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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What's the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)?
When is it correct to use は but not が, and when is it correct to use が but not は? Are there any times when you can use either without changing the meaning of the sentence? How does switching change ...
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Differences among -たら, なら, -と, -んだったら, -ば, etc
The Japanese language has a lot of patterns for "if" clauses. What are the differences among the following patterns and how do we choose to use one over the others?:
行くと
行ったら
行くなら
行けば
行くんだったら
行くのなら
...
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What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ?
There were a lot of great answers here. I gave the checkmark to ento's answer because I felt it most completely explained all aspects of this use of こと. But many of the other answers are excellent, so ...
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What is the difference between the nominalizers こと and の?
As Derek mentioned in his postscript, both こと and の are nominalizers that can turn a verb into a noun.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】。 I play the piano.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】のが好き【すき】です。 I like playing the piano.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】ことが好き【すき】...
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What is the difference between "に" and "には"?
The title should be pretty self-explanatory. What meanings does each convey? And in what kinds of circumstances would one be used instead of the other?
For example, what are the differences between ...
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When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state?
Last night, when I asked my wife to send an email to me, she said もう送っている which I took to mean that she was "sending the message". (The message had a big attachment so I imagined that it could take a ...
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Difference between -ていく and -てくる
Can someone explain the differences between v-ていく and v-てくる for me. I know that they both express some kind of ongoing action (like a place getting crowded). For example, what's the difference between ...
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でも (demo) versus けど (kedo) to mean "but"
I learned that you can use でも (demo) at the beginning of a sentence to mean "but," and that you can use けど (kedo) at the end of a sentence to mean "though." However, I don't see a difference between ...
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Why does Japanese have two kinds of adjectives? (-i adjectives and -na adjectives)
Japanese has two kinds of adjectives known by several terms but the ones I know are i-adjectives and na-adjectives - why?
I recall that Japanese adjectives are much more like verbs than in English ...
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When going somewhere, is there any difference between e (へ) and ni (に)?
Can you use へ and に interchangeably, as in:
北海道へ行く
and
北海道に行く ?
Are there any subtle differences in the use of these two?
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The difference between が and を with the potential form of a verb
When using the potential form of a verb, I was taught that the particle を becomes が. However, in real life this seems to not always be the case. I've even heard Japanese people use を instead of が ...
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ことができる versus V~える form
Way back in the day when I was first learning Japanese, I learned that you could add ことができる to a verb to indicate potential. Like so:
食{た}べることができる
(I) can eat (something)
It became my ...
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What is the difference between 〜となる and 〜になる?
Is it a nuance difference? Is it formality?
EDIT
For example:
請求書のお支払いは現金のみとなりますので、ご了承くださいませ。
請求書のお支払いは現金のみになりますので、ご了承くださいませ。
I just made that example up, but for some reason, my gut tells me it's ...
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i-adjectives used as na-adjectives: is there a difference? (e.g. 大きい versus 大きな)
There are at the very least several i-adjectives can be used as na-adjectives by dropping the final い and adding な in its place. The most common examples of this, as far as I am aware, are 大きい and 小さい,...
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What's the difference between なぜ、どうして and なんで when meaning 'why'?
I've been meaning to ask this for a while.
What is the difference between these 3 words. I was taught they all mean "why", but obviously, being different words they convey different nuance and would ...
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What is the meaning of 「読むには読んだ」?
I have the following sentence and I can't find any material pointing out the usage of this grammar.
薦められた本を読むには読んだが、よく理解できなかった。
In general, what is the usage of 「VるにはVた」?
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Usage of なんて and なんか as emphasis
When are なんて and なんか used as emphasis in casual speech? Are they used when you're surprised, angry or can it be both? What sort of feeling does it convey to the listener compared to a normal sentence ...
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Why is Katakana not pronounced Katagana?
I am a beginner in Japanese and I've noticed that when two words are compounded into one word the first letter of the second word changes.
hira + kana = hiragana
ko + hayashi = kobayashi
ori + kami ...
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The difference between くらい and ほど in hyperbole
The following two sentences, I believe, are grammatically okay, however I'm not sure on how they differ in nuance.
もう[歩]{ある}けないほど[疲]{つか}れた！
もう歩けないくらい疲れた！
Additionally, why is it that:
[死]{し}...
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Usage of commas in Japanese sentences
This might sound like a strange question, but how does the usage of commas differ when used in Japanese compared to English?
I believe りんご、オレンジとバナナ wouldn't work, but that it's OK to list like りんご、...
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The differences between ～がたい、〜にくい、〜づらい
I was wondering what the differences are between these three: ～がたい、〜にくい、〜づらい
They all seem to be some sort of variant of "Hard to do ~". But it seems they are used with different verbs and/or imply ...
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Contrasting っぽい、らしい、みたい
For example, the following 3:
女っぽい (おんなっぽい)
女らしい (おんならしい)
女みたい (おんなみたい)
In what situations would you use っぽい over らしい？ Does っぽい have negative connotations? Are 女らしい and 女みたい interchangeable as in ...
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Difference between ために and ように
I've got a question regarding difference in usage of 辞書形+ように and 辞書形+ために with verbs' dictionary forms, i.e.
飛行機に乗り遅れないように、前日早寝したのです。
彼は質問をするために手を上げました。
The notion I get is that the first is used ...
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Why is the topic marker often used in negative statements (ではない, ～とは思わない)?
What function does は provide in statements such as 本ではない or 本だとは思わない? I notice the は after と is often left out, at least if a Google search for 思わない is any indication, but there still seems to be a ...
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Japanese Buts: でも, しかし, ただ, ただし, ところが, が, けど, けれど, けれども
I'm sure someone asked a similar question but I did a search and couldn't find any. Usually I just translate everything into but, but (no pun intended) I think it's about time I got into the nitty ...
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The reason for using 何も+negative, but 何でも+positive
In one of the Japanese classes I attended, I've been taught that while we use 「何も出来ない」to say "He cannot do anything", to say "He can do anything" we use 「何でも出来る」 instead of 「何も出来る」.
Why is there a ...
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Difference between にかんして and について?
What is the difference between にかんして and について?
Example usage would be much appreciated!
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What exactly is a "taru adjective"
On the talk page of the Wikipedia article on "Japanese adjectives", user Dougalg suggested nearly two years ago:
I know these are falling out of use, but still exist. If anyone can give an ...
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What's the difference between による, により and によって?
I don't understand when you use them and what the difference is between the three.
For example, when you say:
火事によって多くの森林が焼けてしまった。
今回の地震による津波の心配はない。
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Why is it 日本語がわかります instead of 日本語をわかります?
From what I understand, は is the topic marker, が is the subject marker, and を is the object marker.
One of the first sentences I learned doesn't seem to fit the rules I described above. The sentence ...
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Usage of ～を好き outside of embedded clauses
日本語文法の初心者です :D
In general, を is not used with 好き because 好き is a na-adjective:
彼は猫が好きです。 — correct
彼は猫を好きです。 — incorrect
If this part is "embedded" as a clause, を is also ...
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Adjectives functioning both as イ- and ナ-adjective
This question has made me think about the class of adjectives, which can function both as イ- and as ナ-adjective, e.g.
大きい 大きな
小さい 小さな
真っ白い 真っ白な (etc.)
細かい 細かな
暖かい 暖かな
四角い 四角な (etc.)
柔らかい ...
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When to use 欲しがる instead of 欲しい
When does one use 欲しがる instead of 欲しい? For example, in phrases like:
先生は野菜を食べて欲し｛いです・がっています｝。
My incomplete understanding is that the がる form is more formal/polite, but it can only be used when ...
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Difference between そうです、 ようです and らしいです.
Here are the example sentences.
デイビットは料理が上手そうです。
デイビットは料理が上手なようです。
デイビットは料理が上手らしいです。
Firstly, what does デイビット mean as based on reading alone its sounds like 'debit' to me which is a strange name ...
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I don't understand what のも means in 生まれたのも育ったのも京都なんですよ
Here's the sentence in question:
生まれたのも育ったのも京都なんですよ
I thought using の in a sentence signified possession (e.g. 私の本 [My book]). If I interpret the sentence as such, it doesn't make any sense.
Then I ...
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So-called の-adjectives - how does の *really* work?
Ok, so there seems to be some controversy over whether we can really say that there are 'の-adjectives', or whether we simply use a noun in an "attributive" way (a term which I don't actually really ...
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ないで vs なくて: combining phrases with negative verbs
Can you use 〜なくて instead of 〜ないで in the following sentence without changing the meaning?
病気になると、一切化学薬品や抗生物質を使わないで、鍼や指圧や漢方薬で直します。風邪の時は何もしないで暖かくして、寝ているだけです。
In general, what's the difference between ...
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the different usages of つもり?
Hi all I understand that つもり means "intention" like say 夏休みにはゆっくり休むつもりです。 = I intend to rest during the summer vacation.
But what does 分かっているつもりだ。 means?
Well if I translate directly, it seems to be ...
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Particle に to enumerate things / to list items?
I encountered several sentences where に was used—from my deduction of the context—to enumerate things. For example a character about to go somewhere, checks his bag if he has everything he needs :
2:「...
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"太ってる猫" vs "太った猫"
I saw this sentence and its translation in a textbook
彼女は太った猫が好きじゃない。
She doesn't like fat cats
I was under the impression that 「太ってる猫」 means something like “cat that is in the state of becoming ...
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What are the differences between 〜ので and 〜から?
When I was studying this, my 先生 kind of brushed over the point, and then years later, I realize that they are different, but I don't know exactly how.
The only thing I understand is that ので is more ...
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The meanings of ものだ
Could someone please explain to me the different meanings that ものだ can have at the end of a sentence ? Here are some examples I understand the general meaning of, but I don't understand the logic/...
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What is the meaning of りゃ in this phrase?
I came across this phrase while reading an interview.
そういう時はなんて答えりゃいいんだ。
I think it means "At a time like that, such a reply/response is good."
But I don't understand the usage of りゃ. I couldn't ...
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Positioning of quantities (using counters)
Example 1
ビール一杯を飲む
一杯のビールを飲む
ビールを一杯飲む
Example 2
ネジ2本を取り付ける
2本のネジを取り付ける
ネジを2本取り付ける
Is there any difference between the above examples with the positioning of the quantity?
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Can we optionally include (or exclude) an を particle in between the noun of the する-verb and the する itself?
When we have a する verb (e.g. 支{し}度{たく}する、案{あん}内{ない}する、心{しん}配{ぱい}する), is it true that we could optionally insert an を particle in between the noun and the する?
Because in the example sentences here and ...
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<adv> versus <adv>+と versus <adv>+に
I often see adverbs used in one of three ways:
1) Adverb appears in isolation in a sentence:
あまり 好きじゃないんですが。
2) Adverb is followed by に
別々に お願いします。
1970年代後半、多くの罪もない日本の一般市民が 次々に 失踪した。
3) ...
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What is the usage of 〜げ and how does it differ from 〜そう or 〜っぽい?
How do these two differ, for example:
寂しそう vs 寂しげ
楽しそう vs 楽しげ
言いたそう vs 言いたげ
大人げ vs 大人っぽい（...？ Not sure if this one works.)
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Usage of ～じゃん (～じゃない)
I'd like to know if I can put ～じゃん at the end of every adjective, if there are any exceptions to that usage, and if it's different from ～じゃない.
Adj (na) + じゃん
便利じゃん
便利だったじゃん
便利じゃないじゃん
...
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Reading (and usage) of 他: when is it 【た】, when is it 【ほか】?
他 is one of these common words that still to this day confuses me...
My general assumption is that:
used as a prefix, it should always be read 【た】, e.g.: 他人【たにん】
when treated as a "substantive" (...
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