The differences between two or more words or phrases and how to select the best one for a given situation.
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347 views
“Dyke” and “Femme”
Warning! This question contains at least one, possibly, derogatory word. I appologise if readers are offended.
A friend of mine asked me to translate a passage from a poem in British English into ...
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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 ...
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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), ...
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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 ...
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1answer
121 views
もっとも: distinguishing between 尤も and 最も
I found a page in Japanese with title "世界でもっとも汚染された10の都市". Having encountered the phrase 「もっとも」 for the first time, I looked it up on WWWJDIC and found two entries:
尤も 【もっとも】 (adj-na,adv,conj,n) ...
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2answers
152 views
I've seen 達人and 名人used to indicate master or expert. What's the difference?
I'm not familiar with either word, but just looking at the characters, 達人 would seem to indicate 'accomplished' (ie an accomplished pianist). While 名人 seems more like 'renowned'. Is that a valid ...
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1answer
200 views
which instruments use 弾く and which use 引く?
I was wondering how do we identify what instruments may be used with the verb 引く, or 弾く, or both?
If both 引く and 弾く can be used is there any difference in nuance between one vs the other?
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1answer
225 views
What's the difference in usage between に対して and にとって?
I often used に対して when speaking, and have noticed にとって as the favorite expression of the author who's book I'm now reading. What's the difference in usage? Are there any other similar expressions I ...
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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. ...
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1answer
489 views
Passive vs. active form of verb (past) What is the difference?
I was wondering what the difference is if I use passive form or active form of a verb.
For example:
ネズミは猫に食べられた。The mouse was eaten by the cat.
猫は、ネズミを食べた。The cat ate the mouse.
What EXACTLY is ...
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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?
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2answers
151 views
How do you talk about things in parts?
I would like to say "It is written half in English and half in Japanese."
When writing this myself I came up with:
これは半分英語で半分日本語で書いていました。
but I think that
半分英語で半分日本語で
does not sound ...
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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?
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1answer
293 views
Different ways to show intention to do something
How can one say "I am going to", express intention to do something in the future. I know some expressions such as:
たいと思う - I'm going to/ I want to
ましょう - I will/ Why don't I
...
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2answers
223 views
How do I accurately convey “enough to make a difference”?
I want to say "it's different enough to make a difference," but I'm struggling a bit to get there. Partly because the two uses of "different" in this sentence are doing two different jobs. The first ...
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1answer
125 views
What is the Japanese song-metric filler?
In English we have some common sounds that are used to fill spaces in songs like "ah" "la" "nah" "oh" "yea".
What do we use for Japanese songs?
So far I think I have only heard る used.
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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1answer
106 views
What is the usage of 先 vs. 元?
I think that the both of them mean before, but I have seen that they are sometimes use in parent-child metaphors, but I always get confused with these.
Some examples of ○○先、○○元 words would be ...
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2answers
190 views
What are the differences between「目的」and 「目標」?
Both「目的」and「目標」have a common meaning which is "goal", but what is the difference? When can we use one but not the other?
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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 ...
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1answer
295 views
Openings and Closings (Salutations and Valedictions) When Writing a Letter/E-mail
This question came to me because I am writing a personal thank-you letter to a friend's family who hosted me in their home over the holidays. What is the proper way to address the entire family? For ...
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1answer
117 views
Are the two kanjis 箇所 and 個所 interchange?
Our customer uses 箇所 but my manager uses 個所 when emailing project status. Are both kanji interchangeable?
The context of usage in a sentence is:
一箇所変更しました。
A portion (of the code/software) ...
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2answers
141 views
Nuance of 離{はな}れ
In my JLPT textbook, it has a section on the use of the term 離{はな}れ, "detachment". Some examples:
テレビ離{ばな}れ (detachment from television)
もの離{ばな}れ (detachment from things)
政治離{ばな}れ ...
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1answer
431 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
...
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176 views
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125 views
What does うんたらかんたら mean?
I recently heard this phrase being told in a show, but I just couldn't make sense of what it means...And what really caught my attention was that the listener was really surprised to hear this phrase ...
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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 ...
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3answers
250 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 ...
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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
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3answers
227 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 ...
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3answers
229 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 ...
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2answers
174 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 ...
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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 ...
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2answers
145 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?")
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2answers
134 views
The differences between 速さ, 早さ, and 速度
I was emailing a friend and used the phrase "タイピングすることの早さ" which I discovered was very incorrect. I did some searching on Google and here is what I discovered:
タイピングの速度 <-rare
タイピング速度 ...
4
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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 ...
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3answers
934 views
Expressing “don't work too hard”
I've read at other sites that "don't work too hard" isn't something that's generally said in Japanese. Is there any truth to this?
Are there any alternatives if that is the case? In which ...
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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 ...
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1answer
164 views
Method for deciding whether to use katakana or kanji version of the word?
I often see words in sentences written in カタカナ or 漢字 that could be swapped for a common word of the other form. I am aware that there are lots of カタカナ words that do have a 漢字 form, but where the 漢字 ...
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2answers
187 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 ...
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2answers
162 views
What is the metaphorical meaning of 手{て}?
I often see 手{て}, hand, used in a metaphorical sense to mean something along the lines of effort or presence... but I'm not totally sure.
For example, consider this sentence:
...
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2answers
184 views
Difference in word use: 父親 母親 両親 父母
I would like to ask about the following words: 父親【ちちおや】 and 母親【ははおや】. They refer to father and mother, right? But why do they exist? When do we use them instead of お父【とう】さん and お母【かあ】さん?
I have a ...
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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 ...
4
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1answer
199 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 ...
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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 ...
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1answer
163 views
4
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1answer
142 views
What's the difference between 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい}?
Both 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい} seem to mean "world" in the sense of "a sphere of human activity or interest", or "a particular way of life", and that sort of thing. (As opposed to 地球{ちきゅう}, the literal ...
4
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2answers
233 views
What does 「つっぱしり」mean in this context?
I recently heard about a manga entitled つっぱしり元太郎, and I'm slightly confused about the meaning of the 「つっぱしり」 in its name. I've looked the word up in several dictionaries, but have gotten no results.
...
