3
votes
1answer
95 views
Help translating this japanese sentence please?
I really really need help with this sentence I have tried everything but I don't get its structure and how to translate it so I'd appreciate if someone could help please?
オレ一人 ore hitori
...
0
votes
1answer
152 views
Can 助動詞(auxiliary verbs) be used with other 助動詞?
I've been learning about these for awhile, but everything I've seen them used in doesn't use more than 1 at a time. Is there a reason for that?
Also my materials don't really explain the subtleties ...
3
votes
1answer
199 views
Why should we use 世界で and not 世界に for 日本で一番高い山は富士山です
Why do we always use で in the following situations? 日本で一番寒い月は二月です。 日本で一番高い山は富士山です。 Why can`t we use use に here? There is no action in these sentences yet we use で,rather we are indicating the place of ...
1
vote
0answers
143 views
キリンとゾウ：どっちが大きい？ [closed]
My Japanese colleagues are having a heated debate about which animal is the most 大きい : giraffe or elephant?
Both sides have their arguments (height/volume), so is it entirely a matter of personal ...
7
votes
5answers
3k views
I am looking for an online Japanese dictionary with audio pronunciations
Does anyone know any online Japanese dictionary which provides audio reading?
4
votes
4answers
494 views
Is there a logic behind the different endings when counting things in Japanese
So far I don't see any logic to it. It seems like it's just something you have to memorize, or is there a trick that I'm missing.
Update
To clarify, I'm not so much questioning the existence of the ...
4
votes
3answers
448 views
How to separate words in a Japanese sentence?
Unlike some languages (English, French ...) , written Japanese sentences don't have spaces between words.
I know that it is the same in Chinese for example, but the fact that the Chinese language ...
2
votes
3answers
215 views
Japanese construction verb+noun, how do I interpret it. I am confused!
A) lets take just transitive verbs first:
食べる人
食べられる人
B) now lets take intransitive verbs:
起きる人
起きられる人
起こす人
起こされる人
OK, this thing has confused me for a very long time now, like really long. ...
4
votes
2answers
135 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
147 views
What is the meaning of “beta”?
Can somebody please explain what "beta" means in the following sentence:
Tsugi no mokutekichi wa beta da keredo, Shikago.
5
votes
1answer
101 views
Can ご存じです function as a transitive verb?
I recently got an automated email from Twitter with the following subject (except with real user names):
username さん、username さん、username さんをご存じですか?
My question is about を paired with ご存じですか. ...
13
votes
4answers
822 views
Distinguishing certain characters in handwriting and print
Japanese has some sets of characters which look very similar or even identical. Obviously, context is usually more than enough to distinguish which character is intended, but I'm wondering if there ...
2
votes
1answer
176 views
Who are Mrs. Fuji and Mrs. Gas?
Is there any etymological relationship between the -さん suffix in 富士山 or 月山 and the -さん suffix you put at the end of a person's name? Or are they unrelated?
3
votes
2answers
185 views
Which romanization system should I use in my word game?
I have developed a word game quite similar to Scrabble, and I am currently considering adding a Japanese word list to it.
Please note that I have no real knowledge of the language, apart from knowing ...
9
votes
3answers
388 views
What's the difference between には and では
My book has these two sentences and I don't quite understand why they are using には in the first example and では on the second one. It seems to me that only では would be correct in this situation.
...
8
votes
1answer
339 views
Why censor this one kanji?
I was watching an old Saturday Night Live sketch from the 1970s, called Night of the Moonies, making fun of the Unification Church by putting them in the context of the movie Night of the Living Dead.
...
16
votes
5answers
1k views
Pronouncing が as 'nga'
I'm a beginner and am learning from CD (Pimsleur). There are two native speakers going through the dialogue. One, the man, pronounces が as I would expect - 'ga'. The other (female) pronounces it as ...
7
votes
1answer
125 views
What's the difference between ぜひ and きっと when inviting someone to do something?
You can say for example
ぜひパーティーにいらしてね
そのうちまた是非お出かけください
「今晩お伺いしてもいいですか」「ぜひどうぞ」
and
きっと来てくださいね
きっと訪ねて来てください
I would translate both ぜひ and きっと in these sentences with "by all means", but I'm ...
3
votes
2answers
135 views
Question about もらう
As I learned, we can use もらう like this 「私は彼女に弁当を作ってもらいました。」, where noun before に(から) - giver and は(etc.) - reciever. But I saw sentence like
「もっとも・・・・・・そんな風になっちまった以上は、因縁なんざ意味がないだろう。悪いが俺に譲ってもらうぜ」
...
3
votes
2answers
132 views
Translation of Name and “saying” sentance
I have the following sentence I need to translate for my intro Japanese class.
私の友達の名前は、安田味子さんといいます。
There are 2 parts I am having trouble with.
First, the name translation. I think it should be ...
4
votes
1answer
118 views
Can a 読点{とうてん} (“comma”) join two complete sentences?
Can 、 join two complete sentences? In other words, can 、 replace 。?
I thought it could, but in this answer, user1205935 seems to suggest that it cannot. (Rather than ask about it in a comment, I ...
1
vote
1answer
116 views
Why does Kanji radical not have the same definition for all kanjis
Well radical is a portion of the kanji that is used to list that kanji in the Kanji dictionary. It could represent the "general" meaning (whatever that is), it could represent the sound, or it could ...
3
votes
1answer
115 views
Using two or more quotes
How would one combine two or more quotes together?
In English we just do something like "He said 'Quote A', 'Quote B' and 'Quote C'".
In chat, snailboat gave these possibilities:
「Quote A」「Quote ...
1
vote
1answer
109 views
Is ゴールデンウィーク wasei-eigo?
A native speaker of Japanese has asked if ゴールデンウィーク is wasei eigo.
The Wikipedia article on Golden Week in Japan claims that the term was created in 1951.
However, a google ngram search for English ...
13
votes
6answers
876 views
Can somebody explain the various words and combinations thereof used for thanking?
To my knowledge there are three words which can be used in thanking and they seem to be usable together in some combinations:
どうも (domo)
どうもありがとう (domo arigato)
ありがとう (arigato)
ありがとうございます (arigato ...
-1
votes
0answers
76 views
Appropriate way to say thank you [duplicate]
What are the different ways to say thank you and when do you use each use? with friends in business etc.
2
votes
1answer
160 views
How can I understand など followed by a noun phrase?
The following two sentences are from 日本語文法ハンドブック, page 116:
移動を表す表現にはいくつかありますが、「行く」と「来る」は補助動詞としての用法を持つ点で文法的に重要です。補助動詞としての「〜ていく」と「〜てくる」（この場合は普通ひらがなで書きます）には、話し手など文中の特定の人物の視点を基準にした空間的な移動の方向性を示す用法と、特定
...
5
votes
2answers
102 views
what's the difference between 領域 、範囲 and 分野?
Could anyone explain to me the difference between these 3 words, especially between 範囲 and 領域 ？
For example, I have these 練習問題:
a.分野 b.領域 c.範囲
① 試験の……… は、17課までです。
② 外の大学との交流が進んで研究の……… が広がった。
③ ...
3
votes
1answer
83 views
Using 着 Classifier
One of the kanji we recently learned in class was 着. We learned it could be used for to wear 着る, to arrive 着く, and as either a "classifier for arrival" or a "counter for jacket".
In our homework, we ...
8
votes
1answer
311 views
Is 感じる {かんじる} transitive or intransitive? Which particle to use?
Please consider 一段 {いちだん} verb 感じる {かんじる}. Sometimes I see particle に applied and sometimes particole を. In the Jisho.org vocabulary it is not specified if this verb is 他動詞 {たどうし} (transitive) or 自動詞 ...
2
votes
2answers
177 views
Question about 相手
I'm confused in describing 相手 here, I cannot understand is it "Partner who can show their true self" or "Partner to whom can show your true self"(sorry for a bad translation)? Oh, and here ぶつけられる is ...
3
votes
1answer
112 views
Origin of ~なければ ならない
The expression ~なければ ならない if I learned correctly means "must not not do ..." as in:
日本語を勉強しなければなりません。
You must not not learn Japanese. (i.e. you need to learn Japanese)
However, taken on face value ...
4
votes
1answer
202 views
Relative clause in japanese
How do you form relative clauses that involves first person action? For example : "There aren't people I can talk to". Basically my doubt is about all those questions that require a particle like ...
2
votes
1answer
129 views
Does all kana in the う line rhyme?
I've heard many people pronounce す, つ, く, and る as if く and る rhyme, す and つ rhyme, but not any other pair. It seems as if す is sometimes pronounced [sɨ] and く is pronounced [ku]. This doesn't seem to ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views
Difference between った and ってた
Can someone explain me the difference between the following forms?
思った
思ってた
思っていた
Thanks a lot
-1
votes
0answers
88 views
Writing mixed text in Microsoft Word [migrated]
In Word, while writing japanese using a japanese font sometimes I have to write also some romaji, and when I do it automatically switches to a different font for that text only.
How can I tell the ...
3
votes
1answer
192 views
1
vote
2answers
154 views
What's the pronunciation of 1点差?
Intuitively, I would guess it's 「いってんさ」, but I could image 「いちてんさ」just as well.
For bonus points: is there any reference or dictionary that explains the pronunciation of numbers with counters ...
2
votes
1answer
148 views
Question about を
In the following sentences is it correct to put を(second one) here ? Maybe it should be に ? And if its correct, how can we translate this part ? 「それをクラスメイト*を*見られて以降」
中学の夏休みだったーー。 ...
4
votes
2answers
196 views
Should I use On reading or Kun reading for numbers?
I've just started to learn Japanese, and I've been looking at the Joyo Kanji. Most of the words have On reading and Kun reading. I was wondering, which one is most popular and when should I use one ...
15
votes
2answers
564 views
Why does 今度【こんど】 mean “next time”?
The word 今度【こんど】, though its literal meaning is "this time" is in my experience used pretty heavily to refer to tbe next time or some unspecified point in the future. For example:
...
3
votes
1answer
158 views
pronounciation of じょ and よ
Spanish is my mother tongue and I almost can't differentiate じょ and よ sounds.
Maybe the same thing happens to english native speakers. How do you solve that problem in english... are there a common ...
3
votes
1answer
144 views
Explain づき in the given sentence
First of all, hi everyone.
In the beginning of an anime episode I often see a message to turn on the lights in the room and not to sit too close to the screen. Leaving some stuff out it looks like ...
2
votes
1answer
117 views
What does the 「っち」 in ＠「見守りっち」 translate into?
What does Verb in 「ます」form +「っち」 mean?
What does the 「っち」 in ＠「見守りっち」 translate into?
10
votes
2answers
199 views
苦労せん is the contracted form of what?
I'm translating a manga in which one character use a very slangy or contracted way of speaking while the others talk more standard-like.
I've already encountered the stem+ん as a short form the ...
3
votes
4answers
293 views
Parsing a specific sentence from a book
I have this following sentence:
横線――ＨＰバーの名で呼ばれる青いそれは、俺の生命の残量を可視化したものだ。
There are a few questions I came up with about this sentence:
The first part of the sentence is: 横線―――ＨＰバーの名で呼ばれる青いそれ, ...
3
votes
2answers
202 views
What is なく・ない and why is it used?
This question showed the following:
言わない (negative)
言わなく・ない (negative+negative)
言わなく・なかった (negative+negative+past)
I've never seen this conjugation before. Why would you have a negative + ...
0
votes
1answer
157 views
Why are 今日は and 今晩は used for greetings?
If they are translated literally it gives "today is" and "tonight is".
Is it some sentence that got shortened ?
(Also not sure how to classify this question so forgive me if I used the wrong ...
2
votes
1answer
159 views
What does 正宗で大根を切る。 言い出しっぺ。 mean?
I'm not sure if this off-topic for this site but I would like to know what "正宗で大根を切る。 言い出しっぺ。" means. I tried translating it through google but I don't think it translated it properly. I found this ...
1
vote
2answers
171 views
adjective before adjective
As far as I know an adjective can be before noun(for ex. 美しい花) or before other adjective, but with て(for ex. 寂しくて眠れない夜). But in the following sentence「指定席みたいなコジンマリとした少年 」- this part is a bit of odd. ...
