Unanswered Questions
642 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
14
votes
0answers
999 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 ...
14
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 ...
9
votes
1answer
311 views
Linguistic/syntactic analysis of のほうがよく聞く
In Japanese the following such sentences are seen quite often:
「〜のほうが（よく）（聞く／使う／感じる／知っている）」
However when you consider the grammar, these are all transitive verbs (in the sense they normally take ...
8
votes
1answer
331 views
How to handle が and によって in this sort of sentence?
I'll be taking a written test in a few weeks to become a part-time translator for an automotive client; they sent me some practice documents in the meantime.
I am having issues at the moment, since ...
8
votes
4answers
766 views
Which radical name should I study for the kanken?
I love learning kanji, so I thought about taking the kanken (probably level 6). So I started to look for information here and there, and it seems I'll have to learn radical names.
I'm totally fine ...
7
votes
1answer
509 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
288 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
2answers
327 views
Why does いい加減 have diametrically opposite meanings?
When scolding a misbehaving child, we tell them to be iikagen:
いい加減にしなさい。
But we can also tell a misbehaving child to stop being iikagen, or describe something bad as iikagen:
もういい加減でやめなさい。
...
6
votes
1answer
154 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
364 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
263 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
295 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
313 views
Are both of these correct sentences: 「ここに住所を書いてくださいますか？」「ここに住所を書いてくださいませんか？」？
I believe 「ここに住所を書いてくださいますか？」 means “Could you please write the address here?”
And 「ここに住所を書いてくださいませんか？」 means “Would you please write the address here?”
An exercise I’m doing shows the second sentence ...
6
votes
1answer
151 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? ...
6
votes
1answer
326 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?
