2
votes
1answer
119 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
294 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
203 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
163 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. ...
3
votes
3answers
191 views
Problem understanding some parts in a sentence －てくの and －んだろうって
The sentence is this one:
私は立場的に何を着てくのが正しいんだろうって思って。。。
I think I got the rough meaning of the sentence: I (私) am wondering (思って) what's (何を) is the right thing (が正し) to wear (着) for her ...
4
votes
3answers
377 views
What the difference between these two uses of toki?
国へ帰るとき、かばんを買いました。
国へ帰ったとき、かばんを買いました。
According to the book I'm reading, they both translate to: I bought a bag when I went back to my country.
Now the nuance, if I understand correctly, is that 1. ...
2
votes
1answer
161 views
Usage of simplified chinese in place of some kanji in handwriting
Of course I'm talking about casual writing as opposed to formal or polite writing.
There are many 新字体 that were kind of "half" simplified in to the equivalent simplified Chinese forms such as 関 and 広 ...
3
votes
3answers
190 views
Usage of kanji for words usually written in kana
From a small discussion on chat, I currently can think of three categories where the word is usually written in:
Hiragana but have kanji (成る, 有る, [炬燵]{こたつ}, etc)
Katakana but have kanji ([頁]{ページ}, ...
6
votes
2answers
324 views
What does “ごうと音がして” mean?
I am currently practicing Japanese by reading a novel but I have reached a sentence that I could not understand.
ごうと音がして
Can you please translate the vocabulary and verb used along with any unique ...
3
votes
1answer
121 views
Kanji pairs that mean and are pronounced the same by themselves
I have found several pairs of kanji that are pronounced the same and mean the same when they are used individually:
目 and 眼
足 and 脚
木 and 樹
This especially bugs me because, in Chinese (my native ...
7
votes
0answers
204 views
Why do we say 頼もしい instead of 頼ましい?
In a previous question, I posted a list of adjectives produced from verbs using the しい suffix. In each example, it seems that しい attaches directly to the 未然形:
勇む → 勇ま ＋ しい isam-a-sii
悩む → ...
1
vote
1answer
184 views
What does “一味一禪” mean?
I have found a small Shodo fragment stating "一味一禪" - which is not the classical "Zen and Tea are of one taste" (禅茶一味).
What is this supposed to mean? Is it correct Japanese (I suppose it is, coming ...
7
votes
2answers
254 views
Which particle is better に or から?
〇〇さんにプレゼントをもらいました。 〇〇さんからプレゼントをもらいました。
I feel it is more natural to use particle に, but I'm not a native speaker. Can someone please help me out on this? Both these options are listed in the current ...
5
votes
3answers
436 views
How many Kanji characters are there?
I have been searching around, but all the sources give completely different answers ranging from 2,000 to 50,000. So my question is how many Kanji characters that have ever existed since the dawn of ...
1
vote
1answer
143 views
What is particle と means here
I'm a bit of confused with と in the following sentence, what does it mean here and how can we translate the whole sentence?
その名に恥じず放置すればするだけ存分と進行してくれればそれは非常に楽だけど。
Thank you very much for help!
3
votes
1answer
280 views
Is 暖かった standard Japanese?
I know Google hits aren't necessarily reliable, but I nonetheless searched for the following two forms:
暖かかった - 約 2,770,000 件
暖かった - 約 2,810,000 件
The numbers are much further apart if I search ...
2
votes
3answers
264 views
Difference between 学生・生徒・児童
As the title says^^ I think 生徒 is for elementary school, what about the other two？
3
votes
2answers
242 views
What does なのね at the end of a sentence mean?
A certain character in an anime series I watch would literally end each sentence with なのね. What does this imply? He was a pretty flamboyant character who was supposed to be Italian, if that offers any ...
4
votes
1answer
184 views
How is の方 used in this sentence?
This is a conversation between two people:
A: [金]{かね}は？
B: いつもの[通]{とお}りだ。それより[公安]{こうあん}の[方]{ほう}は？
A: 心配するな。 私がついている。
A: The money?
B: Planned as always. Aside from that, public safety の方は？
A: ...
1
vote
2answers
119 views
What is the difference between 怖い and 恐い
As a follow-up to Would 私は怖い mean "I'm scared" or "I'm scary"?
We know that 怖い can mean both "to be scared" and "to be scary to somebody".
What about the difference ...
7
votes
1answer
223 views
Would 私は怖い mean “I'm scared” or “I'm scary”?
Or does it mean both? If so, is there any way to explicitly distinguish between "I'm scared" and "I'm scary"?
If it only means one and not the other, how would you say the other?
4
votes
1answer
176 views
What is the difference between 出す and 始める when used as a suffix?
Judging from examples I've seen, these are some differences I think there are:
始める:
1: More formal than 出す
2: When the focus in more on the beginning of the verb than the verb itself
3: When the ...
0
votes
1answer
123 views
Why “you don't have to want to hold”? [closed]
ベルボーイがいますから、にもつをもたくなくてもいいです。
The sentence above has --for me-- some confusing verb tensing. In particular, もたくなくてもいい. This much I think I understand: Because there is a bellboy, I don't need to want ...
4
votes
1answer
123 views
Why does どれだけ seem to mean the opposite of どれ + だけ?
The other day I read the word どれだけ which means how long; how much; to what extent. I've read several example sentences, and I that's all well and good, but I cannot shake the feeling that it's really ...
2
votes
2answers
168 views
Is there some way that a Japanese (sur)name must be written for it to make sense?
I understand surnames and given names usually have some reason for existing, and have existed for several years. My question, I guess, really is: if someone were making up a completely different name ...
5
votes
1answer
140 views
What is その doing in そのあの子?
The following speech is from a video game called ファイアーエムブレム 新・暗黒竜と光の剣:
父上に万一の事があれば
マルスは
アリティア王家唯一の男子。
世界でただ1人の
神剣ファルシオン
継承者となるのです。
あの子は
アリティアの希望
アリティアの未来。
...
1
vote
2answers
216 views
Konnichiwa and Konbanwa
What is the difference between Konnichiwa and Konbanwa? Is it appropriate to use either one in everyday conversations?
3
votes
1answer
89 views
What distinguishes 丁重語 from other honourific forms?
On my bookshelf I have a book on formal speech, 敬語{けいご}, and it delineates respectful speech, 尊敬語{そんけいご}, from humble speech, 標準語{ひょうじゅんご}. And it combines both of these with polite speech, 丁寧語{てねいご}, ...
24
votes
8answers
944 views
Particles: に vs. で
I have progressed pretty far in Japanese, but when I construct Japanese sentences, I still get these two particles mixed up. For example, when talking about being inside something, I don't know when ...
3
votes
0answers
156 views
Are many する verbs becoming 五段 verbs?
I noticed recently that 愛する has a negative form 愛さない. This surprised me because, as far as I'm aware, さない is not a negative form of する. In fact, it looks like 五段活用 to me, so I decided to look up 愛す ...
6
votes
3answers
319 views
Positive Past Plain form of Iku is Itta not iita?
I thought when you get a type one verb ending with "ku" you replace it with ita. For example Kaku (to write) goes to Kaita. So I'm guessing Iku is an exception, does this happen with other verbs too ? ...
3
votes
1answer
112 views
Japanese word for Operation, in the sense of a project or task - slang
What would be the Japanese equivalent of the word operation, in the sense of a project or task?
Some examples would be:
Operation Infiltrate-the-Castle
Operation Human Shield (from South Park)
...
4
votes
1answer
150 views
What is the わ in 忌まわしい and 嘆かわしい?
On chat, Chocolate helped me find some examples of adjectives produced from verbs using the しい suffix. In the following examples, it appears to attach directly to the 未然形:
勇む → 勇ま ＋ しい
悩む ...
2
votes
2answers
122 views
Talking about what other people think
As far as I know when we talking about other people thoughts in japanese we have to use something like よう、と思う etc. But I've got a problem in the following sentence, I cannot understand と考え here about ...
4
votes
2answers
172 views
Is there a way to differentiate て and って when transcribing speech?
I was wondering if there was some kind of rules to differentiate them, or if it was something we have to remember, like spelling in English.
The same question can also extend to お vs おう ; I learned ...
1
vote
2answers
161 views
しゅみについて meaning
My Japanese lesson has an oral exam, the title is しゅみについて. Can anyone explain what is the meaning of the title? Can I start the conversation with this? しゅみについてどう思いか？
3
votes
1answer
83 views
What does 撥の音も加えたgliss. mean? (in sheet music)
I am a musician playing the Marimba. Because quite a bit of music for marimba is written by famous Japanese composers, occasionally I come across some Japanese text I would like to understand.
In the ...
4
votes
1answer
228 views
What is the よっか in はじめよっか?
I'm still playing Game Boy Wars Advance 2, and I keep running into colloquial forms I'm unfamiliar with. Here's one I haven't been able to look up:
じゃ、さっそく、はじめよっか。
My guess is that はじめよっか is a ...
3
votes
3answers
350 views
Polite way of asking if someone's received an email
What's a polite way of asking in an email if you've received a previous email?
In my case, "polite" means "I'm emailing the tourism information staff of a place that mainly deals with domestic ...
6
votes
1answer
108 views
Difference between progressive verb forms and i-adjectives
I'm wondering, for adjectives such as 太い and 悲しい that also have a progressive "to be" verb counterpart (i.e., 太っている and 悲しんでいる), what is the difference between using the i-adjective form and the verb ...
3
votes
3answers
365 views
Can Japanese names be anything?
I've read lots of mangas and seen many animes, and it seems a Japanese person can have virtually any kind of name (the meaning of a name can be something completely ridiculous). Is it true in real ...
3
votes
2answers
124 views
What is the difference between the wave dash 〜 and long vowel marker ー when marking long vowels?
I know that the wave dash 〜 can be used in place of the long vowel marker ー sometimes, but I'm not exactly sure what the differences are.
Is there any difference in pronunciation? I read once that ...
5
votes
1answer
147 views
How did 冷やかし come to mean “window-shopping”?
I'm curious how 冷やかし came to mean things such as 買わずに見る and からかう.
Here's what I can figure out:
hiya seems to be a root meaning "cold" (like in hiya-ya-ka)
hiya-k-u is an old verb based on this ...
1
vote
1answer
149 views
What is the etymology of 〜ません（でした）?
I have always been interested in the negative polite (〜ません) and negative past-polite (〜ませんでした) inflections of verbs.
My understanding is that ます is an inflectable function word (助動詞), so I'm ...
2
votes
1answer
192 views
Why aren't マンション mansions? Or are they?
And no, this isn't about property sizes in Japan!
As Katakana Mysteries: 6 loan words Japan got wrong put it:
Bill Gates or Warren Buffet might be very surprised if they were to
buy a Japanese ...
2
votes
1answer
95 views
What is the background of the phrase 背中で教える, and where does the meaning “to teach with one's back” come from?
I came across this phrase today while doing a lookup on 背中.
背中で教える
I checked several sources, and all listed the meaning, amongst others, "to teach with one's back". It seems related to ...
4
votes
0answers
158 views
Etymology of 赤字/黒字
赤字 and 黒字 seem to correspond directly to the English expressions 'red ink' and 'black ink', meaning a (financial) deficit/loss and surplus, respectively. If Wiktionary is to be trusted, Mandarin, ...
