Questions tagged [grammar]
文法. A collective term for syntax (the way sentences are put together) and morphology (forms of words, including the way new words are put together). Often used to describe function words such as particles, to describe word endings, and to talk about general sentence structure.
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When do you add の after a country name? [duplicate]
For example, why is it アメリカの映画 for American movie and フランス料理 for French food?
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Meaning of さもあろう
In Mushibugyou there is this sentence:
実物の蟲もさもあろうというリアルな夢だな
The speaking character sees a giant mosquito (giant insects are common in the setting), thinks to be in a dream, and that he says that ...
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Why use 耳元 rather than just 耳?
下で見ている人の悲鳴と交じり合って、風が耳元でヒューヒュー鳴った ...
The wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of the people watching below ...
Would this sentence be weird if 耳元 was replaced with 耳? I'm trying to ...
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What is the で part in ではありません？
Ok, this might be more complicated or less complicated than I'm making it out to be but I'm assuming this question will be made up of two unrelated components but I can't figure it out so I'm shooting ...
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Reporting on the emotions of another person in a relative clause?
I just yet made the sentence:
その場所の日本人はさすがに外国人が日本語を学ぶのを手伝いたがる人なんだ。
I used “〜たがる” instead of “〜たい” on the rule that “〜たい” can only be used to ask, conditionals, or in cases where one can report with ...
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Meaning of やって in 方法をやって見せ
次にマダム・フーチは箒の端から滑り落ちないように箒にまたがる方法をやって見せ、...
Next Madam Hooch showed them how to straddle the broom so they didn't slide off the end, ...
I don't understand what やって is doing in this sentence.
Not sure ...
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なるのではないか/なるのではないだろう meaning
もっと人間関係を大切にすれば、100年前と同じような心豊か生活が送れるように _______ と思う。
なるのではないか
なるのではないかな
なるのではないだろう
なるのでないでしょう
1 is the correct anwser but I can't figure out why. I guess 4 is incorrect because it uses the です form. ...
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Can adjectives follow the に particle?
https://guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/verbparticles lead me to believe that the に particle should be used with a verb. However I have been reading some sentences that have noun + に + adjective.
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-である form in written Japanese
I have a question about the following example sentence:
これは日本の会社のだ(である)。だが、 タイで作られた。
From what I understand, である/だ and ます/です should not be mixed, and である is used in written language.
However, is ...
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How does たり + される work?
In a particular story, one character is getting tortured, and his friend, who was betrayed by him, says this:
普通敵にしたりされるようなことを友達にされるってのはどんな気分だ?
I can infer that the speaker is saying something along ...
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Help breaking down えむさえいけそうなら
In the script I'm translating, Emu and Tsukasa are practicing a scene for a play where Emu has to jump from a tree to a window. After the rehearsal, Tsukasa says
とはいえ、やはり高さがあると緊張感が違うな。
えむさえいけそうなら、...
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Need help breaking down some grammar
In a script I'm translating, Character A is telling Character B how Character C isn't afraid of performing difficult stunts. A proceeds to say:
……多少は危ないことに危機感を持ってほしいというか、あの無謀さは少々どうかと思う時もあるが——
I have ...
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Understanding this usage of も
I have uncertainty interpreting も in the below sentence.
なんなら自分自身も、ゲームのプレイヤーキャラ位に思っていて、どことなく他人事のように考えている。(source)
I thought も marks 自分自身 as a subject but that will make 他人事のように考えている nonsense. So I ...
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How to parse上で話し合い
The below example sentence
論点を明らかにした上で話し合いをしないと、時間を無駄にする事になります。
is translated (by bunpro) as
If we don't clarify the points of discussion beforehand, we will end up wasting time in the conversation
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Meaning of き in 唾をぶっかけて.き.やがるからな。
If I am correct, then ぶっかける and やがる are verbs but what is the き doing in between them?
Full sentence:
~
この辺では、言葉に気をつけた方がいいぜ。町のこちら側に住んでいるやつらは、口笛を吹いただけでも顔に唾をぶっかけてきやがるからな。
~
You have to be careful about ...
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Clarifications on using ていく with verbs - using 着る as example verb
I'm finding the application of ていく (and by extension てくる) difficult to understand, so I want to use an example with the verb 着る to ask some questions on it:
If someone wore their jacket and left me (...
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"I hate him" = 彼が嫌い or 彼は嫌い? Ambiguity regarding the target of the sentence
I apologize if this is a dumb question. I think I'm having a total brainfart here, but this is something I've been wondering since some time ago now.
If I wanna say, "I hate him!", which one ...
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What does AをBにしたら mean?
In the manga strip below, the character says:
艦長も芽依先輩をラーメンにしたら絶対おいしいと思うでしょ？
What does 依先輩をラーメンにしたら exactly mean here? The only にしたら structure I could find was Noun + にしたら, which means something like ...
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Do Nする verbs require the する part with まで（に）?
There is a sentence in an exercise in the Speed Master N4 book:
[引越しします]までにいらないものを捨てておいた方がいいですよ。
The expression in brackets should be put in the correct form. The keys state that the correct form is ...
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Past continous with adverbs of time
当時私は母が入れ物に入れた餌を自分で動物たちに与えた
I would have expected the above sentence to use てい form (与えていた) as it seems like a repeated action in the past. The speaker is talking about their childhood chores, so I ...
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道を行ったところ meaning "just down the road"?
In the sentence
うちの前の道を行ったところの家の男の子ったら、うっかりして指に《スーパーグルー》をくっつけてしまって、その指で鼻をさわったのよ
I would translate this as
There is a boy just down our street, who carelessly got glue on his finger and then picked ...
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What is the difference between もとづいて and もとづき
What is the difference between both of them? I could not find any explanations so I came here.
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How to "reverse" 〜てから〜てはなりません?
Consider the sentence:
シャワーを浴びてから、プールに入らなくてはなりません。
As far as I understand, てから here is used to glue them into “You must go to the pool after taking a shower” which makes the most sense.
However, I ...
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How to interpret「～そうになるのを、」
I am having a hard time understanding the grammar of the following sentence.
贅肉がはみ出して落っこちそうになるのを、体に巻きつけてあるみたいな感じだ。
In isolation, the two parts make sense.
贅肉がはみ出して落っこちそうになる
[Her] excess fat stuck ...
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「買ったやつ」the guy who bought, or the thing that was bought?
I am reading the Japanese translation of Matilda by Roald Dahl. Spoilers ahead.
Mr. Wormwood has just finished explaining how he cheats his customers at his second hand car store. He fills the engine ...
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What is the role of まで in this sentence?
I am not sure about the function of the second まで in the last sentence below:
美少女ゲームの創生期で、最も重要な作品と言えば・・・「プリンセスメーカー」、それと「同級生」と言えるでしょう! 究極、この2つだけでも現在までのゲームまで全部語れるといっても過言ではない。
I think the second まで ...
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How ほど is understood in this sentence?
From Wikipedia page on 沙織事件,
当時のパソコンユーザーはマイコン族と称され、後年の「オタク」と同じく否定的な意味合いが含まれるほど、パソコンは一般に普及しておらず、パソコンゲームもマイナーなものであった。
I am uncertain how ほど works here. I don't see how it relates to the rest of the ...
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やっぱり in this sentence (regret?)
The following is from the anime Bleach. At the end of every episode they have a little 予告 where the break the fourth wall. After a voiceover announces a tragedy to come, an anonyed Ichigo (the main ...
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Introducing an explicit subject into a sentence with a topic already existing
Consider for instance the following sentence:
わかった、忠告ありがとう。でも、ミコトがどんな子かは自分で見定める。
The obvious context is that someone has been warned about ill behavior of his new friend by others but wants to make ...
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What is the usage of には in this sentence [duplicate]
What is the function of には in this sentence:
子供たちは密集して教師を取り囲み、みんなの眼が教師に向けられて、四方八方から口々に絶え間もなくしゃ べり立てていたが、Ｋには子供たちの早口の言葉が全然聞き取れなかった
It seems to me that は should be in place of には here.
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Understanding 買ってみたのに対応機種が違う
I am uncertain about how to interpret 買ってみたのに対応機種が違う below:
そんなDOS時代の美少女ゲームはユーザーにもいろいろ大変なことがあった。そのひとつが、同一ソフトなのにパソコンの機種ごとにバージョンがあったこと。今のユーザーには理解できないかもしれないが、当時はゲームをレジに持っていくと「PC9801版で大丈夫ですか?」などと確認されたものだ。...
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What does the last の in "おどるのはたのしいのです。" mean/do?
I'm having trouble understanding the grammar of this sentence:
おどるのはたのしいのです。
I understand it means, "Its fun to dance," but I'm struggling to understand why の is placed here:
おどるのはたのしいのです。
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Meaning of ば in the news
While watching this news I heard this sentence:
藤井八冠が“お菓子のふじい”を食べてくれればというのは、前から思っていまして、今後もぜひ活躍していただければと思います
I'm not sure about those ば's meaning: I was wondering if the second has an omitted いい, ...
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Why is there a 'は' in these sentences, forming double particles?
家では勉強できません。図書館でも勉強できません。
東京には、たくさん人がいます。
Can I drop the は in these two sentences?
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Why does Bunpro call ないか incorrect here?
It is recommended to use the (いき)ませんか version, as (いか)ないか would be a bit too casual to use with someone that you are not very close with (and is also technically not correct Japanese).
Given ませんか is ...
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Is 私は明日がスポーツを 遊ぶ。correct?
I'd like to say,"I'll play sports tomorrow." Would dropping the 私は be simpler? So instead, 明日がスポーツを 遊ぶ。as the 'I' can be implied?
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Why is it されてる and not されている？ [duplicate]
Is the verb used here される？ Is the progressive form often shortened to remove い from いる？
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Why is ‘は’ instead of 'が' or 'を' used here?
I saw a sentence:
これは、オンラインで聞けますか。
Why is ‘は’ instead of 'が' or 'を' used here? I think the full sentence should be like the following.
あなたはこれが/を、オンラインで聞けますか。
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Are questions ending in は polite or plain?
On my grammar textbook, there is a part about the possibility to ask a question with just the topic and は, for example:
お仕事は?
That can mean "what is your job?" or "how is work?".
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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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Meaning of まじくは
I've seen this sentence
許すまじくは許さない。俺自身は主義としたそうした一線を持たないが、だからといってそれを持つ人間を軽んじることはしないだろう。
and I would like to know what is the meaning of まじくは so that I can understand the expression 許すまじくは許さない.
Making ...
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Example with まじかる
I've tried to find an example of use of まじかる (打消推量の助動詞「まじ」の連体形). However, no matter how much I search, I can't find any sentence from any real text with まじかる.
The dictionaries I have consulted do not ...
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Verb て-form + もない meaning
Example sentence, which is a response to someone who is talking like they were already invited to a party:
まだ誘ってもないのに｡
I'm not able to wrap my head around the grammar used in what looks like a pretty ...
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Adding an adjective before a verb?
In this lyric "隣で歌う声怖がりな背中を押して" I'm confused how the がりな背中を押して works. I know how 背中を押して is used thanks to this post. But what does 怖がりな note. Is the person or the action 怖がりな?
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Why don't we say「何にも」, in 「別に何もなりたくない」?
I came across the phrase 「別に何もなりたくなかった」 "I didn't want to become anything in particular", in a conversation about future goals.
With [question word / 疑問詞] + も, my understanding is that が or ...
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ごとに, どの〜も, 毎 differences
What is the difference between these three sentences, do they all mean "Every city is big in America." ?
アメリカはどの町も大きいです。
アメリカは町ごとに大きいです。
アメリカは毎町が大きいです。
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What does ざらんや mean?
I've found this sentence
百獣の我を見て敢へて走らざらんや。
and I'm trying to understand what it means. Searching on Google, it seems that ざらんや belongs to Kobun language and is paired with 敢へて as explained here.
https:...
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What are the grammatical similarities between Mongolian and Japanese?
I am not claiming any Altaic theory or any other linguistic hypothesis so please do not mention that in the answers.
I am just a native English-speaker with a Mongolian background trying to learn, so ...
