13
votes
5answers
575 views
What is the difference between 「はず」 {hazu} and 「わけ」 {wake}?
I know the following two sentences give implication that "not expecting me to understand (it)" but I have a feeling that they give different nuances that I just can't put my finger on:
...
4
votes
3answers
267 views
Can 【～たら】 be a short form of 【～てから】?
I picked up a bad habit of using ～たら (a form of conditional) when I mean ～てから (once something happens, something else will happen) from a friend many years back while learning Japanese.
In the years ...
20
votes
2answers
233 views
When should either 「」 and 『』 be used?
In what scenarios would you use 「」 quotation marks instead of 『』, and vice versa?
18
votes
2answers
407 views
Can the suffix -人 be used to express heritage?
In English, if I want to talk about my Irish heritage, I would say "I'm Irish". I have an American passport, and I've never set foot in Ireland, but I still consider myself Irish. Both sides of my ...
18
votes
3answers
531 views
what is the difference between -さ and -み suffixes to make a noun out of an adjective?
Example 悲しさ is sadness, and 悲しみ is sadness too. What is the difference?
According to Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, -み "is more emotive and concrete characterization of some state" and -さ ...
17
votes
5answers
818 views
Does -ou / -you / -mashou conjugation have a negative form?
Does the -ou / -you / -mashou (the "let's X") form have a negative counterpart? For example, how do I say "let's not X" for the following?:
行こう
食べよう
寝ましょう
As far as I can remember, the Japanese ...
17
votes
3answers
753 views
What does -komu (ー込む) at the end of a word mean?
There are loads of word in Japanese which end in 込む, like 吸い込む, 読み込む, 入り込む, 打ち込む, 売り込む, 送り込む, 押し込む. How does adding ー込む change the meaning? What is the meaning that links all these words?
16
votes
1answer
265 views
What are the differences between 〜ので and 〜から?
When I was studying this, my 先生 kind of brushed over the point, and then years later, I realize that they are different, but I don't know exactly how.
The only thing I understand is that ので is more ...
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 ...
14
votes
4answers
1k views
Contrasting っぽい、らしい、みたい
For example, the following 3:
女っぽい (おんなっぽい)
女らしい (おんならしい)
女みたい (おんなみたい)
In what situations would you use っぽい over らしい？ Does っぽい have negative connotations? Are 女らしい and 女みたい interchangeable as in ...
13
votes
3answers
287 views
What is the difference between 完了 and 終了
Both 完了 and 終了 both seem to have the connotation of finished/complete, but what is the difference if any in usage?
11
votes
4answers
465 views
に vs で again: 前に vs 後で
Following the current trend of pitting the particles に and で against each other, here is another question that does the same but from another type of usage and perspective.
When we want to say "do X ...
11
votes
2answers
238 views
can we optionally include (or exclude) an を particle in between the noun of the する-verb and the する itself?
when we have a する verb, (e.g. 支度する、案内する、心配する) is it true that we could optionally insert an を particle in between the noun and the する?
Because in the example sentences here and here, we can see this ...
11
votes
6answers
795 views
What are other language equivalents to Japanese particles?
When a person is learning は and が in terms of particles, what are the best way to relate them to English equivalents?
The closest I can come to explaining them to others is "the" and "a" but I'm not ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
Why does そう in 「美味しいそう」 not mean “seem” the way I think it should?
Here's another habitual mistake I make. I'm looking at a sign for a restaurant with pictures of great food. So I remark to my friend:
美味{おい}しいそう、ね？
... intending to mean, "that looks good, don't ...
9
votes
1answer
212 views
Is there a difference between に伴う and を伴う?
In a report I handed in earlier this week, my professor corrected my sentence to
日本において、金融政策の目的に関する考え方が時間を伴い、変わってきた。
from 「に伴い」. Is there a practical difference between the two? ALC shows a ...
8
votes
1answer
295 views
How is 名 pronounced in computer terms?
For usernames, etc., you usually see like ユーザ名 or something similar. Or like on my Skype, it says Skype名. How is the 名 pronounced in these situations? I've never been able to conclusively find this ...
7
votes
4answers
518 views
How to say, “try to __”, “have to __”
For some reason I can't remember how to say "try to _" or "have to (must) _" in Japanese. How can I say this? Any variations you can include would be appreciated.
7
votes
2answers
264 views
What is the difference between 様子、状況、状態、and 事情
I'm unsure of the difference between these four words. They all seem to indicate some type of "condition" or "circumstances".
(1) Are they interchangeable?
(2) What are some example sentences which ...
19
votes
3answers
1k views
What is the equivalent of “alphabetical order” in Japanese?
I know there's あいうえお, but what about at the consonant level? Also, are there any common mnemonics used by Japanese children to remember these?
17
votes
2answers
406 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 ...
17
votes
3answers
339 views
Use of 自分【じぶん】as a personal pronoun in direct speech
Yay, yet another first-person-pronoun question!
I know that 自分 is commonly used as a personal pronoun in indirect speech, e.g.:
マイクは、自分はなんと不注意なのだろうと言った。→ Mike said that he was very careless.
...
16
votes
3answers
697 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
1answer
950 views
What does っつの mean?
I recently saw 冗談だっつの. What does it っつの mean, or how does it modify the meaning of a sentence?
15
votes
4answers
485 views
How would I respectfully disagree with a superior?
If my manager says something that I know to be factually incorrect, how can I point that out without sounding disrespectful? (Is ~違います appropriate in this context or is that too strong?)
Is this a ...
15
votes
4answers
602 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 ...
13
votes
4answers
332 views
What are the fundamental differences between the ～と一緒に and the ～とともに fragments?
I'm accustomed to saying together with using the ~ to issho ni fragment, but I've been noticing that some people I talk to phrase this using ~ totomo ni instead.
i.e.
彼女と一緒に日本へ来た。
Kanojo to issho ni ...
11
votes
2answers
171 views
What are the origins of ド when used as emphasis, and is it always negative?
Sometimes I've seen ド as a prefix that adds emphasis to words. So saying someone is ドバカ is saying that they are much more stupid than just バカ.
I'm wondering what the origin of ド in this context is. ...
11
votes
2answers
208 views
Can't に always replace へ?
Me and the particle へ don't get along. It's not that we don't like each other, it's that we don't get each other. I'm in a pretty committed relationship with に.
I mean, I think I understand what へ ...
10
votes
1answer
598 views
Where does the verbal form しとく come from?
In a manga I am currently reading, one of the character exclaims:
安心しな。秘密に しとく から。
The general meaning of the second part ("I'll keep it a secret") is quite obvious, and it seems that "しとく" ...
10
votes
2answers
232 views
what is the difference in the usage of [成]{な}るべく and できるだけ?
Hi guys what is the difference in the usage of 成るべく and できるだけ?
Don't they both mean as [x] as possible?
E.g.:
1) できるだけ多くの本を読みなさい vs なるべく多くの本を読みなさい
2) できるだけ早くお願いします vs なるべく早くお願いします
9
votes
3answers
326 views
How do you say “You have gotten better at X”?
I was just reminded on another site that "being good at something" is expressed as [上手]{じょうず}/[上手]{うま}い, not いい. How do you tell someone they "have gotten better at something"? Xさん, 料理することがもっと上手いですね。 ...
9
votes
2answers
159 views
How does one use the “[V ます stem] に [Vタ]” pattern (as in 待ちに待った)?
Every now and then I hear 待ちに待った, as in:
待ちに待ったライブ a long-awaited concert
I started wondering if this pattern can apply to other verbs, and it certainly seems to, if Google is any indication. I ...
9
votes
2answers
259 views
Confusion about “Seemingly not ～”
So there are several ways to express something is "seemingly not ～":
1) ～なさそう
2) ～そうにない
3) ～そうもない
4) ～そうにもない (is this one even real?)
I was always taught ～なさそう in ...
8
votes
6answers
811 views
Why are there 3 ways of writing in Japanese?
Why are there kanji, hiragana and katakana? Is there a logical reason behind this or just tradition?
7
votes
3answers
292 views
Difference between kara and n desu?
Is there a difference (or nuance) or is it just two ways of saying the same thing?
For example, どうして、とぶか？ （１） こわいんです。 （２） こわいですから。
Obviously, those are very simple examples. But are there times ...
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?
7
votes
3answers
472 views
Can I help you?
In English, the word "help" can be used for any of these cases to ask somebody for help or to give a help to someone:
In a store, when a clerk (store worker) says:
Can I help you, sir?
With ...
7
votes
2answers
162 views
Origin/etymology of こころ～ words
There are three unique words that begin with こころ～:
快い （こころよい）、 試みる （こころみる）、 志 （こころざし）
What is the origin of these words in relation to "heart/spirit/mind", if any??? Or is this just something ...
2
votes
1answer
182 views
The uses & etymology of で
In Japanese, the particle で seems to have multiple uses:
Instrumental: 車{くるま}で大阪{おおさか}に行{い}った。 "I went to Osaka by car."
Locative: 図書館{としょかん}で数学{すうがく}を勉強{べんきょう}している。 "I'm studying math in the ...
18
votes
4answers
659 views
What is the meaning of all those “w”s in email and SNSs?
You see a lot of w and ww and even www in Twitter and casual chat. What does it mean? I've always thought it was わいわい but never found out. How is it pronounced?
Here's an example from Twitter
...
14
votes
4answers
429 views
What is the difference between 「食う」 and 「食べる」?
I've often seen 「食べる」 used, when should we use 「食う」 ? Are these two interchangeable ? Can you provide examples ?
14
votes
1answer
205 views
Reading (and usage) of 他: when is it 【た】, when is it 【ほか】?
他 is one of these common words that still to this day confuses me...
My general assumption is that:
used as a prefix, it should always be read 【た】, e.g.: 他人【たにん】
when treated as a "substantive" ...
14
votes
1answer
214 views
General applicability of the ～ませ conjugation
I have only found the ～ませ conjugation used in the following honorific verbs:
いらっしゃいませ
くださいませ
なさいませ
Can the conjugation be applied to other honorific verbs, like おっしゃいませ or めしあがりませ?
Or even common ...
14
votes
3answers
1k views
Is Japanese really an agglutinative language?
In the linguistics topic of language typology, Japanese is often included in lists of agglutinative (or agglutinating) languages, but when learning or reading about Japanese grammar exclusively this ...
14
votes
2answers
645 views
Does the particle “を” (wo) have a special use when at the end of a sentence?
I thought the character "を" (wo) was only used for the particle whose only job was to indicate the direct object of a verb.
But today I saw it at the end of an exclamation on a sign I think on a ...
14
votes
4answers
679 views
Is there an easily accessible list of terms in the Japanese grammar written both in Japanese and English?
I am a native Japanese speaker with a casually interest in languages. I sometimes have trouble explaining the Japanese grammar in English because I do not know the established English translation of ...
13
votes
2answers
450 views
How to say 'X, let alone Y' in Japanese?
How to say X, let alone Y in Japanese?
For example, how would one translate:
I don't know hiragana, let alone kanji.
He couldn't boil water, let alone prepare a dinner for eight.
I ...
13
votes
3answers
9k views
でも (demo) versus けど (kedo) to mean “but”
I learned that you can use でも (demo) at the beginning of a sentence to mean "but," and that you can use けど (kedo) at the end of a sentence to mean "though." However, I don't see a difference between ...
13
votes
2answers
99 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 ...
