New answers tagged word-choice
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What is the difference between (ない)わけではない and (ない)ことはない?
Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but -タ form seems to behave differently for the two constructions. As I see it, なかったことはない coincides with another construction -たことがある, which takes ...
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What is the difference between (ない)わけではない and (ない)ことはない?
There is very little difference, and they are interchangeable most of the time. Still, I feel the speaker is more aware of the previous context when わけではない is used. That is, a sentence using わけではない ...
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青銅 versus ブロンズ, which one should I use?
First, while English speakers distinguish "copper" and "bronze" rather strictly, Japanese people do not use 青銅 that often. "Bronze medal" is just 銅メダル, and "bronze ...
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What does this もまた mean?
This sentence is technically ambiguous; また can mean either "also" or "again" here. Assuming the meaning of "again" is not intended, もまた is a literary, emphatic and/or ...
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What does this もまた mean?
In this context も means "as well", it's an addition to a list.
On this other hand, また means "again", it indicates a repetition.
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How would I express that I'm an American with Indian heritage?
You would be インド[系]{けい}アメリカ人. It says nothing about your linguistic abilities, of course.
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What is the difference between "花が開きます" and "花が咲きます"
Like some other languages such as English, 咲く is the default, specialized verb to describe the phenomenon of flowers opening, or to "bloom", and 開く is not.
At least in the modern language, ...
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What is the difference between "花が開きます" and "花が咲きます"
According to weblio, they are synonymous with one exception:
花開く (as one unit, not 花が開く) can be used to talk about things other than flowers blooming metaphorically. The example given is "才能が花開く&...
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What is the different between "~なのですが" and "~ですが"?
The following two sentences are both correct and sound equally natural in the given context.
ステーキのお店なのですが、食べ放題のパンも美味しかったです。
ステーキのお店ですが、食べ放題のパンも美味しかったです。
The biggest difference is that the first (...
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What is the connotation of まぐわう (referring to intercourse)?
Note that there is no entry for まぐわう in most dictionaries (including 大辞泉). There is only 目合ひ(まぐわひ), which sources Kojiki, the oldest text in Japanese.
まぐわう should be a verb made from まぐわひ, most ...
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Adjectives functioning both as イ- and ナ-adjective
A morphological analysis may help to shed light on the difference between 形容詞 and 形容動詞 (referred to as i- and na-adjective respectively in Japanese grammar books written in English). 形容詞 expresses the ...
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What is the difference between 応える and 応じる?
The basic meaning of 応じる is just responding. ～に応じて is typically translated as "according to ～" or "in response to ～". The response can sometimes be an unfavorable one. On the other ...
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What is the connotation of まぐわう (referring to intercourse)?
まぐわう almost never appears in scientific contexts or news articles. This is a literary word, and I expect it used mainly in elevated novels. It's not used for copulation of animals and insects, either (...
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Nuances between the various words for direction
Mostly it is a matter of collocations and difficult to give a comprehensive answer, but generally
方向・方角・方位 are 1-dimensional; the specificity increases in this order.
向き is mostly 0-dimensional (...
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What is the difference between “(Noun) + 側” and “(Noun)”?
男性側 implies that there is someone or a team working for or representing "him". You can tell something to a lawyer working for the man and say 男性側に伝えた. Even if you have talked to the man ...
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「だいたい」と「くらい」の違い
What dictionary are you using? Does the dictionary not list other English translations?
I have two suggestions:
Look at all the translations all together. That will often give you a general sense ...
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かのように・かのようだ meaning ほど
X かのよう is just like saying "can almost make us believe that X", being faithful to its connotation. It is used to introduce a 100% counterfactual figure of speech, where the speaker is fully ...
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Why choose の over が?
In the attributive usage, the が/の are generally interchangeable.
それは学生にとって興味のある問題だと思う。
それは学生にとって興味がある問題だと思う。
Both are fine.
As a predicate 興味のある is not acceptable.
私はその問題に興味がある。
×私はその問題に興味のある。
...
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Is there considered to be socio-cultural gender in japanese language and do job title variations exist?
First, I would like to point out that "male and female language" is a rather tunnel-visioned way of understanding the richness of Japanese role languages. Japanese is a language where five ...
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