Questions tagged [words]
言葉. Any question that does not deal specifically with grammar or pronunciation. Includes questions about prefixes, suffixes, compound words, loanwords, dialectal differences, pragmatic usage, etc. In other words, phenomena that occurs at the level of the word.
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What's the role of だけの in this sentence?
彼らは工場を建設するだけの資金を持っている。
The translation on Jisho is: "They have enough capital to build a second factory."
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どうして「〜たいくらいだ」には「くらい」が出るのですか
最近「むしろあなたに英語を教えてもらいたいくらいだ」という文を見かけたのですけど、英訳の「I'd rather you teach me English」を言ってみたとしたら、私なら「くらいだ」なしで、「むしろあなたに英語を教えてもらいたい」とかになるでしょうから、「くらいだ」の働きや必要性に悩んでいるのです。この「くらい」は、最低限を表すものと同じなのですか。何か軽蔑を表しているわけですか。
...
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What is なっとらんかった?
拍子抜けって言えば拍子抜けやなぁ。どこも大事にはなっとらんかったみたいやし....なんか踊らせてた感があるわ
I don't understand what this part means. I tried looking it up but I can't find anything. Is it a single word?
Thanks!
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Meaning of うち in "無意識のうちの行動なのだろう"
Given the context I think that this sentence means "it's probably an unintentional action".
But I am unsure of what meaning/nuance the うち adds here. I am used to seeing うち meaning "while" and that's ...
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人前｛ひとまえ｝ and 人前｛にんまえ｝
I have been conviced for a long time that both 人前｛にんまえ｝ and 人前{ひとまえ} existed. Which is backed by this wikitionary page.
Recently, I just wanted to warn another Japanese learner about this pair of ...
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What is the meaning of the phrase "下町職人魂"
I'm aware that 下町 means downtown, and 職人魂 means craftsmanship, but what does it mean when the two are brought together?
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What's the relationship between 'e' and 'wa' in some words?
Can someone explain how 'e' and 'wa' are related in some words / 音便? Presumably the 'e' was originally the obsolete ゑ since it's in the ワ行.
Some examples:
上（うえ） ←→ 上着（うわ・ぎ）
声（こえ） ←→ 声色（こわ・いろ）...
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Defining a particular 系
http://mainichi.jp/life/kimochi/archive/news/2012/20120205ddn013070029000c.html
The article above, about how a girl wants to be loved, is entitled
愛され系
I am wondering which definition of 系 this ...
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Difference between 獣｛しし｝ and 野獣｛やじゅう｝ (beast)
I learnt the words 獣{しし} and 野獣{やじゅう} and their definitions look too similar. Can someone explain me the difference between them?
While searching more for beast words, I also found that 獣 could also ...
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What's the difference between 母方 and 母系? The same question goes to 父方 and 父系
I saw these words a while ago but just now I decided to ask it here because I didn't find the answer anywhere.
As the title says, I don't really know if there is a difference between 母方【ははかた】 X 母系【...
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What does the phrase 「けぇっちまえ」 mean?
I came across the expression from the following dialogue.
After a boy told an old man with this sentence.
しっかりしねえか おっちゃん！ いったい なにがあったんだ きょう！
The old man punched him at the face and said this ...
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What is a word for "participation" that resembles "kameseru"?
According to the article "On Being Late to Work in Japan | 遅出" (linked from this post at The Workplace):
The word for participation – kameseru – has a special significance which also explains why ...
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Difference between 妬【ねた】ましい and 羨【うらや】ましい
Considering "How to define 羨ましい?", it does not seem that 羨【うらや】ましい conveys a strong intensity of jealousy.
How does 妬【ねた】ましい compare to 羨【うらや】ましい then?
Does 妬【ねた】ましい convey a stronger sense of ...
Flaw♦
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Difference between Japanese words for illusion with 幻
I was reading about the kanji 幻, which I take to mean illusion or vision(not 見 vision), and looked at words with it. I saw the words:
[幻滅]{げんめつ｝-disilusion
幻想｛げんそう｝-illusion
幻覚｛げんかく｝-hallucination
幻影｛...
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Has anyone come across the word 畸端?
I've started reading my first Japanese book and the word 畸端検査官 keeps popping up. I know 検査官 means inspector, but I can't find a reference anywhere to 畸端.
Can anyone help?
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Is tonai (都内）only used for the Tokyo metropolitan area specifically?
I was having a chat conversation and used the word to comment on a profile. The person chatted that there are different words used depending on where the person is from, so if a person is from the ...
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What does the phrase 「やのう」 mean?
I came across the phrase in the following sentence.
ええ度{ど}胸{きょう}やのうこまいの...けなげやで
The guy who said it is a Kansai speaker. I'm not sure if the phrase is related to the dialect.
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What are the rules for saying "made of [blank]"
Take these words for example:
木{もく}造{ぞう}: made of wood; wooden
and
金{きん}製{せい}: made of gold
I have been under the impression that -製 is used for where an item has been manufactured (i.e. ...
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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} :...
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3
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古代のロマン ultimate dream
Hi everyone on this community forum!
In the video game Ehrgeiz, there is a sentence which is spoken is Japanese, then subtitled, which was localized well, but I'd like to know what the sentence is ...
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What is the meaning of 幾里?
I took up a personal translation project--lyrics to a song from a game I played--recently, and one of the words is giving me trouble. The line out of the song is
我れ幾里の路を共に往かむ, and I can understand ...
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When would you use 相互 as opposed to お互い？
I'm thinking the former is slightly more hard/archaic, and for written style japanese, where was the latter is more conversational? But they both seem to have the same meaning.
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What does じゃな mean?
In casual speech what does ja na mean?
As in this example:
葉人をつかまえたんじゃな
Googling for it only turns up results for じゃない。
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入り and 付き in these sentences
I saw some sentences like this, but I couldn't understand them. What do they mean?
砂糖入りのお茶。
胡椒付きのサラダ。
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What does the phrase 「はきゃあがって」 mean?
Here is a part of a conversation between two young guys:
A: わすれやしませんが こんどばかりはいくらおじょうさまの命令でもゆるすわけにはいかねえっ
B: へへっ かっこいいせりふをはきゃあがって....
I think はきゃあがって would come from 「吐ければ」which means 'If you express.....
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What does the とは mean in this phrase?
I'm pretty new to Japanese and I have a question.
So I know this is supposed to be something like "he differs from his former self" but I can't really make sense of what とは is supposed to mean in ...
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僕がついてればいいんですけど。いそがしいもんですね。
「僕がついてればいいんですけど。いそがしいもんですね。」 はどういう意味ですか?
「ついてればいい」は辞書を調べてもまだよく分かりません。T。T
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Cannot understand this passage
ランサーが深海からとってきた「ダイオウグソクムシ」を見てそのワキャワキャさにドン引きし、ランサーから「お前さんとこの竜牙兵もワキャワキャしてるじゃねえか」と言われて。
ワキャワキャさ:I can't find anything on this.
I found that わきゃ means 私の, but I don't get the meaning of the sentence like ...
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What does する mean here?
So Person A says: どうしたんですか？
Person B replies: 忘れ物をしたんです。
I'm not understanding した in this sentence. 忘れ物 means something left behind or forgotten. So I translate 忘れ物をした as did forgotten-thing. Which ...
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What does 通る mean in this context?
This is an excerpt from a conversation with my language partner:
息子は明日から冬休みです。
絵画教室に通っているので、冬休みの間は、[写実力強化講座]{しゃじつりょくきょうかこうざ} (realistic painting workshop) に行きます。
My attempt at translation:
"...
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The meaning of モテる
I have read what it says in this post but it's old and I would like to hear other opinions. It's interesting that I have found this meaning on Weblio:(esp. as 持ってる) to have "it"; to have ...
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What are the meanings of 「って」, 「とこ」, and 「ねえで」 in this sentence?
Here is the sentence I found these words in.
ここ数日って とこは 夜も昼もねえで つづけたんだから むりもねえが...
Especially the 「とこ」, I'm not sure if I should translate it to be 'bed' or 'room' or something else.
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meaning of ことなんてない
Some context (this is from a Doraemon episode):
2人の人間の間でこのスイッチを押すとそのあとの人生のコースが入れ替わる。
でも言っとくけど… 人の人生のコースを進んでもいいことなんてないよ
So, this is something like:
If you press this switch between two people, their ...
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What do 「はな」 and 「いうとな」 mean?
Here is the sentence including the words.
このおっさんはな更{こう}生{せい}だとか なんだとか そんな しゃれたことを考{かんが}えるようなおやじじゃねえよ
まあ ごくかんたんにいうとな
Another question: Do the 「な」 in both words work as particle?
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What does 「ニゴでした」mean?
I was reading an article at Tomojuku. Link
At the very end of the article, it says,
ではでは ニゴでした。
What does ニゴでした mean ? I searched online but I couldn't find anything about this.
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神 compared to 神様
When the Abrahamic God is referred to in Japanese, 神様 is very common, but on occasion I simply see 神 on its own. This even applies when they are clearly speaking reverentially, using words such as 御心{...
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What is the meaning of the word たんじゃ?
It is a situation which a boy who is carrying some goods after successfully escaped from chasing by policemen.
なあ...わらってたんじゃわからねえよ。
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What do つれて and いくと mean here?
ある日、アリババがロバをつれて森へいくと、たくさんの馬の足音が聞こえてきました。
Can anyone explain to me what つれて and いくと mean in this sentence, I'm having a hard time understanding..
Thanks
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The meaning of 「尋ねられもしないこと」
I'm reading a Japanese novel and there's this part of the sentence I don't know the meaning
公安からの情報が必要な場合は、何とかして引き出す。しかし、尋ねられもしないことをこちらからわざわざ連絡するつもりはない。
My rough translation is: "In case ...
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What does the 「おかけしやして」mean?
Here is the dialogue including the word.
A: とまあこんなところが矢{や}吹{ぶき}丈{じょう}の罪{ざい}状{じょう}だが...
あんたもずいぶんたいへんな少年を保護していたものだな ええ？
B: どうもごめいわくおかけしやして...
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The Quintessential Quintuplets: Ghost/monster: オバケ vs おばけ but I don't see the emphasis
Related questions:
Why are katakana preferred over hiragana or kanji sometimes?
Popular: モテ vs 人気
In the anime adaptation of the manga The Quintessential Quintuplets, as well as the corresponding ...
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Why is 二十歳 pronounced はたち?
二十歳 is a (to me) bizarre exception to the usual number+さい rule for discussing age. Is this rooted in 20 being the Japanese age of majority?
Added: To be more specific: why isn't it pronounced にじゅうさい ...
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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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Are all kanji compounds considered words?
A friend once commented to me that Japanese has a larger vocabulary than English. I said I didn't think it did, because it wasn't really accurate to call all kanji compounds "words". My friend said I ...
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Difference between 向け and 向き
My boss just corrected one of my documents from 企業向きな開発 to 企業向けの開発.
Apart from the の/な problem that I always get wrong, is there a problem with 向き ?
I got it from my textbook that says 子供向きです
Could ...
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Can the suffix -人 be used to express heritage?
In English, if I want to talk about my Irish heritage, I would say "I'm Irish". I have an American passport, and I've never set foot in Ireland, but I still consider myself Irish. Both sides of my ...
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what is the difference in the usage of [成]{な}るべく and できるだけ?
Hi guys what is the difference in the usage of 成るべく and できるだけ?
Don't they both mean as [x] as possible?
E.g.:
1) できるだけ多くの本を読みなさい vs なるべく多くの本を読みなさい
2) できるだけ早くお願いします vs なるべく早くお願いします
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Differences between the many words for dinner
According to my dictionary, the following words all mean the same thing: "Dinner":
[夜]{よる}ご[飯]{はん}, [晩]{ばん}ご[飯]{はん}, [晩飯]{ばんめし}, [晩食]{ばんしょく}, [夕]{ゆう}ご[飯]{はん}, [夕飯]{ゆうはん(ゆうめし)}, [夕食]{ゆうしょく}
A similar ...
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