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.
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Which is more appropriate? 大学院に入る／入学する／進学する?
Please explain which of the following (or any other) is more appropriate to say "enter postgraduate school/studies":
大学院に入ります
大学院に入学します
大学院に進学します
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46 views
Which categories of verbs (transitive, atelic, etc) can you use with ～そう (seems to; appears)?
I've just studied そう (as in: seems like; about to) in class and I wanted to know why you can use some verbs and not others.
For instance, 雨が｛あめが｝降りそう｛ふりそう｝ works out semantically and grammatically, ...
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1answer
75 views
How to use ふと correctly?
I am struggling in understanding how to use ふと
ふと: suddenly, unexpectedly, unintentionally
Based on the brief explanation on this post,
ふと is used to express something unimportant that you don't ...
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2answers
148 views
Difference between 呼ぶ声がします and 呼びます
The full context of the first original phrase is:
「・・・浦島{うらしま}さん、・・・浦島さん」と、誰かが呼{よ}ぶ声｛こえ｝がします。
I was just wondering, why is 声がする in the sentence when there is already 呼ぶ? Or rather, what would be ...
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Is the function of this ある a pre-noun adjectival, or is it a verb that forms a relative clause?
I'm going over my previously done translations to see if any need further editing, and the following comes up.
背後で聞き覚えのある声がして、思わず一歩後ずさってしまった。
I relearned yesterday that a relative clause/...
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Is yaru more informal than suru? [duplicate]
I have always assumed that yaru and suru could be used the same way. Is yaru less formal? Nani wo suru no and nani wo yaru no.
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1answer
115 views
Do you always need the passive voice when saying what happened to you?
For example if I wanted to say “He told me what I needed to know.”
would I say
彼に知らなきゃことを教えられた？
Or would it be something different?
And do I always need to use it if I’m telling someone what ...
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1answer
97 views
Verb Classification of あげる (to give)
I've been doing some housecleaning for the sake of correct grammatical conjugation, which includes classifying verbs. Jisho.org's top result doesn't have あげる as meaning 'to give' (granted it's ...
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2answers
159 views
Explanation of 「雪も降ってきて」
What does it mean to have も plus the て form and きて？A translation gives me “Now that it’s snowing...” so does するもしてきて mean “Now that it’s X...”? Or is there another meaning to it?
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Meaning of 荷重が乗りきる
Context: a boxer has just landed a great uppercut with an upward movement. His father describes the punch in this way:
荷重が乗りきってからの急激な〝縦〟一閃
I think here 乗りきる means "to overcome", so my rough ...
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1answer
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Meaning of 身分をわきまえず
Context: a martial arts master is talking (offensively, I think) about one of his students:
たばこを栽培する山から降りて来たサルですよ。うちの武術学校にスカウトされたからと身分をわきまえず李【り】と組んで演武を狂わす厄介者なんです。
What is the meaning of 身分をわきまえず? ...
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1answer
99 views
past tense vs non-past in a book
I'm reading 大きな森の小さな家 (Little House in the Big Woods).
This sequence of sentences are all describing a particular occurrence in the past, but some sentences are in non-past forms:
ある晩、父さんは、...
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46 views
Explanation of でもあります？ [duplicate]
I saw this in my Genki I book and I don’t quite understand how to use でもあります. Also, how would I say this informally? パットはアメリカ人でもある？
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4answers
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Translating “different”?
I’m having trouble figuring out how to translate “different.”
I know the words 違う and 違い but I don’t know how to incorporate those to mean “different” or if that would even be correct.
「違う色がきれいだね。」...
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1answer
51 views
Reason for と particle after adverb さっき in sentence about something previously mentioned
I came across this sentence and I believe I understand what it is saying, but I don't understand why there is a と particle being used after さっき. Why is it not just さっき言ってる? As there is nothing that ...
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1answer
107 views
Is there any rule for hiraganas after the kanji in a verb
The hiraganas go after the kanji in a verb are so confusing.
I know there's always an U character, like 行く, 話す ... but sometimes i see there are 2 characters after the kanji, like 終わる.
My question is ...
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0answers
103 views
explanation verbs form 座る 座って 座り
Hi may I ask for explanation of the following, I read here form verb 座る (sit) and polite form 掛ける
for form Please sit down there is this forms
座る -> 座れ (very rude) -> 座って (better form) -> 座ってください (...
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1answer
115 views
言ってた I said or You said
While translating something, I was wondering how should I do a certain a line because I can't determine exactly whether the speaker says it in a way talking about himself or is referring to another ...
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Don't understand meaning of verb stem + ちぎれない
I'm playing a game and looking at an item description. But for the life of me I cannot find out what grammar concept is behind the bold portion of the description.
I know the verb being used is 噛む (...
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1answer
100 views
だ and です godan or ichidan
Can we say, that だ and です are godan verbs with ru-ending, because they are just simplyfied versions of である and であります?
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1answer
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Why is the volitional form used here?
このアカウントをフォローして、写真や動画をチェックしよう。
Why was しよう used instead of して？
I was thinking して because it appears to be a request.
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0answers
111 views
When is it okay to not use desu?
I've been looking around for this, but all I can find is pretty basic stuff about desu. I've studied Japanese, but writing texts in Japanese still stumps me sometimes. Right now I'm wondering about ...
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1answer
107 views
なりますintransitive verb - volitional/non-volitional
なります is an intransitive verb, but it could either be volitional or non-volitional, right? Please see the below examples; are they correct?
日本語が上手になるように、毎日勉強しています。(なります is non-volitional)
弁護士になるために、...
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1answer
90 views
What does 歩けというの mean in this song?
In the song Cry by Garnidelia there're two lines that go:
ひとり どこへ
歩｛ある｝けというの
The second line is what I don't get. I've tried looking up というの but didn't see anything about it at the end of a ...
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2answers
104 views
Verb (とどめる) and its meaning in these sentences
I was looking for the meaning of the verb (とどめる) and how it differs from (とめる). I understood that (とどめる) means (to stop "potentially" from moving). But how does that meaning relate to the following ...
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1answer
219 views
Doubts about 判明する and verb tenses
I was checking the example sentences of 判明する on the Weblio EN-JA dictionary and it seems that, when it means "to turn out (that)", 判明する is written in the dictionary form (it turns out) or in the past ...
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1answer
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Difference in meaning between 掴む and 捕まえる [duplicate]
掴{つか}む and 捕{つか}まえる both mean to catch and both are transitive verbs.
Is there a difference in meaning or usage?
Note that there is an intransitive to be arrested: 捕{つか}まる - to be caught/arrested, ...
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47 views
The verb いる (居る) with an inanimate subject? [duplicate]
In a novel I’m reading, I’ve come across a usage of いる that surprises me. The context is that a woman is driving along, deep in thought about an encounter she has just had with another character, when ...
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Making adverb form of verb + なります
I was reading an NHK article and came across this line:
お金{かね}を払{はら}うとき「キャッシュレス」を利用{りよう}する人{ひと}が増{ふ}えて、現金{げんきん}をあまり使{つか}わなくなっているためです。
It comes after a line that says "This is the first time the ...
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Negative adjective 恐怖せず [duplicate]
恐怖せず
I think it means “fearless”, but I don’t know the particle sezu. Is this old-fashioned?
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ます form vs ています form to describe habitual actions [duplicate]
I know that ています basically means that the verb is in progress (-ing), but I don't understand why the form is used in these sentences.
私【わたし】はあの会社【かいしゃ】で働【はたら】いています。
姉【あね】は毎日【まいにち】ジョギングをしています。
...
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How to say “that” as in “the cow that ate” in Japanese?
I'm sure there are plenty of resources on this topic, but I don't know what keywords to use to find them.
I want to know how you might create a noun by saying that the noun does something.
For ...
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2answers
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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.
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What part of speech is the 「〜たい」 form of a verb?
To say that one wants to do something, one uses the 「〜たい」 form of the verb, for example, 「日本に 行きたい です」.
In the 「〜たい」 form, the word behaves like an adjective, using similar patterns such as 「〜くない」 ...
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1answer
125 views
How to interpret intransitives in non-past tense
I've been reading linguistics books lately and they've gotten me reexamining things I've learned in Japanese textbooks for foreign learners.
Susumu Kuno's book The Structure of the Japanese Language ...
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1answer
124 views
What is the implied-verb represented by the sentence-ending を in the following context？
I am trying to understand the dialogue being spoken by the narrative character on the page below, specifically the fourth line of dialogue from the right in the picture.
「……さっきは何で、あんなことを？」
What is ...
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3answers
157 views
How does “suku” (empty) become “suite”?
Just started learning Japanese two weeks ago. I have so many questions. If my question sounds a little silly, please bear with me.
I just learned that adjectives + desu and verb + imasu. But how do I ...
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2answers
76 views
The meaning of いた in this sentence related to be left surviving
The whole sentence is:
だが、偶然にも生き残ったサイア人たちがいた。
Could it be:
However, fortuitously surviving sayajins remained.
In this case, this いた is the past of 居る? If this right, 居る could have the reading "...
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1answer
111 views
Difference between「のびる／のばす」and「のべる」
With the use of a dictionary, along with reading some web pages, I understood the meaning as well as the proper usage of 「延びる／延ばす」and 「伸びる／伸ばす」. But I noticed an overlapping in meaning regarding「延べる」...
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Purpose of のは in this sentence?
What is the purpose of のは in the sentence “今浮かんだのは”?
The context is, I asked someone what their favorite English word was and they said “Hmm 今浮かんだのは bullshit. Just kidding!”
Would the translation be ...
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1answer
107 views
Why is 燃える + ゴミ = burnable? But the verb is not in ta-form
I saw this in the book.
管理人{かんりにん}: 燃{も}える ごみは 月{げつ}・水{すい}・金{きん}の 朝{あさ} 出{だ}して ください。
I remember that If we want to use a verb as an adjective, we need to change a verb into the Ta-form, but this ...
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1answer
310 views
What does こした mean?
In the sentence:
まあいいや、(列車は)空いているにこした事はないし
What does こした mean? Is this 越す or 鼓する or something other?
And does まあいいや mean "well" or "whatever"?
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2answers
163 views
How to translate a line with no apparent main verb
I was trying to translate a song (full lyrics here: https://www5.atwiki.jp/hmiku/sp/pages/39203.html) and this one line confused me, primarily because of its lack of main verb.
過行く時の中 握る手が解けた
...
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0answers
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Correct translation of sentence with できていません [duplicate]
I am confused with the use of できていません in sentence :
明日の宿題のレポートがまだ１枚もできていません
When I checked the dictionary it shows that できる means CAN(DO)/ BE ABLE TO while ている is for present progressive so I ...
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1answer
136 views
Characteristics of 'loan word root + る' verbs
This question follows on from these others:
What are the principles behind turning foreign language words into verbs?
Why are there very few non-する gairaigo verbs in Japanese?
Are there words ...
4
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1answer
227 views
Why does this Light Novel title get translated to the past tense?
The title of the light novel is:
ひげを[剃]｛そ｝る。そして女子高生｛じょしこうせい｝を拾｛ひろ｝う。
The English translation is:
I shaved. Then I brought a high school girl home.
I get that not having the past tense in that title ...
4
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2answers
111 views
What conjugation is 熱せられる? [duplicate]
This is a sentence from ねじまき鳥と火曜日の女たち by 村上春樹.
スチーム・アイロンの蒸気音とコットンが熱せられる独得の匂いを楽しみながら...
熱する is a "special suru verb". I am assuming 熱せられる is read as ねっせられる. What form of conjugation is this? It ...
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1answer
76 views
Dictionary form of verb as nouns
About verb modify as nouns
Normally verb if want to treat as nouns is add こと/物 /の
Today learned verb dictionary+に限る
Why it is use dictionary form verb instead of stem form
From what I learn before ...
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0answers
58 views
What is the meaning and utility of the “Koto” in the end of these five Karate-Do Principles? [duplicate]
The Japanese martial art Karate-Do has five principles on conduct that should be pursued by its practitioners. In all books it comes with the koto at its end, just after the principal verb. I've read ...
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1answer
138 views
How would you apologise for not inviting someone to an event?
In English I would say something along the line of 'Sorry! I forgot to invite you to the party'. This would be in conversation to a friend. How would this translate to Japanese?
Edit (First post to ...
