Unanswered Questions
669 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
16
votes
2answers
1k views
How has Japanese kanji and kana usage changed since 1945?
How has the percentage of writing using each script changed since 1945? With script reform, increasing influx of loanwords, and stylistic choices, several factors affect how much certain parts of the ...
14
votes
0answers
1k views
Iterative / repetitive る evolving from classical 連体形【れんたいけい】
This is somewhat related to the discussion of classical auxiliary verb ふ, mentioned in the answer to snailboat's question, What is the わ in 忌まわしい and 嘆かわしい?.
Another apparent iterative / repetitive ...
8
votes
0answers
157 views
Where does the -a stem come from with auxiliary-constructed transitive/intransitive verb pairs if the base verb is a 二段活用 (or カ行変格活用)?
It seems to be generally understood that transitive/intransitive verb pairs, when they are not a 四段活用 and a 二段活用 that share the same 終止形, were created by taking a base verb, whether transitive or ...
8
votes
1answer
537 views
いかんでは why is this answer incorrect?
最近とても疲れやすいので、その日の体調いかんでは________
I answered it with : 会社を休むこともある
But got it wrong(got 0 points), with a note telling me to use かもしれない instead.
I understand that you can answer with the かもしれない ...
8
votes
2answers
325 views
Help understanding だからこそ、という場合もある
I'm struggling to understand the sentence in the exchange below. To explain the context, these characters have been shipwrecked and landed on an unknown island. They find that several of their ...
7
votes
1answer
191 views
Expressing “someone got someone to do something for me”
I'm trying to figure out how to say something like:
Tanaka got Honda to buy me a coffee
The best I could come up with was:
田中さんは本田さんに僕のコーヒーを買わせた
Is this correct, or is there a better way to say ...
7
votes
1answer
320 views
Specific use of してまで
Recently I've been reading Michael Emmerich's "New Penguin Parallel Text" for Japanese short stories. In Yoshimoto Banana's "A Little Darkness," there's a passage that describes how the narrator's ...
7
votes
1answer
242 views
What does 笑みがこぼれてくる mean and how is it different to 笑みがこぼれる
愛鳥の寝顔、見てるだけで思わず笑みがこぼれてくる
愛鳥の寝顔、見てるだけで思わず笑みがこぼれる
My question is how is the 1st sentence different from the 2nd, and what nuance does the くる add.
7
votes
1answer
163 views
What is the origin of っこない?
There's a construction V+っこない which means something like "have no way of doing V".
お前には分かりっこないでしょう。
There's no way you would understand.
Is it known what this construction originates from? ...
7
votes
1answer
319 views
The uses of である
I understand that である is most commonly used to replace だ/です at the end of a sentence in written expressions.
But outside this usage, I can't find much explanation on how to use this structure. In ...
7
votes
1answer
360 views
What is the difference between といったところです and というところです?
銀行に変化を促しているのがタイの中央銀行です。 日本で言えば、日銀が腰を上げて、変革の旗振り役をしているといったところです。(source)
Could we replace といったところです by というところです here? If yes, what would be the difference? If not, why?
7
votes
1answer
721 views
Casual Speech Particles in Classical Japanese
I'm writing a simple Japanese skit for my class and there is a place where an ancient samurai needs to speak a few sentences of Classical Japanese.
I can mostly make the sentences, but it seems weird ...
6
votes
1answer
347 views
What does ギスる mean?
Conversation goes:
A: まだひきずっていたのか
B: え、お前忘れたの？ギスってたの俺だけ？びっくりする
B: 次はねぇぞ
The ギス I know means having a cold atmosphere or strained relationship. But here, I am not sure I get what it means.
6
votes
1answer
410 views
Difference between 「～てからでないと」and 「～ないことには」
Both of these grammar can be translated to English as
A～てからでないと/～ないことにはB = Unless A is done, cannot do B
From what I can find,
～てからでないと stresses the order or sequence of actions, that until A is ...
6
votes
1answer
356 views
Why 気にされる instead of 気にする?
These two characters are discussing ヒューバート in the below, and about how he lacks self awareness. However I am not sure why 気にされる was used instead of 気にする here. I know that される can be used as an ...
