All Questions
28,508
questions
193
votes
5
answers
43k
views
What's the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)?
When is it correct to use は but not が, and when is it correct to use が but not は? Are there any times when you can use either without changing the meaning of the sentence? How does switching change ...
- 7,048
147
votes
6
answers
57k
views
Differences among -たら, なら, -と, -んだったら, -ば, etc
The Japanese language has a lot of patterns for "if" clauses. What are the differences among the following patterns and how do we choose to use one over the others?:
行くと
行ったら
行くなら
行けば
行くんだったら
行くのなら
...
- 19.7k
139
votes
9
answers
33k
views
What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ?
There were a lot of great answers here. I gave the checkmark to ento's answer because I felt it most completely explained all aspects of this use of こと. But many of the other answers are excellent, so ...
- 23.9k
128
votes
1
answer
64k
views
What is the difference between the nominalizers こと and の?
As Derek mentioned in his postscript, both こと and の are nominalizers that can turn a verb into a noun.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】。 I play the piano.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】のが好き【すき】です。 I like playing the piano.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】ことが好き【すき】...
- 3,189
107
votes
10
answers
19k
views
How should I choose between [知]{し}る and わかる?
Both 知る and わかる get used for "know", "understand", "learn", "find out", and various other concepts. How do you know which to use when? Are there any rules to help you decide?
Additionally, both of ...
- 23.9k
92
votes
4
answers
92k
views
What is the difference between "に" and "には"?
The title should be pretty self-explanatory. What meanings does each convey? And in what kinds of circumstances would one be used instead of the other?
For example, what are the differences between ...
- 1,745
91
votes
4
answers
154k
views
What are the differences between じ and ぢ, and ず and づ?
The Japanese hiragana and katakana syllabaries can mostly be described as phonetic. But there are two exceptions, the two pairs of syllables modified to be voiced with the dakuten diacritic which ...
- 15.2k
81
votes
3
answers
13k
views
When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state?
Last night, when I asked my wife to send an email to me, she said もう送っている which I took to mean that she was "sending the message". (The message had a big attachment so I imagined that it could take a ...
- 913
79
votes
5
answers
149k
views
When to use ください (kudasai) or お願いします (onegaishimasu) in requests?
When asking for something I seem to hear sentences end in both ください (kudasai) and お願いします (onegaishimasu). Is there a difference and how do I know when to use which?
- 15.2k
77
votes
3
answers
37k
views
Difference between -ていく and -てくる
Can someone explain the differences between v-ていく and v-てくる for me. I know that they both express some kind of ongoing action (like a place getting crowded). For example, what's the difference between ...
- 7,048
74
votes
4
answers
37k
views
Is じゃないです equally correct as じゃありません?
Text books normally teach that the negative of です is じゃありません.
However it seems very common to hear native Japanese use じゃないです.
Is this slang or somehow less correct than じゃありません?
Would it be marked ...
- 883
73
votes
7
answers
32k
views
What is the difference between the negative forms -ず and -ぬ?
-ず and -ぬ are two alternatives to the negative form -ない / -ません. But I noticed that depending on the word, it's either -ず or -ぬ, although it seems like some words can take both suffixes. Some examples ...
- 19.7k
71
votes
4
answers
252k
views
でも (demo) versus けど (kedo) to mean "but"
I learned that you can use でも (demo) at the beginning of a sentence to mean "but," and that you can use けど (kedo) at the end of a sentence to mean "though." However, I don't see a difference between ...
- 1,691
68
votes
2
answers
15k
views
Why does Japanese have two kinds of adjectives? (-i adjectives and -na adjectives)
Japanese has two kinds of adjectives known by several terms but the ones I know are i-adjectives and na-adjectives - why?
I recall that Japanese adjectives are much more like verbs than in English ...
- 15.2k
68
votes
4
answers
124k
views
How to choose between "よん" (yon) vs "し" (shi) for "四" (4) and "しち" (shichi) vs "なな" (nana) for "七" (7)?
Two numbers in Japanese have two pronunciation alternatives.
四 / 4 can be pronounced either "よん" (yon) or "し" (shi)
七 / 7 can be pronounced either "しち" (shichi) or "なな" (nana)
I know that "し" (shi) ...
- 15.2k
68
votes
1
answer
39k
views
Why are the particles "は" (ha⇒wa), "へ" (he⇒e), and "を" (wo⇒o) not spelled phonetically?
As far as I know only three words (or particles) have irregular, non-phonetic spelling in Japanese:
"は" - The topic particle is pronounced "wa" but the kana is otherwise pronounced "ha"
"へ" - The ...
- 15.2k
66
votes
3
answers
28k
views
What does the internet slang "草生えた" mean?
I came across the term 草生えた on the internet. There wasn't much context, but it didn't seem to mean that grass was growing. Is this a slang term?
What does it mean? I couldn't find it in any of ...
user1478
65
votes
8
answers
28k
views
When going somewhere, is there any difference between e (へ) and ni (に)?
Can you use へ and に interchangeably, as in:
北海道へ行く
and
北海道に行く ?
Are there any subtle differences in the use of these two?
- 7,048
64
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Why were ゐ and ゑ eliminated?
Sometime in the early 20th century, usage of the now-historical kana ゐ and ゑ (and their katakana equivalents) dropped off, being replaced with い and え in modern Japanese. What exactly happened here ...
- 3,189
63
votes
3
answers
22k
views
The difference between が and を with the potential form of a verb
When using the potential form of a verb, I was taught that the particle を becomes が. However, in real life this seems to not always be the case. I've even heard Japanese people use を instead of が ...
- 6,668
63
votes
4
answers
16k
views
ことができる versus V~える form
Way back in the day when I was first learning Japanese, I learned that you could add ことができる to a verb to indicate potential. Like so:
食{た}べることができる
(I) can eat (something)
It became my ...
- 24.6k
61
votes
8
answers
30k
views
Particles: に vs. で
I have progressed pretty far in Japanese, but when I construct Japanese sentences, I still get these two particles mixed up. For example, when talking about being inside something, I don't know when ...
- 5,035
58
votes
7
answers
20k
views
What is the difference between 〜となる and 〜になる?
Is it a nuance difference? Is it formality?
EDIT
For example:
請求書のお支払いは現金のみとなりますので、ご了承くださいませ。
請求書のお支払いは現金のみになりますので、ご了承くださいませ。
I just made that example up, but for some reason, my gut tells me it's ...
- 4,015
57
votes
7
answers
23k
views
Why are katakana preferred over hiragana or kanji sometimes?
I noticed that "dame", which means "not good" or "don't do that", is sometimes written in manga as katakana. I was wondering, is it because katakana is used to express a strong feeling?
Sometimes, ...
57
votes
6
answers
13k
views
i-adjectives used as na-adjectives: is there a difference? (e.g. 大きい versus 大きな)
There are at the very least several i-adjectives can be used as na-adjectives by dropping the final い and adding な in its place. The most common examples of this, as far as I am aware, are 大きい and 小さい,...
- 7,559
56
votes
5
answers
133k
views
What exactly is "なの" (nano)?
I asked a female Japanese friend to translate a sentence for me and it ends in "nano" which I took to be either an alternative question particle to -ne or -ka; or possibly two particles I ...
- 15.2k
56
votes
1
answer
54k
views
What are the rules regarding "mute vowels" ("u" after "s" and "i" after "sh")?
When you first begin to learn Japanese you are taught that Japanese has no stress and each syllable should be pronounced equally.
You also learn that certain vowels are not pronounced, or only ...
- 15.2k
53
votes
5
answers
65k
views
Usage of すみません (sumimasen) versus ごめんなさい (gomen'nasai)
There are several situations in which one of these words (phrases?) should be used but there's not usually a 1:1 mapping between any two languages.
Get somebody's permission. English: "excuse me", "I ...
- 15.2k
53
votes
5
answers
24k
views
What is the meaning of ～んです/～のだ/etc?
This sentence ending has started to creep up more and more in my current Japanese classes, and I'm still a bit unsure what all it can mean, how to use it, or even when I should think to use it. My ...
user1316
52
votes
10
answers
19k
views
When is the katakana form of wo (ヲ) used?
I'm pretty new to Japanese, and I've been trying to learn hiragana and katakana. I know that in hiragana, wo (を) is used only for as an object particle, and it is always pronounced like o (お).
This ...
- 1,691
52
votes
3
answers
36k
views
What's the difference between なぜ、どうして and なんで when meaning 'why'?
I've been meaning to ask this for a while.
What is the difference between these 3 words. I was taught they all mean "why", but obviously, being different words they convey different nuance and would ...
- 6,668
51
votes
4
answers
10k
views
Is there any reason a lot of body parts use the Month/Moon radical?
腕、胸、お腹、肘、脇、肩 are all body parts, and their radical is 月. I wonder how that came to be?
51
votes
6
answers
19k
views
What does っす at the end of a sentence mean?
I saw a sentence like:
「それ使{つか}ってるっす。」
and none of my dictionaries have an entry for just "っす". Is it a verb form, gobi, or something else?
- 2,104
50
votes
1
answer
25k
views
What is the difference between いえ and うち?
I am trying to understand the difference between using いえ and うち. I originally drew the conclusion that うち is used for your own house and いえ for others' houses, but my Japanese teacher said that this ...
- 3,397
49
votes
5
answers
16k
views
If Kanji are necessary to disambiguate homophones, how come it's still used, being that Japanese people seem to know the difference when speaking?
I'm a beginner.
People argue for Kanji being that it helps disambiguate homophones in written Japanese, but in spoken Japanese, kanji (or any other visual aid) are not available, yet people seem to ...
- 639
49
votes
4
answers
69k
views
What do the shapes △ ◯ ╳ ◻ mean in Japanese? And are there variations in meaning, depending on whether or not the shape is filled?
I am interested in Japanese culture and the symbolism used in Japan, specifically I'd like to know what the △ triangle, ◯ circle, ╳ cross and ◻ square mean to a Japanese person.
How are those shapes ...
- 607
48
votes
2
answers
8k
views
How does the の work in 「日本人の知らない日本語」?
I've read that 日本人の知らない日本語 translates to: "Japanese (language) that Japanese (people) don't know". But I don't understand how or what the の does in that sentence. If I'm not mistaken 知らない日本語 could ...
- 6,706
48
votes
1
answer
12k
views
ひらく / とじる vs. あける / しめる
The verbs ひらく and あける both mean to open, and とじる and しめる both mean to close. I understand that ひらく and とじる are antonym pairs, as are あける and しめる, but have never been clear on the difference between ...
- 4,267
46
votes
4
answers
35k
views
What is the difference between 大事 (daiji) and 大切 (taisetsu)?
These are two words that seem like they are basically interchangeable at most levels, as they generally are. The difference between them appears to be small, but what is the difference, if one exists? ...
- 18.3k
45
votes
3
answers
10k
views
What's the difference between 女性 and 女の人?
As far as I'm aware, both words translate into English as "woman". What's the difference in meaning between [女性]{じょせい} and [女の人]{おんなのひと}?
- 16.1k
45
votes
7
answers
16k
views
How important is one's pitch when speaking Japanese?
I'm aware of some words in Japanese that have the same reading but different meaning depending on the pitch of each syllable. The canonical example is はし (hashi), which can mean either chopsticks (...
- 1,516
45
votes
4
answers
64k
views
What does the little っ (tsu) signify when at the end of a word?
The small っ (tsu) is usually used before a consonant to indicate gemination, less technically known as doubled consonants, which is how they are transliterated in romaji.
I have seen it at the end of ...
- 15.2k
44
votes
4
answers
5k
views
What is the meaning of 「読むには読んだ」?
I have the following sentence and I can't find any material pointing out the usage of this grammar.
薦められた本を読むには読んだが、よく理解できなかった。
In general, what is the usage of 「VるにはVた」?
- 1,201
44
votes
6
answers
29k
views
Pronouncing が as 'nga'
I'm a beginner and am learning from CD (Pimsleur). There are two native speakers going through the dialogue. One, the man, pronounces が as I would expect - 'ga'. The other (female) pronounces it as '...
- 543
44
votes
3
answers
44k
views
Is ending question sentences with の really feminine?
In What differences should I look out for between male vs female speech?, a lot of answers explicitly mention that ending question sentences with の is feminine.
However, this makes very little sense ...
- 15.9k
44
votes
4
answers
27k
views
Usage of たくさん vs. 多い
When do we use たくさん and when do we use 多い? I found both modifiers are used within similar sentences, for example:
人が多かったです
人がたくさんいました
I had this impression that 多い is used with countable nouns (...
- 19.7k
42
votes
5
answers
18k
views
Is it proper to thank waitstaff, cashiers, etc. for their service?
In my Japanese class we were taught that one does not need to thank a cashier when they check you out or a server when they bring you your meal, but I always feel awkward remaining silent. Was my ...
- 7,779
42
votes
4
answers
14k
views
What does -komu (～込む) at the end of a word mean?
There are loads of words in Japanese which end in 込{こ}む, like 吸{す}い込む, 読{よ}み込む, 入{はい}り込む, 打{う}ち込む, 売{う}り込む, 送{おく}り込む, 押{お}し込む. How does adding ～込む change the meaning? What is the meaning that links ...
- 7,048
42
votes
5
answers
48k
views
Why was both katakana and hiragana created?
Nowadays, katakana tends to be used for gairaigo and onomatopoeia, while hiragana tends to be used for native Japanese words. This is a slight simplification - more information is available here.
...
- 16.1k
42
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How do parents obscure spoken messages in front of their children in Japanese?
Let's say I'm a very young child and I love dessert. After my family goes out today, my dad is going to buy us ice cream; he needs to tell my mom in front of me, without me finding out. In English, he ...
- 1,396