Questions tagged [usage]
用法・使い方. How to use certain words, phrases, particles, endings, constructions, and their variants.
1,589
questions
0
votes
1
answer
80
views
Does 風の吹くに任せて、どこを見ても feel natural?
This short passage comes from chapter 24 of Kokoro and was the basis for a recent question by another member.
東京へ帰ってみると、松飾はいつか取り払われていた。町は寒い風の吹くに任せて、どこを見てもこれというほどの正月めいた景気はなかった。
I have a different ...
- 1,565
3
votes
1
answer
89
views
「お前」にも「さん」をつけること
「お前」という二人称は歴史的に不尊敬の意味がなく、実は敬語として用いられていたことは知っていますが、現代にはまだそういう用例があるのですか？ 特に、ゲームをやっていた時、こういう会話を見てちょっと不思議だと思いました。
ここでは「お前さん」と「お前さんら」の用例が見つかります。このゲームの世界観は江戸時代の日本に基づいており、会話や文法は大体現代語です。なので、...
- 3,666
0
votes
1
answer
38
views
Can “〜などない” or “〜なんてない” also mean “not remotely”?
I keep seeing “〜などない” in many contexts where I feel this is the only interpretation that makes sense even though I can't find anything on the internet about it, such as say “その人に車を運転する資格などない。” “...
- 1,476
5
votes
1
answer
258
views
Help with 服が入らない
While playing persona 3, I came across the following line:
…もしかしてチミ、ボクのファッソン気にしてる？
いいかい、ボクが休日に制服なのはだね…
……。
他の服が入らないからだよッ！！
I was under the impression that 入る refers to something entering another ...
- 331
7
votes
1
answer
753
views
Difference between 頁 and ページ
What is the difference (historical or otherwise) in the use of 頁 and ページ to describe a page number or the number of pages of a work?
- 207
1
vote
1
answer
78
views
母親の呼び方 (連絡先として)
母親を呼ぶとは「お母さん」や「母ちゃん」等、人と話す時には自分の母親のことを「はは」で、相手の母親を「お母さん」で呼びますよね。で、日本の人は一般的に自分の母親を連絡先リストにどう入力しますか。「お母さん」などか「はは」か
- 3,666
2
votes
1
answer
124
views
What is the object of the verb 探る
I'm a little confused about the use of 探る (this link is related but I don't think it really answers my question). I can't work out if the grammatical object is the thing I'm seeking or the place I'm ...
- 30.5k
8
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Is it OK to call a person "sempai" who is actually much younger than you?
Well, my question actually came from an anime movie (please forgive me for asking from an anime), Makoto Shinkai's romance big-hit film Weathering With You (天気の子, Hepburn: Tenki no Ko), where at some ...
- 205
0
votes
0
answers
52
views
The passive and inanimate subjects and inroducting agents
It's often said that the passive in Japanese is unnatural with an inanimate subject because it's fundamentally about perception and affection. This seems to make sense on the surface but is also ...
- 1,476
1
vote
1
answer
57
views
Can 〜とか〜とか and “〜たり〜る” also be used to have the first items be examples of the last?
What I mean with that is that I can vaguely recall at one point having read that one can say say “「スパイダーマン」とか「スーパーマン」とか漫画が好き” to mean “I like comic books such as Spider-Man and Super Man,” rather than ...
- 1,476
2
votes
0
answers
74
views
Can anyone check my understanding of 答え 返事 回答 解答 正解
This is how I understand those words In the 返事 circle, you could use the word response but 返事 is broader than 回答. In interview context, the response you said could be either 返事or回答. But you can't use ...
- 31
3
votes
2
answers
167
views
Understanding さしずめ
From Dungeon Meshi episode 16, マルシル responds to an explanation by ライオス of a dungeon creature that breaks down leftover remains of monsters and live and repair the dungeon walls after damage has been ...
- 1,323
1
vote
3
answers
100
views
Can “〜といい” also indicate permission similar to “〜ていい”
Both monolingual and English resources on “〜といい” indicate it means “should” or “hope that” similar to “〜たほうがいい” but I often see sentences like say “何でも好きなものを注文するといい” where it seems to not so much ...
- 1,476
1
vote
1
answer
43
views
Can “〜てきた” also mean “to have been doing” for non-transformative verbs
Evidently something like “人気が上がってきた。” can mean “popularity has been rising”, implying an action that has been going for a while rather than an instant change. But I've been seeing a lot of sentences ...
- 1,476
0
votes
1
answer
76
views
Can “なんて” also serve as an inhabited nominalizer?
I came across a rather interesting sentence spread across two bubbles:
一瞬で空気を変えちゃうなんて
シャチ君だけだよ
Instinctively, I would read the first bubble simply as something like “To think he actually changes the ...
- 1,476
2
votes
1
answer
141
views
“自分” not referring back to the subject?
This particular usage of “自分のためにやっているんだ” caught my eye. I would have originally interpreted it as meaning “Don't mind it; I'm doing this for myself you see.” with “自分” referring back to the subject, ...
- 1,476
3
votes
1
answer
117
views
Does “〜でいたい” assume already being in that state?
Consider for instance “元気でいたい” does that imply the speaker is at this point already healthy and wants this state to persist, or can it also be used when the speaker is not yet healthy but simply wants ...
- 1,476
3
votes
1
answer
184
views
What exactly is the difference between causative verbs of intransitive verbs and their transitive counterpart?
I've noticed this before but I just encountered “ちょっと見せなさい” which clearly meant “Let me look for a moment.” not “Show it for a moment.” as it was uttered by a character that pushed the other character ...
- 1,476
3
votes
1
answer
164
views
ないで欲しい or なくて欲しい?
I came across this sentence
来たばかりの人間を、普通に呼び出さないで欲しい
Which I believe means something like
I want you not to so naturally summon someone who's just arrived
Please correct me if I'm off.
What I don't ...
- 139
0
votes
0
answers
62
views
How do you negate っこない
I don understand how to negate the grammar point of っこない
I get that you put the verb in the ますstem before っこない
Like in the example
泳げっこない
--> There is no way I can swim
But what if I've always been ...
- 87
5
votes
1
answer
425
views
Nuance of masu-stem+あぐねる
From my dictionary, masu-stem+あぐねる seems to imply that you get tired of doing an action because you have met a setback that prevents the result you hoped for from occurring despite various efforts.
In ...
- 1,323
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What does なんたら mean?
I came across
昨日のハイドロなんたらとかいう怖い女の子だ
Which from an official translations means
Its that scary girl from yesterday called Hydro-glerpadoodle
Am I right in assuming that なんたら is a filler word for ...
- 139
2
votes
1
answer
81
views
what is the difference between ごたえ and かい/がい
I've been wondering but, what are the differences in nuance between the grammar points ごたえ and かい/がい ?
examples:
見ごたえがある vs 見がいがある
聞きごたえがある vs 聞きがいがある
やりごたえがあった vs やったかいがある
- 51
1
vote
1
answer
92
views
confused about て無かったら
In the sentence
一部しか残って無かったら意味ないし
Where the official translation is
Because its meaningless if a part is left
I don't understand how 無かったら isn't negating the 残ってる to mean "if a part is NOT ...
- 139
1
vote
0
answers
100
views
Interesting differences in 四字熟語 and their Chinese counterparts
Note: For the ease of reading, all Chinese characters used here are in Japanese 新字体 with Simplified Chinese(简体字) written in brackets.
Japanese has a lot of 四字熟語, and although some developed within ...
- 3,666
1
vote
0
answers
71
views
Confused about usage of という
I came across this sentence:
地面が土で、周囲が木というだけで、暑さが随分とマシになった。
The heat became quite bearable when surrounded with trees and dirt.
I'm confused about what という is doing here?
- 139
1
vote
1
answer
59
views
How is the grammar working in いや、何かしないとな?
From what I've gathered. The sentence いや、何かしないとな means something like "No, I've got to do something" .
I cant quite understand how the grammar is working here to turn the negative suru verb ...
- 139
3
votes
3
answers
856
views
How does 別にいいですよ mean "It doesn't matter" or "I don't mind"?
A bit confused about how the grammar here is working.
I came across this sentence "別にいいですよ、恋愛漫画読んでたって。"
Which I believe means something like "I don't care/mind, about you having read ...
- 139
2
votes
3
answers
136
views
What form comes before ので
Genki I Chapter 12 says the part of ので sentence is USUALLY in a short form. All examples are given in short form until I found an example in JLPT sensei website:
今から行きますので、少々お待ちください。
Shouldn't it be
...
- 95
2
votes
1
answer
400
views
Distinguishing hyperbole and literal sentences with くらい / ぐらい
One of the meanings of くらい is 'to the extent', and is often used in hyperbole (exaggerated claims) such as:
今日はもう一生走りたくないくらい走った。 Today, I ran so much that I don't want to run again in my whole life.
...
- 33
2
votes
1
answer
119
views
The role of が in 家が火事だよ
(This question is a follow-up to this comment thread.)
I came across the sentence 家が火事だよ,† and although the meaning is clear from context, I'm struggling to understand what's going on grammatically. ...
- 248
0
votes
1
answer
171
views
Difference between 何かしますか and 何をしますか
Between 何かしますか and 何をしますか, which one is correct grammatically?
Which one do native Japanese people use?
- 95
7
votes
2
answers
541
views
Usage/meaning of ～の半分 vs 半分の～
When linking 半分 and a noun with the の particle, I'm trying to understand the difference, if any, between putting the noun first and putting 半分 first. See these two examples I found online:
...
- 75
4
votes
1
answer
127
views
the difference between いくら and たとえ with non-degreeable words
The difference between
たとえ背が高くても… [even if you should be tall]
いくら背が高くても… [no matter how tall you are]
Seems obvious to me, but “いくら” is very often also used with words that are not degreeable such ...
- 1,476
0
votes
1
answer
89
views
Regarding the state verbs ある or いる in the grammar pattern さえ～ば
I am really getting confused regarding the state verbs used in the grammar pattern さえ～ば.
See the following examples:
家族さえいれば、他に何もいらないです。
In the above example, we use the state verb いる because what ...
- 33
0
votes
1
answer
59
views
This usage of “だけ”
I sometimes see “〜だけ” in sentences such as:
昔から男運だけは悪かった。
The context does not imply “Only my luck with men has always been bad.” and that's a somewhat weird sentence. Is there some other ...
- 1,476
0
votes
1
answer
120
views
Understanding the meaning of だからな in this line
I am currently playing the Japanese version of Octopath Traveler. In one scene in particular, there are two characters in prison; one of them (a kid named Therion) has just been hit by the guard and ...
3
votes
2
answers
118
views
When to use んだ inside your head?
Since the start of this year I have been thinking to myself in Japanese several times throughout each day. I am not sure if it's ever appropriate to use んだ in such self-directed speech. One scenario ...
- 273
1
vote
1
answer
288
views
Difference between だろうか and のだろうか?
I've been trying to figure out the difference between だろうか and のだろうか through context in my reading, but it's proving harder than I thought. Here's a passage with both. What is the difference, and why ...
- 69
2
votes
0
answers
168
views
日(ひ) は大昔からdayの意味持っていたのか
日本は漢人に接触し漢字と漢語を輸入した前に大和言葉はもう存在していたから、きっとその時にもうdayを指す語はもうあった。現代の視点から見ると、和語のdayの意味の言葉は「日(ひ)」なんですけど(例えば その日、あの日、出会った日)、これも漢語の影響なんですか？
詳細に言うと、昔の大和言葉の一日を指す語は「日(か)」だったと思うのは正しいですか。一ヶ月の中の日付も(二日ふつか、三日みっか等)、暦(...
- 3,666
0
votes
3
answers
158
views
Difference between ながら and 一方で
What is the difference between ながら and 一方で?
Example:
彼はアルバイトをしながら大学へ行きます。
and
彼はアルバイトをする一方で大学へ行きます。
- 33
2
votes
1
answer
318
views
What does のでしょうか do here?
An assistant is talking about how they are reminded of their time being Margret's assistant when they come back to her old room. I can't figure out how to parse のでしょうか. It doesn't seem like they are ...
- 69
2
votes
2
answers
365
views
Difference between このような and こんな
What is the difference between このような and こんな?
How is their usage and different?
How semantically are they different?
3
votes
1
answer
298
views
What does "好きなだけ" mean here?
Is な used to connect 好き and だけ. Does it mean that she only likes reading books?
わたしは本を読むのが好きなだけの極々虚弱な女の子だ。
- 69
7
votes
2
answers
224
views
The construct of いつの間にか
In Japanese, we can add か to question words to make it mean "some-xxx." Example:
何 what 何か something
誰 who 誰か somebody
何人 how many people 何人か some amount of people (何人かの友達きた some friends ...
- 3,666
1
vote
1
answer
386
views
When and where to use ございます and its variations?
I know that ございます is used in informal settings. Still, I have some confusion as we use it after "Good Morning" and not "Good evening". Are there any specific rules related to it's ...
- 121
5
votes
2
answers
627
views
usage of the second “て” in this sentence
“よく晴れててキャンプ日和だよ”.
I am confused about the second "て” here.
- 53
2
votes
1
answer
212
views
Meaning of the expression るわけ
I stumbled upon the following sentence:
ねてるわけなんですけども
As I understand it, ねて means the fact/means of sleeping, and the ending ~なんですけども is short for ~なんですけれども and here is a polite way of making an ...
- 23
0
votes
1
answer
100
views
Regarding the tense of the verbs in the ついでに grammar
I have a doubt regarding the tense of the verbs in the ついでに grammar pattern for the two clauses.
Consider the following sentences-
一時帰国したついでに、アメリカでは買えない物を買います。
N3のテキストを買うついでに、漫画も買ってしまった。
I saw a rule ...
- 33
6
votes
1
answer
206
views
動作の完成を表す言葉について、
この質問はこちらからの追加質問です。
日本語を勉強し始めた頃から、たくさんの文章を読んだり動画を見たりしまして、若干の動作の終わりを表現する語を知ってますが、その使い分け、特に、日本人が脳内で感じれる単語の違いは分かりません。
例えば、水などの液体を全て飲んだら、いくつかの表現があります：
飲み切った
飲み果たした
飲み尽くした
飲んでしまった
飲み終わった
...
- 3,666