Linked Questions

When someone says: chotto matte te, why does the te mean "... and I'll be back shortly". What's the logic behind it? Why aren't there special expressions such as chotto matte X, where X could mean "...

What is a subsidiary verb? Could one explain it and give some examples of its application?

Here is a sentence that I came across in Yotsuba, 恵那が結婚して出て行く時に使おうと思ってたんだ. I believe the English translation would be something like, "When Ena (恵那) gets married and leaves, I think I'll use this. I ...

I'm reading a children's book (no kanji) and the sentence is: いどうはんばいしゃは、　みんなが　だいすきな　たべものを　うってるよ。 From the context, I figure it means: The mobile catering guy everyones favourite food selling (...

It is in a sentence said by an old man who is speaking to a group of children. おめえらはだまっとれ！ I think it should be an imperative form of 「黙る」 but I found, in an online dictionary, that the form is ...

In the following sentence: 誰｛だれ｝探｛さが｝してんの What is the grammatical reason for 探｛さが｝す to be used in て-form before ん?

昨日｛きのう｝も全然｛ぜんぜん｝寝｛ね｝てない。* Yesterday I didn't sleep at all. Is it 寝る　in て-form followed by ある in negative form? Or a contraction of 寝ていない? Also, why is it not in past form? I thought one should ...

I'm working through translating となりのトトロ and I was doing ok until the Nanny starts talking. Going through her sentences and translating them piece by piece is an exercise in extreme patience. I find ...

I couldn't understand 入ってなかった, what verb is it after 入って? で、帰ったときに携帯はかばんに入ってなかっただろう？

I want to know if my understanding of the term やっちまった is correct. Could you please help me out? The word used is やっちまった, this is the past form of やっちまう which means "to do something one regrets". It ...

I am trying to learn a lot by reading, but I am having a lot of trouble with this phrase/sentence: どうなちきつたんだよオ Now, this is from a manga (Akira, specifically) so I'm guessing it's some kind of ...

I just learned about this construction as detailed here. Wondering if I have it right. I understand that one use case is when what comes after the て-form verb describes a feeling, so I assume 欲しい ...

While playing a Japanese mobile horror game, a girl appears with a knife in hand and says the following: 「おとなしくしてなきゃダメじゃない」 I can guess this probably means something like It's a problem if you don'...

Here is the sentence including the word. It is said by an old man who is cooking some food and planning to give it to a younger person who is in jail. ようし　わしゃあやったるぜ I am not sure if it is a shorten ...

in this sentence "natte'ta" is used: "tsumetai ame zubunure ni natte'ta watashi ni" i don't understand how the word "natte'ta" is used or its meaning. How would the word be translated to english and ...