41
votes
4answers
2k views
What's the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)?
When is it correct to use は but not が, and when is it correct to use が but not は? Are there any times when you can use either without changing the meaning of the sentence? In other cases, how does ...
37
votes
8answers
1k views
What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ?
There were a lot of great answers here. I gave the checkmark to ento's answer because I felt it most completely explained all aspects of this use of こと. But many of the other answers are excellent, so ...
35
votes
1answer
852 views
Why were ゐ and ゑ eliminated?
Sometime in the early 20th century, usage of the now-historical kana ゐ and ゑ (and their katakana equivalents) dropped off, being replaced with い and え in modern Japanese. What exactly happened here ...
34
votes
5answers
3k views
Differences among -たら、なら、-んだったら、-えば, etc.
Japanese language has a lot of patterns for "if" clauses. What are the differences among the following patterns and how do we choose to use one over the others?:
行ったら
行くなら
行けば
行くんだったら
行くのなら
行くとしたら
...
30
votes
7answers
881 views
When going somewhere, is there any difference between e (へ) and ni (に)?
Can you use へ and に interchangeably, as in 北海道へ行く and 北海道に行く? Are there any subtle differences in the use of these two?
30
votes
3answers
947 views
What are the rules regarding “mute vowels” (“u” after “s” and “i” after “sh”)?
When you first begin to learn Japanese you are taught that Japanese has no stress and each syllable should be pronounced equally.
You also learn that certain vowels are not pronounced, or only ...
27
votes
9answers
1k views
When is the katakana form of wo (ヲ) used?
I'm pretty new to Japanese, and I've been trying to learn hiragana and katakana. I know that in hiragana, wo (を) is used only for as an object particle, and it is always pronounced like o (お).
This ...
27
votes
6answers
743 views
What does っす at the end of a sentence mean?
I saw a sentence like "それ使ってるっす" and none of my dictionaries have an entry for just "っす". Is it a verb form, gobi, or something else?
26
votes
5answers
664 views
How should I choose between [知]{し}る and わかる?
Both 知る and わかる get used for "know", "understand", "learn", "find out", and various other concepts. How do you know which to use when? Are there any rules to help you decide?
Additionally, both of ...
26
votes
4answers
2k views
Is じゃないです equally correct as じゃありません?
Text books normally teach that the negative of です is じゃありません.
However it seems very common to hear native Japanese use じゃないです.
Is this slang or somehow less correct than じゃありません?
Would it be marked ...
25
votes
3answers
765 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?
25
votes
3answers
954 views
Usage of すみません (sumimasen) versus ごめんなさい (gomen'nasai)
There are several situations in which one of these words (phrases?) should be used but there's not usually a 1:1 mapping between any two languages.
Get somebody's permission. English: "excuse me", ...
25
votes
5answers
912 views
What is the difference between 〜となる and 〜になる?
Is it a nuance difference? Is it formality?
EDIT
For example:
請求書のお支払いは現金のみとなりますので、ご了承くださいませ。
請求書のお支払いは現金のみになりますので、ご了承くださいませ。
I just made that example up, but for some reason, my gut ...
25
votes
4answers
651 views
How did “little tsu” become a lengthener?
How did it come about historically that っ preceding a sound would geminate it? Is it really a little つ or are they just near homomorphs?
25
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the difference between the nominalizers こと and の?
As Derek mentioned in his postscript, both こと and の are nominalizers that can turn a verb into a noun.
ピアノを弾【ひ】く。 I play the piano.
ピアノを弾{ひ}くのが好{す}きです。 I like playing the piano.
...
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 ...
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?
23
votes
6answers
946 views
How important is one's pitch when speaking Japanese?
I'm aware of some words in Japanese that have the same reading but different meaning depending on the pitch of each syllable. The canonical example is はし (hashi), which can mean either chopsticks ...
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 ...
23
votes
2answers
1k views
Why does Japanese have two kinds of adjectives? (-i adjectives and -na adjectives)
Japanese has two kinds of adjectives known by several terms but the ones I know are i-adjectives and na-adjectives - why?
I recall that Japanese adjectives are much more like verbs than in English ...
23
votes
7answers
628 views
What is the most natural way to refer to someone when you don't know their name and don't have a close relationship with them?
I wanted to mention to a female staff member in a shop that I visit every day that I had seen their photograph in the Shibuya shop. I was going to say:
渋谷店であなたの写真を見た。
..but あなた seemed too intimate. ...
23
votes
7answers
947 views
Difference between negative forms {-ず} and {-ぬ}
{-ず} and {-ぬ} are two alternatives to the negative form {-ない} / {-ません}. But I noticed that depending on the word, it's either {-ず} or {-ぬ}, although it seems like some words can take both suffixes. ...
22
votes
3answers
1k views
What are the differences between じ and ぢ, and ず and づ?
The Japanese hiragana and katakana syllabaries can mostly be described as phonetic. But there are two exceptions, the two pairs of syllables modified to be voiced with the dakuten diacritic which ...
21
votes
6answers
781 views
Arabic numbers: half-width or full-width?
Using my computer, I type a lot of numbers in Japanese text, and I am not sure when to use half-width or full-width.
Are there rules?
Right now I only use half-width, is it fine?
Off-topic: Here is ...
21
votes
1answer
521 views
Origin of the circle in ぬ, ね, and る
When looking at the hiragana ぬ (nu), ね (ne), and る (ru) one notices a small circle in the symbols. In fact that circle is the only difference when comparing them with the hiragana め (me), れ (re) and ろ ...
21
votes
2answers
857 views
Where does “もしもし” (moshimoshi) for answering the telephone come from?
Does the term "もしもし" (moshimoshi) predate the telephone? Does it have any use besides answering the phone? Where does it come from, is it just a reduplication of "もし" (moshi) "if", and if so how does ...
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 ...
21
votes
4answers
1k views
How to choose between “よん” (yon) vs “し” (shi) for “四” (4) and “しち” (shichi) vs “なな” (nana) for “七” (7)?
Two numbers in Japanese have two pronunciation alternatives.
四 / 4 can be pronounced either "よん" (yon) or "し" (shi)
七 / 7 can be pronounced either "しち" (shichi) or "なな" (nana)
I know that "し" ...
20
votes
5answers
811 views
Is it proper to thank waitstaff, cashiers, etc. for their service?
In my Japanese class we were taught that one does not need to thank a cashier when they check you out or a server when they bring you your meal, but I always feel awkward remaining silent. Was my ...
20
votes
4answers
999 views
What is the difference between “に” and “には”?
The title should be pretty self-explanatory. What meanings does each convey? And in what kinds of circumstances would one be used instead of the other?
For example, what are the differences between ...
20
votes
6answers
502 views
Why are some lyrics' words written in kanji whose usual reading is not how it is sung?
Some song lyrics in the official lyric book that accompanies the CD is sung as another word. Usually, the way it is sung is given as a furigana on the kanji:
Written: 君が希望に変わってゆく
...
20
votes
3answers
940 views
Difference between -ていく and -てくる
Can someone explain the differences between v-ていく and v-てくる for me. I know that they both express some kind of ongoing action (like a place getting crowded). For example, what's the difference between ...
20
votes
2answers
231 views
When should either 「」 and 『』 be used?
In what scenarios would you use 「」 quotation marks instead of 『』, and vice versa?
20
votes
1answer
219 views
How is the wind related to illness?
I've seen the kanji 風 appear in several different illnesses: 風邪 (a cold), 中風 (paralysis), and 痛風 (gout). Conceivably there may be others, but I haven't seen them.
What does the wind have to do with ...
20
votes
5answers
666 views
i-adjectives used as na-adjectives: is there a difference? (e.g. 大きい versus 大きな)
There are at the very least several i-adjectives can be used as na-adjectives by dropping the final い and adding な in its place. The most common examples of this, as far as I am aware, are 大きい and ...
19
votes
4answers
967 views
Are there words so bad that they aren't allowed on television?
Warning: We're all adults here, but just in case, this question may contain words, in both Japanese and English, that some may not like to read.
A long time ago, when I was working with a translator, ...
19
votes
6answers
454 views
Pluralization in Japanese: usage of -たち and -ら
I know that -たち and -ら pluralize the nouns they come after (or indicate a group that the noun is part of), but most of the time the plural in Japanese is implicit. When is it appropriate or necessary ...
19
votes
2answers
817 views
What's the difference between なぜ、どうして and なんで when meaning 'why'?
I've been meaning to ask this for a while.
What is the difference between these 3 words. I was taught they all mean "why", but obviously, being different words they convey different nuance and would ...
18
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?
18
votes
2answers
349 views
Why is 二十歳 pronounced はたち?
二十歳 is a (to me) bizarre exception to the usual number+さい rule for discussing age. Is this rooted in 20 being the Japanese age of majority?
Added: To be more specific: why isn't it pronounced にじゅうさい ...
18
votes
3answers
749 views
When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state?
Last night, when I asked my wife to send an email to me, she said もう送っている which I took to mean that she was "sending the message". (The message had a big attachment so I imagined that it could take a ...
18
votes
4answers
635 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
...
18
votes
2answers
402 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
612 views
How do I express sentences like: He is dying?
For instance, "He is eating" is "Kare wa tabete iru". However, "He is dying" is not "Kare wa shinde iru". Another example is "He is going to Japan" is not "Kare wa nihon ni itte iru". So if I can't ...
18
votes
3answers
515 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 ...
18
votes
2answers
2k views
When to use ください (kudasai) or お願いします (onegaishimasu) in requests?
When asking for something I seem to hear sentences end in both ください (kudasai) and お願いしま (onegaishimasu). Is there a difference and how do I know when to use which?
18
votes
2answers
384 views
Are bookshelves in alphabetical (kana) order in Japanese bookshops and libraries?
How are fiction books such as novels sorted on the shelves at Japanese bookshops? Kana order seems to play a small part but not the whole part.
(I'm not asking about nonfiction books since those are ...
18
votes
1answer
372 views
What is the difference between いえ and うち?
I am trying to understand the difference between using いえ and うち. I originally drew the conclusion that うち is used for your own house and いえ for others' houses, but my Japanese teacher said that this ...
18
votes
2answers
903 views
Why are the particles “は” (ha⇒wa), “へ” (he⇒e), and “を” (wo⇒o) not spelled phonetically?
As far as I know only three words (or particles) have irregular, non-phonetic spelling in Japanese:
"は" - The topic particle is pronounced "wa" but the kana is otherwise pronounced "ha"
"へ" - The ...
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 ...
