thanks to (various ...
11
votes
1answer
284 views
ひらく / とじる vs. あける / しめる
The verbs ひらく and あける both mean to open, and とじる and しめる both mean to close. I understand that ひらく and とじる are antonym pairs, as are あける and しめる, but have never been clear on the difference between ...
7
votes
3answers
181 views
What is the difference between 防止 and 予防?
My dictionary defines both 防止 and 予防 as "prevention", with 予防 having the additional definitions of "precaution" and "protection against".
I sort of understand the latter definitions for 予防 as acting ...
4
votes
2answers
91 views
Difference between こぼれる and あふれる
What is the difference between the two words こぼれる and あふれる?
I think for こぼれる, the focus is on improper or bad containment leading to overflow/spillage. And for あふれる the focus is on the abundance of ...
7
votes
3answers
292 views
what does どことなくつかみどころがなくmean?
I came across this phrase in the sentence:
勘【かん】というものは、しょちゅう経験【けいけん】していながら、どことなくつかみどころがなく、いまの科学【かがく】ではまだその正体【しょうたい】が、明らか【あきらか】にされていない。(Soumatome N1 dokkai, p45)
My best effort to translate it ...
13
votes
3answers
259 views
What is the difference between 向かい and 向こう?
I am unable to locate objects and their orientation with respect to myself when 向こう and 向かい are used.
Consider:
向こう側
向かい側
向こうの店
向かいの店
Where is 向こう側 and 向かい側 with respect to me? Are they the same ...
