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 ...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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&...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ...
jarmanso7's user avatar
  • 6,641
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 ...
naruto's user avatar
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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 ...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ...
A.Ellett's user avatar
  • 10.1k
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'...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ...
Yusuke Matsubara's user avatar
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) ...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ...
Tylersanzura's user avatar
  • 2,052
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 ...
Kisiel's user avatar
  • 364
3 votes
Accepted

using alot of ではない in one sentence

This is A-Okay. It sounds perfectly natural.
Jun Sato's user avatar
  • 1,140
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 ...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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". ...
naruto's user avatar
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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 ...
Enno Shioji's user avatar
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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 (...
sundowner's user avatar
  • 36.3k
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・...
aguijonazo's user avatar
  • 20.5k
3 votes
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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 ...
sundowner's user avatar
  • 36.3k
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.
Gui Imamura's user avatar
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 ...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ...
Dalila's user avatar
  • 95
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. ...
aguijonazo's user avatar
  • 20.5k
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 ...
jogloran's user avatar
  • 6,767
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 ...
dvx2718's user avatar
  • 3,269
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,...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ~", &...
naruto's user avatar
  • 314k
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 ...
sundowner's user avatar
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