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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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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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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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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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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Can verbs ending with たり act as a noun?
While reading a certain manga, I found this sentence
小さい頃オレは何をするにも人の目が気になって自分の意見を言うのが苦手でさそれで後悔することも多かったけど嫌われたりが怖かったりでできなくて
I am curious about the 嫌われたりが怖かったり part. It is understood as "scared ...
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Is it 昨日の午後 or 昨日午後
When using の to describe when something occurred, what is used?
昨日 の 午後 or 昨日午後 for "yesterday afternoon"
昨日 の 一時 or 昨日一時 for "yesterday at 1 o'clock"
昨日 の 午後一時 or 昨日午後一時 for "...
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what does ことに...ことに... mean here?
この教室の窓というのが、トットちゃんにとっては幸福なことに、先生にとっては不幸なことに、一階にあり、しかも通りは目の前だった。
I googled it ,and it only turned out ことに used like this
残念なことに、その商品はもう販売中止になりました。
but this usage obviously don't match the context I ...
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い-adjectives derived from verbs
Some い-adjectives are derived somehow from verbs. For instance, 忙しい is related to 急ぐ according to Wiktionary.
Are there many い-adjectives derived from verbs? If a given verb has an adjectival form, ...
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Translating into single line having the qualification name, subjects and its grades
I've been trying to translate this single line of the qualification name, subjects, and its grades in Japanese and somehow it looks more challenging to me than how it's supposed to be. Here is the ...
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Is this phrase a double negation? [duplicate]
身を切るよう な寒い 中 で わざわざ 遊ばなくて もいい じゃない。
asobanakute comes from asobanai (i imagine), but why the jyanai? I know that the phrase mean "You don't have to play outside in the biting wind" but the ...
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what does の方 here mean?
会社員の方の月給すべて競馬に賭けてみた!
I wonder, is の方 really necessary here? what meaning does it add?
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Understanding あるところ when used in a past-tense sentence [duplicate]
In
昔あるところにおじいさんとおばあさんが住んでいました
Why isn't ある in the past tense (since we're talking a place that existed in the past)? Would the sentence still be grammatical if it was?
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Meaning of 「くらいで」after a verb when describing an environment? [duplicate]
What is the meaning of 「くらいで」after the verbs in these sentences?
「壁にはカレンダーが貼られているくらいで、ポスターなんかはいっさいない」
「その他にはミニコンポがあるくらいで、パソコンやらテレビやらゲームやらない」
From context, I would guess it to mean something along the ...
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Translation and plural - girl and girls! [duplicate]
Sorry for the question that will certainly be trivial, but for me Japanese is totally unknown territory.
I should translate this sentence into Japanese: "The Girls and the Heron" (it would ...
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でもね sentence ending
From Oshi no ko ch. 38,
For context, these guys saw the debut of a new group named B小町. They recall hearing about a group of the same name.
I am confused about the function of でもね at the end of the ...
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Meaning of とすればの話だが
ピーブズよりやっかいなのは...そんなのがいるとすればの話だが...管理人のアーグスフィルチだった。
The thing that was a bigger nuisance than Peeves...if there was such a thing... was the caretaker, Argus Filch.
I'm struggling to understand what ...
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How 剥がれたり works here?
I am bit puzzled by the use of 剥がれたり in the below panel
剥がれたりまばたきがしにくくなるから顔の筋肉に沿ってね
Why 剥ぐ is passive here? Also, what's the purpose of たり? It looks like a substitute for て form?
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Understanding the usage of ならまだしも
アメリカならまだしも失踪した未成年に大麻の検査まではしないだろう
Upon some googling, the grammar seems to used for something akin to
Pattern 1) Noun[A] + ならまだしも + [B]
[A] is the preferred option over [B].
However I'm struggling to ...
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what is に's function in this sentence
こうした近代における新しい民族併合の過程は、他の民族に対する強制や差別など、古代から民族の形成を通じて共感を形作ってきた単一民族としてのアイデンティティに、多くの問題を引き起こした。
I am trying to contract this sentence
この過程はアイデンティティに、多くの問題を引き起こした
but I still can't figure out に's role ...
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what are the differences between ないでもいい and なくてもいい?
Ive seen this sentence 強がらないでいい.
I wondered
Would there be any difference if i replaced it with 強がらなくていい?
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why does this sentence work: 「私が、それを使って文章を書いたところの、ペン」?
So I've found this sentence:
私が、それを使って文章を書いたところの、ペン
And I'm wondering why it works. It's translated as "The pen that I used to write sentences with."
Shouldn't it be: "The pen that I ...
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Word order in 銀河鉄道の夜
I was reading 銀河鉄道の夜, and I’m confused on the choice of word order in the following sentence. I understand what the sentence means, but I do not understand why みんな isnt before が.
たしかにあれがみんな星だと
Let ...
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Can aru be used as an adjective?
So I have this sentence すべての会社は、才能ある人材を育成すべきだ. I'm focusing on 才能ある人材. I'm guessing that 才能ある is short for 才能がある. But then aru is followed by 人材 which is another noun. The translation is "people ...
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How is 「相手」being used here?
From the ”上級で学ぶ日本語” N2 level book, page 51, ローソク島 reading, 2nd to the last line of the 2nd paragraph.
In the story the author is convinced to go visit "Candlestick Island" by the employees ...
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How does a parent address their child's teacher or principal?
Would the honorific さま (-sama) surfice when addressing a teacher or principal? I'm uncertain if a parent would use 先生 (sensei) or こうちょうせんせい (kōchōsensei) as it's not their teacher, but their child's.
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The meaning of って (No quotation, No "even if") [duplicate]
I found a lot of questions about って here, but none helps me to understand the nuance of the following sentence:
ね、あの子の言う少佐って誰のこと？
It does not seem to be the quotation because の言う is already used ...
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Would it be gramatically correct to say 学校は行きます as opposed to 学校に行きます
My understanding is that 学校は行きます would mean: As for school, I will go there.
While 学校に行きます is: I will go to school.
But is this the first sentence ever used? Or even grammatically correct?
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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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About omitting ということ in relative sentences
I was reviewing some concepts about the use of ということ in relative sentences, and there's something I still can't quite understand.
Looking at the sentence:
パンジーが食べられる花だということは知っている
(I know that pansies ...
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Why is the suru preceding ningen in its te form in the sentence "Kare wa an'na koto o shite ningen to shite shikkakuda"?
So yeah why is suru in the te form in this sentence "Kare wa an'na koto o shite ningen to shite shikkakuda"? I'm thinking it is shite to mean "doing" but it isn't followed by iru. ...
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したく in 「戦いをしたくありません.」
In
戦いをしたくありません.
[He] didn't want to start a war.
is したく the adverbial form of したい? Literally speaking, does this sentence means something like
"wanting to do a war"-ly doesn't exist.
...
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Can't understand 'その辺うまくこう利用できるような
In this video clip: https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxvmz1x_zYQepLxH7I0uV_CPevy6VgL6ya ,
the man says:
その辺うまくこう利用できるような
I guess こう利用できるような means 'like this, to make it usable'. But what is その辺? Is it '...
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Omission of particles in haiku
This may be a little too specific, but am I allowed to omit particles with verbs in haiku? Here’s what I wrote for context:
この世界
から逃げるとき
夢入る
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What difference will it make if I just write sentaku in the sentence "Ii tenki denaito, sentaku mono ga kawakimasen"?
What's the difference between sentaku and sentakumono?
Can't I just say "Ii tenki denaito, sentaku ga kawakimasen"?
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Why is "Kore de ii" correct? [duplicate]
So I've learned that the de particle is used to indicate the location where an action takes place or indicate the means by which something is done.
However in "Kore de ii" Kore is neither ...
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Why is dake followed by a negative verb in "Boku dake ga inai machi" [duplicate]
I read that dake is followed by a postive. So "Sushi dake taberu" is correct while "Sushi dake tabenai" is wrong. And the first sentence means "I only eat sushi"
So why ...
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Can I use きれいそう to say that someone looks beautiful? [duplicate]
Since きれいそう means "to look(seem) beautiful/clean" would it be okay if I used "彼女はきれいそうです" to say that a girl looks beautiful or should I just say "彼女はきれいです"?
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Is there any other difference between なくなり vs なくなって besides the former being more formal than the latter?
I can't figure out if the difference between the two is just a matter of formality or if there are cases I would prefer to use one over the other regarding the context or nuance I want to convey.
For ...
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What does it mean when the kana を is at the end of the sentence?
I have seen a couple of instances of を being used at the end of sentence. From my limited knowledge, を is supposed to be used to indicate the direct object of a verb, but I have seen it following a ...
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Use of ており JLPT N3: 「このような都市はコンパクトシティと言われており、...」
I am studying a reading book for JLPT3 and I came across a grammar I can't seem to find:
このような都市はコンパクトシティと言われており、お年寄りも気軽にいろいろな場所へ行くことができる。
Can someone explain the use of the verb おる here?
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How can I determine what particle (∅, に or は) should I use with temporal nouns?
I’m a bit confused with the choice of particle with temporal nouns. For example, which is the difference between the following sentences?
夏休旅行したいと思っています。
夏休に旅行したいと思っています。
夏休は旅行したいと思っています。
And ...
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なるほど why it means "I understand" and usage as an adverb
I recently came across this phrase
しばらくは呆れていましたが、なるほど考えてみると
My questions are:
What is the meaning of this なるほど?
Why なるほど means "I understand" when used in isolation?
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Why say 彼らは私の勉強を手伝ってくれる instead of 彼らは勉強を私に手伝う?
Why say
彼{かれ}らは私{わたし}の勉強{べんきょう}を手{て}伝{つだ}ってくれる
instead of
彼{かれ}らは勉強{べんきょう}を私{わたし}に手{て}伝{つだ}う
to say "they help me study"?
What does くれる do in the first sentence? Doesn't it mean "to ...
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What does the きた in this sentence mean?
今度は何を覚えてきた?
Mother said to her daughter that just got back home
I wanna interpret it as "what did you learn? (and got back here home)?" but i don't know if that's correct.
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How to say "For me it’s hard to speak Japanese"?
Just a quick question: If I wanted to say "For me it’s hard to speak Japanese." would it be correct to say 私は日本語を話しにくいです。or would that be unnatural? And do I have to use を or で after 日本語 (...
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Why are both 選び and 祝福した taking the same object even though one is in their masu stem and the other isn't? [duplicate]
I noticed that in this sentence:
主{しゅ}はあなたを選{えら}び、祝福{しゅくふく}した。
選{えら}び (masu stem) and 祝福{しゅくふく}した (noun + suru verb) take the same object. Is there a grammar rule for this? I can't seem to find any ...
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Why does the sentence "Omo wa anata to tomoni oraremasu" use "anata to"?
So I've changed the question since it was a segmentation fault.
Why did the sentence use "anata to"?
Tomo means together, doesn't to already means together?
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