Questions tagged [nuances]
ニュアンス. Subtle differences between two seemingly interchangeable expressions.
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Can the "&"-symbol (ampersand) be used in Japanese to connect two language names?
For example, is this correct and commonly understood by Japanese-readers:
"日本語 & 英語"
which should represent "Japanese & English" and denote a bilingual edition of a ...
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specific context of てもらう
In this sentence, I am unsure what てもらった is referencing, as the parts that follow make me unsure of what it is trying to convey. If it helps, I have added the past and following sentence to make more ...
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Best word for "owner" of a business/restaurant: 経営者, 事業者, オーナー?
Just as it sounds in the question. A friend wants to own a restaurant as a goal, and I'm not sure what the best words are for translating that into Japanese.
"Owner": I've seen entries in ...
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よね and じゃん: めっちゃ褒めてくれるじゃん
Going off of my last question, I put some thought into the difference between よね and じゃん and I still find it confusing, feeling iffy about choosing one over the other.
めっちゃ褒めてくれるじゃん
@aguijonazo ...
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Implications of using either が/は in 足跡が/は消えない
I came across this line in a song and was wondering why が was used over は:
足跡が消えない
I would interpret the usage of が to mean that out of everything, the 足跡 left behind is specifically the thing that ...
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What is the difference between どの+noun+も vs 毎+noun for “Every (noun)”?
In which cases is it more appropriate to use どの+noun+も instead of 毎+noun (or vice versa)
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Am I using the word "Hajimari" correctly in judo?
I am an instructor in a Finnish judo club. At the end of each session, owari! is announced and the students line up. I understand that owari means over or end, but there are lots of Finnish judo clubs ...
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噓憑き: what is it and how is it different from 嘘つき?
While looking at song lyrics I found the word 噓｛うそ｝憑｛つ｝き . What kind of kanji usage is this, and how does it differ from 噓｛うそ｝つき?
Since 憑 means "haunt, possess" and the song is about ghosts ...
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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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About the difference in these sentences with のを and のが
I've been struggling to find the difference between those two structures, is one of them wrong or they are both right and have a difference in meaning/emphasis
俺が走るのが見た
俺が走るのを見た
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Differences between 栽培する, 作る, and 育てる for "grow"?
I'm trying to find the best word for "grow" something in a garden. This includes the transitive: "grow potatoes", "grow my own tea leaves" - and also the intransitive, &...
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What's the difference between ending an answer with だ vs だよ・です?
I was talking to someone and they asked me:
出身はどこなの？
to which I responded saying:
イギリス出身だ
My friend then told me that that sounded a bit strange, and it would have sounded more natural if I had ...
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Difference between んやったら and すれば
It seems like you can use 「んやったら」to say "if", so what's the difference between this expression and words like 「したら and すれば」
What would be the difference between:
そのビザがあるんやったら...
And
...
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Understanding 軍服に着られた
威嚇のつもりかアサルトライフルを抱えた兵を二人も従えて、いかにも軍服に着られた貧相な士官が顎をしゃくる。どうでもいいが、後ろの兵のライフルは安全装置がかかったままで、しかも初弾が装塡されていない。それぞれの立ち位置も近すぎるから、やろうと思えば撃たせる前に全員制圧できる。意味がないのでやらないが。
86─エイティシックス─
安里アサト
Why is the bold part passive ...
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終わる to mean closed shop
Is it a natural or at least used way to say "closed" like in that example, using the verb 終わる ?
A : 今7時ですが、スーパーは終わりましたか。
B : いいえ、8時まで開いているはずですよ。
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どこ vs なん which one is better in the sentence?
Q: あの立派な建物は何ですか。／あの立派な建物は何処ですか。
A: あの立派な建物は留学生食堂です。
Which of the question sounds more natural in the given context?
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Does Japanese have rules like English "Use 'He and I', not 'me and him'"?
For example, would 彼と私 always sound just as natural as 私と彼? Or is one preferred over the other for certain uses? And this would apply to any other name or pronoun besides 彼.
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Understanding the nuances between the various words related to manners and etiquette
There are quite a few words related to this. Specifically, 礼儀, エチケット, マナー, 作法, and 行儀. There is a GOO thesaurus page for this, but it is confusing me. The definitions, as I understand them, seem to ...
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Nuances between 道徳, 倫理, and モラル
From the goo thesaurus, it defines the difference between 道徳 and 倫理 as:
「道徳」は、人間が社会の一員として守るべき行為の基準となるものをいい、「倫理」は、社会的な行動の規範となるものをいう。
While モラル covers both.
Unfortunately, I don't really understand the ...
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Nuances between the various words for "member"
What are the nuances between 一員, 会員, 成員, and メンバー? There is a goo thesaurus page, but it didn't really help me actually distinguish the differences.
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Is there a double meaning in this sentence?
図体ばかりでかくなりやがって
In the manga it's translated with some snark, "only your bodies get big" implying their brains don't (they were complaining about working out too hard)
But the anime ...
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Expressing subtext of story characters
Context:
A gets B to go to eat at a restaurant for the couples-only item in the restaurant, stating that A themselves don't know anyone else that can pretend to be a couple with them. However, B ...
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What is the difference between 妥協 and すり合わせ
I have trouble understanding the difference between these two words.
Based on my understanding, 妥協 is when two parties reach a mutual agreement by sacrificing some of their needs or wants that oppose ...
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Meaning of あばば in あばばをしてみせる
I am reading Not of Color by Sawako Ariyoshi (有吉佐和子『非色』) at the moment. I came across this paragraph detailing how the protagonist takes care of her newborn baby, Mary:
一年というもの、...
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Differences between 知った and 知っていた
There's this song from LiSA that I've been trying to understand the lyrics. However, there is something that is bothering me right at the start.
The first verse of the song reads as
強くなれる理由を知った
and ...
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How do you express "have to" in order to talk about a non-obligatory, but obvious course of action?
In English, "has to" and "have to" serve to express obligations (as in "must", like in the classic example of having to do homework), and also work for when one wants to ...
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Is "...つもりだったでしょうか" an OK translation for "Did you mean to ...?"
A person planning a seminar wrote the date and day of the week, but the day of the week was incorrect. So I wanted to send a message asking "Did you mean to write ...?", but I'm struggling ...
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Nuance of using 仕事しなかったら or 仕事しなければ in this simple sentence?
I want to say "It would be a waste if I do not have a job that does not make use of my Japanese (ability)."
However, I've no idea which of these options sounds native or what the nuance 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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The Quintessential Quintuplets (aka 五等分の花嫁) : Is 届くんです (it reaches) a mondegreen that should be 五等分です (It's divided into five equal parts)?
In animesonglyrics, you can see in the season 1 opening (Gotoubun no Kimochi) for the anime adaptation of The Quintessential Quintuplets
the Romaji: Go-tōbundesu, demo (...) --> the Kanji of which ...
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Addressing a female child whose name you do not know?
I'm writing a piece in which a man tells a girl who he has just rescued from the rubble of a house to follow him. Right now, I just have him saying, “Come,” but I wonder if there's something idiomatic ...
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What's the meaning of の at the end of this sentence?
I came across this sentence while reading a Manga, so here are my questions.
本当に詳しいのね
Is this の here is the female speech？
Is のね the same as んですね？
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適応 vs 同化 for adaptation
Which word is better for expression meaning of my adaptation to environment, situation or person, which I don't like, but unable to change situation, stop or influence situation in anyway.
For example,...
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How to properly use the various ways to indicate "not at all" in Japanese
There are many words to convey "not at all"
全然
全く
少しも
ちっとも
さっぱり
一切
一向に
まるで
これっぽちも
まるっきり
I think have a decent idea of formality, with 一切, 一向に, and まるで feeling formal, and これっぽちも sounding ...
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Capable as in “having power and ability”?
India is a nuclear-capable country.
インドは核保有国です。
=having/has/possesses
He is a capable person.
彼は有能な人です。
=an able x
He is capable of piloting a plane.
彼は飛行機を操縦することができます。
=has ability of x
—-
Is ...
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今ごろ in more concrete situations
My understanding of 今ごろ has been that it is usually used in a more abstract, subjunctive-ish sense, like:
彼は今ごろ眠っているだろう
明日の今ごろはロスにいるはずだ
And in most "concrete" places, it is ungrammatical, ...
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How do I make this sound less direct?
I've tried to translate the following phrase into Japanese, but I feel like it sounds very direct and loses some of the meaning, but I'm not too sure as to where in the sentence I could add to.
...
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What is the difference between 相応, 相当, 適当 and 適切
What is the difference between 相応, 相当, 適当 and 適切? All of them have the meaning suitable/appropriate but what is the difference and when do I use each of them?
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Different ways to describe a characteristic of an object/person
バラは甘い香りがする。
バラは香りが甘い。
Roses smell sweet.
Is the second sentence natural? The internet provides disturbingly few uses of 香りが甘い. If it's not natural, why not?
If it is natural, is there any difference ...
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What's the usage of かっていうので?
I'm familiar with the usage of かっていうと but I always get confused when another particle is used instead of と。
For instance:
日本人はなぜマスクをしているのかっていうのを聞いている
I'm especially confused about this sentence:
...
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What does ぶり mean when it is attached to question words?
I already understood the nuances of ぶり that were presented here:
ぶり
But what does it mean when it is attached to question words like いつぶり or 何年ぶり？
I got recently this message 学校に行くのいつぶり？
How does that ...
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～ほど～ない vs ～より～ない
In reading this question, it's occurred to me that I don't know the difference between the following constructions:
自転車に乗るのは思ったより易しくない
自転車に乗るのは思ったほど易しくない
Is the difference really just as the literal ...
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What's a good way to say "liminal"?
I speak a fair amount of Japanese (from America, live in Kobe, Japan), but am having a hard time finding a good way to say liminal.
The best I can think of is things like gap or transition 間 【あいだ】
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What's the difference between 迷う, 渋る, 逡巡する, and ためらう?
I've seen all four being used as "to hesitate".
What's the difference between these verbs?
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Why can places get a さん suffix when they are not a person?
For example:
薬屋さんに行った。
初めてくるお風呂屋さんは楽しい。
講堂さんにてライブがあります。
First, what nuance is added by adding a さん?
Second, can this be done with any place?
Third, it seems like the frequency of usage varies a lot ...
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What are the differences between 間中{あいだじゅう} and 間{あいだ}?
I recently learned different usages of both kanji and I saw it is possible to use the combination of both. It seems to me that 間中{あいだじゅう} isn't a new word. (The other readings don't matter now.)
Here ...
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A question regarding the usage of 代わりに？
I sent the following sentences to some Japanese friends of mine and all of them seem to agree that the second one is more natural here. This left me wondering why 代わりに does not work in this situation ...
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Ways to express "change" in Japanese
It seems that in Japanese, there are two kanji that are commonly used to indicate change:
「化」
温暖化{おんだんか}: global warming, change in temperature
悪化{あっか}: worsen, change for the worse
「転」
転校{てんこう}: ...
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What is the correct usage between 咳止め and 咳薬
I was playing around with some words on Google Translate trying to see if I can form a sentence while learning some new words. I came across this translation -
咳 translates to cough
止め translates to ...
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Usage of 方(ほう) in these sentences
I know that 方 (ほう) can mean direction or way but that meaning seems to change a bit in the following sentences:
佐藤くん、 英語は得意な方(ほう)かな?
Sato, are you good at English?
これは割と使ってる方(ほう)です。
This is ...
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