Questions tagged [phrase-requests]
Topics related to finding a phrase that fits a given context or meaning.
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What is the word for a shop that sells small electronic parts (such as LEDs, resistors, transistors, breadboards, etc.)?
I want to find stores in Tokyo that sell articles mentioned in the title.
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How do you say "To count" or "That doesn't count" as in "(not) a true experience"
I've come across ふくむ and かぞえる, but to my understanding, that's used for counting sequences and quantities.
How would you say "That doesn't count" in the following contexts.
A- Have you ever ...
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How do you say “My car is not big. But, it’s not small either”?
I am having trouble finding out if I’m correct on this.
The statement I would like to translate is,
My car is not big, but it’s not small either.
With the knowledge I have, it would be ...
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How do you say 'My father and I share the same birthday'?
I am a total beginner in Japanese. If I were to translate it with the knowledge I have, it would be:
わたし の おとうさん と わたし の たんじょうび は [insert Japanese word for 'share'] です.
The setting would be as if I ...
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あかんと言うには大阪からですか？ to ask "Is the word 'akan' from Osaka?"
あかんと言うには大阪からですか？
How would I ask in Japanese "Is the word 'akan' from Osaka?"
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Equivalent of "Born to X, Forced to Y" snowclone
I'm looking for an equivalent to phrases such as "Born to fish, forced to save the world" (for use in a social media bio or etc., so usage of internet slang is fine), but I'm doubtful that ...
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"sounds familiar" or "it rings a bell" phrases but a Japanese version
Was practicing some conversations when I came across those two phrases. How would you answer something like:
ゲーム会社「カプコン」の名作「ヴァンパイア」シリーズを知っていますか。
with the Japanese equivalent of "it sounds ...
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Phrase for "whatever comes to mind" or "whatever I feel like"
I had a friend, also learning Japanese, presenting "words of the day" (日の言葉). I asked him (and you are free to tear this sentence apart):
どこから日の言葉出るの？
"Where do the words of the day ...
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Translating the phrase "Says the guy who..." into Japanese
I got curious thinking about this. Is there any phrase that conveys the same idea/feeling as the English phrase "says the guy who [...]!"
For example:
"You should stop watching TV all ...
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How do you describe something as "family-friendly"?
Google gives me 家族向け, but it seems like its used to describe things like vehicles, properties and tourist spots that are "for families (with 3-4+ members)", rather than media such as video ...
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What is the Japanese wording for unsheathing a sword (katana) for about half an inch with your thumb?
I know that "tsuba" is the handguard that you use to push katana out of its scabbard and "nuke to" means to draw a sword I think.
I'm curious how would you say/write down "...
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Is there a ことわざ similar to "water under the bridge" and "let bygones be bygones"?
Earlier today in a comment I tried to explain to a community member that they should put whatever happened in the past behind them. I used "water behind the bridge" and "let bygones be ...
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How to ask "What is your opinion on X thing/X person?"
As the title says. How do you ask for someone's opinion on something in Japanese?
My Japanese tutor says than an easy way to do this can be
「Xはどうですか？」
thus saying
"How about X,"
but I ...
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Is there another term for "in fact", "actually"?
I feel like I am blanking on a very common conjunction word. よく聞く言葉みたいな気がしますが、どうしても思い出せないんです。I am looking for a word that means "in fact", "actually", as in:
You can call me by my ...
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How do I say 'As to why I chose this topic...'
I have a highschool Japanese oral exam coming up in which we discuss a topic of my choosing, along with an accompanying image that relates to said topic.
I have already memorised responses to many ...
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How would say something like "I hate to break it to you, but..." in Japanese?
"I hate to break it to you, but..." or "Sorry, but..."
For example: "Sorry, but I don't like cake" or "I hate to break it to you, but I didn't like your performance&...
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My notebook is almost full
So I was trying to ask for a new notebook at my office, I wanted to say that my notebook is almost full, so I need a new one.
I ended up saying
私のノートはページがあまり残っていませんので、新しいノートをお願いします。
But I don't know ...
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How to ask someone if it is okay to do something?
I often find myself wanting to ask if I can do something ie. "Is it okay if I ask you a question?" or "Can I switch seats with you?" Along those lines. I'm not sure if this is ...
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ないと attached to a verb
I know that 頑張らないと would mean "I have to work hard" (as if I am forced to work hard).
What if I see someone (my friend) working hard and I am motivated to work hard too. In this case, would 頑張らないと or ...
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Is there a Japanese word for "Easter holidays"?
I was wondering if there is a Japanese word for "Easter holidays"? While I am aware that most of Japan does not celebrate Easter, I was surprised to find a word for Easter (復活祭, fukkatsusai). My guess ...
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What is the difference between the words 状態 and 状況?
Actually, I want to write an email to a person asking about her current situation in life, understanding by "situation" if she got married, if she changed companies, if she's happy, etc. I remember ...
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Correct way to say "I only see you as a friend"
How does one say "I only see you as a friend" in Japanese?
Literal translation would give 友達だけとして見ます, but the 見ます part seems awfully wrong.
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Losing concentration
During some kind of repetitive task which doesn't involve thinking, I lost my concentration and forgot what I was doing. When I told someone about this I said 途中でぼけてしまった but I wonder if that is the ...
user36788
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How to say "trying to get someone to look at something"
What is a good way to express the idea of "trying to get someone to look at something", for example "She's trying to get me to look at her". I tried typing this into Google Translate and got this:
...
user36788
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How do I apologize for my bad Japanese?
I am writing a short letter in Japanese. I will doubtless make many mistakes. What is a nice way to acknowledge this to the recipient?
I apologise for using the forum incorrectly. With the help of ...
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340
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What does しゅごい mean?
I'm reading a manga and I can't for the life of me figure out what this phrase is supposed to mean; I've never seen it before.
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How to say "unless...?" in the context of "but what if"
In the context of the phrase "Just kidding... unless...?", how would the word "unless" be translated? Here, "unless" has sort of a connotation of "what if...?" as well as "unless you want to?"
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How would you ask "What makes your mouth water?" in Japanese?
I want to ask "What makes your mouth water?" in Japanese, but I'm not quite sure what is the right way. I was thinking of saying: あなたは何でよだれが出る？
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How to say "turn around!" in Japanese?
How do you order someone to turn around in a direct and forceful manner, like the way a police officer or soldier would say? Thank you.
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Japanese idiom for "don’t get your meat where you get your bread"?
There is an idiomatic expression in Portuguese:
Onde se ganha o pão não se come a carne
Literally, it would translate to "where one earns their bread one does not eat the meat" and it relates to a ...
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How to message or mail to teacher for making a appointment? [closed]
I need to send a message to my teacher for asking an appointment.
But I don't know how to. He is gonna check my homework tomorrow and he wants a message.
> 先生こんにちは。 作文をチェックのために７日に予約したいです。 ...
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How to ask if a connection/relationship exists between two things
I would like to ask if there is a connection or relationship between two different parts.
For example, would this be an appropriate way of asking "Is there any connection between the two compilations/...
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How can I say "even today" or "even now"?
I would like to say "even today" or "even now".
I want to talk about Japanese culture and customs. Would it be something like:
今日まで日本の中でたくさんしゅうかんで、文化があります。
I want it so say something like "even ...
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Way of the bicycle
I'm a karate-do practitioner. And I love the meaning of DO (way). I'm building a cyclist group. And I want to call it "The way of two wheels". Does it make sense to call it Niwa-Do?
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Is there an equivalent phrase for "(enjoyed it) as much as we did"?
When sending a thank you message to a friend that showed me and my family around in her country, I wrote something along the lines of
We had as much fun as we did thanks to you.
Later when I was ...
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Equivalent to "How to" in guides and the like
What is an equivalent expression to "How to" that is used when searching/referring to guides, especially online?
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How do you say “only to find out” in Japanese
I’m trying to connect two sentences with the phrase “only to find out” / “only to discover”
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How to say "to cause a problem" in japanese?
I wonder if there usual/fixed phrase to say "to cause a problem"? I find self-made 問題を起こす to be inappropriate/unnatural in some way...
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How do you write "Lesson (number X)"?
For example, Lesson 19. Would it be:
1) 授業19
2) 十九番目の授業
Would I use 学課, instead of 授業?
I'm a complete beginner, as well, I am literally starting from scratch, on my own.
Regards.
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Order of sentence's parts in building sad-mooded rhetorical question
太陽を最後に我々は見たのはいつだ?
literally: The Sun last time we saw-state when are?
meaning: When did we last time saw the Sun, f**k!?
context: it is a sad rhetorical question about bad rainy weather.
It is not a ...
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What's the ultra-polite way to invite someone to do something?
While reading What's the polite way to invite someone to do something?, I noticed that many of the comments/answers talk about how things are polite enough for an online chat service. Well, I'm ...
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Understanding grammar and translation of 入出国 in followng sentence
すでに入出国の記録も抹消するよう、 手配してあります。
I know that verbs, nouns, and adjectives can qualify nouns in Japanese via qualifying phrases, and I'm assuming that's what's going on with '入出国'. Broken down, the ...
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How to say unpredictable in Japanese
I'd like to say "I like anime because its unpredictable". I found out through searching online that ありきたり translates to predictable, however I'm not sure if this is correct.
My entire sentence:
...
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Japanese equivalent of "Mmmm" as in "Mmmm I like that!" or "Mmmm, delicious"
What's the Japanese equivalent of "Mmmm" as in "Mmmm I like that!" or "Mmmm, delicious"?
"Mmmm" used as a tone of appreciation or approbation, NOT of ...
user28169
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How do I say ''Idle animation'' in Japanese?
I want to know how to say the term ''idle animation'' in Japanese. It's what a character from a videogame does when standing still for too long. Ex: Sonic.
I have seen people in twitter use ''...
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Unknown Japanese saying: 世に孵ることを拒む卵はなく、 芽吹くことを拒む種子もあり得ない
I'm having some issues translating the first part (bolded) of this metaphor/saying(?) into English.
世に孵ることを拒む卵はなく、 芽吹くことを拒む種子もあり得ない.
How does the verb 孵る work on the こと part of the sentence, and ...
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How can I express sentences like "How long is ..." or "How old is ... " or "How convenient is ..." etc.?
I want to know if there's a grammar structure that can be used when you want to know the extent of an adjective. E.g.
会長は若いね ＞＞ How young is he?
この映画はとっても長いよ！ ＞＞ How long is it?
たきくんは遅れてしまいました。 ＞＞ ...
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What's the polite way to invite someone to do something?
For example: "If you want to practice English, feel free/you are welcome to message me". How do you carry the nuance of "you are welcome to but don't feel obliged?" If I said 英語を練習したいならメッセージしてください ...
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How to politely and indirectly tell someone they forgot to do something?
Let's say someone who's above me, like a teacher or a boss, forgot to do something. How would I notify them without being rude?
I only know the basic "~するのを忘れました"(though I'm not even sure if that's ...
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