Questions tagged [nuances]
ニュアンス. Subtle differences between two seemingly interchangeable expressions.
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What's the difference between 「ご飯を食べる」「ご飯を済ます」 and 「ご飯を済ませる」?
「ご飯を食べる」「ご飯を済ます」 and 「ご飯を済ませる」, they all mean to finish breakfast/ lunch/ dinner, what's the nuance between them?
I tried to get it out but there are totally different explainings about the difference....
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1answer
123 views
Is ぴえん a childish-sounding word?
The written word ぴえん seems popular lately, but does it sound childish? I feel like only people under 20 might use this, or someone trying to appear cute. Is this impression accurate?
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94 views
I don't understand な in this sentence
まだ何度でも食べたいと 欲張ってしまうな
So I know an imperative negative like 飲むな means don't drink, but in this case the speaker is talking about himself and his inability to not stop his own desire. why is this not ...
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57 views
how does 頑張ってかないと work？
「開き直ってさ」
「開き直れないよ、北村君は見てるんだもん」 「だからこそ頑張ってかないとだろう」
Aside from the meaning (which I think I understand), I don’t have the slightest idea about the structure of the last part かないとだろう. tried searching a ...
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1answer
59 views
Mixing formal and informal language?
I recently wrote something and has someone check it, and then had someone else look over it to see if it's natural. The text in question was this,
人間は生存を唯一の目的とする獣であり、これらの進化の衝動がなければ、他の目的はありません。
...
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2answers
95 views
のように vs と同様 to show similarity
In my writing assignment, I wrote this paragraph.
テレワークのように、オンライン授業もいい経験だと思う。パンデミックの前は毎日、通学しないといけないし、何度も乗り換えをしないといけないし、往復だと４時間以上、つまり一日の６分の１以上かかるのであり、私にとっては面倒くさくて疲れることばかりだった。
It was corrected to
...
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1answer
61 views
Differences between 返る and 帰る
So, here's another nuances question: what are the differences between 返る and 帰る?
Apparently, they have different "secondary" meanings, but are they interchangeable when referring to "...
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1answer
60 views
Contextual uses of あまり ~ない？
Looking through resources, it seems that あまり ~ない can be used for 'not verb often', 'not verb much' and 'not verb well' depending on the context. Is there an easy way to tell which version is being ...
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1answer
45 views
Is there a difference between 絶える & 死に絶える
Is there a difference between 絶える & 死に絶える? 絶える already means to die out/to become extinct, so is 死 necessary?
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82 views
となる with a sense of composition
There are already posted questions (and answers) for the meaning of となる as a similar pattern to になる, but with a sense of finality.
However, I've come across the following sentence
A棟{とう}は、１階が寮長{...
2
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1answer
45 views
What's the difference between 親睦会 and 懇親会?
I was watching Hello World on Netflix when I encountered 親睦会. Googling it, I learned that a similar word, 懇親会, exists. I would like to ask if the content of this article is reliable.
Thank you in ...
5
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1answer
251 views
Differences between 答え and 受け答え
From their dictionary entries, 答え and 受け答え seem to be very similar.
Could someone explain the nuances between the two?
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1answer
71 views
What is the difference between using てしまう, 切る, and 上げる to say to finish doing?
I already knew てしまう and 切る and the difference between their uses, although I still wouldn't say I have a strong understanding of their nuances.
After going through some N3 grammar, I found that using ...
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2answers
74 views
Nuance between いか and イカ? [duplicate]
Both mean squid but is there any difference between the use of hiragana or katakana?
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30 views
What is the difference between 人気のある, 人気がある, 人気の, and 人気な? [duplicate]
As 人気 is a noun and な-adjective, it can be used in these phrases:
人気のある映画
人気がある映画
人気の映画
人気な映画
人気映画
To me, they all mean ‘popular movie’, but the first 2 literally mean ‘movie that has popularity’ ...
4
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1answer
112 views
Nuance of ざんす / ざんしょ as a sentence ender
I'm reading Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. In chapter 18, the Rita Skeeter character appears for the first time (it's an obnoxious paparazzi woman) and she uses this sentence ender that I haven'...
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1answer
88 views
What does 'te- mitai na' mean at the end of a sentence?
I have a language exchange buddy that tends to use this phrase a lot and from what I've heard it generally means 'something like that'. I've also heard that it's a phrase younger people use a lot to ...
3
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1answer
81 views
What is the difference between 卓 and 台?
Someone else asked this question in another Japanese learning space I'm in and I attempted to research it to find an answer for them, but I didn't quite get a conclusive answer.
On goo, they define 卓 ...
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3answers
123 views
「~らしい」(conjecture/guess) vs「~そうだ」(conjecture/guess)
All taken from「みんなの日本語」.
There is two「~そうだ」：
-「ます-stemそうだ」(conjecture/guess)
-「V-dictionnary そうだ」(hearsay).
And for「~らしい」too: One for hearsay and one for conjecture/guess (and other for typical ...
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1answer
134 views
~らしい(hearsay) vs ~そうだ (hearsay)
So what is the difference between「~らしい」(hearsay) vs 「~そうだ」(hearsay)?
この料理はおいしいらしい。This dish, I've heard it is delicious.
この料理はおいしいそうです。This dish, I've heard it is delicious.
Both report an indirect ...
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48 views
Fun with synonyms - “shine/sparkle/glitter/glimmer/glisten/gleam/twinkle/flash”
Been thinking about these for a while. I see that we already have Difference between 光る, 輝く, and 光り輝く?, but I'm including a lot more. What are the differences in meaning (ignoring conjugations) of ...
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1answer
66 views
「力で」 and 「力をもって」
Taken from the first episode of Steins;GATE
「宇宙に始まりはあるが終わりはない。 —無限
星にもまた始まりはあるが、自らの力をもって滅び逝く。 —有限」
What I am wondering about is whether the part in bold could be rephrased as:
「自らの力で滅び逝く」
If that is ...
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2answers
141 views
Can 秘める mean to have?
The sentence in question is
「いずれにしても、強大な力を秘めていたことは間違いない」
For me, this would mean something like
"In any case, there is no doubt it was hiding its mighty power." (a)
However, Google ...
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1answer
234 views
How can I combine time markers with different verb tenses?
The original title of
Question:
Sentences with strange/Incorrect(from English point of view) [Time conjunctive][Conclusive verb form] combinations and aspects/nuances reflected?
I read this thread:
...
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1answer
89 views
そう with verbs in different forms as well as the differences with みたい
Here are a couple of sentences:
雨が降るそうです
雨が降りそうです
Does 1 mean I hear it will rain, while 2 means It seems it will rain??
And then, what about tenses?:
雨が降ったそうです
?
1 meaning I heard it will rain? ...
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1answer
85 views
What does the work “Kitaku” mean?
I understand this to mean "return home". I am thinking about starting a new company and I would like something to mean, "return back to my roots, back to a safe place". Would "...
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1answer
149 views
Possible Nuances of 「まで」 in sentences like these
First of all, I want to apologize for my first attempt at this question (which you can still find down below); however, as others seem to be interested in it as well I will try to make myself clearer:
...
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2answers
68 views
Meaning of を in 博士たちは水際を歩いた。
By now, I know that motion verbs (行く, 来る, 歩く, 走る, etc...) can take the particle を to indicate something being traversed (going "through" something). There are already plenty of answers ...
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2answers
124 views
Difference between 試みる and 試す
何度か試みたが、失敗した.
何度か試したが、失敗した.
Is there a difference between those sentences? I have the feeling that the second one is more about trying smothing out like for the first time and see what happens and ...
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1answer
476 views
What is the difference between '礼', '礼儀', '礼に', '敬礼', and 'お辞儀'?
What is the difference between '礼', '礼儀', '礼に', '敬礼', and 'お辞儀'?
More generally, what does '礼' mean when used stand-alone as a noun? Can '礼' be used stand-alone or would that be considered unusual?
...
3
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1answer
80 views
Difference between も兼ねて・を兼ねて
Someone asked her friend (in a TV show) 「宿題の答え合わせも兼ねて 勉強会をやりませんか?」 in the sense of "Want to do a study session, and compare our homework answers while we're at it?". Would the meaning change ...
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1answer
61 views
Use of は in 「確認はされていない」
I think the quote
「確認はされていない」
translates to "It hasn't been confirmed yet". However, the use of は is leaving me a bit uncertain. As far as I know, 確認 can be used either a name or a する-verb,...
1
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1answer
63 views
What's the difference between 倹約 and 節約？
I have been reviewing 倹約 when the word 節約 came to my mind. They share a common kanji, they both mean "to save, to economize" (of course, after putting する). How do these words differ? I ...
2
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1answer
61 views
Placement of この in the given sentence
I have a doubt regarding the placement of この in the following sentence:
ポケモンが住んでいるこのジャングルでは、あちこちでポケモンを見かけることができ、今も男たちの頭上で、マンキーの群れが木々の間を飛び移っていく。
The sentence is quite big and I only placed it for ...
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2answers
139 views
What's the difference between ともかく and とにかく?
I have a feeling that they are etymologically related based on their kanjis 兎も角 and 兎に角 (although they're just 当て字 so there's not much to extract from those kanjis, I guess), but I can't fully ...
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3answers
118 views
What's the difference between 気がする vs 思いをする?
During my flashcard reviews, I once again encountered 思いをする filed under N1 grammar. I find it difficult to believe that such a self-explanatory grammar point would be classified as N1 or maybe I was ...
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1answer
218 views
What's the difference between 近々 and 間もなく?
I checked the Weblio sentences for 近々 and I saw this:
We are to start shortly.
近々に出発の予定です.
This reminded me of 間もなくwhich I often hear in trains. What is the difference between the two?
I checked ...
2
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3answers
95 views
What's the difference between 見本 and 標本?
They both mean "specimen", right?
Am I right in assuming that 見本 is for goods, products on sale but 標本 is for zoological samples, etc.?
I checked the sample sentences on Weblio just to check ...
4
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1answer
366 views
What's the difference between 発信 and 配信
When I encountered the sample sentence for 発信, I read this:
インターネットを使えば、誰でも世界に情報を発信することができる。
This reminded me of 配信 which I usually see online (especially on YouTube). How are these two words ...
4
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1answer
177 views
ながら vs ながらも – what are the subtle differences?
I have read in Tae Kim's book that "You can attach the inclusive particle 「も」 to get 「ながらも」. This changes the meaning from "while" to "Even while"."
I personally do not ...
2
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1answer
181 views
What's the difference between 折衷 and 妥協?
They both refer to a concept of "compromise"
According to this, it 妥協 has some negative meaning in the sense that one is left with no choice but to compromise, but 折衷 is more like taking the ...
2
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1answer
95 views
What difference in meaning does 本/実 give in words like 本物 and 実物?
They both mean "real/actual thing" (as opposed to some imitation), right? Breaking apart these kanji compounds, it is apparent that 本 and 実 give the meaning of "real." How are these two "reals" ...
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1answer
68 views
Interpretation of めったに人前に現れないものもいる
I was reading a book of Pokemon, and this sentence came across:
中には、「幻」と呼ばれ、めったに人前に現れないものもいる。(Original)
My interpretation was
Among them, one is called a "phantom" and rarely appears in public....
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2answers
191 views
Why does the word 昨夜 have multiple pronunciations?
I picked up Japanese just recently, and I am confused as to why the word 昨夜 has so many different ways to pronounce it. In my dictionary, the pronunciations are listed as ゆうべ、ゆんべ and さくや. Do the ...
5
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2answers
123 views
What's the difference between 声明 and 宣言?
I was going through my word list again, when I saw 声明 which was translated to "declaration, proclamation." This reminded me of a more commonly appearing word, 宣言, thanks to articles related to 緊急事態. I ...
0
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1answer
75 views
What's the difference between 特定する and 指摘する
I was browsing through a vocabulary list when I noticed that both words can mean "to pinpoint" as in
彼らは今日の火事の原因を特定しようとしている。
Are they interchangeable in this context? Are there cases when one is ...
2
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1answer
76 views
What's the difference between 滞在する and とどまる
They can mean "stay" as in "I stayed in Tokyo the entire month." I would like to know the following:
Which is more common in spoken Japanese? In written Japanese?
Is there a slight difference in ...
2
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1answer
109 views
What's the difference between 合意 and 同意？
They both translate to agreement, but I can't quite figure out what the difference is. Based on the answer here, 合意 implies that there was some effort from both parties (e.g., negotiation, compromise) ...
4
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1answer
141 views
The difference between 解説 and 説明 (and 解釈)
How does one distinguish the three words? I checked several sites.
First, I checked Weblio which told me that there's really a relationship among the three. Next, I checked HiNative links here and ...
3
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1answer
223 views
What's the difference: 楽観的 vs のんき
Both these words seem to mean "worry-free" or optimistic. A quick check on Weblio somehow validates this. How do these words differ in terms of nuance? のんき is also said to mean careless and other ...
