All Questions
28,024
questions
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Double/Triple 'wa' particles in a sentence
I'm having trouble parsing the following example sentence from an online Japanese-English dictionary:
女性はレスリングは好まないが男性はふつうに好きだ。
Can someone explain to me how to make sense of the sentence? I'm ...
1
vote
2
answers
18
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Should I use や or と for إِنَّمَا?
I hope this question is not a duplicate and it belongs here. I wanted to ask as simple question about particle や (ya) and と (to) which was used in a translation from an Arabic text.
Here's the Arabic ...
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-2
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1
answer
39
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What does "B.D." mean here? (Birdie Wing)
In Birdie Wing, Eve is being led blindfolded to a golf match that she has to do to settle a mafia dispute. While being explained this absurd premise, she says something in Japanese which is translated ...
- 858
2
votes
1
answer
102
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How do the "Godan verb with u ending (special class)" verbs differ from regular u ending verbs?
I came across a new word for me, 問{と}う (to ask, to inquire). I looked it up in the dictionary and it appears to be of a special class according to jisho.org. Other verbs listed under this category are ...
- 5,092
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72
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The meaning of 若く in this sentence
恵子は若く美しかった。やつれてはいたが、柔らかい、優しげな雰囲気のままだった。
I'm struggling to understand how 若く is being used. Is it used like an adverb for 美しかった?
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0
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59
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読解問題、「パソコンの向きに上下があるみたいで面白いですね」とはどういう意味ですか？
企業のIT部門の新人さん向けのセミナーでの会話ですが、
講師：古い時代のWindowsパソコンでは、ノースブリッジ（Northbridge）とサウスブリッジ（Southbridge）という2つのICがあります。
受講者：ノース（北）とサウス（南）って、地図みたいですね。
講師：地図では北が上で南が下であるように、回路図ではノースブリッジが上でサウスブリッジが下に示されます。
受講者：...
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0
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48
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How does one explicitly express “the tree behind which I sleep” and similar things?
My intuition says to me that this should be a simple “私が後ろで寝ている木”, or for instance, as a hypothetical example, to express “The knife inside of which I cut the meat” opposed to “the knife I cut the ...
- 472
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1
answer
29
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What tense is 使って in これを使ってここで動画を作っています?
In
これを使ってここで動画を作っています
does 作っています being in the present progressive tense then force 使って to also be in the present progressive? Or would the sentence have to be written as
これを使っていてここで動画を作っています?
in ...
- 2,256
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0
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48
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How do you write fall in love with yourself first? [closed]
I am looking to get a Japanese tattoo as the phrase “fall in love with yourself first” I’m currently doing research and have found it written many different ways but I have no idea which would be ...
1
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1
answer
270
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Why is あります used in 「どうかあなたが幸せでありますように」?
I’m trying to understand the line in bold from the song “Unlasting” by LiSA:
あなたの香りあなたの話し方
今も身体中に愛の欠片が残ってるよ
私の願い私の願いはただ
どうかあなたが幸せでありますように
What I don’t understand is the use of あります here. I think it ...
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1
answer
97
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Why is this reading like this?
Why is this reading like this? Looking this up I had to search the radicals individually on Jisho. The furigana reading... is it just flat out wrong? Furthermore, why is the word structured like this? ...
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1
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1
answer
81
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Why is 流す used in ゴミがたくさん流されてきました instead of 流れる?
From 4m36s of https://youtu.be/N70t8hQCcPI?t=276, the speaker says
ゴミがたくさん流されてきました
This apparently translates to "A lot of trashed was washed up."
My question is why 流す is being used here ...
- 2,256
4
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2
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392
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Use of どんな with no following noun
そんなことはどうでもいいよ。『例のあの人』がどんなだったか覚えてると思う? (Japanese TL)
Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like? (original Harry Potter text)
I'm confused at seeing どんな with no noun ...
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vote
1
answer
60
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When に does not seem to denote change of place
This answer explains that when used to indicate a place, で means the action is happening at that place while に indicated the verbs causes a change in place. That all makes sense until I run into some ...
- 2,162
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1
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83
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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・...
- 631
2
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1
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73
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方(かた) suffix pitch accent
When 方 is used as a suffix like these for example:
考え方、作り方、言い方、喋り方、etc.
is there a way to guess/know the reading or is it just straight up random?
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1
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48
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How do you differentiate when to use に/が with いる/ある
I am a little confused with when to use に or が with いる/ある。I have 2 sentences I came across during lessons. Please do give more examples if you think it would be helpful.
ユニバーサルスタジオがあるのを聞きました。
I heard ...
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double が in a sentence
早く彼を助けに行かないと。 そう思うのに、脚が動かない。
視界を塗りこめる赤が、 嗅覚が麻痺しそうな血の臭いが怖くて。
What exactly the double が here signifies?
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28
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how to translate this sentence? [closed]
停電の中で鈴子は、結婚前に再会した隆史が時間を超えて果たしてくれた約束を思い出す。それは、母から誠一郎へと旅立つ鈴子の背中を強引に押してくれた。誰にも言えない秘密の思い出だった。
I can't understand the bold sentence,I have tried every machine translator like google translator and chatgpt ...
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1
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77
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何にもありません vs. 何もありません
Consider a simple dialogue from here
家もありません 家もありません
ベッドもありません お金も
家もベッドもありません
何にもありません
Here 何にも appears to be spoken with pitch なんにも{HLLL}.
Question: Why is なん followed by a に particle here?
In the ...
- 2,256
2
votes
1
answer
70
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Understanding verb+の+verb/adjective
A group of girls go on a trip and now they are sleeping in their rooms in a hotel. At dawn one of the girls called リゼ tries to wake others up but she herself falls back to sleep soon. Her friend シャロ ...
- 4,111
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62
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Etymological dictionary with kanji type and compounds/radicals [migrated]
I'm looking for an etymological dictionary preferably in online form to look up the 六書 (the six classes of kanji characters) and the compounds/radicals of a kanji. I know I can use 広辞苑 (Kōjien). But ...
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2
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153
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About ancient pronunciation on dictionaries
In large dictionaries like 広辞苑 or 大辞林, there are some entries tagged with "ancient pronunciations" which are almost identical to the modern ones but with a voiced consonant voiceless (or ...
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0
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37
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why using た in これからはどうしたものか？ [duplicate]
The phrase 「これから」 refers to the future, while 「た」 refers to the past. Why can they be used in this way?
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3
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147
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Is calling your older brother/sister お姉さん/お兄さん wrong?
So I've just found out that apprently お兄さん and お姉さん aren't used for your older siblings, and only for other people's siblings or just other people older than you. Is this true? This doesn't seem right ...
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64
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How do learn a language? [closed]
So I need some help, some advice.
I have been self studying Japanese passively for around two years now, but dispute that that I not even close to N5 in any regard.
This has left me feeling frustrated ...
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0
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0
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96
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Understanding "何が釣れましたか"
「何が釣れましたか」 evidently means "what were you able to catch (while fishing)?" in the context of https://youtu.be/7bLVtR7IgUo?t=172 at 2m52s.
But 釣れました ("was able to catch") is the ...
- 2,256
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What do "。" and "、" mean?
I was browsing and found this question.
At the end of the following text (from "Night on the Galactic Railroad"):
...
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332
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How to make sense of radicals that form a kanji
One thing that puzzles me, is how to guess a meaning of a kanji by deducting its radicals. For instance 神 (god), is constructed of ｜ 日 礼 田 . What's the idea behind it? A stick combined with a sun ...
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1
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+100
When to use させていただきます vs いたします？
I have read this answer, and while it helped me understand how the term came about, I am still confused about when it is ok or not to use it.
I understand is mostly ok to use it in situations where ...
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2
answers
75
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Sometimes its difficult to pronounce the R sound [duplicate]
I've been practicing for months now, I have still have difficulty with r.
For example, when saying something like 忘れられる. Is it supposed to be difficult? Like when I say it fast it sounds really mushy, ...
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5
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1
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Understanding a passage from 銀河鉄道の夜
I was reading the short novel 銀河鉄道の夜 by 宮沢賢治 and, although it's not super hard, I stumble upon on this sentence (as usual I post the whole paragraph for context):
...
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1
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What does 適度な所で斜め上に向かって穴を掘る mean here?
出る時は斜めに掘る必要があるな。いや、待て待て。
縦の穴。酸素はどうなっている？ マズイ、死ぬ？ 俺は慌てて斜め上に向かって穴を掘り、脱出する。
反省。次は空気の通り道を考えながら、掘ってみた。
基本、斜め掘り。適度な所で斜め上に向かって穴を掘る。俺の中のイメージの井戸とは全然違うが、要は空気が流れればよい。
最終的に下に向かって掘っていれば問題はないだろう。
So, a guy tries ...
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The usage of 当たり前 as subject
As far as I know, 当たり前 is an adverb. How come in the following instances it's used as the subject?
あの日見た夕日 あの日見た花火 いつでも君がいたね
当たり前が幸せと知った ー「合唱曲・群青」
君がここにいなくなって 当たり前がいなくなって ー「君の抜け殻」
I am a little ...
- 2,162
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What is ならぬ Ｍeaning in this sentence?
Found ならぬ in the following sentence and am unsure of what it's meaning is. Also would be nice if anyone provided a total translation for the whole sentence for increased clarity.
「...
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70
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What does うち農家 mean? [duplicate]
うち農家で兄弟も多いからオレが料理することが多かったんだ
Is 農家 normally used for just one person, a family or a place?
If it means "farmhouse" in this sentence, then I think うち could mean "home" and it could ...
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1
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225
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Interpretation of dotted verbs like 検査・判別する
When you see verbs connected by a dot in a text, such as "検査・判別する," what is the best way to interpret this? Normally when I come across examples like this I assume that the meaning is 'or', ...
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42
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help to identify calligraphic style chinese characters [closed]
I just need some help to identify the Chinese characters.
So far I got this:
大.?はおぼろに糸山かすむ?ごとのか?り火に
返味の??
And I'm sure some of what I got is wrong
1
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1
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118
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Understanding かっ飛ばすin this context
According to Jisho, かっ飛ばす means something like sending a ball flying among other things.
My issue is interpreting the verb when it directly affects people, like the following example:
私と君とでかっ飛ばそう
...
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1
answer
1k
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"B" meaning "hot and heavy"?
In Maison Ikkoku, the title of episode 60 is "見ちゃった！響子{きょうこ}と三鷹{みたか}がいきなりB？！", which is translated to "Caught in the Act! Kyoko and Mitaka-Hot and Heavy!"
My question is, what is &...
- 858
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1
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118
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底上げする - why do we need it?
Can you please help me understand the title giving verb?
According to dictionaries it means "rasing the bottom" or "raising the standard".
I found it in the fourth episode of ...
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1
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209
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Why does 中止 also mean to cancel
中止 literally means to stop halfway (中で止まる). 中止 in Chinese also only means to terminate something already started. How did 中止 get the meaning of cancelling something not started at all in Japanese?
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99
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Understanding 気分任せの足跡
I'm translating the song “はだしの軌跡” from Final Fantasy X-2: Vocal Collection - Rikku.
気分まかせの足跡つけて新しい地図 描こう
I’m translating this lyric from right to left, reading as “Let’s draw a new map by...” ...
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0
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67
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The meaning of 加えてみた in this sentence
「またぁ。 圭一くんは何にでもケチャップ掛けるね」
「せっかく作ったんだから、タルタルをつけてみてよ。 今日はアレンジを加えてみた自信作なんだから」
What exactly is 加えてみた in this sentence? I seems unable to understand it
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1
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I'm struggling to understand how to use がち
The sentence I came up with was:
私は、学生は勉強を完了するために睡眠時間を短くする寝がちですから、これが起こると思います。
So essentially I was using がち to say how students "tend to/have a tendency to" sleep less. My 先生 said I used ...
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1
answer
122
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Does 「準備できた」have a meaning of "something is ready"?
I have heard「準備できた」from a game. I think the meaning there is "something is ready".
If so, which explanation is better?
1.「準備できた」is made from the 可能形 of 「準備する」(準備できる) and 助動詞「た」
2.「準備できた」is ...
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1
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74
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What is/are the meaning(s) of 方便 in this sentence and in general?
方便?
I was reviewing some old cards I had flagged as "uncertain" and I came across a scene from "Your name" (君の名は).
At around the 47th minute the characters ride a shinkansen to ...
- 706
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1
answer
79
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Can one pronounce an ん with closed lips (as in がんばろう)?
I know that when pronouncing the Japanese ん:
There should be nasal air flow.
You should not be touching your tongue to the roof of your mouth (i.e. so it's not like the English "n").
Tongue ...
- 2,256
2
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0
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67
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Is する in “どうしたの” and “どうかしたの” transitive or intransitive?
I have been learning Japanese for over a year and I still can’t understand how these very common phrases work grammatically.
I do know of several intransitive usages of する but none seem to fit in ...
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1
answer
98
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"I can drive a car": 車 を うんてん できる vs. 車 を うんてん することができる
This is my first post here, so thanks for reading this.
I have looked through other threads, and there doesn't seem to be an answer to my specific case, so please let me give this a shot:
I am trying ...
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