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.
2,649
questions
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1answer
44 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
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0answers
47 views
Is anyone willing to correct this very large block of text for me? [closed]
I understand I'm asking quite a big favor, as the text in question is approximately 5 standard paragraphs long and the subject matter is more on the lines of philosophical. However, I've posted ...
2
votes
1answer
46 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 ...
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0answers
18 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?
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2answers
85 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
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2answers
110 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
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1answer
67 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
29 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
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0answers
61 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？...
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1answer
68 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 ...
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0answers
56 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
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2answers
111 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
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0answers
100 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
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1answer
45 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)
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1answer
76 views
I want to be able to speak more casual Japanese. I just wanted to know if it was possible to drop です out of a sentence. example: これは犬
Could I drop です out of a sentence? I want to be able to speak more casual Japanese. I just wanted to know if it was possible to drop です out of a sentence. example: これは犬
0
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1answer
97 views
Which word for “sun” should I use?
It's a weird question, but I gotta ask.
Let's say I keep sneezing a lot and want to explain to someone that it's because of the sun. So in English I'd simply say "It's the sun." as an ...
1
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1answer
91 views
The different words for clothes
There are several different words for “clothing” in the dictionary. Kimono is a type of traditional Japanese clothing, while fuku refers to Western clothes. Hifuku is more general and covers all ...
4
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1answer
118 views
difference between 介護士 and 看護師
I learnt both of these words as an equivalent to "nurse". What is the difference in meaning between those two ?
Also what is the pitch accent for 介護士 ?
2
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2answers
106 views
How do you say “You sound like a ___?”
I've been singing on a karaoke app recently and I wanted to comment on a person's voice. How would I go about saying "You sound like a rockstar!"
I was thinking 「Aさん、ロックスターみたいなぁ～」
3
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1answer
93 views
Do [贈]{おく}り物 and プレゼント mean the same thing?
The use of loan words such as プレゼント are used much more just like カメラ is and such. So should i just disregard [贈]{おく}り物 and focus my memory on something else or do you know if [贈]{おく}り物 is still used ...
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1answer
74 views
どちら vs どちらの for “which”
When should I use どちら and when should I use どちらの for asking a which-question?
My intuitive understanding is that どちらの is used when one wants to ask "which [noun] ..." (e. g. どちらの色が好きですか) but ...
2
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0answers
28 views
Difference between など and とか [duplicate]
It seems that など and とか mean "such as" or etc.
what is the difference? can someone give an example sentence?
Thank you!
0
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1answer
127 views
how do you use ごと
hi i found ごと through immersion and when i looked it up it says it is a normalizing suffix can anyone clear this out for me i am still confused of how to use this word.
example sentence if it helps
...
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0answers
26 views
How would the meaning of this sentence change if ものだから becomes から (or ことから)
I saw this Anki card today:
家が狭いものだから、大きい家具は置けません。
For a long time, the mediocre learner in me has brushed off this sentence as just an equivalent of
家が狭いから、大きい家具は置けません。
But I have been thinking ...
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0answers
41 views
Difference between 面 and 表. Can they be used interchangeably Please explain with an example
What is the exact difference between 表 and 面 since both of them literally means front?
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1answer
50 views
What is the difference between 襲う、撃つ、and 襲撃?
Based on their kanjis, they all appear to have the meaning of attack, and I think that is what makes them similar. How does one distinguish their uses? I would also appreciate a (brief) explanation of ...
2
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1answer
156 views
When 一緒 means “the same”, is there a difference in usage between 一緒 and 同じ?
When talking to Japanese people they tend to use 一緒 when describing things that are the same. I have always thought that 同じ should be used when describing things that are the same.
Is 一緒 just an ...
0
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1answer
143 views
refering someone as 君
I always thought that 君 is only used by males to refer to females as 2nd person. Usages:
1.male -> female , 君、あなた (君 is used only in romantic situations)
2.female -> male , あなた (Not possible to ...
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2answers
69 views
何より meaning in a sentence
From jisho, it seems like 何より means best, more important than anything, above all else, etc. The meaning doesn't change much from that. I have heard ご無事で何よりです. If I use the meaning in jisho, it will ...
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1answer
72 views
0
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1answer
110 views
Is 帰る correct in this sentence?
ハンダは魔女たちの言葉を覚えて、川べりへ帰りました。
Is 帰る correct in this sentence? ハンダ is a name of my character.
Can I say 川べりへ using へ?
I wanted to write: Handa remembered witches spell and then go back to the river shore....
6
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1answer
170 views
Is ノーマル customary in reference to being straight
I was recently watching an anime and one of the character, in reference to him being straight, said:
僕はノーマルなので
(in case I misunderstood, this is from Eromanga Sensei, ep09 at around the 6:30 mark)
I ...
2
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1answer
109 views
Leaving the Office for the Day（お先に vs お疲れ様vs ありがとう）
My workplace has guards that work at our main door checking IDs and the like. In the morning we exchange cheerful おはようございますs. But I'm not sure what evening parting to use.
お先に失礼します seems out of place ...
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2answers
108 views
Difference between 試みる and 試す
何度か試みたが、失敗した.
何度か試したが、失敗した.
Is there a difference between those sentences? I have the feeling that the second one is more about trying smothing out like for the first time and see what happens and ...
11
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1answer
467 views
What is the difference between '礼', '礼儀', '礼に', '敬礼', and 'お辞儀'?
What is the difference between '礼', '礼儀', '礼に', '敬礼', and 'お辞儀'?
More generally, what does '礼' mean when used stand-alone as a noun? Can '礼' be used stand-alone or would that be considered unusual?
...
2
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1answer
76 views
くれてやる/くれてあげる meaning [duplicate]
I get that くれてやる・くれてあげる means "I'll give you" from an anime. To be frank, I have no idea how it translates to that. In fact, I didn't even know such a word is possible. くれる is receiving ...
4
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2answers
249 views
My notebook is almost full
So I was trying to ask for a new notebook at my office, I wanted to say that my notebook is almost full, so I need a new one.
I ended up saying
私のノートはページがあまり残っていませんので、新しいノートをお願いします。
But I don't know ...
2
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1answer
163 views
あげる but in an unwelcomed manner
Taking an example 食べてあげる. This means to eat for someone else' sake (in favour of someone else). What if I wanted to say I am sorry for eating it, it would be wrong to say 食べてあげてごめん. Is there a word to ...
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2answers
171 views
What is the difference in nuance between using て form and から to express “so” or “because”?
As discussed in this post.
Example:
このカフェは安くて好きだ。
このカフェは安いから、好きだ。
Besides the relative context dependency of the first sentence, is there a difference in meaning? Is there a reason to use one over the ...
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2answers
94 views
What's the difference between [剥]{は}がす and [剥]{む}く?
They both mean "peel." What is the similarity and difference between the two?
Can they both be used in peeling fruits and vegetables? If so, which one is more commonly used?
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3answers
97 views
Stem form of a verb against normal form
What's the difference in saying:
魚を食べ
魚を食べる
Both mean I will eat the fish but I really have never heard the first manner of speaking being verbalized. Only ever seen them in social media posts, etc.
3
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1answer
147 views
Is おまわりさん a childish term?
Since I learned おまわりさん and けいかん I always wondered if the first has a "children language" nuance, or if it is just a friendly/respectful way to call a police officer. Is this the case?
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2answers
125 views
2
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1answer
94 views
What's the meaning of the てですね ending?
I was reading a manga and a character who is really excited about the situation says "毎日何度も指折り数えてですね！". Why does it end with the て form and why is ですね added?
The full conversation is:
A: ...
0
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1answer
73 views
のか vs か in asking a question
What's the difference between using のか and か in asking a question. From what I know, の and か really turns the sentence into a question, the latter being the polite version. So what's the point really ...
2
votes
2answers
112 views
When is it fine to use 違う?
From an English perspective--including mine since I'm learning Japanese using English, I felt that 違う sounded strong, this may be from the tendency to respect others' opinions on English, that ...
0
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1answer
104 views
What purpose does「お願いだ」serve?
I am pretty sure I have heard people saying お願い before making a request. For example:
お願いだ、部屋を綺麗にしてください。
The second sentence translates to "Please clean your room". So the question is, what is the ...
4
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1answer
170 views
ながら vs ながらも – what are the subtle differences?
I have read in Tae Kim's book that "You can attach the inclusive particle 「も」 to get 「ながらも」. This changes the meaning from "while" to "Even while"."
I personally do not ...
1
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1answer
103 views
What is the difference between 言いだし and 言いだす?
I found a sentence earlier containing the word 言いだしづら but I parsed it to 2 words and I found I did not know 言いだし so I looked it up and found 言いだす (which I know the meaning of), but I also found ...
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1answer
80 views
What does います mean if used as an answer to a question?
I saw an instagram story where this guy is answering a bunch of questions and someone asked, "彼女はいる?" (do you have a girlfriend?) And he answered, "います//" and I don't know what that means.
