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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Why the verb has changed into く form
In the following sentence:
それ以上その姿勢を続けられなくなった
Why is the verb 続けられない transformed into 続けられなく？
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Does 悍ましい derive from a verb?
So I'm confused about おぞましい, because in 悍ましい, there's おくりがな. Atleast I'm sure of it, and as far as I know, おくりがな is added to a verb. So, I'd think that the ま in 悍ましい、is from the irrealis form of a ...
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What is the meaning of なりうるがため in this context?
恐るべき 事態に なりうるがため、 子細を 伝えることはできぬ。
The context is that I'm talking to a wizard in the game who happens to know something about my future.
Currently, I am trying to figure the exact construction/meaning ...
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Can する substitute a previously used verb?
I want to eat, but if I do, I'll get fat.
My attempt at a translation:食べたいけどそれをすると太る.
I expect this is totally unnatural. Even if it is okay I fear that adding それを may make it sound quite formal, but ...
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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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Can a irrealis form verb be combined with the adjective particle "な"
I asked this question because irrealis form and continuative form verbs can be combined with だ, so can't it be combined with na? I mean it looks ungrammatical but da goes with it so...
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How do you construct the grammar "The way you..." + Verb in Japanese?
I was coming up and practicing with Japanese sentences. I found myself wondering on how to construct this kind of grammar...
THE WAY YOU + Verb
"The way you look at me..."
"The way you ...
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Cannot understand 甘える
I will show two examples from Japanese websites.
First of all, from Weblio：
「彼女は私に甘える＝She spoils me」
Secondly from some site for Japanese English learners (Gabastyle):
「悲しいことが起きたときには友達や家族に甘えてもいいんだよ＝In ...
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What's the origin of "さ", the nonsubjective (dunno how to call it nominalizer)
So, I know that the subjective nominalizer み comes from the imperfective/irrealis form of む, apparently the subjective particle that makes things into subjective verbs?? I just heard this on a website....
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What does よう知らん mean in その辺の仕組みはあんたらと違って よう知らん
I saw this sentence in an episode of attack on titan the speaker is referencing a power she has and that she doesn't understand how it works unlike the listeners who do
The english sub translation was
...
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Which verb do I use to say I remove makeup and accessories, but in the same sentence as one another, when both of those have a separate verb for each?
I am a beginner in Japanese. Right now I am learning verbs and how to put together sentences, but I am stuck when it comes to which verb to use when there are so many subtleties for different things. ...
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The difference between conjugations of 行く / 行ける and イケる
As an example
「明日、行けなくなっちゃうよ？」(talking about a date etc.)
How can you tell here whether it is 行く negative potential form or イケる negative form? As far as I can see both look like they'd make sense. イケる ...
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Can よ from volitional form be dropped? Heres some context
Recently, I saw this in a Hinative answer.
使うとするなら
I know that とする means to "try to" and なら means if so I'm guessing it means if try to use, but why not use 使おうとするなら? This brings up the ...
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Using passive voice with transitive and intransitive verbs
What's the difference between using the passive voice with a transitive and an intransitive verb?
Take the examples:
パソコンがこわれられた ｖｓ パソコンをこわされた
(PS: I don't know if the particles I used in the ...
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What is the right expression to say "I expose myself to life". Would it be 露呈{ろてい}, 露見{ろけん} or something else?
I tried to write the expression "to expose yourself to life". I would like to express "to expose" like as in "I expose myself to live, with all things, bad and good, that ...
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The use of は and も with non-する verbs
When using a する verb, it seems very intuitive to used は and も to add nuance to a statement. 起床はしたんだけれど、まだ寝ボケだった for example. Or something like 確認もしたのにやっぱり誤り見逃した. To my understanding, は and も can be ...
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About the Potential Form of Verbs 「られる」 [duplicate]
The Potential Form (can) usually is conjugated by replacing whatever verb ending is based on the verb group.
However, I noticed that some verbs such as たべられる can also be written as たべれる. What's the ...
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Problems with understanding xをyに完成する
In the definition for 小説 I found (in bold):
文学の一形式。散文体の文学で，一八世紀以後，近代市民社会の生活・道徳・思想を背景に完成した
lit. Form of literature. Is prose literature and, from (and after) 18th century, modern civilizations xxx
I’...
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Question about possible meaning of “い”る quoted like this
In a novel I'm reading (Umineko no naku koro ni, by Ryukishi07) a child character frequently affirms the existence of a witch named Beatrice (ベアトリーチェ) in anger, as a way of protesting to older boys or ...
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What form is being used in 参らせんとて
I was reading the definition of 庇う:
（１）他からの危険や非難などが及ばないように守る。「部下を―・う」「傷を―・う」「君を―・ひ参らせんとて，現在の主を打ち奉るぞ/義経記 7」
In the example sentence: 君を―・ひ参らせんとて，現在の主を打ち奉るぞ/義経記 7 there is a "参らせんとて". I'm ...
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Usage of っ inbetween て and た forms?
I have seen quotes in manga and games in which a verb will be presented as (If I remember correctly) "しまっていった" as opposed to "しまっていた".
Why is this? Is this an anomaly? Is one form ...
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Special status of 話せる as a verb
I came across 話せる, as the potential form of 話す. However, 話せる can also be found in dictionaries as a verb on its own. It can even take inflections, and has its own potential form, 話せられる! I don't really ...
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What verb form is 惜しみて (from 惜しむ)
I was reading the definition (4) of 惜しむ because I think that's the appropriate one from 大辞林. At least it appeared in 言葉の雨に打たれ 秋惜しむまま冬に落ちる (思想犯):
（４）価値あるものが失われたこと，また，活用されずに終わることを残念に思う。「ゆく春を―・む」「...
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What does 攻めた mean when used about someone's appearance?
I came across the expression 攻めた格好 recently, and I'd like to know what exactly it means. The original sentence was uttered by a character that was surprised to see another in a wildly different place ...
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Are Verb 1 and Verb 2 interchangeable? verb1+te verb2 vs. verb2+te verb1
For example, is there a difference between these two sentences?
風は夜になっておさまった。
風は夜に治まってなった。
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How do you specify percentages of verbs/actions?
I've been googling around a bit for an answer and I can't seem to find anyone else asking this question. Apologies in advance if I'm wrong.
In English, you can say 'I do around 70% of the cooking'. ...
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This line sounds peculiar, I would appreciate your opinions (it uses the verb 許される)
First of all, to give you some context, there are 3 characters that will be referred to as A, B, and C. The following lines are from a dialogue between A and B about C. The character C has done things ...
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How can 突き抜けた be interpreted in this sentence?
I was reading an interview for a video game (if it helps, the genre is action) and the producer says this:
シナリオをつなげていくと、どうしても突き抜けたプレイ感覚が減ってしまうんですよ。 これが痛い。
What is he trying to say by 突き抜けた?
I ...
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What's な doing in 絶えなんとする?
I'm reading Harry Potter in Japanese and it goes:
力は失せ、命も絶えなんとする姿で、ヴォルデモートは逃げ去った。
His powers gone, his life almost
extinguished, Voldemort had fled;
命も絶えんとする姿で would make sense to me, but it's a bit ...
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Nuances and correct usage of verbs modifying nouns
I found this very interesting older post and there are couple of things I am uncertain about.
Could I also technically write "ロックしたSIM/ロックしているSIM" to mean "ロックされたSIM/ ロックされているSIM", ...
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List of Two-Mora Ichidan Verbs
I've been looking for an exhaustive list of them, but I can't seem to find one in English. So far I've got these:
いる/居る
得る
出る
似る
煮る
寝る
着る
干る
鋳る
射る
癒る
経る/歴る
みる's variants, 見る/観る/視る/診る/看る
Are there ...
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「ぶられる」とは「ぶる」の受動態？ What does it mean to be ぶる-ed? [duplicate]
I can't find a related discussion, not here, not on the Internet at large, so I am surprised this seemingly hasn't been asked or discussed.
純真ぶるのはやめろ。この数週間、僕たちはいつ情熱的なキスを交わしてもおかしくなかった。君もそれはわかっているはずだ。...
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Help with monomorphic, polyphonic verbs
OK, I kind of invented that term. But I'm referring to verbs that have identical kanji and okurigana; have nearly identical meanings; but have different readings. I'm sure there are many others out ...
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イ音便 Outside of the て and た Forms
I understand that a lot of the time the consonants in き, ぎ, し and り were dropped, making 書きて into 書いて, 焼き刃 into やいば, 良し into 良い, etc.
When it comes to verbs, it affected their て form as well as た/たら/...
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Difference using そう with various verb forms?
I'm doing some reviews on Bunpro and I got this sentence:
今晩雨が＿＿＿。
And I knew it wanted the verb 降る, and that it wanted me to use そう.
So I put in ふりそう, and was surprised to see that it actually ...
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Why is とき used with instantaneous verb 気づく?
気づいたときには たまっているもの
You'll save [enough money] before you know it.
At least based on the dictionary definition and examples, 気づくseems to be an instantaneous verb, "realize". How then does とき ...
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"Continuous" vs "Discontinuous" verbs: What to call them in English and Japanese?
On my trip home today, I was thinking about how うちに帰っている would be incorrect for my current situation, as I'm currently travelling home and not already at home. I'll walk through my thought process ...
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What does the word もえる mean in the following sentence and what is the kanji for it? [closed]
Here's the sentence:
もえるごみと一緒に毎週土曜日に集めます。
That sentence has been taken from the text explaining different ways of garbage disposal.
What does the word もえる mean here and is there a kanji for it?
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Why is ～ましょう form used in the following situation?
この部屋は図書室です。本やCDを借りたり、宿題をしたり出来ます。日本語の本が２０００冊あります。外国語の本は１０００冊あります。CDは５００枚あります。CDを聞くときはヘッドホンをしましょう。友達と話すときは小さい声で話すようにしましょう。
Why do we have to use the ～ましょう form here instead of just using the ～ます form?
...
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Nuance of 在る for a person in this song
In the song "my code" by GARNiDELiA, there're these two lines:
噛｛か｝み締｛し｝めた痛｛いた｝みも 消｛け｝せない傷跡｛きずあと｝も
私｛わたし｝が私として在｛あ｝るために
I understand what the second line means, and I've read other posts on ...
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Don't understand past tense used as present perfect in Japanese
I'm reading a Japanese beginners book in which I have found a 'present perfect' sentence for the first time, but I don't understand it very well:
The sentence
見たことがある女の人がいます
according to my book, is ...
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Use verb in -masu form + kana to wonder about something instead of using the -darou form
The following sentence (in a context which is speaking about a woman):
青いワンピースを着て、どこに行くんだろう。
Can be translated as:
Where is she going in a blue dress?
Could I use「かな？」instead of the「ーだろう」form? E.g....
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Why do all Japanese verbs in dictionary form end with -u?
Most of the search results while trying to research this question turned up with tutorials on verb conjugation.
Why do all Japanese verbs in dictionary form end with -u? What is the reason, ...
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What tense to use for verbs describing abstract actions?
Here are 3 examples of 重きを置く.
昔は徳育に重きを置いた。People used to attach weight to moral culture. [斉藤和英大辞典]
聞くことと話すことに重きを置いた言語獲得の体系 system of language acquisition focusing intensively on listening and ...
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What does "ふってきて mean in the sentence "これが、突然空からふってきて..."? [duplicate]
I know the sentence means something like "This suddenly came out of the sky...".
"これが" means "this is" (side question: why add "が" instead of just keeping it as ...
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What is the difference between 切り替える and 変える?
I'm trying to figure out which verb to use if I want to say "Let's switch between speaking English and Japanese", but in general I would just like to know.
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Is there a native word in Japanese that refers to "to have intercourse with" with high fidelity?
I realized that after learning Japanese for so many years I still don't know what the word is in Japanese that has the meaning "to have intercourse with" specifically.
Therefore, I am ...
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Is there any pattern to tell which verb of the two is transitive and which is intransitive?
Let me first explain what I mean. Take these two pairs for example:
付く、付ける (the first one is intransitive, the second one is
transitive)
抜く、抜ける (the first one is transitive, the second on is
...
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Where do 覚悟なさい、我慢なさい come from?
The more common 「覚悟しなさい」 and 「我慢しなさい」 seem also much more intuitive: 覚悟する➞覚悟しなさい
覚悟なさい、我慢なさい seem to be feminine markers. How did they come about?
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