Questions tagged [verbs]
動詞. A class of words which describe events or states and can be inflected to indicate tense, aspect, voice, and so forth. In citation form, all Modern Japanese verbs end in -(r)u.
4
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2answers
136 views
Metaphorical meaning of 買う
Context: in the manga Rikudou, Riku follows his trainer risky instructions in order to win (the trainer had told him to take a lot of punches in order to understand his opponent's fighting style). ...
2
votes
1answer
134 views
Unsure of meaning for sentence found in article about an automatic train test
I'm reading this article and there is a sentence towards the end that looks like this
自動で走る電車の研究は、ＪＲ東日本が将来働く人が足りなくなると考えて始めました
I'm not entirely sure about the meaning of this sentence as I could ...
2
votes
1answer
110 views
Why we should use “を” instead of “に” when talking about a place?
I have a question regarding this sentence:
かのじょといっしょにこうえんをさんぽします。
If the "を" marks a direct object of a sentance, why we use it the way it looks above.
Could we use here "に" instead of "を"?
...
2
votes
2answers
89 views
Verb woes; two or three questions
I'm working on a translation and there's this one line I can get through but can't get a handle on.
こんなヤツに負けおって
いままで何のために練習
してきたと思っておる!
Problem 1 is that I can't figure out if this is one sentence ...
4
votes
1answer
102 views
Grammaticality of two kanji verbs without their conjugating part
A friend told me he's going to get a tattoo with "頑張".
頑張 doesn't exist on the dictionary without its -る conjugating part, so is it grammatically correct using it alone, as if it was a noun? Does it ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Can an adjective come after a verb?
I was trying to say "I write slow".
I figured it would be:
おそい（が）かく。
But a native speaker didn't understand me and said it was:
かくのがおそい。
Now I understand how の after a verb makes it a noun, ...
3
votes
1answer
72 views
Difference between “じゃない” and “ない”
I would like to ask what is the difference between "じゃない" and "ない"?
I know that "ない" is an i-adjective (info from dictionary).
But we have a sentence for example:
近くも遠くもないです。
Can we say:
...
0
votes
1answer
66 views
Verb past tense [duplicate]
Why do some past tense ru verbs conjugate with た(食べた) and others with った(帰った)？
1
vote
2answers
59 views
What is the correct verb for “packing up?”
I am not sure what verb I would use for "packing up" (e.g. Packing clothes into a suitcase). Would I use the verb 詰める {つめる}, which is "to stuff into?"
6
votes
1answer
137 views
What does te form of verbs mean in these two sentences?
犬は雪の中を走ってボールを取りに行く。
時間がありまして、映画を見ました。
Are the grammar in these two the same? If yes, why is there a comma in the second one and not in the first one?
1
vote
1answer
109 views
Difference between 会う and 集まる
I don't know exactly the difference between those two?
What are the most commons use for those ones?
For example, what are the difference between these sentences?
友達に会った
友達に集まった
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vote
2answers
106 views
5
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2answers
174 views
Auxiliary verbs in Japanese
What are auxiliary verbs in Japanese language?
Which verbs are auxiliary and how to tell which are auxiliaries, and which are normal?
It looks like the word です is an auxiliary verb. But why? What ...
1
vote
1answer
165 views
How to use 生かす to express “you'll do your best”?
I have to answer the question "日本には「好きこそものの上手なれ」という 諺 がありますが、どんな意味だと思いますか。" using 生かす and my idea is to answer that if you are interested in something, you'll do your best. I started writing "...
5
votes
2answers
177 views
Trouble with the ambiguous verb 控える
I don't know how to differentiate between these 2 meanings of 控える:
〔止める，見合わせる〕
勝手な発言は控えてください
Please refrain from speaking without permission.
〔少なめにする〕塩分を控えなさい
Cut down on your intake of ...
4
votes
1answer
159 views
Verb after な-adjective, is it necessary to complete the sentence?
I read somewhere that 形容動詞 are a special subclass of nouns. Contrarily 形容詞, the い adjectives, are actually a lot more similar to verbs. During the time that I have been learning Japanese language (...
3
votes
2answers
201 views
Meaning of 瞳だけはぶっ飛ばない
Context: in a gym, a boxer attacks another boxer saying that he was provoking him with his eyes. After punching him, he thinks:
瞳だけはぶっ飛ばねーでやんの
甘ちゃんのクセに
人殴って拳が潤わなかったなんて
ねーのに……
What is the ...
3
votes
1answer
63 views
Meaning of 掃き溜める
Context: a boxer is telling another one that he is too weak to participate in a tournament.
潰し合いさせられるトーナメントに浮かれてんの出場者ん中でお前だけだぞ？掃き溜められたコトにムカつくけどよ… お前みてェな甘ちゃんと肩並ばされんのはもっとハラが立つ。
Looking in the ...
4
votes
1answer
101 views
What does this 数えてみたら mean?
The following sentence is from this article on NHK Web特集
数えてみたら、息子と一緒に過ごせる時間がとても限られていることに気がつきました。
My attempt at translation:
When one tries to count it, they took care that the time shared with ...
3
votes
2answers
110 views
Meaning of しっかり頑張ってこい
I would like to know what しっかり頑張ってこい means and if it has any difference (any extra nuance) with がんばって.
Also:
Why is こい (command form of くる) used?
In which situation do you use this expression?
6
votes
2answers
154 views
Is there a name for verbs written as: Katakana+る?
The number of verbs that have the pattern KATAKANA + る seems to be increasing. Some examples include ググる, ダブる, トラブる, バグる, パニクる, etc.
Is there some kind of official name (or even informal name) for ...
3
votes
1answer
56 views
「あまもり」と一段動詞「もれる」
天井などに欠陥があって，あめがふったときなどに，みずがもれだしてくることは「あまもり」といいます．しかし，この語の後半「もり」と関係があるとおもわれる動詞「もれる」は一段活用です．その連用形を名詞としてもちいているのだとすれば「もれ」でなくてはなりません．このことから，かつては，「もれる」とおなじ意味の「もる」という五段動詞があったのではないかとおもいたくなります．...
5
votes
0answers
97 views
repeated verb in 雪が降りに降っていました [duplicate]
I have recently encountered this construction:
雪{ゆき}が降{ふ}りに降{ふ}っていました
Someone translated it as "The snow was falling in waves."
After some research, I discovered similar constructions with ...
12
votes
1answer
2k views
「です」, what is it really? Is my analysis correct?
At an elementary level, often, Japanese learners are taught that です is equivalent to the verb "to be" in English. Typical example:
私は学生です, I am a student.
That's fine, after all, it works. And to ...
4
votes
1answer
81 views
湿気る is both godan and ichidan. Are there other verbs like this?
I recently noticed in passing that 湿気る is classified as both a godan and an ichidan verb.
For example, the past tense could be either:
しけった (godan)
or
しけた (ichidan).
This strikes me as ...
0
votes
1answer
56 views
How do you translate 作ってみたら in 妹がチーズドックを作ってみたら兄がwwww?
It would seem to me the sentence says "little sister makes cheese dokku (whatever that food is) and .. big brother ... ?
I can't understand 作ってみたら . Is みたら the tara conditional form of 見る? Is it ...
3
votes
2answers
150 views
Hajiku 弾くversus Hiku 弾く
For my Japanese class we recently went over how to say stuff about playing instruments, but looking online had me confused about how to use a certain couple of verbs. I know that my textbook says ...
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votes
1answer
85 views
What does “僕の分も君が振ってくれ。” mean?
The title is self explanatory. I don't seem to understand this sentence as a whole. Can somebody please explain this word by word for me? Also what form is "振ってくれ" in? "振る" in this context means "to ...
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0answers
94 views
What is the meaning of はった when modifying a noun?
I found the following sample sentence in an Anki deck:
食い意地のはった少年は料理を全部たいらげた。
The greedy little child ate all the food.
I am wondering what the function of はった is here. The meaning of the ...
5
votes
1answer
76 views
Meaning of 世界観に入り込む in the following sentence
The following sentence is taken from the afterword of the final volume of a manga:
そんな風に名残惜しさを感じたり、世界観に入り込んで描くことができたのも、たくさんの人に読んでいただけて、キャラクターや作品が好きだと言ってもらえてものすごい励みになったことが一因だと思います。
I understand the ...
5
votes
1answer
147 views
Why is しっていません a mistake ? [duplicate]
I was told many years ago by a native Japanese speaker that saying 知っていません instead of 知りません was a huge mistake. I would like to know the reason of this fact. Is it because the meaning of the verb 知る ...
1
vote
1answer
77 views
How can one determine the appropriate meaning of 伺う in formal speech?
Is it based on the particle connecting the object of the verb?
For example,
に/へ伺う
to go
vs
を伺う
to ask
Is it purely based on the context of the sentence for distinguishing between ...
2
votes
1answer
83 views
Meaning of 利く and examples
I would like to know what's the meaning of 利く with this kanji 利. Could you also give me some examples, please?
I've searched in kotobank for a difference between 効く (to have effect) and 利く, but I ...
3
votes
4answers
92 views
Using だ as a Verb
I was reading through the following blog and came across a particularly interesting example on the use of は and が.
The author explains that in the context of a young man pointing at a number of ...
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votes
1answer
112 views
Can “suru” be also added to japanese verbs?
I thought that "suru" was used with english verbs to create japanese verbs
(ie ドライブする) or with japanese nouns to create japanese verbs
(ie denwa suru 電話する)
Can "suru" be also added to japanese ...
3
votes
1answer
126 views
What does the kana 「し」 do in this phrase?
It comes from the video game title.
過{す｝ぎ去｛さ｝りし時｛とき｝を求｛もと｝めて
I looked up in online dictionary thinking that it should be a conjugated form of the verb 去る but it is not.
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1answer
105 views
Can 趣味{しゅみ} be used with a verb?
Can you combine 趣味{しゅみ} with a verb?
趣味{しゅみ}はジョギングをします。
translation: My hobby is jogging. (verb)
趣味{しゅみ}はジョギングです。
translation: My hobby is jogging. (noun)
6
votes
1answer
151 views
How to understand 態度を片付け
私は奥さんの態度をどっちかに片付けてもらいたかったのです。
これも usage of ぎりで in this sentence とおなじで、夏目漱石の「こころ」の一文です。
この「てもらいたかった」はこれによると「てもらいたい」の過去時制だとわかっています。
質問は、
この「てもらいたい」は「てほしい」と同じ意味ですか。
「片付け」は「部屋」や「書類」などに使う語のはずです。いみは「...
0
votes
1answer
119 views
A sentence's meaning
About the sentence
北海道では雪が降っています。
Does it mean:
It is snowing in Hokkaido, or
It is still going to be snowing in Hokkaido?
8
votes
1answer
339 views
Existence verbs in the Kansai Dialect
In this part of this Wikipedia article, it states
In other areas such as Hyogo and Mie, いる /iru/ is hardly used and おる /oru/ does not have the negative usage.
What I want to know is, does this ...
2
votes
1answer
99 views
Prohibition in Japanese depending on level of formality
I have learnt two variants for prohibition:
-ちゃだめ
-ではいけません
depending on the level of formality…
But does an intermediate form of
-じゃいけない or
-ではいけない
exist as well?
1
vote
2answers
90 views
Direct objects of motion verbs and help with the difference between を and に
まちをぶらぶらあるく。
English translation: Walk aimlessly through town.
I understand that aimlessly walk takes the object town and that’s why we use を, but wouldn’t it make more sense to use に as the town is ...
2
votes
3answers
207 views
Why 入った and not 入た past tense
I've learned that ru verbs should drop る and replace it with た.
But 入る becomes 入った and I'm not sure why.
The same goes for
食べる → 食べた
しゃべる → しゃべた
Are these irregulars or am I misunderstanding ...
1
vote
1answer
59 views
What is the difference between が and を when using verbs?
In this anime-esque example, which is correct?:
私はあなたが殺す
私はあなたを殺す
And why?
Because I’ve heard it used with number • 2 • を (wo), but other verbs seem to always use が, for example:
「私はエミリアが好きです」
Is ...
0
votes
0answers
66 views
What's the difference between Hanashimasu vs Hanasundesu? [duplicate]
I've see Hanasundesu being used to talk about "everyone":
みんな英語を話すんです (Min'na eigo o hanasu ndesu)
Is that how you use it? or they are interchangeable.
5
votes
1answer
138 views
Word select: 食べます？／飲みます？
食べ物の場合は動詞「食べる」を使いますが、飲み物の場合は動詞「飲む」を使います。ところが、食べ物と飲み物をいっしょに出た場合はどの動詞を使いますか。
例①：パンとミルクを...（食べます？／飲みます？）…
例②：コーヒーとりんごを...（食べます？／飲みます？）…
2
votes
1answer
131 views
Two or more verbs modifying a noun
I would like to know about how we deal with two or more verbs modifying a noun. Do we connect the verbs using the TE-form or do we keep them in their original tenses?
激しい雷を伴った昨日から降り続いている雨のせいで、...
1
vote
1answer
98 views
Is ょう still one single word/助動詞 in the expression しましょう?
There are some Japanese tokenizers such as Kuromoji. When using the tokenizer on the expression しましょう, it gave the following analysis:
Surface form Part-of-Speech Base form Reading ...
6
votes
1answer
759 views
Is it an exception of 「ある」と「いる」の使い分け?
It is a basic grammar that「いる」is used to show the existence of something alive and 「ある」is to show the existence of inanimate object in terms of 存在表現.
However, I found some people use "工夫がいる" instead ...
1
vote
1answer
101 views
What form is 超え in 人の理を超え…?
my question is , what does 超え in 人の理を超えその身を保ち生き永らえながら…その全てを搾取支配人を弄ぶことに費やして…何を為そうとした' mean ?
Is it a form of 越える? If yes, what form is it (you know, like ～て、～た、～しょう... etc)? I haven't stumbled across ...
