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.
2,761
questions
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34 views
For “I can play the piano a little”, do you use ちょっと or 少し?
少しピアノが弾くことができます
Or should I use ちょっと?
I’m mainly interested into “feeling” any difference between these two.
By the way, I also saw “弾ける” being used, which might sound less wooden but I haven’t hit ...
4
votes
1answer
82 views
What's the difference between うたがう (疑う) and うたぐる (疑る)?
What's the difference between 疑う{うたがう} and 疑る{うたぐる}?
It seems that うたぐる is not common, but I'm not sure.
How should I read 疑って?
4
votes
1answer
152 views
Helper Kanji: What is 状 doing here
Given the sentence:
今日は大学の講義で日本状の経営について学んだ。
I usually interpretate 状 as 'state, condition', but that doesn't seem to fit here (japanese state of business management?). Looking online, lead to 状 as '...
1
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1answer
65 views
What's the difference between 「なんだか」 and 「なんとなく」?
The meanings and explanation of なんだか and なんとなく in Wikitionary:
なんだか【何だか】明確な理由が無いさま。
なんとなく【何と無く】明確な理由が無いさま。
It seems that they have totally the same meanings. Is there a difference between the usage ...
7
votes
2answers
913 views
Difference between 生き物 and 生物
I had assumed that 生物 was just a fancier word for 生き物 in the way that onyomi compounds often are. But when I looked in the dictionary I became less sure.
For 生物 I see:
動物・植物・微生物など生命をもつものの総称。
Animals, ...
2
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3answers
520 views
Why is 行く used in the sentence “すぐに出て行け”?
I don't understand the role of 行く in the following sentence:
すぐに出て行け！
As I understand it, the sentence sounds like "get out now!". Why not just say "すぐに出ろ"?
Is 行く used to ...
1
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1answer
80 views
Is there a difference in meaning between 匹敵 and 互角?
Is there a difference in meaning between 匹敵 and 互角?
Besides that one is a suru verb and the other a noun/adjective
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0answers
87 views
What is the difference between の中に and の中で?
I have two sentences having の中に (no naka ni) and の中で (no naka de), and I want to know if they are correctly framed.
If yes, then how does the meaning change?
日本{にほん}の食{た}べ物{もの}の中{なか}に寿司{すし}が大好{だいす}...
0
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1answer
124 views
what does 見てできる mean?
Can this phrase be broken down into 見る and 出来る?
If so, does it simply mean "can see"? How is it different than the potential form of 見る which is 見られる?
Edit:
To add some context to this ...
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1answer
129 views
Is there a Japanese word for money/wealth that sounds like 'tuh ki'?
About 30 years ago, when meeting the famous George Takei, my friend accidentally pronounced his last name as 'Tuh ki' (rhymes with 'hi'). As an 11 year old, he had never really heard George's name ...
2
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1answer
62 views
「~るとき、…」vs「~まえに、…」／「~たとき、…」vs「~あとで、…」
What is the difference between「~るとき、…」vs「~まえに、…」?
日本へ行くとき、日本語を勉強しました。→ I studied japanese, before going to Japan.
日本へ行くまえに、日本語を勉強しました。→ I studied japanese, before going to Japan.
And between「~たとき、…」...
2
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1answer
84 views
What's the difference between 震う (ふるう) and 震える (ふるえる)?
On my kanji dictionary, they have the same translation. I don't understand if there's any difference. As usual.
5
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1answer
147 views
Difference between 様々 and 色々
I have heard both of these in several contexts and I have having trouble understanding the difference in meaning and connotation.
I would like to know the difference between 様々 and 色々and when to use ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the difference between 外科 and 手術?
What is the difference between 外科 and 手術 ?
According to 大辞林, they both mean "surgery".
I've seen 外科 being used as part of larger names such as 脳神経外科学, while 手術 used with の before as in: ...
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1answer
54 views
How do you translate the world “layer” in Japanese? [closed]
Layer as in the ones used in digital art software like Adobe Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, Manga Studio, etc.
5
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1answer
141 views
How to choose adjective or noun with color
I know this question has been asked before but I remain confused about the use of nouns or i-adjectives in predicate position for colours, i.e. 海は青です versus 海は青いです.
I have received the following ...
4
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1answer
63 views
What's the difference between 伸ばす and 伸べる?
Just for example, can I say both 手を伸ばす and 手を伸べる? Is there any difference between them? Are they interchangeable?
If it's possible, make similar examples, please.
2
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2answers
77 views
Difference between ～につれて and ～にしたがって
As I understand it, they're synonyms except ～にしたがって is more formal, but in Shin Kanzen Master Bunpô N2 it says:
「～につれて」は一方方向の変化の場合にだけ使う。「～にしたがって」は一方方向の変化でなくても使える。
The thing is that the examples that ...
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vote
2answers
74 views
Clarification on Compound Japanese nouns
I've sort of thought of making sentences for words in my custom Anki deck to sort of improve my sentence writing skills.
Now, the word is 矛盾{むじゅん}, which means "contradiction"
The sentence I'...
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2answers
102 views
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122 views
Role of をする in 学習の助けをするおもちゃ
I am triing to figure out the use of をする in 学習の助けをするおもちゃ translated as toys to help you learn in this article
I learned a bit about noun + する / をする in this post but for what i understand so far we use ...
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1answer
51 views
Listing the activities I did on each day of the week
I need to list the activities i've done for each day of the week. But after I talk about the first day, do i start the sentance again with ”わたしは” or is there a different way to do it?
This is how I ...
2
votes
1answer
107 views
What's the difference between 閉じる and 塞ぐ?
So i was doing Kanji Quiz, and i stumbled with 塞ぐ Kanji. I know 閉じる is used for eyes,etc. But 塞ぐ also has the same definition with 閉じる.
Here are the definitions.
Definitions
塞ぐ
to stop up; to close ...
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0answers
45 views
Usage of の v/s から [duplicate]
私の家は[駅]{えき}の[近]{ちか}くです.
私の家は[駅]{えき}から[近]{ちか}くです.
Is there any functional difference between the two sentences? Or do they mean the same? I am somewhat of a beginner and the difference doesn't seem ...
1
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1answer
262 views
When people use ざっくり？
I recently heard my colleagues use ざっくり which I haven't heard before. When I look it up in dictionary it translates to 'roughly; approximately; loosely' or 'deeply (cut or split)' - very different ...
5
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1answer
540 views
頭【かぶり】を振る and 頭【かしら】を横に振る, why the change in pronunciation?
As the title suggests, why is there a change in pronunciation between 頭【かぶり】を振る and 頭【かしら】を横に振る? As far as I can see, there is no difference between the meanings of the two—デジタル大辞泉 even lists the ...
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1answer
60 views
どこからか、バイオリンの(a.音色 b.コーラス)が聞こえてきた。
I am learning Japanese N1 and found this question
どこからか、バイオリンの(a.音色 b.コーラス)が聞こえてきた。
Which one do you think is correct ? a or b ?
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1answer
173 views
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2answers
1k views
What is the diference betwen 電気製品 and 電化製品?
On Google Translate, both of them are 'electrical appliances'
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1answer
101 views
別に meaning as opposed to directly saying “no”
What's the difference between saying 別に and directly saying no.
For example:
A: 行きたいの？
B: 別に （as opposed to saying 行きたくない）
I think they both mean "no, I don't want to go". But please ...
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vote
2answers
140 views
Why is あやまち written 過ち and not 誤ち?
What's the reason for writing あやまち 過ち and not for instance 誤ち ?
Wouldn't that make more sense since it means to err, be incorrect...? I can see how one would get from exceeding/overdoing a mistake, ...
2
votes
2answers
250 views
といったらなかった meaning
I came across the following sentence in a novel:
フランツ司祭が体調を崩して寝たきりになってからの村の連中の態度といったらなかったよ。
As for some context, フランツ司祭 is someone who had passed away recently, and the villagers were not incredibly ...
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2answers
234 views
Use of the "きた” form before するnoun
During my research, I came upon two forms to express the fact of moving to a new house:
ここは 三月前に引っ越ししてきたアパートです。
ここは 三月前に引っ越ししたアパートです。
I don't understand the difference between the two, does the one ...
3
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1answer
62 views
かと思った vs と思った difference
For example, what's the difference between:
行くかと思った
行くと思った
They both mean "I thought I want to go"
Or another example:
猫だと思った
猫だかと思った
They both mean "I thought it was a cat"
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1answer
58 views
What's the difference between のろう (呪う) and まじなう (呪う)?
How should I know how to read it if the context is the same for both the readings?
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1answer
61 views
Difference between 勝る, 優れる, 秀でる, and 抜きんでる
The title pretty much says it all; I am wondering what are the differences between those 4 verbs.
From what I've gathered (and I haven't gathered much):
優れる is used when talking about something that ...
3
votes
1answer
90 views
今でも vs 今も in a sentence
What's the difference in using でも and も
Example:
1年前からも、今でも、変われない自分が嫌い
1年前からも、今も、変われない自分が嫌い
They both probably mean "Ever since last time, and even now, I hate the me who can't change"
3
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2answers
225 views
How to talk about completing a series?
I was wondering how to convey "today I've completed reading a manga series" or "I've completed watching a TV series". Does "Verb(ます stem)+終わる" sound wrong? Should I use &...
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2answers
115 views
How to say “cannot compare/compete with him?”
How do you say these. E.g. I cannot compare/compete with him。 彼と比べらはできない/彼と比べられない/彼と叶わない?
Not sure if 比べ is too literal for comparing to use in this case.
What about "This is no contest."
...
5
votes
1answer
213 views
When to use 結構 (けっこう）vs なかなか vs かなり?
From what I understand, all three mean "rather", "quite", or "somewhat". When should I use each one?
1
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1answer
191 views
What's the difference between そして and そうして?
What's the difference between そして and そうして? Both mean 'and', 'and then' and are written with the same kanji. そして I've seen more often in texts, but そうして - only a couple of times. Is the difference ...
4
votes
1answer
92 views
How do the Japanese refer to passage of time in pregnancy?
Though my wife's two pregnancies, I've struggled to describing how much time has passed. Usually, I just revert to just saying how many months she's been pregnant, but in English there are other ways ...
1
vote
2answers
164 views
How would one call something negative interesting?
This seems like it is very basic, but it was never resolved in the past, so here I am.
This was in a Reddit post recently, but it never received a good answer; most of the answers were along the lines ...
2
votes
1answer
154 views
What's the difference between 嫌い and 憎い?
The two words kirai (嫌い) and nikui (憎い) seem to be placed similarly in sentences and the definitions I've seen range from similar to almost identical, depending on the source. It's a bit confusing, ...
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1answer
52 views
Difference between 点 and 要素?
I understand that they both mean "element" or "aspect" in some way. What's the nuanced difference between the two?
0
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1answer
79 views
How to express lack of preference
What would be the most natural and polite way to express a lack of preference, for instance, when being asked by a waiter if I prefer a seat at the counter or a separate table?
I've searched Google, ...
2
votes
1answer
296 views
What's the difference between どうやら and 何とか?
「どうやらここで間違いなかったようですねえ。」。
For どうやら, my dictionary says to see 何とか and it means "something" or "barely", "hardly". Someone says it means "apparently", "...
0
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1answer
106 views
Three dots in the middle (…) [closed]
"両方…だ" , "両方…やるぞ"
The speaker pauses before the words of affirmation,would you say it's because he doesn't really want to do "both" ?
( context: the speaker is at a ...
2
votes
1answer
129 views
replacing よう with みたい
Is it always possible to replace よう with みたい?
For example in this sentence:
思うようにはいかないものだ。
Would
思うみたいにはいかないものだ 。
work as well?
I've read many times that these two can be interchangeable, but it ...
0
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1answer
70 views
How to say that you need to do something?
What's the best way to say that someone needs to do something, as in "5 English slangs you need to know"? I found some ways
知る必要があるの5つ英語のスラング。知らないといけないの5つ英語のスラング。知るべきの５つ英語のスラング。
Which is ...
