Questions tagged [nouns]
名詞. A part of speech typically denoting a person, thing, place or idea.
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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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What does nameはnameで mean? [duplicate]
井上は井上で待つだけじゃなく。自分から彼に話しかければいいじゃないか
I understand he's basically "You shouldn't just wait. Approach him on your own"
But what does the repeated noun here adds?
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Noun A + の + Noun B and Noun B + Noun A
I learned yesterday from Function of の particle in the title 「進撃の巨人」 about one usage of the の particle, an example being 友達のコジ. I understand this as "(my) friend Koji". I also know that if ...
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Why is な being used between two nouns?
I was watching a dorama and there was an introduction sentence with な between two nouns, as if the first noun was actually a na-adjective.
「大学３年。彼氏なんてもちろんいない。思い切って私らしくない変身をしたハロウイン…。ハロウインの夜、残り物な私。」
...
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丸腰を見る and no-adjectives
There is some controversy about whether no-adjectives exist.
I have chosen a random no-adjective (not having another meaning as noun): [丸腰]{まるごし}
Sentence with this word with case particle:
丸腰を見る
Is ...
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Why nominalize words instead of using them directly as verbs, adverbs or adjectives? [duplicate]
My question is focused particularly on verbs ending in て form nominalised with の and adverbs ending in く also nominalised with の:
かねての instead of かねる
近くの instead of 近くある/近い
My understanding of nouns ...
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ある before nouns [duplicate]
I was wondering what is the nuance with ある before nouns, like in this sentence.
夏のある暑い日の午後、彼はその運転手に再会した.
I don't quite understand if the addition of ある before nouns can convey a certain feeling, or ...
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Verbs that cannot be taken as nouns in their い-stem (ます-stem)
I know that one of the ways of getting a noun from a verb is by taking the い-stem (or the ます-stem as some call it) of the verb. However I came across this:
Taken from here, where it says that there ...
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ます-stem + もしない with 歌う and 書く
After getting an answer to this question I came across this article which states (without giving an alternative) that you can't say:
1.「歌い もしない」- "Can't even sing"
2.「書き もしない」- "Can't ...
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"I can drive a car": 車 を うんてん できる vs. 車 を うんてん することができる
This is my first post here, so thanks for reading this.
I have looked through other threads, and there doesn't seem to be an answer to my specific case, so please let me give this a shot:
I am trying ...
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What does 作文 actually mean?
When I hear the word essay (which is what I hear 作文 most often translated as), I imagine writing on a topic in which you form an argumentative stance (a thesis) and then support that with facts (body ...
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Hiragana phonetic fusions in Japanese - 学校 example [duplicate]
The word 学校 has two kanji, 学 and 校 that respectively are read がく and こう.
Does this "hiragana fusion" bewteen the last く and the first こ, have a name? I know it occurs in many many other ...
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How to differentiate different kanji separations in dictionary
I am using the Takoboto dictionary.
Under the listing for 書店 (しょてん), there are two breakups of the pronunciation (one with the azure squiggly separator going first below the first kanji and then above ...
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How does ''ni'' fit in here?
I'm trying to figure out this sentence, I'm still new but it still doesn't make sense to me.
お金にお困りのようね
Shouldn't it be a "ga" or a "ha"? How is the trouble going towards money ...
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Weird inflection of the verb in ta form - たれた
I'm a beginner in Japanese; and as an exercise I've tried to translate a sentence from the LN. While I do realize that I've bit more that I can chew, I wish to at least try :)
The sentence that I am ...
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Is there a general way to communicate the idea of a non-A where A is any noun? [duplicate]
I’m trying to say “Survivorship bias is a logical fallacy that leads to the consideration of survivors as opposed to non-survivors.” Is there a way to say non-survivors, or more so non-anything? For ...
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Is there a rule of thumb regarding the use of の when using one noun to modify another? [duplicate]
I wrote 担当先生 in my composition today. I was not confident about it, so I searched BCCWJ 中納言 and found out that 担任の先生 is the most popular way of saying it, and that 担当の先生 is also acceptable to a less ...
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What makes the so-called "体言止め" to be independent finite sentences? Why can't other languages have such feature?
Maybe this question should also be posted into the linguistic part. In Japanese a NP/DP like "世界三大唐木の一つとして有名な”黒檀”。(その中でも特に綺麗な...)"may compose a sentence by itself, and this is impossible in ...
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Question about sentences that qualify nouns
(私が)望む未来
(未来を)望む私
I used the same verb behind two diffent nouns.
However the Subject-Verb-Object remains the same.
The first sentence standing for: "The future I desire.".
Would the second ...
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How are actor nouns formed from verbs
Are there general rules for forming nouns that refer to the one performing the action of a verb, such as cut -> cutter, run -> runner, "Jack the Ripper", etc.? I have been searching ...
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Understanding 「35歳の男兎富士直樹容疑者が」
From the first episode of Death Note:
35歳の男兎富士(とふじ)直樹(なおき)容疑者が殺人の疑いで逮捕されました
In the show, this sentence is spoken by a male news reporter, so I assume he would be extra careful to speak formally and ...
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まめつぶ used as a counter?
*あのイヌ げいじゅつかのつもりらしいけど。。。アイデアがうかばないみたい。
＊のうみそが まめつぶ ぐらいしかないんだから ムリもないわよね。
Grammatically (or something), I think まめつぶ works like a quantifier that appears as a noun but I'm not really sure about what ...
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Question About Meaning of 副主人公
To my understanding, 副 can be used "before a rank or title to indicate a slightly different or lower rank or title." so would I be correct in 副主人公 meaning either deuteragonist or secondary ...
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Why does this sentence end in a noun instead of a verb? (Song lyrics) [duplicate]
I am currently trying to translate various song lyrics from Japanese for practice and would like to stay as close as possible to the original meaning of the sentences. Currently, I'm trying to ...
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Different ways to express the idea of something being "concrete" (see provided English example) in adjective form using Japanese?
In English, the noun "concrete" can be used as an adjective to describe other nouns. This usage implies something like "physical", "tangible", "legitimate", or ...
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meaning of ブラバン
I came across this phrase in a song I recently listened to:
ブラバンが プーとラッパを吹いた.
I've not been able to find out what ブラバン means, researching I found it might mean "music band" but I'm not ...
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When to use 仕上げ and when to use 仕上がり?
From my dictionary, both of them are nouns and mean finish:
仕上げ - Finish, finishing, finishing touches
仕上がり- Finish, end, completion, result
What is the difference between them?
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Are 片隅 and 隅 synonymous?
I've seen them both used in the same context, for example, テレビは片隅にあります
In that sentence, would 隅 have the same meaning, or is there some nuance to the two words?
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How prevalent is the heiban pronunciation of 見方?
It seems 見方 is another one of those words that have become heibanified, is that right? How acceptable or common is the heiban pronunciation (or as jogloran mentioned, 尾高型)? In this small pool of ...
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What are the proper usages and the meaning of くはある / くはない?
I recently learnt the contrastive usages of the は particle and I read the Tofogu article which has an interesting section which says I can use は contrast marker with the adjectives/nouns positive and ...
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I-Adjective nominalization
For 面白い, why is the noun form commonly 面白 instead of 面白さ? Isn't さ supposed to be the way to take i-adjectives and make them nouns?
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Noun 片道 seemingly used as adverb
大阪までは片道五千円です。 (It is five thousand yen one-way to Osaka.)
In the sentence above 片道 seems to be used adverbially (no particle, with a verb missing). According to jisho.org 片道 is not an adverbial noun, ...
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How to tell when a na adjective is being used as a noun (as opposed to an adjective)
It is common knowledge that na-adjectives are in truth nouns that can be used as adjectives (edit: I now see this was a false generalization I was led into believing by some grammar sources); and the ...
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Is 娘 (musume) a good way to address a girl?
In the anime 『日常』Nichijou, the character Sakamoto (坂本) always uses 娘 to call (refer to) the girl robot character Shinonome Nano (東雲なの).
Is 娘 a good (or prefect) form of address to call or refer to a ...
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Difference between 道化師, ピエロ, and クラウン
What’s the difference in usage between these three words?
ピエロ
クラウン
道化師
Which of these would describe a typical American’s notion of a circus clown?
type of clown I’m thinking of
Does one of these ...
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Addressing someone without punctuation?
Before the introduction of the comma, how would the Japanese address one another in a sentence such as- in English: "I am going to the store, John."
By starting a new line on the paper? ...
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What are the differences between し, するの and すること?
When should I use し, するの and すること as nouns? Not just the verb "する", but any verb e.g. ”見”, "見るの" and "見ること"/ "書き", "書くの" and "書くこと".
...
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Why are these sentences involving 一部, 一部分, and 部分 ungrammatical?
I've been trying to figure out the differences between 一部, 一部分, and 部分 using GOO's thesaurus. It indicates that 部分 is used for one of several parts, while 一部 and 一部分 are for parts of a whole. And then ...
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何も＋Verb / Noun (?) / Adj (?)＋ない
According to jlptsensei and other sources (google), for the
何も〜ない construct, all of verbs, nouns, and adjectives can be used. But however, from all of the sources and my intuition, I can't find ...
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What is "nothing"? E.g. "Talk about nothing"
I am trying to translate some lyrics that go like
We can talk about nothing
then I hit a snag because I am not sure what the word for "nothing" could be. Things that keep coming to mind:
...
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Noun 勢い used as an adverb?
勢い地面に背中を打ちつけ、彼は顔をしかめた。
According to dictionaries, 勢い is a noun for momentum, force. In this sentence, isn't it used like an adverb to say that he knocked him on the ground with force?
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What does そのねらいは mean in this sentence?
波希（なぎ）はその都度、うそをついた。「これ、お父さんの形見だから」。つまり、亡き父の眼鏡を後生大事にかけている、ちょっと変った娘を装っているのだ。 そして、そのねらいは、 「名塩さんって、ひょっとして眼鏡を取ったら、すごく美人だったりするんじゃない？」 と、ささやかれることにあった。
It's from a book that I'm reading. I got the whole ...
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(Passive) verbs and nouns
I have question regarding the use of verbs as "adjectives" for nouns.
When should I use the passive form of the verb? When should I use the standard form of the verb?
For example, when ...
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order of 2 or more nouns
I am a beginner. Here is the sentence in Tae-Kim guideline:
ボブ：うん。でも、明日雨が降るよ。
1/ Notice that the order is 明日雨. Is this order correct 雨明日 ?
2/ If not, suppose there are 3 or more nouns that can stand ...
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Ｗhat does a noun + に mean? How does the particle に work here?
I found the next sentence:
魔物が防御に徹するかのように動く。
And when I searched the word 防御 I found out that this word works only as a noun and as a のadjective, hence my doubt regarding the use and meaning of に in ...
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What's the etymological linkage of 「眉{まゆ}」and「繭{まゆ}」?
I found the etymology of 「眉{まゆ}」 from 眉／まゆ - 語源由来辞典
眉は目の上にあることから、「マノウヘ（目の上）」もしくは「マウヘ（目上）」の意味と考えられる。
ただし、古くは「マヨ」と言い、「マヨ」が音変化して「まゆ」となっている。
そのため、「マノウヘ」「マウヘ」が直接音変化したものではなく、「目の上」の意味を表す言葉に「マヨ」があり、...
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Modifying nouns - iku
My textbook (Minna No Nihongo I ch. 22) gives:
私がいつも買い物するスーパーは野菜が安いです
(The supermarket I always do my shopping at has cheap vegetables (for sale)).
I'm guessing this is ok actually, and it might be ...
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Can I use verb as noun in a informal way? Informal Japanese
I've tried searching for the answer in a lot of place. But all I get is formal answers (like 彼女はいつ来ますか). I'm assuming that the informal style will be 彼女はいつ来てるのか。 because the verb come turned into ...
user41908
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Are there other words like 甲斐?
甲斐{がい} seems to have the property where it conjugates with the 連用形 of verbs unlike most nouns with which verbs typically attach with the 終止形. i.e you say 生き甲斐 instead of 生きる甲斐, やり甲斐 instead of やる甲斐. I ...
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What is the difference between 計測 and 測定?
When I wanted to use word 'measure' in the past I used 計測 or 測る. But recently I got a message from a Japanese co-worker:
申し訳ありません
18時前にネット障害がおこり最後の計測できませんでした...
まだ復旧してないので明日18時に測定します
I understand ...
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