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 does one have to use ながら instead of つつ in this sentence?
I'm going through an exercise book to prepare for the N2 exam, and I got confused by this question:
＿たばこを吸わないでよ
There are choices for 歩きつつ and 歩きながら, and the answer is 歩きながら.
What's the difference ...
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I'm having trouble understanding what “開き直った、とも言いますが” means
I wish I could formulate this question in a better way because there's a million people on here who have posted similar "don't know what this means, please tell me" and I don't mean this to be low ...
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1answer
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What does the verbal contraction/suffix -kkya or -kya at the end of a clause mean? [duplicate]
I seem to hear and read this construction often, but can't seem to find any information about it on Google (or other search engines), as well as other sites I've checked. I've tried several different ...
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Meaning of 融着 in metal plating
Context: production of a copper-plated stainless steel sheet (Ｃｕめっきステンレス鋼板)
What is the meaning of 融着 in the following sentence?
多重巻きパイプ造管時のロールとの摺動によるＣｕめっき層のはく離を抑制し、Ｃｕめっき層同士を加熱により融着させる際に起こる未融着部（...
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2answers
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Difference between shimatte arimasu and shimete arimasu
In this link, it is explained that shimeru is a transitive verb and so it can take the -te aru ending but shimaru is an intransitive verb so it can take the -te imasu ending.
However, in some grammar ...
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2answers
113 views
Use of adverb with いる
I was reading an explanation online regarding the difference between いつも, いつでも and いつまでも. At the bottom of the article there was this sentence, which seems to be taken from a banner ad:
...
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2answers
176 views
覚えました - Can it mean “I learned”?
俺サーブとブロックはあの人を見て覚えました
The above sentence is taken straight from Haikyuu!! S01E07.
The subs translate to "I learned serving and blocking by watching him play".
Does 覚えました give the "I learned" part ...
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2answers
180 views
What is the difference between 振る and 揺る?
Both of these words seem to mean "to shake". From what I got:
振る is "higher frequency" shaking.
揺る is more like a swaying or rocking motion, "lower frequency".
Is this correct? An explanation would ...
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1answer
107 views
Struggling with identifying the 'correct' verb here (+intransitivity)
This sentence is giving me a hard time ...
「下り坂を休まれちまった、残りは１０００と数百...」
(The sentence was uttered during a horse race when the speaker was passed by other competitors as he was saving his horse's ...
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1answer
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merging 2 verbs such as 返す and 遅れる into 返し遅れる?
Merging two verbs into one is a common structure:
繰り返す、書き直す、思い出す、乗り換える、etc.
sometimes the new verb mixes the meaning of the 2 verbs as well, sometimes not.
What about merging 2 verbs into a new verb ...
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1answer
86 views
What is the meaning of ついて in ついてしまう
I have this sentence
勝負はついてしまったらしい
I guess it comes from 付く which would be in my opinion a similar form to 付いて来る.
Is my guess OK, or is has the ついて here a different origin?
Thanks a lot!
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1answer
63 views
「上一段・下一段」活用動詞 - why are these groups separate?
My understanding is that the Japanese equivalent of "-iru/eru" verbs or "group 2 verbs" are the groups 上一段活用動詞｛かみいちだんかつようどうし｝ and 下一段活用動詞｛しもいちだんかつようどうし｝, where 上一段活用動詞 represents the -iru verbs and ...
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1answer
147 views
Meaning of “かぶらず” and usage of に
I came across a sentence which had かぶらず. As, per the picture, the meaning is nothing to wear on head. However, I was trying to figure out whether かぶらず is part of conjugation of the verb かぶる, however, ...
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1answer
83 views
Is there a difference between ”をなる” and ”なっていて”
I was understanding なる verb today, as well as adjectives.
I know the fact that adjective + verb can be mixed together with each other. So, I came across an example stating:
"家が赤くなっています" (House is ...
3
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1answer
66 views
Can な Adjectives be also used for combination with verbs
I am new to Japanese and found out that Adjectives can also be used along with verbs in て forms. I came to know that there are two adjectives い-adj and な-adj. い is an adjectival verb. Whereas, な is an ...
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1answer
123 views
就く in sports jargon
I know that 就く{つく｝means “to be hired”. But does it have a separate meaning in sports jargon (soccer, baseball...)
I’m referring to the following sentence:
全員、守備に就くため走った。
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1answer
163 views
Why use と言っている instead of と言います？
In the following sentence:
アカネは菜食主義者だと言っているが、魚は食べる。
それって、筋が通るかな？
Why it uses the てform of the verb 言う and not its ますform?
If I wanted to say the same sentence but in the past tense should I use ...
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1answer
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Question about conjugating verb + たい
Why is 帰る conjugated 帰りたい and not 帰たい when adding たい to it?
Is it conjugated this way because 帰る is a godan verb?
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1answer
133 views
What is the meaning of 過ぎる in this sentence?
The verb 過ぎる shows up in the following sentence:
二年間の景気後退期を過ぎれば、この国の経済は最悪の状態を脱するかもしれません。
I think I understand the sentence but the problem is that I'm not sure what 過ぎる exactly means. It is in ...
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1answer
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ます Verb Stem + another verb grammar meaning?
I was practicing writing and got corrected by a few native speakers. They all had a correction in common where they took the ます Verb Stem and then just added a different verb on the back.
What ...
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3answers
149 views
What does 勝ったな mean?
I’ve stumbled upon the phrase 勝ったな and it was translated there as “he will win” but what conjugation is that?
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Can 終わる be used as a transitive verb? [duplicate]
I came across this sentence in my textbook (上級へのとびら):
電話を終わるあいさつ
As far as I'm concerned, 終わる is an intransitive verb and as such, it can't be used with the particle を, but with が. The transitive ...
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1answer
112 views
Meaning of verb + つもりも + potential verb + 程
In a letter by a mangaka at the end of a manga, I encountered the following sentence:
〝正しいこと〟なんて描くつもりも描ける程、自分を上等とも思っていないけど〝つまらないこと〟だけはしないようにしていきたいなって思います
Is verb + つもりも + potential verb + 程 a ...
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0answers
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Usage of とwhere it seems てshould be used [duplicate]
I recently started playing Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! in Japanese, and I have seen this grammar come up a few times. Most recently in the following dialog.
この ポケモンジムは 閉まっとる
To me it seems as if the ...
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verb てーform + もいいです VS. verb + こと + ができます: whether equivalent or not
(1) カードで払うことができますか。
(2) カードで払ってもいいですか。
In google these two sentences were both translated into: Can I pay by card?
Whether there exists any subtle differences? Or are they completely equivalent?
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1answer
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Meaning of “仕掛ける機会”
I was reading something and I came across this sentence:
それだって仕掛ける機会が得られなかったというだけで、殺しそのものを失敗したわけでも証拠を残したわけでもない。
My problem is that I don’t understand what 仕掛ける機会 means in this context. I know that ...
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1answer
123 views
Logic behind grammar patterns
One of my current biggest challenges in learning Japanese sentence patterns is knowing which verb forms to use when linking to set phrases.
The largest classes of verb forms I've seen that are used ...
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1answer
126 views
difference between 呼ぶ and 言う:
What would you say is the difference between:
君にアホだと言う
And
君をアホだと呼ぶ
I saw there are some similar questions about this topic, but I think none answers this especific matter.
Thanks
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1answer
376 views
「和む」is a common word?
「[和む]{なごむ}」is a word that you can hear in everyday conversation? Or just in poems or songs?
3
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1answer
290 views
What does 「選挙を追った」 mean here?
選挙カーも走らない静かな選挙戦だったが、投票率は何と８９・４１％。
飛び地の村の不思議な選挙を追った。
Source: https://www.sankei.com/premium/news/191209/prm1912090002-n1.html
An enclave town with a quiet election campaign without any cars ...
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2answers
217 views
Can 決めてない mean “crazy”?
Context: after the commander of a platoon (小隊長) says some apparently incomprehensible things, one of the soldiers whispers to another:
こいつ、なんか決{き}めてないか？
What is the meaning of 決めてない here? ...
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1answer
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Is the yasumi in oyasuminasai the same as yasumi (day off / break)?
I have known oyasuminasai (good night) for around a year now.
Today I learned the word yasumi (break / day off).
It instantly rang a bell and then oyasuminasai sprung to mind.
Is there a connection ...
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2answers
151 views
強がる usage and meaning
~がる is used to describe third person's feeling but today I found this word "強がる私" I don't know why 強がる is used with first person like 私.
Is it because the speaker speaks in other point of view ?
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1answer
116 views
How does this passive sentence work?
I'm confused with this sentence.
顔はやや仰向きがち に、天の栄光をながめやる 目が、深くやすらか にみひらかれて いた。
I would like to understand how it's constructed.
I think 目 is the passive subject of みひらかれて いた as が is its particle, ...
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0answers
85 views
What is the meaning of おちょくっとる? [duplicate]
This sentence here:
"なっ… お前おちょくっとるのか！？
I didn't understand おちょくっとる, is it a form of the verb おちょくる? What is the meaning in this sentence? Thanks.
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Question about the use of 察す
I was reading a light novel, and this sentence came up, is と here working as quotation with 察して? and what can the verb in this situation mean?
むしろ追いかけられていると察して、逃げ足を速めるに違いない。
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1answer
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Construction behind 「やり」in this sentence
「それはわしがやりおまえが追いつめられたのでわしの攻撃と同じ事！」
I am having trouble with the「やり」in this sentence.
I believe that it is a verb and possibly takes the same tense as 「追いつめられた」(similar to verbs linked via the "て-form"...
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1answer
278 views
Could anyone explain this 置く置かない to me please
I found the sentence
けんかして嫁が出ていきました。
けんかの原因は、家に下宿人を置く置かないの件です
And I have a doubt about using of 置く置かない How should it be translated ? and
How to use it
I have never seen this grammar using ...
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1answer
127 views
What does …て…て mean?
I have the following sentence.
その白い比いない裸体は、薄暮の背景の前に置かれて輝やいていた 。
I understand the use of ~て in ~ている, but I'm confused by two consecutive verbs using ~て as in 置かれて輝やいていた. Should I understand them ...
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1answer
169 views
How can this sentence be understood?
I'm reading 仮面の告白 by Mishima Yukio, and I came across this sentence:
そのほか に縄目は見えず、青年の裸体を覆うものとては、腰のまわりにゆるやか に巻きつけられた 白い粗布があるばかりだった。
I would like to understand how is this sentence made by the ...
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1answer
205 views
Nominalizing verb with い-ending vs ーの
In my Japanese class today, we were supposed to say a sport we liked. I said:
泳ぎが好きです。
We haven't learned this way of nominalizing verbs or the names of many sports, so my 先生 shook her head no and ...
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2answers
83 views
A question about ~はしない
I do understand what it means, but I want to know if it's mostly used from 1st person perspective because in many examples that's how it translated.
"I will never/There is no way I..."<-That is how ...
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1answer
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Can a verb be modified too many times?
Several years ago, I was taking a Japanese course and was given an assignment to translate an English sentence of my choosing. (There was probably more to the assignment than that, but I don't recall....
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3answers
255 views
How to translate わからない in the following sentence
Context: a boxer named Yanagi is fighting against an opponent named Hyodo. Although Hyodo is really young, he is considered a very talented boxer and is often called genius (天才). Yanagi is thinking ...
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1answer
156 views
What does 「夢{ゆめ}に触{ふ}れる」 mean?
It's part of the lyrics of a song. The actual line is:
どれほど夢{ゆめ}に触{ふ}れている?
I checked the definitions of 触れる as an intransitive verb on Weblio and came to the conclusion that this is most likely ...
1
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1answer
80 views
What’s the difference between “書けるか” and “書けますか“?
What’s the difference between “書けるか“ and “書けますか” (Can you write?). I read the rule for the potential form, but then in an example it said ます on the end instead of る. So do both work and what’s the ...
3
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1answer
107 views
“服を汚した” vs “服を汚くした”
Now that I know it's not natural to say “服を汚くした” given no results found, I am just wondering is it more common to directly use the verb itself than to change its adjective form into an adverb to ...
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1answer
120 views
が vs は for intransitive verbs
In my textbook it says that to say:
There is a good restaurant in this building.
the translation is:
このたてものにいいレストランがあります。
However, why is が used and not は? Would は be indicating a contrast (...
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1answer
63 views
What is the difference between しました and した
週末に何をしましたか。
Here what is the grammer of しましたか.
Shouldn't it simply be したか, where した is the た format of する ?
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3answers
3k views
Which verb means “to pet <an animal>”?
I was trying to translate "May I pet the dog?", but I'm having trouble finding what word means "to pet".
Looking it up on jisho.org I get 可愛がる, but translating it back using various services gives me ...
