Questions tagged [usage]
用法・使い方. How to use certain words, phrases, particles, endings, constructions, and their variants.
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Difference between ないといけない and なくてはいけない
While both mean "I have to / I must (do sth)", I wonder if there is a slight difference in the meaning or politeness level or anything else?
For example, do all these pairs sound exactly the ...
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にさせる usage in a sentence
I was reading the Japanese version of No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai, and this sentence came up.
嫌な気持ちにさせるのだ
I would like to know why に particle was used before the word させる.
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What is the meaning of か in this context (と同じか)?
I was reading an article on NHK News Web Easy and came across the following sentence:
いつもの年の8月に降る雨と同じか2倍ぐらいの雨が、24時間に降りました。
I think the sentence means something like "Around 2x August's usual ...
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Is this the correct way to say "child of the octopus"?
I'm still very new to Japanese, but I've learned that octopus is たこ and child is 子. In addition to this, I'm aware that the の particle is used to show possession; for example:
わたし の なまえ ...
Here, it'...
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Difference between 芽生える{めばえる}・芽{め}が出る{でる}／芽{め}を出す{だす}
I encountered the following multiple-choice question in an unofficial JLPT N3 vocabulary practice test:
先週、スイカの種を植えたばかりなのに、今朝見たら、もう芽が（ ）いた。
１ なって ２ 出て ３ 散って ４ 生えて
I chose 「４ 生えて」, but the ...
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という/っていう - a few of questions
I’ve scoured this website and elsewhere to get to the bottom of this and I think I’ve cracked most of all of the という usages and meanings. But I just have some few questions I hope you can help with.
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Can て form nominalize verbs?
お母さん、風香産んで正解だった。
This sentence means "Mother was right about giving birth to Fuuka." but I don't understand the usage of the て form here. I think it nominalized the verb but isn't this the ...
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Is くれ the short form for くれる?
In the following sentence:
ペンを貸してくれ。
Is くれ the short form for くれる?
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Usage of より at end of sentence?
Just wondering a little bit about the mechanics of より in this sentence. The context as far as I can tell is that someone is saying they are better at doing Laundry and cleaning when compared to their ...
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よりほかはない ほかしかたがない
I am pretty sure I have heard native speakers say things like
あの大事故の中で、けが一つなかったのは奇跡と言うほかありません
My question is can I use this construct or the similar usage ほかしかたがない to describe something decidedly ...
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「認識できません」の意味の広さ
例えば、パソコンのグラフィックボードを挿しているけど、壊れていて、「認識できません」というエラーが出てもおかしくないと思います。
この「認識できません」は一義的にcannot recognizeという意味になりますか。それとも、最初から挿していなかった場合、"cannot detect"という意味としても「認識できません」という表現を使いますか。
このような文脈で、...
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Grammar question about song lyrics
I'm learning a song from the pillows
One Life, The first couple lines go:
青い芥子の花びらが 風もなく揺れてたら
Aoi keshi no hanabira ga Kaze mo naku yurete tara
If the blue poppy's petals sway without the wind...
...
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Insult: something smells
On this YouTube video, the author claims that one way to insult someone is the following:
Is that true? The author seemed to be honest enough. How does that make sense? (Note that I actually know ...
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Can the "&"-symbol (ampersand) be used in Japanese to connect two language names?
For example, is this correct and commonly understood by Japanese-readers:
"日本語 & 英語"
which should represent "Japanese & English" and denote a bilingual edition of a ...
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How can I say "I would like to know how to do something"?
I am practicing to compose an inquiry. I read that saying "I would like to~" is させていただきます. There are similar questions about "to know how to do something" but expressing your ...
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What is the difference between どの+noun+も vs 毎+noun for “Every (noun)”?
In which cases is it more appropriate to use どの+noun+も instead of 毎+noun (or vice versa)
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How do I combine 個人/個人的 and 未熟な?
あくまで私の意見です
あくまで私個人の見解です
あくまで私の個人的な意見ですが
All of these seem idiomatic. But when I want to add another word 未熟な into the mix, none of these seem right or widely accepted:
あくまで私個人の未熟な意見です
...
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Why can't I say してますよって感を出す?
It seems 感 in 感を出す often directly follows a noun:
絵に立体感を出そうと苦心した (source)
マット感を出したい/ウエット感を出したい (source)
新商品のプロモは高級感を出そう (source)
A lot of 漢語 + 感 patterned words seem already lexicalized and are ...
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What’s the usage of “では” in this sentence?
歴史の授業は大きい教室でやります。歴史の先生は日本人で、授業ではあまり英語を使いません。
Is it composed of “で+は“ while は just highlights the noun before it? But if that’s the case then does 授業 here refer to a period of time?
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です vs ありますwhat is the difference between the two? Can they ever be interchangeable?
Q: 日本語の授業は毎日ありますか。一日に何時間ですか。
A: 日本語の授業は毎日あります。一日に二時間あります。
I have questions about the difference between “です” and “あります” regarding the above sentences taken from my textbook. Why is that “です” was used ...
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Use cases of していない/してない
I've seen this form show up a few times. In a past Japanese class, I was told that it could be used in the sense of "I haven't done X yet", as in まだ宿題をしてない.
Also, I was told that 知っている in ...
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Using か in casual speech
There are definitely many questions about the usage (or lack thereof) of か in casual speech. Although it is relatively common in anime, it sounds harsh, maybe rude in everyday casual speech.
Alright, ...
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Positive use of “だめ”?
I had always thought from examples that “だめ” can have a slang positive connotation in context, similar to how English speakers often use “sick” or “damn” to express positive emotions, but I cannot ...
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What’s the difference between “AにもBがあります“ and “AにBもあります”？
It seems to me that both mean the same thing, but which one is more frequently used?
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What's the difference and when it should be used between 操作、動作、作動、運転、作用
I work as an engineer, and inside the heap of documents that I have been going through.
As an example, there's a lot of sentences that describing how the machine operates, or operation behaviour.
In ...
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Nested conditions
I encountered this sentence:
困ったら 食べれば 何とかなるって わかった
I figured out eating solves all my problems!
Since nested if" is not used much in English, I wonder if this sentence sounds natural in a ...
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Do you have to use the kanji 何 for nani (なに 'what' ) ? And kanji vs hiragana in general
What I remember is that the only point of Kanji is to distinguish words that have the same hiragana (homophones?) Did I misremember? If so, then what's the point of using Kanji when I could use ...
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Help me understand this sentence I found on Duolingo
I'm practicing my Japanese on Duolingo to prepare for the (hopefully eventual) return of Japanese tourism, and I came across a sentence that makes no sense. Maybe someone can explain it to me.
The ...
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て助かる with inanimate subject
辛みがついてピーマンっぽさが 消えて助かるよ！
It gave it some spice and toned down the pepper flavor!
Here, the subject of 消えて助かる seems to be the inanimate peppery flavor. But I thought て助かる is used when someone got the ...
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Importance of stroke order and writing kanji
This got me confused:
Various kanji learning sites on the Internet and even books on kanji stress the importance of stroke order while learning new kanji, saying it's highly essential to learn to ...
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Differences between 知った and 知っていた
There's this song from LiSA that I've been trying to understand the lyrics. However, there is something that is bothering me right at the start.
The first verse of the song reads as
強くなれる理由を知った
and ...
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I don't understand どうして
どうして is translated as why?
but... it has して which, is the continuous form. I'm guessing it's continuous to allow the other person to continue the sentence. But, then it has どう.. which I translate to ...
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About the meaning of による (cause or dependency?)
I usually see による used as a way to express the cause of something:
震災によってたくさんの人の命が失われた。
There were many people who lost their lives due to the earthquake.
But in some places I see it being used as a ...
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How to identify what って means in different situations
って can be used at least 3 different ways that I know of.
Standard って form that most people learn first.て,って,んで,いて,いで etc.
って for quoting people.
って for making a demand/command statement.
A tutorial I'...
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Word order withと違う
In this sentence
その点では私は君と意見が違う (My opinion differs from yours on that point)
As I understand, the first は (その点では) is optional because it puts emphasis on the phrase before it. The next thing is a ...
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Difference between 何 and どう before する
Before some form of する, what's the difference between 何 and どう? For example, 何してるの vs どうしてるの? Or 何をしよう vs どうしよう?
Perhaps in many cases only one of the question words is acceptable; then what's a good ...
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What's the usage of かっていうので?
I'm familiar with the usage of かっていうと but I always get confused when another particle is used instead of と。
For instance:
日本人はなぜマスクをしているのかっていうのを聞いている
I'm especially confused about this sentence:
...
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What does よく do when used with ~のほうが?
さあ、妻のほうがよく知っています。
What does よく do when used with ~のほうが? Is the よく required? What does it mean in this context?
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Is there a difference between ます and ません for sentences carrying an exclusive connotation(しか)?
私は野菜しか食べません。
apparently means "I only eat vegetables"? Shouldn't there be a negative connotation with the ません-ending?
If that's the case what does 私は野菜しか食べます mean?
Is there a special ...
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ので with requests [duplicate]
I was consulting my grammar book (A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar), when I came upon the following passage (page 323):
Now this is all well and good. But it's a bit conflicting with an ...
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Usage of 方(ほう) in these sentences
I know that 方 (ほう) can mean direction or way but that meaning seems to change a bit in the following sentences:
佐藤くん、 英語は得意な方(ほう)かな?
Sato, are you good at English?
これは割と使ってる方(ほう)です。
This is ...
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～といわず、～といわず with 否定文
I vaguely remember reading somewhere that 「～といわず、～といわず」 doesn't come in 否定文, but I came across negative usage of late. Research took me to this site maintained by a native speaking Japanese teacher ...
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Use of まま in Japanese
I was watching an anime and the character said something along the lines of "私{わたし}は、このままでいいの". This translated into something like "Do I really want things to stay like this?" But ...
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た particle usage in のど乾いた
I was watching an anime and the character said something along the lines of "のど乾{かわ}いたね～".
This would mean something like "I'm thirsty" (looking at the previous dialogues, this was ...
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Can 遅く mean 'slowly'?
From my book,
However, Jisho says that 遅く can mean 'slowly,' but I can't find an example for that meaning in the same source.
In this thread, answerers agree that 遅く can be used to mean 'slowly.'
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What does 消耗せえへんし mean?
I just read a sketch written by 又吉 直樹さん, and here is a sentence:
動かんからエネルギーは消耗せえへんし腹減らんねん。
The part of 消耗せえへんし makes me feel a little confused. I probably know it means “doesn’t consume much so”, ...
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どうせだったら, どうせなら and どうせだから
どうせだから seems to occur more when some sort of causality is in place or some sort of explanation is expected, and it also often appears as a standalone sentence. And I guess どうせだったら would be more likely ...
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The meaning of "んやし" in this sentence [duplicate]
I found this sentence in a book I was reading.
今時間ないんやし用件は口で言って.
While I understand what the sentence means, I can't find the reason why "んやし" is there.
user48737
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Are てからでないと and てからで なければ the same?
Are てからでないと and てからで なければ the same?
I learned them in N3 shinkanzen book and I was confused. Are they the same? Can I use them interchangeably?
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How do you talk about a word or phrase itself?
Basically, I want to know how to talk about the meta properties of a word or phrase while mentioning said word or phrase in the same sentence.
Maybe って is somehow involved, but I don't know even know ...
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