17
votes
Accepted
Is Saturday considered a weekday or weekend, or something else?
Is it considered weekend?
Yes, Saturdays are usually regarded as part of 週末. They are usually not regarded as 平日.
The usage of 土日, 週末 and 休日
Difference between 土日 and 週末
Is 日曜 sometimes used to ...
6
votes
"At the end of the day..." と同意の日本語表現はありますか?
結局 works, but it's used primarily in the sense of "in the end" to describe what happened last, as in "結局電車に乗れなかった". In your context, you are seeking a decisive and/or fundamental ...
5
votes
Difference between ごとに、ずつ、それぞれ
They are almost never interchangeable.
Aごとに means "for each A".
Aずつ means "A for each X" or "A at a time". We don't say ❌ずつに.
それぞれ is an adverb/noun meaning "each&...
4
votes
Which one is correct between 侘び寂び and 侘寂
The appropriate spelling is 侘び寂び, even though 侘寂 is also understood by Japanese people, according to the discussion provided in this subreddit thread, (emphasis mine):
訓読み requires okurigana, so a ...
4
votes
Accepted
Is 僻む a transitive verb? If so, how frequently is it used along with を?
A question like this can be answered using a corpus: https://tsukubawebcorpus.jp/search/
In summary:
The vast majority of examples are used without any target directly marked with ~に or ~を. I would ...
4
votes
Accepted
What’s the difference between 時(とき) and 時間(じかん)
First, 時 is a wago, and 時間 is a kango. See wago-and-kango. This means that 時 is more tightly integrated into the grammar of Japanese, and it sometimes carries a good literary flavor. Conversely, 時間 is ...
4
votes
Why is たい used here?
It is the school year when "you" want to have acquired [the meaning of the entry].
There's no reason for using a pronoun. You could just say
the school year in which it is desirable to ...
3
votes
Does this sentence sound natural: その靴はどこで買いましたか
It's grammatically perfectly correct, but whether or not it sounds natural depends on the situation. If you're asking this question to your colleague, your sentence is perfectly natural as-is. If you'...
3
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between saying "試験を受ける" and "試験を受験する"
試験を受験する is a bit more formal than 試験を受ける, and more suitable for something like a university entrance examination. It implies an examination that is backed up by a formal institution, one with a big ...
3
votes
Accepted
Is コマ in the sense of "block" or "segment" extrapolable to other situations besides "time block"?
In fact, it's even more specific than you think. コマ as a counter for classes is almost exclusively used in university education or above. In high school or below, most people use 時間 (or sometimes 時限) ...
3
votes
Accepted
What does "に" mean in "精神的に疲れたので早く寝ます"?
By itself 精神的 is a な adjective. But in your example above it essentially becomes an adverb when paired with the に. In English this can be seen as adding on the 'ly' suffix to a word.
So we get ...
3
votes
Accepted
Word order in 銀河鉄道の夜
For clarity, in the context of the 銀河鉄道の夜 the clause the question is about is meant as an answer to
[...]このぼんやりと白いものがほんとうは何かご承知ですか。
— something the teacher asks the class while pointing to an ...
3
votes
Accepted
3
votes
Why does 中止 also mean to cancel
As aguijonazo pointed out, when the Japanese use the term 中止 for an event that has not yet opened, it means that all the planning, preparation, and processes that were already started to make the ...
3
votes
Accepted
Does あまり “increase” or “lessen” the negative verb?
あまり is "(not) very", and the literal meaning of あまり多くない is "not very large in number/volume". Likewise, あまり嬉しくない is "not very happy" rather than "very unhappy".
...
3
votes
If you want to refer to a person as beautiful, would you use [綺麗]{きれい} or [美しい]{うつくしい}? What's the difference?
Agreed with other answers that 綺麗 focuses on the physical appearance, while 美しい also includes mental/situational aspects.
Does it matter what age a person is? Is one only appropriate if the person is ...
3
votes
Accepted
Why is たい used here?
It expresses "generally expected". The usage is mostly similar to the English "you may want to include more contexts" as seen in comments on JSE. Technically the subject is you (...
3
votes
Meaning of つき in 都合がつき次第
都合がつく is a set collocation. The verb is the same as the one you know as "be attached to": 付く
I think this usage corresponds to the following definition in スーパー大辞林.
[五] 実現・決着が望まれていたことが実現・...
3
votes
Accepted
絆{ほだ}す = to bind/shackle, yet referring to someone betraying?
As you notice, it is often used in the passive 絆される meaning to be moved/touched. You can see it in dictionary entries.
Since the passive usage is far more common, I think you can just remember it as ...
3
votes
"デウス" = Jesus, instead of "イエス"?
Deus means God in Latin. "Jesus" is most likely an adaptation in the translation, and I don't think the average Japanese person knows this word.
3
votes
Regarding the state verbs ある or いる in the grammar pattern さえ~ば
The ある/いる distinction for animate things is applied when these are used as verbs of existence (i.e., "There is ~").
✅猫がいます。
❌猫があります。
There is a cat.
✅机があります。
❌机がいます。
There is a desk.
When ...
2
votes
If you want to refer to a person as beautiful, would you use [綺麗]{きれい} or [美しい]{うつくしい}? What's the difference?
They both could be used in that case. There is a slight difference in nuances, but it's not critical.
I`d use 綺麗 if I saw or heard someone or something gorgeous, showy, colorful. Someone or something ...
2
votes
Use of くれる among 外
Apart from this special usage, you can safely assume くれる is exclusively used when the recipient is someone the speaker considers to be in their in-group.
That’s when it is used as a standalone verb. ...
2
votes
Accepted
Can と見る be used instead of と言う
The interpretation is:
He looked at me, asking 'Why have we stopped?'
rather than
I saw him saying 'Why have we stopped'?
と in this instance is specifying the manner in which the other person ...
2
votes
What does this "く” mean?
It's short for 育っていく. Very often in speech XXている and XXていく are abbreviated into XXてる and XXてく.
生まれて 育ってくサークル
The circle that is born and will grow up(get raised)
Without further context, this is as ...
2
votes
Accepted
Trying to understand forms of “どうせ…だろう”
In "どうせなにか企んでるだろう", the word どうせ carries nuances like "I know it, so there's no need to think much about this matter" or "Whatever you guys say doesn't matter". Therefore,...
2
votes
Accepted
About "活きてるなあって思いますか?"
This な(あ) is this sentence-ending particle, so 活きてるなあ means something along the lines of "(oh) it's alive/functioning!". This って is an informal quotative particle (=と). Thus a literal ...
2
votes
Accepted
What is the difference among the three "と" in "私と旦那さんとの今の関係について話すとみんな驚いていました"?
The first and second と are listing particles. The second と is optional. As for why と is sometime used twice, see: Question about the と particle in comparative constructs
The third と is a conjunctive ...
2
votes
Accepted
Understanding the usage of だらけ
As far as the literal translation goes, yes, it is simply "this back riddled with negligence". Grammatically, -だらけ is a suffix that forms a no-adjective. Like "riddled with ~", &...
2
votes
What's the difference between 其処ら, 至る所, and そこら中?
其処{そこ}ら is ambiguous between anywhere/any ordinary place and everywhere. So it overlaps with the other two mostly in the same way anywhere and everywhere overlaps in English. For example, そこらでみられる ...
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