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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Grammar of Negative Verb + 限り
I would like help with how 限り is used with a negative verb:
奇跡でも起きない限り あり得ないわよね
Jisho.org translate it as "unless". But how would this translation make sense then:
Unless (限り) even if ...
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1answer
53 views
Differences between 返る and 帰る
So, here's another nuances question: what are the differences between 返る and 帰る?
Apparently, they have different "secondary" meanings, but are they interchangeable when referring to "...
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1answer
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Verb stem plus や meaning
I came across the following sentence:
ワタシをわすれちゃいやだよ
I'm guessing it means something like:
You forgot me!
But what is happening / what is the meaning with the や being attached to ちゃう's verb stem?
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Help with the breakdown of this sentence?
I was chatting in Hellotalk. From what I looked up and understood
It means writing in a clear and concise manner is difficylt isn't it.
分かりやすく簡潔に書くのは難しいですよね
But, I thought connecting i-adjetives was ...
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1answer
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Confusion about まっとうに, 青春をする and the subject and object of this sentence
I'm re-reading a light novel and I don't think I'm going to figure this sentence out anytime soon...
Quick context: one day a man meets a teenage girl, makes it clear that although he finds her cute, ...
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1answer
79 views
Using progressive when connecting verbs
When connecting two progressive actions, are you supposed to connect them using progressive in both or only the last one, as tense should be determined by the last verb?
Example:
He was sitting in the ...
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1answer
70 views
Understanding questions with ommited words
I'm trying to read an internet novel, but I got stuck on some questions with omitted words. The text and my partial translation is below. It's the very beginning of the novel, so it's all the context ...
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1answer
91 views
Did the られる potential form come from 得る?
One of the shows I've been watching lately kept using some more classical forms of Japanese for style purposes, that I was not too familiar with ; this led me to notice how 得る{える} was often used as an ...
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57 views
Difference between しゃべんだったら and しゃべったら？
I’ve stumbled upon the sentence しゃべんだったら, which was translated as “if you are talking”. I get it’s the past conditional, but then why wouldn’t you say しゃべったら or like why does it say んだった?
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Does this mean “thank you”?
I've just starting learning Japanese last week.
And I'm playing a video game in Japanese. One of the characters said: "礼を言う" (rewoiu) just by itself. The English translation was "Thank ...
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1answer
76 views
そういう全てを含めて包み込む度量
A「俺達の戦はもう終わったんだよ。それをいつまでもネチネチネチネチ京都の女かお前は」
Our fight has already ended. Stop being so persistent about it, what are you, a Kyoto girl?B「バカか貴様は！京女だけでなく女子はみんなネチネチしている。そういう全てを含めて包み込む度量がないから貴様はモテないんだ」
Are ...
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1answer
81 views
Potential form of 言う - 言える - an ichidan verb?
The potential form of the godan verb [言]{い}う is [言]{い}える. I searched [言]{い}える in an online dictionary today, but it listed [言]{い}える, the potential form, as an ichidan verb.
It even gave a conjugation ...
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61 views
The difference between の中で vs の中から
This comes from a previous previous question with what I find to be a confusing explanation.
Generally, の中で is presented in all of the English language resources I could find to be an atomic thing ...
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1answer
154 views
How many true verbs and i-adjectives are there in Japanese?
I have read that verbs in Japanese are a closed class. That is to say: not counting inflections, there is some relatively fixed number of "true verbs" in the language. By "true verbs&...
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71 views
居る (いる) vs 居る (おる)
In most online dictionaries, if you look up 居る, it gives you two readings: いる, formerly ゐる, and おる, formerly をる.
However, I can't tell what the difference in connotation or usage would be. I couldn't ...
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The uses of verb + ん apart from simple negation
醜い浮世を 意地で生きるぞ
汗水たらし 身を削り ありつかん
尊くも儚き飯
Full lyrics here. This ugly world you need willpower to survive in; drenched in sweat and with lots of effort, that precious and fleeting meal is in sight
...
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1answer
60 views
How to interpret the volitional form of です
I have read that the volitional form expresses the intent to do or not do an action. Afterwards I found a case where this doesn't seem to apply when conjugating the です verb.
I read a sentence where a ...
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1answer
75 views
infinitive verb form + よ
What is the effect of putting よ after an infinitive verb form?
Example:
世界一のパティシエになりよ!
Thanks in advance! ありがとうございます！
^^
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2answers
118 views
Translating causative forms of 食べる (taberu)
Kim Tae tries to explain the difference between the "make" and "let" usage of causative verbs. I need a bit of help translating the various possibilities into English.
What would ...
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1answer
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Problem with understanding the action of いる in 決まった場所にいる代わりに
In a recent article 仕事で外国に行く前にＰＣＲ検査の予約ができるようにする from NHK Easy Japanese I found this sentence, (which I give here in a bit abbreviated form):
[...]着いてからしばらくの間、決まった場所にいる代わりに、PCR検査で[...]...
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1answer
61 views
~たform ／ ~辞書form + 場合は
In「みんなの日本語」, the first part of this sentence, with the た-form verb, is translate in simple present tense :
時間に遅れた場合は、会場に入れません。
If you are late, you will not be able to enter in the room.
Si vous êtes ...
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Semantic classification of verbs
Lately, I've been spending a lot of focus in how to translate certain verbs in the form ～ている. Mostly comes from the fact that, depending on the verb, it can have a meaning of prolonged action (e.g. ...
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644 views
Meaning of 崩れかける
I'm having some difficulties understanding the construction 崩れかけた in
博士たちは崩れかけた門をくぐり、中へ入っていった。
I couldn't find it as a single word, so I take it is constructed from 崩れる and かける. My guess is that it'...
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111 views
Inserting も inside a suru verb
I know that しょくじします means "to have a meal". I have trouble understanding the bolded sentence in the following text:
たたみのへやでしごとをします。しょくじもします。
Does it mean that the person also has meals in ...
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1answer
93 views
what does いずる mean?
what does "いずる (izuru)" mean when it's combined with verbs such as "萌えいずる" ?
Can I say "Sprouting" as a translation of "萌えいずる" ?
Thank you so much in advance.
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1answer
80 views
Difference between も兼ねて・を兼ねて
Someone asked her friend (in a TV show) 「宿題の答え合わせも兼ねて 勉強会をやりませんか?」 in the sense of "Want to do a study session, and compare our homework answers while we're at it?". Would the meaning change ...
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279 views
What is the proper way to say “to use/open an umbrella”?
I have the following options:
傘を_______
かけます
します
あびます
差します (さします)
But I'd like to know which is the correct one and why.
Thanks in advance!
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61 views
Use of は in 「確認はされていない」
I think the quote
「確認はされていない」
translates to "It hasn't been confirmed yet". However, the use of は is leaving me a bit uncertain. As far as I know, 確認 can be used either a name or a する-verb,...
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1answer
120 views
Can 退社 be used like a verb meaning “to check out” of a hotel etc?
This is a followup to my previous question, Can 受付 be used like a verb meaning “to check in” at a hotel etc?
I've just been informed by a person who provided the translation of "check in" ...
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1answer
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Can 受付 be used like a verb meaning “to check in” at a hotel etc?
On a YouTube video I just watched, an interviewer is challenging Japanese people to speak pure Japanese with no English loanwords (Chinese loanwords must be considered pure for some reason though) and ...
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What is the meaning of て-forms in this sentence?
While reading a travel blog I stumbled upon this paragraph:
この日は－25℃。寒くて落ち着いて歩いていられません。
In my understanding, 寒くて is a て-form of 寒い, 落ち着いて is a て-form of 落ち着く, and 歩いて is a て-form of 歩く. However, I'...
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How can I express “wearing multiple clothings” in a sentence?
Linked はく and きる or just きる?
ぼうしをかぶるじょせい。
ワンピスをきるじょせい。
How can I express in Japanese the combinations of above sentences, eg:
"woman that is wearing hat and onepiece" or,
"woman that ...
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meaning of “おくる” in this sentence [duplicate]
I just listened to 高気圧ガール by Tatsuro Yamashita and I came across 連れておくれ for the first time. So I was just wondering what role the おくれ part plays here.
First verse for context:
なめらかな白い 砂は 溜息の 照り返し
...
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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.&...
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1answer
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noun + を + nounする vs noun の noun を する
Are both of these formats interchangeable?:
noun の noun を する
noun + を + noun する
For example:
I'm going to practice the piano on Monday
月曜日にピアノの練習をするつもりです
(noun の noun を する)
月曜日にピアノを練習するつもりです
(noun + ...
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1answer
133 views
Conjugation of する verbs like 発する
I'm trying to understand how to conjugate verbs like 「発する」, 「属する」, 「察する」 and the like.
In a book I found 「発せられる」, which I think is the potential form of 「発する」, but it doesn't seem to follow the usual ...
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What does “でいる” mean? [duplicate]
I've heard the sentence "一人でいるのが好きです", meaning "I like to be alone".
Is this a substitute of "です", could I for example say "学生でいるのが好きです"? If so, how is it different from "である"?
Thanks in advance.
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Concept of Negative Form of Auxiliary Verbs
I was studying different auxiliaries and I am having a hard time understanding those auxiliaries which have their meanings attached with them.
Following the those auxiliaries and questions:
てみる - ...
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Negative verb form vs Verb + ない stem + ぬ [duplicate]
What's the difference?
For example: 気付かない vs 気付かぬ
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2answers
81 views
When to use verb ます vs plain form
I have come across the two following sentences:
遊ぶことは犯罪です | Playing is a crime
遊びは終わりだ。 | Fun and games are over (lit. playing is ending)
Why is 遊ぶ in plain/dictionary form in the first, and then ます ...
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1answer
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話します vs 話しています in a News Article
国は「中止していた特定技能の試験を外国でいつ始めることができるか考えたいと思います」と話しています。
Source:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10012450361000/k10012450361000.html
At the end, the sentence says:
話しています but I don’t get why the ...
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1answer
107 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 ...
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How was 出さず conjugated from 出す?
When I was sentence mining, I found the following sentence:
自分の名前も顔も出さず ただ傷つけるためだけに
Could someone explain how 出さず was conjugated from 出す?
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Newspaper sentence translation and interpretation [closed]
I would like to know if my translation of the sentence below is accurate in meaning. If not, could you point out the problematic area? Simply pointing out where I went wrong would be great. No need to ...
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1answer
130 views
「見つかりません」v.s.「見つけません」
In my Japanese textbook, there’s a fill-in-the-blank question (and here I will modify it into a multiple-choice question for better comparison and contrast):
さっきから携帯電話を探しているのですが、
A. 見つかりません。
B. ...
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2answers
137 views
What's the difference between 解凍（する） and 溶ける
I was studying some new words when I encountered 解凍 which can mean "melt". This reminded me of 溶ける. How do these words differ? In the case of ice melting, both can be used right? How about chocolate ...
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2answers
108 views
泣けばいいと思ってて綺麗事ばかりな主人公にイライラする。
The excerpt in the title of this question is a comment someone made about a manga I’m reading, ブラックジャックによろしく.
I have two questions:
① What is the て preceding て綺麗事 for? Is it a typo to have two て like ...
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2answers
103 views
なく after a verb, what are the uses?
夕暮れで 二人 少しずつ見えなくなっていって
In this case I suppose it 見えなく(invisible) + 成っていって（becoming）.
But in this case below how would it work?
サヨナラ 会えなくなったって 僕らは続きがあるから
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73 views
I don't understand Genki1's explanation of using の after verbs [duplicate]
Can someone explain? I just don't quite understand it.
Thanks.
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110 views
'I will GO to (verb)' vs. 'I will (verb)'
In sentences like
２時ごろ子どもを迎えに行きます。I will go to meet/greet my child around 2 O'clock.
Is the sentence structure of verb(Stem form)に行く/来る/帰る, ever strictly necessary? Or following the example, ...
