The differences between two or more words or phrases and how to select the best one for a given situation.
7
votes
2answers
279 views
Why is 領土{りょうど} more suitable than 領域{りょういき} in this JLPT practise question?
In my JLPT practise book, there is this question:
その国王{こくおう}は戦{たたか}いに負{ま}け____の一部{いちぶ}を失{うしな}ってしまった。
Which I roughly translate as, "The kingdom lost a part of its __ in the battle."
The ...
4
votes
2answers
181 views
How to exhaustively list predicates in a non-temporal way?
Supposing that you want to express a list of events or actions exhaustively and without significance in ordering (for example: Yesterday, I ate some ice cream, went to the store, and read a book, but ...
6
votes
4answers
581 views
What went wrong when I asked for a 衡器{こうき}?
I was in Bikku Camera earlier today, and I wanted to buy a small kitchen scale for measuring small amounts of food.
I looked up the word "scale" in the dictionary, and it said 衡器{こうき}. So I found a ...
8
votes
1answer
242 views
What is this English doing in the middle of my Japanese?
Note: I understand this question is on the edge of being off topic. I'll accept the community assessement if enough people feel that is the case.
I'm reading 脳{のう}は0.1秒{びょう}で恋{こい}をする by ...
5
votes
1answer
206 views
What's the difference between 腹切り and 切腹?
I need to add a body to submit my question, so I'll just say the Mortal Kombat seemed to believe that the term 腹切り (はらきり harakiri) was more appropriate for self slaughter (i.e., throwing a boomerang ...
2
votes
1answer
268 views
What are the different ways of saying to agree or disagree with a person?
There seems to be many different ways of saying either to agree or to disagree with a person.
Which words are there, in what circumstances should they be used, and are there any relevant examples of ...
7
votes
2answers
241 views
What's the word to use for “confidential”, as in a company report?
I'm preparing a sales presentation; it contains some company data and I want to indicate that the entire presentation is confidential. In English, this would likely be accomplished by stamping the ...
0
votes
1answer
210 views
“にすぎない” vs “だけ” and “にかぎらない” vs “だけじゃない”
I am having difficulties to make sense of にすぎない, which is translated by EDICT to mean "no more than that; just; only". Is it not simply equivalent to だけ? Can I use にすぎない as substitute for だけ?
Also, ...
0
votes
1answer
184 views
What is あっちゃう in this sentence?
My friend sent me an email saying her mobile phone is having problems. Specifically, she said this:
携帯{けいたい}の電池{でんち}が電話{でんわ}すると5分{ふん}でなくあっちゃうようになった
I get the overall meaning, which is that when ...
2
votes
1answer
115 views
What are the different ways of saying to agree or disagree with a person?
There seems to be many different ways of saying either to agree or to disagree with a person.
Which words are there, in what circumstances should they be used, and are there any relevant examples of ...
9
votes
1answer
409 views
Does タメ語{ご} mean “casual speech”?
A debate came up on the use of タメ語{ご} in this question, and I thought it was worth its own analysis.
The question is, does タメ語{ご} simply mean "casual speech", or does it mean "speech between equals". ...
9
votes
1answer
415 views
How to use ～に同意する to agree or disagree with a person?
A couple of times I've tried to say "I agree with..." or "he agrees with..." but I don't know whether I'm using 同意{どうい}する correctly.
In what ways should に同意{どうい}している be used? Also, which particles ...
5
votes
1answer
249 views
を vs が with use against 好き?
The difference between が and を with the potential form of a verb. and Is it true that all nouns must be able to accept a が particle and a を particle? are noted as possible duplicates; however, I ...
7
votes
1answer
154 views
The difference between 皮膚【ひふ】 and 皮【かわ】
What's the difference? I got told that 皮膚【ひふ】 only works for mammals (and humans), and 皮【かわ】 for other animals too.
5
votes
2answers
490 views
Can 野郎{やろう} really have that many meanings?
(Warning: potentially offensive words. Proceed at your own risk. Also, apologies for the length.)
I realize this risks opening up the "does Japanese actually have swear words" debate, touched on ...
6
votes
1answer
166 views
What makes using ある for people okay in this context?
Yep, I'm reading a lot of Tintin in Japanese recently, and he keeps throwing me curve balls with the language. Here's another one.
The situation is that the car he was in has been run off the road ...
10
votes
1answer
226 views
What is the implication when a gruff old man ends a sentence with わ?
In this question, it seems to me it was clearly established that わ, at the end of a sentence, is decidedly feminine. There was talk of a kansai-ben わ with slightly different implications, but still ...
3
votes
2answers
242 views
Translation of “に” into “natural” English
All of my Japanese teachers have told me that な-adjectives converted to に-ending words and い-adjectives converted to く-ending words, when followed by a verb, are 'adverbs'. However, sentences sound ...
6
votes
2answers
244 views
What is the difference between がる and ぎみ?
In one of my study flashcards, I have this sentence:
疲{つか}れぎみだけど生{い}きてます。
Which should translate to something like, "[He] appears worn out but [he's] still kicking."
The main point is that in ...
6
votes
1answer
213 views
Taking Class, Course, Lecture - Which verb is fit?
I would like to know how we say taking class or course or lecture in japanese.
I have heard about 「クラスを受ける」 and 「クラスを取る」.
Are there significant difference? And Is there any other verb we can use ...
5
votes
1answer
161 views
で終わります: trying to close by? で帰ります, trying to leave by? It depends on the sentence?
I can say 売り場は九時で終わります、 and 三時で帰ります、 which I've learned mean something like, "They'll be trying to close from," and, "I'll be trying to leave from." I've also learned that ２月２５日で帰ります is not correct. ...
5
votes
1answer
182 views
What are the different nuances of saying 変{へん}?
I recently came across the term 変{へん}てこ, which, if I understand it, means "strange", but is softer than saying 変{へん}な.
Is it similar to 変{へん}なちょこ? I think this also means strange, but also in a ...
6
votes
2answers
227 views
酔う vs 酔っ払う: does it depend on how drunk you are?
酔{よ}う and 酔{よ}っ払{ぱら}う both seem to mean "to get drunk" but how are they different from each other? Does it depend on how drunk you are, and assuming 酔っ払う is worse than 酔う, exactly how drunk would you ...
5
votes
1answer
171 views
Is 「喧嘩」 a verbal fight or a physical fight?
Taking 2 sentences from WWWJDIC as examples:
見てごらん。２人の男の子がけんかしている。
議論は最後に喧嘩になった。
I was wondering is it true that the 「喧嘩」 in the sentences above may be interpreted both ways (i.e. it may ...
4
votes
2answers
146 views
How do I ask about two different possible options?
Is this the correct way to ask which of two options is true?
あの CD は トルコご の ですか えいご の ですか？
("Is that CD in Turkish or English?")
5
votes
1answer
196 views
“トムと話した” vs. “トムと話し合った”
This book (Chap. 29) says that for some verbs which can be unilateral or bilateral (like 相談する, 話す, 合う),
The particle と implies that the verb is shared 50/50 between the two participants (bilateral), ...
12
votes
2answers
413 views
The differences between ～がたい、〜にくい、〜づらい
I was wondering what the differences are between these three: ～がたい、〜にくい、〜づらい
They all seem to be some sort of variant of "Hard to do ~". But it seems they are used with different verbs and/or imply ...
10
votes
2answers
450 views
What is the difference between “〜がる” and “〜がっている”
I want to know the difference between 〜がる and 〜がっている, and in what situations I can use them.
My friend said 〜がる is used for a regular activity that someone does every day or every week, and the ...
8
votes
2answers
196 views
「悪気があっての答え」 vs 「悪気がある答え」
Hi all I was wondering what is the difference between these two sentences:
「決して悪気があっての回答ではないです。」
「決して悪気がある回答ではないです。」
I can't really make out the gist of the meaning of 「あっての」.
WWWJDIC's ...
4
votes
1answer
81 views
The difference between 「人文科学」 and 「社会科学」
I want to know the different between these two words.
The meaning is the same which is social science.
So, what is the difference?
Edit: Sorry for confusing question. I mean the different usage.
3
votes
1answer
96 views
Different between 可決 and 許可？
I want to know the different between 可決 and 許可.
I search into dictionary and the meaning is quite the same whose meaning are approval or permission.
So, what different? and how to use it ...
7
votes
1answer
180 views
How different is 冷やかす from 冷やす? And 散らかす from 散らす?
I've long known 冷やす as the transitive counterpart of 冷える. But thanks to one question here, I've realized that there is another version with an extra syllable in it: 冷やかす. Although 冷やかす seems to have ...
5
votes
2answers
247 views
How to translate “from scratch”
I am having discussions with my Japanese friend about developing a new computer application. I want to suggest to him to not write the code from scratch but to use other libraries as our base. How can ...
4
votes
1answer
96 views
Is this the denial of a statement, or a statement of denial?
This sentence originally came from a newspaper article. Unfortunately, I copied it onto a flashcard for later study and then lost the original context.
彼は、可能性について「念頭に全くない」と否定した。
【かれは、かのうせいに ...
2
votes
1answer
91 views
Are けもの and けだもの different types of beasts, or simply two variants of the same word?
Both けもの and けだもの are written in kanji as 獣, but is the beast with 'だ' inside more brutal than the one without 'だ'? Or are they simply two variants of the same noun, thus they refer to exactly the ...
12
votes
1answer
483 views
JLPT N1 question: Why isn't a large amount of money a good enough reason to kill someone?
In my JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) level N1 workbook, there is this example question:
適当{てきとう}な語{}を選びなさい
この殺人{さつじん}事件{じけん}の裏{うら}には（ ）上{じょう}のトラブルがあるようだ。
A 金額{きんがく} B ...
7
votes
1answer
118 views
Usage and nuance of あまりに vs あまりにも
WWWJDIC lists both あまりに and あまりにも to mean "too much; excessively; too" but are they exactly the same in term of usage and nuance?
あまりに 《余りに》 (adv) (uk) too much; excessively; too
Ex: ...
12
votes
3answers
402 views
“Seemingly cute” - かわいい + 〜そう
The 〜そう form means "seemingly 〜" and is usually conjecture made based on first-hand information. This usually means seeing something or hearing about something and making a conjecture, e.g., おいしそう ...
6
votes
1answer
212 views
Another example where I don't know if 欲しい or 欲しがる is right
私の祖母は私が欲しい以上のものをくれた
私の祖母は私が欲しがる以上のものをくれた
I want the meaning to be "my grandmother gave me more then I wanted." Is the second sentence right and the first sentence wrong?
I learned 欲しがる for ...
10
votes
1answer
151 views
Is 花見 “cherry blossom” viewing only?
Hi all I was wondering is there such a thing that 花見/お花見 must be specifically referring to "cherry blossom" viewing.
Or is it true that 花見 is "flower viewing" in general ?
8
votes
1answer
200 views
The first: 第一 vs 一番 vs 第一番
What are differences among 第一, 一番 and 第一番, all of which seem to mean "the first" in English? Are any of them more suitable for some specific scenarios than the others (e.g. 安全第一 but 世界で一番)?
5
votes
1answer
433 views
Fun with synonyms - “perhaps/maybe/probably”
What are the differences when using the following words/phrases to mean "perhaps", "maybe" or "probably"?
多分
恐らく
蓋し {けだし}
もしかして
ひょっとして
なかろう (negative -> probably not)
だろう / でしょう / であろう
かも知れない
...
7
votes
2answers
546 views
おしまい {oshimai} vs おわり {owari}
Are there any differences between using おしまい {oshimai} and おわり {owari} to mean "the end" (both with neutral and negative connotations)? Are they always interchangeable?
E.g:
テスト失敗したらおわりだぜ。
...
3
votes
1answer
124 views
Can と be used with verbs other than 思う to imply a thought process behind the action?
Following hot on the heels on my other question about と and 思う, I know と can be used with 言う, but can it also be applied to verbs that imply some kind of thinking process other than 思う?
Do these make ...
17
votes
4answers
483 views
Differences between 度 and 回 when counting occurrences
What are the differences between using 度 and 回 when used to count number of occurrences?
For example:
そんなことは一度もしたことがない
そんなことは一回もしたことがない
Are there any restrictions on what kind of actions referred ...
13
votes
5answers
689 views
What is an appropriate response to お疲れ様です【おつかれさまです】 in non-work situations?
Often times at the gym, when I'm on my way out, covered in sweat, one of the staff will say お疲れ様です{おつかれさまです}("you've worked hard"...?).
Usually at work situations, I've often found that saying some ...
12
votes
1answer
180 views
Is こら a lot more rude than ほら?
From early on, I've used こら and ほら somewhat interchangeably. They both mean "hey!"
I picked them up from friends early on without without really having a sense of the difference.
Now, after some ...
13
votes
3answers
424 views
Blue blistering barnacles, what is Captain Haddock saying?
For those who might not be familiar with the series Tintin (soon to be in a major motion picture, by the way), there is a character named Captain Haddock who is famous for shouting out colourful ...
10
votes
3answers
311 views
5
votes
1answer
222 views
Does ところ mean the exact same thing as こと in this sentence?
Consider the following sentence:
お金じゃないところが好きだから一緒にいるの
【おかね じゃない ところが すき だから いっしょに いるの】
I think it means "I'm with you because of the parts of you that don't have to do with money".
I'm ...
