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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How would you express the phrasing “Courtesy of [x]” in Japanese?
I’m having a bit of trouble figuring out how to phrase this sort of thing. I’m thinking of this in the context of “acknowledging that someone has formally done a service for another”.
Examples might ...
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Does 〜ようにする mean both 'make sure' and 'try'? (Grammar reference clarification)
On pg554 of Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, it says that [sic] 〜ようにする (to try to ~) is an idiomatic use of 〜ように (so that ~). However, pg562 gives the meaning 〜ようにする (to make sure that ~).
It ...
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Confusing sentence translation: スカートは試着して買わないと心配だ
This sentence came up, translated as:
スカートは試着して買わないと心配だ = I get worried if I don't try on skirts before buying them
To me it says something like 'if I try skirts and don't buy them then I'm worried'
...
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Negation in concurrent verbs
I saw this sentence in my workbook:
スープは音を立てて飲まないのがいいマナーとされる。
and I found many cases of 音を立てて飲まない on Google.
This expression seems to mean "to not drink, while making sounds", instead of &...
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た時 vs てから vs たら vs 後で
I've been looking at example sentences, and explanations, but I'm still unable to fully understand the differences between these. Can someone give me a brief explanation, or give me a link that will ...
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Asking what's in a container
I was playing around with Google translate to try to figure out how to ask what's in a container, and it suggested the following two sentences:
箱の中は何ですか
カートには何が入っていますか
So, firstly, why did it give a ...
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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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Use of も particle when stating what someone said
I believe the following sentence...
メアリーさんも来ると言っていましたから。
...translates as "Because Mary said that she would come."
Can you tell me what the function of the も particle is in this instance? I'm ...
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(よ)うが～まいが / (よ)うと～まいと vs かどうか
I'm currently studying some N1 grammar, and I actually find it pretty hard getting a feel of the grammar patterns.
I saw this pattern in my Anki deck:
わたしは他人の話に耳を傾けたわけではないんですが、むこうはきかれていようがいまいが、...
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~乙女ならばともかく: Translation and grammar issue
I was reading The Tatami Galaxy, and I came across the following sentence:
うら若き乙女ならばともかく、二十歳過ぎたむさ苦しい男を誰が抱きしめてやりたいものか。[pg.295]
I know ~ともかく means "leaving aside", "never mind X,..." ...
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What does 「ような 」mean in the following sentence?
What is the difference between
以下の条件を満たすような日本語スピーカーを探しています
and
以下の条件を満たす日本語スピーカーを探しています
?
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Do stative (as opposed to eventive) predicates have an object which is marked by が?
Do stative (as opposed to eventive) predicates have an object which is marked by が?
I'm just curious to see what other people actually think, and to hear of any sources where this may be analysed ...
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Position of volitional form and scope of かな ending
Referring to throwing away old clothes to improve your life:
この中のいくらかを捨てて、スッキリしてみようかな。
Maybe I will throw some of them away and try feeling refreshed.
My translation is a bit silly.
1) Does かな ...
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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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I've encountered でしょう and だろう in form of question which mean "right?". But what does でしょう and だろう mean without in question form?
I've encountered でしょう and だろう in form of question which mean "right?". But what does でしょう and だろう mean without in question form?
someone said that it mean "will"
and my teacher ...
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には in this context
デイブ： カナダも暖冬です。海が全部凍りません。だから、アザラシが逃げます。
恵子： まあ、かわいそうですね。シロクマは。でも、アザラシにはよかったかも！
Here is like a conversation between two people about polar bears in Canada.
What I am confused about is the use of には in ...
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Does the も particle mean "as far as" in the following sentence?
I'm translating a sentence, and I come across the particle も. I remember learning in my Beginner Japanese class that the particle も can be used to mean "too" in various situations, but that meaning is ...
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Why say 「いるわけ」when わけ isn't an animate object?
From the first episode of Death Note:
この世に不必要な人間を消すことのできるヤツがいるか？
いるわけがない
Why is いる used here, when わけ ("reasoning") isn't an animate object? Shouldn't this be "ある訳" instead?
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Function of 私に when someone else wants someone to do something
私の妻はこの古いよい帽子を私にすててほしいと思っている。
I understand this sentence, but when I dissect it, I realize I'm not sure why に is being used. Does anyone care to explain?
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Understanding the 「内容」 meaning of the で particle
On page 21 of 「初級を教える人のための日本語文法ハンドブック」, the authors make a valiant attempt at compiling the meanings of Japanese particles. The chart is at the bottom of this post. However one has always been ...
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だって, なんだって and some other interpretation questions
I have couple of issues/questions about a certain piece of monologue from a manga. Because it's from a manga I will be separating the lines based on boxes in which they are in, and using / to separate ...
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～くらいなら／～ぐらいなら・・・
ディオ「や・・・殺るか・・・い・・・いや 今はまずいッ！警察を介入させるぐらいなら最初からやっているッ！目的はあくまでこの家の財産！完全犯罪でなくてはならん！」
A short excerpt from the ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 manga. Quick backstory to the aforementioned quote: Dio, who has been adopted into ...
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confused about (よ)うとした
i have saw two different meaning in different context.
1.うとした means wanted to do something,but didn’t actually perform the action
ドアを開けようとしたが、鍵がかかっていました。
2.うとした means wanted to do something,and ...
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～させ給う - How to interpret?
おお・・・我らが慈母アマテラス大神
御許がこの世を去られて幾星霜時世経て久しくなりにけるも
この蘇神ひと時も欠くことなく今日の日を待ち申しけり
御許の御隠れの際に転び出でし十三の筆神はこの広い人界に惑い散り散りになりにけり
我は天の星座となりて生き長らえたるをいま一度御許に仕わせ失せ物の蘇るを見継がせ給え！
この力あらば涸れた天の川など忽ち星くずで溢れさせ給いぬ
Note: アマテラス大神, ...
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What is "と...との"doing in this sentence?
I was reading the book "刺青殺人事件" and came across this section:
しかし、そういう標本のどれにもまして、この一室を訪れて来る人々の注意を完全に奪ってしまうものは、壁を埋めてかかげられた刺青人皮のほかにはない。
それは奇妙なアラベスク、刺青師と、この芸術の愛好者との魂を、死後にとどめた曼陀羅図。
I initially ...
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Progressive form of movement verbs (or other stative verbs)
This is a fork from the question What's the progressive form of 来る, 帰る and 行く.
So the question explained that when ている is conjugated with these movement verbs (or other verbs that are more or less ...
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Does Xの時 need a に particle to indicate when something happened?
I know that absolute time references such as 九時 have に after them to indicate when something happened, and relative time references and parts of the day do not.
But what about "time references&...
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What does 母と慕う彼女は mean?
What does
母と慕う彼女は
mean?
I posted the question on HiNative to no luck and Google Translate is definitely way off. The use of the と particle has me a bit confused.
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ではない in Relative Clauses
I have read in several sources that it is grammatically incorrect to use は (topic particle) in relative clauses. However, I am almost certain that I have seen constructions like the following:
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Tense of sentences ending with のだ such as 楽しかったんだ
From what I can find,
楽しかったんだ
is considered to be in the past tense, which confuses me.
I would have thought that の nominalized the preceding phrase, and the sentences as a whole was then placed in ...
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Verb after な-adjective, is it necessary to complete the sentence?
I read somewhere that 形容動詞 are a special subclass of nouns. Contrarily 形容詞, the い adjectives, are actually a lot more similar to verbs. During the time that I have been learning Japanese language (...
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Why did the author use ある and ない for people?
I am reading the book 『君たちはどう生きるか』 by 吉野源三郎。
I have questions about the following two sentences:
それは、コペル君にお父さんがないということです。
「そう、そりゃあ、あんとも知れないな。ーーいや、今だって、ひょっとすると、どこかの窓から、僕たちを眺めてる人があるかもしれないよ。」
Why did ...
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What is the difference between に伴って and と共に？
Can somebody explain to me the difference between と共{とも}に and に伴{ともな}って？ I believe that sometimes they can be used interchangeably, but not always. Moreover, their basic meanings also seem to differ. ...
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What's the difference between 上で and 次第？
I was wondering what was the difference between 上で and 次第. As for their significance I think that they differ a little. On one end, 上で bears the meaning of "upon doing something", whilst 次第 implies ...
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What does ます stem + に mean? [duplicate]
昨日より、強めに怒られたのだろう
In this sentence specificly, Apparently it means "was scolded more strongly than yesterday" based on the context but does it mean that you can use a ます stem of a verb + に ...
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How do you say "you can do this or that"?
I'm having trouble figuring out how to suggest two different scenarios. The question on my homework was "What can you do with $300?" I am looking to say something along the lines of "You could buy A, ...
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In a sentence like メニューに値段が書いてない, are we seeing the ～てある pattern in the negative, or a contraction of 書いている?
One way to say that there are no prices on the menu would be to use the ～てある pattern and say:
メニューに値段が書いてありません。
Presumably, then, the plain equivalent of this sentence would be:
メニューに値段が書いてない。
...
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Why does this sentence 「授業中は、おしゃべりしないの」use しない instead of するな
So I got this sentence
授業中は、おしゃべりしないの
from this article in Tofugu.com.
It's supposed to translate to "Don't chat during class!".
Why does it use しない instead of するな? I thought to say "...
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Doubt about third conditional sentence
This is a sentence from Death Note. The assassin has just said "I am victorious!" thinking his plan to kill everyone was successful. But being alive and still, the detective says:
あなたはさっき、...
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Meaning of もつて in the 割賦販売法
What is the meaning of "もつて" in article 1 of the 割賦販売法?
「この法律は、割賦販売等に係る取引の公正の確保、購入者等が受けることのある損害の防止及びクレジットカード番号等の適切な管理等に必要な措置を講ずることにより、割賦販売等に係る取引の健全な発達を図るとともに、購入者等の利益を保護し、...
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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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Meaning of verb + negative-verb
While reading 君死にたもう流星群 vol. 4, I found this sentence:
黒井{くろい}の本はまったく売れない。いや、売れる売れないというレベルではなく、開始二時間が経つというのに誰ひとり客が来ない
Kuroi is attending together with the main character an event like Comiket, and ...
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how is に used in this sentence?
I just need clarification of how it was used in this particular sentence
相対的になされるべきで 一部ではなく全体のバランスが対象に
I'm just confused why there is a に at the end I did check the video if the voice actor said ...
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あなたがこの文のおかしいと思うところは？
The structure strikes me because the underlying transformation seems to be like this:
[ あなたが ] [ この文の ～ところを ] [ おかしいと ] 思う
[ あなたが ] [ この文の ＿＿＿＿＿ ] [ おかしいと ] 思う ところは～
Another similar example is:
[ ...
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Past Unreal Conditional
After my first question was answered so beautifully, I would like to ask some more. :D
I wanted to know how to use conditionals for events in the past, like: "If I had saved my money, I would be rich ...
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The meaning of 内 with other Kanjis
Konnichiwa , I found this sentence on the news recently :
"政府内には、「信教の自由を脅かしかねない」との慎重論もあるが、宗教法人法に基づく調査が実施されれば、初めての事になる。"
And I can't figure out whether "政府内には" means "inside ...
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How to parse 親も辞書を買ってやったかいがあるってもんだ
親も辞書を買ってやったかいがあるってもんだよ
The context is that speaker (a child) is trying to find the meaning of a word and asks her friend if she can borrow a dictionary. The friend ridicules her. She brushes aside ...
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This instance of のに is opposite from my expectations
I have this sentence in one of my JLPT practise books:
電子{でんし}レンジは冷{さ}めた料理{りょうり}を温{あたた}めるのに重宝{ちょうほう}だ。
I thought のに meant something like "in spite of". So, to me, this sentence seems to be saying ...
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まで versus さえ when meaning "even", "to the point of-"
I'm currently going over lesson no. 21 of 新完全マスター N2, and I'm not sure about the difference between the usage of ~まで and ~さえ.
Looking at the description and the example sentences, it seemed like both ...
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Is する omitted from ~たり~たりする because the main predicate is an adjective?
(A) 今日は映画を見たり買い物をしたりで楽しかった
I had a good time seeing a movie and going shopping today.
From wildnihongo.com,
When ~たり~たりする is not the final segment of a sentence and the main predicate is an ...
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