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 do you call the address of a company?
Let's say you're asking someone if they need to know your company's address. What do you refer to that as? A 事務所? A 所在地?
Normally I only hear about 住所, but that sounds like it's only for regular ...
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massho/masshou no onna = nymphomaniac? [closed]
In Beck (episode 23), this girl called "Maria" is hitting on a guy called "Koyuki". Off to the side, friends of both parties are talking. Maria's friend (to koyuki's friend) says &...
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The different ways to say "forever"
皆さん、こんにちは!
I have a somewhat basic but intricate question about the way the Japanese say forever or something close in concept (sayings, expressions or poetic ways would work too).
The context is that ...
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啓発本 (keihatsu-bon) = self-help book = a common word? Any insight on this?
In the latest season (S6) of Boku no Hero Academia, basically a mom was trying to help her kid by giving some advice about not having such a chip on his shoulder. But the edgelord kid reacted with &...
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Proper way to say "Grocery store" and what types of stores this usage applies to
What is the proper way? According to jisho, it seems as simple as saying 食{しょく}品{ひん}店{てん}? In the case of a Walmart, Target, GameStop Costco or Family Dollar could these all be considered 食{しょく}品{ひん}...
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What is the difference between 衛生的 and 清潔?
I already knew the adjective 清潔 that means "clean, hygienic", but I recently came across the word 衛生的 which also means "hygienic" and I don't understand in what situations should I ...
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Difference between 何やら and なにか
大男は、チリチリに縮んだポテトチップの空き袋が転がっているの、火の気のない暖炉に目をやると、フンと鼻を鳴らしながら、暖炉に覆いかぶさるようにして何やら始めた。
I'm really struggling to parse/understand this sentence. Let's simplify:
大男は、袋が転がっているの、火の気のない暖炉に目をやると、...
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Why was romaji used when chatting in a video game? [duplicate]
I was watching a japanese stream of a game, and when typing in chat, they were all typing with romaji? Why is that? All there usernames were also all in romanji.
ありがとうございます
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When speaking openly with a group of people, is it okay to speak casually with some and formally with others?
Say that I'm having lunch with my buddy outside, and my boss comes over and starts talking to me. Obviously, with my boss, I'll talk with proper keigo and stuff. But in front of my boss, am I allowed ...
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What is the difference between どう and どういう? (e.g. どういう意味)
I'm researching the word 意味 (meaning/translation) and how to ask "What do you mean?". It's translated as 「どういう意味？」and not 「どう意味？」. Why is it the former and not the latter? Would the latter ...
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Meaning and usage of ～かとなれば
I've found the grammar pattern ～かとなれば in this site:
https://www.vnjp.org/grammar/detail/293
https://www.vnjp.org/grammar/detail/294
and I would like to know what does it mean as well as its usage.
...
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Are 腹違い (harachigai) and 種違い (tanechigai) rude terms to use when referring to half-siblings?
腹違い and 種違い are ways to refer to siblings born of different mothers/fathers. Are these terms rude/disrespectful? Or are they about as innocuous as saying "half-siblings"?
Also, I could open ...
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Can you say 日本のたべもの instead of わしょく?
In the sentence 'わしょく は おいしい です' (Japanese food is delicious), can you instead say '日本 の たべもの は おいしい です' and it will translate the same?
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Connotation of 酩酊 (meitei), meaning "drunkenness"?
In Yakuza Judgement, a person (who allegedly committed murder) was described with the phrase "酩酊状態にあった" (they were found in a state of drunkenness). However, the official subs translate/...
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Difference between "urayamashii" and "netamashii" for "jealous"? [duplicate]
I'm completely familiar with "urayamashii" to mean "jealous". But in Yakuza Judgement, I heard the term "netamashii" used instead. The context was that the prominent ...
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what is the difference between 寒い and 寒?
is there really a difference between the 2? Jisho (辞書?) lists さむい for 寒い & さむ.い 寒. What difference い make?
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Incorrect word choice with 食べ物 and 作る
I was wondering if someone could tell me if the following is incorrect or unnatural:
I made a lot of food.
食べ物をたくさん作りました。
In the context of the sentence, multiple food items were made. Things that ...
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The difference between adding 第 and 次 to numbers
Both 第 (prefix) and 次 (suffix) both seem to have the effect of turning it into an ordinal (eg: "two" into "second"). And sometimes they are both used, like 第二次大戦. When does one ...
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When speaking to a family (where they all have the same last name), is it okay to refer to people by their first name?
Say I know a woman named Satou Hanako, whom I would refer to as "Satou-san". If I meet her family (mom, dad, big brother, big sister, etc.), and they introduce themselves by name, how should ...
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Why did this native speaker replace から with ので?
A Japanese student wrote the following text over Hellotalk to have it corrected by a native speaker: 「ビデオでみた。安いから日本に有名ですと言っていました。」
The native speaker corrected it as: 「安いので日本で有名だとテレビで言っていました。」
Every ...
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~てしまう form with ある？
This might be a stupid question, but here goes.
I was just wondering how to say something like, "it was (placed) there, unfortunately," in Japanese without using 残念ながら。
And I thought, 「...
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Good choice for the word "How" in this context?
I'm trying to find a good translation for the word "How" in this sentence, "How is he still standing?" and I'm thinking of using どうやって like, どうやってまだ立ってる？
Is どうやって a good choice for ...
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What's the word for "slang" in Japanese
俗語{ぞくご}
隠語｛いんご｝
スラング
These are some of the results I got from jisho.org and jpdb.io for the word "slang".
For example, If I were to say, "dekai is slang for big" in Japanese, how ...
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Nuance between 技法、手法、方法、テクニック、 etc
Basically just wanting to know if there's a clear difference between these words. I get the feeling that テクニック is more like one person's own specific technique for doing a thing (entirely guessing ...
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What is the difference between どうしたって and 是非?
I have recently stumbled across the word どうしたって which according to the dictionary means "by all means, no matter what, at any rate". I was wondering how its usage differs from 是非 "...
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How would you address a younger step-parent / older step-child?
Like this but way more insane: Younger uncles and aunts (But I believe this sorta happened in House of the Dragon, prequel / spin-off of of Game of Thrones)
Let's say widow Viserys Tanaka had ...
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Walls, fences and hedges
There are several words for walls, fences and hedges and I can't get clear in my mind what's what.
First let me clarify the English meanings (at least as I think of them):
A hedge is a boundary to a ...
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What does this means in this context ? 二条で殺された方がまだマシじゃ ( "I would rather die with/by ......" ??)
When reading, I met this sentence but I'm not sure about 1 part, hope someone can explain to me its meaning ^^
Context: MC's wife has cleared a path for him and his squad, so he can go through a ...
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How is 「年目」 used?
I encountered this sentence today: 「付き合って５年目に結婚することにしました。」
What does 「年目」 mean here, and why is 「目」 attached to 「年」?
Would the sentence still have the same meaning if we use only 「年」 instead of 「年目」?
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遅れる vs 遅刻 for "To be late."
I'm trying to form this sentence, "First day on the job, and not only am I late, I'm lost." and I'm unsure if using the verb 遅れる or the noun 遅刻 would make any difference here. I'm thinking ...
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Using ここ vs この場所 for "This place"?
I know ここ can be used to say "this place" like "ここが好き" and この場所 literally means "this place" like "この場所が好き". But is one preferred or more natural than the other ...
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Usage of the verb 取り組む
My question is can 取り組む can be used as a general term for working on something? Like as in "I'm working on something important." 何か重要なことに取り組んでいる。 Or does 取り組む carry too strong a connotation ...
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How does the pattern of ommiting の of のは work?
目指すは港の赤い塔
Sentence from the song "1/6 -out of the gravity".
残るは八人これでゲームは三分の一が終了した事になる
Sentence from episode 8 of "Mirai Nikki".
Is that something grammatically wrong that people ...
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What is the word for "handwriting" in Japanese?
When I looked up the word "handwriting" on jisho.org, it came up with:
筆跡 {ひっせき}
手書き {てがき}
字 {じ}
So if I were to say, "my handwriting is bad," which word do I use?
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Difference between 決して~ない 絶対~ない 全く~ない 全然~ない
They all need to make a negative sentence but I can't understand the differences between them
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What is the meaning of てさえも?
These are lyrics from a song called 秘蜜～黒の誓い～
地の底へ堕ちてさえも
誓いの楔を絡め合って
許されない罪を抱えていく
The てさえも sounds a lot like a concession as in ても, but I could not find any grammar explanation about that use. I'd like ...
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Difference between 迷子になる and 道に迷う
I'm trying to translate this sentence, "Not only am I late to the first day on the job but I'm lost, too." and I can't decide between 迷子になる and 道に迷う.
What I have right now is, ...
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What's the difference between 会話 and 対談?
This question and this other one explain the differences between 会{かい}話{わ} and other words related to "conversation," but they don't cover 対{たい}談{だん}, which I've also learned has the same ...
JNat♦
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Difference between ラジオ and 無線?
I've seen both used fairly often, but I've unsure if there's a difference in nuance/usage. Is 無線 more like an actual radio and ラジオ more like a car's radio?
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わけ used in questions
I have been watching quite a lot of anime and they sometimes they finish their questions with わけ.
What is the nuance between:
何がおかしいわけ？
何がおかしい？
I found the question below that answers most of my ...
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The differences between the "state of affairs" words [closed]
状況
様子
事情
事態
情勢
形勢
動静
成り行き
雲行き
内情
内実
実情
実相
向背
What are the differences between each of these words? I know asking the difference between each one of these is a very big request, hence why I asked on ...
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Kaguya-sama: 女の子 (onnanoko) as an opposite for 男子 (danshi)?
Related: Kaguya-sama: Dropping keigo when narrating?
In Kaguya-sama Chapter 52 / S02E02, there's a character named Moeha Fujiwara (the imouto of a main character Chika Fujiwara) who talks about Kei ...
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What is a good/polite expression for the word "ma'am"?
Doing some translation work for a comic and I'm trying to come up with a good alternative for ma'am. The specific context of the scene is a cop arriving at a crime scene and asking a woman, "Ma'...
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Difference between 感知器 and 検知器?
This page mentions:
熱感知器
煙感知器
ガス検知器
The first two devices are "感知器" while the third one is a "検知器". What is the difference between the two?
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What is the difference between 世の中 and 世界 when meaning "the world" and "society?"
世{せ}界{かい} has a few different meanings, but when I looked it up in the dictionary, I saw one definition as a noun had some overlap with 世{よ}の中{なか}, a piece of vocabulary I'd learned earlier:
世の中: ...
JNat♦
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Differences between [心証/心象]を[害する/損なう]
I am confused about the differences between the following terms:
心証を害する
心証を損なう
心象を害する
心象を損なう
Based on my understanding, 心証 means the impression other people get from you. For example,「上役の心証を害する」...
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Difference between 様子, 姿 and 格好
These are complicated words (at least to me) and I'm aware that they have multiple meanings, but in the context of describing the appearance of someone/something how do 様子, 姿 and 格好 differ? To what ...
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Choosing between ーそうだ and ーようだ
I'm doing a translation for a comic and I'm having trouble deciding between ーそうだ and ーようだ.
The specific context I'm looking at is a character exploring a seemingly abandoned building, but eventually ...
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Nuances between 差し出す, 突き出す, and 出す
I know 出す obviously has a broad set of meanings, 突き出す can mean "to hand over" or "to push out," and 差し出す can also mean "to submit," but when each are used roughly in the &...
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How to say "succession of actions" (linguistics) in Japanese?
How to say "succession of actions" (linguistics) in Japanese?
The context here is linguistics, as for instance, "The conjunct "and" is used to express a succession of actions&...
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