Questions tagged [syntax]
統語論. Rules governing construction of phrases and sentences in a language.
494
questions
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0answers
77 views
What does 私はお願いしたいんですけど mean in this context?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4WlniHylrU&t=143s
This is a part of a legendary speech made by the former president of Nintendo at SpaceWorld. From my understanding, he is talking about the ...
4
votes
2answers
175 views
The exquisite depths of 和菓子's mind
Consider the following quote from this article:
和菓子は季節とともに変化するもの。パッと見て何を模したかわかる形もあれば、どんな意味が込められているのか考えるものもあり……。
As I understand it, the last clause is supposed to mean "there are ones (ie. certain ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
What is the sentence structure in Japanese and how do you know the correct order?
Let’s say we have “この建物にいいレストランがあります”。Why does “建物に“come before “レストランが”？How do you know in what order the words are to be said and does it matter?
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1answer
126 views
I can't quite parse this sentence about not remembering something
そうか
そういや
[ペッパー]{おまえ}は
昔のユトを
なにひとつ
思い出せねえん
だったっけ。
So the first part, そうかそういや is preamble, "Is that so? come to think of it..."
ペッパー is the name of the protagonist who's being addressed.
...
5
votes
1answer
338 views
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/...
2
votes
1answer
114 views
“I don't mind paying/watching/going”
I've seen a lot of posts with conditionals "if you don't mind... then" and such. But I was wondering how you would make a sentence with 'mind + gerundio'. I've seen the verb 'かまう' and 'きにする' but I ...
2
votes
1answer
93 views
'Who got it right?' '3 people got it right'
みなさん、こんばんは！
I was just wondering how you would say the phrase or phrases:
"Who got it right?" or "who is correct/right"
"'Tom got it right" or "3 people got it right"
To give some extra context, ...
3
votes
1answer
164 views
Need help with economics headline that contains 還元
Since I do not hold a degree in business, this headline has me stumped. Please note all of these are my sad attempts at translation since the article is only in Japanese.
支払い時に還元、実質値引きへ
"Return at ...
1
vote
1answer
85 views
Need help with the famous 11 second intercom audio from Mega Man Legends 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dJxBnRth-A&t=1m40s
Need 日本語字幕 subtitles for this short 11 second announcement heard in the background. I've listened to this for over a decade, and could never ...
1
vote
1answer
70 views
～め ending, apparently not imperative?
Context is the song 「その血の記憶」：
空白のラストページに… Into [dative of motion towards] a blank LAST PAGE,
そのこぶしを叩き込めーッ！ [Star Platinum] will throw that fist (???)
End of THE WORLD！その血の記憶！ ...
0
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1answer
87 views
Please help with a headline for today's news article about consumption tax
This morning (at least where I live) the top headline when I got up to look at the TBS news was as follows (source). Please correct my attempt if there is an error.
【現場から、】１０％の暮らし、駄菓子の“おまけ”で苦肉の策
...
3
votes
1answer
115 views
Help with 人物{じんぶつ}像{ぞう}の特定{とくてい}. What does it mean?
I have problems understanding this sentence:
ここでは一メートル以内にいようと人物像の特定、声の確認はあやふやになる。なにしろ童話の中の出来事だ
Particularly:
人物像の特定
My guess is that it is one specific point of a person. Would it be in ...
1
vote
1answer
128 views
レポートを書かなければなりません。 [duplicate]
Please I need some help here. I am all in on learning to mimic how Japanese speak and write as well as learning proper grammar. Just knowing vocal and grammar will lead to unusual and unnatural speech,...
5
votes
1answer
976 views
What is the meaning of 上げて落としたみて?
I'm reading this manga, and came accross the following monologue:
たかが弦ごときで世界の終わりみてーなツラしやがって
俺が上げて落としたみてーで後味ワリーだろがッ
俺の昼寝返せ!!!
I can't understand what 上げて落としたみて means. Is this an ...
2
votes
1answer
137 views
Unable to interpret these sentences: 「まいばんくにのかぞくにでんわします」「このまちにはゆうめいな建物があります」
Hi there I was given a couple of exercises, from which I can figure more or less the right answer but I can't interpret it totally (I see no logic between the sentences and the possible reply)
First ...
1
vote
2answers
168 views
Does こと mean 'thing' in the following context?
The characters are having the following conversation (provided for context), and I'm unsure as to what こと in the last line means. According to a previously asked question,
it has a large number of ...
4
votes
3answers
224 views
Because my friend asked me to
こんにちは、みなさん！
Hey guys, so, I'm familiar with the verb '聞く' when translating the verb 'to ask', as in for information. But, what about when asking/requesting someone to do something? (Similar to '...
0
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1answer
117 views
Do I have to use nan, ka, or both to ask a question?
I'm going through Genki, and for questions, it gives the example,
りゅうがくせいです (I am an international student) can be turned into a question by adding ka to the end.
りゅうがくせいですか (Are you an ...
2
votes
1answer
80 views
What sports are popular in Japan?
こんにちは, みなさん!
I was just wondering if this sentence structure is correct when asking 'what (thing) is popular in (place)?'
The example I've chosen is 'what sports are popular in Japan?'
My attempts:...
2
votes
0answers
54 views
Shared verb between 2 phrases [duplicate]
I came across this おれがあなたをあなたはおれを守る, which most probably means 'I will protect you and you will protect me'. The question that arises is there are from the looks of it, the phrrases (おれあがあんたを) and (...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
Can someone help me figure out what 考えを示しましたが is supposed to mean?
This entry is hard to find on the web. I've only found 2 entries:
1)【that以下】という考えを示す reveal one's idea that
2) 考えを示す to state one's opinion
立花氏は来週にもＮＨＫに出向いて受信契約をする考えを示しましたが、「契約する義務はあるが、支払いは義務ではない」...
2
votes
1answer
331 views
What is the general way to say something like “in your room?” without a verb?
For example, 部屋にいました would be "was in your room", but is it possible to say just "in your room" without the verb? Something like 部屋に? Or 部屋で?
4
votes
1answer
191 views
What does ものと見て, mean?
先日の佐伯真一さん殺人事件と、昨夜の四ッ星重工爆発炎上事故…それに、誘拐および殺人未遂事件を調べている警視庁は、この事件の裏で、大掛かりな軍事汚職事件が絡んでいるものと見て、真相の究明に全力を尽くすと発表しています。
The Superior Police Headquarters is investigating the murder ... of Mr. Shinichi Saeki, ...
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1answer
79 views
Does かえって処理 mean “altered process”
The following text is taken out of a novel.
「お人好しもいいですけど、hIE (インターフェース) が動いているところに手を出したら、かえって処理に負荷をかけますよ」
Kengo knew his computers and machines, though. “Best not interfere when an
Interfacer is ...
3
votes
2answers
204 views
Are there any consistent rules as to how to distinguish words in Japanese?
I got involved with tokenization (mecab, kuromoji) and got confused as to what a "word" is in the Japanese language.
Scenario 1:
"たべません" analyzed by a tokenizer, outputs the following tokens:
たべ ...
0
votes
1answer
147 views
What does “とらん” mean in this sentence? [duplicate]
まだ梅雨にも入っとらんというのに…
I guess it just means "We're not even in the rainy season yet". However I can't figure out how "入る" becomes "入っとらん".
0
votes
1answer
99 views
What does the title「 僕だけの向こう側」mean? [closed]
Can someone help me with possible translations for this title?
[僕]{ぼく}だけの[向]{む}こう[側]{がわ}: Boku dake no mukougawa
Also, can you explain why that would be the translation?
4
votes
1answer
179 views
I want to say “There is a convenience store behind the bookstore on the left”
In my book, they translated it in to:
Konbini no hidari ushiro ni honya ga arimasu.
But from earlier examples of the book it should switch konbini with honya
honya no ... Konbini ga... .
the ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Asking for advice/suggestion “should I…?”
みなさん,こんにちは。
I was wondering what gramatical structure is best to use when asking for advice as we would in English with 'Should I...?' Or 'should we...?'.
I've come across two possible choices but I'...
1
vote
1answer
147 views
Use of Kanji characters
Why are Kanji characters used along with Hirangana script characters for a word? For example: 飲みますwhich is spelled as nomimasu (correct me if I'm wrong) uses a kanji character. Why can't の be used ...
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1answer
89 views
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 ...
3
votes
0answers
123 views
When is it okay to not use desu?
I've been looking around for this, but all I can find is pretty basic stuff about desu. I've studied Japanese, but writing texts in Japanese still stumps me sometimes. Right now I'm wondering about ...
5
votes
2answers
255 views
Conjugating present and past negative i-adjectives
I've been learning about conjugating i- and na-adjectives recently and I've stumbled onto something odd. I've seen two distinct ways of conjugating negative i-adjectives; the two ways are to replace い ...
7
votes
1answer
405 views
Ways to specify “intra-” or “extra-” usage of 北・南・東・西
I Was trying to describe that a certain castle was located south of Kyoto, I would expect the phrase to be:
「伏見桃山城が京都の南にある。」
I was then thinking, how would I say that it is in Kyoto, but the ...
1
vote
1answer
72 views
What's the difference between [noun] + の and [noun]+ な?
For example, suppose I want to say "It's a weird thing". Can I say "hen na koto desu.", and "hen no koto desu"? What is the difference?
｢変なことです｣ vs. ｢変のことです｣
2
votes
1answer
111 views
What are the adverb + 何 +を doing in the following sentence?
In this book I'm translating, the narrative character is told the following line of dialogue by a girl before the sentence I'm asking about (bolded below).
「あなたには、生まれついての才能があるのよ
人を殺す才能。
生き残る才能。
...
1
vote
2answers
107 views
role of -られ, -し, and construction of the phrase
Trying to translate a song lyric and was caught off guard by this sentence:
雨に降られ行き場なくしなんの罰さ？と空を睨む
I feel like I get the gist of it, but uncertain that my parsing is accurate so far. Here's what ...
0
votes
1answer
68 views
ちいとばかし苦しいから extra cash to make ends meet
ティーゼル:
うぐっ！まだ潰れちゃいねえよ
今月の運転資金が、ちいとばかし苦しいから
軽くバイトするだけのこったよ
Teisel: Gaahh! No, it hasn't gone under! We're just, a little in the red this
month, that's all! Just need a little extra cash to ...
3
votes
1answer
106 views
What is the difference in meaning between「この自然が多い町」and 「自然が多いこの町」?
Please, see this related question for more context.
Thank you very much.
4
votes
1answer
112 views
Are です and あります／います ever interchangeable?
I feel like （私は）彼の前です。 means the same thing as （私は）彼の前にいます。 (I am in front of him.)
Also 本はどこですか。and 本はどこにありますか。 (Where is the book?)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but is there a rule for determining ...
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vote
2answers
142 views
Is it possible to join directly い-adj + この + noun?
I came across this multiple choice sentence within my homework exercises:
I assume that the correct answer is 気に入った. However, the この demonstrative seems out of place to me. I would rather use just ...
1
vote
1answer
189 views
Saying “and” with two different clauses?
I’ve seen a few threads about saying “and” but I’m not sure what to do if there’s a time element in the second clause.
For example, I want to say “I just woke up and I work later.”
Would that be 「...
4
votes
1answer
70 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
112 views
Is the following のが a nominalizing のが?
I have the following Japanese sentence:
身につけているのが、病院で着せられる検査服のようなものだから仕方ないのかもしれないが、どう見てもここは病院なんかじゃない。
and I was wondering if the bolded のが nominalizes the 身につけている before it, as
Darius says that
...
4
votes
1answer
214 views
Sentence order: Where to put もう
This is the sentential question I found in Sou Matome :
母親「さあ、もうねなさい。」 こども「この_ _ * _ ちょっとまって。」 A. おわる、B. もう、C. ゲームが、D.まで
I answered: ゲームがもう終わるまでちょっとまって。
but the answer is :
...
4
votes
1answer
380 views
Importance of からだ in this sentence
I found this sentence in Nihongo Sō-Matome:
A: また太っちゃった。。
B: あまいものばかり食べているからだよ。
Based on my understanding:
A: (you're) fat again...
B: I only eat nothing but sweets.
I do not know why ...
1
vote
0answers
53 views
Correct translation of sentence with できていません [duplicate]
I am confused with the use of できていません in sentence :
明日の宿題のレポートがまだ１枚もできていません
When I checked the dictionary it shows that できる means CAN(DO)/ BE ABLE TO while ている is for present progressive so I ...
2
votes
1answer
126 views
Interpreting Japanese sentences from right to left or left to right
Are Japanese sentences (horizontal) to be read/interpreted from left to right or right to left? For e.g: the word "Inshoku" when read from left to right, means Drink and food, but the translation ...
5
votes
1answer
146 views
Order of complements in phrase
To say for instance 'a 30-year-old female Japanese doctor', is there a rule as to the order of complements?
日本(人?)の３０歳の女の医者
医者の３０歳の女の日本人
Are all orders created equal? Are some allowed and ...
5
votes
1answer
114 views
What is the reason leading to the difference in tense used for affirmative and negative statements in the construction V~ほうがいい
In the construction of a suggestion statement with V~ほうがいい, the past (perfect) tense is used for the affirmative (according to this and this, the present tense can also be used for general advice), ...
