36
Yes, you are correct that 中 (ちゅう) in this case means "in the middle of ～ ". For your sentence, the simple translation "downloading" is probably the most natural.
It is fairly common to combine a noun with the suffix 中(ちゅう) to express the idea of the "currently in the process of (NOUN)". A few examples of NOUN + 中:
保留{ほりゅう} ...
25
The difference is rather huge.
「旅行者{りょこうしゃ}」 sounds neutral/bland, businesslike and matter-of-fact with virtually no nuance. It is like "tourist" in English, or somewhere between "tourist" and "traveler".
「旅人{たびびと}」 sounds poetic and a bit profound. It is more like a "pensive type of traveler" or "wayfarer" than a "tourist" or "average traveler".
For ...
17
「のそ」 is an onomatopoeic word describing a slow walk, slow body movements, etc.
We also use 「のそのそ」 and 「のそりのそり」.
You can forget "a moment later" for good as it has no such meaning.
15
Both "naru hodo" and "wakarimashita" mean "I understand," but there is a difference in the usages and nuances between those two words.
"Naru hodo" means "That makes sense to me." and includes the feeling of admiration such as "Wow" or "Oh".
A: "Why is this jacket so expensive?"
...
15
In this case, it would be read as [一日]{いち・にち} which just means "(one) day" as opposed to [一日]{≪ついたち≫} which means first of the month.
My gut says that in this case 一日 is acting like "your day" in particular, trying to evoke your subjective answer of how it was in particular for you. If she had just asked you 「どんな[日]{ひ}でしたか？」, it would sound to me like a ...
13
Difference between ayumu, sanpo and aruku
aruku (歩｛ある｝く) is a general term for to walk.
ayumu (歩｛あゆ｝む) is a little old-fashioned expression for to walk, especially to walk step by step, and it has a unique and something moral meanings different from aruku such as to make progress to a certain destination.
As for sanpo (散歩｛さんぽ｝), it is a noun which ...
12
人外【じんがい】 is an uncommon and old-fashioned word. In fictional works, it typically refers to evil monsters, undeads, Japanese yokai, etc. You won't see this term often unless you're a fan of fantasy. Dictionaries say it also means "evil/wicked", but from my experience, it's rarely used in this sense. 外人 means a foreigner. 人外 is an anagram of 外人, but this is ...
12
I think you answered your own question. 中{ちゅう} is a suffix that means "in the middle of". e.g.
道路は工事中だ
The road is in the middle of construction.
12
Grammatically, there are two predicates in this sentence, (銀行に)出かけている and いない.
銀行に出かけている: "has gone to the bank", "is out at the bank"
いない: "is not here", "is away"
パパは銀行に出かけていて、いないよ。
(Added comma for clarity)
(literally) Dad has gone to the bank, and is away.
Dad is not here, (because) he's out at the bank.
...
12
We may not use 家族 to refer to friends as much as in other cultures, but calling someone with whom you have a family-to-family relationship as you describe in your post 日本の家族 is totally acceptable, and it sounds quite natural as a caption to a photo in which you appear with them.
日本のお母さん, 日本のお父さん, 日本の兄弟, etc. would also be understood the way you would expect ...
11
Born in Japan and raised in Japan for more than 30 years, I have never seen "赤ひげ" used as a derogatory term of "westerner".
Before I write this, I did find an entry 赤髭 in a Japanese derogatory terms glossary, and it does say it's "Westerner (derogatory)." However, more than 90% of the words in that list were totally unfamiliar to me. So I believe it's safe ...
11
I think this is actually a place where the Chinese-imported kanji obscure the usage of native Japanese words.
Etymology
The etymology of all these words (and 書く) is the same 和語 of かく, which has the original meaning of "scratch in" and eventually "write". Then, えをかく meant "to scratch/write a picture", which eventually became えがく.
From the historical ...
11
The correction does not have the same meaning as the question in English, so I think your friend misunderstood what you wanted to ask (which is another reason to avoid はず here).
Even though はず can be translated as "supposed", it does not work well in this case. It is used when you have a reasonable expectation of something. E.g.:
日本人は約2000字の漢字を知っているはずです。
A ...
10
It's being used here as B being humble and saying that the pleasure of this meeting is all theirs.
You know how sometimes, especially in cliched movies, there will be an exchange like this?
X: Thank you for all you have done for us.
Y: No, sir. It is I who should thank you.
The feeling is kind of the same here. Upon their first meeting, their exchange ...
10
Not necessarily old-fashioned, but standalone 者 does sound stiff.
It's commonly found in military settings or in legal documents, where everything is written in an objective manner:
違反した者は、6か月以下の懲役もしくは100万円以下の罰金に処す。
It's also used as a humble expression of 人 in formal business settings. Using 人 is clearly inappropriate in the following sentences:
...
10
These can be divided into two large categories.
上手い ≒ 巧い ≒ good at something, skillful
彼女は料理がうまい。 She is good at cooking.
美味い ≒ 旨い ≒ delicious, yummy
この料理はうまい。 This dish is delicious.
The difference between 上手い and 巧い is much smaller, but 上手い is "good" in general, while 巧い is closer to "technical" or "skillful".
The difference between 美味い and 旨い is ...
10
I feel 何字知っているはずですか? is unnatural. I feel a question form of はずだ like はずですか? is unnatural, and the native Japanese speaker also would feel so. The reason why I feel it is unnatural is because はずだ indicates speaker's guess with conviction, so it would be unnatural to ask someone for it.
I think 何字知っているべきですか? and 何字知っていて当然ですか? are more natural.
10
ば is the accusative particle used in wide area of (northern, as I remember) Kyushu as much as を in Standard Japanese. Etymologically it's from を + は contracted but no longer has share the は sense in Standard Japanese, as we can see that it's able to mark the question word (thanks to @user4092).
そんなトコで何ばしよる。
means
そんなとこで何をしてる（んだ）。
or a bit more ...
10
You have several ways to say "I'm bad at Japanese". The most common (and direct) ways to say it would be:
私は日本語が[下手]{へた}です。(lit. As for me, Japanese is poor.)
私の日本語は下手です。(lit. My Japanese is poor.)
悪い is a literal translation of the English "bad". In Japanese, you don't use 悪い to say you're bad/unskillful at something.
You could also express ...
10
That statement basically only applies for おる as a simple existence verb. Non-humble おる is very common in Kansai. As a subsidiary verb, various forms including とる/ちょる/よる are commonly used instead of standard (～て)いる, but there are considerable regional variations even inside Kansai. See this discussion.
太郎はおる。
There is Taro. / Taro is here. (≒太郎はいる)
...
10
言語 is more of an academic term, while ことば is more colloquial and accessible. 言語 is normally used with longer compound words. Functionally, though, they mean the same thing.
Although the example that you posted is technically academic, the use of furigana does indicate that it is designed either for younger Japanese or for non-native speakers. Hence, ことば is ...
10
You've gotten the みたい part wrong. What you are seeing is a subsidiary verb (～て)みる, which means "to try doing something (and see what happens)". See: What is the difference between "verb＋て＋みる" and "verb＋(よ)う+とする"? みたい meaning "to seem / look like" never follows a te-form.
聞く "to ask"
聞いてみる "to try asking"
聞いてみたい "to want to try asking"
...
10
If I were translating these sentences naturally but relatively 'faithfully' into English, I'd probably go for the following:
日本の労働時間は世界でも長いほうだ。
Working hours in Japan are on the long(er) side, even globally.
Working hours in Japan are at the long(er) end, even globally.
~ ~ ~
日本の労働時間は世界でも長い。
Working hours in Japan are long, even globally.
I translate 長いほう ...
10
The [目]{め} means "chance" "possibility". According to 明鏡国語辞典:
め【目】
🈩⑩ 好ましいことが起こる可能性。
「全員に優勝の目が残っている」
I think it's the 目 in the phrase 「[勝]{か}ち[目]{め}がある・ない」.
Another example from プログレッシブ和英中辞典:
目がない 3〔可能性がない〕
この試合では、もう勝利の目が無くなった
There's no longer any chance of our winning the game.
9
～だろう/でしょう in this context does not represent the uncertainty or guessing of the father. This actually is a strong affirmation of the Yotsuba's observation. I would translate this そうだろう as "Indeed," "Exactly," "Just as you say," or simply "Yup." I feel translating this as something like "So it seems" or "I think so too" is too weak.
If Yotsuba's father had ...
9
「やんの」 ＝ 「やがる」 + 「の」
It is attached to the て-form of a verb to express one's contempt or disdain for another. It is also used to make fun of a person or his/her action.
"The fool did/is doing (this or that)!", "Watch that a**hole do ~~!"
9
～ならではの + noun is a set phrase meaning "(noun) only seen in ～", "(noun) unique to ～", "(noun) that can be done only by ～", etc. For example, you can say 渡辺先生ならではの手術, which means "surgery that can only be performed by Dr. Watanabe." (BTW, ならでは is read ならでわ)
Now, this sentence is a cleft sentence where the person name is focused. When you say "この難しい手術ができるのは", ...
9
1) 「またしても、[政治家]{せいじか}の[金]{かね}に[関]{かん}する[問題]{もんだい}が[明]{あき}らかになった。」
2) 「[強]{つよ}すぎる[冷暖房]{れいだんぼう}は[体]{からだ}に[良]{よ}くないし、またしても、[環境]{かんきょう}にも[悪]{わる}い。」
「またしても」 is an emphatic way of saying 「また」("again"). To use it correctly, you must have a situation where the same or a similar event has occured once again. In addition, 「またしても」 is usually, if not always, ...
9
そういう場合は、両方の動詞を使い、「パンを食べ（て）、牛乳を飲む」、「リンゴを食べ（て）、コーヒーを飲む」と言い表すことができます。
しかし、よりお勧めしたいのは、「頂{いただ}く」という謙譲語・丁寧語をこの機会に覚えておくことです。「頂くを」使えば、食べ物と飲み物のどちらにも対応できるからです。
「パンと牛乳を頂く」、「リンゴとコーヒーを頂く」などと、動詞ひとつで表現できます。
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