Questions tagged [usage]
用法・使い方. How to use certain words, phrases, particles, endings, constructions, and their variants.
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Usage/meaning of ～の半分 vs 半分の～
When linking 半分 and a noun with the の particle, I'm trying to understand the difference, if any, between putting the noun first and putting 半分 first. See these two examples I found online:
...
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the difference between いくら and たとえ with non-degreeable words
The difference between
たとえ背が高くても… [even if you should be tall]
いくら背が高くても… [no matter how tall you are]
Seems obvious to me, but “いくら” is very often also used with words that are not degreeable such ...
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Regarding the state verbs ある or いる in the grammar pattern さえ～ば
I am really getting confused regarding the state verbs used in the grammar pattern さえ～ば.
See the following examples:
家族さえいれば、他に何もいらないです。
In the above example, we use the state verb いる because what ...
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This usage of “だけ”
I sometimes see “〜だけ” in sentences such as:
昔から男運だけは悪かった。
The context does not imply “Only my luck with men has always been bad.” and that's a somewhat weird sentence. Is there some other ...
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Understanding the meaning of だからな in this line
I am currently playing the Japanese version of Octopath Traveler. In one scene in particular, there are two characters in prison; one of them (a kid named Therion) has just been hit by the guard and ...
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When to use んだ inside your head?
Since the start of this year I have been thinking to myself in Japanese several times throughout each day. I am not sure if it's ever appropriate to use んだ in such self-directed speech. One scenario ...
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Difference between だろうか and のだろうか?
I've been trying to figure out the difference between だろうか and のだろうか through context in my reading, but it's proving harder than I thought. Here's a passage with both. What is the difference, and why ...
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日(ひ) は大昔からdayの意味持っていたのか
日本は漢人に接触し漢字と漢語を輸入した前に大和言葉はもう存在していたから、きっとその時にもうdayを指す語はもうあった。現代の視点から見ると、和語のdayの意味の言葉は「日(ひ)」なんですけど(例えば その日、あの日、出会った日)、これも漢語の影響なんですか？
詳細に言うと、昔の大和言葉の一日を指す語は「日(か)」だったと思うのは正しいですか。一ヶ月の中の日付も(二日ふつか、三日みっか等)、暦(...
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Difference between ながら and 一方で
What is the difference between ながら and 一方で?
Example:
彼はアルバイトをしながら大学へ行きます。
and
彼はアルバイトをする一方で大学へ行きます。
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What does のでしょうか do here?
An assistant is talking about how they are reminded of their time being Margret's assistant when they come back to her old room. I can't figure out how to parse のでしょうか. It doesn't seem like they are ...
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Difference between このような and こんな
What is the difference between このような and こんな?
How is their usage and different?
How semantically are they different?
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What does "好きなだけ" mean here?
Is な used to connect 好き and だけ. Does it mean that she only likes reading books?
わたしは本を読むのが好きなだけの極々虚弱な女の子だ。
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The construct of いつの間にか
In Japanese, we can add か to question words to make it mean "some-xxx." Example:
何 what 何か something
誰 who 誰か somebody
何人 how many people 何人か some amount of people (何人かの友達きた some friends ...
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When and where to use ございます and its variations?
I know that ございます is used in informal settings. Still, I have some confusion as we use it after "Good Morning" and not "Good evening". Are there any specific rules related to it's ...
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usage of the second “て” in this sentence
“よく晴れててキャンプ日和だよ”.
I am confused about the second "て” here.
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Meaning of the expression るわけ
I stumbled upon the following sentence:
ねてるわけなんですけども
As I understand it, ねて means the fact/means of sleeping, and the ending ~なんですけども is short for ~なんですけれども and here is a polite way of making an ...
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Regarding the tense of the verbs in the ついでに grammar
I have a doubt regarding the tense of the verbs in the ついでに grammar pattern for the two clauses.
Consider the following sentences-
一時帰国したついでに、アメリカでは買えない物を買います。
N3のテキストを買うついでに、漫画も買ってしまった。
I saw a rule ...
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動作の完成を表す言葉について、
この質問はこちらからの追加質問です。
日本語を勉強し始めた頃から、たくさんの文章を読んだり動画を見たりしまして、若干の動作の終わりを表現する語を知ってますが、その使い分け、特に、日本人が脳内で感じれる単語の違いは分かりません。
例えば、水などの液体を全て飲んだら、いくつかの表現があります：
飲み切った
飲み果たした
飲み尽くした
飲んでしまった
飲み終わった
...
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How does the negative work in this sentence: 家は綺麗じゃないではありません。
I tried to use several language translation websites and they all gave me different results. Some say "家は綺麗じゃないではありません” means 'the house is not clean', but some say "家は綺麗じゃないではありません” means ...
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Japanese usage or context of the word hakarigoto 謀 [はかりごと] ? Does it have a negative connotation?
what is the Japanese usage or context of the word hakarigoto 謀 [はかりごと] ? Does it have a negative connotation ? Thank you.
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弱った vs 困った what is the difference
I came up with this question when reading 「ドラえもん」.
In this manga, characters often say "弱ったな" when they are in a mood of indulgent helplessness or when in trouble, but I was more familiar ...
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Difference between the verbs used in the main clause of 間 and 間に
I saw these two sentences in a Youtube video-
私は冬休みの間韓国へ行きました。
私は冬休みの間に韓国へ行きました。
Shouldn't the first sentence be-
私は冬休みの間韓国へ行っていました。
My question is that shouldn't we use ています form of verbs with 間?( to ...
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Meaning of スポーンてしちゃった
Context: Person A thinks she made a mistake in the play she was in and is afraid the director is made at her. When she goes to talk to the director she says
えと、えと……！
あたし、セリフがスポーンてしちゃったかな！？
I can't ...
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でございます for a respected person
According to all dictionaries and most grammar books I can check, でございます is a polite form (丁寧語), which seems almost equal to です but with a more polite mood. It is classified as a humble form (謙譲語) by ...
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N1 を N2 に見る structure
四畳半神話大系 EP6, I encountered this sentence:
「ラブドールを性欲処理の道具にしか見ていない輩には分からないだろうが これは高尚な趣味である。」
In which the protagonist is introducing a love doll he has been engaging with romantically for some time.
I ...
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Meaning and usage of 刺激（しげき）?
I've come across this word 刺激 a few times now, but although the dictionary says it means "stimulation" none of the contexts I've seen it in makes sense with that definition.
For example
「...
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Difference between 抑制、制御、控える、掌握、抑える、操作、支配、統制 for 'control'
When trying to find the word for 'control' a whole heap of answers came up, a lot of them having similar meanings and usages.
I've summarised the main ones I'm having difficulty understanding the ...
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Why is ある preferrable to 残る in the sentence お金があるうちに欲しい物を買っておこう ? Is 残る still a valid option or is it just wrong?
The following sentence belongs to a multiple-choice exercise about the grammar point うちに in the book 新完全マスターN2文法:
（ ）うちに欲しい物を買っておこう。
a) お金がある b) 給料をもらう c) お金が残る
I chose c) お金が残る, but according to ...
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On the direction of もらう
When talking about verbs of giving/receiving, textbooks tent do talk about only the relation between 1st person and the other persons (i.e. くれる 2/3→1, あげる 1→2/3, もらう 1←2/3), and let learners ...
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How are が and は used here?
I am a fluent speaker (not a learner) but I can't explain why が and は are used in these lines when asked by a friend.
そんな私を拾ってくれたのがその時言い合いとなったお客様シェフなんです (from this video)
それを身を挺して助けてくれたのが誠司さん (video)...
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What does ○○ていない + といけない mean?
I've recently encountered a simple sentence in a video that confused me grammatically.
(see 2:08)
子供が考える時には、待っていないといけないですよね。
My assumptions:
待っていない = negative continuous form of 待つ
といけない = have to
I'...
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~といい Grammar point with 評価 as an implication
During my class today we were studying N1 Grammar といい. In our textbook there was the question:
水泳といいテニスといい、(x)。
a) スポーツはみな楽しい b) 私はお子様に習わせている c) 私はやったことがない
So I understand that a) is a correct ...
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What are the differences in usage? - ~あげる and ~あがる?
~あげる and ~あがる mean "finish."
But what are the differences in usage?
Should あげる strictly follow 他動詞？
For example, この本を読みあげた。
Should あがる strictly follow 自動詞？
For example, さっき走りあがった。
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Any help with this phrase? [duplicate]
ジョンさんは日本語を上手に話します。
The thing is that I don't understand why 上手 has the particle に.
I'm reviewing an examination sheet, and this is the answer to one of the questions.
The only possible thing that I ...
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Prepositional phrase with に and verb 感じられる
"界王神界にまでエネルギーが感じられるほど強大な力を開放し"
In this phrase, would it to be correct to say the prepositional phrase "界王神界に" connects to the object of the verb "エネルギー" or the subject of ...
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When writing みやこ, how to choose between 京 and 都?
Dictionary states that the word みやこ can be written as either 都 or (less often) 京. What factors (nuances of meaning, context, etc.) determine which of the two kanji is more appropriate?
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How to say "must be" in the sense of making an affirmative guess?
Sorry if the question isn't clear enough. In English, we can make an affirmative guess based on prior information we received from someone/something by saying "X must be Y". Some example ...
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Meaning and reading of 益し加える
Reading in a book by 落合淳思 I wonder about (what looks like) the compound verb 益し加える in the sentence 「自は鼻の象形であり、それに声符を益し加えた繁文である。」 (繁文 is used by Ochiai as a technical term for the modern shape of a ...
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Saying "of course," "naturally" in conversation
In conversation, we use "of course," "naturally" "as you know," etc. to announce "I'm about to say something that you know and is obvious; but I need to say it as ...
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Use of くれる among 外
For giving/receiving among people other than me, my family, my friends or anyone I am close with (外->外), the book says to use あげる. もらう can also be used for anyone->anyone. Is it wrong to use くれる ...
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Question about the expression 日和: Can it be used with any activity or just with certain set expressions?
So I was watching a podcast for japanese learners and they gave 行楽日和、お散歩日和、お洗濯日和..as examples.
So now I am asking myself, can I attach 日和 only to certain things or to anything that fits the context?
...
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What does かけ mean in かけ戦った or in かけ争い?
In the intro of the Game Boy Advance game titled "Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi" there are a few instances in which かけ is used before a verb, and I don't seem to be able to grasp the nuance ...
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Can you use 観にくい( 観る+にくい) to say that something is hard to watch in the sense of that the topic/images might be hard to stomach?
Example would: この第二次世界大戦についてドキュメンタリーはちょっと観にくいけど、本当に面白いと思う。work to say: This documentary about WW2 is a bit hard to watch (hard to stomach) but it is very interesting.
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The usage of 当たり前 as subject
As far as I know, 当たり前 is an adverb. How come in the following instances it's used as the subject?
あの日見た夕日 あの日見た花火 いつでも君がいたね
当たり前が幸せと知った ー「合唱曲・群青」
君がここにいなくなって 当たり前がいなくなって ー「君の抜け殻」
I am a little ...
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Negative-imperative for 形容動詞 and 形容詞
For verbs, we can use it's te-form to make imperatives and negative imperatives, such as:
走って！ 走らないで！
Run! Do not run!
Of course there's also 走れ！ and 走るな！
For 形容動詞 and 形容詞, however, I realize that I ...
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田中さんはこの小説を読んだ（そうだ）- do we need そうだ all the time if we did not actuality get the info from the person?
Example 1
Me: 明日は先生が来る（そうだ）。
Example 2
Me: 田中さんはこの小説を読んだ（そうだ）。
Assume both Examples 1 and 2 are the information I heard from other people, not from 田中さん or 先生.
Can I say the Examples without そうだ?
...
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Can かなり be used with ーそうだ？
I want to make the sentence, "You two seem pretty close." and I've come up with 二人はかなり仲が良さそうだ。 Now I'm wondering if かなり is correct or natural to use here with そうだ and if it's even necessary. ...
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雛たちとはなんの意味でしょうか？
中島みゆきさんの「銀の龍の背に乗って」の歌詞の中、こういう言葉が見つかります：
まだ飛べない雛たちみたいに
「雛たち」とはなんですか。「雛形」の意味しますか、ここで「まだ飛べないちっちゃい龍」のことを指しているのですか。
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Why was this usage of ところ incomprehensible?
I am an intermediate-level student, studying in Japan. All teachers are native Japanese speakers.
I was asked to write an example sentence using "ところ", using it to express a temporal concept ...
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What is the appropriate way of using 自分 with respect to the referent?
妻は私が自分を今でも愛していると信じている
(Tsuma wa watashi ga jibun o ima demo aishite iru to shinjite iru.)
My wife believes that i still love her.
In the book it is said that:
When a reflexive pronoun jibun is used, ...
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