The differences between two or more words or phrases and how to select the best one for a given situation.
4
votes
2answers
118 views
Are the grammatical forms きっかけに and 契機に interchangeable?
One of my grammar books 日本語総まとめN2 文法 lists both of the grammar forms 「きっかけに」 and 「契機に」 in the same definition.
However, in the example question a choice is given between them:
その事件（a. の契機に b. ...
6
votes
1answer
114 views
When do you use 回答 and 応答?
I would like to know when do you use the word 回答{かいとう} versus the word 応答{おうとう}. Based on my understanding they 回答 is reply while 応答 is response. Although to reply would also mean to response, in ...
7
votes
1answer
219 views
Why is 口が軽い the opposite of 口が堅い?
Why is 口が軽い the opposite of 口が堅い ? It seems interesting to me why 軽い／堅い would be chosen for this phrase.
As far as I know, most of the time phrases that are coupled with 軽い usually have the ...
6
votes
2answers
178 views
When is the correct situation to use 案外 or 意外?
I think this is a question I should have asked a long time ago.. What is the difference between 案外 and 意外? What does the correct situation look like when using either?
Example with 案外:
...
2
votes
2answers
163 views
Is there a difference between these words for “hero”?
I've learned that hero could be translated as:
ヒーロー
えいゆう
ゆうしゃ
けっし
Aside from ヒーロー (which seems just to be roumaji version of hero), is there any usage difference among them?
7
votes
1answer
129 views
Employed by one institution but work for another
I've worked my current job for a few years, and I can't believe I've never thought of this question. I have a unique employment situation. I am employed by a university, but the work I do is for the ...
4
votes
3answers
226 views
What makes に基づいて instead of に応じて the correct choice for this question?
I'm working on some example questions from my grammar textbook. One of them I listed below:
税金はこの表（ ）計算されています。
ア）につれて イ）に応じて ウ）に比べて エ）に基づいて
I'm unsure why 「に基づいて」is the only correct ...
8
votes
1answer
244 views
What kind of a thing is a “やつ”?
I've been seeing やつ used for "thing" reasonably frequently in Manga/online etc, for example:
ほとんどは本とか食玩とか細かいやつかな。
"It's virtually all stuff like books, those small toys sold with food and small ...
2
votes
4answers
273 views
How do I write “Hard Work and Smart Work”?
I want to write an essay, the title is "Difference between Hard Work and Smart Work".
I am trying to search japanese words to express those Hard Work and Smart Work.
I wrote "重労働とスマートな仕事の相違点".Would ...
8
votes
3answers
357 views
Difference between 気をつけて, お大事に and お元気で
What is the difference between 気をつけて, お大事に and お元気で. How and in which context are they used?
6
votes
1answer
189 views
What's the difference between ちゃんと, きちんと, きっちり and ぴったり?
The four of ちゃんと, きちんと, きっちり and ぴったり all seem to mean something like "perfectly", "precisely" or "exactly", and there seems to be a lot of similarity between their definitions.
Daijisen says that ...
3
votes
1answer
163 views
Can ごとに be replaced by それぞれ in this question?
正月は家ごとに門松を立てる。
For example, could I say
正月はそれぞれの家に門松をたてる。
If so, the meaning remains the same, or are there any subtle nuances that comes with each word? It seems to me, whenever i see sentences ...
4
votes
1answer
87 views
What is 在り方 used for?
Consider the extracted original Japanese text from the translation attempt in "Why is 知りません the negative form of 知っています？" :
これは「知る」という動詞の"意味特徴"と、私たちが「知る」に抱く"イメージ=認知の在り方"に原因があると考えるのが妥当だと思う｡
Also ...
5
votes
1answer
142 views
How does adding なる make this phrase more “natural”?
Recently, I wanted to express the sentence "Maybe they'd make good pets." in Japanese. I initially tried to say it as such:
[多分]{たぶん}いいペットでしょうね！
I was then corrected by a native speaker, and he ...
7
votes
1answer
160 views
Can 一杯 be used to express the fullness of things without physical volumes?
According to an answer to this question, the word [一杯]{いっぱい} can be used to expess fullness; especially in relation to the capacity of whatever is containing the quantity. This, however, tends to ...
5
votes
1answer
124 views
What's the difference between 赤ん坊 and 赤ちゃん
Are both words interchangeable? Rikai-chan defines them both as "baby, infant". So what would be the difference?
2
votes
1answer
244 views
The difference between ～ようだ, ～ように見える, ～ように思える and ～みたい
In a Japanese English grammar textbook, "seems" is translated as ～のように見える, for example:
He seemed to have been ill.
病気であったように見えた。
I've also seen "seems" written as ～（の）ように思える in various ...
12
votes
2answers
251 views
Saying “to miss” (“I missed you over the weekend”)
What's the best way to say "to miss" in the sense of feeling a longing for something, or that something pleasant is missing? I understand there's [懐]{なつ}かしむ, but it seems to me that, like 懐かしい, is ...
4
votes
1answer
198 views
“Postage stamp” word choice
I have two words that I think mean the same thing:
切手 - きって - stamp (postage)/merchandise certificate
郵券 - ゆうけん - postage stamp
When I look at some sample sentences, the first one is used for both ...
4
votes
1answer
154 views
Are the meanings of 煙 and 烟 identical?
I noticed that 煙 in the phrase 茶煙永日香{ちゃえんえいじつかんばし} sometimes appears as 烟. For example, here is a teapot with 茶煙永日香 and a scroll with 茶烟永日香. Is there a difference in meaning between 煙 and 烟?
煙 and 烟 ...
2
votes
1answer
104 views
Correct usage of から in this particular sentence
I want to make sure that I understand the basic usage of から.
If I say: まどをしめます。さむいですから。
Would this sound natural or stilted to native speakers?
10
votes
2answers
268 views
What exactly is 我, and how is it used?
I was taught that [私]{わた(く)し}, [僕]{ぼく}, and 俺{おれ} are the most common first-person pronouns.
Recently, I stumbled upon the word [我]{われ}, which supposedly means the same thing. An online dictionary ...
8
votes
2answers
160 views
Terms for 'viewpoint': 視点 vs 観点
I'm not understanding the subtleties of [視点]{してん} vs 観点{かんてん}.
I know that they both mean something like "point of view", and given the existence of two of them, one of them probably implies more ...
6
votes
1answer
342 views
When trying to convey 'apparently', when do you use, だそう, and when do you use そう?
I have seen both だそう and そう written at the end of a sentence to convey "apparently". Do you use だそう when trying to convey "according to" (によると)?
2
votes
1answer
299 views
What is the difference between ですから, だから, それで、それでは？
I think they have the same meaning: therefore.
But my teacher told me they were slightly different.
So can you help me distinguish them and how to use please?
1
vote
1answer
123 views
difference of 将来(しょうらい) and 未来 (みらい) [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Difference between ゆくすえ, しょうらい and みらい
Is there any difference between these two words? I first came across 未来 in a PS3 game (FFXIII-2) and after a bit of digging, I ...
4
votes
3answers
223 views
The meaning of and difference between ～を中心に and ～をめぐって
What is the meaning of and difference between ～を中心に and ～をめぐって?
Space ALC defines ～を中心に as "with a focus on" and ～をめぐって as "centering on", but I'm having trouble figuring out the meaning and ...
8
votes
2answers
199 views
What's the difference between どうしたらいい and どうしていい?
Particularly in the following phrases, what's the difference between どうしたらいい and どうしていい? The following both seem to mean something like "I don't know what to do":
どうしたらいいか分かりません
どうしていいか分かりません
...
8
votes
1answer
422 views
What do you mean, “In Japanese there are no words for ”I’m suffering“”?
Today I noticed this article about eating disorders in Japan, which I got to via the News on Japan site.
The first line jumps out at me. Supposedly, in an interview, a 25 year old Japanese woman ...
4
votes
3answers
249 views
Does 切った mean to “cut out” or “cut from”?
I was pretty sure that 切{き}った meant something was cut from something else. So ケーキから一人分{ひっとりぶん}を切{き}った would mean, "one piece was cut from the cake."
However, I came across a usage which, at least at ...
9
votes
3answers
337 views
When to use “もっと” vs “より”
Giving examples if possible, what's the difference between e.g. もっと大きい and より大きい to mean "more (than)"/"bigger (than)"? In what situations would you use もっと over より and vice versa?
For instance, why ...
4
votes
2answers
173 views
Which readings would you use to pronounce people's names?
I'm confused whether it is normally appropriate to use On-readings or Kun-readings when dealing with people's names; I'm fine when its just two character names; I just make a logical deduction in my ...
0
votes
1answer
103 views
Different permutations of 気 [closed]
Lots of words/expressions/phrases use 気 in one way or another. For example 気をつけて, 気味, 気になる, 気がつく, 気がする, 天気 etc...
Is there a reference somewhere for the seemingly more "interesting" phrases (like the ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
What is the difference between お元気に、お元気で、気をつけて？ [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Difference between 気をつけて, お大事に and お元気で
I want to say hello to a friend long time no see, and end my message with "take care". All お元気に、お元気で、気をつけて mean "take care", so ...
9
votes
2answers
221 views
Difference between 丸い and 円い
Both come up with the same reading and definition in Jisho.org (round/circular), and both are listed as common words. Is there any preference between the two or should I simply learn both as ...
4
votes
1answer
262 views
“Your sniffling is driving me crazy!”
There are people in Japan who seem to think nothing of sniffling their nose indefinitely as they sit in a coffee shop, in an office, on a train, or anywhere with other people around. Sometimes ...
10
votes
1answer
195 views
What exactly is ありき?
I think from looking up ありき that it means "based on", but it's usage is unclear to me.
I've come across it in these two examples:
まずは結論{けつろん}ありき
Which I think means "the conclusion is based on ...
4
votes
2answers
186 views
気を遣う versus 気を使う
It seems from my JLPT study books, and also my computer's IME, that 気{き}を遣{つか}う is the preferred kanji for "paying attention to, having concern for".
However, I noticed that on Space ALC if you look ...
5
votes
1answer
164 views
What does it mean when a sentence ends with しなくもない?
A friend posted this in a comment on Facebook:
これは深{ふか}い意味{いみ}があるような気{き}がしなくもない
I think I get the general meaning, which is "This seems to have a deep meaning." But I'm fuzzy on the implications ...
8
votes
1answer
316 views
How did the verb 掛ける come to have many meanings?
I think that this verb is the only one I've seen in Japanese that has so many definitions. とる and つく have multiple definitions as well (quite a bit IIRC). But not as much as 掛ける. In any case, I am ...
4
votes
1answer
123 views
Does 映す also mean “to copy” in some sense?
I was just sitting in a coffee shop, sheltering myself from the cloudburst over Tokyo a few minutes ago, and I couldn't help but overhear the conversation between to girls beside me.
They were ...
6
votes
1answer
232 views
When is it appropriate to refer to yourself using your name, rather than 私 (or others)?
I have heard—though not often—people refer to themselves using their first name, not by using a pronoun for "I." Does this have special connotation in Japanese? Nothing about the usage (to me) seemed ...
4
votes
1answer
161 views
9
votes
3answers
268 views
What is the difference between ～すぎ and ～すぎる?
When I was playing a video game a few months ago, I noticed that some of the characters (mostly young teen females, in case it matters) kept saying ～すぎ instead of ～すぎる.
For example, when one of the ...
4
votes
1answer
139 views
What's the difference between 威厳 and 尊厳?
What's the difference between 威{い}厳{げん} and 尊{そん}厳{げん} to mean "dignity"?
From what I can tell, the two seem to be similar, but slightly different. In what ways do the nuances and usages of the two ...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
Difference between 妬【ねた】ましい and 羨【うらや】ましい
Considering "How to define 羨ましい?", it does not seem that 羨【うらや】ましい conveys a strong intensity of jealousy.
How does 妬【ねた】ましい compare to 羨【うらや】ましい then?
Does 妬【ねた】ましい convey a stronger sense of ...
7
votes
1answer
340 views
What is the difference between 見える／聞こえる and 見られる／聞ける?
In Japanese, there is a potential form to express that it's possible for something to be done.
My own examples of potential form:
辛【から】い食【た】べ物【もの】が食【た】べられる。 (I can eat spicy foods.)
...
6
votes
1answer
141 views
What is the best word to use to mean “to take long-term a break (i.e. from school)”?
Just to add some context to this question: I graduated with a B.A. last June, and am currently taking a two-year break from education to work off some of the inordinate amount of debt I accumulated in ...
9
votes
1answer
248 views
What's the difference between 一応 and とりあえず?
What's the difference between 一応{いちおう} and とりあえず?
While I think they can both mean "tentatively" or "for the time being", there seems to be a difference in their usage. How do the two translate ...
9
votes
0answers
226 views
Thoughts about event frequencies and “often enough”
I'm having trouble expressing the concept of "not often enough". The most basic way to say "often" is よく, but I think there's a problem in putting qualifiers on this word. For instance, expressing ...
