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.
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What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ?
There were a lot of great answers here. I gave the checkmark to ento's answer because I felt it most completely explained all aspects of this use of こと. But many of the other answers are excellent, so ...
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How should I choose between [知]{し}る and わかる?
Both 知る and わかる get used for "know", "understand", "learn", "find out", and various other concepts. How do you know which to use when? Are there any rules to help you decide?
Additionally, both of ...
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When to use ください (kudasai) or お願いします (onegaishimasu) in requests?
When asking for something I seem to hear sentences end in both ください (kudasai) and お願いします (onegaishimasu). Is there a difference and how do I know when to use which?
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Difference between -ていく and -てくる
Can someone explain the differences between v-ていく and v-てくる for me. I know that they both express some kind of ongoing action (like a place getting crowded). For example, what's the difference between ...
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Is じゃないです equally correct as じゃありません?
Text books normally teach that the negative of です is じゃありません.
However it seems very common to hear native Japanese use じゃないです.
Is this slang or somehow less correct than じゃありません?
Would it be marked ...
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How to choose between "よん" (yon) vs "し" (shi) for "四" (4) and "しち" (shichi) vs "なな" (nana) for "七" (7)?
Two numbers in Japanese have two pronunciation alternatives.
四 / 4 can be pronounced either "よん" (yon) or "し" (shi)
七 / 7 can be pronounced either "しち" (shichi) or "なな" (nana)
I know that "し" (shi) ...
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Usage of すみません (sumimasen) versus ごめんなさい (gomen'nasai)
There are several situations in which one of these words (phrases?) should be used but there's not usually a 1:1 mapping between any two languages.
Get somebody's permission. English: "excuse me", "I ...
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What's the difference between なぜ、どうして and なんで when meaning 'why'?
I've been meaning to ask this for a while.
What is the difference between these 3 words. I was taught they all mean "why", but obviously, being different words they convey different nuance and would ...
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What is the difference between いえ and うち?
I am trying to understand the difference between using いえ and うち. I originally drew the conclusion that うち is used for your own house and いえ for others' houses, but my Japanese teacher said that this ...
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ひらく / とじる vs. あける / しめる
The verbs ひらく and あける both mean to open, and とじる and しめる both mean to close. I understand that ひらく and とじる are antonym pairs, as are あける and しめる, but have never been clear on the difference between ...
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What is the difference between 大事 (daiji) and 大切 (taisetsu)?
These are two words that seem like they are basically interchangeable at most levels, as they generally are. The difference between them appears to be small, but what is the difference, if one exists? ...
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What's the difference between 女性 and 女の人?
As far as I'm aware, both words translate into English as "woman". What's the difference in meaning between [女性]{じょせい} and [女の人]{おんなのひと}?
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Usage of たくさん vs. 多い
When do we use たくさん and when do we use 多い? I found both modifiers are used within similar sentences, for example:
人が多かったです
人がたくさんいました
I had this impression that 多い is used with countable nouns (...
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How indistinguishable is blue from green really?
青 ao seems to be used very much interchangeably for both blue and green. Why is that so, and how does 緑 midori play into this?
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When do you use 下さい as opposed to ください
I've noticed that there seems to be different usage for 下さい and ください. Is this purely a personal preferences or is there an actual difference their usage?
This was actually a question the Japanese ...
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けど at the end of the sentence?
According to dictionaries, 「けど」 means ‘but’, ‘although’, ‘however’.
However, it seems to have slightly another meaning at the end of the sentence. For example, here are few example sentences with ...
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Must do : ～なければならない vs ～なくてはいけない
What are the differences when using ～なければならない and ～なくてはいけない, or their colloquial contracted forms ～なきゃ and ～なくちゃ when saying "must do"?
For example, what is the difference in the nuance and usage of ...
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Differences between 度 and 回 when counting occurrences
What are the differences between using 度 and 回 when used to count number of occurrences?
For example:
そんなことは一度もしたことがない
そんなことは一回もしたことがない
Are there any restrictions on what kind of actions referred ...
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The differences between ～がたい、〜にくい、〜づらい
I was wondering what the differences are between these three: ～がたい、〜にくい、〜づらい
They all seem to be some sort of variant of "Hard to do ~". But it seems they are used with different verbs and/or imply ...
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Contrasting っぽい、らしい、みたい
For example, the following 3:
女っぽい (おんなっぽい)
女らしい (おんならしい)
女みたい (おんなみたい)
In what situations would you use っぽい over らしい？ Does っぽい have negative connotations? Are 女らしい and 女みたい interchangeable as in ...
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What is the difference in nuance between 間違う and 間違える?
I've heard from a Japanese native speaker friend of mine that both 間違う and 間違える are correct usage, but he wasn't able to explain the difference in nuance between them. Is there a difference, and if so,...
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Is there a rule for when to use くらい vs ぐらい?
I see phrases like 200人ぐらい, 半々ぐらい, and 何分くらい, which seem to indicate that くらい and ぐらい are synonymous, if not interchangeable. Is there any kind of rule for deciding which to use, or is it a stylistic ...
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Do the Japanese actually use the word "Hentai" to mean "Anime Porn", like in English?
The English word "Hentai" likely came from 4chan. Thus, like a lot of Japanese loanwords that come from 4chan, I have to ask whether the Japanese actually use the word to mean "Anime porn" like in ...
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Do 以上 and 以下 include the number preceding them?
I was having a discussion with a colleague and we couldn't recall how they both worked. Does 一人以上 mean a) 1 or more persons or b) more than one person?
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The many ways to say "and" in Japanese
In English, we just have one word for the conjunction and which works just fine for many categories, but in Japanese, there are separate words:
と joins nouns together in a closed list
や joins nouns ...
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不 and 非 and 無 and 未 usage difference/rule
Is there any rules that govern when to use 不 and 非 and 無 and 未 in regards to the meaning of "not" or "un-"
for instance 非表示, 不満
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What is the difference between "verb＋て＋みる" and "verb＋(よ)う+とする"?
In Japanese there are words which mean "to try something or attempt at doing something", e.g. 試す, 試みる and つとめる.
However, at the same time we also have two grammatical constructions "...
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How would one convey "get over it" in Japanese?
As a foreigner in Japan, one has to get used to the fact that some Japanese will compliment you on things that are too mundane to really deserve mention. Like the fact that you can use chopsticks, eat ...
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What's the difference between に and で when speaking of time of an action?
What's the difference between に and で when speaking of the time of an action? I know に is very specific about time, but I'm not sure when, or how to use で. Can で only be used in certain instances?
...
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What's the difference between による, により and によって?
I don't understand when you use them and what the difference is between the three.
For example, when you say:
火事によって多くの森林が焼けてしまった。
今回の地震による津波の心配はない。
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Why do 適当 and いい加減 refer to both considerate and inconsiderate things?
I understand that 適当【てきとう】 can mean both "appropriate" and "whatever/vague". How do you know 適当な人を教えてください means "please inform me of the appropriate person" as opposed to "please tell me about ...
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Adjectives functioning both as イ- and ナ-adjective
This question has made me think about the class of adjectives, which can function both as イ- and as ナ-adjective, e.g.
大きい 大きな
小さい 小さな
真っ白い 真っ白な (etc.)
細かい 細かな
暖かい 暖かな
四角い 四角な (etc.)
柔らかい ...
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Love in the air: 愛ｘ恋 {あい vs こい}
From WWWJDIC:
愛 【あい】 (n,n-suf) (See 愛する) love; affection;
恋 【こい】 (n) love; tender passion;
My understanding on affection, love and tender passion is like the following:
affection < love < ...
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Are there words so bad that they aren't allowed on television?
Warning: We're all adults here, but just in case, this question may contain words, in both Japanese and English, that some may not like to read.
A long time ago, when I was working with a translator, ...
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What's the difference between the kanji forms for わかる?
The verb わかる can be written using either 分かる, 判る, or 解る - what's the semantic difference between these forms, if any?
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Difference between 丸い and 円い
Both come up with the same reading and definition in Jisho.org (round/circular), and both are listed as common words. Is there any preference between the two or should I simply learn both as ...
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How should I select what first-person pronoun to use?
I've always had trouble choosing which first person pronoun to use - 私 (watashi), 僕 (boku), or 俺 (おれ). What kind of factors should I keep in mind when choosing between these? Is it common to vary one'...
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Differences between 勉強する、習う、学ぶ and 学習する?
What is the difference between 勉強する, 習う, 学ぶ, and 学習する?
I've read some explanations in another question but it's still not clear enough to me how they are different.
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Does the Japanese language only have negative terms for flirting?
I am looking for terms in the Japanese language which can describe the act of flirting in a positive light. This probably requires inventing terms to close a lexical gap, because as far as I know, all ...
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What is the difference between ちょっと and 少し?
Specifically for when they mean "a little".
In what situations would they be used and are they completely interchangeable without any differences?
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明日: あす & あした; Is there a difference in meaning and when each is used?
Is there a difference between these two words for "tomorrow" and when each is used? (and is it just coincidence that あした sounds like the past tense of あす?)
We tend to be taught あした and then discover ...
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When would you use 新{あら}たな and 新{あたら}しい
To say new, the first way that I learned is to use the i-adjective 新しい. But I noticed that the na-adjective 新たな is used a lot in written texts. Is there any difference in when either is used?
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What is the difference between そして (soshite) and それから (sorekara)?
Can anyone explain what is the difference between そして and それから, and when to use which?
Thanks.
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What is the difference in usage between 準備, 用意 and 覚悟?
The dictionaries translate these three words roughly as preparation/preparedness or ready/readiness.
I don't think I understand the subtleties of their usage.
Not to mention できる also has another ...
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Differences between いよいよ / やっと / ようやく / ついに and とうとう
I've come across these words which can all mean "finally". What I'd like to know is how they differ in usage [nuance and formality]. Below are their respective entries in the 研究社 新和英大辞典 第5版.
...
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"to be impressed" in Japanese
I was googling how to say "to be impressed" in Japanese and I found a few options:
感動, 感激, 感銘, and 感心
感動 seems to me to be the most commonly used (?)
The sentence I'm trying to translate is "I was ...
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What is the difference between 様子、状況、状態、and 事情
I'm unsure of the difference between these four words. They all seem to indicate some type of "condition" or "circumstances".
(1) Are they interchangeable?
(2) What are some example sentences which ...
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Is there an equivalent to George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" in Japanese?
Warning: This question contains words in both Japanese and English that some might not want to read.
Also: My apologies that this question is lengthy. However, I wanted to take care to express it ...
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What's the difference between "家" (ya), "屋" (ya), and "や" (ya) as used in the names of shops/stores/restaurants?
As a gyudon addict I have noticed that the names of the three major national restaurant chains all end in "ya" but they used two different characters:
"吉野家" (Yoshinoya)
"松屋" (Matsuya)
"すき家" (Sukiya)
...
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When is "na" used at the end of a sentence?
When is "na" used at the end of a sentence, is it like "ne" or "yo" and has no meaning really? For example:
Mata Nihon ni ikitai na.
また、日本に行きたいな。
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