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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Usage of the word 技 (わざ) as well as similar words meaning "Technique"
I tend to hear this word a lot in anime, especially ones like Naruto. But there's little information on how it is used in conversation. According to Jisho, it means technique, art, skill and move with ...
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「助言」と「示唆」はどう違いますか。
最近、「示唆」という言葉を学びました。意味的にsuggestionという意味だそうですが、「助言」と同じ意味ではないでしょうか。それぞれのニュアンス何ですか。その違いが分かるように色々な例文を探してみました:助言を受ける人。彼の助言は非常に役立つ。牧師としての助言。この結果はそのような可能性を示唆している。解決すべき課題の示唆。その提案は示唆に富んでいる。その例文を参考にして、...
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Putting た in i-adjectives? [duplicate]
I was looking at a jisho.org example sentence for [軽]{かる}い, and I was a bit confused about [重]{おも}たそう.
えりのスーツケースは [重]{おも}たそう だが、[実際]{じっさい}はとても[軽]{かる}い。Although Eri's suitcase looks heavy, it's ...
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大丈夫ですか vs 大丈夫でしょうか
So I was reading What's the difference between でしょうか and ですか at the end of a question? and I roughly know that でしょうか means, but what exactly is でしょうか trying to convery in the title?
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How should I read 帖合・書店印 and what is it?
帖合・書店印
There are cards in my books called 注文カード and it's written on them. I can't type the first word automatically and I don't know how to read 印 since it has two pronunciations: しるし, いん.
ちょうあい・...
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ごめんね vs ごめん or what does ね add to the phrase?
From this answer I can see that they're both casual, but ごめん is more casual.
There's also this question but it's rather about な and ね generally. Still it (or this article) explains the uses of ね, and ...
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What does 次元を超越 really mean?
Unless it's rude to ask, I would like responses mainly from Japanese native speakers, please.
There is this scan from the guidebook for the Dragon Ball Z anime with a translation that is generally ...
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Are 仲がいい and 親しい interchangeable in this context?
I'm trying to construct the sentence, "You two seem pretty close." and I'm curious if the sentences, 二人はかなり仲が良さそうだ。 or 二人はかなり親しそうだ。would work and if there are any differences between the two....
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余裕 vs ゆとり vs 余地
As the title suggests, I'm struggling to understand the rules of using 余裕, ゆとり, and 余地 properly.
There is a GOO thesaurus page, but it confuses me as well. It mentions a distinction between 余裕 and ゆとり ...
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Use of せんかい in this sentence?
The line reads
一礼せんかい
The translation should be something like "where is your bow?" or "you should/must bow" but I have never seen せんかい used in that way before. The only thing I ...
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Difference between 製 and 造り
Is there any difference between the suffixes 製 and 造り used to describe what something is made from? e.g. 石{せき}製{せい} and 石{いし}造り{づくり} (made from stone).
I notice in my example above that 製 pairs with ...
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Good expression for "Come on." in this specific context? [closed]
I'm looking for a good word or phrase for the English phrase, "Come on.". Specifically, in a context where you're looking for something in a hurry, like "Come on, come on...!"
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Difference between ～てしまう and verb + 終わる
In bunpro, it says that one of the meanings of ～てしまう is to finish completely and that
verb + 終わる means to finish/to end. What is the difference between these two since it seems like the same thing? Or ...
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The meaning of ちゃった in a positive sentence
こないだ神社で撮った写真. いっぱいいいねもらっちゃった
This is a sentence that I saw in the subtitles. What is the reason that ちゃった is used here. I know that it used for regret/accidents/completed action, but it seems like ...
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Natural way to express the things you do, on a T-shirt
A friend showed me this T-shirt on Amazon.
It obviously shows the classic "eat, sleep, something, repeat" that you see in thousands of places. My first thought on reading it was that 睡眠 ...
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How would i write practice? [closed]
How would i write practice in Japanese?
I need to write practice in Japanese as in practicing drawing.
Would it just be 練習 or something else?
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Comparing the words for "search"
In particular, I'm thinking of the below words involving searching for items/people, with my current understanding on the right
探す - The most general word
探求する - Searching for a physical or abstract ...
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Any significant difference between 比較する (hikaku suru) and 比べる (kuraberu) for meaning "compare"?
In a jdrama I'm watching (Kazoku Game, for those who're curious), a little boy tells his older brother "兄ちゃんと比較されなければもっと普通に生きられたんだよ!" (if I wasn't compared to nii-chan, I'd've been able to ...
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What are these words referring to in this sentence: 「咲く場所を厭わない私の体は...」
In One Piece, when Robin reveals her Hana Hana no Mi ability to Pell, she says 咲く場所を厭わない私の体は...あなたを決して逃がさない.
On one hand, I have an idea of what she is saying. I imagine it would be along the lines of ...
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What are the differences between ~といわれている, ~とされている and ~と考えられている?
I understand that these verbs related to expressing a certain belief or viewpoint. I frequently confuse the three.
From what I can understand the meanings are:
~といわれている
Repeating or reporting on ...
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What is the grammatical difference between べきは and べきことは
I usually see べき nominalized as べきは. Is it grammatically correct or just a casual way of saying? How is it different form べきことは?
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which word should I use for [export to] in IT/software environment
Usually I use エクスポート for export.
But that word is too long to be used in some cases.
For example, text inside the button.
「EXCELにエクスポート」
Which other word I can use in such case?
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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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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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