Hot answers tagged differences
13
火事 means "fire" like what you shout when a building is burning down. Or when we say "my house was lost in a fire", it's that "fire". The big kind that burns things it isn't supposed to.
火 is a more generic word for fire. It's what's on a candle or a torch or in a fireplace.
For your first sentence...it depends on if the fire is burning down your ...
13
I'll base my answer around this Japanese thesaurus entry which discusses the difference between 思う and 考える.
思う is more subjective or emotional - for example: worries, hopes, affection, supposition/imagination (as in 'It wasn't as big as I had imagined (thought) it would be') etc.
考える is for more objective and logical thought.
At the bottom of the ...
12
我 (also written 吾) is an older way to say "I", not as common as the other ways you listed but still in use, particularly by older men.
I asked my friend when one would hear it, and she gave the context of a older guy giving a speech in a company setting, where the assumed tone would be masculine and slightly formal (this is a subjective opinion). Perhaps ...
12
I completely agree that the difference between 食べる and 飲む is whether you chew it or not. For example, “eat some soup” is スープを飲む, not スープを食べる.
The entry for のむ (飲む, 呑む) in Daijisen has a slightly more detailed explanation in a usage note, although the purpose of the note is to explain the difference between のむ and 吸う:
...
10
As Gradius said, the mathematical term “triangle” is 三角形, and never 三角. As part of compound words, 三角 also appears; an example is 三角関数 (trigonometric functions).
(As for the use of 三角 in compounds words, I think that there is a general tendency to prefer to two-kanji words than three-kanji words when they are used adjectivally in compound words. See also ...
10
I think that 部屋 usually refers to a room in a house/apartment, where someone resides. 室 is somewhat broader and often refers to a room with a particular function.
This seems to be reflected in the names of the rooms in a house/apartment:
Rooms with a particular function
寝室
客室
地下室
Rooms that are lived in
子供部屋
仕事部屋
おもちゃ[部屋]{べや} or 遊び部屋
In other ...
10
Comparing
ぜひ来てくださいね。
きっと来てくださいね。
ぜひ expresses a hope/wish, whereas きっと expresses an expectation. (必ず would express obligation.)
A teacher telling his students "きっと来てくださいね" means more like "I am expecting everyone to come". Thus きっと feels stronger (it's an expectation, after all), but may just mean that whoever is inviting really wants you to come.
...
9
向こう requires a reference line (which may be overtly expressed or not expressed). It means A and B are on opposite sides with respect to C.
店は川の向こうにある。
A = current location, B = store, C = river
向かい requires a "forward" direction. It means that along a line starting from A and facing the forward direction, there is B.
佐藤さんの向かいが山田さんだ。
9
修理 means "fix/repair" and almost, if not always refers to fixing something that is physically broken.
直す can also mean "fix" as in something broken, but has more metaphorical uses. "Fix" as in correct a mistake (often seen as a compound verb 〜なおす: 書き直す to rewrite); "fix" as in straighten out, put right, etc.; "Fix" as in change/alter (a plan, etc.)
8
This page on alternative renderings of kanji compounds says that in order to simplify the kanji set, some compounds which contained uncommon kanji had components replaced with common homophonous kanji.
One set of changes was promulgated by the 国語審議会 in 1956, but the page also lists a number of changes which came into de facto use. 恰好→格好 is one such pair.
...
8
It might be something as simple as:
三角 (something that is "triangular" where the focus is having attributes similar to that of triangles ie: three sides, three corners)
三角形 (a polygon that IS a triangle)
For example: 「三角屋根」 is a way to describe a roof that is "triangular" in comparison to other roofs of different shapes. It has attributes similar ...
8
It is not clear cut, but my impression is that the tendency is that 日曜日 means a particular day that is Sunday whereas 日曜 means Sunday in general or series of Sundays.
日曜日に出掛けます。
'I will go out on next Sunday.'
日曜に出掛けます。
'I go out on Sundays.'
When it is clear that it is not about a particular day but is about a series of days, this ...
8
Even though they are both used, there is an official one and those that are not.
When you consider the history of kanji incorporation into Japanese, first, there were Chinese writings. Then, people tried to read them as Japanese. Two techniques appeared: (i) kaeri-ten, which marks how the Chinese characters in the original Chinese writing are to be ...
8
There are many, many examples of this kind. There are always different ways of saying the same thing. The 漢語 (Chinese-derived word) plus する verb is often the more formal version, whereas the simple native Japanese word is less formal. When comparing 車を直す and 車を修理する, 直す and 修理する both mean "to repair", but the latter sounds a tad more technical, but probably ...
7
From the excellent A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Vmasu+方 means either "way" or "manner". Thus 飲み方が大事です means either "The way of drinking is important" or "The manner in which one drinks is important" so you have to provide additional context. To put into context:
この[薬]{くすり}は[飲]{の}み[方]{かた}が[大事]{だいじ}。[必]{かなら}ず[食前]{しょくぜん}に[飲]{の}んでください。[It is ...
7
あれから１０数年
It means 10 plus several years passed. like 14 to 17 years. 10 to 19 years passed. (corrected)
あれから１０年後
It means exactly 10 years later.
すう‐ねん【数年】
2、3か5、6ぐらいの年数。
source: デジタル大辞泉
じゅう‐すう〔ジフ‐〕【十数】
［語素］単位を表す語の上に付いたり、助数詞を伴ったりして、それが10以上20未満であることを表す。「―メートル」「―人」
source: デジタル大辞泉
7
姿 almost always refers to a person's appearance in a kind of poetic sense. Usually when you refer to 姿 you're referring to some kind of beauty or special quality to someone's appearance. It's possible to use this to describe an object, but as I mentioned it takes on a little bit more of a poetic quality. For example:
(4)物のかたち。ありさま。 「―の美しい山」
形 on the ...
7
They both can mean the same thing but they are not the same. Probably a similar problem to 目標 and 目的.
The main difference to me is the point of view.
User's point of view => 要求
Dev's point of view => 要件
要求 would be functionalities the user is looking for. While 要件 would be functionalities the system need to do to answer the 要求.
In my company, we first ...
6
There are also 出版, 印行. Their uses are as follows
出版 is the process of printing, binding and distributing (does not include newspapers)
発行 refers to the process of printing something of value (books, money, stamps, etc.) and distributing it
刊行 is usually the process of publishing something at a fixed interval, e.g. daily (like newspapers), monthly (like ...
6
They do have differences in usage. I've gathered a few examples that, I hope, differentiate the meanings. First, I'll try to put them in English:
上る Go up
登る Climb
昇る Ascend / rise
But I don't know how helpful that is. Certainly there isn't a one-to-one mapping between those English words and those ways of writing のぼる. I think you'll get a better ...
5
英雄 is most normally used for heros whose status as such is established. ヒーロー implies an American hero. For example, Beethoven's third symphony is called 英雄 in Japanese, but no one would call it ヒーロー. 勇者 means someone who is brave, and is not the same as hero. 傑士 is not normally used.
Japanese hero shows are called 戦隊もの, as it comes from the early hero shows ...
5
誇り is a kind of pride concerned with your characteristics like: membership to some group (i.e., nationality, alumnus status, etc.), your belief, activity, or achievement.
誇りを持って仕事をしている
日本人であることに誇りを感じている
自尊心 is the pride about being yourself, and is not tied to any of the particular characteristics mentioned above.
自尊心を持つことは、よい人格形成にとって必要だ
...
5
As Chocolate suggests, one difference is that かけ implies that the activity is not completed, whereas ぱなし means that the activity is completed, and as a result, some negative situation (messed up, etc.) is left.
やりかけた 'had started working on something (but have not completed)'
やりっぱなし 'completed doing something, (and have not cleaned/put away the tools ...
5
The subtle difference between the two expressions is that とはいっても sounds a bit more emphatic about providing evidence that appears contrary to the sentence that precedes it. For example, when you say
エール卒とはいえ、ブッシュ大統領は知的にみえなかった。
エール卒とはいっても、ブッシュ大統領は知的にみえなかった。
The latter sounds a bit more emphatic. I am sure these are not the most effective ways to ...
5
「いつだって」 is a more casual way of saying 「いつでも」 and it has a little emphasis on its meaning compared to 「いつでも」. You'll hardly see 「だって」 being used in newspaper articles compared to 「でも」.
だって source: デジタル大辞泉 (http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/137401/m0u/)
［係助］《断定の助動詞「だ」に係助詞「とて」の付いた「だとて」の音変化という》名詞・副詞、一部の助詞に付く。「でも」に似るが、語調がより強い。
Also this might be of ...
5
This is purely anecdotal and based on my own experience and confusion with this, but ううん has generally been a negative interjection, as in definition 1, and うーん has a meaning in English like "mmmm" or "ummm" or "hmmm" or something like that, conveying reluctance. I figured this out after some confusing situations wherein I would suggest going somewhere or ...
5
In my experience...
The ones ending in ご飯 are most polite. Actually, using them around friends may get you some strange looks. The ones ending in 飯（めし） seem very informal, somewhat "rough", and mainly used by men. The ones ending in 食 seem to be the most neutral and most widely-used.
However, they may regionally have different acceptance levels and/or ...
5
[夕・晩・夜]+[ご飯・飯・食]
(1) ~~+ご[飯]{はん}
We have [夕]{ゆう}ご[飯]{はん}, [晩]{ばん}ご[飯]{はん}, [夜]{よる}ご[飯]{はん}.
I don't see much difference among them. We (especially children and women) use ~~ご飯 most in daily conversation. I normally use 晩ご飯 and 夜ご飯, and I think my mother uses 夕ご飯 too.
(2) ~~+[食]{しょく}
We have [夕食]{ゆうしょく}. I didn't know [晩食]{ばんしょく} so I googled it, and I ...
5
向こう is relatively abstract in its usage and can include both the literal sense of being "on the other side," like in bridging some sort of gap, as well as in a metaphorical sense of "over there," like referring to people, as in me and the other person/people/whoever. 向こう also carries this connotation of general "awayness" that you can use to refer to a place ...
5
こんにちは is "Hello!" or "Good day!", a greeting for meeting someone in any sort of circumstance.
もしもし is how you answer a phone. Usually both parties say もしもし in turn, before the caller identifies himself ("Hi, it's John"). Outside phone conversations, it is also used to get someone's attention, but I feel it is quite direct, more like "Hey!". (To get ...
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