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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How to add annoyed nuance when speaking?
Say someone is continuously telling me I’m doing something wrong whilst I’m trying my best.
Something I would say in English would be “Ok/Well tell me then, what should I do?!”
Which I think ...
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A different meaning of あらためて?
Context: Girl asked guy to tell her after school if he wants to walk home with her
Guy in his head: 返事ちょうだいってことは… あらためて俺から誘えってことだよな
I've been told that a translation for the 2nd line is "After ...
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Nuances when using とはいうものの
I'm studying とはいうものの when used after a full stop in this way.
"......。とはいうものの、......。"
According to the very few examples I could find about this grammar pattern used in this way (after a ...
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Difference between ～として～ない and ～たりとも～ない
I would like to know if both expressions ～として～ない and ～たりとも～ない are completely interchangeable or if there is any difference between them.
According to several grammar websites, ～として～ない and ～たりとも～ない ...
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How to say "to review an academic paper" in Japanese
How to say "to review an academic paper" in Japanese?
By "reviewing" I refer to "the process of having a draft version of a researcher's methods and findings reviewed (usually ...
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Why is there "はは" in this sentence from a dictionary? [closed]
In my dictionary, in an example in the entry for どうやって, there is the word (?) はは at the beginning of the sentence.
はは どうやって お互い を 知り合った のです か
How did you come to know one another (translation ...
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What does み mean? とうさんのうえたニンジンはたくさんのみをつけた
I'm reading children's books in Japanese to study Japanese, but since they are for children, it's all in hiragana. In one part there is とうさんのうえたニンジンはたくさんのみをつけた, but there are many meanings to み. What ...
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Augmentatives and Diminutives in the Japanese Language?
Augmentatives and Diminutives are modifications (like affixes) that "increase" or "decrease" the "value" of some word's meaning: Overlord, duckling.
I found this question ...
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Meaning of 十五【とご】
The word has been seen in the manga ハヤテのごとく！
After finishing last, Hayate is given a card with no money on it but “unlimited debt”:
The full sentence reads
そちらは入金が一切ない代わりに十五{とご}で無制限に借金が出来る『うしじまカード』...
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What does どばっと mean in this question?
I came across this question on Japanese Quora.
I will also post the text of the question in case the link doesn't work:
「飛行機で、tomato juice without ice, pleaseとお願いしました。CAさんが、no ice？と聞かれました。Yes! と答えました。...
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Can you help me understand this sentence? I can't distinguish the words and grammar patterns
Sentence: 喋れるだけましってものです.
Context: the main character has gone through a lot and lost his memories but he is all right physically. Another person is saying that sentence to the main character. I guess ...
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Whats is the difference between 開発途上国 and 発展途上国?
What is the difference in the usage of these 2 words?
I get the difference between 開発 and 発展 and my interpretation would be that 開発途上国 could refer to a developing country where the standard living ...
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Difference between 芽生える{めばえる}・芽{め}が出る{でる}／芽{め}を出す{だす}
I encountered the following multiple-choice question in an unofficial JLPT N3 vocabulary practice test:
先週、スイカの種を植えたばかりなのに、今朝見たら、もう芽が（ ）いた。
１ なって ２ 出て ３ 散って ４ 生えて
I chose 「４ 生えて」, but the ...
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Question About Meaning of 副主人公
To my understanding, 副 can be used "before a rank or title to indicate a slightly different or lower rank or title." so would I be correct in 副主人公 meaning either deuteragonist or secondary ...
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こと at the start of a sentence
In 僕の愛したジークフリーデ, by Matsuyama Takeshi, I found this sentence:
すでに手勢はなく、頼みのファーレンベルガーも退場した。ことこの場に至っては『彼女』は一人の非力な少女にすぎない
The main character just arrived with her companion in the presence of the queen, ...
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First words that are taught to babies
What are the first few words that are taught to a baby in Japan?
I would assume はは and ちち are couple of them to call mom and dad.
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Context for わたくし and われ
Spoilers from the fourth episode of Utawarerumono - Futari no Hakuoro (since it's airing now).
In this episode a princess just returned from another country with a memory loss; the country she ...
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Does the concept of word families exist in Japanese?
In English, we would probably say that fortune, fortunate and unfortunate belong to the word family fortune. A Japanese analogy would most likely place 返{かえ}る and 返{かえ}す in the same language family. ...
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Meaning of 憧れる: admiring vs wishing to be like someone
I'm finding several instances of 憧れる translate as "I wish I were like"; for example, in the first episode of 干物妹！うまるちゃん a character says to the main character 私 憧れちゃうよ, which is translated ...
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What is the literal translation of "私はこのうちを出ます"?
I am trying to understand the bolded part of the following sentence:
春子は言いました。「わかりました。では、私はこのうちを出ます」
which translates to
Haruko replied, "Okay. Well I'll leave then."
Note this is spoken ...
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Popular: モテ vs 人気
In the anime adaptation of the manga The Quintessential Quintuplets, as well as the corresponding manga, I notice these 3 times (besides this) the word 'popular' (in the subtitles) was used:
Scene 1: ...
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Is there any word 'popular' in 'お嬢ちゃんも先生似だしいけるんじゃねーか ?'?
In some subtitles of S02E06 of the anime adaptation of the manga The Quintessential Quintuplets, there's this line by a character named Shimoda, who was the student of now deceased character named ...
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What does じゃあ at the end of a sentence mean?
そろそろ学校に行く時間じゃあ？
Is it like ですか? Or like じゃん/じゃない?
I've thought it could be that じゃ that is the same as だ used by characters who are old, but this one is young.
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Meaning of 残す, 結びつく and ては
First, a bit of context: there is a knight who grew up with the princess, and they were very close; in the end they killed each other (which is said in the prelude, and then the story kinda goes back)....
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What does 「そう」mean in this sentence? 「ねっ 私の手を引き剥がそうと しないでほしいです」
This line comes from episode two of Konosuba
ねっ 私の手を引き剥がそうとしないでほしいです
From my understanding of 「そう」, its a verb form for something might happen. For example, 「あの木、倒れそうだよ」would mean "That tree is ...
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Why do some kanji have the 𠆢 radical on top when apparently they shouldn't?
I have been studying vocabulary from tea descriptions and I found two kanji that have the radical 𠆢 「ひとやね」on top but they can't be found in any dictionary, there are kanji without the radical that I ...
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What is the difference between 感触 and 触感
From my limited research both mean "tactile sensation". 触感 strictly means "tactile sensation" while 感触 can have a broader meaning closer to 感覚 and 印象. Also according to Anime, ...
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Meaning of おつけして in 「4900円のところ、今日はなんともうーつおつけして、4900円」
さあ、次の商品は、今アメリカで話題のパワーキャッチャーのご紹介です。運動不足で、お悩みのみなさまにお送りす驚きのパワーキャッチャ。使い方はとても簡単。体の気になるところにパワーキャッチャーをのせるだけで、ほら！このとおり。のせにくいところには、専用ベルトをこのようにつけて巻けば、どこにでも使えます。形は丸くて、体にぴったり。四角ぃ窓には、残り時間や運動量を表示します。...
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ひらがなで書くかわりに、カタカナで書く中国とかんごく
Why are the Japanese names for the countries "China" and "Korea" written in Hiragana instead of the usual katakana?
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What does 「たけた」mean in this sentence? 「他人に依存することばかりに たけた寄生虫」
These lines came from season 1 episode 1 of Kaguya-sama: Love is war at the 22:42 mark
（かぐや）
人の姿をした家畜 プライドがなく 他人に依存することばかりに
たけた寄生虫胸ばかりに栄養が行っている脳カラなんて おぞましい生き物
From my understanding of the context, ...
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Trying to translate a shirt, I've gotten most of it but I can't figure out this one piece? [closed]
it looks like に but with こ instead? is it just an example of how much handwriting can change? or character limitations online? i think the shirt says something like "going home to tokyo street,&...
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Meaning of ヘイコラ
I found this sentence in a book:
「当時のわしは、人間が憎かったんじゃ。多くの仲間たちが、ドワーフというだけで虐げられ、人間のせいで故郷を追われたのに、生きるために人間にヘイコラせねばならん。その『憎しみ』が、わしの目を曇らせたんじゃ」
The character is speaking about a test he took in the past, ...
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What does 「の元に」mean in this sentence?「白銀会長の元に 承認リクエストが送られます」
This line is from Kaguya-sama: Love is war
白銀会長の元に 承認リクエストが送られます
What does 「のもとに」mean in this sentence?
From my understanding of the context, the characters were talking about how to send a follow ...
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Meaning of として after past form in this sentence [duplicate]
I heard this sentence in this news:
外務省は事前の同意がなかったとして、ただちに中国側に対し、「海洋の科学的調査を実施しているのであれば極めて遺憾だ」と即時中止を求めて抗議しました
I know とする and として can have several meanings and I found answers about として (like this and ...
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What does 「他にやたら」mean in this sentence? 「今はいないけど他にやたら頑丈なお姉さんもいるんですよ」
I found this line while watching an anime and can't I don't know what word to look for in the dictionary for it
今はいないけど、他にやたら頑丈なお姉さんもいるんですよ
What does 「他にやたら」mean in this sentence?
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What does いろりのそば mean?
I am reading Basic Connections by Kakuko Shoji and came across the following passage from 雪女 (page 63 of book)
みのきちはいろりのそばで仕事をしている。
みのきち is a name, but I am not sure what いろりのそば means in this ...
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What does 「感謝こそすれども」mean in this sentence?「恨むようなことはありません」
I came across this episode and I have no idea how to make sense of it
感謝こそすれども 恨むようなことはありません！
What does 「すれども」mean exactly in this sentence?
I also thought I knew what 「こそ」meant but this sentence is ...
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What does とびっことりっこ mean?
I’m translating a Japanese novel into my language. The novel I’m working with is a fantasy story about a teen witch and children. But I’m not sure about the meaning of とびっことりっこ which appears several ...
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Do you think using original Japanese words is out of date?
The more I learn Japanese, the more I think Japanese is a subtype of English, now every Japanese Word are replaced by English words, some words I learned from textbook seems out of date.
For example, ...
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Difference between kanji にち and び [duplicate]
Google translate used same kanji for にち and び 日曜日. First syllable represents にち whereas last syllable represent び. But I can differentiate them both of them are looking same. They are pronounced ...
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What does ネタ mean in 完全にネタだったから一日で変わったけど?
In this sentence here, I understand the overall gist of what it is saying, but I just can't find any sort of definition for ネタ. I'm thinking its some kind of slang which requires a bit of contextual ...
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Meaning of ノッて来ん
誰か誘って遊び行こうかとおもったけど、ノッて来んの男のダチばっかりでさぁ…
I can understand the first half of the sentence just fine, but what does the character mean when he refers to his friends as "ノッて来ん"? Is it some form ...
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What are the differences between 出身地 and 故郷{こきょう}?
I can't figure out the difference between 出身地 and 故郷{こきょう}, both meaning "hometown, birthplace", despite having done some research of my own in the internet as well as in this site.
There is ...
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What is the semantic difference between 認める and 通じる?
I am looking for the differences in terms of meaning between 認める and 通じる. I have 3 related questions which I have numbered across this answer to make it clearer.
Now, 通じる has a myriad of different ...
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What is the meaning of エラ？
Watching a Youtube video this tshirt appeared:
What's エラ supposed to mean here? It has something to do with 偉? Sexual meaning? I googled a bit but didn't find any other examples.
Thanks!
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How do you construct the grammar "The way you..." + Verb in Japanese?
I was coming up and practicing with Japanese sentences. I found myself wondering on how to construct this kind of grammar...
THE WAY YOU + Verb
"The way you look at me..."
"The way you ...
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Suffix as defined in romanized Japanese morphological analysis
Older grammar books tend to rely on a lot of romanization to teach the nitty-gritty of morphology, which is also reflected in some of @snail's answers like this one. I was reading Samuel Elmo Martin's ...
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申し訳ないです not used as an apology?
I read the following sentence:
あんなおまけイラストまで喜んで貰えて却って申し訳ないです。
As far as I know 申し訳ないです is usually used for formal apologies but translating it like "I'm sorry that you are pleased ..." ...
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Positive use of “だめ”?
I had always thought from examples that “だめ” can have a slang positive connotation in context, similar to how English speakers often use “sick” or “damn” to express positive emotions, but I cannot ...
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Meaning of 託す here
What does 託されて mean in this passage? I see that it can mean "to express in the form of" or "to use as a pretext". Is one of those definitions applicable?
とまれ古い昔にどこかの遥かな国の王子が、...
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