23
votes
Accepted
How to parse ~なくたって?
This たって is the same as たって (≒even if, even though) in 雨が降ったって出掛けるよ. The difference is that なく (te-form of ない) is inserted between the main verb (=言う) and たって. (And of course 言う is in its nai-form ...
19
votes
Can たい and たがる be used for a 1st/2nd/3rd person's desire?
Yes, たい can be used for another's, and たがる for your own desires
あなたは行きたくて、佐藤さんは行きたくないんですね。
私がフランスに行きたがるのは、理由があります。
Part of this are my own thoughts, part of this is taken from this paper: 中里 理子, ...
17
votes
Accepted
What is it about ~まして?
Yes, it is the -て form of ます. But it's a little more restricted, so you need to be a bit careful.
To be polite, you normally only need to use the です/ます form for the final verb. Any other verbs can be ...
16
votes
How to parse ~なくたって?
Here is a linguistic supplement to @naruto's answer:
This 「たって」 connects to the 連用形{れんようけい} (continuative form) of words. This is not immediately clear because of the euphonic changes that take place....
15
votes
Accepted
Understand the difference between [dictionary/ない + ようとする] and [volitional + にする]
The (よ)う in ~(よ)うとする is volitional. ~(よ)うとする means "try to do ~~" "be about to do ~~", and is attached to the 未然形 (imperfective form) of verbs, as in 「[走]{はし}ろ+うとする」「[歩]{ある}こ+うとする」「[見]{み}+ようとする」etc.
...
13
votes
Accepted
Auxiliary verbs in Japanese
There are two different definitions of auxiliary verb.
Auxiliary verb as the translation of 助動詞
Words like ます, (ら)れる are generally taught as "part of conjugations/forms" in most Japanese-as-a-second-...
12
votes
Accepted
〜たい form vs. 〜てほしい
〜てほしい is used when you want someone else to do something. I've never heard it used in reference to one's own desires (and in fact, may be ungrammatical).
Related:
Wanting Someone To Do Something (...
12
votes
Accepted
What dialect is !〜べ?
It's widely used in Kanto and Tohoku regions to a varying degree. Stereotyped Tohoku dialect uses っぺ instead of べ(ー), though.
東京方言
伝統的な関東方言・東北方言では意思・同意・推量の語尾は「べ(え)」であり、「行くべ」や「これだべ」「これだんべ」「...
10
votes
What's the rule for expressing "I don't want to"
Adding to @ishikun's answer, you need to note that たい is an (auxiliary) adjective which uses 'adjective stem (い removed from い adjective) + くない' to negate it.
I would say
They added "くない" to the ...
9
votes
Accepted
Origin of ません (-masen)?
According to Shogakukan's big 国{こく}語{ご}大{だい}辞{じ}典{てん}, the verb ending -masu ultimately derived from a combination of humble polite auxiliary verb 参{まい}る plus the verb する, as a shift from either ...
8
votes
Accepted
Why is there a な in this sentence?
This isn't simply 美味しい, but 美味しそう. The そう suffix means 'appears to be', and it takes な.
When I saw a photo of delicious-looking food, I couldn't help but drool.
8
votes
Accepted
how to use ~そう past tense
Yes, 疲れそう means "It looks tiresome" rather than "You look tired".
To say "You look tired", you can say 疲れていそう or 疲れてそう using the subsidiary verb いる. Other ways to say similar things are 「お疲れですか」, 「...
8
votes
Difference between だと vs と before 認める
The omission of the copula だ before a と meaning "as" is grammatically permitted, and common. And since the だ mostly serves a grammatical function, the meaning remains effectively the same after ...
8
votes
Accepted
Difference between だと vs と before 認める
(Basically I agree with goldbrick, but I think I should post my own answer...)
一般に公正妥当と認められる企業の基準
一般に公正妥当だと認められる企業の基準
Despite mackygoo's statement, in my opinion, both 公正妥当と認められる and ...
7
votes
Accepted
Origin of -tai desiderative suffix
According to this article in Japanese WP, -たい is the descendant of Middle Japanese -たし (-tasi), which ultimately traces back to Old Japanese (or Proto-Japonic) いたし (itasi; "sore, acute").
A paper ...
7
votes
Accepted
Difference between 「彷徨う」 and 「彷徨える」、「狂う」 and 「狂える」 etc
[彷徨]{さまよ}[へ]{え}: the 命令形 (imperative form) of さまよふ, which is the archaic version of さまよう
[狂]{くる}[へ]{え}: the 命令形 of くるふ, the archaic version of 狂う
る: the 連体形 (attributive form) of り, which is an ...
7
votes
Accepted
ください without て form and auxiliary verbs
おやめください
お+[連用形]+ください is an honorific language of ~~てください. So おやめください is an honorific, politer way of saying やめてください. It consists of: the honorific お + the continuative form of やめる + the imperative ...
7
votes
Accepted
じ/ず conversion in 人は動かじ
じ(まじ) is an auxiliary verb that means will not (as opposed to ず meaning not). So 動かじ means (People) will not move/take actions.
7
votes
How does 形容詞+かる work in Classical Japanese?
Your main question
How does 形容詞+かる work in Classical Japanese?
In basic terms, the conjugation charts in the Japanese Wikipedia article at https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/形容詞#古典日本語の形容詞の活用 are quite ...
6
votes
Accepted
What's the rule for expressing "I don't want to"
Yup, that's exactly right.
V-stem + たい "Want to V"
V-stem + たくない "(I) don't want to V"
Source
6
votes
Why is there a な in this sentence?
This そうな is the 連体形{れんたいけい} (attributive form) of verbal auxiliary そうだ, which indicates mode.
美味{おい}し is the stem of 美味{おい}しい. The verbal auxiliary そうだ is placed after the stem of an adjective.
6
votes
Accepted
What is しか here?
It's direct past き + question か (see the 係助詞 one).
The particle か causes 係【かか】り結【むす】び phenomenon, which makes the sentence verb end in 連体形 no matter where か attaches to in the sentence. In the link ...
6
votes
Accepted
meaning of みんべえ
みんべえ is a collapsed pronunciation of みるべえ or みるべ.
る in verbs often contracts to ん in colloquial speech when followed by some words, eg:
[何]{なに}[見]{み}てるのよ! → [何]{なに}[見]{み}てんのよ!
バカなことするなよ。 → ...
6
votes
Accepted
Is there really any difference between だなんて and なんて?
This type of だ has been asked several times:
~たいだとか why is there a だ here?
Is 「3人いるだと」 grammatical?
Usage (correctness) of だと after verbs
だ in your examples are optional, but I feel they are still "...
5
votes
Accepted
What does 開けたかった mean?
You're on the right track, but lets break it down a little bit more.
開ける: to open
開けたい: want to open
開けたかった: wanted to open
んだ/(のです): "It is that~", "the case", "the situation&...
5
votes
Why 寝たよう instead of 寝そう in this example
I think l'électeur's answer is perfect.
If I could add some information for bjorn's comment with "... at other times means more like the action of falling asleep or going to sleep" I would give the ...
5
votes
How to translate 'She was made to make him give me the book'?
I think your translation is unnatural, though I am not sure whether it is grammatically incorrect or not. I translate it as 彼女は、彼が私にその本をあげるようにさせられた. You can use a phrase が~をするようにする that has the ...
5
votes
Is ょう still one single word/助動詞 in the expression しましょう?
As you can confirm in any decent dictionary, ましょう is mase + u. mase is the 未然形 of masu, while u is regular 助動詞. Now unless you are familiar with historical spelling (歴史的仮名遣い), you may be wondering ...
5
votes
Accepted
なさい and ください using い-stem instead of う-stem
As pointed out in the comment section, くださる and なさる are irregular verbs in Japanese. The regular imperative form くだされ/なされ somehow changed to ください/なさい long ago, making them look identical to the pre-...
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