The differences between two or more words or phrases and how to select the best one for a given situation.
5
votes
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 ...
6
votes
2answers
180 views
What is the difference between 蔵, 倉, and 庫?
The word 【くら】 can be written with any of the kanji 蔵, 倉, or 庫. However, WWWJDIC lists them all under one entry, defined as:
(n) warehouse; cellar; magazine; granary; godown; depository; treasury; ...
11
votes
5answers
135 views
ユーザ or ユーザー, which is more in use or is there no difference?
ユーザ or ユーザー, which is more in use or is there no difference?
I see both of them in use, but is there one that is more correct than the other or is at least the prevailing standard?
a similar word is ...
10
votes
2answers
143 views
How do I know when to read the kanji 抱 as 【だ・く】, and when to read it as 【いだ・く】, or even 【うだ・く】?
This sentence was in a grammar textbook:
彼は同僚にライバル意識、ひいては殺意すら抱いていた
Here's how it's read (except for the last kanji, for which this question is about):
かれは どうりょうに ライバル いしき、ひいては さついすら ??ていた
...
5
votes
3answers
128 views
得る vs ～られる potential form
Recently I learned of a new way to express potential form. Here's a few example sentences:
今回は予測し得ないことが起きたけど、皆、落ち着いていた。
自分の意見を自由に言えないなんて、普通の国ではあり得ない。
The second example I put for contrast, ...
10
votes
2answers
251 views
Usage of ～やら～やら vs ～や～や
What is the conceptual difference, or difference in nuance between these two constructions when used to mean 'and'? I realize there are some syntactic differences, such as や not appearing after the ...
7
votes
3answers
224 views
difference between ～の折に and ～の時に
While studying for JLPT N2 I came across this expression の折に. It appears to be almost identical to の時に. My reference suggests that it's basically the same, but simply less polite.
What I find ...
17
votes
2answers
390 views
What is the difference in nuance between 間違う and 間違える?
I've heard from a Japanese native speaker friend of mine that both 間違う and 間違える are correct usage, but he wasn't able to explain the difference in nuance between them. Is there a difference, and if ...
6
votes
3answers
341 views
～か～ないかのうちに vs. 次第
According to my references, both of these are used in situations where one thing happens immediately after another. Here are some example sentences:
（火事を見た人の話）ドーンという音がして、１分たつかたたないかのうちに火が出てきました。
...
6
votes
2answers
155 views
What may be the difference between the usage of チャンス and 機会 ?
What may be the difference between the usage of チャンス and 機会 ?
For example:
1) これは機会だぜ！
2) これはチャンスだぜ！
15
votes
3answers
248 views
What is the difference in meaning between “husband and wife” 夫婦【ふうふ】 and 夫妻【ふさい】?
I see that those two compounds mean husband and wife, as a married couple. But is there a difference in usage or context?
7
votes
1answer
301 views
Why is this 理由 【りゆう】 given the furigana わけ?
It might be hard to read because of the image resolution, but on the cover of this book, on the bottom left side, it says:
へんな日本語にも理由がある。
Which means something like:
"Even strange Japanese ...
24
votes
3answers
315 views
Do 以上 and 以下 include the number preceding them?
I was having a discussion with a colleague and we couldn't recall how they both worked. Does 一人以上 mean a) 1 or more persons or b) more than one person?
12
votes
2answers
280 views
The verbs of learning: 勉強する, 習う and 学ぶ
How are the following verbs which are related to learning different to each other?
勉強する
習う
学ぶ
9
votes
4answers
251 views
Trouble understanding this apology: 我々が…謝罪
An English website wrote an apology in Japanese after it took down an image of cracked hinomaru (日の丸) — the hinomaru linked to a donation page for the disasters following the March 11 earthquakes.
It ...
21
votes
3answers
1k views
Usage of たくさん vs. 多い
When do we use たくさん and when do we use 多い? I found both modifiers are used within similar sentences, for example:
人が多かったです
人がたくさんいました
I had this impression that 多い is used with countable nouns ...
10
votes
3answers
304 views
What is the *proper* differentiation between 来る and 行く?
In many beginning Japanese classes, 来る【くる】 and 行く【いく】 are presented as "to come" and "to go," respectively. Dictionaries generally also define them this way. However, every once in a while in more ...
12
votes
4answers
314 views
To not have: 持っていません or ありません？
Whenever I go to the Life supermarket near my house, they ask me at the check out:
ライフカードを持っていますか？ (Do you have a Life
[members] card?)
I always respond with something like:
いいえ、持っていません。
...
25
votes
3answers
764 views
How indistinguishable is blue from green really?
青 ao seems to be used very much interchangeably for both blue and green. Why is that so, and how does 緑 midori play into this?
5
votes
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 ...
9
votes
1answer
167 views
what's the difference between 返事 and 答え？
both have the similar English of "answer," but when do you use one over the other?
6
votes
3answers
180 views
Computer calculation: is there a better word than “オンザフライ” to say “on-the-fly”?
As a valuable feature of my software product, I want to say that results are calculated on-the-fly, meaning the user does not have to wait and receive results by email: results are displayed after two ...
7
votes
1answer
683 views
What's the difference between “マグロ” (maguro), “ツナ” (tsuna), and “シーチキン” (shiichikin)?
It seems that there are (at least) three words for "tuna" in Japanese:
"マグロ" / "鮪" / "まぐろ" (maguro) - Seems to be the native name for the creature and used at least in sushi
"ツナ" (tsuna) - Seems to ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
What's the difference between “さけ” (sake) “しゃけ” (shake)?
Today I saw onigiri claiming to contain "しゃけ" (shake), when I asked my friend what that was she said it was the same as "さけ" (sake), "salmon".
So are these two just different readings of a kanji, ...
13
votes
2answers
98 views
What are the nuances between these three terms for intelligence: 知恵 [ちえ], 知能 [ちのう], 知性 [ちせい] ?
In particular which one is closer to the idea of "ability to reason over things" as a quality of someone in particular?
What I believe is that 知識 on the other hand is closer to "knowledge" and ...
9
votes
1answer
231 views
When and to whom should I use the expression ご苦労様 (gokurousama)?
In what context and relationship wise to who can I safely say ご苦労様 (gokurousama)?
I often defer to using otsukaresama since I'm not sure if I'm talking down to someone by saying gokurousama. Please ...
9
votes
2answers
355 views
Is there a difference between すみません (sumimasen) and すいません (suimasen?)
I'm at the proverbial izakaya and my friend tells me one is more polite. I think theyre the same. Who's right? When can I use one or the other?
7
votes
1answer
119 views
Difference between various “calculation” words (演算, 算出, and 計算)
Is there a difference in usage between these words?
演算 (えんざん)
算出 (さんしゅつ)
計算 (けいさん)
3
votes
1answer
212 views
超 vs めっちゃ + explanation [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Significance of the kanji 「茶」 in the set phrase 「滅茶滅茶 / 目茶目茶」 {めちゃめちゃ}
So, in Kansai they use めっちゃ, and in Kanto 超. But what about the other parts of Japan? And from ...
5
votes
2answers
416 views
Can the qualifiers “very” and “too” be expressed unambiguously in Japanese?
I've noticed that some of my Japanese friends with fluent but imperfect English often say "too adjective" when a native English speaker would say just "very adjective".
(I am asking about "too" in ...
9
votes
2answers
219 views
Is there a difference between からすると and からして？
These two phrases seem to have very similar usage and I'm unable to determine the difference between them.
The examples I have are:
彼は服装からしてだらしない。きっと他の面も同じだろう。
kare ha fukusou karashite ...
7
votes
2answers
267 views
What's the difference between “巻寿司” (makizushi), “海苔巻き” (norimaki), and “巻物” (makimono)?
It seems there are three words for the same Japanese food item, a kind of "sushi in a long roll":
"巻寿司" (makizushi)
"海苔巻き" (norimaki)
"巻物" (makimono)
Are they all identical / synonyms? Do they ...
11
votes
3answers
259 views
When is it appropriate to refer to yourself by これ?
I have occasionally heard and read instances, where a person has referred to themselves as これ. My Japanese dictionary also lists "Me, I." as a definition of これ.
Now, this obviously isn't used as ...
10
votes
3answers
167 views
What is the sense of 気配がする (けはいがする) versus 気がする?
I'm (trying) to read a Japanese spy novel at the moment. It could just be the author's style, but I see lots of sentences end in 〜気配がする。
The more I read, the more I wonder - is there any difference ...
11
votes
1answer
277 views
When can I exchange くださる for いただく in expressions of gratitude?
Way back when, I remember being taught that when you want to say a really polite "thank you", sentences such as these are basically the same:
文章を訂正していただきましてありがとうございます。
...
16
votes
3answers
676 views
What is the difference between その and あの?
Superficially, I get the sense that あの is for something far away from both speaker and listener, and その is for something closer to the listener than speaker. However, I seem to get in trouble when ...
15
votes
4answers
580 views
Since Japanese already had several words for rice why was “ライス” (raisu) borrowed from English?
Last night I had dinner in a ramen restaurant in northern Japan and was surprised to read the katakana "ライス" (raisu) on the menu. This is obviously the English word "rice" borrowed. But what kind of ...
10
votes
4answers
1k views
What is the difference between tori vs. dori?
In Aikido, different dojos seem to latch on to using either dori or tori when describing grabbing attacks. For instance one dojo might say:
Katate Dori
Another would say:
Katate Tori
Each dojo ...
8
votes
1answer
151 views
What is the difference between “meshi” and “don” for the food sometimes translated as “rice bowl” in English?
I'm a big fan of the Japanese fast food gyudon (cooked thinly sliced beef strips on top of a bowl of boiled white rice) and its variants such as butadon (the same but with pork).
But why do some ...
3
votes
3answers
528 views
森 vs 林 for forest
According to A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, 森 (38) is woods and 林 (75) is forest.
But some material I've found online related to Japan seems to indicate 森 is the more correct Japanese ...
18
votes
3answers
265 views
Is there a rule for when to use くらい vs ぐらい?
I see phrases like 200人ぐらい, 半々ぐらい, and 何分くらい, which seem to indicate that くらい and ぐらい are synonymous, if not interchangeable. Is there any kind of rule for deciding which to use, or is it a stylistic ...
9
votes
4answers
426 views
What is the Japanese word or phrase for “to post on the internet”?
How do you say "to post something on the internet"? Are there different words for different kinds of posts, for example:
a blog entry
a comment
a piece of information, like a translation or a ...
23
votes
5answers
452 views
When do you use 下さい as opposed to ください
I've noticed that there seems to be different usage for 下さい and ください. Is this purely a personal preferences or is there an actual difference their usage?
This was actually a question the Japanese ...
13
votes
2answers
664 views
What's the difference between に and で when speaking of time of an action?
What's the difference between に and で when speaking of the time of an action? I know に is very specific about time, but I'm not sure when, or how to use で. Can で only be used in certain instances?
...
8
votes
3answers
189 views
What is the difference between 交ざる / 混ざる {まざる} and 交じる / 混じる {まじる}?
Both {まじる} and {まざる} with both initial kanji characters 交 and 混 are intransitive verbs that are translated into this by rikaichan:
to be mixed; to be blended with; to associate with; to mingle ...
11
votes
1answer
158 views
What's the difference in usage between 氏名 (しめい) and 名前 (なまえ)?
What's the difference in usage between 氏名 (しめい) and 名前 (なまえ)?
I often see these two words used interchangeably, but more often than not I see 氏名 on websites. Is this a politeness difference or an ...
7
votes
2answers
522 views
When to use 「とにかく」 and when to use 「とりあえず」?
This is a variant of the top definition question @ Area51: http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/7526/japanese-language-usage/7529#7529
When to use 「とにかく」 and when to use 「とりあえず」? I have heard ...
11
votes
4answers
381 views
How should I select what first-person pronoun to use?
I've always had trouble choosing which first person pronoun to use - 私 (watashi), 僕 (boku), or 俺 (おれ). What kind of factors should I keep in mind when choosing between these? Is it common to vary ...
6
votes
2answers
251 views
Concretely, on what scenarios should I say either お世話になっています or いつもお世話になっております?
Furthermore, what is its different in meaning between the both? When I was in training as a fresh graduate at a Japanese company, they told me to use いつもお世話になっております all the time and so I did. But ...
11
votes
2answers
895 views
How to use へ (-e), に (-ni), まで (made) and の方 (no-hō) with destination and direction?
It is common to ask the difference between just "へ" (-e) and "に" (-ni) but it seems to get even more complicated when you also mix in "まで" (made) and even "の方" (no-hō).
When Japanese people ask me ...
