Questions tagged [word-usage]
語法. The usage of the words.
242
questions
3
votes
3answers
135 views
What does 勝ったな mean?
I’ve stumbled upon the phrase 勝ったな and it was translated there as “he will win” but what conjugation is that?
3
votes
1answer
110 views
What is the difference between 祖先 and 先祖?
From my dictionary, both mean ancestor so I am wondering about what is the difference between them.
Is the difference in politeness ? For example [息子]{musuko} and [子息]{shisoku} both mean son, but the ...
2
votes
1answer
128 views
What does 本当たりえる mean
I am playing the eroge Tsui no Sora and have come across a passage containing this word:
当たり前だがノストラダムスの大予言なんて出来の悪い妄想だ。
まともに考えれば小学生にすらわかる事。
だがそんな事は重要じゃない。
[Nostradamus' prophecy is an ...
2
votes
1answer
61 views
じゃor じゃあ for meaning “well then”
Both of these translate to "well then", for example, both would be valid:
じゃ、またね！
Well then, bye!
じゃあ、パンをください。
Well then, the bread, please.
They are both more casual than でわ for example:
...
1
vote
1answer
164 views
Is あの兵に plural or singular?
Full sentence:生者は死なないあの兵士に意味を与えるまで
I read it as : The living won't die until those soliders are given meaning
Is it okay or is it about a single solider?
0
votes
1answer
100 views
Use ございます out of fixed expression
How common is using ございます in spoken Japanese, even in formal polite uses, outside fixed expressions like おはようございます or ありがとうございます
3
votes
1answer
287 views
What does 「選挙を追った」 mean here?
選挙カーも走らない静かな選挙戦だったが、投票率は何と８９・４１％。
飛び地の村の不思議な選挙を追った。
Source: https://www.sankei.com/premium/news/191209/prm1912090002-n1.html
An enclave town with a quiet election campaign without any cars ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
Is there any difference between 旅行者 and 旅人?
Is there any difference between the words 旅行者 and 旅人? Which one is more frequently used?
3
votes
2answers
115 views
6
votes
2answers
244 views
Should I include my step-siblings as 兄弟?
If I'm asked, "兄弟がいますか。" and my only siblings are a younger step brother and younger step sister, should/can I respond "はい、いもうととおとうとがいます。"? Do I need to specify but still answer in the affirmative? Or ...
4
votes
1answer
201 views
Why is はじめ written with the kanji 初 as opposed to 始 to convey “the beginning”?
I frowned upon my textbook when I saw the word 初【はじ】め (the beginning) for the first time (no pun intended). The reason is that so far, I understood the idea of "start" are conveyed by 始, whereas the ...
2
votes
1answer
158 views
Honorifics in Japan
I learnt alot of korean and also the fact that a younger girl would call an older girl 'eonni' or and older boy 'oppa'. Also a younger boy would say Noona (older girl) or hyung (older boy). Do ...
1
vote
1answer
149 views
Can “genki desu ka” also mean “Am I well?”
I learnt that how are you is “genki” or “o genki des ka”, but there is no anata, so how do you know that that’s not “Am I well?”. In other words how do you distinguish 1., 2., and 3. person when no ...
2
votes
0answers
86 views
「～について説明する」と「～を説明する」は どう違いますか？
「～について説明する」と「～を説明する」は どう違いますか？ 私はベトナム人ですので日本語で説明したら良かったです。英語で説明したらちょっと難しいですが頑張ります。よろしくお願いします。
0
votes
1answer
192 views
How to say animal feed in Japanese? Is there a particular verb for eating when the subject is an animal?
Is the verb 食【た】べる used for animals that are eating?
Is animal food called 食事【しょくじ】?
I was having a conversation about a cat. I wanted to know what the cat was eating and the conversation came off ...
2
votes
1answer
78 views
Differences between 場所 and どこの場所
In a short story the protagonist says this sentence:
そして僕は突然、自分が知っている誰からも、自分が知っているどこの場所からも、信じられないくらい遠く隔てられ、引き離されているんだと感じる
I was wondering: why 自分が知っている**どこの場所** instead of just 自分が知っている**場所**.
1
vote
1answer
165 views
Different ways to ask help from strangers
1) Offering help to strangers in Japanese is te form shimashouka ( o tetsudaishimashouka- Shall I help you / Do you need any help ?)
2) What are the different ways to seek help ( one I know is eki no ...
6
votes
1answer
156 views
How best to respond to 「ご無沙汰しています」
I just received an email from a good friend in Japan, who has notably over the past few months been instrumental in connecting me to various people, for some research interviews I've been conducting.
...
2
votes
1answer
71 views
Word choice between 並々ならぬ and 並外れた
When I asked a Japanese about the difference between 並々ならぬ and 並外れた, he gave me a couple of examples how he uses the words:
並々ならぬ身体能力（✕） 並はずれた身体能力（〇）
並々ならぬお世話 （〇） 並はずれたお世話 （✕）
I also consulted the ...
6
votes
1answer
206 views
What is そんでもって?
According to コトバンク, it is the exact same as two different definitions of それで。
Then there is this ベストアンサー which gives many usage examples. Again, it seems to be a very casual filler word meaning それで。...
1
vote
1answer
91 views
二つ下のいとこ instead of はとこ
I'm trying to understand the usage of 二つ下 in the following sentence.
シンちゃんは私の二つ下のいとこです
When I read it without 下 it sounds like:
Shin-chan is my second cousin or something along those lines.
The ...
3
votes
1answer
170 views
Do the terms 紅葉{こうよう} and 紅葉{もみじ} mean the same thing?
What is the difference between 紅葉{こうよう} and 紅葉{もみじ}?
I want to chat about the autumn colors of leaves and I found these terms in Jisho. The definition reads only こうよう or only もみじ which is confusing ...
0
votes
1answer
157 views
How do you differentiate saying vague words in Japanese that have multiple meanings? E.g. tokei, koshi
I'm not talking about homonyms that have very different meanings to be able to make it abundantly clear from context alone like hana (nose, flower) or kami (hair, god, paper), but like tokei(watch, ...
2
votes
1answer
93 views
What is the meaning of 「一人」in the following sentence?
今、女性一人が生む子どもの数が減ってきている。つまり、少子化が進んできている。 Now, the amount of women that give birth to a child is decreasing. That is to say, the declining birth rates are advancing.
What is the role of 「一人」? To me, ...
7
votes
3answers
892 views
What is the meaning of 「ほう」in the following sentence?
日本の労働時間は世界でも長いほうだ。
I guess the sentence means something along the lines of "Even within the [whole] world, the working hours in Japan are long". But I think it could be expressed simply without the「...
4
votes
2answers
206 views
What is the difference between 限る and 限定する?
I'm pretty sure that there's a lot more you can do with 限る than there is with 限定する, (When I looked up 限る, I saw a lot of different usages, such as it meaning "is the best," or "nothing is better than,"...
2
votes
2answers
129 views
At what age is a person considered to be シルバー?
I read this term in an online article and it was referring to people. I assume it means elderly people. Is there an age that one must be to use this term?
2
votes
1answer
77 views
About the differences between 貯金 and 節約
As the title says, I would like to know differences between 貯金{ちょきん} and 節約{せつやく}.
Both mean "saving money" and have the irregular する verb ending:
貯金する{ちょきんする} : To save money
節約する{せつやくする} : ...
5
votes
2answers
450 views
Which is the correct phrase to say saving money?
I like to tell that I am saving money to buy Mac Book . So two sentence come to my mind , which one is more suitable to use ..
僕はMACBOOKを買うためにお金を貯金しています。
僕はMACBOOKを買うためにお金を節約しています。
0
votes
1answer
88 views
How is it written deposit money by coin? [closed]
Recently I want to change my massive coin into money . I heard about I can change coin to bank account money at ATM in Tokyo , so I went to bank ATM . But I couldn't choose English language on screen ...
1
vote
1answer
210 views
Which honorific is correct, oshumi or goshumi?
I want to ask a person about their hobbies. Go/O shumi ha nan desu ka? 趣味
3
votes
1answer
274 views
How to order an individiual item instead of a set?
I say 「セット」 when I order a set, and I say 「これだけ」 when I just want to order an individual item.
Is there any common way to order an individual item instead of a set?
-1
votes
1answer
256 views
でようか slang for で良いか? [closed]
This is the sentence I heard in an anime.
コーヒーでようか or コーヒーでよか.
I definitely did not mishear it for yoi 良い. Is this some slang for yoi? If so, which is the correct one? Stress or no vowel stress.
2
votes
1answer
174 views
Difference between ばかり, ところ, and 今?
I’ve gathered that these all can be used like “just” (right?) so I’m wondering what the difference in usage is between them.
今終わった。
終わったばかり。
終わったところ。
Are these all basically the same?
(...
2
votes
1answer
155 views
How politely to say “you”?
I found many variants in the internet, but they include あなた, which as I know isn't polite and better not to say it to a stranger.
So, if I don't know the name/last name of the person, don't know the ...
2
votes
2answers
175 views
What's the difference between 知り合い & 付き合い?
I have answered this 知り合い but in answer's sheet it was 付き合い and I don't get the difference.
2
votes
1answer
126 views
Particle to use with 順番
I am writing a report in Japanese, describing how I conducted an experiment. The first two lines are (some information changed for NDA stuff):
Aを30ｇぐらい秤量し、すり鉢で細粒化しました。受皿、粉砕用ふるいの順番でふるい振とう器に乗せ、...
14
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is 一日 used instead of 日 to ask how your day is?
I spoke with someone from Japan on Tandem and she said to me “今日はどんな一日でしたか?” and I’m wondering why 一日 was used since I thought that meant the first of the month?
2
votes
2answers
249 views
What is the meaning of ゴト in the context of 鮎
I ate in a place with 鮎ラーメン. The store employee can't explain it but I think it's something to do with the cut of the 鮎. It was butterfly cutted.
For cutting what would be the kanji for go-to. 毎? 丸毎 ...
-3
votes
1answer
91 views
Order of sentence's parts in building sad-mooded rhetorical question
太陽を最後に我々は見たのはいつだ?
literally: The Sun last time we saw-state when are?
meaning: When did we last time saw the Sun, f**k!?
context: it is a sad rhetorical question about bad rainy weather.
It is not a ...
0
votes
1answer
90 views
歩道 vs 舗装 when meant part of road for people to walk (sidewalk, pavement, footpath)
As I understand 道 [michi] means any road or street, where people can walk and cars may drive.
But when we mean that part of road which was build to be used only by people to walk: sidewalk, pavement, ...
3
votes
1answer
195 views
Is なきにしもあらず~なきに a set phrase?
This sentence recently appeared in one of my N1 training books:
彼女が合格する可能性はなきにしもあらずだが、彼がパスする可能性はなきにひとしい。
My translation: While she may have a slight chance of passing the exam, it is hopeless ...
4
votes
1answer
255 views
What does 「１歳遅らせる」 mean?
Context:
５月の素案で示した「７０代での発症を１０年間で１歳遅らせる」という初めての数値目標は参考値に格下げし、患者の精神的負担にならないよう配慮した。
Source: https://www.sankei.com/life/news/190618/lif1906180018-n1.html
I understand the sentence in bold as,
...
5
votes
1answer
204 views
Meaning of “足生やす”
I was wondering if the above is some kind of expression or set phrase? I saw this in in a novel actually where the speaker was remarking about his opponent in battle who was summoning hundreds of ...
7
votes
1answer
410 views
Ways to specify “intra-” or “extra-” usage of 北・南・東・西
I Was trying to describe that a certain castle was located south of Kyoto, I would expect the phrase to be:
「伏見桃山城が京都の南にある。」
I was then thinking, how would I say that it is in Kyoto, but the ...
0
votes
1answer
66 views
What does this sentence containing 「犯人意識」 mean in Osamu Dazai's 「人間失格」?
また、犯人意識、という言葉もあります。自分は、この人間の世の中に於いて、一生その意識に苦しめられながらも、...
I understand this as,
There's something called criminal consciousness. Even if I am suffering from this consciousness in this world of ...
3
votes
1answer
118 views
What does 「自分の生きている姿勢」 mean?
I am reading Osamu Dazai's 「人間失格」.
また、犯人意識、という言葉もあります。自分は、この人間の世の中に於いて、一生その意識に苦しめられながらも、しかし、それは自分の糟糠の妻の如き好伴侶で、そいつと二人きりで侘びしく遊びたわむれているというのも、自分の生きている姿勢の一つだったかも知れないし...
When I read this sentence as a ...
1
vote
1answer
86 views
Meaning and use of 悪くないか
悪くないか
Scenario 1: a young boy comes home and says (to his sick mother)「母さん悪くないか」。
Scenario 2: two men are moving a tv and one thinks 「なんかバランス悪くないか？！」。
I’m not following the meaning of it
20
votes
3answers
5k views
What is the 中 in ダウンロード中？
I was downloading an update for a phone game I set in Japanese and on the screen it said 「ダウンロード中」and I don’t understand the use of 中. Middle? In the middle of downloading?
5
votes
0answers
69 views
暮らし and 生活: meaning and usage [duplicate]
Are 暮らし and 生活 interchangeable? For example:
日本での暮らし （is 日本での生活 OK?）
日本の生活に慣れた。（is 日本の暮らしに慣れた OK?)
