Questions tagged [particles]
助詞. Non-inflecting function words which follow words, phrases, or entire sentences.
1
vote
2answers
44 views
How to parse 「場合でも」
I was standing at a urinal recently as tried to read the note on the top surface. It was as follows:
人がいない場合でも水が流れることがあります
Based (mostly) on the words and context I would expect this to mean ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
「捨ててしまう」Why are there two て’s used here?
The full sentence was :
「捨ててしまうのはもったいないと思って」
I think to throw away (something) is a waste
But why are there two て’s?
Why is it not 捨てしまう？
1
vote
2answers
141 views
Why is に marking time and not で？
As i have learned, the に particle is marking the target of the verb. And it make sense for most cases i have seen except for time. How exactly can time be the target of any verb? wouldn't it make more ...
1
vote
0answers
55 views
先に used with nouns
I quite often come across sentences that post-fixes 先に to a place. For example: xxx駅先に各駅に止まります or 待ち合わせ先に直帰
I know that 先 can either mean before or after, and after reading Takumi Sueda's answer to ...
5
votes
2answers
91 views
Use of が in プラス５０円でキャラメルラテかカフェラテがお選び頂けますが。
I've found this sentence in a lesson about ordering food:
プラス５０円でキャラメルラテかカフェラテがお選び頂けますが。
A Starbucks employee says this to a customer. The meaning should be "If you pay 50 extra yen, you can get ...
0
votes
0answers
36 views
Japanese Learning Order [closed]
I am an absolute beginner in Japanese so I would like to ask for some advice! So far I have learned the kanas and some common words and phrases, now I am at a loss on what should I study first. ...
1
vote
1answer
111 views
って as the equivalent of は
-あっ、トロが来た。
-トロって何ですか。
I have read that って is the equivalent of the topic marker は. (is これって何ですか just as natural as これは何ですか？)
Are there situations when we can't use って instead of は？
1
vote
0answers
69 views
さえなっている even becoming [closed]
I am having difficulty figuring out the meaning of this sentence.
This is from a Pokémon commercial which is 30 seconds long. I am posting the full transcript and a translation I received just for ...
3
votes
3answers
166 views
What does というように mean?
I've been seeing this structure a lot lately, and I feel like it takes on different meanings depending on how it's used.
Basically I understand it as:
Quotative と + いう(to say, define etc.) + ように (...
1
vote
0answers
91 views
How is では used under these contexts?
I'm trying to understand a specific uses of で + は particle, and I would like a more detailed explanation of how it's used.
I referred to these 3 resources: デジタル大辞泉 Weblio コトバンク
Namely, there are 2 ...
4
votes
1answer
143 views
How does が mark the subject in this sentence?
I'm trying to understand the way が is used in the following sentence:
すると、難しい講義を聞いた後では平均１２３ミリグラムも上がった血糖値が、面白い話を聞いて笑った後では、平均７７ミリグラムしか上がらなかったという結果が出たそうです。
In this case I believe it is a "subject " ...
2
votes
1answer
89 views
What is the difference between と話す and に話す
Just as the title says, I'd like to know the difference between 先生に話す
and 先生と話す, since they are both correct (if I'm wrong please correct me)
5
votes
1answer
114 views
The difference between Verbても and Verbてでも
The difference between Verbても and Verbてでも was discussed in a thread here but I felt it wasn't fully clarified there. This difference is rarely mentioned in textbooks, as far as I can tell. So I ...
1
vote
2answers
108 views
Is it possible to use the 〜たい form with the particle が instead of を? [duplicate]
For example,
寿司【すし】を食【た】べたい。
寿司【すし】が食【た】べたい。
If it is possible, then what is the difference in meaning or nuance?
Thank you.
1
vote
1answer
62 views
What is the purpose of the か in this sentence?
「僕達はあなたがどれほど頑張っているか心配です」
I know that 「か」in the middle of a sentence can be used for embedded questions or as "or," but I don't see any of that here.
6
votes
1answer
146 views
で in the copula である
I have always wondered where the で in ~である (and ~でございます) comes from.
In the answer to the question 「です」, what is it really? Is my analysis correct?, Eiríkr Útlendi states that the で in ~である is the ...
3
votes
1answer
120 views
How is Volitional + と used in these sentences?
In these sentences, I don't understand this particular use of volitional + と. It seems that it's interchangeable with ように or ために in these cases. But I've never seen Volitional + と used like this.
...
3
votes
1answer
129 views
Sentences without topic particles?
how common is it for there to be sentences like 「私、死んでるよ！」or 「これ、怖い」？ is it super informal? any guidelines on when to speak like this?
0
votes
1answer
52 views
Differentiation between subjects in relative clauses?
how do you distinguish between saying for example “A person he likes” and “A person who likes him” if they would both be 彼が好きな人？is there a way around that? different wording? a different particle? i ...
1
vote
1answer
104 views
Use of やと in 「日本人やとそれが当たり前やから、いまいちわからない」？
I understand や = だ in Kansai-ben but I don’t understand what either やと or だと would mean here. I’m guessing the meaning is close to “For Japanese people that is normal so I don’t understand.” Thanks!!!
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Purpose of のは in this sentence?
What is the purpose of のは in the sentence “今浮かんだのは”?
The context is, I asked someone what their favorite English word was and they said “Hmm 今浮かんだのは bullshit. Just kidding!”
Would the translation be ...
4
votes
1answer
67 views
Saying 'In my opinion, the internet has more good points than bad points'. [Comparative]
To say 'In my opinion, the internet has more good points than bad points', would the following phrase be correct;
「僕のいけんでインタネットは悪い点よりもっといい点があります。」
Would this phrase be correct? Or would it make more ...
3
votes
1answer
192 views
Question about かな and だろう
Among these phrases which is the correct one?
今日は雨が降るかな
or
今日は雨が降るだろう／でしょう
1
vote
1answer
58 views
What does のかもな mean at the end of a sentence?
I played a game (visual novel for PS2) in Japanese. And I came across this sentence:
でも、あの時の俺は、本当は違ったのかもな。。。
And I was wondering what the part after 違う(ちがう）means. I guess, that の may change it ...
3
votes
0answers
97 views
Usage of ところ to represent time with に and で
I am trying to understand the grammar of using ところ with に and で when using ところ to represent the time that actions have happened.
These are (ungrammatical) sentences I made up:
1) ...
0
votes
2answers
258 views
Shigeru Miyamoto interview
I always have difficulty understanding 宮本 茂. His Japanese is like the hardest to understand. I can watch whole anime's with no problem, and read through lots of text in video games and manuals, but ...
4
votes
2answers
107 views
What nouns can ながら turn into adverbs, and how does this differ from に? (残念ながら、当然ながら…)
I learned 残念ながら quite early on and simply took it at face value, but as I've gained experience in Japanese I've come to question why this piece of grammar has two seemingly unrelated uses - expressing ...
4
votes
1answer
110 views
Particle missing in 'こんなにおいしいの食べたことありません'
I saw following sentence in one text book
こんなにおいしいの食べたことありません
But I would expect
こんなにおいしいのは食べたことがありません
Can both 'は' and 'が' be omitted here?
4
votes
2answers
153 views
Alternative to の
I would like to translate this sentence:
In order to compensate the deviation of the actual from the requested output current, the input voltage must be adjusted.
I would try as follows:
...
1
vote
1answer
61 views
～う／ることが（は、も）ある construction
During my studies I faced a situation where I stuck with understanding this construction. My textbook said that various particles can be used there but it hasn't explained the function of each ...
5
votes
1answer
76 views
で used with non-action verbs like あります
On another forum I encountered the sentence 私の国では色々な店にあります。I understood it as “In my country [it] is in various stores.” But I am wondering about the use of the particle で. In common grammatical ...
0
votes
1answer
88 views
What Is The Difference Between 「好きじゃないです」and 「好きではないんです。」?
I understand that they both mean I do not like, but I'm not sure what exactly 「好きではない」means. Moreover, does the particle 'では'make a difference, or could you have just used 'は'?
Thank you
2
votes
0answers
137 views
が in the expression “耳が聞こえない”
I tried to translate this phrase literally and came up with "(My) ears can't hear". Since the expression means "(I'm) deaf", this makes sense.
However, I can't really get it to work grammatically, ...
7
votes
1answer
741 views
The difference between 時 and 時は
I know that it's correct to use は after 時, and it's also correct to omit it. For example:
子供の 時、よく海で泳ぎました。
子供の 時は、よく海で泳ぎました。
How does the meaning of the sentence change when the particle is ...
2
votes
0answers
29 views
The particle は before 押す [duplicate]
スイッチは押しましたか。
Can を be used in place of は here? (Have you pressed the switch? / Did you press the switch?)
押す is a transitive verb, so the use of は is confusing. Thank you for your help!
3
votes
2answers
161 views
Will expression retain the same definition if particle is changed?
自分を奮い立たせるために、わざと自分の考えを声に出し行動を始めた。
I came across the expression 声を出す on jisho.org. I don't know if replacing the expression's を with に (because を is already used earlier in the sentence) will allow me ...
3
votes
2answers
122 views
“~たい”-form and associated particle usage
My question is about the "~たい"-form ("want to").
I know that in a sentence containing this form, you can use は to mark the person who desires something. For example, "私は、東京に行きたい".
But then I came ...
2
votes
1answer
73 views
Dictionary form + と for a single occasion
自由が丘の駅で、大井町線から降りると、ママはトットちゃんの手を引っ張って、改札口を出ようとした。
As far as I know, a dictionary verb form + と is used to mean "when/if", "whenever" (e.g. 秋になると、木が赤くなります (it's always like that)).
But the sentence ...
1
vote
0answers
85 views
What is the meaning of ご in どうかご in the following sentence? [closed]
If it helps at all with the context, I'm going to put down the sentence that comes before the dialogue. The silver-haired man is now listening to the other character's reply, the start of which I am ...
2
votes
0answers
94 views
Word Order - は and が Particles
Today I learn that word order is not very strict in Japanese. You could change the order of noun phrases with no loss of meaning, as long as the correct particles are used.
I've learned this with the ...
2
votes
1answer
104 views
How to specify a day and a shop/office/etc. when asking for business hours? [closed]
I'm very sorry this is a very basic Question, I just started learning japanese as my third language (german being my native one and english my second) and Right now I learned a basic way of asking for ...
2
votes
1answer
77 views
何を食べても美味しくない vs 魚を食べてもいい
歯が痛くて何を食べても美味しくない
vs
魚を食べてもいい
The first example seems to me as though
何ても - anything
and in the middle is
食べ
So basically reading as Anything Eaten is not delicious
but the second example ...
10
votes
1answer
189 views
Meaning of「残るは」in a sentence
Came across this sentence in a memoir and I have a grammar question about it. For context, a person is thinking about someone sleeping nearby:
さっき声をかけてきたヤツは当分寝ないだろ。残るは寝ているか寝ていないかわからない隣の隣。
...
0
votes
0answers
49 views
Implied particles in the lyrics “桜咲いてひとひら / 秘めた想い預けて”
The lyrics are from this song (lyrics are in tab in the main info box.)
I am pretty sure that 秘めた想い預けて = 秘めた想い[を]預けて in this context. But I'm not so sure how to understand the lyrics as a whole.
...
9
votes
2answers
201 views
plain form + bakari vs. te form + bakari
How to translate plain form + ばかり? And what's the difference between plain form + ばかり vs. te form + ばかり?
For example:
赤ちゃんが泣いてばかりいます。In my understanding this means "The baby is always crying/does ...
8
votes
2answers
135 views
Difference between も and だって
Both of those particles can mean "too", "even" or "any" (when used with wh-question). Do they have any difference in meaning or connotation when used like this? E.g. 私もフランスに行きたい vs 私だってフランスに行きたい.
4
votes
1answer
123 views
Confusion about 大したこと(で)(は)ない
There are three variations on this phrase that I can find in Google, and I'm not sure whether all three are really used, or how frequently. But I am confused about the differences between them.
...
4
votes
1answer
439 views
The difference between 'no naka' and 'no naka ni'
I understand that 'no naka' means 'in' or 'inside', but how does the meaning change when 'ni' is placed after it?
For example:
Hako no naka - inside the box.
Hako no naka ni - ???
2
votes
1answer
74 views
か after short forms
In the Genki textbook, it is said that "In the casual conversational use of short forms, question sentences do not end with the question particle か, but with rising intonation alone."
Nonetheless, in ...
4
votes
1answer
123 views
「を」Vてある - Typo or actual construction?
Seen in the introduction to a book entitled 日本語文法ハンドブック, so it would greatly surprise me if it's a typo. Each section in the book is broken into parts and one is entitled "これだけは", being described ...
