Questions tagged [expressions]
表現. A set phrase used commonly in the Japanese language.
424
questions
3
votes
4answers
527 views
How to say “How long have you had this dream?”
Would どのくらい夢がありましたか。be correct? I don't really know. This is for a Japanese assignment I have at school.
14
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is 一日 used instead of 日 to ask how your day is?
I spoke with someone from Japan on Tandem and she said to me “今日はどんな一日でしたか?” and I’m wondering why 一日 was used since I thought that meant the first of the month?
3
votes
1answer
94 views
Difference between 付き合いが悪い and ノリが悪い
In a manga, a girl is reproaching her friend for not being very sociable since she became friend with a guy from the school cinema club:
あんた あの映研のメガネとつるむようになってからつきあい悪いしノリも悪い
I read on Kenkyusha ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
圧が強い what's the meaning?
What exactly means to describe someone saying "圧が強い" (atsu ga tsuyoi) . I know that's something related with "the person has a strong pressure" or "the pressure in that person is strong" but I was ...
3
votes
3answers
303 views
What's your problem? in Japanese
-どうしましたか。
-せきが出ます。
Apparently, this is a dialogue between a doctor and a patient. The doctor says, "What is the problem?" and the patient answers, "I have a cough."
How could we naturally say "...
3
votes
0answers
58 views
How can I say “With the passing of time…”
I am writing a text and I want to say:
"With the passing of time, I have understood what he wanted to say".
I have written: 時間がたつにつれて、彼が言いたかったことが分かってきました。
Is my sentence completely wrong?
4
votes
2answers
151 views
Meaning and usage of ずっとそう思っていました。
Which translation is most apt for ずっとそう思っていました。?
"I always thought so."
"I have always thought that..."
"It is always on my mind"
"I am always thinking about"
When and how is the phrase/expression ...
3
votes
2answers
182 views
How to say “photobomb” in Japanese
Is there a word for "photobomb" in Japanese?
In English, to photobomb someone is to spoil a photograph (of a person or thing) by unexpectedly appearing in the camera's field of view as the picture ...
2
votes
1answer
158 views
Which is more common for “I miss you”: 会いたい or 寂しい？
When saying “I miss you” which of these is more frequently used? Do they have different nuances?
0
votes
1answer
87 views
正々堂々勝負して's meaning
In this anime trailer the protagonist say this sentence:
正々堂々勝負して、あ、みやがれってんだ！
I can't figure out the meaning... Is maybe something like "Fight like a man!" or "Don't play rough!"?
PS: here the ...
1
vote
2answers
134 views
Expressing that something is multiple things at the same time (e.g. “She is an artist and a poet”)
How does one express multiple states of equality? (Probably the wrong terminology.)
For example, "She is an artist and a poet" in Japanese.
I know です can be used to show equality. For example:「彼女{...
4
votes
1answer
81 views
袂を分かつ Can someone explain this expression?
I was reading a light novel and I looked up the meaning of 袂を分かつ, but I wonder, can someone explain this expression in more detail as to why it means break off relations with/part with someone?
...
3
votes
2answers
162 views
Is the sentence 「もう少し誠実に対応頂けませんか。」rude and unprofessional? What does it literally mean in English?
If you think a person has been irresponsible with his work (changing responses to inquiries without reason and not really researching for the answer) and you sent a message with the ending sentence 「...
3
votes
1answer
88 views
Saying “fill up”?
I work at an ice cream store that also is a gas station and we sell pints and half gallons of our ice cream in ice cream cases near the drink coolers too. How would I say “fill up” in the sense of ...
1
vote
0answers
102 views
How to say “to” as in “2 to 3 puppies”, “100 to 120 cm”, “June 3rd to July 4th”, “2010-2015” in Japanese? [duplicate]
What is the correct way to say "to" as in, for example, "2 to 3 puppies", "100 to 120 cm", "from June 3rd to July 4th", "from 2010 to 2015" in Japanese? And does that way apply to spellings with the ...
1
vote
0answers
83 views
What are some Japanese euphemisms for death and dying? [closed]
Could you list some euphemisms on death and dying used by Japanese people in everyday speech? I'm writing a paper on Japanese language euphemisms and would like to know more about expressions used by ...
13
votes
1answer
2k views
Asahi Dry Black beer can
What does ビアホール仕立ての黒 on Asahi Dry Black means?
Specifically 仕立て(sewing?) and ビアホール(via hole?). I tried searching it on japanese web, but it's kinda assumed as common knowledge and never mentioned ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
A word to express a feeling of sudden release from intense pressure that had been building up over time
I'm failing to express an emotion in Japanese that one feels after something emotionally unnerving that had been intensifying was then suddenly released, primarily due to being resolved by the subject....
5
votes
1answer
185 views
あいだ, ところ、しまった in a sentence
トイレに行っているあいだに電車が行ってしまった。
The choices were either あいだ or ところ but the answer is あいだ.
Google translate it :
The train went while I was in the bathroom.
I thought it meant :
I was about to go in ...
5
votes
1answer
102 views
Special meaning of 手が挙がる
In an email about someone I introduced for a position at a company, one particular sentence was as follows:
○○様、残念ながら誰からも手が挙がらず、お見送りとさせてください。
While I am familiar with the fact that 手が上がる has ...
0
votes
2answers
156 views
More 'romantic'/better than すきです / だいすきです
This was mentioned in our class but for the life of me, I cannot recall the exact sentence. I only recall that it was even more 'romantic' or better than だいすきです since it means 'I love your everything',...
1
vote
1answer
120 views
What could 何も無かったり、有ったり mean?
I'm having a lot of trouble understanding what this means (bolded):
どこに行くんですか？
あ。。。森。。。ですか。。。
森の中、そこだけは
何も無かったり、有ったり
過去の遺物の集積場
「ここにやがてつまれるのかな？」
What does 何も無かったり、あったり mean?
This is ...
2
votes
1answer
241 views
Sentence starting with て?
I was listening to this podcast on Himalaya (Link given below) and I came across this sentence which starts with て, I'm not sure why it starts with て, can anyone please explain this? Also I'm not sure ...
2
votes
0answers
137 views
が in the expression “耳が聞こえない”
I tried to translate this phrase literally and came up with "(My) ears can't hear". Since the expression means "(I'm) deaf", this makes sense.
However, I can't really get it to work grammatically, ...
3
votes
1answer
102 views
に越したことはない vs に越したことないじゃない
I would appreciate help with the following sentence (which is spoken by a rightfully angry girl).
よしゅうふくしゅうをしておくにこしたことないじゃない!
I know that にこしたことはない is an expression that means "there's nothing ...
5
votes
3answers
169 views
Is it possible to express the difference between the English phrases “I don't want to do that” and “I don't want to have to do that”?
Is it possible to express the difference between the English phrases "I don't want to do that" and "I don't want to have to do that"?
Where I don't want to do that can simply be それがしたくありません。
I don't ...
2
votes
1answer
94 views
Is the で in という理由だけで a form of だ or the instrumental particle?
I'm trying to figure out how to say "Maybe it's just because ____, but..." in Japanese, but I'm not sure how to place 'just because' in its own clause that way.
If I'm not mistaken, the expression '...
2
votes
1answer
161 views
What does ことがないように express?
I've come across this sentence quite a few months ago, but I never understood the meaning of "ことがないように", I've searched and found about ことのないように, but I think it has not the same meaning.
This is the ...
4
votes
1answer
130 views
Is やなこった just 嫌な子, or does it mean something as a whole?
Another phrase from 犬夜叉 that is puzzling me is やなこった. Apparently it means something as there is a quite lot of results on the interwebz. They are not much of a help though.
I saw it in a comic, where ...
4
votes
1answer
124 views
Confusion about 大したこと(で)(は)ない
There are three variations on this phrase that I can find in Google, and I'm not sure whether all three are really used, or how frequently. But I am confused about the differences between them.
...
2
votes
1answer
103 views
How do I say Every/Each “Noun”
So, the sentence I wanna build here is (talking about reading japanese books):
Every/Each line you read, there are lots of new kanjis and words.
The only pattern I remember that is a bit similar ...
2
votes
1answer
109 views
Please help with deciphering the meaning of this sentence
お見合いの相手は、理想を絵に描いたような男性だった。
First part is something like: since he/she was/is an omiai partner or since they met in omiai . I’m having difficulty in understanding the second.
Explanation says:
...
3
votes
1answer
108 views
Can a clause ending in ば be translated to “when”?
My question stems from item 4 and 5 in this picture, which is taken from a textbook of advanced Japanese reading. These two items fell into the normal present tense in English. In English, it would be ...
0
votes
0answers
40 views
how can I use japanese pronouns if I am beginner in the language japanese? [duplicate]
hello everyone I am very beginner in japanese just I have 2 day learning japanese then I am not expert in this language yet I saw in Wikipedia this japanese pronouns:
watashi わたし
watakushi わたくし
...
-1
votes
1answer
108 views
大恋愛の末に結ばれるわけではないから、アバタもエクボということはありえなかった。先行するのは条件である。 [closed]
Could somebody please help me decipher the phrase above which I came across while reading 逃がした魚は大きかった。It’s about two people in relationship. I understand that the first sentence means something like “...
7
votes
1answer
397 views
How to express the subjunctive mood in Japanese
I recently learned the Vばよかった construction, which roughly means "it would be better had I done V". This got me curious about how to construct a sentence in subjunctive mood in Japanese, or even if it ...
1
vote
1answer
100 views
今日本語習ってるんですが、この質問どうやって答えるん？
2回見るのは当然やろ？？
My native language is English and I want to agree with the person but I'm not sure how. The person is my friend and I want to know how to agree with a person when talking as a friend. ...
7
votes
1answer
180 views
Different usage of 普通に?
So, I was watching this show called Terrace House, and the following exchange between two participants caught my attention.
翔平:「 テラスハウスに入って、一番の…ここに来ての…財産じゃないけど、聖南と出会えたことだな。」
聖南:「いや、何か…...
1
vote
1answer
172 views
How to use 生かす to express “you'll do your best”?
I have to answer the question "日本には「好きこそものの上手なれ」という 諺 がありますが、どんな意味だと思いますか。" using 生かす and my idea is to answer that if you are interested in something, you'll do your best. I started writing "...
7
votes
2answers
238 views
What does 私様 means?
I see that apparently this word is used by a character in a videogame called danganropa. It's a word like boku, atashi or something like that? Or it's something different? It's used to call yourself ...
4
votes
2answers
147 views
What is the difference between 何だと and 何ですと?
I noticed that in some anime (specifically, the Ace Attorney anime), the characters often switch between 何だと, 何ですと, and a few other slight variants. What is the difference between them?
4
votes
2answers
101 views
Meaning of 天秤に乗せる
In the Dead Tube manga I found this sentence:
いいでしょ… たまには自分の命を天秤に乗せたって
The protagonist is asking a group of people who usually don't risk their life to participate in a risky game. What is the ...
2
votes
1answer
224 views
What is the meaning of the slang ～じゃてえ?
I'd like to know what ～じゃてえ exactly means when located at the end of verbs and/or adjectives. Do young people use it rhetorically?
The whole sentence is:
なのにのう ズイブンじゃてえ
9
votes
2answers
128 views
Nuance of the structure “Verb (stem of negative form) + ざるを得ない” compared to “Verb + しかない”
I've browsed a bit throught the other posts and it seems like there is no clear explanation of the nuance of "V + ざるを得ない" compared to "V + しかない". Roughly speaking, they have the same meaning but is ...
4
votes
1answer
425 views
My Teacher just had a baby, how do I congratulate her
My Japanese teacher just gave birth and our long-term sub is having us make cards to congratulate her, we need to write something in Japanese, and I want to write something different than what she ...
0
votes
1answer
92 views
How to make sense of 呪縛から解放されるウソという名の魔法
I'm having problem figuring out the idea or meaning of a sentence while reading manga.
The context is that a character A told someone (character B) a big lie, and influenced by that lie, B started to ...
5
votes
2answers
143 views
What does「〜も何も」mean in this context?
I’ve been studying Japanese for a while now and came across the following dialogue:
A: 私のこと、知ってるんだ。(So you know about me then?)
B: 知ってるも何も、有名人じゃないか。
I'm not quite sure how to make sense of B's ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
Japanese idiom equivalent to “that ship has sailed”
What is the closest expression in Japanese that conveys a similar meaning to the English idiom "that ship has sailed", referring to an "missed opportunity" and "it's too late (to do anything about it)"...
2
votes
2answers
135 views
What does this conversation from a novel mean?
「おまえ、よく命が続いとるなあ」
「これが生き甲斐でござる」
「とりあえず酒でも飲め。いや、呆れたもんだよ」店主が言った。
「奢ってくれるかい？」
「奢るとも」
“You, よく命が続いとるなあ”
“This is what I live for.”
“Anyway, let’s have a drink. いや、呆れたもんだよ” said the owner.
...
5
votes
1answer
84 views
Meaning of 世界観に入り込む in the following sentence
The following sentence is taken from the afterword of the final volume of a manga:
そんな風に名残惜しさを感じたり、世界観に入り込んで描くことができたのも、たくさんの人に読んでいただけて、キャラクターや作品が好きだと言ってもらえてものすごい励みになったことが一因だと思います。
I understand the ...
