Questions tagged [usage]
用法・使い方. How to use certain words, phrases, particles, endings, constructions, and their variants.
5
votes
0answers
59 views
暮らし and 生活: meaning and usage [duplicate]
Are 暮らし and 生活 interchangeable? For example:
日本での暮らし （is 日本での生活 OK?）
日本の生活に慣れた。（is 日本の暮らしに慣れた OK?)
3
votes
1answer
103 views
Does 横になる imply a certain position?
I've always thought that 「横」 in 「横になる」 only refers to the fact that you're lying as opposed to standing (so you're now horizontal from the point of view of a standing person), regardless of your exact ...
1
vote
1answer
134 views
っていうことになったんですけど - meaning?
I had just received a somewhat rushed 'transliteration' of a 1 minute video. To me, Shigeru Miyamoto speaks in a way which is extremely difficult to understand. I am adding the full transcript just ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views
そのまま and parts of speech
こんにちは、、、
私はこの文が分かりますが、文法を考えてみると、はっきり分からなくなります。
「北斗七星のひしゃくのえの部分を、そのまま曲がり具合に沿って伸ばしていきます」
二つの動詞、二つの副詞が見えます。「曲がり具合に」と「沿って」はペアです。「そのまま」は、「伸ばして」とペアになりますか？
そうなら、「北斗七星のひしゃくのえの部分を、そのまま伸ばしていきます」と言ったら、...
1
vote
1answer
97 views
Help with grammar of this sentence
I'm not sure about some aspects of the grammar in this sentence:
総会のあと、公明党大阪府本部の佐藤代表は、記者団に対し、都構想そのものへの賛否は白紙だとしたうえで、「法定協議会が再開されれば、いい協定書を作れるよう前向きに協力していくというのがわれわれのスタンスだ」と述べました。
Here is my attempted ...
4
votes
2answers
160 views
Can you answer the question 何を飲みますか？ with 水です。?
It doesn’t seem that natural, as 水です seems to mean “It is water”, rather than a shorter form of 水を飲みます.
1
vote
1answer
68 views
Can「他【ほか】に」and「それに」be used interchangeably when conveying “in addition”?
I am looking for any difference in terms of nuance, usage or frequent collocations so I can tell in what situation I should use one instead of the other.
On the other hand, if the case is that the ...
4
votes
1answer
137 views
Function of と when used with 続く
I don't understand the function of と when used with と続きます
From this sentence in my textbook:
世界で一番インスタントラーメンをたくさん食べる国は中国で451.7億食、その次はインドネシアの137.0億食、日本の51.0億食、アメリカの43.2億食、ベトナムの39.1億食、韓国の33....
0
votes
0answers
25 views
How is everyone typing in their Japanese? [migrated]
I wanted to know how everyone is typing in their Japanese whenever asking their questions? I know this is a beginner question but I can’t figure out how everyone is doing it?
I thought about using ...
2
votes
1answer
84 views
Meaning of 感じの in this sentence
「なんか男らしくない感じの人。」
if らしく already gives the meaning of “seeming, characteristic of, ish,” etc then what is the purpose of adding 感じの？
1
vote
1answer
110 views
How accurately can のこと be translated as 'with regards to' in the following sentence?
While stumbling over my serval-month-old translation notes out of boredom,
I found that I had made note of のこと to mean 'with regards to (noun)" for the following Japanese sentence.
それでも彼には、...
0
votes
1answer
136 views
Is the following Japanese sentence negative or positive in English?
Context: Character A has just told the character who is the narrator that he has the talent to be an assassin. Being a normal person, and thus taken off guard, the narrator responds with the following:...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
Is a sentence ending with “か……。” a question or a questionative statement?
I came across the following line inside a Japanese book I'm reading.
しかし、 アインにツヴァイか……。
My understanding of the line is different depending on whether it would be a question (because of the か),.
...
4
votes
1answer
206 views
Why are weather verbs 曇る and 晴れる treated differently in this sentence?
In this sentence:
どうやら今日の天気は曇るようだ。× It seems that today's weather is cloudy.
This uses the weather verb 曇る
But when asking native speakers, this does not sound natural and I don't understand why.
...
7
votes
2answers
725 views
What is the difference between 仮定 and 想定?
I see a lot of different explanations online but I'm not sure if I understand the nuances correctly
From what I can gather:
仮定 is used when a situation is unclear and an assumption is made based on ...
3
votes
1answer
74 views
What is the difference between 扱う、捌く、 解決する and 処理する
These words have similar meanings along the lines of:
"deal with" "take care of" "settle" "manage" "handle" "process" some issue or something
For example what are the nuances of these sentences?
...
1
vote
0answers
69 views
Could someone help me understand this sentence [duplicate]
Can anyone help me understand this sentence? 太郎は春子にたばこを吸われた。 I’m having a really hard time understanding the translation given: “taro had a cigarette smoked by Haruko on him.” Is there another way to ...
-1
votes
1answer
152 views
What does “Itatakimas” actually mean?
What does “Itatakimas” actually mean?
Do Japanese use it only before starting to eat or it means more than that?
I was watching an anime and someone used that word when he was leaving the house, and ...
9
votes
3answers
615 views
Why is “language” represented by 言葉【ことば】 instead of 言語【げんご】 in this book for learning Japanese?
In みんなの日本語初級I book, the word 「ことば」 is used to mean "language" (English, Japanese, Russian, etc.)
However, I found 「言語」 as the most proper word for this type of language. The first variant (which ...
4
votes
2answers
213 views
What’s the difference between “tabun” (たぶん) and “desho” (でしょう)?
What’s the difference between “tabun” (たぶん) and “desho” (でしょう). Both mean “probably”, but when would you use one over the other? Please explain by referring to the following examples:
Example 1
...
5
votes
2answers
670 views
Distinction between 地平線 【ちへいせん】 and 水平線 【すいへいせん】
This sentence comes from goo here:
https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/en/見える/
地平線上に一隻の船が見えてきた。
A boat appeared on the horizon.
When I was attempting to assign the characters their correct ...
2
votes
1answer
111 views
Can verbs simutaniously use the volitional form and negative form? [closed]
I came across the following sentence in a book:
身体を起こし、手足がこれといった支障もなく動くのを確かめた。
and searched on Jisho.org for 障もなく. It sent me to https://jisho.org/search/障む, saying that "障もなく is the negative ...
1
vote
1answer
80 views
Issue with figuring out what [どう+なの] correctly translates to in the following sentence
I have translated most of the following sentence on my own, but I am having great difficulty in understanding then translating the ending of どうなの.
教え子の名前ぐらい、もう少し考えたらどうなの？
According to nevan king ...
0
votes
1answer
131 views
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 ...
1
vote
1answer
142 views
What is the meaning of 七五三 in the sentence, 七五三のしゃしんです。
I was looking at the following sentence under a picture that I unfortunately cannot provide:
七五三のしゃしんです。
I believe the sentence reads "It's a picture of 753"... which doesn't make sense.
I know ...
1
vote
1answer
160 views
Translating あくまで一応ですけどね
Translators say:
あくまで means: doggedly、insistently、persistently、stubbornly、to the bitter end、to the end、to the last、to the utmost
一応 means: tentatively、for the time being、in outline、just in case、once、...
1
vote
2answers
58 views
~ことがある for more than one thing
In the Genki II textbook, there is a phrase that goes like this:
うめぼし，のりなどを見たことも聞いたこともありませんでした。
Now, I understand that this roughly means that "I've never seen or heard of pickled plums or nori ...
2
votes
1answer
158 views
What does ことがないように express?
I've come across this sentence quite a few months ago, but I never understood the meaning of "ことがないように", I've searched and found about ことのないように, but I think it has not the same meaning.
This is the ...
3
votes
2answers
92 views
彼は瞳をキラキラさせながら言った。
I think that it is "He said with shining eyes", but what a word "させ"? Why "させ+ながら"? Why not "しながら"?
12
votes
1answer
2k views
Can I use English in place of katakana?
A habit that I have is replacing certain words with how I'd say them in English. For instance I'd write something like this: 私はイングランド人。 私はイーストアングリアに住んでいます, but say something like this: 私はEngland人。 ...
5
votes
1answer
82 views
Meaning of 以上 and 以下 according to water depth level
Reading a text like:
海の深さが200m以上{いじょう}
The first thing that came into my mind was:
Above a level of 200m depth
But then I realized that my understanding can be wrong and it may mean something ...
3
votes
1answer
642 views
What do all the different たすける's mean?
Today I noticed during practicing kanji that lately I've been going through a lot of kanji that all mean help / save / assist :
助ける
扶ける
救ける
援ける
輔ける
and I found two more that I had yet to learn (...
2
votes
1answer
101 views
Using 言う and ても to mean “even if you say”
I was trying to say something similar to "even if you tell me to not look, I will look", so my initial guess was something along those lines:
「見ないで」と言っても見る。
I was under the impression that Xて-form + ...
3
votes
1answer
73 views
さむいのはきらい vs さむいがきらい
I always thought that with construcions I like/I hate I should use noun +が + adjective +です, for example: ねこがすきです。
But lately I have heard in some japanese podcast above sentence with that のは ...
8
votes
1answer
180 views
What is the difference between 中国人, 華人, 漢人, and 唐人?
I looked at the dictionary definitions of 中国人, 華人, 漢人, and 唐人, and it appears that all of them mean "Chinese person".
Questions:
What is the difference between them?
Why are there so many ways of ...
1
vote
1answer
76 views
Utilising というのは
I am trying to write an ambiguous/evasive sentence.
The sentence is:
[PERSON A]，もしかして，あの人は一緒に，というのは，[PERSON B]ー
To the effect of "Person A, is it possible, that you and that person, that is to say, ...
2
votes
0answers
69 views
Please Explain the Grammer Pattern and use of 見てんの [duplicate]
Studying Terrace House subtitles. In Episode 1, someone says:
どういう気持ちで見てんの？
(please correct the following assumptions in case I'm wrong)
I understand どういう to be どう言う or "What would you say of"
気持ちで ...
1
vote
1answer
85 views
How can I express “a particular/a certain” thing?
I am studying vocabulary and I came across the word 然る, either read as さる or しかる (usually written in Kana) and means "A Particular/A Certain" noun. However, there was only one example sentence on ...
4
votes
1answer
116 views
Is その彼女/彼 correct in speech?
その人 is a common thing to say but その彼女 feels off. If it's always incorrect, what about そんな彼女?
0
votes
0answers
35 views
How is ように used in here? [duplicate]
準備ができたら呼びに来るように.
What does this sentence mean? I mean how is ように used here. ように is found there at the end of the sentence.
3
votes
1answer
80 views
Parsing the sentence 書く人物の顔が頭に入っていないと効果はない
This sentence is from Death Note, specifically on how to use it.
This sentence is written in-universe using English. It states, “This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s ...
3
votes
1answer
106 views
Can a clause ending in ば be translated to “when”?
My question stems from item 4 and 5 in this picture, which is taken from a textbook of advanced Japanese reading. These two items fell into the normal present tense in English. In English, it would be ...
7
votes
1answer
322 views
How to express the subjunctive mood in Japanese
I recently learned the Vばよかった construction, which roughly means "it would be better had I done V". This got me curious about how to construct a sentence in subjunctive mood in Japanese, or even if it ...
2
votes
0answers
101 views
Why is “でしょう” the norm in weather forecasts?
In weather forecasts on the radio or on TV, I frequently notice the announcers suddenly starting to add "でしょう" to almost all their sentences. Now I know this is used to indicate uncertainty, which ...
10
votes
1answer
135 views
Difference between たっぷり and たくさん?
I understand that たっぷり and たくさん means "a lot" but how can you tell apart the right time to use one or another.
Please point me a couple of examples.
Thanks
まいど ありがと
1
vote
2answers
122 views
Difference in nuance between 元気 and 丈夫?
As I understand it, both of these approximately mean healthy or robust. I originally thought that 丈夫 was more appropriate for inanimate objects and 元気 for living things, but now I get the impression ...
1
vote
0answers
26 views
Why use で instead of とhere? [duplicate]
冬休みは家族でイタリアやイギリスへ行きました。
This sentence is very simple but I don't understand why で is being used instead of と here.
0
votes
0answers
97 views
Do I need to reply in this situation?
(In a game) I am a newbie(Lv29), and I saw B(lv100+) having filled his room's wall with numerous super-super-rare(SSR) posters, which can be only be earned with enormous effort. (I don't have any)
I ...
2
votes
1answer
189 views
Difficulties with an ambiguous sentence
新しく首相に就任した安倍晋三氏は、その著書『美しい国へ』（文春新書）において次のようなことを書いている。人は、自分が育った郷土に対して素朴な愛着をもつが、それはどこからくるのだろうか。それは、その国の歴史や伝統、文化などに接しているうちにはぐくまれてきたものである。だから「自らが帰属する国がつむいできた歴史や伝統、また文化に誇りをもちたいと思うのは、だれがなんといおうと、本来、...
1
vote
1answer
211 views
What is the usage of these 12 kanjis (彁, 墸,壥,挧,暃,椦,槞,蟐,袮,閠,駲,妛)+18 more in modern Japanese? How to read it?
I read from this interesting article that it's included in 幽霊文字 (yuurei moji/ghost kanji (character). I tried to look up each of those kanjis:
I use these sites to look up those kanjis:
a.jisho.org
...
