Questions tagged [usage]
用法・使い方. How to use certain words, phrases, particles, endings, constructions, and their variants.
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~といい Grammar point with 評価 as an implication
During my class today we were studying N1 Grammar といい. In our textbook there was the question:
水泳といいテニスといい、(x)。
a) スポーツはみな楽しい b) 私はお子様に習わせている c) 私はやったことがない
So I understand that a) is a correct ...
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What are the differences in usage? - ~あげる and ~あがる?
~あげる and ~あがる mean "finish."
But what are the differences in usage?
Should あげる strictly follow 他動詞？
For example, この本を読みあげた。
Should あがる strictly follow 自動詞？
For example, さっき走りあがった。
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Any help with this phrase? [duplicate]
ジョンさんは日本語を上手に話します。
The thing is that I don't understand why 上手 has the particle に.
I'm reviewing an examination sheet, and this is the answer to one of the questions.
The only possible thing that I ...
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Prepositional phrase with に and verb 感じられる
"界王神界にまでエネルギーが感じられるほど強大な力を開放し"
In this phrase, would it to be correct to say the prepositional phrase "界王神界に" connects to the object of the verb "エネルギー" or the subject of ...
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When writing みやこ, how to choose between 京 and 都?
Dictionary states that the word みやこ can be written as either 都 or (less often) 京. What factors (nuances of meaning, context, etc.) determine which of the two kanji is more appropriate?
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How to say "must be" in the sense of making an affirmative guess?
Sorry if the question isn't clear enough. In English, we can make an affirmative guess based on prior information we received from someone/something by saying "X must be Y". Some example ...
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Meaning and reading of 益し加える
Reading in a book by 落合淳思 I wonder about (what looks like) the compound verb 益し加える in the sentence 「自は鼻の象形であり、それに声符を益し加えた繁文である。」 (繁文 is used by Ochiai as a technical term for the modern shape of a ...
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I want to learn a lot about Japanese names for my stories [closed]
The title is pretty catchy on its own, but I'm already familiar with creating good Japanese names. I know about kanji and their meanings, but I'm at a loss. doubts about a few things. first of them: ...
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Saying "of course," "naturally" in conversation
In conversation, we use "of course," "naturally" "as you know," etc. to announce "I'm about to say something that you know and is obvious; but I need to say it as ...
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Use of くれる among 外
For giving/receiving among people other than me, my family, my friends or anyone I am close with (外->外), the book says to use あげる. もらう can also be used for anyone->anyone. Is it wrong to use くれる ...
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Question about the expression 日和: Can it be used with any activity or just with certain set expressions?
So I was watching a podcast for japanese learners and they gave 行楽日和、お散歩日和、お洗濯日和..as examples.
So now I am asking myself, can I attach 日和 only to certain things or to anything that fits the context?
...
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What does かけ mean in かけ戦った or in かけ争い?
In the intro of the Game Boy Advance game titled "Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi" there are a few instances in which かけ is used before a verb, and I don't seem to be able to grasp the nuance ...
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Can you use 観にくい( 観る+にくい) to say that something is hard to watch in the sense of that the topic/images might be hard to stomach?
Example would: この第二次世界大戦についてドキュメンタリーはちょっと観にくいけど、本当に面白いと思う。work to say: This documentary about WW2 is a bit hard to watch (hard to stomach) but it is very interesting.
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The usage of 当たり前 as subject
As far as I know, 当たり前 is an adverb. How come in the following instances it's used as the subject?
あの日見た夕日 あの日見た花火 いつでも君がいたね
当たり前が幸せと知った ー「合唱曲・群青」
君がここにいなくなって 当たり前がいなくなって ー「君の抜け殻」
I am a little ...
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Negative-imperative for 形容動詞 and 形容詞
For verbs, we can use it's te-form to make imperatives and negative imperatives, such as:
走って！ 走らないで！
Run! Do not run!
Of course there's also 走れ！ and 走るな！
For 形容動詞 and 形容詞, however, I realize that I ...
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田中さんはこの小説を読んだ（そうだ）- do we need そうだ all the time if we did not actuality get the info from the person?
Example 1
Me: 明日は先生が来る（そうだ）。
Example 2
Me: 田中さんはこの小説を読んだ（そうだ）。
Assume both Examples 1 and 2 are the information I heard from other people, not from 田中さん or 先生.
Can I say the Examples without そうだ?
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Can かなり be used with ーそうだ？
I want to make the sentence, "You two seem pretty close." and I've come up with 二人はかなり仲が良さそうだ。 Now I'm wondering if かなり is correct or natural to use here with そうだ and if it's even necessary. ...
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雛たちとはなんの意味でしょうか？
中島みゆきさんの「銀の龍の背に乗って」の歌詞の中、こういう言葉が見つかります：
まだ飛べない雛たちみたいに
「雛たち」とはなんですか。「雛形」の意味しますか、ここで「まだ飛べないちっちゃい龍」のことを指しているのですか。
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Why was this usage of ところ incomprehensible?
I am an intermediate-level student, studying in Japan. All teachers are native Japanese speakers.
I was asked to write an example sentence using "ところ", using it to express a temporal concept ...
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What is the appropriate way of using 自分 with respect to the referent?
妻は私が自分を今でも愛していると信じている
(Tsuma wa watashi ga jibun o ima demo aishite iru to shinjite iru.)
My wife believes that i still love her.
In the book it is said that:
When a reflexive pronoun jibun is used, ...
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If you want to refer to a person as beautiful, would you use [綺麗]{きれい} or [美しい]{うつくしい}? What's the difference?
I'm a little confused on the difference between 綺麗【きれい】 and 美しい【うつくしい】. When is it appropriate to use either word to refer to a person?
For example, if I wanted to refer to a woman as beautiful, would ...
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Why is "お前" and "あたし" used in Spirited Away?
I was watching the animated film by Hayao Miyazaki named "Spirited Away" in Japanese (I'm still a beginner) and I noticed that Yubaba and Zeniba use "お前" as second person singular. ...
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Don't understand fully how "なきゃよかった" means if ___ hadn't or if I hadn't ___
Is the なきゃ like referring to there not being something presently or something? Or is it more like [the hypothetical idea of not doing something][was good]...though even if it was that I don't think I ...
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What's the meaning and usage of って言うんだ in this case?
How does って言うんだ affect the following question.
こんなことして何になるって言うんだ
I think it makes sense to me without it so I can't tell what it does and I don't think it's the normal "X person says" という ...
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The fuction of を in this specific sentence [closed]
I was reading this short 小説 about a difficult love relationship bewteen a man and a woman, and this sentences show up.
叶わない恋は存在するとは思います。
でも、二人が望んでいるなら、
超えられる事を多くあると信じています。
So, despite be able to ...
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The different ways to say "forever"
皆さん、こんにちは!
I have a somewhat basic but intricate question about the way the Japanese say forever or something close in concept (sayings, expressions or poetic ways would work too).
The context is that ...
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Could someone please explain to me the meaning of もち in the following sentence?
私たちは自然の流れとは別の生活リズムをもち始め、次第に自然との調和を失い始めたのです。
I searched but couldn't find an answer.
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Translating a combination of superpower/special talent - does 異能殊才 work? [closed]
I am attempting to combine 異能 (i nō - supernatural power) with 殊才 (koto sai - special talent), with the finished phrase being written as 異能殊才.
With various engines (I'm RomajiDesu for this specific ...
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Meaning and usage of ～ど／～ども
What do the structures ～ど／～ども exactly mean? How are they used?
I have seen these structures in this site:
https://nihongonosensei.net/?p=7938
but I don't understand very well the explanation, apart ...
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Meaning and usage of ～かとなれば
I've found the grammar pattern ～かとなれば in this site:
https://www.vnjp.org/grammar/detail/293
https://www.vnjp.org/grammar/detail/294
and I would like to know what does it mean as well as its usage.
...
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Correct interpretation of "桁1個上へ" in following context
Reviewing the lyrics of a song I found a really confusing phrase: "大切片手に桁1個上へ".
As far as I know, "大切片手" is refering to one/a presious hand. Most likely the one the author is in ...
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What is "ぷれせんとふぉーゆーさん" exactly referring to？
I was looking at the lyrics of a song and there's a part of it that says the following:
いびつな形でもつたわるかい？
昔からかわらない愛
きっとかわりはしない
ぷれせんとふぉーゆーさんたから
そんなの信じてたんだなー
「まま」はいなくて
「ぱぱ」だけぱぱすき
なんてゆあないだけ
I know ...
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What is the meaning of "良いん in this sentence?
”あと何センチ近づけば良いんだろう”
What is the meaning of "良いん” in this sentence?
I know that it means "good", but this sentence is translated as:
"How many centimeters closer should I get?"
...
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What does the "なん" mean in: "君なんだよ"? [duplicate]
In the song "光るなら" there is a lyric that is:
"君だよ、君なんだよ"
When I translate it, it translates to: It was you, It was you!
Another example is in this lyric from the song "...
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Is 年 used commonly as a Japanese era marker?
I've just imported a car from Japan. There are a number of stickers on the car that I don't need and so I am pulling them off one-by-one. Even though I may not need to keep the stickers, there may be ...
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How to analyze たこともある?
In Tobira chapter 11 grammar, one of the examples is
奈良は京都と並んで、古い歴史のある町で、日本の首都だったこともある。
I don't seem to find any information about たこともある on the entire web.
I understand there is no difference between ...
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Addressing people in the Japanese Christian/Catholic Church
In English, in a Christian/Catholic settings, people could address each other with the term "brother" or "sister", and it does not signify any biological relationship, but a ...
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Different combinations of せっかく, their meanings and examples
As of today, the vast majority of times I've come across せっかく, I've ended up understanding it in a somewhat blurry way and guessing the meaning from context. However, I would like to finally structure ...
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Is あり得ない a good translation for "It can't be!"?
I know that a more common translation for あり得ない is "Impossible!" or "That's impossible!", but can あり得ない be used for expressions like, "It can't be!" or "This can't ...
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Nuance between 技法、手法、方法、テクニック、 etc
Basically just wanting to know if there's a clear difference between these words. I get the feeling that テクニック is more like one person's own specific technique for doing a thing (entirely guessing ...
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Is the copula verb だ a good translation for the article "The" when the sentence is just "The + noun"?
I was curious, for sentences that are just "The + noun", if the copula verb だ a good translation for the article "The" in these sentences. For example, "The bus." is it ...
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Usage of 消す in this context?
My question is that can 消す be used for wanting to get rid of something? For example, "I really need to get rid of this weird feeling." この変な感じはどうしても消さないと。
Is 消す an acceptable verb to use here ...
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Usage of the verb 取り組む
My question is can 取り組む can be used as a general term for working on something? Like as in "I'm working on something important." 何か重要なことに取り組んでいる。 Or does 取り組む carry too strong a connotation ...
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Translation of くらい in this sentence?
I'm looking at this sentence, ここに一日中いてもいいくらいだ。 And I'm struggling to think of what "くらいだ" means here. A bunch of translators are telling me it's like "could" as in, "I could ...
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Use of the pronouns 彼/彼女 and あなた/君 in fictional media
From what I've studied, pronouns like he/she and you are not really common in everyday conversational Japanese, but I see them used more often in media like manga or video games, like a character ...
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A question about what seems to be れいせい & its usage
What is the context of the video below (from 1:18 to 1:26), especially the word 「れいせい」's meaning in it?
https://youtu.be/ehSCmkVVjlg?t=78 (try using a VPN if you can't load the video)
For the time ...
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Difference between ラジオ and 無線?
I've seen both used fairly often, but I've unsure if there's a difference in nuance/usage. Is 無線 more like an actual radio and ラジオ more like a car's radio?
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遅刻している vs 遅刻する for saying "I am late."
I'm trying to figure out if I should use 遅刻する or 遅刻している for expressing "I am late to..."
For example, I was thinking, 仕事初日に遅刻しているだけじゃなく、迷子になってしまった。"Not only am I late to my first day on ...
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What is つい doing in the middle of this sentence? [duplicate]
What is the purpose of つい in this sentence?
うんうん、楽しくてついエキサイトして、熱くなっちゃった
And does エキサイトして just mean "getting excited"? For context they were talking about a game they played.
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Translation help, 思う vs 思っている when the subject of the sentence is the speaker
I'm working on a translation for a comic and I'm kind of stumped on this one line. The specific context is the character talking to herself and musing about what someone else thinks of her, the line ...
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