Questions tagged [word-choice]
使い分け. The differences between two or more words or phrases and how to select the best one for a given situation.
2,685
questions
2
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0answers
33 views
Difference (if there is any) between 知るか and 知ったことか
From what I researched online, I have read that most of the times these phrases are interpreted as "I don't care", "Who cares?" " "I don't give a damn!" "It's ...
1
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1answer
55 views
I'd like to know the difference between various ways of saying 'Capacity' and 'Implement' in Japanese
I am confused about some similar words in Japanese. Where in English we can use the same word for "implement" and "capacity", Japanese seem to be using different words depending on ...
0
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1answer
51 views
“よねんせい” vs “よんねんせい” for “fourth-year student” in Genki 1
I've been learning japanese for a couple months and recently started to include the Genki textbook along with my WaniKani studying. Near the beginning of the workbook, there is a question that asks to ...
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1answer
51 views
現金 and 金 what are the similarity and difference in usage?
As the topic of this post what are differences and similarities in usage of 現金 and 金? Some examples of differences would be highly appreciated.
2
votes
1answer
45 views
How to say 'to add'
I know this is a quite general question, but I've been wondering what are the differet ways to say 'to add'. 'To add' is a very useful word for everyday use, but I find it quite tricky to find the ...
2
votes
0answers
67 views
Why can't により be used with “concrete, tangible objects”?
According to "A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar" p. 297, により/によって can be used as "a particle that indicates means"
その問題は話し合いに{よって/より}解決出来るはずだ。
We should be able to ...
1
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0answers
29 views
explanation of 俺だったが [duplicate]
Hi I have found the following sentence
"普段学校に行かず家に引き篭もっている俺だったが、今日は珍しく外出をした。"
translated as:
Normally I stay locked in my room. Don’t even go to school. But today,
for once, I left the ...
1
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1answer
113 views
Is “悪くならない” an okay replacement for ”日持ち”?
Would "悪くならない” be used correctly if we're referring to food and how it won't go bad as fast because of preservatives and can it be used instead of using "日持ち”? I know that "...
2
votes
1answer
94 views
How to read this text without any particles?
I have a Japanese promotional postcard that has this text
料金受取人払郵便
and a box with this text in it
牛込局承認 6479
Does this say that the person receiving the postcard will pay postage followed by a permit ...
7
votes
2answers
226 views
Oneself words difference : 自分, 自身, 自ら, 自分自身, 己, 自己, 自力
I know it's a huge topic, but I can't understand the differences between all this ways to say oneself, and by extension yourself, himself, herself ...
If anyone can help me to have a picture of the ...
0
votes
1answer
52 views
Please give feedback on my Japanese class presentation on food additives [closed]
Here's my presentation, I'm in high school right now in the highest level Japanese class they have, but I want to know if my grammar is wrong or if I can improve some things in it, as well as slowly ...
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1answer
55 views
What is the difference between 痛み and 疼き?
What is the difference between 痛み and 疼き?
Both words mean 'pain', 'ache'. Is there any difference in usage of these words except of frequency?
Feel free to provide examples.
Thank you.
7
votes
1answer
546 views
When would you use 30分 versus 半 for telling time?
I know telling time in English, you can say "It is 3:30" or "It is half past 3" and they can be used interchangeably.
When telling the time in Japanese, is this still the case? Can ...
7
votes
1answer
246 views
の ⋆ こと ⋆ というの ⋆ ということ Used as Complementizers
I'm trying to figure out differences in meaning in nuance among all the ways to express X that Y.
As in:
こんなによく遅刻をするというのは問題ですよ。
"It's a problem that you're late this often," or "That ...
0
votes
1answer
91 views
Different ways of enumeration
Japanese seems to have multiple ways of enumerating sequences. The basic one is ordinal numbers:
Arabic (Indian) numbers like in English: 1,2,3
classic Chinese numbers: 一、二、三 etc.
special legal ...
1
vote
1answer
111 views
What is the difference between 当 and この?
I am making a website and needed inspiration for a "404 not found" page in Japanese.
Going to a non-existent page on Amazon.co.jp (ex: amazon.co.jp/aaaaaaa) gives this message:
何{なに}かお探{さが}...
2
votes
1answer
109 views
Differentiate between usages of 全部: all or completely?
Relatively new learner here. In a forum on Duolingo, as the app itself only teaches by example, there's a discussion regarding translating this phrase:
窓{まど}は全部{ぜんぶ}閉{し}まっていますか？
Without「全部」it seems ...
2
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0answers
42 views
Connotations of なら vs たら in conditional clauses
I am wondering about the choice of, and general necessity of, なら in the following sentence.
ドイツでは、ウイルスがうつらないように気をつけているなら、店を開くことができます。(from NHK Easy)
* In Germany, businesses may remain open if they ...
1
vote
1answer
77 views
許してやる forgiveness?
I was wondering if i said 許してやる it would come across as " i will forgive you" or something else...?
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1answer
68 views
What's the difference between 済ませる【すませる】 and 終える【おえる】?
What's the difference between 済ませる【すませる】 and 終える【おえる】?
I've tried looking at jisho.org, goo.ne.jp, ALC, HiNative and here, but I'm still unsure about the difference between these two words. I think it ...
1
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0answers
68 views
に+しよう and って欲しい in requesting [closed]
What's the difference between:
俺に行こう
俺に行って欲しい
They both mean "you want me to go". When should I use each of them?
3
votes
2answers
321 views
Confusion regarding the usage of 〜たいものだ
In the grammar exercise book for JLPT N2, I came across the following question:
（ ）を食べてみたいものだ。
a. あ、このおいしそうな料理
b. 今日はユリさんのうちで手料理
c. 一度、その珍しい魚
the correct answer is c.
The explanation of the original ...
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0answers
65 views
i wanted to name myself a Japanese name,(first-last) but i wanted to know if it was okay to do so
Can someone please answer my question somehow? I would like to respect and honor the means of Japanese people/culture. I did not want to name myself a Japanese name without permission from the ...
0
votes
1answer
82 views
How to join a noun and a verb
How does one join a noun and a verb? Example:
友達に行かせるのは初めてで最後にするわ - This is the first and last time I will let my friend force me to go
I used で to join the noun 初めて and 最後 in the example above, but ...
0
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0answers
40 views
や at the end of a sentence [duplicate]
もういいや
割り捨てていいや
In the sentences above, what does the や do? Let's say there is no や, how would the meaning change?
3
votes
1answer
103 views
Is there a difference between 「どこからか」 and 「どこかから」?
While reading a child's fairy book, I came across with the following sentence:
人間界に着いたおばけのドロロンは「人間いないかなー♪子供はいないかなー♪」子供の魂をさがそうと街をフラフラ。すると、どこからかいい匂いが漂ってきました。「なんて甘くて美味しそうな匂い…」
I googled and found ...
3
votes
1answer
73 views
What's the difference between 「言う」「話す」「喋る」「語る」?
Are 「言う」「話す」「喋る」「語る」 interchangeable in the following sentences? Why or why not?
「ああ」と言って、田中は友達の顔を眺めた…
学校にあったことを父に話す。
自分の考えを友達に話した。
人と話すのが好きです。
ああ！カエルが喋った！
彼は皆の前で、将来の大きな夢を語りました。
...
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2answers
110 views
Asking What's the logic?
If i want to ask what is the logic behind something does :その中の論理は何ですか
Work?
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1answer
69 views
What are the differences between 依頼【いらい】、需要【じゅよう】、請求【せいきゅう】、注文【ちゅうもん】、要求【ようきゅう】 and 要請【ようせい】?
What are the differences between 依頼【いらい】、需要【じゅよう】、請求【せいきゅう】、注文【ちゅうもん】、要求【ようきゅう】 and 要請【ようせい】?
I've looked at jisho.org and tried searching for answers on HiNative, but couldn't find a clear enough ...
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1answer
55 views
What's the difference between 「ご飯を食べる」「ご飯を済ます」 and 「ご飯を済ませる」?
「ご飯を食べる」「ご飯を済ます」 and 「ご飯を済ませる」, they all mean to finish breakfast/ lunch/ dinner, what's the nuance between them?
I tried to get it out but there are totally different explainings about the difference....
2
votes
2answers
348 views
Am I understanding this alright? あの武器のプレイは、皆さんが想像している通りのものになると思います
I was reading an interview from a game magazine and I'm not sure if I understand what the director of a game is saying when he was asked a question. He was asked if he could tell some details about ...
0
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0answers
43 views
How to express “and” [duplicate]
For example, "I will stop working and will try not to go anymore"
The only pattern I know here is もう頑張らなくて行かないようにしよう. But this means "I will try to stop working hard and not go anymore&...
0
votes
4answers
166 views
How to write “I am going to talk about a place that I like”
I am taking a Japanese course and I was told to write a composition about a place I like.
I have currently just finished the first book of Minna no nihongo, which is up to lesson 12.
I am thinking of:
...
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2answers
92 views
Meaning difference between 夜は明ける and 夜が明ける?
In this song lyrics, 夜が明ける is the name of the song, but until the end of the song 夜は明ける is used. This sounds like there is a distinct meaning difference between the two forms. I read about the ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Exclusive or, does it exist in Japanese?
How do I translate
“Please select either A or B.”
Can the “or” be translated directly, or would I have to work around it like
AもBは, ひとつを選ぶください。
0
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2answers
80 views
How is arrowhead said?
So I found some ways in saying arrowhead but found various.
One is 矢じり 「やじり」 and the other one is 石鏃 「せきぞく」
Honestly I got confused with the two. Is 矢じりa Japanese arrowhead or any kind? same question ...
1
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1answer
89 views
why did they use なく instead of ない
hi i was wondering why なくwas used in this sentence
例えば これが俺ではなく 葉山なら
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1answer
62 views
までは vs まで difference
What's the difference between saying for example
限界までは我慢する and 限界まで我慢する
I did googled a bit but can't find any relevant answers
2
votes
1answer
59 views
けど and でも differences
I realise that でも is only used at the start of a sentence whilst けど is only used to join 2 sentences. I have been chatting with lots of japanese and they always use けど to start a sentence after a ...
0
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0answers
23 views
Difference between こと and と, word choices [duplicate]
What's the difference between using these structures
行くことを決めた
行くと決めた
行くことに決めた
行くって決めた
They all mean "I have decided to go". So which one should I use?
2
votes
2answers
113 views
自分自身らしくいてください (double checking the meaning)
I want to double check the meaning of the sentence above. I have the word(s) 自分自身 and I need to use it in a sentence that expresses the essence of "please be yourself." For context, the ...
2
votes
2answers
117 views
Can someone help me translate “she's my person”?
I'm not quite sure if this is right.
彼女は私の人です
Kanojo wa watashi no hitodesu
I'm a little confused on the word for "she" as it can also translate to "girlfriend." I've read that ...
1
vote
1answer
73 views
What is the function of ものな in this sentence?
これは冷やして食べるものなのですか
I did some searching but nothing seemed to quite explain what I'm looking for.
I'm assuming the second の is the explanatory の, but what is ものな? Are the もの and な separate? They feel ...
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0answers
31 views
What is the difference between 人気のある, 人気がある, 人気の, and 人気な? [duplicate]
As 人気 is a noun and な-adjective, it can be used in these phrases:
人気のある映画
人気がある映画
人気の映画
人気な映画
人気映画
To me, they all mean ‘popular movie’, but the first 2 literally mean ‘movie that has popularity’ ...
3
votes
0answers
66 views
感じ and 風 to talk about how to do something
I see that the nouns 感じ and 風 (also written ふう) are sometimes used to indicate how to do something. Some examples:
こんなふうに書いてください。
こんな感じにカットしてください。
This is a dialogue about how to golf:
A: アドバイス？...
1
vote
1answer
73 views
Would using “たら” make sense in this type of sentence?
So recently I've met a Japanese person whilst playing League and we started to talk a bit over the group voice chat. Although my Japanese is still at a very basic level we understood each other pretty ...
0
votes
0answers
58 views
What's the difference between 必要ですand 必要があります? [duplicate]
I wrote a sentence along the lines of
チップを払うのは必要です。
A native speaker corrected me and said it should be
チップを払う必要があります。
So what's the difference? Is it a matter of forcefulness/intensity? Or is it a ...
0
votes
2answers
117 views
How would you interpret 迷 in this sentence?
I was watching an anime when a quite interesting conversation happened. I could only read the subtitles as my Japanese is really bad but I tried my best to reconstruct the sentence afterwards.
Here is ...
2
votes
0answers
102 views
Units for stock indexes
When reading Japanese financial news, I found that different units were used for different stock indexes. For example, ドル／セント was used for Dow Jones Industrial Average, while ポイント was used for NASDAQ ...
2
votes
1answer
50 views
Are there any differences between だんだんと and だんだん? [duplicate]
I found だんだんと in this sentence but I'm not sure how it's different from だんだん?
女は毎日働いたので、だんだんと元気がなくなっていました。
(Source)
