Questions tagged [usage]
用法・使い方. How to use certain words, phrases, particles, endings, constructions, and their variants.
1,304
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please help me understand the meaning and structure of this sentence
流行りものとは突き放すことはしないまでもある程度距離を置く
The most confusing part for me is understanding the しないまでもある程度 part. another thing I’m not so sure about is the first と particle. Is it in this case modifying (?) the ...
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0answers
65 views
I need help making sure this tattoo makes sense [closed]
I'm being told it reads "my future" Does this make sense? I mean it simply as that, implying that when thinking about the future, it's sad.
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1answer
65 views
Can you drop the "の方” in the AよりBのほうが… construction
Can you drop the "の方” in the AよりBのほうが... construction? I'm asking because I heard this line in a song I was listening to:
野菜よりお肉が食べたい
Thanks in advance.
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1answer
95 views
I don't understand な in this sentence
まだ何度でも食べたいと 欲張ってしまうな
So I know an imperative negative like 飲むな means don't drink, but in this case the speaker is talking about himself and his inability to not stop his own desire. why is this not ...
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1answer
212 views
How do you use (何, 誰, etc) + the verb in ようform + と
I was reading some sentences in japanese to practice and I came across this sentence:
何を好きになろうと、誰と話そうと
According to google traslator it means something like: "no matter what you like or who you ...
4
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1answer
102 views
Cases where として and にとって are overused/ cannot be used
I've been reading through Imabi, and one of the notes on the site was about inappropriate use of として and にとって in contexts of contrast and although phrases. These three were listed as examples of ...
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1answer
89 views
I need help with the translations of the word Seido 精度
I am planning to start a small business in the art industry in the UK. I was brainstorming ideas for business names some time ago and I started typing in translations of English words I found relevant ...
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1answer
85 views
Who does ヤツ in this context refer to?
The main character (A) is randomly accosted by some guy, who is allegedly working for some kind of organization aiming to make the city greener, on the street to sign his petition with the main ...
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2answers
116 views
Can someone help me translate “she's my person”?
I'm not quite sure if this is right.
彼女は私の人です
Kanojo wa watashi no hitodesu
I'm a little confused on the word for "she" as it can also translate to "girlfriend." I've read that ...
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1answer
181 views
is Vてはじめて it's own grammar construction or simply something made up to help Japanese learners?
The Vてはじめて、construction is generally taught as its own grammar point to mean "not until X", "only after X". However from what I've been told by other learners as well as natives, ...
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111 views
I don't get what ''元気よくとはいかない'' means
''~とりあえず、新学期。まぁさ、元気よくとはいかないけど、でもこんな天気もいいし、桜も咲いてるし、もう少しだけ愛想が良くてもいいんじゃないかしら？''
What はいかない is? is it like てはいけない (must not/don't have to)? If so, why はいけない and not はいかない?
Could you break '''元気よくとはいかない'' ...
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31 views
金曜日の予習に第4章を読んでおくこと, The function of こと [duplicate]
The translation given for the sentence was "Read chapter 4 for Friday." Is the こと used just to make the sentence a bit more respectful or is it just missing some context? I feel like i'm ...
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1answer
72 views
Would using “たら” make sense in this type of sentence?
So recently I've met a Japanese person whilst playing League and we started to talk a bit over the group voice chat. Although my Japanese is still at a very basic level we understood each other pretty ...
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1answer
77 views
What does 「Nounを笑え」 phrase mean in this sentence?
Oh! KAREN 浜辺の濡れた砂の上で
抱きあう幻を笑え
It's from a song 「恋するカレン」by 大滝詠一. Lyrics here.
Based on my understanding, here's my translation:
Oh! KAREN I laugh at my dream of embracing you in my arms on wet sand on ...
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58 views
japanese adjectives [duplicate]
赤のボウル
赤ワイン
赤いセーター
What is the rule here?
When do i use の particle, when i use nothing and when do i make い adjective(if i understand it correctly)
Someone explain please.
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1answer
102 views
What's the significance of this female character's use of おまえ?
I'm accustomed to thinking of おまえ, in modern Japanese, as a second-person pronoun and form of address that is used by men and boys with their inferiors or equals. But in 『少年と犬』, by 馳星周, there's a ...
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1answer
127 views
Why is 及び being used to mean “a.k.a.” in this sentence?
So this sentence in a Vtuber video (which has English and Chinese translation available) caught my interest:
今回の事件ははあちゃま及び赤井はあとがデビュー当初から秘められし能力を封印していたこと原因であり、すべてははあちゃまの責任です。
I initially went into ...
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1answer
131 views
I want to be able to speak more casual Japanese. I just wanted to know if it was possible to drop です out of a sentence. example: これは犬
Could I drop です out of a sentence? I want to be able to speak more casual Japanese. I just wanted to know if it was possible to drop です out of a sentence. example: これは犬
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1answer
93 views
Can the ~てくれてありがとう form be used to thank someone for more general actions?
If I would like to thank someone for their work (in the context of "wow! what a lovely sculpture! thank you for your effort/for letting us see this!" or "thank you for writing about ...
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1answer
143 views
Meaning of うちの上 in phrase
Context: A, B and C are all students. A and C are friends who study in the same school. B wears a different uniform than them, though I don't know if this means she is from a different school or a ...
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1answer
68 views
Question about 際 usage in Shinkansen Master N2
Studying for the JLPT N2, I came across the following question in the Shinkansen Master Grammar book.
( ) 際は、こちらのテーブルをお使いいただけます。
a) お食事の
b) ご飯を食べる
c) お一人様の
I thought that a) and b) are good enough ...
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2answers
97 views
Role of と in a particular sentence 満たされないと泣いているのは [duplicate]
Here is a sentence that I have trouble translating
満たされないと泣いているのはきっと満たされたいと願うから。
because I have difficulty understanding the role of the と located in the first part of it
満たされないと泣いているのは ...
The ...
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1answer
65 views
Use of と at end of a sentence
Just wanted to ask something about this use of と at the end of a sentence that I came across in a visual novel.
白い彫像が落ちているのだと思った.
プールの守り神みたいなものが、鎮座しているんだと
Would I be correct in interpreting this と as ...
3
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1answer
96 views
Do [贈]{おく}り物 and プレゼント mean the same thing?
The use of loan words such as プレゼント are used much more just like カメラ is and such. So should i just disregard [贈]{おく}り物 and focus my memory on something else or do you know if [贈]{おく}り物 is still used ...
2
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1answer
95 views
Multiple subject?
When I say I’m now busy, it’s
今は忙しい
But what I don’t understand is that 今 is being used as the topic. I’m this sentence, the real person that’s busy is me, so if I choose to not omit the person, but ...
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2answers
299 views
Different ways of saying “good night” in Japanese [closed]
I know that おやすみなさい means "good night" in Japanese and it can be shortened to おやすみ. What is the difference between the two?
In English there are other phrases such as "sweet dreams"...
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2answers
128 views
Difference between 試みる and 試す
何度か試みたが、失敗した.
何度か試したが、失敗した.
Is there a difference between those sentences? I have the feeling that the second one is more about trying smothing out like for the first time and see what happens and ...
11
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1answer
478 views
What is the difference between '礼', '礼儀', '礼に', '敬礼', and 'お辞儀'?
What is the difference between '礼', '礼儀', '礼に', '敬礼', and 'お辞儀'?
More generally, what does '礼' mean when used stand-alone as a noun? Can '礼' be used stand-alone or would that be considered unusual?
...
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0answers
60 views
Intuitive way to justify this usage of「に」
An earlier question on JP.SE asked about the usage of the particle「に」for what seemed to be attribution or possession, but I wasn't sure if those were 'official' uses of「に」and I decided to do some ...
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1answer
116 views
What is the use of the first の in this sentence?
"色の薄いものと濃いものを両方使うときれいに見えます。" I thought this was the case where の substitutes が but this is not a relative clause. I'd just like to know about this particular use of の.
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232 views
「思い込み」can mean something like “misconception”?
"ちゃんと話した結果…お互いに、思い込みだとわかったっつうか…"
The English translation was "We talked it over, and we realised we were both just confused." But I cannot understand "思い込み" here. The ...
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2answers
89 views
How is “あるちゃあるけど” used?
As far as I understand "あるちゃあるけど" is close in meaning to "ないとは言い切れない" and "しいていえばある" but I could not find how it is used, nor understand the exact meaning.
2
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1answer
86 views
Confusing usage of 写る
I am confused about a certain usage of 写る, that i have encountered in example sentences.
An Anki deck I use presented: このカメラはよく写りますよ。The given translation is "This camera takes good pictures.&...
2
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2answers
114 views
When is it fine to use 違う?
From an English perspective--including mine since I'm learning Japanese using English, I felt that 違う sounded strong, this may be from the tendency to respect others' opinions on English, that ...
3
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1answer
114 views
Question about past tense with noun
I'm having trouble with past tense + noun.
For example "弟の言うことを聞いたばかりにひどい目にあった" Or "この教授はしゃべるのが速すぎて、誰も言っていることを理解出来なかった"
Why is used 言うこと instead of 言ったこと / 言っている instead of 言っていた?
In this ...
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1answer
87 views
Understanding 一番 when used with たくさん or 多い
My English-native brain is struggling to understand why 一番 is used with たくさん and 多い in sentences like these:
彼が一番たくさんのお金を持っている。
彼女が一番多いの食べ物を持っている。
I'm probably thinking about it wrong, but the first ...
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1answer
60 views
Meaning of でも in this special context from しまこうさく まなが
日商工は３団体でも一番歴史が古く１９２２年に発足した。
(As backdrop, the 経済連、経済交友会 and 日商工 are the three largest business lobbying organizations in Japan according to the Manga. And 日商工 is the oldest.)
My question: what does ...
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1answer
73 views
What is the purpose of 「ん」in this sentence 「忙しいんだよ」? [duplicate]
What is the purpose of 「ん」in this sentence 「忙しいんだよ」?
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1answer
110 views
Difference between 聞こえる and 聞かれる / 見える and 見られる
I came across this problem when I was studying, and I couldn't really understand the difference between using the passive form of 聞く or 見る and using the verbs 聞こえる and 見える, considering that, in my ...
2
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1answer
110 views
use of だって after 私
I was making some sentence cards and was wondering what だって in this case meant.
I got sth like "Even I am of use as splendid maid for Kobayashi."
for context: Lucoa was summoned by Shota but doesn't ...
3
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1answer
213 views
Is ゼミ a synonym for a university class?
I know that ゼミ is short for ゼミナール (seminar), but the word seems to be used differently than how it's used in English. My guess from the times I've seen it used is that it's a catch-all term for ...
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1answer
45 views
The use of や and sentence meaning
まつさんはラーメンやのうしろの公園に行きます。
In the previous sentence, what is the purpose of the や after ラーメン?
I'm also unsure if the sentence is saying that "Matsu went to the park behind the ramen shop." or "Matsu ...
2
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2answers
115 views
Grammatically speaking, what is もう一つ?
I have come across もう一つ multiple times now, and I know it means "another one", but I'm struggling to understand it's grammatical function in a sentence.
It looks like the combination of the adverb もう ...
2
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1answer
70 views
Can Vte差し上げる be used?
We know that Vteあげる can be used when we talk about the giver doing a; generous act, favour or being helpful. Further, we know that Vteあげる can be used when the two people are of the almost same social ...
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1answer
74 views
I can't understand the use of と in 新しい政策はあまり良いとは思えません。
Hi I'm a beginner with japanese, also I'm not a native english speaker, and I'm struggling with things like this since long ago: I learned basic use of particles and currently I can understand several ...
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2answers
113 views
Question regarding alcohol: Meaning of " 飲める！甘いのだけ”. More context in description below
Is Japanese beer sweet?
To provide context to the question I asked, the sentence was extracted from 2 characters talking to each other. Both of them went into a bar.
One of them has low alcohol ...
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1answer
65 views
In a song, if somebody wanted to say to their deceased mom, “We loved you so much.” what form of love would you use?
Would I use "Aishita" or something else? The child is a 16 year old.
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1answer
101 views
Is there any difference between 一緒に and と一緒に? [closed]
Is there any difference between 一緒に and と一緒に?
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1answer
53 views
understanding the term 落ち着いた暖色の照明
お客様が車内で快適にお過ごしいただけるよう、既存車両よりも広い座席、全席分の電源コンセント、無料公衆無線ＬＡＮ、落ち着いた暖色の照明、新宿駅停車中の車内ＢＧＭなど、さまざまなサービスを提供します。
I understand from the text above about various features inside the train. But this term "落ち着いた暖色の照明",...
3
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1answer
111 views
describing where things are [duplicate]
If I wanted to say the cat is on the table, which one of these sentences is correct or what's the difference?
「猫 は 机の上 に います」 or
「猫 は 机の上 です。」
