Questions tagged [meaning]
意味. The meaning of words or phrases within certain contexts, especially when it does not seem to match the standard definition.
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Making sense of transitive usage of 行く and 来る - 「を行く」 and 「を来る」
I think it's known that some intransitive verbs can take を particle and be used as transitive verbs such as for example 「私のことを分かってくれない」. While using 分かる transitively would require specific scenarios ...
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が and に interchangeability and difference in meaning
Consider these sentences:
だれ{が・に}これが出来るか
だれ{が・に}日本語が分からないか
When both が and に are acceptable, what is their difference in meaning and practical usage?
Flaw♦
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て form at end of phrase but not being used for requests
俺旅芸人の一座にいたんだけどそれがあの盗賊どもに襲われちゃってさー
The て form is used at the end but not for a request. It doesn't seem to be one of those cases where the order of the words is simply "inverted" either, so ...
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Meaning of ところ in アメリカのいいところ
I feel as though I understand what the below sentence means, but what I think it means makes no sense.
日本に行ったら、アメリカのいいところも発見できるかもしれないですね。
My translation: If you go to Japan, you might be able to ...
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What is the difference between "verb＋て＋みる" and "verb＋(よ)う+とする"?
In Japanese there are words which mean "to try something or attempt at doing something", e.g. 試す, 試みる and つとめる.
However, at the same time we also have two grammatical constructions "...
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What does さあ (saa) mean?
I have seen this term used a lot in many different ways.
「さあ、忘れましょうその未来が」 saa, wasuremashou sono mirai ga — in this sense, I assume it means "come".
But I have also seen it used as
「でもさあ」 demo saa — ...
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Who scolded whom in Aに怒られる?
I can see that someone got mad or someone made someone else mad. The things that make it difficult are に and the られる form of 怒る. What does this mean? How do you figure out who did what in these types ...
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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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What does verb+とする mean?
Take the below as an example
では私達は先に行くとするわ。ごきげんよう、皆さん.
What is the difference between saying 行くとする and 行く and 行こうとする
I've seen a lot of explanations for とする that use the meaning of "assume" ...
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Passive form - The exact difference between を and が
I've seen this question asked before, but i feel the answer didn't quite answer all my questions, so here goes.
Now, I am rather sure that this:
ケーキが食べられた
Means:
The cake was eaten. (by ...
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What does チャラ mean?
What does チャラ mean? It was explained here that チャラ男 means light image. Does that mean cool image of a person? A cool person?
チャラ男とは言動が軽いさまを表す「チャラチャラ」またはこれが形容詞化された「チャラい」を男性名っぽくしたものである（単に「チャラチャラした男」「...
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Meaning of も in そんなの珍しくもない
This sentence is from Doraemon:
そんなのめずらしくもないよ.
I think it means "It is not that rare/uncommon".
But I don't understand the use of く も here. Should it be interpreted as めずらしく + も?
Why did ...
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このほか、体につけると普通の３０％ぐらいの力で重い物を持つことができる機械もあります
このほか、体につけると普通の３０％ぐらいの力で重い物を持つことができる機械もあります。(source)
In addition, there were also machines which could lift/hold heavy things with about 30% of the regular strength, when you wear them on your body.
...
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に and で revisited
Consider the statement A: ホテル（に/で）泊まる. For both cases would translate to "I stay at a hotel" in English. However they are answers to different questions.
Consider the questions １．どこに泊まる and ２．（ホテルで）...
Flaw♦
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What does ここじゃ何だ means in this sentence?
「そ、そうか。何か大変そうだな……ここじゃ何{なん}だ、取りあえず私の店まで来いよ」
I couldn't find the meaning...
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The usage of とは in 緊急招集とは、おだやかではないな
From what I understand, とは can be used to "define" things. So does this mean that it can be used to expand on what comes before とは/というのは and that which comes after will explain the speakers view/...
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About っていうか&っていうの&っていうんだ
Please help me with the following three sentences:
①俺が何をしたっていうんだ。
②一人だから、何だというんだ。
③彼女の何がダメだっていうの。
All of them are copied from lines of some Japanese drama. I can't figure out how such ...
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Meaning of ぬ added to 連用形 / masu-stem, as in 風立ちぬ
What does the ぬ at the end of 立ち specify? I can't find a verb that is just 立ちぬ, is this some kind of special form? Can this be done with other verbs as well?
風立ちぬ, for reference, is Miyazaki's new ...
user3457
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Postpositional or prepositional くらい
I heard the following phrase from an ad for Jetstar Japan:
びっくりするくらい最低よね！
I know the individual meaning of the words.
びっくりする - to be surprised,
くらい - around(?)
最低 - lowest/cheapest
This ad is ...
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What is the meaning of のか and how does it differ from か?
What is the meaning of のか in the following sentences? Does it have the same meaning as のですか?
漢字はどう正しく書くのか、どう正しく読むのか、彼らは時々迷います。
参加するのか、参加しないのか、ここではっきり返事しなさい。
Also, I have found sentences of the same ...
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What is the meaning of 〜たりして?
I've just come across "〜していたりして" at the end of a sentence in a post on Facebook, so it's probably very casual. Does anyone know the correct meaning and typical usage?
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The difference between は and を? [duplicate]
Hello everyone as the title states I am having difficulty understanding when to use the correct particle.
As an example
肉は食べません (I do not eat meat)
and
やさいを食べます (I eat vegetables)
Is it ...
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The usage of という in questions
My question is about the differences when using という in a question compared to without.
Take for example the 4 questions below
何があったというのだ？
何があったのだ？
何かが始まるというの？
何かが始まるの？
The two questions ...
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Meaning of にと思って in a sentence
I've been thinking about this for a few days but I still can't figure out what this means. Sorry if this is really beginner-like!
I was wondering what this particular part in a sentence means: にと思って. ...
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Japanese don't learn kanji meaning only readings? Does it make sense for a kanji to have a key meaning to identify it?
As I understand it works like this. By the time Japanese kids enter first grade they have more or less decent vocabulary of words they know. So when kanjis are taught I can't even imagine how to tell ...
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います and あります usage
I just learned about: います and あります.
I know I should use います for people and moving things and あります for plants and inanimate things.
I have two doubts:
Which one should I use with "dead body". For ...
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Ups and downs: かみ・しも vs うえ・した
So, we have the kanji 上・下 which can be read as either かみ・しも or うえ・した, and as I understand it, those two are antonym pairs. But what are the differences between the two?
The thesaurus isn't very ...
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How do 自他 triplets of related verbs work?
I thought this had been asked before (possibly by me), but I couldn't find it. I'm wondering why for certain verbs/words, instead of just a 自他 pair, there is a triplet (or possibly more) where two of ...
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Is 「うそおっしゃい」 to be taken literally here?
In the video game Ripening Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love, the protagonist Tingle meets a fortune teller who demonstrates her powers to him. She asks him, "You come from a far away town, right?" If ...
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Looking for an explanation of the usage "あったものじゃない”
I'm looking for an explanation of the usage "あったものじゃない”.
例文
１）ムードも何もあったものじゃありませんね (context:Girlfriend and boyfriend were out on a date and the boyfriend's stomach made a large noise because he ...
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Dictionary form of verb followed by に
I've recently begun noticing that occasionally I'll see a dictionary form of the verb followed by the particle に, for example:
1.)まだ学校へ行くには早い時間です。 It's still too early to go to school.
I've been ...
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What is the difference between それでいい and それがいい here?
As I understand it, それでいい means 'it is fine like this' and それがいい means 'this is fine', but what is the protagonist trying to convey here by first using それでいい and then correcting himself to それがいい?
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How to use こっち、そっち、あっち and どっち
Could you tell me when to use:
こっち、そっち、あっち、どっち?
I don't understand when to use them.
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Meaning of a sentence with Aが言うのもなんだけど and other considerations
Basically my question is what does the following line mean:
A: あたしらが言うのもなんだけど……テストの相手があたしらで、テストになんの？
Context: Persons A and B are testing the combat abilities of one of two groups of people. To ...
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What does かけ mean in こわれかけのオルゴール?
If こわれかけのオルゴール was 壊れかけのオルゴール, 壊れ would be the stem of 壊れる, and かけ would probably be a noun. Since I'm just learning Japanese, I don't understand where かけ comes from. What meaning does かけ have in ...
user9296
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Some questions about って
Here is a sentence from Dragon Ball :
一気にこれ以上修業したって意味はないって。限界までやったんだ。
悟空 says this to his son who's worried because they just chill out before a battle instead of training until the last minute.
As ...
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How does the passive form work here?
This is from a visual novel.
A dude is talking to his underlings:
さって本日よりきさまらに新たな命令が下されるわけだが
It translates to
"Well now I’m calling you to give new orders"
I was under the impression that ...
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How can I tell if a Japanese person's given name is male or female?
I am hoping that there may be some particular kanji and/or sounds used in determining if a persons given name is male or female.
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Why can だって have so many meanings?
According to jisho.org, だって has these meanings:
after all; because
but
even
too; as well; also
they say; I hear; you mean
In my opinion, "because" and "but", and "as well" are completely different ...
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What does 氏 mean after a name, how is it different from さん or 様?
If you look in the dictionary for the definition of 氏 you'll find it defined as: family name; lineage; birth.
However I have seen it used in such a way that it is doubtful that it means any of those ...
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Usage (correctness) of だと after verbs
I've noticed だと showing up after verbs for a while now in various forms of media, such as blogs, anime, regular TV shows & also when speaking to Japanese people. However, I was originally told ...
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What does こと mean in this context? こと脚に関しては他のサーヴァントより優位におるぞ
余はライダー。こと脚に関しては他のサーヴァントより優位におるぞ。
https://soundcloud.com/felipem-ller/wed-feb-13-2019-1
So, sorry for repeating the title, but the question is simple, what does こと mean in this context?
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Does さえ mean "even" in the following sentence?
I encountered the following in our daily reading.
どのような企業{きぎょう}も、創業期{そうぎょうき}には全社員が昼食をとること さえ 忘れてしまうほど、忙しくフル回転していたものです。
In a business, a person was so busy that he forgot to eat lunch even lunch. (Not ...
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Vて+しまう？ 他の使い方がある？
「Vて＋しまう」 to express an action that has taken place unintentionally often with unsatisfactory results (guidetojapanese.org). I have a sentence below and I don't know what the 「しまう」 for.
試験が終わった！...
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Meaning of ほうなんで?
It is a "simple" sentence, but I can't find any information how I should parse and interpret this part.
これでも用心深いほうなんでね。
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Ending sentences with というか / ていうか
For e.g. 安心するていうか。I saw this in an interview where the person expressed relief that a certain place was available.
Is there any nuance with just saying 安心する? This is one thing I can never seem to get....
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Meaning of どんだけお人好しなんですかって話ですよね
context (a guy talking to himself while someone else is listening):
銀行が住宅ローンの営業に熱心な理由ってわかります？
憧れの持ち家を手に入れた大切なお客さんの喜ぶ笑顔が見たいから…？
そんなわけねーです！
どんだけお人好しなんですかって話ですよね。儲かるからに決まってます
This usage seems to have ...
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Meaning of 小せェもんに縛られてる
Context: in a flashback, a Cuban boxer is thinking back to when he was in Cuba before seeking asylum (亡命) and migrating to America. He had just won a gold medal for his country in the Olympics.
...
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What's is the difference between these two forms?
So for what I knew the "potential form" of the verbs are for example:
話せる for 話す, a godan verb.
見られる for 見る, an ichidan verb.
But then I find this form for the ichidan verbs that seems to mean the ...
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Meaning of 何とやら in this sentence
私は勝負日の前日は大抵眠れません。遠足前の何とやらです。気が弱いです。
According to Kenkyusha dictionary, 何とやら means etc. or and so on. Could it mean same here?
My attempt:
I can hardly sleep the day before a competition. The same ...
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