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{
"accepted_answer_id": "22981",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "> いいからトムを一人にしておいてあげなさい。\n\nI've found this sentence on tatoeba.org and the furigana they use for 一人 is\nいちにん。 Isn't it wrong? Shouldn't it be ひとり?\n\nSame doubt with this sentence:\n\n> いい人です\n\nwith which they use the furigana じん\n\nShouldn't it be ひと? Is it a matter of soud? I have to admit that いいひと doesn't\nsound so fluent...",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-02-27T09:58:07.783",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "22978",
"last_activity_date": "2015-02-27T10:38:27.193",
"last_edit_date": null,
"last_editor_user_id": null,
"owner_user_id": "9297",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 1,
"tags": [
"readings"
],
"title": "How to read 一人 and 人 in those sentences",
"view_count": 379
} | [
{
"body": "Stay assured; You are correct on both accounts.\n\nTo say \"to leave (someone) alone\" = 「(someone) + を一人にする」, 「一人」 is always read\n「ひとり」.\n\nTo describe a quality of a person by saying \"(adjective) + 人\", 「人」 is always\nread 「ひと」.",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-02-27T10:38:27.193",
"id": "22981",
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"score": 3
}
] | 22978 | 22981 | 22981 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "22980",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I saw this picture online and it was of someone giving their business card to\na girl (presumably to become an idol). The girl says in the picture:\n\n> う〜んどうしよかなぁ 今キスしてくれたらアイドルになってもいいよ\n\nAttempt at translation:\n\n> Hmm, I wonder what I should do? If you kiss me right now, it's okay for me\n> to become an idol.\n\nWhen I was first learning it seemed that when it was 「〜てもいい(です)か？」it was\nasking for permission for yourself and when it was just 「〜てもいい」it was for\ngiving permission to someone else. It seems like the girl in the statement\nabove is giving permission to herself or is my interpretation of the sentence\nwrong?",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-02-27T10:07:47.293",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "22979",
"last_activity_date": "2015-02-27T10:24:20.427",
"last_edit_date": null,
"last_editor_user_id": null,
"owner_user_id": "9466",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 4,
"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "Can 〜てもいい indicate you are giving yourself permission?",
"view_count": 193
} | [
{
"body": "\" **Giving yourself permission** \" may be one way to interpret it. You are\ncertainly on the right track with that.\n\nIn my own words, however, it would be more like \" **agreeing (or consenting)\nto do something** \" in this particular context.",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-02-27T10:24:20.427",
"id": "22980",
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] | 22979 | 22980 | 22980 |
{
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"body": "I am confused on how to distinguish if a verb is stative or dynamic when used\nin a sentence. For example, 持つ appears to have two definitions, one for a\ndynamic meaning and one for a stative meaning.\n\n 1. 物の一部分をつかむ \n 2. 所有している \n\nHow do I tell the difference between the two definitions when used in a\nsentence? For example,\n\n武器を持った乗っ取り犯たちは乗客をりつ然とさせた。\n\nIs the interpretation \"The hijackers who had weapons terrified the passengers\"\n(stative) or \"The hijackers who had obtained weapons terrified the passengers\"\n(dynamic)?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-02-28T06:38:09.217",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "22986",
"last_activity_date": "2016-06-01T07:25:09.900",
"last_edit_date": "2016-06-01T07:25:09.900",
"last_editor_user_id": null,
"owner_user_id": "7712",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"aspect"
],
"title": "How do you tell when 持つ is stative or dynamic?",
"view_count": 256
} | [
{
"body": "You should be able to tell from the context nearly 100% of the time. On the\nrare chance that it is difficult to tell, it would generally be of little\nimportance which way you interpret it. Off hand, I could not think of such an\nexample.\n\n> 「[武器]{ぶき}を[持]{も}った[乗]{の}っ[取]{と}り[犯]{はん}たちは[乗客]{じょうきゃく}をりつ[然]{ぜん}とさせた。」\n\nIn this sentence, the vast majority of Japanese-speakers, myself included,\nwould take the 武器を持った part to mean \"holding weapons\". That is because it is\nreally irrelevant as to who actually legally owns those weapons that are\npresently in the hijackers' hands.",
"comment_count": 3,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-02-28T07:06:07.347",
"id": "22987",
"last_activity_date": "2016-06-01T07:09:49.953",
"last_edit_date": "2016-06-01T07:09:49.953",
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"score": 5
},
{
"body": "(sorry, not enough reputation to comment)\n\nI agree with l'électeur, you will and most of the time can be interpreted from\nthe context.\n\nIf you want to be specific\n\n\"He went outside without taking his card\" << action caused by him\n彼はカードを持たないで外に出ていた。\n\n\"He went outside without the card on him\" << a condition 彼はカードがない状態で外に出ていた。",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-02-28T15:30:55.380",
"id": "22989",
"last_activity_date": "2015-02-28T15:30:55.380",
"last_edit_date": null,
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"owner_user_id": "9470",
"parent_id": "22986",
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"score": 2
}
] | 22986 | null | 22987 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "22994",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I've been watching 7th episode of Aldnoah Zero S2, and stumbled across a part\nI couldn't completely understand - なぜでもだ. If I'm understanding correctly スレイン\nis saying something like \"Don't give me your 'why?'\" or \"It's none of your\nbusiness\" etc. However what exactly does this phrase means? Of course it's\nconnected with previous phrase 「でも なぜ…」, however what has changed, when he\nrephrased it backwards?\n\n> スレイン「治療液を抜いて アセイラム姫を僕の城に運びます」\n>\n> スレイン「このことは内密に」\n>\n> スレイン「もちろん レムリナ姫にも」\n>\n> エデルリッゾ「でも なぜ…」\n>\n> スレイン「 **なぜでもだ** 」\n>\n> スレイン「すみません 怯えさせるつもりは…」\n\nThis moment starts on 6:54.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-02-28T17:50:35.030",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "22990",
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"last_edit_date": "2015-02-28T20:25:16.847",
"last_editor_user_id": "3183",
"owner_user_id": "3183",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 6,
"tags": [
"translation"
],
"title": "Meaning of 「なぜでもだ」",
"view_count": 492
} | [
{
"body": "We have two completely different 「でも」 here.\n\n> 「 **でも** なぜ....」 = \" ** _But_** why....?\"\n\nThis is the **conjunction** 「でも」 that you see/hear everywhere everyday.\n\n> 「なぜ **でも** だ」 = \" ** _Regardless_** of why\", \" ** _irrespective_** of the\n> reason\", etc.\n\nThis 「でも」 is a **particle**. In a way, 「なぜでも」 is kind of like saying \" **\n_whyever_** \" when the reason is of little importance though it may not\nofficially be a word in English.\n\n> 「なぜ **でも** だ！」＝「どんな[理由]{りゆう} **でも** だ！」＝「どんな理由 **で** あって **も** だ！」\n\nIn essence, all of these expressions imply **_\"Don't ask why!\"_**",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-02-28T22:45:59.437",
"id": "22993",
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"body": "Here is how I understood this conversation.\n\nThe first でも, in 「でも なぜ…」, is the [接続詞 meaning\n\"but\"](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/152507/m0u/%E3%81%A7%E3%82%82/).\nHere, Edelrittuo is asking Slaine \"But why?\".\n\nThe second でも, in 「なぜでもだ」, is the [係助詞 that you use with\ninterrogatives](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/152508/m0u/%E3%81%A7%E3%82%82/)\nin constructions like 何でも食べるよ or だれでも知っていること, to mean \"anything\" / \"anyone\" /\netc. Since なぜ means \"why\", なぜでも I guess would literally mean \"for any reason\".\nIn the context of this exchange, where it is being used as an angry reply to a\nquestion, I would think of it as meaning \"it doesn't matter what the reason\nis\".\n\nFor an idiomatic way of putting this in English, consider:\n\n> Edelrittuo: \"But why?\" \n> Slaine: \"Because!\"\n\nI don't think it's useful to view Slaine's retort as being Edelrittuo's\nquestion \"rephrased backwards\" - it just happens to look that way, since でも\nhappens to have a lot of meanings.",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-02-28T22:46:13.917",
"id": "22994",
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}
] | 22990 | 22994 | 22993 |
{
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"body": "Is it okay if I say 'sukoshi matte kudasai' instead of 'chotto matte kudasai'\n?",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-02-28T21:21:55.233",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "22992",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-01T11:07:03.507",
"last_edit_date": "2015-02-28T22:32:06.057",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 3,
"tags": [
"word-choice",
"synonyms"
],
"title": "Chotto and sukoshi ....kudasai?",
"view_count": 2148
} | [
{
"body": "yes, if you translate it to English they have very similar meanings. Assuming\nthat you knew in Japanese there are formal and informal terms, chotto is\ninformal and generally only used in speech.",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-01T07:57:25.550",
"id": "23000",
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"parent_id": "22992",
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}
] | 22992 | null | 23000 |
{
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"body": "Just to add some context: I was with a Japanese friend at a うどん and そば\nrestaurant in 浅草 where they had a small sign by the counter to buy their fresh\nnoodles. However, the size of the portion was not indicated by a weight in\ngrams or anything like that, it was a kanji/counter/symbol that looked like a\ncheckbox... Something like this : \n\nIf I remember well, he told me it was an old kanji that denotes a well-defined\nquantity of noodles, a bit like 一斤{いっきん} is used for a loaf of bread.\n\nHowever, I have tried hand drawn kanji recognition without success, gone\nthrough a few counter and unit lists but none of them seem to mention it.\n\nSo is this thing a kanji ? How is it pronounced ?\n\nThanks a lot !",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-01T01:01:02.530",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "22995",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-01T08:47:08.993",
"last_edit_date": null,
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"owner_user_id": "3614",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 13,
"tags": [
"kanji",
"counters"
],
"title": "Looking for a kanji/symbol used for counting noodles",
"view_count": 671
} | [
{
"body": "That is the [略字](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9E%A1%E8%A8%98%E5%8F%B7)\nfor 枡, [the square vessel used for\nsake](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9E%A1) and a measurement of volume.\n\nEDIT: Punningly, also used as an abbreviation for the verb ending ーます during\nthe Edo period:\n\n>\n> また、「ます」と呼ぶことから丁寧の語尾（助動詞）の「ます」の置き換えとしても使用されることが多かった。（例：豆腐あり〼）この用例は江戸時代にはかなり多かったが現代になってからは使用頻度が少なくなった。",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-01T06:00:32.250",
"id": "22998",
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] | 22995 | 22998 | 22998 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "22999",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I've come across this sentence (internal monologue) in a visual novel:\n\n> 感傷にひたるのはこれぐらいにして、階段を下りたらいつもの遠坂凛に戻るとしよう―\n\nWhat confuses me is the これぐらいにして part. As for これぐらい, I assume it's the second\nmeaning from [here](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/82868/m0u/), i.e.\nused to make light of the character basking in her sentimentality. As for にして,\nI don't think it's either of the two meanings listed in my grammar book - (1)\na compound particle to stress simultaneity and an element of surprise or (2) a\nconjunction meaning \"and\".\n\nRather, it would make more sense as a variant of にしておく, i.e. leaving as is.\nLit: \"leaving this sentimentality thing as is, let's get downstairs and return\nto my normal self\" What I'm asking, then, is: does it look like it? Am I\nmissing something big here?\n\nHere's Tohsaka's monologue bit that precedes it:\n\n>\n> わたしは学園で一番の優等生でありながら、誰かの一番にならないように波風立てずに生活している。それが、まあ、こんな風に疲労している時、なんとなーくつまんないなあ、と思ってしまうワケなのだ。「っと、もう時間か」ホットレモンを飲みきって立ち上がる。感傷にひたるのはこれぐらいにして、階段を下りたらいつもの遠坂凛に戻るとしよう\n\n(by the way としよう here is just a volitional of suru with a to particle, right?)",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-01T02:57:37.137",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "22996",
"last_activity_date": "2022-01-01T23:22:38.500",
"last_edit_date": "2022-01-01T23:22:38.500",
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"post_type": "question",
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"tags": [
"grammar",
"meaning"
],
"title": "What does にして mean in this sentence (a variant of にしておく)? 感傷にひたるのはこれぐらいにして",
"view_count": 1350
} | [
{
"body": "Seems to me that you are reading a little too much into the phrase.\n\n> 「(Noun) + は + これぐ(or く)らいにして」 is a very common expression meaning \"Enough\n> with (noun)\".\n\nThe 「の」 in 「[感傷]{かんしょう}にひたる **の** 」 nominalizes the verb phrase 「感傷にひたる」= \"to\nsentimentalize over something\", so it can be treated like a noun.\n\nGrammatically speaking:\n\n「これぐらい」 means \"around here\", \"about this much\", etc. What that refers to is\nthe fact that the speaker thinks s/he has already done a sufficient amount of\nsentimentalizing and s/he now wants to call it quits and move on. In other\nwords, 「これぐらいにする」 means \"to bring something to an end\".\n\nI am a bit surprised by your analysis of 「～～にして」 here because it is only the\nte-form of the verb 「する」. **_You do A first and move on to do B._**\n\nA: quit sentimentalizing (right here)\n\nB: go down the stairs and get back to my usual self as 遠坂凛\n\n「～～にして」 is not always a variant of 「～～にしておく」, but in this context, it just so\nhappens that you could replace 「にして」 by 「にしておいて」 or 「にしておき」 as far as\ngrammatical correctness and meaning. The author's choice 「にして」, however,\nsounds better and more natural.",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-01T07:56:33.637",
"id": "22999",
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"parent_id": "22996",
"post_type": "answer",
"score": 5
}
] | 22996 | 22999 | 22999 |
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"body": "As the title says, I'm asking in what situations **I'm supposed** to use those\n2. I know what they mean, more or less. Is it just a matter of one being\n\"superior\" or \"inferior\" to you?\n\ne.g., I'll be in Japan next month; long story short: I'll be having an\ninterview with a teacher (from which I'm supposed to be \"seen\" as someone of\n中級 level of knowledge、although I rarely, if ever, speak Japanese so I'll\nprobably have issues there), so, in this case, am I supposed to use only and\njust only 尊敬語 and would I make a bad impression if I just talked to her/him\nwith 丁寧語?",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-01T03:43:17.893",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "22997",
"last_activity_date": "2016-02-13T14:43:37.203",
"last_edit_date": "2016-02-13T14:43:37.203",
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"owner_user_id": "9475",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 4,
"tags": [
"grammar",
"keigo"
],
"title": "When to use 丁寧語 and/or 尊敬語",
"view_count": 1204
} | [
{
"body": "Forget the words superior and inferior, they are a poor fit it my experience.\n\nSocial elevation. Either you shall raise your friend or you shall lower\nyourself. \nYou may do both, but do not do both in the same sentence.\n\nIt is okay if you make mistakes and mix and match, but if a native speaker did\nit it would seem rude by \"laying on the gravy of politeness\"\n\nSo, depending on how much you have learned, always try to use keigo for the\nteacher's actions.\n\nThe sensei irrassharu's (arrives, leaves, and any te-iru)... The sensei\nossharu's (speaks, elocutes) and not just \"says\"\n\n\"Oshatta toori\" or \"As you have said\" is a great phrase to use in pretty much\nany situation where there is social elevation.\n\nHumbling language... hmmm. ~~to moushimasu and the like? Yeah, it's good, but\nin my experience people get a bigger kick out of you being able to raise\n/their/ level than diminish your own. If you are in front of many people or in\na crowd of sensei(s) then you will want to use this because it's important to\nbe humbled-by-your-peers.\n\nIn groups of friends whom you are hanging out with, use whatever other people\nare using, and it is definitely OK to ask what level of politeness.\n\nPeople might ask your age and address you accordingly, like if you're older\nthey might start adding desu to everything. I think the best course of action\nis to say \"you need not use polite language regarding me\" or \"watashi ni\ntaishite teinei go wo tsukawanakute mo ii desu yo.\" Just some personal\npreference at play. Have fun and immerse yourself as much as possible.\n\nAlways be listening to Japanese and always be practicing sentences. In the\nshower, on the walk to the train. Tiny moments of practice add up! When you\ncan master the pitch intonation (by repetitive listening to sound files or the\nwhat like) then people will truly be impressed! (bit of a rant at the end but\nI wanted to add what might be useful for ya!)\n\ngambare~!",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-08T06:26:10.453",
"id": "23118",
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},
{
"body": "The 丁寧語 they teach in Japanese class is what you use in most everyday real-\nworld situations, including talking to a teacher or your boss. 尊敬語 is how you\nwould talk to a customer or something like that. For example, if you're\ntalking to your teacher, you would say \"来ます\" but if you're a receptionist\ntalking to a customer you would say \"お越しになります\". If you're calling a business\non the phone and you're not sure exactly who is on the other end, you'll\nusually use 尊敬語 to be polite. For example if you're on the phone asking for a\nperson named Sato you'd say \"佐藤さんいらっしゃいますでしょうか\" as opposed to \"佐藤さんいますか\".\n\nMy personal advice, though, is just don't worry about it too much, no one will\nhate you for making a mistake, and you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly.",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-08T09:25:15.110",
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] | 22997 | null | 23118 |
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"accepted_answer_id": "23003",
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"body": "Recently I have received the e-mail from レコチョク online music store - and the is\nthe title 今日のイチオシ. It translates as \"Today's choices\". But abbreviation (?) at\nthe end ~オシ I can't understand/translate.. And also the name itself of the\nshop レコチョク is not very clear to me - the part ~チョク. Maybe it is also some\nabbreviation?",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-01T10:19:17.297",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23001",
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"last_edit_date": "2015-03-01T10:24:46.363",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 1,
"tags": [
"words",
"meaning"
],
"title": "Explaining pharse 「今日のイチオシ」 - part ~オシ",
"view_count": 376
} | [
{
"body": "「オシ」 comes from the verb 「[推]{お}す」, which means \"to recommend\". You may\nalready know the word 「[推薦]{すいせん}する」, which means the same. Notice the same\nkanji is used in both.\n\n「イチ」, of course, means 「[一番]{いちばん}」. Thus, 「イチオシ」 is a colloquial (kind of\nslangy but not too much) word meaning \" ** _one's best recommendation_** \".\n\nFinally, 「チョク」 in 「レコチョク」 is 「[直]{ちょく}」 in kanji. It means \"direct\".\n\nAccording to Wikipedia, the company was named レコチョク because it is directly\nfunded by the record companies -- 「レコード[会社直営]{がいしゃちょくえい}」. It took the 「レコ」\nand「直」 parts and put them together.\n\n<http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B3%E3%83%81%E3%83%A7%E3%82%AF>",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-01T10:39:00.590",
"id": "23003",
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"score": 3
}
] | 23001 | 23003 | 23003 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23005",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "こんばんは。\n\nWhen I have been reading Manga recently I have encountered many onomatopoeia\nwords such as シャカシャカ as in ' _Brush Brush_ ' and パタパタ for ' _rush rush/flap\nflap_ ' but I have found some words such as シャッ for a ' _zoosh/swoosh_ ' sound\nbut what is the 小さいつ (small tsu) ッ suppose to mean in this onomatopoeia when\nit is at the end of the word? for another onomatopoeia word, シャッ I read it as\n' _Sha_ '? but does the ッ change the way I pronounce the word in any way?\nOther examples of onomatopoeia words include しゃーっ ' _shuum_ ' and ボコッ '\n_thump_ '.\n\nSorry if the onomatopoeia words are wrongly translated. I just basically want\nto know what is the small ' _tsu_ ' (Hiragana or Katakana) do to the word when\nit is placed at the end because from my knowledge it usually indicates a pause\nfor words like 学校【がっこう】.\n\nありがとうございます。",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-01T10:24:08.997",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23002",
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"last_edit_date": "2015-03-01T10:36:45.207",
"last_editor_user_id": "1141",
"owner_user_id": "9476",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 4,
"tags": [
"grammar",
"pronunciation",
"onomatopoeia"
],
"title": "How do I pronounce these Katakana Onomatopoeia (words that sound like noises)?",
"view_count": 1115
} | [
{
"body": "When っ or its katakana counterpart ッ appears word-finally, it's commonly a\nglottal stop //ʔ// or an implosive, \"unreleased\" stop at some other point of\narticulation, for me usually implosive //k//. \n\nGlottal stops appear in English too, most common example being \"uh-oh\". \n\nFirst English word I can think of which has an implosive stop is \"yep\".\n\nEDIT: \nUpdate as I was not fully understanding the question. \n \nっ(ッ) at the end of an onomatopoeia usually works to intensify it. \nMany onomatopoeia denoting crushing, slashing, cracking, i.e \"destructive\"\nones tend to have ッ at the end. \n \nドカッ sounds stronger than ドカ (hitting something), バキッ stronger than バキ\n(breaking something), and so on. \n \n\"Soft\" onomatopoeiae tend not have っ(ッ) at the end. \nExamples include サラサラ(river water quietly streaming), パラパラ (flipping through\npages of a book)",
"comment_count": 4,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-01T11:33:13.653",
"id": "23005",
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"parent_id": "23002",
"post_type": "answer",
"score": 5
}
] | 23002 | 23005 | 23005 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23010",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "What's the best way to express **in** in the following sentence:\n\n> I will go in five minutes time.\n\nHere's my attempt\n\n> 五分かいあとで行きます。\n\nHere's another attempt which I have even less confidence in:\n\n> いまから五分行きます\n\nAssuming the above are correct then I would translate them as \"I will go after\n5 minutes\", and \"I will go 5 minutes from now\". So, questions:\n\n 1. Are the above correct?\n 2. If not then please explain what I've done wrong.\n 3. Are there better ways to say it?\n\nPlease excuse the inconsistent kanji. I've only used the kanji I already know.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-01T10:53:51.327",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23004",
"last_activity_date": "2022-06-19T08:00:02.987",
"last_edit_date": "2022-06-19T08:00:02.987",
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"owner_user_id": "7944",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 3,
"tags": [
"word-choice",
"particles",
"syntax"
],
"title": "In a period of time",
"view_count": 2071
} | [
{
"body": "In your first translation, I believe you used _かい_ as translation for English\n\"time\". \nBut _かい_ (kanji _回_ ) means time as in _the first time, many times_.\nEquivalent to German \"Mal\". \n \nSo for the first one, let's drop the かい. \n\n```\n\n 5分あとで行きます。\n \n```\n\nThis is a fairly understandable sentence, but not natural enough. \nWhen expressing _in five minutes_ , it's more usual to say _5分ご_ than _5分あと_ , \nalthough when written in kanji the both are the same, _5分後_ (\"go hun go\" or\n\"go hun ato\"). \n \nWe're trying to indicate the time on which the speaker \"will go\", so we should\nuse the particle _に_ instead of _で_. \n\n```\n\n 5分後に行きます。\n \n```\n\nThis sentence sounds natural enough. \n \nYour second translation was actually a little better. \nWhat it lacks is, _後に_. \nWe use \nいまから5分後 : five minutes later from now \nに : at (the time) \n行きます : (will) go \nSo\n\n```\n\n いまから5分後に行きます。\n \n```",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-01T22:36:36.877",
"id": "23009",
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},
{
"body": "The easiest and most commonly-used structure for expressing \"come/go/return,\netc. + **in** + (time period) \" would be to use particle 「で」 and say:\n\n> 「(time period) + **で** + [来]{き}ます/[行]{い}きます/[戻]{もど}ります, etc.」\n\nThis would by far be the most versatile way of expressing \" _ **in**_ (a time\nperiod)\"\n\n**Other expressions:**\n\n> 「(time period) + [後]{ご}に + (verb phrase)」\n\nThis expression is **less versatile** than the one using 「で」 because it cannot\nbe used to make a general statement such as \"Instant ramen cooks in 3\nminutes.\"\n\n「インスタントラーメンは3分 **で** できる。」 can be said anytime as a general statement because\nit is \"true\".\n\n「インスタントラーメンは3分 **後に** できる。」, however, can only be said when you are actually\nstarting to cook instant ramen.\n\nI have seen quite a few Japanese-learners make mistakes in using these two\nexpressions correctly.\n\nYou can also choose to place 「あと」 in front of the time period and say:\n\n> 「あと５分で行きます。」",
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"score": 7
}
] | 23004 | 23010 | 23010 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23007",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I tried to make \"to talk with friends\" based on 彼と話がしたい, so my try is this:\n友達と話がする, but not only I'm not sure about this, but I also have some questions\nregarding its structure.\n\n1.-Why that と? I studied that と means \"and\" and it can be used to make\nconditionals, so why is it necessary in the sentence 彼と話がしたい?\n\n2.-Even if my attempt is correct, I have the feeling that it doesn't mean\nexactly what I want to express. Why using 話がする instead of using the verb 話す?\n\nThank you very much!",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-01T12:02:21.857",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23006",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-01T12:50:41.130",
"last_edit_date": null,
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"owner_user_id": "9478",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 4,
"tags": [
"translation",
"particles",
"particle-と"
],
"title": "\"to talk with friends\" structure",
"view_count": 10876
} | [
{
"body": "> 「[彼]{かれ}と[話]{はなし} **が** したい」 is correct, but\n>\n> 「[友達]{ともだち}と話 **が** する」 is incorrect.\n\nThis is because of the difference in the verbs -- 「する」 and 「したい」 The correct\nparticles to use are:\n\n> 「A + と + 話 + **を** + する」 = \"to speak with A\". 「 **を** 」 is the only possible\n> particle to use here.\n>\n> 「A + と + 話 + **が or を** + したい」 = \"to **want to** speak with A\". Both\n> particles are possible (even though using 「 **が** 」 is more common).\n\nHope you are following me...\n\n> \"Why that と? I studied that と means \"and\" and it can be used to make\n> conditionals, so why is it necessary in the sentence 彼と話がしたい?\"\n\n「と」 can also mean \"with\". Some particles have multiple meanings.\n\n> \"Even if my attempt is correct, I have the feeling that it doesn't mean\n> exactly what I want to express. Why using 話がする instead of using the verb\n> 話す?\"\n\nAs I stated above, you cannot say 「話 **が** する」. It is 「話 **を** する」 if you just\nneed to say \"to speak with (someone)\".",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-01T12:50:41.130",
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"post_type": "answer",
"score": 1
}
] | 23006 | 23007 | 23007 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23013",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "How do you say \"Since this thing is broken, I need to buy a new one.\"?\n\nAnd, what are the differences between the following:\n\n> この物が壊れましたから、新しいのを買わなきゃ。\n>\n> この物が壊れています、新しいのをかわなきゃ。",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T08:09:31.710",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23011",
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"last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500",
"last_editor_user_id": "-1",
"owner_user_id": "9346",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"transitivity"
],
"title": "Something is broken",
"view_count": 1424
} | [
{
"body": "There is several ways to say that. One is using から as you do in the first\nsentence.\n\nThe first sentence means \"Since this thing is broken, I need to buy a new\none.\" while the second means \"This thing is broken, I need to buy a new one.\".\n\nThe only problem that stands out in your sentence is you are mixing formal and\npopular way of speaking. 壊れました/壊れています is formal. 買わなきゃ is popular.",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-02T09:11:57.477",
"id": "23012",
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{
"body": "First, I would like to talk about the phrase 「この[物]{もの}」. We rarely, if ever,\nsay it in a natural setting. It is grammatical, but we just do not say it\nmuch.\n\nInstead, you would simply say 「 **これ** 」 if you are holding the thing in your\nhand or pointing your finger to it.\n\nYou can also use 「 **この + real name** 」 as in 「このカメラ」、「このテレビ」, etc.\n\nYour two sentences:\n\n> 「この物が[壊]{こわ}れましたから、[新]{あたら}しいのを[買]{か}わなきゃ。」\n>\n> 「この物が壊れています、新しいのを買わなきゃ。」\n\nare grammatical but not very natural-sounding if I were to speak strictly.\n\nThe only reason for the unnaturalness is your combined use of non-informal\nphrases (壊れましたから and 壊れています) and very informal phrase 「買わなきゃ」.\n\nYour use of 「新しいの」 is excellent (and very natural).\n\nMy suggestion would be to use 「しまう」:\n\n> Not so informal: 「これ（or この～～）が壊れて **しまった** ので、新しいのを買わなければなりません。」\n>\n> Informal: 「これ（or この～～）が壊れ **ちゃった** ので、新しいのを買わなきゃ。」\n\nIn meaning, 「しまった」＝「ちゃった」. The latter is more informal/colloquial.",
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"score": 3
}
] | 23011 | 23013 | 23013 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23015",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Does somebody know for what the [がしら]{gashira} ending stands in radicals like:\n\n * eight (はちがしら{hachigashira})\n * winter (ふゆがしら{fuyugashira}), or \n * short thread (いとがしら{itogashira})?\n\nIs it part of あし{ashi} (bottom radical position) or ashi variant (center\nradical position / top and bottom radical position)? I understand the other\nendings (kanmuri, gamae-kamae, hen-ben, nyō, tare, etc.).\n\nI know some of them don't have those endings and could be phonetic (sound)\nparts of kanji and not semantic (meaning).",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T09:19:38.633",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23014",
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"last_edit_date": "2015-03-02T09:41:44.423",
"last_editor_user_id": "1628",
"owner_user_id": "9490",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"meaning",
"kanji",
"radicals"
],
"title": "Radicals: がしら (gashira) endings?",
"view_count": 1156
} | [
{
"body": "[かしら]{頭} (the 漢字 is also read あたま) means \"head\" and ふゆがしら etc. refer to the\ntop part of the component.",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-02T09:28:27.293",
"id": "23015",
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"parent_id": "23014",
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"score": 2
}
] | 23014 | 23015 | 23015 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23021",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I came across this long sentence that I am not sure of what it means:\n\n> 電子書籍を読むようになってから、かえってリアル本屋に足を向けて本を眺める習慣ができました。まあレアケースなのかもしれませんが。\n\nWith the help of\n[safarikai](http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/50176/safarikai), contextually I\n(very roughly) interpret it as:\n\n> It is rare to walk to the read bookstore looking for ebooks, in compare with\n> real books.\n\nIs this correct? Please correct me.",
"comment_count": 4,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T09:54:31.343",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23016",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-08T21:14:21.973",
"last_edit_date": "2015-03-08T21:14:21.973",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 0,
"tags": [
"translation"
],
"title": "How to translate this sentence about ebooks and reading habits?",
"view_count": 211
} | [
{
"body": "The gem of the sentence is かえって [which you can see\nhere](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/10844/m0u/%E5%8D%B4%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6/).\nI believe on JLPT-N1 You need to differentiate it from むしろ which is listed as\na synonym in the link.\n\nDepending on how much wiggle room you have, you might translate it totally\ndifferently to sound more natural in English, but I'd do something like this:\n\n> After starting to read ebooks, contrary to what one might think, I started\n> the habit of walking into real book stores and reading books. Well, I might\n> be a rare case...",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T13:14:57.817",
"id": "23020",
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{
"body": "> Ironically, after starting to read ebooks I actually developed the habit of\n> browsing for books in a real book store. I guess I might be an exception,\n> though.\n\nThis is my (loose) translation.\n\n(Since you haven't (yet) provided any other explanation of where you're having\nproblems understanding the sentence, I don't know where to break down the\nsentence further.)",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-02T13:26:03.640",
"id": "23021",
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"owner_user_id": "1628",
"parent_id": "23016",
"post_type": "answer",
"score": 6
}
] | 23016 | 23021 | 23021 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23035",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "There are 214 radicals, and their positions can be either Hen, Tsukuri, Ashi/\nAshi Variant, Kanmuri, Nyō, Tare or Kamae/ Kamae Variant. \nOne example 衝(oposition), so this kanji is made of the kanji 行(to go) and\n重(weight), 行 stands for gyo-gamae(kamae position) and this is where I need\nhelp: \n \n-) Is it true that the 行 makes the semantic part and 重 the phonetic part of the kanji 衝? \n-) If yes is it always so that that the kanji which presents the radical of the main kanji makes the semantic part and the other kanji the phonetic part? \n-) Some radicals have suffixes based on their position like ninnyō, wakanmuri, tsutsumigamae, etc., but what with the others with suffixes like **gashira** does it mean that they are phonetic and semantic(phono-semantic) kanjis and they can be placed **anywhere** and does that apply to the **other kanjis which don't have those suffix endings** like : ~hen, ~ben, ~ri, ~kuri, ~tsukuri, ~ashi, ~kanmuri, ~ganmuri, ~nyō, ~tare, ~dare, ~kamae, ~gamae and the ones with this suffixes are they always semantic or can they be phonetic or even phono-semantic?",
"comment_count": 2,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-02T11:06:44.723",
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"id": "23018",
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"last_edit_date": "2015-03-02T11:59:57.373",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"meaning",
"kanji",
"radicals"
],
"title": "Radicals : How to remember suffix-es, readings and positions?",
"view_count": 779
} | [
{
"body": "It's true that 衝 is traditionally / generally considered as [ semantic 行 +\nphonetic 重 ].\n\nHowever it is not always the case. For example [衡]{こう} ( as in 平衡, 均衡 ), which\nlooks pretty much like 衝 in appearance, is believed to be from semantic [ 角 +\n大 ] ( said to represent \"a yoked ox\" ) + phonetic 行.\n\nSimilar cases can happen also with other radicals. For example, you can\ncompare:\n\n> 闇 / 閣 / 閲 [ semantic 門 + phonetic 音/各/兌 ] \n> 問 / 聞 / 悶 [ semantic 口/耳/心 + phonetic 門 ] \n> 開 / 閉 / 間 / 関 [ semantic + semantic ]",
"comment_count": 2,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-02T22:22:28.807",
"id": "23035",
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"parent_id": "23018",
"post_type": "answer",
"score": 0
}
] | 23018 | 23035 | 23035 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23024",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "On the weather app on my phone, the word 体感温度 has a ® next to it. Here's a\nscreenshot:\n\n\n\nAnd here's the corresponding shot in English:\n\n\n\nAm I correct in believing that what is really trademarked is just the English\n\"REALFEEL\", and not the Japanese? If so, why keep the ® in the Japanese (and\npresumably other languages') translation?",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T16:57:57.703",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23023",
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"last_edit_date": "2015-03-02T18:14:02.793",
"last_editor_user_id": "78",
"owner_user_id": "78",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 3,
"tags": [
"words",
"symbols"
],
"title": "Why does this word have the registered trademark symbol ® on it?",
"view_count": 1399
} | [
{
"body": "It is most likely a coding mistake. When products are internationalized,\nstrings in the code are changed depending on the locale of the user. In this\ncase, their template is something like\n\n```\n\n \"%s\\u00AE:\"\n \n```\n\nwhere %s is the localized string. \\u00AE is ®. They obviously haven't filed a\ntrademark on 体感温度, but rather some formula they use that is different from\nactual windchill/heat index, which they named RealFeel in English.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T17:03:44.203",
"id": "23024",
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"parent_id": "23023",
"post_type": "answer",
"score": 9
}
] | 23023 | 23024 | 23024 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23027",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "What is the difference between 類 (unicode: 985e) and 類 (unicode: f9d0)?\n\nThey look virtually identical (at least as rendered by my computer). Rikaichan\nsays that the former has 18 strokes and the latter 19 but I count 19 in both\n(rice (6)+ dog (4)+ page (9)). On Wiktionary the latter redirects to the page\nfor the former.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T17:47:55.163",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23025",
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"last_edit_date": "2015-03-02T18:19:51.627",
"last_editor_user_id": null,
"owner_user_id": "9495",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 3,
"tags": [
"kanji",
"kyūjitai-and-shinjitai"
],
"title": "Difference between 類 and 類",
"view_count": 396
} | [
{
"body": "The first contains 大 rather than 犬, hence one less stroke. They both mean\nkind/class/type, but I'm not familiar with the second Kanji. Googling it\nreturns results as if I'd entered the first one.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T18:01:35.103",
"id": "23026",
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},
{
"body": "> 類 = 米 + 大 + 頁 \n> 類 = 米 + 犬 + 頁\n\nNaturally, 犬 has one more stroke than 大, so that 類 has one more stroke than 類.\n\nThe latter is a (常用外) variant of the former (but, as snailboat points out, is\nlisted as 旧字体 variant in the 常用漢字表). The variant is also contained in the\n人名用漢字 list.",
"comment_count": 3,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T18:01:50.613",
"id": "23027",
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] | 23025 | 23027 | 23026 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "> それこそ ハイエロファントグリーンを使えば苦痛を感じる間もあたえず一瞬のうちに。\n\nMy translation:\n\n> If I used Hierophant Green, pain would not last more than a moment.\n\nThe context is: a character wondering about another one sleeping near him\nafter they fought each other and he wanted to kill him, but the other not only\nstopped him, but saved his life too. Now he's thinking how much easy would be\nto kill him with his own power.\n\nI'm not sure about that も and the double を. And: あたえず is negative?",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-02T18:26:55.757",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23028",
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"last_editor_user_id": "30454",
"owner_user_id": "9497",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 3,
"tags": [
"grammar",
"meaning",
"particles"
],
"title": "も and the double を in それこそ ハイエロファントグリーンを使えば苦痛を感じる間もあたえず一瞬のうちに",
"view_count": 325
} | [
{
"body": "> 「それこそ ハイエロファントグリーンを[使]{つか}えば[苦痛]{くつう}を[感]{かん}じる[間]{ま}もあたえず[一瞬]{いっしゅん}のうちに。」\n\nTo add punctuation for (hopefully) better understanding.\n\n> 「それこそ、ハイエロファントグリーンを使えば、苦痛を感じる間もあたえず、一瞬のうちに。」\n\nThe most important point for a Japanese learner would be to notice that **a\nwhole verb phrase is left unmentioned** at the end of the sentence. From the\nway you worded your question, I could not tell if you noticed it.\n\n_**It is important because that is the main verb of the sentence.**_\n\n\"One does something\", \"Something happens\", etc. in just a second (一瞬のうちに).\nWhat that thing is is \"omitted\".\n\nNo translation attempt would be good enough without correctly \"guessing\" what\nthe omitted part would be saying. In your case, you actually mentioned the\nverb phrase around the middle part of your question. _**It is \"to kill the\nother guy\".**_ That is what will happen in just a second.\n\n> \"Surely, if I used Hierophant Green, I could kill him in a split second\n> without even giving him any time to feel pain.\"\n\n「も」 means \"even\" here, which I used in my TL.\n\nThe double 「を」 are necessary. \"feel pain\" and \"use H. Green\".\n\n「あたえず」 is negative. \"without giving him ~~\"",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-03T00:21:41.097",
"id": "23036",
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}
] | 23028 | null | 23036 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23033",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Namely here, a definition of\n[含む](http://www.sanseido.net/User/Dic/Index.aspx?TWords=%E5%90%AB%E3%82%80&st=0&DORDER=151617&DailyJJ=checkbox)\n「三省堂」:\n\n〈五〉 内部｛ないぶ｝に‐入｛い｝れておく（つつみもつ）． (派)(～)み\n\nMy intuition suggests it could stress the class of 'inside things' to make it\nmore abstract (putting inside anything as opposed to restricted physical\nspace), but my intuition has been wrong many, many times before.\n\nThanks!\n\nEdit:\n\nI've found two other examples:\n\n［[持続](http://www.sanseido.net/User/Dic/Index.aspx?TWords=%E6%8C%81%E7%B6%9A&st=0&DORDER=&DailyJJ=checkbox)］：\n〈スル〉 長く‐続く（保ち続ける）こと\n\n「[生える](http://www.sanseido.net/User/Dic/Index.aspx?TWords=%E7%94%9F%E3%81%88%E3%82%8B&st=0&DORDER=151617&DailyJJ=checkbox)」：\n〈下〉 植物が-芽を出す（生長する）． ∥ 歯がのびて出る．\n\nPerhaps it's used to illustrate things? E.g. 生える doesn't have to refer to\nsprouting plants but the concrete analogy makes the meaning so much clearer. I\ncould be totally wrong, however.\n\nWell, turns out I _was_ wrong!",
"comment_count": 3,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T20:11:57.077",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23029",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-03T15:58:35.143",
"last_edit_date": "2015-03-03T15:58:35.143",
"last_editor_user_id": "9384",
"owner_user_id": "9384",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"dictionary"
],
"title": "What does '-' mean?",
"view_count": 221
} | [
{
"body": "This is simply a notation of the dictionary used. It doesn't say so explicitly\non the results page, but the dictionary for [the entry you\nlinked](http://www.sanseido.net/User/Dic/Index.aspx?TWords=%E5%90%AB%E3%82%80&st=0&DORDER=151617&DailyJJ=checkbox)\nis the デイリーコンサイス国語辞典 第三版.\n\nAn overview of the notation used by this dictionary [can be found\nhere.](http://www.sanseido.net/main/Dictionary/Hanrei/dailyJJ.aspx#9)\n\nParticularly, it says this about the dash: `-`\n\n> 類似の表現の記述が連続する場合，‐と（ ）を組み合わせて， 下に示すように， 記述を合併して示した．\n>\n> 例 …する‐こと（人） →「…すること」 と 「…する人」 の合併\n>\n> …する役（‐の人） →「…する役」 と 「…する役の人」の合併\n>\n> （遠くへ）投げる →「遠くへ投げる」 と 「投げる」 の合併\n>\n> …する（‐重い）もの→「…するもの」 と 「…する重いもの」 の合併\n\nTherefore, the entry `内部に‐入れておく（つつみもつ）` is a shortcut for both\n\n * 内部に入れておく\n * 内部につつみもつ\n\nIn other words, the dictionary entry defines `ふくむ` as `内部に入れておく` or\n`内部につつみもつ`.",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-02T22:14:45.813",
"id": "23033",
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"score": 4
}
] | 23029 | 23033 | 23033 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23032",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I got this from one Japanese drama (if I heard right) 'konya kimi wa boku no\nmono' . Does this mean: 'tonight you are mine' ?",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T21:02:34.990",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23030",
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"owner_user_id": "9499",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"translation",
"meaning"
],
"title": "Konya kimi wa boku no mono",
"view_count": 2417
} | [
{
"body": "Yes, it does and your translation is spot-on. (This type of question can also\nbe asked in [chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/511/japanese-\nlanguage).)",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-02T21:14:40.133",
"id": "23032",
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"parent_id": "23030",
"post_type": "answer",
"score": 1
}
] | 23030 | 23032 | 23032 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23040",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I've seen the verb 給え【たまえ】, usually written in hiragana and after the stem of\nanother verb, ending a phrase. I'm not too sure about its meaning.\n\nI've read that it means \"...please\" but is that the only meaning? Also is it\nused in conversation and if so when/how should I use it?",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-02T22:21:44.360",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23034",
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"owner_user_id": "9475",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 10,
"tags": [
"meaning",
"verbs",
"subsidiary-verbs"
],
"title": "What does ～たまえ mean exactly and how do you use it?",
"view_count": 1206
} | [
{
"body": "Not-so-young native speaker here. I personally have _never_ used 「verb + たまえ」\nmyself or had another person say something to me using that structure.\n\nThe only places that I have actually heard it used have been:\n\n 1. **Fiction** (films, dramas, plays, novels, etc.) and\n\n 2. **Religious sermons**\n\nIn fiction, **adult male speakers** sometimes use 「verb + たまえ」 as a\n**_somewhat friendly imperative_** with younger colleagues. In real life,\nhowever, I have _never_ met such a male boss or co-worker in the companies I\nhave worked for.\n\nIn religious sermons and prayers, 「verb + たまえ」 is quite often used when asking\nfor blessings from above.",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-03T16:01:45.577",
"id": "23040",
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"parent_id": "23034",
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"score": 13
}
] | 23034 | 23040 | 23040 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23038",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I'm attempting to translate something but this sentence is confusing me. \nIt's the \"お\" and \"スーシ\" that I don't understand. I hope this isn't too dumb of\na question..",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-03T00:40:02.920",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23037",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-03T06:33:25.197",
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"owner_user_id": "9443",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"translation",
"meaning"
],
"title": "How to translate \"もしかしてそのスーシおニュー？\"?",
"view_count": 267
} | [
{
"body": "**ツ ≠ シ**\n\n**ツ ≒ つ** and **シ ≒ し**.\n\n「スーシ」 is how many non-Japanese people pronounce 「すし」.\n\nJokes aside, the word you saw would probably be 「スー **ツ** 」 instead of 「スー\n**シ** 」.\n\n「スー **ツ** 」 means a \"suit\", the clothes. 「スー **シ** 」 does not exist.\n\n「おニュー」 is a **comical** way to say \"brand-new\" or just \"new\". 「お」 is the\nhonorific prefix for politeness. This is a very exceptional usage of 「お」.\n\n**_\"Is that a brand-new suit by any chance?\"_** would be my translation.\n\nCome back if that does not make sense for the context.\n\nRelated: [How to understand\nチラツ](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/21770/how-to-\nunderstand-%e3%83%81%e3%83%a9%e3%83%84/21775#21775)",
"comment_count": 2,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-03T00:55:27.487",
"id": "23038",
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"last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:44.740",
"last_editor_user_id": "-1",
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"score": 3
}
] | 23037 | 23038 | 23038 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I know that they all mean \"more, much more\" but is there any difference\nbetween them?\n\nalso do they have the same usage as もっと?",
"comment_count": 5,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-03T23:39:41.000",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23041",
"last_activity_date": "2015-04-16T02:12:36.043",
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"owner_user_id": "9475",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 5,
"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "What is the difference between 一層, 一段と and より一層?",
"view_count": 1201
} | [
{
"body": "もっと、一層, 一段と, より一層, ずっと are almost the same but より一層 and ずっと have more emphasis\non \"more\". Usually, these 5 words can be replaced with another words, but\nthere is an exception.\n\nHere is an example: The following 5 sentences all mean \"Is there a better PC?\"\nand they all make sense. The last two sentences use ずっと and より一層, which rather\nmeans \"Is there a much better PC?\"\n\n 1. もっといいパソコンはありますか？\n 2. 一層いいパソコンはありますか？\n 3. 一段といいパソコンはありますか？\n 4. ずっといいパソコンはありますか？\n 5. より一層いいパソコンはありますか？\n\nもっと can be used when you want to ask for more amount of something, or more\nquantity of something. Say, you want more food. And you want to say \"Give me\nmore\". The only word is もっと, like \"もっとください\", but the following sentences don't\nwork.\n\n 1. 一層ください。\n 2. 一段とください。\n 3. より一層ください。\n 4. ずっとください。\n\n1 and 2 above doesn't make sense. 3 and 4 can lead misunderstanding because\nthey don't just sounds like \"give me more\" but also asking to \"give me much\nmore than you gave me last time.\"\n\nNote that 一段 and 一層 have another meanings.\n\n一段 also means a stair. And it also describes the grade of Japanese martial\narts like Kendo and Judo. Say, 剣道一段 (Kendo 1st grade) 柔道一段 (Judo 1st grade).\nBy the way, 剣道二段 (Kendo 2nd grade) is better than 剣道一段 (Kendo 1st grade). Same\ngoes to Judo.\n\n一層 literally means \"one layer\". So it also can be used as \"one layer\" rather\nthan \"more\". Say, some window glasses have two layered structure that has two\nglasses and air between to keep the room warm. That kind of window can be\ndescribed 二層構造(two layered structure) and the one only has one layered window\nglass can be described 一層構造(one layered structure).",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-17T01:53:31.087",
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] | 23041 | null | 23301 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I've read that だから is more like a personal opinion which puts emphasis on the\nreason whereas それで is a more \"natural\" reason.\n\nno idea about そこで though.",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-03T23:54:50.277",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23042",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 7,
"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "What's the difference between だから, そこで and それで?",
"view_count": 1797
} | [
{
"body": "だから focus on the reason, where そこで and それで sounds like you come up with the\nidea. Here is an example:\n\nAll the following sentences means “I am tried, so I take a rest.”\n\n 1. 私は疲れました。だから、私は休憩をとります。\n 2. 私は疲れました。そこで、私は休憩をとります。\n 3. 私は疲れました。それで、私は休憩をとります。\n\nThe first sentence with だから focus on the reason you take rest -- because you\nare tired. The second, and third sentence sounds like you are tired and you\ncome up with the idea you want to take a rest.\n\nそこで can not be used if the subject of the next sentence is not a living thing.\n\nThe following sentence means \"I dropped a PC, so it has broken.\" But the\nsecond sentence is wrong because the subject is パソコン(PC).\n\n 1. 私はパソコンを落としました。だから、パソコンは壊れました。\n 2. (wrong) 私はパソコンを落としました。そこで、パソコンは壊れました。\n 3. 私はパソコンを落としました。それで、パソコンは壊れました。\n\nActually そこで also mean \"at there\", the second sentence with そこで can be\ninterpreted as \"I dropped a PC, it has broken at there.\" If you are talking\nabout a location, the meaning of そこで change into \"at there\".\n\nThe following sentences all means \"I went to a park. So I take a ride on a\nswing.\", but second sentence with そこで also can interpreted as \"I went to a\npark. I take a ride a swing there.\"\n\n 1. 私は公園に行きました。だから、私はブランコに乗りました。\n 2. 私は公園に行きました。そこで、私はブランコに乗りました。\n 3. 私は公園に行きました。それで、私はブランコに乗りました。",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-19T04:25:55.100",
"id": "23351",
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}
] | 23042 | null | 23351 |
{
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"body": "Not very clear sense of phrase ゴリゴリの荒いもの in the sentence\n\n>\n> さてFEDの元となったライカはいかにもドイツ人が作ったきっちりかっちりしたメカで、外見は同じでも細部の仕上げはFEDの方がもったりしていたり使い心地もずっと\n> **ゴリゴリの荒いもの** だったりする。\n\nwhich I could translate as \"much more rough in usability\", though I'm\nabsolutely not sure.",
"comment_count": 2,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-04T17:37:57.657",
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"tags": [
"translation",
"meaning",
"onomatopoeia"
],
"title": "Meaning of ゴリゴリの荒いもの",
"view_count": 570
} | [
{
"body": "I would translate it as\n\n> FEDの方がもったりしていたり使い心地もずっとゴリゴリの荒いものだったりする \n> the FED has a much rougher feel to it\n\nゴリゴリ and 荒い are somewhat synonymous and together with もったり convey something\nlike \"rough, heavy-duty, clumsy, tough\". Note that it doesn't say the camera\nis actually more sturdy, but that it _feels_ like one that is.",
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{
"accepted_answer_id": "23047",
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"body": "The video is the following: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkfT0NMsGz0>\n\nTowards the beginning, it says:\n\n> むかしむかし ゆきぶかい やまおくに、 \n> しょうじき **ものの** \n> おじいさんと おばあさんが すんでいました。 \n> ふたりは なかのよい ふうふでしたが、 \n> とても びんぼうでした。\n\nFrom what I've been told, ものの means although. So I understand the first\nsentence as: Although humble, the old man and the old lady lived. It really\ndoesn't sound very logical to me. Am I missing something?",
"comment_count": 0,
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"tags": [
"meaning"
],
"title": "Don't quite understand sentence in Japanese folk-tale video",
"view_count": 185
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{
"body": "Yes,\n[ものの](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%82%82%E3%81%AE%E3%81%AE-646370#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89)\nmeans \"although\". However, in this sentence, you are parsing it wrong. It is:\n\n> しょうじきもの の おじいさん...\n\nSo it is really [正直者]{しょう・じき・もの}, which means \"an honest person\" or \"a person\nof integrity\" (正直 means \"honest\", not \"humble\").",
"comment_count": 2,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-04T18:53:02.737",
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"body": "Conjunctions typically join two clauses (or at least appear at the end of\none). Do you have a clause on either side of ものの? You do not, so this can't be\nthe conjunction ものの, and you must be parsing it wrong, as istrasci says.\n\nInstead, you should understand しょうじきもの as a compound word:\n\n * The head もの means ひと 'person'. \n * The modifier しょうじき describes what sort of person it is.\n\nSo the compound as a whole means\n「[しょうじき](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/35639/m0u/%E3%81%97%E3%82%87%E3%81%86%E3%81%98%E3%81%8D/)な\nひと」.\n\nWhat does の do, then? It's a type of copula; it does what's traditionally\ncalled \"apposition\". In short, it's saying that the おじいさん and おばあさん **_are_**\nしょうじきもの.\n\nThe entire noun phrase しょうじきものの おじいさんと おばあさん serves as the subject of the\nfirst sentence. The story introduces these two characters with a brief\ndescription. Note that if you want to come up with a translation that makes\nsense, you should use the _entire_ sentence, including the bit at the\nbeginning you left out (むかしむかし ゆきぶかい やまおくに).",
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] | 23045 | 23047 | 23047 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I had some questions about the verb 'to be'. I know you have the copula 「だ」\nand 「いる」and「ある」. However, the copula does not have all the conjugations, so\nhow would you express something like 'can be' or 'make be'(like in: 'I made\nhim happy'). And use expressions like 「なければならない」would you form something like\n「じゃなければならない」? Or the expression 「～たい」(Like in: 'I want to be happy'). I don't\nreally know. I suggest maybe using 「である」. But I know that's really like\nliterary language. Also how would you say all this with i-adjectives?\n\nWell, Thank you, in advance.",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-04T19:07:02.760",
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"score": 3,
"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "More questions about 'to be' in japanese",
"view_count": 632
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{
"body": "Your question seems a little too broad to answer to, but some examples:\n\n> * I want to be happy. -- [私]{わたし}は[幸]{しあわ}せになりたい。 [ 〜に-なる ]\n> * I can be happy. -- 私は幸せになれる。 [ なれる (potential form of なる) ]\n> * I made him happy. -- 私は[彼]{かれ}を幸せにした。 [ ～に-する ]\n> * He has to be happy. -- 彼は幸せでなければならない。[ ～なければならない ]\n> * He should be happy. -- 彼は幸せであるべきだ。[ ～べき-だ ]\n> * He must be happy. (assuming) -- 彼は幸せにちがいない。[ ～に-ちがいない ]\n> * He may be happy. (possibility) -- 彼は幸せかもしれない。[ ～かもしれない ]\n>\n\nof course there can be other translations though.\n\nI picked a key expression (verb or auxiliary phrase) from each sentence into\nbracket. Recommend you should look them up in textbooks / dictionaries. Could\nthis be of any help?",
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{
"accepted_answer_id": "23051",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "In English, \"?\" can end a sentence. \nIn Japanese, can \"？\" ever end a sentence?\n\nWith regard to the UNICODE standard character blocks: \n\"。\" ---> CJK_SYMBOLS_AND_PUNCTUATION _// as expected_ \n\"？\" ---> HALFWIDTH_AND_FULLWIDTH_FORMS\n\nIs the \"？\" character an official part of Japanese syntax? \nWhat is \"？\" called in Japanese? \nWhat is \"?\" called in Japanese? \nWhat is \"？\" called in English?",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-04T19:26:27.127",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 4,
"tags": [
"syntax"
],
"title": "Is the \"？\" character an official character in Japanese syntax?",
"view_count": 1772
} | [
{
"body": "「？」 全角疑問符/Fullwidth question mark\n\n「?」 半角疑問符/Halfwidth question mark\n\nQuestion marks are not a part of the traditional Japanese language. However,\nit is not uncommon to see it used informally or casually nowadays.",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-04T21:56:24.450",
"id": "23051",
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"body": "While not originally part of Japanese (the use of か helps distinguish between\nstatements and questions), it is generally acceptable to use the question\nmark. This goes especially true with comics, novels and everyday conversation,\nwhere か is often omitted (for example: 「大丈夫？」).\n\nThe Ministry of Education has published guidelines of its usage in 1941.\n<http://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/bunkasingi/mondai_08/pdf/sanko.pdf>\n\nTo summarize the guideline: 1) Normally, you do not use it. However, you can\nuse when appropriate in order to indicate the doubting tone of a spoken line.\nexample: ｢えゝ？ なんですつて？｣ 2) Can be used in questions and cross-questions.\nexample ｢さういたしますと、やがて龍宮へお著きになるでせう。」｢龍宮へ？｣ 3) Can be used in comics to express\nwordless doubt.\n\nNote though, that official documents and business correspondence do not use\nthe question mark, but instead adhere to the traditional grammar rules.\n\nuser224579 has already posted the official name 疑問符, but it can also be\nreferred to as クエッションマーク or はてなマーク.\n\nedited to add a rough summary of the pdf.",
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] | 23049 | 23051 | 23074 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I'm only a beginner learner in Japanese, and I'm having trouble on when to use\nです or います.\n\nI also have trouble on when to use は or の.\n\nExample:\n\n> まゆさん は ともだち ふたり が います。\n\nWhy would it be は instead of の, and why did they use います?\n\nHow do you know when to use each particle?",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-04T19:28:57.880",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"particles"
],
"title": "How do you know when to use です or います？and when to use the particles は or の？",
"view_count": 5584
} | [
{
"body": "I will try to answer your question but it is quite a broad subject. I will\nstart on the choice of the verb. I guess your confusion comes from the fact\nthat both may have been introduced as meaning \"am/are/is\".\n\n * います is a verb meaning \"to be\", but only in the sense that a living person is in a place i.e. `ここに人｛ひと｝が二人｛ふたり｝います。` translates to `There are two people in this place`. You can for example use `今{いま}、学校{がっこう}にいます`. In fact, います may be closer in meaning to `exist` rather than `be` but anyway, this is Japanese so please try to remember examples of usage, as the meanings between English and Japanese generally don't match very well.\n * です is called a copula. It indeed also means \"is\" in a variety of contexts, especially when describing properties, qualities of objects or people including but not restricted to color, shape, nationality etc... The copula can take other forms but you will discover them later. Be careful though, because です by itself does not really carry a meaning, it can only be used in a sentence. A few examples are:\n\n> * いすは赤い｛あかい｝です → The chair is red\n> * 私｛わたし｝の顔｛かお｝は丸い｛まるい｝です → My face is round\n> * オバマさんはアメリカ人です → Obama is American\n\n * Please note that です must be used alone, it cannot be used in conjunction with `います` or `あります`. \n\n * Note that when dealing with inanimate objects or animals, you will use `あります` instead of `います` with the same meaning of `There is`.\n\nOn the choice of particles, `は` denotes the subject of the sentence. `の` (I am\nnot sure it is really a particle) expresses a possession relationship between\ntwo **nouns**. `の` also has other usages, but let us concentrate on your\nexample:\n\n> まゆさんは友達｛ともだち｝が二人｛ふたり｝います\n\nSo Mayu-san has two friends right? In this case, the direct translation is a\nbit tricky because Mayu-san is the subject of the sentence, hence we use the\n`は` particle. To denote the existence of the friends, we use the `が` particle.\nI would point out that in this case, you could also say\n\n> まゆさんの友達｛ともだち｝が二人｛ふたり｝います\n\nBoth sentences have almost the same meaning, but in this case, you insist that\nthere are two of Mayu-san's friends, maybe present in the room at this time,\nwhereas the previous sentence implied that only two friends of Mayu-san\n**exist**.",
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{
"accepted_answer_id": "23061",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I know they all mean \"in order to\" and similar translations, sometimes however\nI see that some are used instead of others. Also it's not clear if ために and ため\nhave different usages.\n\nI know that ように is used with potential and negative forms, but I'm not too\nsure.\n\nhope someone can clarify!",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-04T22:09:50.397",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 13,
"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "What's the difference between ために/ため, ように and のに meaning \"in order to\"?",
"view_count": 15133
} | [
{
"body": "I think the best way to explain this is with some examples\n\n## ため\n\n * 国のために戦う ➝ Fight for one's country\n * チケットを買うために3時間並んだ ➝ I lined up for three hours to buy tickets.\n * 子供のための公演 ➝ A performance for children\n\n\"ため\" is usually used in the context of someone doing something for someone\nelse, or doing something in order to accomplish something else.\n\n## ように\n\n * 再発しないように頑張ります ➝ I'll try not to let it happen again\n * 風邪を引かないようにちゃんと寝てください ➝ Get some sleep so you don't catch a cold.\n\n\"ように\" is more indirect, often in the context of _trying_ to do something as\nopposed to a direct cause and effect.\n\n## のに\n\n * TOEIC満点を取るのにやるべきこと ➝ Things you should do to get a perfect score on TOEIC\n * 大学に入るのに勉強の才能が必要だ ➝ You need to be good at studying in order to get into university.\n\n\"のに\" usually is used when saying you need X in order to do Y (YするのにXが必要 or\nYするのにXしないといけない).\n\nI'm not a Japanese teacher or anything so let me know if that's hard to\nunderstand (^_^).",
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] | 23052 | 23061 | 23061 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23055",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Does this bit contain 2段, for instance?\n\n\n\nWould 3段抜き refer to a write-up containing 3 such 段?",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 6,
"tags": [
"counters"
],
"title": "What is a newspaper 段, exactly?",
"view_count": 191
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{
"body": "Your picture contains 5段【だん】. In other words, this picture is\n5段【だん】組【ぐみ】のレイアウト.\n\n段【だん】抜【ぬ】き refers to a long heading or figure which spans multiple 段.\n\nIn your example, the purple heading with \"日本語組版の特徴と事例\" is called 2段抜きの見出し, and\nthe other one is 3段抜き.\n\nReference: [Adobe InDesign CS5 段抜き見出し](http://study-\nroom.info/id/studyroom/cs5/study14.html)",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-05T03:44:53.740",
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] | 23054 | 23055 | 23055 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23071",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "As far as I know, 頑張った would be translated as someone having worked hard or\ntried their best etc. depending on context, however I've noticed a disrepency\nbetween my translation and another person's that's gotten me confused.\n\nFor context, the series is in the middle of a tennis competition. Makoto did\nvery impressively during his match, but ended up losing. Makoto's friends, as\nwell as everyone else watching the match, cheered him on a lot until he lost.\nArata was the next person to have a match, and one of Makoto's friends started\ncheering the moment he appeared (she likes Arata). Another one of Makoto's\nfriends looked at her, frowning, and thought:\n\n> あんだけ頑張ったのにもうアラタ。。。マコトかわいそ\n\nSo, I'd translate this as \"Even though he (Makoto) worked so hard, the\ncheering's already changed to Arata...Poor Makoto.\" or something along those\nlines.\n\nBut one other person has translated it as \"Even though she cheered so much for\nMakoto, now she's cheering just as much for Arata.... Poor Makoto.\" and I find\nmyself confused.\n\nThis piece of work is written with very casual speech patterns, so I was\nwondering...is there any slang way to interpret '頑張った' as cheering for\nsomeone? Or is the other translator just taking artistic licence with subtext?",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-05T16:36:07.123",
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"id": "23063",
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"score": 3,
"tags": [
"translation",
"meaning"
],
"title": "頑張った...being interpreted as cheering for?",
"view_count": 406
} | [
{
"body": "I can see your interpretation - Makoto did his best & now the tide has turned.\nMakes sense... The question seems to be who exactly the friend is referring to\nas having 頑張った, and what activity involved the 頑張ってing (sure, that's a word\n;))\n\nSince the friend is looking/directing the frowning thought at the girl now\nsuddenly cheering for Arata, it would make sense to interpret the statement as\nreferring to her, not Makoto. You also have the word あんだけ, which to me sounds\nlike it refers to an unexpected behavior. You did something _that_ much, and\nnow this??\n\nIn that sense, the friend is taken aback at the girl having cheered _so_\nenthusiastically & given her all (頑張った) to _that extent_ in support of Makoto,\nbut despite this, もうアラタ?? How could she apparently shift her allegiance so\neasily?\n\nThere isn't any secondary/slang meaning for 頑張る - you just have to infer the\nperson & activity being done in that manner.",
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"body": "As a Japanese-speaker (if that means anything), I could only interpret the\n\"sentence\" one way and that is **_your_** way.\n\nAdmittedly, you have only provided a minimal amount of context, but even so, I\ncould not understand how the other person arrived at his/her translation.\n**The line would not be a natural-sounding one to express what s/he thinks it\nmeans.**\n\n> 「あんだけ[頑張]{がんば}ったのにもうアラタ。。。マコトかわいそ」\n\nUsing the textbook kind of Japanese, I would paraphrase this into something\nlike:\n\n> 「マコトがあれだけ頑張った[直後]{ちょくご}なのに、もう（[既]{すで}に）アラタを[応援]{おうえん}している・・・ マコトがかわいそう（だよ）。」\n\n「～～直後」= \"immediately after ~~\"\n\n「～～を応援する」= \"to root for ~~\"\n\nIt is saying that the girl who likes Arata should keep quiet for at least some\ntime instead of acting as if she has forgotten about Makoto's defeat by\n**already** cheering loudly for Arata.",
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"body": "At phrase level, 頑張る is usually an intransitive verb which means \"to work\nhard\", \"to do one's best\", etc. (EDIT: You can say テニスを頑張る, too) It never\nmeans 応援する, which is the most common transitive verb that means \"to cheer\n(someone) up\".\n\nThe interpretation of the sentence purely depends on the context. If you're\ncertain that it's not the girl but Makoto who worked hard, then your\ntranslation is right. But if there was a scene before this where the two girls\ncheered Makoto desperately, then there's room to interpret this differently.",
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] | 23063 | 23071 | 23075 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23069",
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"body": "I got this as a reply to a YouTube comment:\n\n> コメント返信ありです！\n\nI understood what the person meant but I'd like to know if ありです is that common\nand if it can have other meanings.",
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"tags": [
"usage"
],
"title": "Is ありです a colloquial expression for ありがとう?",
"view_count": 256
} | [
{
"body": "Yes ありです (or sometimes simply あり) means ありがとう, which is used mainly in busy\nonline chats or games.\n\nI don't recommend using it in real conversatons, though, because it I think\nwould sound geeky.",
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"body": "Also, ありです in normal conversations would mean, that something is there (ある) or\nthat something is possible. (その可能性もありですね）",
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] | 23066 | 23069 | 23069 |
{
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"body": "Does て もかまいません refer to may as in the possibility of (I might do ...) or I may\n(I've been allowed to )",
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"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "Meaning of て もかまいません",
"view_count": 1285
} | [
{
"body": "It is roughly the same as 〜てもいい. `かまいません` means \"don't mind/care\" (from かまう),\nso it is literally\n\n> I don't mind (even) if you 〜 = You can/may do 〜 = It's OK (even) if you 〜\n\nSo it's more of an allowance than a possibility.",
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{
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"body": "I have read in many grammar books that the te-form of a Japanese verb is the\nequivalent of \"and\" in English. However, the problem is that \"and\" has many\nmeanings such as how it can mean consecutive action like in \"he got shot and\ndied\" or simultaneous action like in \"we talked and walked.\" Most grammar\nbooks I've seen have examples of the te-form being consecutive action like in\nsentences such as 葉を磨いて寝た, but I am curious if the te-form can also mean that\nboth verbs started at the same time. In this case, can 話して歩いた mean the same as\n話しながら歩いた where talking and walking occur at the same time?",
"comment_count": 1,
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"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "Can 話して歩いた be the same as 話しながら歩いた?",
"view_count": 125
} | [
{
"body": "Both usages are equally common in the real Japanese-speaking world, if not in\nthe world of Japanese-as-a-foreign-language.\n\nWhich one it means would totally depend on the context.\n\n「[歯]{は}を[磨]{みが}いて[寝]{ね}た」 would naturally mean \"(I) brushed (my) teeth and\nwent to bed.\" because brushing teeth and sleeping could not take place\nsimultaneously.\n\nThe same goes for 「[映画]{えいが}を[観]{み}て、レストランで[食事]{しょくじ}をして、[家]{いえ}に[帰]{かえ}った。」.\nJust cannot do all three or any two of them simultaneously.\n\n「[話]{はな}して[歩]{ある}いた」 is clearly different in that almost everyone talks while\nwalking. It is more than just possible; It is a human custom.\n\nIf you want to express clearly that a conversation took place first and only\nafter it was finished, you walked, you could say:\n\n「話した[後]{あと}で歩いた。」、「[会話]{かいわ}してから[散歩]{さんぽ}した」, etc.\n\nIn the video below of the well-known song, Kyu Sakamoto is **_not_** saying\n\"Let's look up towards the sky and then take a walk!\" He is, instead, saying\n\"Let's do both simultaneously (so that tears won't fall).\"\n\n<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAW0Vd9XVA8>",
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] | 23070 | 23072 | 23072 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23143",
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"body": "So I was reading through _A Dictionary of Basic Japanese grammar_ and I\nnoticed a strange contradiction in the たら and あとで entries.\n\nIn the あとで entry we see the following note:\n\n> Vinf·past _ato de_ can be replaced by Vinf·past _ra_ when the latter is used\n> with a purely temporal meaning (i.e., ‘after’, ‘when’).\n\nThen it lists following examples\n\n> a. ご飯を食べたらすぐ勉強しました。\n>\n> b. 山田さんはビールを飲んだら寝てしまった。\n>\n> c. 戦争が終わったら東京にもどりました。\n\nNow when we look at the たら entry:\n\n> When S2 in “S1 _tara_ S2” represents a past action, the action cannot be one\n> intentionally taken by the agent after the action or event represented by\n> S1.\n\nWhen I look back at the examples in the あとで entry, I see that examples b and c\nmake perfect sense and follow this rule correctly. However, sentence a looks\nto be a volitional act.\n\nI asked a native Japanese speaker and they said that it is correct because すぐ\nis after たら.\n\n> X ご飯を食べたら勉強しました。\n\nI'm quite the beginner so I might be missing something obvious. Can someone\nexplain to me why すぐ makes this sentence valid?",
"comment_count": 4,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-06T01:51:15.180",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "S1 たら S2, with S2 being past tense AND volitional",
"view_count": 625
} | [
{
"body": "Directly to your question, I don't think the すぐ would make the sentence any\nmore (or less) valid. When it's valid with the word, so is without it, and\nit's not valid, vice versa.\n\nYour citation from _A Dictionary of Basic Japanese grammar_\n\n> When S2 in “S1 tara S2” represents a past action, the action cannot be one\n> intentionally taken by the agent after the action or event represented by\n> S1.\n\njust doesn't sound right to me, either. The semantics of たら has more to do\nwith the speaker-event relationship, rather than the agent-event one (if I\ncorrectly assume the _agent_ is the do-er of an action). That is, when you use\nたら, you're saying about something unrealized, unexpected, or you have no\nauthorization to interfere (includes habits and general truths) from your own\nviewpoint.\n\nAs the result, たら is quite unlikely to describe what yourself actually did in\npast. Sentences like\n\n> ご飯を食べたらすぐ勉強しました。\n\nstrikes me as if it's in a testimony: \"(I saw him) went to study no sooner\nthan finishing the meal.\"\n\nThere are other factors make たら usable or not depending on sentence types\n(question? order?) or whatever else, but they're too much for this answer.\n\n* * *\n\nLastly, although it may not be a practical advice, I recommend you to refer\nnewer books (yours is from 1989!) for Japanese grammar, as the history of\nJapanese-as-foreign-language education is relatively short, so it still\ncontinues to evolve. Incidentally, my answer bases on a 2008 book, [現代日本語文法\n(vol.\n6)](http://www.9640.jp/xoops/modules/bmc/detail.php?book_id=2985&prev=new).",
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] | 23073 | 23143 | 23143 |
{
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"body": "I found it twice. First in a song:\n\n> いつもその本はハッピーエンドじゃないの。\n\nAnd then the title of a manga:\n\n> 遊びじゃないの。\n\nじゃない alone is for negation (no happy end, no playing). What I can't understand\nis the の at the end of the sentence... what does it stand for?",
"comment_count": 5,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-06T08:52:37.633",
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"post_type": "question",
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"tags": [
"meaning",
"usage"
],
"title": "What's the meaning of the ending じゃないの?",
"view_count": 2346
} | [
{
"body": "[Is ending question sentences with の really\nfeminine?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/11914/is-ending-\nquestion-sentences-with-%E3%81%AE-really-feminine)\n\nの(だ)/のです with a rising tone are the abbreviations of の(だ)か/のですか。\n\n**(The combination だか isn't really used in everyday life to the best of my\nknowledge)**.\n\nThey turn the sentence into a question which, combined with じゃない make it a tag\nquestion, as you can see in the links I posted in my comments.\n\n> 遊びじゃない？ 遊びじゃないか。 遊びじゃないの（か）？\n>\n> It's a game isn't it? It's a game right? You're playing aren't you?\n\nWithout the rising tone (or か), じゃない is used to deny what precedes it.\nの/のだ/のです have many different meanings (look it up on this site), the most\ncommon ones being adding an explanatory and/or exclamative tone to the\nsentence.\n\n> 遊びじゃないの（だ）。遊びじゃないのです。\n>\n> It's not a game. It' not a game! (What the hell are you doing, ) it's not a\n> game! (I can't believe you take it so lightly, ) it's not a game (you\n> know?).\n\nThe sentences in の are often used to answer the implicit question \"What is\nhappening?\" : \"Well, what's happening is...\"\n\n> 誰かが来た？ (Gathering information after coming home).\n>\n> Someone came?\n>\n> 誰かが来たの？ (Seeing 2 cups of coffee on the table).\n>\n> (What happened,) someone came?\n\nI don't feel comfortable enough with those grammar to go further into details,\nI would advise you to look for informations about the differences between だ/です\nVS の（だ）/のです and （だ）か/ですか VS の(だ)か/のですか.\n\n* * *\n\nEDIT : Just to be clear, here are the different forms :\n\nSimple Abbreviated Using の Abbreviated using の\n\n猫だ。 猫。 猫なのだ。 猫なの。\n\n猫です。 猫なのです。\n\n猫（ **だ** ）か。 猫だ？/猫？ 猫なの（ **だ** ）か。 猫なのだ？/猫なの？\n\n猫ですか。 猫なのですか。 猫なのです？",
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] | 23077 | 23078 | 23078 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23085",
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"body": "As I see it right now they both mean: to carve; to engrave, to chisel; to\nnotch.\n\nIs there any difference between them?",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-06T17:00:34.163",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 4,
"tags": [
"words"
],
"title": "Difference between 彫る【ほる】 (horu) and 刻む【きざむ】 (kizamu)",
"view_count": 812
} | [
{
"body": "「[掘]{ほ}る」 actually does _**not**_ mean \"to carve\", \"to engrave\" or \"to\nchisel\". Instead, it means \"to dig (up)\".\n\n> 「[穴]{あな}を掘る」 = \"to dig a hole\"\n>\n> 「いもを掘る」 = \"to dig up potatoes\"\n\nYou are probably thinking of 「[彫]{ほ}る」, which means what you stated.\n\n> 「メダルに[名前]{なま}を彫る」 = \"to engrave one's name on a medal\"\n>\n> 「[仏像]{ぶつぞう}を彫る」 = \"to carve a Buddha\"\n\nTraditionally, 「彫る」 has another important meaning which is \"to tattoo\".\n\n「[刻]{きざ}む」 can mean \"to carve\", \"to engrave\", etc., but its primary meaning is\n\"to cut into pieces\", \"to chop\", etc.\n\n> 「刻みキャベツ」 = \"shredded cabbage\"",
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] | 23080 | 23085 | 23085 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23086",
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"body": "I'm going through some comments on an old blog and came across this dictation\nof an interview that's gotten me a bit befuddled. The seiyuu's asking the\nwriter about what will happen to the seiyuu's character in the following year.\n\n> 声優さん「婿でもいいです、この際」\n>\n> 作家さん「それでもありちゅーかありじゃないですか？ …どうしようか…」\n\nThe writer's wording confused me tbh, so randomly guessing I think it's\nsomething like:\n\n> Seiyuu: At this rate, he could even become a groom.\n>\n> Writer: That's possible as well, isn't it? What to do do...\n\nIf anyone could confirm/correct me with an explanation of what\n'ありちゅーかありじゃないですか？' means I'd be very grateful.",
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"tags": [
"translation",
"meaning"
],
"title": "The meaning of \"ありちゅーかありじゃないですか\"?",
"view_count": 283
} | [
{
"body": "Sometimes people shorten 「ていうか」with 「ちゅうーか」, your translation looks pretty\ncorrect to me :).",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-06T19:10:05.827",
"id": "23083",
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{
"body": "* それでもあり: that'll be fine too\n * ちゅーか: contracted ていうか, which is a colloquial expression meaning \"or rather\".\n * あり: fine\n * じゃないですか?: isn't it?\n\nSaying それでも implies there is other ideal options, and 婿 is not the best (See\nthis [answer about でいい and\nでもいい](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/12485/5010)).\n\n作家さん first said それでもあり, implying 婿 is a possible alternative which may be\nselected reluctantly. Then he rethought it and repeated ありじゃないですか without\nそれでも, indicating 婿 may be a really good option.",
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] | 23081 | 23086 | 23086 |
{
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"body": "Let's say a group of friends from different countries are in a Skype call. For\nme, perhaps it's morning, while others are in midday or nighttime hours in\ntheir respective countries.\n\nWhen in a one-on-one chat, I'm aware it's best to use the correct greeting for\nyour recipient's time zone. However, this quickly gets more complicated when\nyou have multiple recipients in varying time zones and times of day.\n\nAs someone joining this theoretical group conversation, how can I say hello\nwithout sounding strange to anyone? Is it best to use something like こんにちは?\nShould I use the greeting for my own time zone? Or, is there some other way I\nshould greet the group?",
"comment_count": 5,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-06T21:56:31.280",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23084",
"last_activity_date": "2019-01-17T10:18:12.803",
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"owner_user_id": "3035",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"word-choice",
"greetings"
],
"title": "How do I greet a group of people in different time zones?",
"view_count": 1619
} | [
{
"body": "Well, as for the phrases I cited in the comment:\n\n> 1. よろしくおねがいします* \"Thank you for everything in advance.\" / よろしく** / よろ***\n> 2. おつかれさまです* \"Thank you for everything.\" / おつかれ** / おつ***\n> 3. はじめまして* \"Nice to meet you.\"\n> 4. どうも** \"Hi\" (but with slightly inactive impression) / ども***\n>\n\n * items marked an * are the polite full wordings. \n * ** are more colloquial lighter versions commonly used among friends, colleagues, etc.\n * *** are kind of internet slang or something similar.\n\nAll examples except #3 are highly culture-dependent and hard-to-translate\nexpressions, as you know. I believe you are going to learn their usages\nthrough gaining experiences in conversation.\n\nHowever when talking to a new joiner to a group, I would recommend saying\nいらっしゃい \"Welcome\" for first place candidate, it seems fairly versatile and very\nsuitable for expressing your welcoming attitude.",
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"body": "There is a similar problem in English. There really ins't an elegant answering\nin English or Japanese.\n\nI've started a call saying \"Good evening and Good Morning\" with a smile. There\nis no way you couldn't do the same in Japanese and say something like\n\"みんな、こんばんは、おはようございます\". I'm sure the participants will realise that there are\npeople across different timezones.",
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{
"accepted_answer_id": "23123",
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"body": "I've been coming across these three lately in a visual novel that I've been\nusing to try to learn to read Japanese, and it seems their usage is not that\ninterchangeable.\n\nI'd like to confirm/deny if my intuition is correct.\n\n解る seems to be quite dry, esp. when used to address the speaker in a \"you get\nit?\", patronizing manner. 分かる seems mostly neutral, worldly and\ninterchangeable with わかる. As for 判る, I'm not really sure. Is it to just\nascertain [already suspected\nfacts](http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1248678842),\ne.g. time/weather? [This\npost](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1659/how-should-i-choose-\nbetween-%E7%9F%A5%E3%81%97%E3%82%8B-and-%E3%82%8F%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8B) helped to\nget the general gist about 分かる. This was\n[useful](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/89/whats-the-difference-\nbetween-the-kanji-forms-for-%E3%82%8F%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8B) in a way but I feel\nlike it's only scratching the surface.\n\nFor example, 話がわかる seems like an expression without any imbedded [negative\nconnotation](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/178317/m0u/), i.e. a type\nthat 'gets it', much worldly wisdom and such. However, here, 話の解る seems to be\nmore like 'you get it' in a dry, patronizing manner - is that down to the\nchoice of Kanji in わかる, or simply context?\n\n> A.「え―ちょっ、止めてよ、たしかに色々言い合ったけど、そんなのケンカ両成敗｛りょうせいばい｝っていうか……」\n>\n> B.「そうか。いや、話の解るマスターで助かった」\n>\n> A.「……なんか、切り返し早いわねアンタ」\n\nNB: A is B's master [マスタ] (it's a novel about magi and their hero-like\nfamiliars).\n\nIt's obvious from A's follow-up that she's frustrated with B's cheekiness.\nWould replacing 解る with say わかる make B's phrase it a lot more mild on A (as\nin, I'm relieved I got a down to earth マスタ, buddy buddy way)?\n\nI would be grateful if someone could confirm/deny my intuition about 解る and\nclarify the essential usage of 判る. Resorting to Japanese sources isn't very\nhelpful as they seem to refer back and forth to ideas that are already assumed\nto be intuitive to the speaker (and probably differ in the ways an English\nlanguage-speaking person would interpret that idea, as is the case with any\nforeign language).\n\nThank you.",
"comment_count": 2,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T06:09:19.300",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 7,
"tags": [
"meaning"
],
"title": "わかる、分かる、判る，解る - essential difference?",
"view_count": 1229
} | [
{
"body": "Well, it ultimately boils down to politeness in addressing particular\nindividuals or using their names (maybe more accurately \"social elevation\")\nand what the verb actually means.\n\nわかる can be any of them and is commonly used.\n\n分かる actually means \"breaks into parts\" like if a log suddenly split itself\napart. It's intransitive meaning the action kinda \"happens on its own\" like a\nsliding door at the grocery store opening. It's the most fundamental form of\n\"hey i got it / it clicked!\" when used in the past tense.\n\n判る ... let's look at what the kanji character means.\n\n<http://jisho.org/kanji/details/%E5%88%A4%E3%82%8B>\n\nSeems like it literally refers to judgement / judges / judicial stuff and\nofficial seals and stamps (stamps and seals are a big deal in Japan)\n\nHave almost never seen this ^ used in the wild, but ostensibly the meaning is\nthe same (\"to understand\") but it has a sense of \"hey did you understand that\nsentence the judge declared?\" perhaps.\n\n解る is very beautiful <http://jisho.org/words?jap=%E8%A7%A3>\n\nIt kinda points to dissolving or alleviation (in the case of a fever). In the\ncontext you provided:\n\n話の解るマスターで助かった\n\nIt is probably implying a sense of admiration / social elevation for the\n\"mastaa\" in question. This is the form you'd probably use when talking about\n\"what sensei understands\" versus \"what little timmy understands\"\n\nHope that helps in your quest of Japanese mastery!\n\n理解できましたか?",
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"body": "> Would replacing 解る with say わかる make B's phrase it a lot more mild on A\n\nNo. 解る can be used whenever わかる is used for the 理解する meaning, as the case is\nin 話がわかる, so as far as kanji choice vs context goes, I'd say context.\n\nAs for 判る, think 判明する or 判断する.\n\nWhen in doubt, you can use 分かる for all of them with no repercussions.\n\nSidenote: Some writers like to be extra fancy/precise/\"tryhard\" with their\nkanji use (this can be particularly conspicuous in some visual novels). Read\nenough things and you'll get used to it. It's fun to think about sometimes,\nbut for the most part, don't let it get in your way of understanding the\nbigger story.",
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] | 23089 | 23123 | 23123 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23091",
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"body": "A sentence from Japanesepod101, with the official translation.\n\n> 赤のブドウも緑のブドウもよく搾｛しぼ｝るとワインやジュースになります。 \n> Both red and green grapes are good squeezed and turned into wine or juice.\n\nTheir translation of よく as good (i.e. the grapes good for being squeezed)\ndoesn't seem right. To me よく should be referring to 搾る (i.e. if the grapes are\nwell/properly squeezed, they become wine or juice). Here I have interpreted\nthe と as \"if/when\". Was my interpretation correct?",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T07:13:55.940",
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"tags": [
"grammar",
"adverbs"
],
"title": "Intrepretation of よく",
"view_count": 103
} | [
{
"body": "**よく** can only reference **搾る** , because the adjective precedes the verb. In\nEnglish, the adjective must be translated as **well**. The inaccurate English\ntranslation may occlude your understanding. \nThe present (or: non-past) tense, here of the verb **搾る** , together with the\nparticle **と** do indeed express a conditional relationship ( _if_ ).",
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] | 23090 | 23091 | 23091 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23096",
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"body": "I'm attempting to learn some basic Japanese vocabulary through a set of Anki\nflash cards, but one of the cards has the word かなり on it. The definition\nprovided says \"fairly, rather.\" This implies to me that it shows something to\nbe of a lesser degree. For example, if I am fairly certain of something, I am\nnot certain of it, but believe myself to be correct. On the other hand,\nWiktionary define かなり as \"quite.\" This seems much stronger than \"fairly\" or\n\"rather.\" At least as I use it, \"quite\" implies a very high degree. If I am\nquite certain of something, there is little to no doubt in my mind. If someone\nasks me if I am certain of something, I would not hesitate to confirm by\nsaying \"Yes, I am quite certain.\" Tagaini Jisho suggests a definition of\n\"Considerably, fairly, quite.\" Sadly, I find each of these words to be\ndifferent. \"Quite\" seems stronger than \"considerably,\" which seems much\nstronger than fairly.\n\nGiven all of this, I am left confused as to what かなり actually means. Can\nsomeone explain it to me?",
"comment_count": 4,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T08:05:40.620",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 4,
"tags": [
"nuances",
"definitions"
],
"title": "What does かなり actually mean?",
"view_count": 1484
} | [
{
"body": "I think your flashcard set and the WWWJDIC define かなり as \"considerably,\n[fairly](http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/fairly),\nquite\", because _in usage_ this is exactly how かなり behaves. However, I think\nyou have a fair question and the answer is that _in meaning_ かなり is closest to\n\"[quite](http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/quite)\"\nin the sense of strengthening an assertion.\n\nOnce you can read some Japanese, this is best checked in a monolingual\ndictionary, like 大辞林\n\n> **かなり** 【可成り・可也】 \n> 1. （副） 〔連語「可なり」からできた語〕 普通に **予想されるより数量・程度がはなはだしい** さま。相当。 「–うまくいった」 「–の損害」\n\nwhere the bolded part translates to \"extent/quantity (much) greater than\nexpected\". (And here the keyword is of course \"expected\", a nuance that is not\npresent in \"quite\".)",
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] | 23092 | 23096 | 23096 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23097",
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"body": "I was reading a picture book, and there was this sentence: アオくて ちいさな ぼくのイス。\n\nWhy is \"ao\" and \"isu\" written in katakana and not hiragana?",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T08:41:18.590",
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"id": "23093",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 4,
"tags": [
"orthography"
],
"title": "Why was \"アオ\" used instead of ”あお”?",
"view_count": 710
} | [
{
"body": "It's done because it makes it easier to read and understand when no _kanji_\nare used.\n\n# Easy to read (general usage)\n\n> [青]{あお}くて[小]{ちい}さな[僕]{ぼく}の[椅子]{いす}。\n\n# Normal(this question)\n\n> アオくて ちいさな ぼくのイス。\n\n# Hard to read (hard to understand)\n\n> あおくて ちいさな ぼくのいす。\n\n# Hardest to read (this might not be understandable)\n\n> あおくてちいさなぼくのいす。\n\n# Impossible to read (joke :-P)\n\n> あおくてち いさなぼ くのいす。",
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] | 23093 | 23097 | 23097 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23095",
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"body": "I want to know exactly what the phrase 「注目特集」 means. Part 「注目～」 means\n\"attention, focus\" and 「～特集」 - \"feature, special issue\". I can understand the\nmeaning, but how can I combine them - what is the correct translation?",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T09:10:32.670",
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"tags": [
"meaning",
"compounds"
],
"title": "Explaning the phrase 「注{ちゅう}目{もく}特{とく}集{しゅう}」",
"view_count": 119
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{
"body": "This is a \"special feature\" or \"special report\" (whence 特集) with a particular\nfocus (whence 注目). Just like in English (I think), it suggests an in-depth\nreport of the topic in question.",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T10:10:39.337",
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}
] | 23094 | 23095 | 23095 |
{
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"body": "How can I tell if a word is Sino-Japanese (漢語), or Yamato (和語)?\n\nAn answer to [How 「えい」 should be pronounced in the words like 英語, 先生,\netc?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6572/how-%E3%81%88%E3%81%84-should-\nbe-pronounced-in-the-words-\nlike-%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E-%E5%85%88%E7%94%9F-etc/6578#6578) talks about the\npronunciation of Sino-Japanese words and Yamato words.\n\nFor example, how could I tell whether 先生 was Sino-Japanese or Yamato?",
"comment_count": 4,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T13:14:09.703",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23098",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 5,
"tags": [
"etymology",
"chinese",
"wago-and-kango"
],
"title": "How to tell if a word is Sino-Japanese or Yamato",
"view_count": 2323
} | [
{
"body": "I've studied Chinese way more than Japanese, so my knowledge probably has a\nlot of gaps. However, I think the biggest hint in telling if a word is Sino-\nJapanese (which are mostly nouns) or Yamato is whether the word comes with or\nwithout hiragana and whether or not the word is composed of multiple kanji or\nnot.\n\nThis isn't a perfect test but it works in many cases: 食べる = Yamato because it\nhas the hiragana at the end 食事 = Sino-Japanese because it's a two word\ncompound\n\nHere's a case where it fails: 大人 you might think is daijin, but it's actually\notona.\n\nSo this isn't a 100% for sure filter, but it often works.",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-09T22:29:44.667",
"id": "23149",
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"body": "This question could probably be answered on different levels, but here is what\nyou might want to know for starters because that is what I, an average\nJapanese-speaker, know.\n\nThe key word here is **_phonetics_** , not orthography.\n\n[大和言葉]{やまとことば} are the words that existed when Japanese was only a spoken\nlanguage. Sounds were everything we had to express ourselves with, which is\nwhy they are still of utmost importance when discussing 大和言葉 even today.\n\nMany 大和言葉, however, are now written using kanji as you know; therefore, using\northography as a key word to answer this question would be straining at best.\nFor instance, 「さみだれ」, as you could tell (or could you?) from its sounds, is a\n100% Japanese word with no Sino influence、but because it is usually written in\n**_ateji_** as 「五月雨」, some learners might falsely believe that we borrowed\nthis word from Chinese.\n\nAteji: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ateji>\n\nLooking back on my elementary and junior high school years, I remember\nmultiple teachers telling us kids that originally-Japanese words consisted of\n「やわらかい[音]{おと} = \"soft sounds\"」 and Sino-loanwords consisted of 「かたい[感]{かん}じの音\n= \"hard kind of sounds\"」.\n\n\"Soft sounds\" would roughly refer to the \"kun-sounds\": やまと、さくら、はなす、そら、やま, etc.\n\n\"Hard sounds\" is, for the Japanese, synonymous to \"on-sounds\": shin, kin, kon,\ngan, dan, chou, man, gen, etc. If a word consists of these types of syllables,\nthe chances are it is a Sino-loanword. I will discuss the exceptions later on.\n\nHaving never studied Japanese as a foreign language, I have no idea those\nactually sound \"soft\" or \"hard\" to you. It might depend on what your first\nlanguage is.\n\n**_Exceptions:_**\n\nThere exist a group of words that are of Japanese origin but are pronounced\nentirely with on-sounds (hard sounds) as if they were Sino-loanwords.\n「[和製漢語]{わせいかんご}」 is what those are called -- literally, \"Japanese-made Chinese\nwords\".\n\nThese include very common (and important) words such as [文化]{ぶんか} =\n\"culture\"、[経済]{けいざい} = \"economics\"、[科学]{かがく} = \"science\"、etc.\n\nSee a longer list here:\n<http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%92%8C%E8%A3%BD%E6%BC%A2%E8%AA%9E>\n\nUnless you want to teach Japanese to its native speakers, you would not need\nto know that these words were created by the Japanese.\n\nAn interesting phenomenon is that these \"originally-Japanese words\" are\ntreated exactly like Sino-loanwords in that these are given the higher, more\nformal and/or technical word status that we have long given to the Sino-\nloanwords over our own. Once again, it is the phonetics. Japanese ears are\nculturally trained in such a way that words that sound \"Chinese\" are of a\nhigher status and that is precisely how we will treat the words regardless of\ntheir true origin.",
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] | 23098 | null | 23156 |
{
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"body": "Could you tell me how to translate ギアを収納? The whole sentence is\n成田空港から離陸した直後のです。ギアを収納中みたいです。 I cannot think of a translation in English.",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T16:56:49.110",
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"score": 1,
"tags": [
"translation"
],
"title": "How to translate ギアを収納",
"view_count": 108
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{
"body": "This is sort of ambiguous but it is referring to the landing gear retracting\ninto the plane.",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T19:34:12.297",
"id": "23102",
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"body": "You're talking about right after take-off of an airplane.\n\n\"The landing gear is (now) up.\"",
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] | 23100 | null | 23102 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23104",
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"body": "My friend told me I sound too polite when I say あなた, but my book only uses\nthat for second person pronoun. Are there multiple ways to say it and if so,\nwhich one is best to use with friends?",
"comment_count": 2,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-07T23:48:58.130",
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"score": 10,
"tags": [
"word-choice",
"second-person-pronouns"
],
"title": "Is there a less formal way to say あなた？",
"view_count": 2097
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{
"body": "There are several you can use instead:\n\n * あんた → Basically a familiar version of あなた. \n * [君]{きみ} → Sounds a little more endearing to me, but that may not always be the case\n * お[前]{まえ} → _Very_ informal. Can be considered rude and/or derogatory depending on the context in which you use it and how well you know the person.\n\nLastly, it's very common not to use the second person at all. Many people\n(particularly, young people) will just address their friends by the name they\nare most well known (first, last, nickname), possibly with a ～くん or ～ちゃん\ntacked on (but that's usually how they're most well known anyway). For\nexample,\n\n> * [陽子]{よう・こ}ちゃんは行く？ → Are you going Yoko?\n> * サトシは昨日のクラスをサボって、父親に知られちゃった。だから、厳しく叱られたんだ。 → Satoshi skipped yesterday's\n> class and his father found out. He really got in trouble for it!\n> * [小川]{お・がわ}さんはゴスペルを歌うことが好きみたいですね。とてもお上手です！ → Mrs. Ogawa, you seem to\n> really like singing Gospel music. You're very talented at it!\n>\n\nOr for slightly- to intensely more polite situations, the usual `last name +\nさん` also works. In all my experience living in Japan, it was very rare to hear\nあなた.",
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"body": "I would stay away from お前 and 君, unless you know very well what you are doing.\nあんた is a bit less formal, but still not super-friendly.\n\nActually, the two most simple ways to address friends casually are:\n\n 1. **No pronoun** : whether in a formal or casual context, you _only_ really use a pronoun when there might be an ambiguity otherwise.\n\n 2. **The person's name** is also perfectly acceptable (in both casual and formal context). Politeness will be defined by which part of the name and suffix you use.",
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"body": "One more addition on あなた. The word is also used by wives to call their\nhusbands (something like _dear_ in English), so just use the person's name,\nwith さん, くん or ちゃん.\n\nDepending on the company, everybody may be using nicknames for each other as\nwell. I really do not hear or use the second person pronouns often, or even at\nall.",
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"body": "The solution is simple: use honorifics. 尊敬語{そんけいご} means I'm talking about\nyou, and only you. 謙譲語{けんじょうご} means I'm talking about me, and only me.\nConsider honorifics to be more \"pronoun avoidance\" rather than expression of\n\"respect\" or \"humility\".\n\n[そちら as a second person\npronoun](http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2644469)",
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"body": "I would go for omitting the pronoun or using the person's name (with whatever\nhonorific you'd usually use). It may be difficult for an English speaker to\nget used to doing so, but it is perfectly acceptable in casual conversation.",
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"body": "あなた (or あんた) is in my experience used almost exclusively by females, so you\nshould probably avoid it. You would use 君 mostly to adress people who are\ninferior in status to you (generally because they are younger) and whom you do\nnot know very well. With close friends, おまえ is completely acceptable (usual,\neven), but you can also use 君 to add a somewhat warmer touch (especially with\nyour female friends).\n\nA good way to get exposure to casual, everyday speech is to read manga,\nespecially of the \"slice of life\" genre such as よつばと！. Your book will not tell\nyou everything there is to know (that's not its purpose!).",
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] | 23103 | 23104 | 23104 |
{
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"body": "I know that they can both mean \"so, therefore, because of that\" etc., so what\nis the difference when I use them with that meaning?",
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"score": 11,
"tags": [
"grammar",
"word-choice",
"conjugations"
],
"title": "Is there any difference between そこで and それで?",
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"body": "そこで feels more like \"at that place, therefore\"\n\nそれで has a sense of continuity, and in spoken Japanese is probably perceived\nmore softly because it lacks the \"k\" consonant sound.\n\nVery rarely have I heard soko_de used in this meaning, and almost always as\n\"at that place, (something occurred).\"\n\nそれで Definitely connects two fragments. A それで B. It is not precisely\n\"therefore\" but more like \"and so\"",
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"body": "I wll try to explain this without **_translating_** the words themselves as, I\nfeel, wanting to translate should be the major reason that you are\nexperiencing difficulty in understanding these words.\n\n> 「それで」 is generally used to express a simple \"cause and effect\" relationship\n> between two events or situations. **_\"B happens as a (natural) result of\n> A.\"_** It is close to 「ですから」 in meaning.\n\n「ウィスキーを[一本飲]{いっぽんの}んだ。 **それで** [頭]{あたま}が[痛]{いた}い。」 Drinking a whole bottle of\nwhiskey has caused your headache.\n\n「[朝]{あさ}から[大雨]{おおあめ}です。 **それで** ピクニックを[中止]{ちゅうし}しました。[残念]{ざんねん}です。」 Heavy rain\nsince morning has caused the cancellation of the picnic.\n\n> 「そこで」 is used to describe an action that is performed in response to an\n> existing situation. **_\"Measure B is taken to solve/alleviate Situation\n> A.\"_**\n\n「[日本語]{にほんご}のテストで40[点]{てん}しか[取]{と}れなかった。 **そこで**\n[勉強方法]{べんきょうほうほう}を[変]{か}えてみたら、70点取れた。」 You had done poorly on the previous\ntest. This time, you tried a new method of studying and it worked.\n\n「[社員]{しゃいん}が[増]{ふ}え、オフィスが[狭]{せま}くなった。 **そこで**\n[今]{いま}より[大]{おお}きいオフィスを[探]{さが}すことにしました。」 The fact that you have more employees\nnow and it is making the office feel too small **necessitates** searching for\na new space to rent.\n\nFinally, there will be cases where the distinction is not as clear as one\nwould like it to be. My last sentence about office space is an example of\nthat. In those cases, the speaker/writer would need to decide which one would\nbetter express what s/he wanted to express.\n\nGenerally speaking, it would look or sound like a bigger mistake to use そこで\nwhere それで should be used than to go the other way around.",
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"body": "_A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar_ has a section for そこで (page\n401), it states:\n\n> _Sore de_ and _soko de_ are similar and are interchangeable in many\n> situations.\n\n> _Sore de_ , however, differs from _soko de_ in several ways. First, _sore\n> de_ can connect a cause and a result while _soko de_ cannot.\n>\n> Second, _sore de_ is used to mean 'that's why.' _Soko de_ cannot replace\n> _sore de_ in this use.\n>\n> Third, when _sore de_ is used, the situation does not have to be a special\n> one.\n>\n> Fourth, when _sore de_ is used, the situation does not have to be\n> controllable.\n\nIn real life usage, of course these distinction are more blurred.",
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] | 23106 | 23114 | 23114 |
{
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"body": "I see it chat rooms all the time and I have no clue what it means.",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-08T07:23:49.870",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 7,
"tags": [
"usage"
],
"title": "What do people mean when they just type こん？",
"view_count": 422
} | [
{
"body": "Should mean こんにちは (Good day) or depending on the time こんばんわ (Good evening).\nSame as おは for おはよう :)",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-08T08:05:12.697",
"id": "23124",
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{
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"body": "Basically, [I've been corrected on\nLang-8](http://lang-8.com/1175392/journals/89388753240708953573691087311691779178/%25E7%25A7%2581%25E3%2581%25AE%25E3%2581%25AA%25E3%2581%25BE%25E3%2581%2588%25E3%2580%2582?t=correction#journal_comment_217368597129492706286705882073422302314)\nthat [あなたの名前はですか] should be changed to [なんというお名前ですか], or [あなたの名前何といいますか].\n\nAfter a quick search around, I found that なんという means how as in [how\n[beautiful]]. I figured that this is a polite way of addressing the second-\nperson, but this still leaves me a little confused on the proper way to ask\nfor second-person's name. [何といい] didn't register as a word at all in a online\ndictionary I've used, and some other members have said that [あなたの名前はですか] is\ncompletely fine!\n\nCould someone demystify this mess please?",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-08T12:58:55.963",
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"tags": [
"grammar",
"questions"
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"title": "The use of なんというお名前ですか?",
"view_count": 2746
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{
"body": "What you wrote is grammatically not correct. So far you have\n\n> あなたの名前 \n> your name\n>\n> は \n> [topic particle] (not to be translated in English)\n>\n> です \n> [copula] is\n>\n> か \n> [question particle] ?\n\nIn other words, what you wrote translates to\n\n> あなたの名前はですか \n> [big unfilled gap] is your name?\n\nYou want to fill the gap with \"what\", in Japanese 何{なん} to give you\n\n> あなたの名前は **何** ですか \n> **What** is your name?\n\nThe other way suggested to you means something like\n\n> あなたの名前は何と **いいます** か \n> _How do you **say** your name?_ or _How do you **call** your name?_\n\nThat said, what you said might work on an internet forum, but in face-to-face\nconversation the more common way to say \"What is your name?\" is お名前は何ですか.",
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"body": "Your sentence, あなたの名前はですか、 is both grammatically incorrect and rather rude\n(once fixed) as well. As Earthling said, to make it grammatically correct, you\nneed to add [何]{なん} → 名前は何ですか\n\nThe impolite part is the use of the pronoun あなた; Japanese learners are best to\navoid this word -- as well as other second-person pronouns -- until they know\nwhen to use it and when not to use it.\n\nTypical ways of asking for somebody's name are:\n\n> お[名前]{なまえ}は？\n>\n> お名前は[何]{なん}ですか。\n>\n> お名前は[何]{なん}と[言]{い}いますか。\n\nNote that I'm using お名前 rather than 名前 or あなたの名前; the お prefix makes the word\n'honorific', which in practice means that the word translates to **'your\nname'.**\n\n* * *\n\nOn second thought, it is fine to use あなた in a blog (?) post like that, when\nyou are talking to a reader in a one-way conversation. Textbooks use it all\nthe time. Most learners, however, aren't writing one-way conversations, so the\ncommon advice still stands.\n\n(I assume lang-8 is closer to a blog than to a forum.)",
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"body": "なんという is the plain form of なんといいます.\n\nif taken literally, it means \"how is it said\"\n\nso it's like saying \"how is your name said?\"",
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{
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"body": "I speak no Japanese, but need to represent the concept of pair or team in a\npoetic context. Specifically, I would like to describe two people (a couple)\nas a \"pair of shinobi\". From a poetic standpoint, my goals are:\n\n * Good: \"Matched pair\" as in \"two items that go together and are better together\"\n * Good: \"Team\" as in \"people working together toward a common goal\"\n * Good: \"Couple\" as in \"married couple\"\n * Good: \"Fraternity\" as in \"friendship and mutual support within a group\"\n * Preferred: Old-fashioned sounding. If the phrase sounded like it was out of an 8th century text, that would be great.\n * Preferred: \"Two\" (e.g. \"pair\") rather than \"multiple\" (e.g. \"group\").\n * Preferred: Kanji rather than hirigana or katakana.\n * Bad: \"Opposition\" as in \"one item versus another\"\n * Bad: Sounding illiterate, silly, or foreign. It is extremely important that this not sound like a foreigner playing with a language. If this forces hiragana, so be it.\n * Bad: Evil or malicious. I'm slightly concerned that \"shinobi\" is inherently negative.\n\nI've been digging through dictionaries and thesauruses and come up with a few\npossibilities:` If at all possible (without sounding illiterate or silly), I'd\nlike to use only Kanji:\n\n * 対: Could also mean \"against/versus\"?\n * 双: Implies identical pair rather than matched pair?\n * 組: Too official? More like \"group\" than \"pair\"?\n * 団: Too impersonal? Also more like \"group\" than \"pair\"?\n * 忍者: Inherently evil? Is there a better word for stealthy and highly skilled in martial arts?\n\nWhat words would you use?\n\nI'm also not sure of the positioning. Would 対, 双, 組, 団, or whatever word you\nsuggest go before or after 忍者?\n\nThank you very much for your help.",
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"tags": [
"word-choice",
"words",
"word-requests"
],
"title": "How do you say \"pair\" of people?",
"view_count": 1827
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{
"body": "A pair or couple of Shinobi would most often be translated as \"忍びの二人\",\npronounced \"shinobi no futari\" and literally \"two people of ninja\" or \"couple\nof ninja\". Sounds ridiculous in english because Japanese doesn't often make\ndistinctions between plural and singular forms.",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-08T23:49:08.903",
"id": "23135",
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"body": "二人の忍 will simply mean \"two ninja\" or \"a couple of ninja\" as in \"there are a\ncouple of ninja out there.\"\n\nIf you emphasize the two ninja as a _team_ , who always act together, then try\n忍【しのび】の二人【ふたり】組【ぐみ】. This one is neutral, which doesn't sound foreign nor old.\n\nAlternatively, 双忍【そうにん】 is not a word listed in dictionaries, but it's\nactually used to refer to [a certain pair of ninja in one\nmanga](http://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E5%8F%8C%E5%BF%8D). It would sound a bit more\nold-fashioned and cool to my ears, which may match your intent.",
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] | 23134 | 23140 | 23140 |
{
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"body": "Good evening!\n\nIs 人の夢は終わらねェ the correct spelling for \"A man's dream never dies\", or is it\nwith a language twist, like someone very specific would spell or say it like\nthat? I know that the way it's spelled is like \"hito no yume wa owara nee\",\nand that the correct japanese version would be \"hito no yume wa owaranai\", but\ni'm thinking about getting a tattoo with that, and wanted to know for sure how\nto do it. Also, it would be divided, 人の夢は on one side, 終わらねェ on the other.\nWhat side should each of them be on? Thank you very much,\n\nJoão Reis Santos, Portugal",
"comment_count": 3,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-09T03:08:29.653",
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"id": "23137",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 1,
"tags": [
"words",
"spelling"
],
"title": "Clarification on 人の夢は終わらねェ",
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{
"body": "If you're _really_ interested only in grammatical and semantic clarification,\nyes, you are understanding that sentence correctly. That would be still\nsomewhat funny to the eyes of native speakers by its nature, but at least you\ndon't have to worry about your tattoo being listed in [sites like\nthis](http://tokyodesu.com/2013/08/09/pictures-terrible-kanji-tattoos-with-\ntheir-english-translations/).\n\nIf you want to separate that sentence into two lines, yes, breaking after は is\nOK. 人の夢は means \"man's dream,\" and 終わらない, \"never ends.\" I'm not sure what you\nmean by _side_ , but neither 人の夢は nor 終わらない would make sense alone. If you\nwant it to be understandable as a meaningful message, it would be better to\nkeep them together.",
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"body": "I want to express an exception and don't know which sentence would be\nappropriate. I want to say that I just wasn't able to do it today, but I am\nable to do it normally. Which of the following sentences has got this meaning;\nor are there better ways to say this?\n\n(I guess some of these sentences actually mean the opposite, `I am not able to\ndo it, as always.`)\n\n * いつものように出来ない\n * いつもみたいに出来ない\n * いつも通りに出来ない\n\nOr maybe one of these sentences?\n\n * いつものようには出来ない\n * いつもみたいには出来ない\n * いつも通りには出来ない\n\nI guess that `いつも通りに(は)出来ない` is alright, but I am not certain. Also, maybe\nthese sentences in the past tense would make it easier, but I wanted to try it\nwith the present tense.\n\nAlso, adding a `今日は` to the sentences could make it easier, too, I guess.",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-09T09:18:26.607",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23142",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"grammar",
"word-choice",
"usage"
],
"title": "How to express an exception, being able to do sth. normally, but not today?",
"view_count": 1198
} | [
{
"body": "I have the feeling that even いつも通りに(は)出来ない risk being misinterpreted as\nmeaning \"I always cannot\", and the phrase does not ring well to my ears.\n\nFirst, bear in mind that the particle は in itself can express \"exception\", as\nin 今日はできません, where it's naturally interpreted this way. To emphasize on this\nparticular occasion being an exception to the ordinary, I'd add だけ, as in\n今度だけは行けません.\n\nOther alternatives include いつもと違って, and possibly variations including のに.\n\n**EDIT** : Also, note that straight-forward expressions are commonly avoided\nin Japanese. Rather than using 出来ません I'd suggest that rephrasing to きついです or\nsimilar might be appropriate where applicable. This should still be\ninterpreted as meaning \"not possible\", even though the literal meaning is\ndifferent.",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-09T10:39:52.690",
"id": "23144",
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"body": "Your first set of three sentences without 「は」 used in them **_could_** mean\ntwo very different things. This represents one of the soft spots of informal\nJapanese today.\n\n> 1) \"I am being unable do it (today) as good as I usually do.\" Today is an\n> exception.\n>\n> 2) \"As usual, I could not do it (today).\" Today is no exception.\n\n**By adding 「は」** as you did in your second set of three sentences, the\nsemantic ambiguity instantly disappears and the sentences can now mean only\none thing:\n\n> \"I am being unable to do it (today) as good as I usually do.\"\n\nOne can easily (and naturally) express the same idea by adding 「に[限]{かぎ}って」:\n\n> 「[今日]{きょう}に[限]{かぎ}って、いつものように/いつもみたいに/いつも[通]{どお}りにできない。」\n\nBy using 「限って」, you can drop the 「は」.\n\n(Lastly, it is officially 「できない」, not 「出来ない」.)",
"comment_count": 4,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-09T12:26:12.187",
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] | 23142 | 23145 | 23145 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23183",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I want to say _Please tell me if you want to go tomorrow!_.\n\nI can translate **Please tell me** to **ぼくにおしえてください** and **you want to go\ntomorrow** to **明日あなたは行きたい** ,\n\nbut how do I connected both with a conditional **if**?\n\n* * *\n\nI read [this\nquestion](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/21741/i-was-told-to-do-\nx-if-y) and I don't think it's a duplicate, as that doesn't answer mine.",
"comment_count": 1,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-10T01:43:38.393",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23153",
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"last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:44.207",
"last_editor_user_id": "-1",
"owner_user_id": "6863",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"clause-pattern"
],
"title": "How to say \"X if Y\"?",
"view_count": 721
} | [
{
"body": "You can use several forms\n\n**A なら B : \"in the event of A, B\"**\n\n行きたいなら教えてください\n\n**Verb-past たら B: \"when A, B\"**\n\n行きたかったら教えてください\n\nThere are subtle differences between the two. Mainly, なら specifies an \"if this\nis true\" kinda tone, while たら can also be used for \"when\" like \"when I got\ninto the tub I started sweating\" お風呂に入ったら汗が出始めた",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-10T02:12:38.147",
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"body": "There are quite a few ways to express **\" X if Y.\"** in Japanese.\n\nHere are the more common ones _**roughly**_ in the order of formality:\n\n> 「もし/もしも + Y + なら/ならば + X」\n>\n> 「もし/もしも + Y + であれば + X」\n>\n> 「Y + なら/ならば + X」\n>\n> 「Y + であれば + X」\n>\n> 「（もし） + Y + だったら + X」\n\nThus, the sentence \"Please tell me if you want to go tomorrow!.\" can be said\nin many ways. How you would want to phrase it would mainly depend, of all\nthings, on the relationship between the speaker and listener.\n\nIn the order of formality, one might say:\n\n> 「もし（も）[明日]{あす}[行]{い}かれたいのであれば、お[知]{し}らせください。」 Used honorifics. Probably not\n> for beginning or intermediate learners.\n>\n> 「もし明日行きたければ（or 行きたかったら）、知らせてください。」 Neutral in every way. This is how many\n> J-learners speak in my experience. On this level of formality, 「明日」 could be\n> pronounced either あした or あす. Will sound natural either way.\n>\n> 「[明日]{あした}行きたいのなら、知らせてね。」 Pretty informal. Notice the change in how 「明日」 is\n> pronounced in informal speech.\n>\n> 「[明日]{あした}行きたかったら、知らせてね。」 One step more informal.\n\nI took the liberty of using 知らせる instead of おしえる as the former would sound\nmore natural.",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-11T00:24:22.973",
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"score": 5
}
] | 23153 | 23183 | 23183 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23167",
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"body": "I somehow managed to get a MEXT scholarship. Now I've got to make a self-\npresentation, but I've been struggling with it since I'm more used to reading\nthan writing (which is one reason I could get this scholarship - the tests had\nno essay or whatever)\n\nIn this self-presentation I need to tell my name, the university I graduated\nand the academic degree, the Japanese university I'm enrolling, field of study\nand research theme.\n\nI started writing but somehow it felt unnatural, maybe too simple, or maybe\nout-of-context. So far, it goes like:\n\n> はじめまして。 ジョン・スミスと申します{もうします}。\n\nOK so far, a simple introduction and stating my name.\n\n> 私{わたし}は去年{きょねん}Foo大学の{だいがく} 〇〇 学部{がくぶ}を卒業{そつぎょう}しました。\n\nNot sure how to say \"I graduated in X\".\n\n> Bar大学{だいがく}で勉強{べんきょう}して修士{しゅうし}を取る{とる}つもりです。\n\nI want to say I want to go for the Master's program of the university. Should\nI use 研究{けんきゅう} instead of 勉強{べんきょう}? I'll be a research student anyway if I\nfail the exam to enter the Master's program.\n\n> 専攻分野{せんこうぶんや}は〇〇です。\n\nI'm in doubt whether to use 専攻分野{せんこうぶんや} or 専門分野{せんもんぶんや}. I know there is\nsomething crucial that differs these two but I wasn't able to fully\nunderstand.\n\n> 研究課題{けんきゅうかだい}は△◇です。 [And then some explanation about the research subject]\n>\n> どうぞよろしくお願いします{おねがいします}。\n\nThis self-presentation should not take more than 2 minutes, but it looks like\nit won't take even one. Maybe I was too direct? Maybe should I tell something\nelse about myself before finishing?",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-10T02:51:52.997",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23159",
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"owner_user_id": "9528",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"word-choice",
"greetings"
],
"title": "A self-introduction for academic purposes",
"view_count": 1127
} | [
{
"body": "This introduction sounds fine. As self-introduction for university/work, it is\ncommon in Japan to talk about personal stuff like your hobbies, your family\n...etc so maybe you can add this.\n\nFor some of your questions :\n\n\"I graduated in X\" > X年に卒業しました\n\n\"I want to go for the master program\" > 今後の勉強（活動）としてBar大学の修士課程を目指しています\n\n専攻分野 is more specifc for field of study, 専門分野 is specilizaiton in a more\ngeneral way",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-10T04:42:15.053",
"id": "23161",
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{
"body": "Not sure if you are expected to write like a native speaker in this\nassignment, but \"as a native speaker\" is the only way I could correct your\nwriting.\n\nFirst off, I would surely drop 「私は」. Everyone who reads this will know exactly\nwho you are talking about.\n\nI would use 「[昨年]{さくねん}」 instead of 「去年」 as the latter would sound slightly\ntoo informal or conversational.\n\nI might change the plain 「しました」 to the humble 「いたしました」. I used \"might\" because\nthis is what I meant in my first sentence above. I just do not know how\n\"native-speaker-like\" you are expected to sound.\n\n「修士」 is barely O.K. but 「修士[号]{ごう}」 will sound better because, strictly\nspeaking, the former refers to the person and the latter, the degree.\n\n「つもりです」 is conversational. I would recommend 「[予定]{よてい}です」.\n\n「専攻分野」 ＞ 「専門分野」 Use the latter and you will sound like you are already an\nestablished professional in that field (rather than a grad student). I may be\nbeing too picky here, though.\n\nAgain, 「いたします」 ＞ 「します」 at the end.",
"comment_count": 3,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-10T12:14:36.073",
"id": "23167",
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}
] | 23159 | 23167 | 23167 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23162",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I would like to know the definition of this phrase.",
"comment_count": 2,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-10T04:25:17.267",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23160",
"last_activity_date": "2016-02-07T15:37:20.403",
"last_edit_date": "2016-02-07T15:37:20.403",
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"owner_user_id": "9559",
"post_type": "question",
"score": -1,
"tags": [
"meaning"
],
"title": "What is the meaning of どうじゃい",
"view_count": 483
} | [
{
"body": "Maybe you heard this in anime? or it might be dialect as well\n\nIt means \"How about xxx ?\"\n\nproper japanese would be \"どうだい\" or even more proper \"どうですか？\"",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-10T04:57:31.493",
"id": "23162",
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{
"body": "this is more informal way, 'How about this?'\n\nMore formal saying, \"これで、どうですか？\"",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-10T07:51:37.517",
"id": "23164",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-10T07:51:37.517",
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"post_type": "answer",
"score": 3
}
] | 23160 | 23162 | 23162 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": null,
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "I am teaching myself Japanese with the aid of beginners textbooks and internet\nresources. I have learnt to read both the hiragana and katakana alphabets\n(yay!) I felt super excited and started trying to read everything I could... I\nbought little manga books intended for _very_ young children, and thought I\ncould just use translators to translate what I was now reading. However, not\nknowing where words start or end I cannot differentiate actual sentences from\njust a jumble of sounds :-(\n\nWhat should I do to understand what I'm reading?",
"comment_count": 3,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-10T09:28:33.967",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23165",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-10T19:16:27.853",
"last_edit_date": "2015-03-10T11:20:16.250",
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"owner_user_id": "9561",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"comprehension"
],
"title": "Separating words in a sentence",
"view_count": 937
} | [
{
"body": "If you work through a textbook, the vocabulary you need should be built up\nfrom the ground. Once you know some sentence structure, this should be enough\nto figure out word boundaries in elementary picture books, which allows you to\nlook up words in any dictionary.\n\nSome books for pre-school children actually do put spaces between words for\nbetter readability, so could start with that. (For example, you may know [すてきな\n三にんぐみ](http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%81%99%E3%81%A6%E3%81%8D%E3%81%AA%E4%B8%89%E3%81%AB%E3%82%93%E3%81%90%E3%81%BF-%E3%83%88%E3%83%9F%E3%83%BC-%E3%82%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B2%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC/dp/4033270205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425986080&sr=8-1&keywords=%E3%81%99%E3%81%A6%E3%81%8D%E3%81%AA%E4%B8%89%E3%81%AB%E3%82%93%E3%81%90%E3%81%BF),\nwhich has spaces and is translated using only katakana & hiragana.)\n\nGenerally, I think it's a great idea to try to read children's books, but be\naware that these are intended for children who are already fluent in spoken\nJapanese. At times you may have trouble finding words, even if you know how\nthey are spelled in kana (which is why I would suggest you start with a book\nyou know well in your native language).",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-10T11:18:44.010",
"id": "23166",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-10T11:25:15.513",
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"score": 1
},
{
"body": "Start with [Tae Kim](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar), read up to\nAdvanced section, stop. His format is flawed and he doesn't explain a lot of\nthings that he should and tailors his stuff mostly to speaking as opposed to\nreading but it's totally fine as a start. A universal screwdriver, of sorts.\n\nThen:\n\n[http://www.amazon.com/A-Dictionary-Basic-Japanese-\nGrammar/dp/4789004546](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/4789004546) +\nIntermediate / Advanced variants.\n\nGet these three, they'll cover a lot of things Tae Kim didn't. Keep reading\nand re-reading them, writing out sentences for practice etc.\n\n**MOST IMPORTANTLY, HAVE FUN** Find something you'd LOVE to read/watch (books,\nYotsuba, TV drama, tentacle pron whatever) to motivate you, doesn't matter how\nadvanced - the point is to motivate you and if you like it enough you'll\npersevere with it anyway. VNs (visual novels) are the perfect learning method\nIMO (assuming you can handle the occasional icky bits) as you can parse their\ntext into text editors and rip voice audio to Anki to grind your listening\nskills.\n\nGrow your anki deck.\n\nDon't overestimate the difficulty of learning. It's a language learnable by\nkids and people with far, far below average intellect (as for the argument\nthat kids learn languages easier, I myself find learning languages a lot\neasier in my late 20s compared to my younger self). Harder than learning\nanother European language for a European, yes, but not nearly as hard as, say,\nbecoming proficient at a sport or a musical instrument.\n\nHave fun!",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-10T14:24:03.103",
"id": "23171",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-10T19:16:27.853",
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"score": 0
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{
"body": "I agree with Earthliŋ's answer, particularly about looking for books with\nspaces between words, but I'd like to add a few more thoughts and point out\nsome specific issues.\n\nThere are different levels books aimed for very young children. First there\nare baby books, for children who are just learning words. These will usually\njust have one or two words with each picture, e.g., かー and/or ぶーぶー. The first\nis just the word for car, and the second is the sound it makes. In general,\nJapanese children's books use a lot of onomatopoeia, most of which can be\nfound in dictionaries, but in simple cases you can guess the meaning from\ncontext. These should not be too hard to read.\n\nHowever, baby books are probably not super interesting. A big issue when\nreading simple story books, in addition to a lot of vocabulary you wouldn't\nlearn in introductory textbooks, is the use of slang and things like word\nplay. First, most (but not all) introductions to Japanese start off by\nteaching you polite Japanese, which is not how kids learn (familiar, casual\nJapanese). So kids books will use a lot of casual Japanese. Second, there's a\nlot of slang in spoken Japanese, just like in English, and this will appear in\nkids books as well. (e.g., しています meaning \"is doing\" is している in normal casual\nJapanese, but often pronounced and written as してる.)\n\nAs for finding gaps between words, even as you progress it takes effort. One\nthing you could do is use a good online dictionary (or tools like rikai-chan),\npreferably one that will recognize verb conjugations, as you will run into a\nlot of conjugated verbs you need to work to try out various possibilities to\nfind the root of (I think jisho.org, at least the beta version, may do this\nfor you.) This helps, but you may still need to try several possibilities to\nfigure out what the words are. It is also much easier to determine where words\nbegin and end when you have a good sense of the grammar, which you'll need to\nmake sense of what the words mean when strung together.\n\nAnyway, I think reading children's books is great, but assuming you mean\nsimple story books, you may either want to wait until you learn a decent\namount of grammar (e.g., maybe after going through 1-2 introductory books) or\nstart with bilingual children's books. There are a lot of these available in\nJapan (though I don't know if they'll be easy for you to get) aimed at\nteaching Japanese kids English from a young age.\n\nI probably didn't start reading children's books until covering roughly 1-2\nsemesters of Japanese, and even then learning to read children's books was a\nvery slow process for me (mainly due to vocab, grammar and slang), so you need\nto be patient. Treat it like a research project. Invariably, there will be\ntimes when you get stuck, and then you can ask someone you know or ask on here\nfor specific questions.",
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] | 23165 | null | 23166 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23170",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "I am reading Hunter x Hunter, and the two protagonists (friends, and kids) are\ngiven cards that they are not supposed to reveal for the duration of the game.\nThey start talking and they exchange a bit of information and then this is\nsaid :\n\n\n\n`せーので見せっこするか？`\n\nThen, they proceed to show their cards at the same time (saying せーの).\n\nI understand that one asks the other to show the card but I am unsure as to\nwhat is this form (is it a contraction of sorts?). Does it comes with a\nparticular nuance?\n\nThanks!",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-10T13:50:47.297",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23168",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-10T14:26:20.273",
"last_edit_date": "2015-03-10T14:07:20.963",
"last_editor_user_id": null,
"owner_user_id": "3614",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 8,
"tags": [
"verbs"
],
"title": "What is this verb form? 見せっこ",
"view_count": 1366
} | [
{
"body": "「[連用形]{れんようけい} of a verb + （small っ） + こ」 = \"performing the same action\nto/for/with one another\"\n\n「見せ」 is the 連用形 of the verb 「見せる = \"to show\"」.\n\n「こ」 is a suffix that sort of functions as a nominalizer while giving the verb\na meaning of doing the same thing among two or more persons as a competition,\ngame or just fun.\n\nSee こ[接尾]1 in :\n<https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%93-493368#E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.9E.97.20.E7.AC.AC.E4.B8.89.E7.89.88>\n\n\"Show me yours and I'll show you mine.\"",
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"body": "A definition of 辛気臭い【しんきくさい】 (三省堂）：\n\n> 思うようにならず、いらいらするさま。また、気がめいるさま\n\nNara often implies something happening naturally, zu stands for 'without', so\ndoes the whole compound adverb stand for 'subconsciously'? 'without thinking'?",
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"tags": [
"grammar"
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"title": "思うようにならず - what does it mean?",
"view_count": 1483
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{
"body": "This means something like 思うようにならない、（そして）いらいらする様子。 \nならず is a different form of the negation. You can get more detailed information\nhere: [What is the difference between the negative forms -ず and\n-ぬ?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/235/what-is-the-difference-\nbetween-the-negative-forms-%E3%81%9A-and-%E3%81%AC)",
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"body": "A wild grammatical construction appears!\n\n思うようにならず, ~~ is the same as saying 思うようにならないで, ~~\n\n行かず = 行かないで\n\nご飯を食べず, 寝ました (Went to bed without eating dinner)\n\n* * *\n\nIf something was 思うようになる then it would be \"conceivable\"\n\nso 思うようにならないで, ~ is something like \"inconceivably\" or \"does not even lend to\nimagining\" perhaps.",
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"body": "> Nara often implies something happening naturally, zu stands for 'without',\n> so does the whole compound adverb stand for 'subconsciously'? 'without\n> thinking'?\n\nNo. First of all, Nara is 動詞{どうし}, a verb. But you are correct in that this\nindicates \"something happening naturally\", since we call this なる,\n無意識動詞{むいしきどうし}, literally _a verb without consciousness_.\n\nSecond, zu **does not** denote \"without\", but, to quote\n[this](https://web.archive.org/web/20190302111452/http://www.geocities.jp/nm3032nakatsu/koten/kt04.html)\nsource:\n\n> **ず ①～ない （打ち消し）** ( around the middle of the linked page )\n\nbut denotes **denial** (which is an auxiliary). In this phrase, it denies the\nabove verb \"naru/なる”.\n\n### Grammar Breakdown\n\n思うようにならない。 ＝思う(連体形{れんたいけい}), in English _to think_ + よう（様）に an auxiliary,\n連用形{れんようけい}, in English _as I expect_ + なら the verb, 連用形, in English ( _to\nbecome_ ) + ない。the auxiliary, 終止形{しゅうしけい}, in English, _denying the former\nverb/auxiliary/adjective verb, etc_.\n\nSo the whole meaning is \" **Not having gone as I had expected** \".",
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{
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"body": "Reading an [article from the Asahi\nShimbun](http://www.asahi.com/paper/column.html?iref=comtop_gnavi) using\nRikaikun, I'm trying to formulate a good translation for the first sentence:\n\n> ある所で起きたことを、地名とともに象徴的に表す言葉がある。 → {Upon Waking?}, along with the place name,\n> there is a symbolic meaning.\n\nThe writer goes on to talk about the events after the Great Kanto Earthquake\nand a group of kids that took the initiative to find shelter, and some guy's\nwife whom he thought was missing and it was hard to bear.\n\nMost of the article is easy for me to understand, but I am having trouble with\nthat very first half. I usually see 起きた as \"having woken up\" or the like, does\nit mean here \"to have happened\" ?",
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"tags": [
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"title": "起きたことを ... proper english rendering?",
"view_count": 147
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{
"body": "起きた happened \n起きたこと what happened \n起きたことを表す言葉 a word that describes what happened\n\nある所で起きたことを、地名とともに象徴的に表す言葉がある。 \nThere is a word that, along with a place name, symbolically describes what\nhappened there.",
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] | 23176 | 23178 | 23178 |
{
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"body": "In Spanish, you can use the [\"Ha, Heh, Hee, Ho\"\nmethod](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orOW9eRQfpE) for learning Spanish\nvowels.\n\nFor example, A in Spanish sounds like the 'a' in Ha!\n\nE in Spanish sounds like the 'e' in Heh!\n\nI in Spanish sounds like the 'ee' in Hee!\n\nO in Spanish sounds like the 'o' in Ho!\n\nand then U is like the OO in food.\n\nDoes this apply to Japanese vowels as well? I have listened to Japanese vowels\nand they sound identical. But I thought I should double check, so I don't\nlearn them wrongly.",
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"tags": [
"vowels"
],
"title": "Can you use the \"Ha, Heh, Hee, Ho\" method for learning Japanese vowels?",
"view_count": 351
} | [
{
"body": "Unless you put stress on them, it works as well. (You may find \"U\" a little\ndifferent in New Tokyo dialect, which is a virtual standard, but that's beyond\nthe category of Standard Japanese.) If you put stress on a vowel, it's\nprolonged and includes pitch shift, which is taken as sequence of two sounds\nto ears of a Japanese speaker.",
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{
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"body": "I'm trying to put together a chart for myself, to learn the rules for verb\nconjugation. However, I'm confused at the \"Imperfective\" and \"Perfective\" verb\nconjugations - aren't they just informal versions of the \"Masu\" verb forms? To\nmy understanding, the \"masu\" verb forms are polite ways to say something is\neither happening or will happen - just like the \"Imperfective\" verbs(Which\nappear to just be the dictionary forms?)\n\n * For example, \"Tabemasu\" vs \"Taberu\" - both mean that something is either being eaten or will be eaten.\n\nLikewise, the \"mashita\" verb forms indicate that something has already\nhappened - just like the \"perfective\" verb forms.\n\n * For example, \"Tabemashita\" vs \"Tabeta\" - both mean something has been eaten?",
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 1,
"tags": [
"verbs"
],
"title": "\"Masu\" verb form vs \"Imperfective\" verb form",
"view_count": 2130
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{
"body": "> For example, \"Tabemashita\" vs \"Tabeta\" - both mean something has been eaten?\n\nYes. They do not differ in meaning, only usage.\n\nKeep in mind there are some times when it's inappropriate to use たべた (\n_tabeta_ ); typically these are in more formal (or less familiar) situations.\nConversely, there are times when it is inappropriate to use たべました (\n_tabemashita_ ); typically these are in more familiar situations, among family\nor friends, or in certain grammatical constructs. (This would also be the case\nfor _taberu_ and _tabemasu_ , and so on.)\n\nIf you want to read further on the topic, there's quite a bit of discussion\nand help surrounding these constructs.\n\n * [WordReference forum](http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=558671)\n * [Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/polite)\n * [About.com](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa031101b.htm)",
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"body": "I'm having a hard time understanding how と works with negative verbs. With\npositive verbs, it is easy to see the timeframe of いい because it occurs after\nthe verb happens, but if the verb ends in ない, how do I know when いい happens\nwhen a verb ending in ない means nothing occurs? I only seem to have this\nproblem with いい and not だめ. For example, 食べないとダメ means that if you don't eat,\nyou will eventually have something bad to happen. If reworded as 食べないとだめになる,\nthe sentence still makes sense because the original sentence also reflected a\nchange in state. However, in a sentence like 電池が爆発しないといい, 爆発しないとよくなる seems to\nhave a different meaning.",
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"tags": [
"grammar",
"word-choice"
],
"title": "Is there a difference between 爆発しないといい and 爆発しないとよくなる?",
"view_count": 262
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{
"body": "First of all, \"食べないとダメ\" means \"you have to eat,\" not meaning \"食べないとだめになる.\"\n\nIn this topic's context, \"いい\" is used when you describe your hope or wish. For\nexample, \"爆発しないといいな\" means \"I hope it won't explode.\"",
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"body": "yes, the sense is different:\n\n-爆発しないといい you express your hope, you hope that it won't happen\n\n-爆発しないとよくなる doesn't make much sense with this verb, but you simply state that something good will come out of not doing an action. There is no notion of hope",
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"body": "Can I ask a favour?\n\nI am trying to catch on the meaning of the [song\n涙をとどけて](http://j-lyric.net/artist/a0036f2/l00db27.html). I have caught\neverything except for the following 4 lines, which remain vague for me.\n\n> 涙をとどけて 本当のこと\n>\n> 想いをとどけて 言えないこと\n>\n> 言葉にできない\n>\n> 明日をとどけて\n\n思いが届く means \"hopes get realized\".\n\n涙をとどける means \"to excite tears\".\n\n涙をとどけて 本当のこと means \"truth causes tears\"? Am I right?\n\n明日をとどけて means \"tommorow will come\" (???)\n\nWhat does the `-て` form mean in this context?\n\nI can't manage. Can you help?",
"comment_count": 0,
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"score": 5,
"tags": [
"grammar",
"translation",
"meaning",
"て-form",
"song-lyrics"
],
"title": "What's the meaning of 届けて",
"view_count": 1551
} | [
{
"body": "The intransitive verb 届く ( _to reach_ ) and the transitive verb 届ける ( _to\nconvey_ , _to deliver_ ) are usually used with tangible objects such as\nletters. But it's also frequently used with words representing feelings.\n\n> * 感謝の気持ちを届ける convey the feelings of gratitude\n>\n> * [君に届け](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimi_ni_Todoke) Let (It) Reach You\n>\n>\n\nThe second example is the title of a manga, and people can easily guess that\nthis title actually means \"let my love reach you\" or something.\n\nNow, 涙を届けて (literally \"please deliver tears\") is not an established idiomatic\nphrase. Obviously it's a metaphor, and the actual meaning could be ambiguous.\nIt probably means something like \"please notice/feel my sorrow\". Those [て-form\nverbs express requests](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/13003/5010). The\nfollowing 本当のこと (truth) is grammatically not strongly connected with 涙を届けて, so\nit would be enough to interpret it as \"that (my sorrow) is the truth\".\n\n想いを届けて 言えないこと / 言葉にできない (literally \"please deliver my feelings, something that\ncan't be said, can't be worded\"): So he wants to share his feelings with\nsomeone, but he has difficulty in doing so.\n\n明日を届けて (literally \"please deliver a tomorrow\") is even more ambiguous and\npoetic, but under this context I think it means \"give me a tomorrow\" or \"may\ntomorrow come\".",
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{
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"body": "おはよう！\n\nI've been coming across this written construction more and more and while it\nprobably doesn't change anything grammar-wise, I wonder what parts of the\nsentences are stressed by changing the sentence structure. It looks a literary\ndevice but I'm not sure what is being emphasized.\n\nE.g.\n\n> 取｛と｝り入｛い｝れた外気｛がいき｝は血液｛けつえき｝に。(1)\n\nI assume the literal meaning is the same as\n\n> 血液に取り入れた外気がある（ものだ）。(2)\n\n(fairly neutral statement)\n\nor\n\n> 外気は血液に取り入れた。(3)\n\n(more emphasis on 外気 because of は)\n\nThe difference between 2 and 3 is clear, but what about 1? は, the topic\nsubject particle, stresses 外気 all the same. What changes between (1) and (3)\n(beyond just looking more 'try-hard' and bookish)?\n\nThank you! (edited out the misused Japanese phrase, thank you for the tip Mr.\nl'électeur!)",
"comment_count": 5,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-11T09:42:09.793",
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"score": 3,
"tags": [
"particles",
"verbs"
],
"title": "What literary purpose is served by not having a verb at the end of the sentence?",
"view_count": 189
} | [
{
"body": "I can't say assertively without seeing the context, but your interpretation of\n(1) seems wrong.\n\n\"取り入れた外気は血液に\" is missing a verb. You are right. But what's missing here is, I\nguess, \"送られる,\" \"流れ込む,\" \"吸収される,\"or something. If so, this sentence is\nexplaining how human body takes oxygen from the air into the blood.\n\nWhy do they omit verbs once in a while? One reason is to improve the rhythm of\nthe writing. For example, from the top of my head, a paragraph including this\nsentence could be like this:\n\n\"血液循環の仕組みはこうだ。取り入れた外気は血液に。血液は全身に。血液の中の老廃物は尿に。(This is how blood circulation\nworks: The air taken from outside is sent into the blood. The blood is brought\nto the entire body. The waste in the blood is discharged as urine.)\"\n\nOf course, you could write this sentence without any omission:\n\n\"血液循環の仕組みはこうだ。取り入れた外気は血液に **吸収される** 。血液は全身に **送られる** 。血液の中の老廃物は尿に **なって体外へ出る**\n。\"\n\nWhich do you like? I think the former looks cool because the three sentences\nin the paragraph end with \"に,\" which is similar to the idea of rhyming. Makes\nsense?",
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{
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"body": "Are these words interchangeable? Just for example I have found some sentences\nbut do not see any difference between these word in meaning or politeness:\n\n> 彼女【かのじょ】はそのコンテストに参加【さんか】した。 She took part in the contest.\n>\n> 僕【ぼく】は会【かい】には出席【しゅっせき】します。 I will present myself at the meeting.\n>\n> 彼【かれ】はクラス会【かい】には必【かなら】ず出席【しゅっせき】する。 \n> He makes a point of attending class meetings.",
"comment_count": 4,
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"tags": [
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"words",
"synonyms"
],
"title": "Difference between 出席【しゅっせき】する and 参加【さんか】する",
"view_count": 1507
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{
"body": "出席 means “to attend to something” whilst 参加 means “to (participate\ninto/actively take part in) something”. For example you can attend (出席) a\nmeeting, without saying your opinion (参加).\n\n> 会議に出席はしても、意見は述べない\n\n参加 instead is – like you described well in your example – for really taking\npart.\n\nYou could also take a look here: [Link Global Solutions Inc.,\n2007年10月09日,【異文化知識・異文化交流】,「参加」と「出席」](http://www.link-\ngs.co.jp/info/2007/10/09064244.html)\n\nIt discusses the issue from a cultural point of view as well – in Japanese\nbusiness meetings it was more common that the decision has been decided\nbeforehand already, and that truly _participating_ was thus often not\nnecessary and not distinguished from _attending_ as well as in English.",
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"body": "みちに だんさが あるだろ!\n\nI am a pretty early beginner in japanese, and after mastering hiragana,\nkatakana, and some conversational basics, I have jumped into trying to slowly\nplay through an imported pokemon game for practice, needless to say, I have\nspent several hours getting through the first part of game, having to look up\nand translate as much as I can. Which, while time consuming, has been pretty\neasy with all the resources available online. With the exception of this\nsentence which I haven't been about to find a coherent translation using my\nusual resources.\n\nGoogle translate returns: 'Will there is a step on the road!' which is\nobviously a bad garble of words. All I know out of my own knowledge is 'みちに'\nis saying the road is the location. (The character speaking this is located on\nthe games Route 1)\n\nAny help is appreciated, and I would also like to see the reasoning behind the\ntranslation. (And sorry if basic translation requests are a little trite for\nthis site)",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-11T16:30:23.827",
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"tags": [
"translation"
],
"title": "help with this sentence from Pokemon (みちに だんさが あるだろ!)",
"view_count": 244
} | [
{
"body": "> みちに だんさが ある\n\njust means \"there is a step in the road\", where だんさ means \"step\" as in\n\"difference in height\" and not \"stair\". だろう (だろ is a colloquial spelling) is\nthe colloquial variant of でしょう, which when used in questions usually can be\ntranslated with \", right?\", as in\n\n> みちに だんさが ある **だろう?** \n> There is a step in the road, **right?**\n\nBut as an exclamation it's better translated as\n\n> みちに だんさが ある **だろ(う)!** \n> **Can't you see [that]** there is a step in the road **?**",
"comment_count": 1,
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"body": "Google Translate is not that far off in this case. だんさ (段差) means a \"step\" or\n\"a difference in level\". So it's saying something like \"Hey, the road is\nuneven!\"",
"comment_count": 0,
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] | 23197 | null | 23198 |
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"body": "I've studied Japanese a long time ago and decided to pick it up again. I'm\nreading from this novel but I want to make sure if I'm reading this sentence\nright. I having issues when sentences are long.\n\n> ただ、だから地味になっているかというと、そんなことは全くなかった。 \n> However, so having said that it comes out modest, that sort of thing is not\n> entirely so.",
"comment_count": 5,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-11T19:03:36.660",
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"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "Structure of だから地味になっているかというと、そんなことはなかった",
"view_count": 171
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{
"body": "Since you are someone who is already reading novels in Japanese, I will be on\nthe strict side.\n\nYou should have provided more context either in actual words used or in the\nform of a side note. Why do I say this? Because we have asbolutely no idea\nwhat the thing/object/phenomenon is that is being talked about.\n\nSo, what is it that the speaker is judging whether or not it is\n[地味]{じみ}になっている? Because 「地味」 has a few very different meanings, it is\nimperative that one know what the thing is that we are talking about in order\nto do a good translation.\n\n> \"As for whether or not it had become more 地味, however, that was not the case\n> at all.\"\n>\n> = It had not become more 地味.\n\nDepending on what the thing is, 「地味」 could be translated to:\n\n\"simple\", \"quiet\", \"subdued\", \"reserved\", \"restrained\", \"sober\", \"plain\", etc.\n\nI hope you can see my point now.",
"comment_count": 1,
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{
"accepted_answer_id": "23206",
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"body": "Wiktionary says that the Japanese for \"Native speaker\" can be either \"母語話者\" or\n\"ネイティブスピーカー\". What difference, if any, is there between the two?\n\nSearching the corpus on jisho.org only got one hit for the kanji form, and no\nhits for the katakana form.\n\nOn lang-8, I saw someone [correct](http://lang-8.com/5255/journals/11524) from\n母語話者 to ネイティブスピーカー as the kanji form was not as common.",
"comment_count": 2,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-12T00:24:21.897",
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"score": 3,
"tags": [
"word-choice"
],
"title": "Difference between 母語話者 and ネイティブスピーカー",
"view_count": 1355
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{
"body": "This probably falls into the category of words that have become more popular\nin the katakana form compared to the kanji form. If you are talking about the\ndifference in meaning then there is none as far as I can tell from usage. If\nyou are talking about difference in terms of when you should be using which\nword, I would suggest that the younger generation will be more comfortable\nwith ネイティブスピーカー (since this is how many of the overseas students refer to\nEnglish or Japanese native speakers). I have not heard them use the term 母語話者,\nbut perhaps it is used more in written Japanese.",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-12T00:50:57.857",
"id": "23205",
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"body": "Conclusion first, neither term is particularly common.\n\nIronically, however, places like this (SE) are not very good to discuss the\nmatter. Why not? Because the Japanese-speakers who are on here, myself\nincluded, are already at least bilingual to an extent and, in general, they\nwould tend to be more interested in foreign languages or \"Language\" in general\nso that they would spend more time discussing language-related subjects than\nthe average Japanese person. For that reason, someone might jump on me saying\nthat my first sentence is wrong and we use those terms all the time.\n\nThe first time I had ever heard the word 「ネイティブスピーカー」(it is one word in\nJapanese) was when I was in high school. That was around the time when some\nlarge-scale English conversation schools had emerged and started advertizing\non TV. 「ネイティブスピーカー」 was their catchword; they hired those people. Good-bye to\nthe old days of learning English from Japanese teachers.\n\nFunny thing, in restrospect, was that the word was practically never used to\nrefer to a native speaker of any other language -- particularly one of\nJapanese. Just as in child language acquisition, over-generalization and over-\nsimplification do often occur when a culture imports words from another.\n\n「[母語話者]{ぼごわしゃ}」 is rarely used outside of those who are interested in\nlinguistics or a particular foreign language, either. I do not think I myself\nhad ever used it actively before I was in college. It is _almost_ like a\ntechnical term for linguists.\n\nOne could say one would hear 「ネイティブスピーカー」 more often than 「母語話者」, but that is\nlargely because of the advertisement by Eikaiwa schools. The truth, however,\nis that neither one is used in the Japanese-speaking world as often and widely\nas \"native speaker\" is used in the English-speaking world. Japan is not an\nimmigration-based country like many English-speaking countries are. We as a\nnation just do not have the custom of asking each other on the street the\nquestion \"What's your native language, man?\"\n\nAnother (perhaps more linguistically convincing) reason that we do not use the\ntwo words in question is that we use the word 「[母国語]{ぼこくご} = one's native\nlanguage」 way more often. If you use it, you do not need to use 「ネイティブスピーカー」\nor 「母語話者」 because **you can say 「X語を母国語とする人」** instead of saying 「X語の母語話者」 or\n「X語のネイティブスピーカー」. It is only a matter of what sounds more natural in either\nlanguage.",
"comment_count": 4,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-12T01:44:42.203",
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"body": "I think ネイティブ **(without スピーカー)** , is the most common word used by ordinary\nJapanese people. To me 母語話者 sounds too technical in ordinary conversations and\ncasual writings.\n\nネイティブ is considered _exactly_ the same as ネイティブスピーカー by ordinary Japanese. To\nthem, ネイティブ is ネイティブスピーカー, nothing else. Thus ネイティブスピーカー is far less\nfrequently used in conversations because it's unnecessarily long.\n\nBut professionals or serious students may tend to avoid using ネイティブ, because\nthey understand that _native_ is different from _native speaker_ in English.\nPerhaps in Wikipedia we will see bare ネイティブ rarely because such people will\neventually edit the articles and \"fix\" them.\n\nWhen I started learning English at junior high school, ネイティブ was already a\nvery common phrase which was used everywhere. I didn't even know that was a\ncommercial catchphrase at first, and I can't imagine a Japanese student older\nthan 14 who doesn't understand what ネイティブ means.",
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"body": "To make it simple, both are correct, you might find 母語話者, in books, newspaper,\nany written document although not very used.\n\n母語話者 is the real japanese word who existed before ネイティブ was imported in\njapanese from english.\n\nネイティブ is the most used word , which is a contraction from ネイティブスピーカー, which is\ncomming from the english ネイティブ\n\nIn japanese you have different level of language, and different context to use\nthem. Let's say you write a Phd Thesis, writing or reading a book about\nlinguistic you better use 母語話者. On the other side for everyday usage 母語話者 will\nlook weird so you better use ネイティブ.",
"comment_count": 2,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-15T13:53:53.373",
"id": "23270",
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}
] | 23202 | 23206 | 23206 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23207",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Is the word \"オージー\" (in the meaning of \"Aussie\", not as in \"old girl\" or other\nmeanings) understood by non-Australian Japanese speakers?\n\nAlso, in English, non-Australians have a\n[tendency](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Aussie#Usage_notes) to use \"Aussie\"\nas noun to mean the country, which Australians don't do. Do Japanese use\n\"オージー\" to mean the country?",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-12T00:46:44.827",
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"owner_user_id": "91",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"words",
"slang",
"loanwords"
],
"title": "Is オージー understood by non-Australian Japanese speakers?",
"view_count": 224
} | [
{
"body": "In general, answer is no. Ordinary Japanese who never lived in Australia or\nNZ, don't understand the word.\n\nIn Japan,most familiar word is オージー・ビーフ. Many understand origin of the beef is\nAustralia.\n\nIn other means.\n\nOG. Office Girl. But it is not used so many today. OG Sohken. Osaka Gas\ncompany's IT and think tank subsidiary. Abbreviation of Osaka Gas Sohgo\nKenkyuusyo.",
"comment_count": 0,
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] | 23204 | 23207 | 23207 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23214",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "For those who speak both Chinese and Japanese, would first learning Chinese\nmake it easier to learn Japanese?\n\nI know that Japanese Kanji are derived from Chinese characters.",
"comment_count": 12,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-12T04:33:24.867",
"favorite_count": 0,
"id": "23209",
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"owner_user_id": "6567",
"post_type": "question",
"score": 4,
"tags": [
"learning"
],
"title": "Is it easier to learn Chinese after learning Japanese or vice versa?",
"view_count": 1330
} | [
{
"body": "For English speakers, this site breaks down how many \"hours\" or weeks it takes\nto get \"proficient\"\n\n<http://www.effectivelanguagelearning.com/language-guide/language-difficulty>\n\nIf you want some detailed breakdowns, there is a nice analysis of relative\nlanguage difficulties available here\n<https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/cryptologic_spectrum/foreign_language.pdf>\n\nOne key way that languages are rated (in terms of difficulty) is basic\ngrammatical orderings of \"subject object and verb.\"\n\n```\n\n Group I (VSO):\n Arabic, Hebrew, Ancient Egyptian,\n Celtic, Polynesian languages\n \n Group II (SVO): \n Romance languages, English,\n Russian, Chinese, German,\n Albanian, Greek, Khmer,\n Vietnamese, all Thai languages\n except Khamti, Malay, Dutch,\n Icelandic, Slavonic, Norwegian,\n Swedish, Danish, Finnish,\n Estonian, Serbian\n \n Group III (SOV):\n Japanese, Korean, Turkish,\n Burmese, Hindi, Navaho, Tibetan,\n most Australian languages\n \n```\n\nFrom the list above, you can see that Chinese (presumably both Mandarin and\nCantonese) fit into the pattern of SVO or Subject+Verb+Object.\n\nIn mastering Japanese it would benefit one more greatly to study a language in\nthe third grouping, to get one's \"mind\" wrapped into the form of SOV where the\nverb comes at the end. Thus, in preference to learning Chinese, which is\nroughly the same grammatical trickiness as English, you might want to look\ninto Hindi, Tibetan, or even Turkish.\n\nKnowing Chinese would probably help with the lexicon and mastering the writing\nsystem, but the Japanese writing system is catered for a language that is\nentirely different in terms of spoken sounds; even though they are derived\nfrom the same origin, their paths have diverged substantially in the last\n1000-2000 years. This is not surprising if you look at how much English has\nchanged since the time of Shakespeare, and that is an example of linguistic\nentropy within the \"same\" language.\n\nIn short: For writing, maybe yes. For grammar, there are other languages which\nexhibit closer behavior.",
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] | 23209 | 23214 | 23214 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23211",
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"body": "From what I've read, からいって means \"considering this...\"\n\n> 人気や知名度 **からいって** 、彼が選挙で当選するのは確実だろう。\n\nBut when you add \"と\" to form \"からといって\" it becomes \"even though...\"\n\n> すぐにメールの返事が来ない **からといって** 、心配することはないと思う。\n\nHow does \"と\" change the meaning of the phrase? Or is it something that has no\nexplanation and simply works this way?",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-12T06:29:51.737",
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"score": 1,
"tags": [
"grammar",
"nuances"
],
"title": "Significance of と in ~からといって",
"view_count": 464
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{
"body": "We have **two totally different 「から's」** here.\n\n> 「[人気]{にんき}や[知名度]{ちめいど} **から**\n> いって、[彼]{かれ}が[選挙]{せんきょ}で[当選]{とうせん}するのは[確実]{かくじつ}だろう。」\n\nThis 「から」 means \"from\". 「～～からいう」 means \"to judge from ~~\".\n\n> \"Judging **_from_** his popularity and name value, it would be a sure thing\n> for him to win the elections.\"\n\nOnto the second sentence:\n\n> 「すぐにメールの[返事]{へんじ}が[来]{こ}ない **からと** いって、[心配]{しんぱい}することはないと[思]{おも}う。」\n\nThis 「から」 means \"because\" and the 「と」 is a quotative particle.\n\n「～～といって」 is very close to \"(even) though\" in meaning.\n\n> \"(Just) because a reply to your email has not come in, I do not think there\n> is anything to be worried about.\"",
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] | 23210 | 23211 | 23211 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23215",
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"body": "The simplest things seem to be the hardest.\n\nI am exercising the \"does not have to be\" structure.\n\nIf I want to say \"the book does not have to be expensive\", it is (may be?):\n\n> 本は高くなくてもいいです。\n\nBut how do I say \"the book does not have to be expensive and big\"?\n\nI [asked this in chat and got a kind\nanswer](http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/511/2015/3/11) from Xeo.\n\nXeo, thank you for your help and I hope I may quote you here:\n\n> @saidy afaik, you generally connect adjectives with the て-form. So I'd wager\n> it works here, too: 「本は高くなくて大きくなくてもいいです。」\n>\n> I may be totally wrong, though. Better wait until one of the gurus answer\n> this :)\n\nIs this the correct way to connect adjectives in this case?\n\nThank you for reading this far. Any help is appreciated.",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-12T07:12:06.970",
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"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "Connecting adjectives, \"does not have to A and B\"",
"view_count": 790
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{
"body": "No, the answer you got in chat is not quite right.\n\n> 「[本]{ほん}は[高]{たか}くなくて[大]{おお}きくなくて **も** いいです。」\n\nYou would need to use 「も」 twice to make it grammatical. You could say:\n\n> 「本は高くなくて **も** 、大きくなくて **も** いいです。」\n\nThe sentence is grammatical now, but it just does not sound very natural. As a\nJapanese-speaker, I could **_not_** imagine someone saying this sentence in\nreal life. If it were a catch copy in advertisement (perhaps for e-books), it\nwould sound pretty natural.\n\nYou could also say something like:\n\n> 「本は高い[必要]{ひつよう} **も** なければ、大きい必要 **も** ありません。」\n\nEither way, you would need to use 「も」 twice. It is as though you would need to\nuse \"n\" twice in saying \" **n** either A **n** or B\".",
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] | 23212 | 23215 | 23215 |
{
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"body": "The 兼 character appears next to some people's names in the organizational\nchart of the company I work at, as shown below.\n\n> 田中 太郎 （兼）\n\nWhat meaning does the 兼 character signify in this context?",
"comment_count": 1,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-12T08:44:45.487",
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"tags": [
"kanji"
],
"title": "What does 兼 mean when it appears next to a person's name in an organizational chart?",
"view_count": 227
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{
"body": "兼 in a labor chart means the person is 兼任 -- as in their official job is\ndifferent, but this is being made one of their assignments as well.\n\nFor instance, I work for the 国際課 at my university, but I'm a 兼 assigned to\nteach an English class for the English department.",
"comment_count": 3,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-12T09:28:31.110",
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"body": "I bought the book \"Breaking into Japanese Literature - Seven Modern Classics\nin Parallel text\" and burned some billions of neurons to (try to) understand\njust the first page (lol).\n\nWell, I am having problems with this sentence (from [第一夜【だいいちや】 by\n夏目漱石](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000148/files/799_14972.html)):\n\n> 死にますとも、といいながら、女はぱっちりと眼を開けた。大きな潤のある眼で、 **長い睫に包まれた中** は、 **ただ一面に真黒であった**\n> 。その真黒な眸の奥に、自分の姿が鮮やかに浮かんでいる。\n\nI know the meaning of the individual words:\n\n * 潤【うるおい】 moisture, tenderness\n * 睫【まつげ】 eyelashes\n * 包む【つつむ】 wrap, cover\n * ただ only, just\n * 一面【いちめん】 the whole surface/expanse\n * 真っ黒【まっくろ】 pure black\n\nTranslation given by the book (which doesn't help much...):\n\n> Whereupon she opened her eyes and replied, \"Yes, I will die--of that I am\n> certain\". **_Her eyes were large and moist and beneath their long shading\n> lashes were twin expanses of the jettest black._** My clearly mirrored image\n> was floating in the depths of those jet black eyes.\n\nI understand the first phrase, but the _second_ and third just don't enter in\nmy mind.\n\n * 大きな潤のある眼で in the big and wet eye, \n * 長い睫に包まれた中は in the centre of something wrapped in the long eyelashes (??) I just don't understand... And by the way, how do I read the 中 after 包まれた?\n * ただ一面に真黒であった (????)\n\nI would be really grate if someone helped me... Thank you very much in\nadvance!",
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"tags": [
"grammar",
"translation"
],
"title": "Help with 第一夜 by 夏目漱石: 「大きな潤のある眼で、長い睫に包まれた中は、ただ一面に真黒であった」",
"view_count": 246
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{
"body": "First, permit me to point out a couple of words that you seem to be reading\nincorrectly.\n\n> 大きな潤のある眼 **で** 、 **_in_** the big and wet eye\n\n「で」 ≠ \"in\"\n\n**This 「で」 is an auxiliary verb, not a location particle**. More precisely,\n「で」 is the [連用形]{れんようけい} of the affirmation auxiliary verb 「だ」. (As you are\nalready reading novels, I assume that you are familiar with the proper\nJapanese names for all the verb and adjective conjugation forms.)\n\n～～で、～～ = \"X is ~~ and ~~\"\n\n> 長い睫に包まれた **中** は、??in the **_centre of something_** wrapped in the long\n> eyelashes??(wtf?)\n\n「中」 ≠ \"center of something\"\n\nThough it may not be too far off, 「中」 here means \"the inside\". The author is\n(almost) likening her eyes to a larger object that is wrapped (and partially\nconcealed).\n\n> by the way, how do I read the 中 after 包まれた?\n\nIt is read 「なか」. No other possibilities there.\n\n> ただ一面に真黒であった, WTF???\n\nReally? No TL attempt to show us? If you just looked up 「一面」 and 「真黒」, you\ncould not go very wrong.\n\nMy own **_literal_** translation:\n\n> \"(They/Those) were large and moist eyes and wrapped inside the long\n> eyelashes lay the whole surfaces of complete jet black.\"",
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{
"accepted_answer_id": "23223",
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"body": "おはよう！\n\nI've across come this sentence and I've been wondering how to deconstruct its\ngrammar for my own understanding/use (if I understood it correctly in the\nfirst place, that is).\n\n> ここまで乱暴｛らんぼう｝な召喚｛しょうかん｝は初めて｛はじめて｝でね、正直｛しょうじき｝状況｛じょうきょう｝が掴｛つか｝めない。\n\nIt looks to me like ここまで [noun clause] [conj.] 初めて [copula＊] [sentence ending\nprt.] ~~ [sentence 2]。\n\n＊Well, rather a '連用形｛れんようけい｝ form of だ' as I learned today, but we could just\nforget about sentence 2 and revert it to だ?\n\nSo if I wanted to say something like \"it was the first time such a thing\nhappened\", would\n\n> ここまでそんなことは初めてだよ\n\nbe grammatically correct?\n\nI may have gotten this all completely wrong since I'm basing it off another\nperson's translation so please correct me if that's the case.\n\nよろしくお願いします。",
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"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "How do I say \"it was the first time X (of this extent) happened?\"",
"view_count": 933
} | [
{
"body": "ここまで literally means \"up to here/this place\". ここ -- similar to the English\nword `here` -- does not always literally refer to a place and may be used in\nan extended sense.\n\n> \"I don't like anonymous downvoters. So _here_ 's my opportunity to say\n> something about it: 'Please leave a comment if you downvote this post.'\"\n>\n> here(3): used when indicating a time, point, or situation that has arrived\n> or is happening -- Oxford Dictionary of English\n\n* * *\n\nAs for your sentence, we can analyze the first part in isolation.\n\n> ここまで乱暴な召喚は初めてだ\n\nIn this sentence, we could say that ここまで effectively modifies 乱暴. At least, we\ndon't need the rest of the sentence. `ここまで乱暴とはな` would already be a valid\nstatement.\n\nここ, instead of a point in space, points to a point on the 乱暴-scale. まで marks\nit as an upper limit (or rather extent) with a negative (or positive,\ndepending on the polarity of what it modifies, see below) connotation, ie.\nthat it is rather high up on the scale. Which may be good or bad.\n\nNormally, 乱暴 carries a negative connotation, but if said by some street\ngangster, it could be positive. Or perhaps easier to understand, it can be\nused with a positive attribute:\n\n> 宮島がそこまで風光明媚なら行ってみたい気になってきました\n\n* * *\n\n> ここまでそんなことは初めてだ\n\nThis doesn't work, at least not with the same interpretation as above, where\nここまで modified 乱暴. There is no adjective or anything else where it would make\nsense to modify it. You can't modify そんな (=such a), which is a modifier for こと\nalready. The phrase after ここまで is `そんなことは初めてだ`. It doesn't make sense to\nmodify this either, as you would end up with something like `the extent, to\nwhich such a thing is being the first, is high.`\n\nHowever, the sentence is grammatical under another interpretation; that there\nhad been no such thing _up until now_.\n\nここ usually marks the current place ( _here_ ), and here, in extension, the\ncurrent time ( _now_ ). So if you're confused with the usage of ここ here,\nperhaps you could think of it as `up to here and now`. Another rather common\nsentence pattern is:\n\n> (ここ・今)まで そんなことは なかった\n>\n> (Up) until now, (such a thing/that) didn't happen.\n\nLanguage is complex and given the right context, a lot is possible. Here's one\nmore sentence I found:\n\n> (The beginning of a [review of a\n> game](http://sf007.zatunen.com/review/list_ps/ps_1500_031_sound.html) from a\n> series. Based upon past games, the reviewer expects something that's normal\n> average and simple to play.]\n>\n> だけど **ここまでそんな気持ちを裏切られた** のも久しぶりのような気がする (It feels it has been a while since\n> that feeling/expectation/mood got betrayed this much.)\n\nIt's just coincidence that そんな occurs directly after ここまで -- it just specifies\n気持ち, namely what the author mentioned in the previous sentence.\n\nBut betraying (そんな気持ちを裏切る) is an action which may be modified by specifying a\ndegree, eg with ここまで, and that's what's happening in this sentence.\n\n* * *\n\nAs for your sentence, `it's the first time something like that happened`, you\ncould just say:\n\n> (こんな・そんな・あんな)＊ことは(はじめてだ・今まではなかった)\n\nOptionally, you can make it more specific and describe how much of what it is:\n\n> (こんな・そんな・あんな)（大それた・妄想じみた・常識はずれな・身も蓋もない）ことは前代未聞\n>\n> (ここ・そこ・あそこ)まで（大それた・妄想じみた・常識はずれな・身も蓋もない）ことは前代未聞\n\n * 大それた wild, crazy, mad, outrageous\n * 妄想じみた foolish, delusional\n * 常識はずれ far beyond common sense\n * 前代未聞 unheard of, unprecedented\n\nThese sentences are of the pattern:\n\n> (ここ・そこ・あそこ)(まで) (adjectival phrase+こと)は (some statement)\n\nLiterally, you could interpret it as `A thing that is X to such an extent that\n[statement].`\n\nFinally, some real and more interesting examples from real life:\n\n * うちの姉が **ここまで** 常識はずれの人間だとは思っていなかった\n * 山口社長に直接聞いたわけでもないくせに、よく **ここまで** 妄想じみたこと書けるよ\n * 自分が天皇に取って代わろうなんて、 **そこまで** 大それたことを考えるヤツは、さすがにいなかった\n\n* * *\n\nNOTE:\n\n＊The choice of the right word from the こそあ(ど) series depends upon the context\nand your relation to the matter at hand.\n\n * ([伊豆屋](http://www.yugawaraonsen.or.jp/search/detail.php?yado=27)旅館の口コミ情報, review by a visitor) 混浴ブームとはいえ、まさか **ここまで** 身も蓋もない混浴があるとは。\n * 補足いただきありがとうございました。 **そこまで** 身も蓋もない由来だったとは。\n * むしろあの立場で **あそこまで** 身も蓋もない表現ができる大胆さに拍手を送りたいくらいだ（笑）\n\nIn the first sentence, the author is somebody who had first-hand experience.\nIn the second sentence, the author refers to a 補足 from a post above (そこ). In\nthe third sentence, the author refers to a talk or comment by somebody, the\nrelation already being specified by **あの** 立場.",
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] | 23220 | 23223 | 23223 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23225",
"answer_count": 2,
"body": "I'm trying to translate the English sentence below into Japanese:\n\nEach theory has a different understanding of how countries like China, Japan\nand South Korea behave towards each other.\n\nMy best translation:\n\n互いの理論はなぜのような国中国や、日本や、韓国を始め、互いに振る舞ることが分かることの違っています。\n\nWhat I'm having the most trouble with is how to order the verbs in the\nsentence as I'm pretty sure what I've written at the end there is\nungrammatical. Perhaps I should treat that phrase 'different understanding' as\na noun in Japanese? I'm also not so sure about my use of ような and を始め in the\nsame sentence as well, as there seems to be some crossover there.",
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"tags": [
"grammar",
"verbs"
],
"title": "Order of verbs in this sentence",
"view_count": 214
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{
"body": "I have to say your composition has many grammatical/vocabulary flaws and\nhardly makes sense, but I would try to show you some hints here:\n\n> * のような国 has to come after 中国や、日本や、韓国\n> * _\"has a different understanding\"_ → 異なる理解を持っています. Simple literal\n> translation suits here.\n> * _\"how\"_ → どのように, not なぜ (why). Plus, a か after the verb (振る舞う) has to\n> come with it.\n> * The _\"of\"_ in the middle would best be について just in this case.\n> * _\"towards each other\"_ → 互いに対して\n> * _\"each theory\"_ → それぞれの理論. Note: _\"each other\"_ = 互いに but _\"each\"_ =\n> それぞれの.\n> * 振る舞る must be a typo of 振る舞う.\n> * And yes, を始め is redundant and unnecessary here.\n>\n\nNow could you try it again by yourself?",
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"body": "> \"Each theory has a different understanding of how countries like China,\n> Japan and South Korea behave towards each other.\"\n>\n>\n> 「[互]{たが}いの[理論]{りろん}はなぜのような[国]{くに}[中国]{ちゅうごく}や、[日本]{にほん}や、[韓国]{かんこく}を[始]{はじ}め、[互]{たが}いに[振]{ふ}る[舞]{ま}ることが[分]{わ}かることの[違]{ちが}っています。」\n\n**_Vocabulary & Collocation:_**\n\n1) How many theories are there in total? 「互いの理論」 would generally refer to \"two\ntheories\" -- one of Person A and the other of Person B. If more than two, I\nwould use 「[各]{かく}理論」 or 「それぞれの理論」.\n\n2) We do not say 「なぜのような」 to mean anything; It is just not a good collocation.\nBesides, why use 「なぜ」 when there is no \"why\" in the original in the first\nplace? The expression you need to use would be 「どのように」、「どう」, etc. as those are\nwhat \"how\" means.\n\n3) If you used the structure 「～～や～～をはじめ」, it would need to be immediately\nfollowed by a noun phrase such as 「[多]{おお}くの[国々]{くにぐに} = \"many countries\"」.\nBecause there is no such phrase in the original to begin with, you could not\nuse 「～～をはじめ」 in your translation.\n\n4) 「分かることの違っています」 makes little sense. I can easily tell you tried hard,\nthough.\n\n5) 振る舞 **う** ＞ 振る舞 **る**\n\n> \" Perhaps I should treat that phrase 'different understanding' as a noun in\n> Japanese?\"\n\nExactly. It is a noun phrase in English as well.\n\nMy own TL attempt:\n\n>\n> 「それぞれの理論は、中国、日本、そして韓国といった国々がお互いに対してどのように振舞っているかについて、[異]{こと}なった[見解]{けんかい}を[示]{しめ}しています。」\n\nI used the vocabulary and grammar you used as much as possible. Towards the\nend, I chose the words that you did not, but that is only because those would\nsound more natural to native speakers.\n\n「異なった」= different,「見解」= view,「示す」= to show",
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}
] | 23221 | 23225 | 23225 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23228",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "Does it have a similar meaning to \"が、ので etc.\" which basically make the\nsentence \"softer\" and imply something that isn't stated but that should be\nobvious to the listener?\n\nIs it something like \"though\" in English ?\n\n2 examples:\n\n> * 彼が出て行けばいい **のに** 。\n> * あの建物さえなければ、きれいな景色が見える **のに** 。\n>",
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"score": 8,
"tags": [
"grammar"
],
"title": "What does のに at the end of a sentence mean?",
"view_count": 7078
} | [
{
"body": "のに at the end of a sentence can be rendered as something like \"if only it\nweren't the case that ~\"\n\nFrom your examples:\n\n彼が出て行けばいいのに。 (Aw man, it would have been so good had he gone)\n\nあの建物さえなければ、きれいな景色が見えるのに。 (If only that building weren't there, we could see\nthe beautiful scenery)\n\nA~ いいのに is a fairly common usage, \"would have been good if [only] ~A\"\n\nIt usually reflects a state of regret or longing, or an improvement that can\nbe made on the scene or experience. Hope that helps.",
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] | 23226 | 23228 | 23228 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23232",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "How many Jōyō Kanji are identical to simplified Hanzi?\n\nIf we need to define a restriction for the simplified Hanzi, I would suggest\n[List of Frequently Used Characters in Modern\nChinese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Commonly_Used_Characters_in_Modern_Chinese).",
"comment_count": 3,
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"post_type": "question",
"score": 2,
"tags": [
"kanji",
"chinese"
],
"title": "How many Jōyō Kanji are identical to simplified Hanzi?",
"view_count": 750
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{
"body": "Since I have no knowledge of the subject, I am quoting from an academic paper:\n\n[日本・中国・台湾・香港の基礎漢字1945字字体一覧表の作成に向けて](https://www5.cuhk.edu.hk/jas/jas_media/staff/kojima/10-1945-word-\nstyle.pdf) (香港中文大学日本研究学科、Senior Instructor、兒島慶治)\n\nAccording to the author of this paper, the number is 1,165. (See page 4.)\n\nNote that there were 1,945 [常用漢字]{じょうようかんじ} when this paper was written.\nCurrently, that number has increased to 2,136.\n\nSo, the current number you are looking for would be a little over 1,165.\n\nAlso, this number from the paper includes minor differences as well. The paper\nnotes (page 5):\n\n>\n> 更に極論すれば、例えば日中間で字体が異なるとされた約40％の漢字の中にも、「为(為)、异(異)、伟(偉)、卫(衛)、杰(傑)、洁(潔)、听(聴)」のように字体の差異が顕著なものと、「低(低)、唐(唐)、德(徳)、毒(毒)、肺(肺)、反(反)、鼻(鼻)、隆(隆)」のようにかなり微妙な差のものが含まれている。\n\n(See also: [screenshot of the above quote from the\npaper](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vdae6.png))\n\nOn page 6, the paper estimates that about 170 of the characters that are\ndifferent only display minor differences. It also notes that \"minor\ndifference\" is not a clearly defined objective term:\n\n>\n> まだ全体的な整理を終えていない中間的な整理状況ではあるが、日中間での字体が異なるとされた771字中、168字（約22％）の字体差の低い字種があると言える。この整理においては、“糸”編の簡略は字体差が低いと見て数えたが、“言”・“金”・“魚”・“貝”編等は字体差がかなりあるとして、168字には整理しなかった為に、今後の整理如何によっては、更に字体差が低いと部類分けられる字種が増えるものと思う。",
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] | 23229 | 23232 | 23232 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23231",
"answer_count": 1,
"body": "What is the difference between 「利益」 and 「利潤」? They both mean \"profit\". When\nshoud I use each of them?",
"comment_count": 0,
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"creation_date": "2015-03-13T07:32:36.023",
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"score": 4,
"tags": [
"meaning",
"usage"
],
"title": "What is the difference between 「利{り}益{えき}」 and 「利{り}潤{じゅん}」?",
"view_count": 229
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{
"body": "As per my knowledge, 利潤 is used as Profit in economical terms. Where as, 利益\ncan be used as gains/returns in terms of advantage. For example:\n\n```\n\n 利潤：もちろん、利潤は生産費を上回るべきです。\n Benefits of course should exceed the costs.\n \n 利益：利益になるような本を読みなさい。\n Read the kind of books that teach you something.\n \n```\n\nAs you can see, 利益 is usually used in terms of benefit or advantages. But 利潤\nis almost always used for monetary profits. I am saying almost, because I am\nnot a native myself.",
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] | 23230 | 23231 | 23231 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23236",
"answer_count": 3,
"body": "What is the difference between 逃れた and 免れた? They both mean \"avoided, escaped\".\nWhen should I use each of them? I found the sentence in JLPT1 book, where you\nhave to pick the right answer:\n\n> 橋{はし}本{もと} 選{せん}手{しゅ}の活{かつ}躍{やく}で、なんとかピンチを **逃れた** 。",
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"tags": [
"meaning",
"usage"
],
"title": "What is the difference between 逃{のが}れた and 免{まぬが}れた?",
"view_count": 568
} | [
{
"body": "> 「橋本選手の活躍で、なんとかピンチを[逃]{のが}れた。」\n\nTo me, the key word here is more 「ピンチ」 than the verb following it. Here is why\nI think so.\n\nThe team did actually get into a jam, did it not? It did, but it managed to\nget out of it thanks to Hashimoto's good play(s). It is not that Hashimoto\nsaved his team from getting into a jam, is it? In that case, 「逃れる」 is the\ncorrect verb to use. You got out of a jam and you are now back on track trying\nto win the game.\n\nHad the noun been 「[敗戦]{はいせん} = \"defeat\"」,「[負]{ま}け」, etc. instead of 「ピンチ」,\nthe correct verb to use would have been 「[免]{まぬが}れる」. Unlike getting into a\njam, a loss of a game is a serious matter. If you lose, that is the end. To\nsave yourself from something that serious and \"final\" is the main meaning of\n「免れる」. Something like \"getting drafted\" by your country would be a good\nexample of a thing that you would want to 免れる from if all possible.\n\nThat said, I must admit that many native speakers, myself included, often use\nthe two words interchangeably by mistake.",
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"body": "From the dictionary 類語例解辞典, which you can access via\n[dictionary.goo.ne.jp](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/thsrs/1604/m0u/%E5%85%8D%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B/)\n\n> [使い分け]\n>\n> 【１】「逃れる」「免れる」は、「逃げる」にくらべると、やや文章語的。\n\nSo the difference seems to be whether it's written or spoken language. Since\nthe なんとか is here it's safe to assume this is spoken language. Hence the using\n逃げる instead of 免れる.\n\nIt's helpful sometimes with words that are similar to look at the 類語 section\nof goo. I always find it helpful.",
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"body": "逃れた - run away from 免れた? - avoid",
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] | 23233 | 23236 | 23236 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23235",
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"body": "From Japanesepod101:\n\n> 象は灰色をしている。\n>\n> The elephant is gray.\n\nThe meaning of the sentence is not in doubt but I've been trying to figure how\nする is being used here. Checking a\n[dictionary](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/120514/m0u/%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B/),\ndefinition 2エ might be applicable here.\n\nある状態・性質であることを示す。(To show something's state/nature)",
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"tags": [
"words",
"definitions",
"possession"
],
"title": "Use of する to describe one's colour",
"view_count": 1232
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{
"body": "It is exactly as you say.\n\n「～～をする」 can mean \" _ **to have ~~ (as a natural characteristic)**_ \" and it is\nusually used in the form 「～～をしている」,「～～をしていた」 or 「～～をした」.\n\nThe \"dictionary\" form 「～～をする」 would _**not**_ be used in a real-life\nsituation; It is only found in dictionaries or a place like this where grammar\nor vocabulary is discussed.\n\nAmong those forms, 「～～をした」 is always followed immediately by a noun or noun\nphrase. You cannot end a sentence with 「～～をした」 when 「する」 is used for the\nmeaning we are discussing. That is to say:\n\nAlways use 「している」 for the present tense and always use 「していた」 for the past.\n\n> している：「スミ子さんはきれいな[目]{め}をしている。」= \"Sumiko has beautiful eyes.\"\n>\n> していた：「[犯人]{はんにん}は[青]{あお}い目をしていた。」= \"The culprit had blue eyes.\"\n>\n> した：「[赤]{あか}い[髪]{かみ}をした[人]{ひと}が[好]{す}きです。」= \"I like redheads.\" Or more\n> literally, \"I like people who have read hair.\"",
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] | 23234 | 23235 | 23235 |
{
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"body": "In a book about introductory Mandarin Chinese written in Japanese, one of the\nfirst sections lists some special characteristics of Mandarin not familiar to\nJapanese speakers (e.g. usually only one reading of kanji, no distinctive\nmale/female language, etc). One of the sections is written below:\n\n> ２字熟語\n>\n> ２音節、つまり２字熟語が多いというのが中国語の特徴です。２音節は音のすわりがいいと好まれる傾向があるのです。\n\nThe first sentence seems to be saying that words in Mandarin are commonly\nformed from two syllables, and thus two kanji (what is strange is that it's\nmentioned, since two-kanji words are common in Japanese too). The second\nsentence's \"すわりがいい\" is preventing me from figuring out the meaning, though.\n\nTL;DR: what does \"すわりがいい\" mean?",
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"tags": [
"words",
"meaning"
],
"title": "Meaning of \"すわりがいい\"?",
"view_count": 308
} | [
{
"body": "I imagine it means something like 違和感や不快感がなく自然なさま in this case.",
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"body": "> 「２[音節]{おんせつ}は[音]{おと}のすわりがいいと[好]{この}まれる[傾向]{けいこう}があるのです。」\n\n「すわりがいい」 can mean a few different things and in this case, it is important to\ntreat it in pair with 「 **音の** 」. It is not about any other kind of すわり that\nthe author is talking about.\n\n「音のすわりがいい」 would mean \" **aurally pleasing or agreeable** \" in my own words.\n\n> \"Two-syllable words tend to be preferred (in Chinese) as they are aurally\n> pleasing.\"\n\n「すわりがいい」 is more often used to describe the physical (or spatial) stability of\nan object and that would probably be what you get from the dictionary. Here,\nthe usage is a little different.",
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}
] | 23237 | 23251 | 23251 |
{
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"body": "In a telephone register, 万寿一 was behind a surname. What does 万寿一 mean when\nwritten behind a surname?\n\nAnd second, I came across this sentence.\n\n> つうさんのこと未だ引きずって、マイナス思考が激しいね。\n\nWhat does つうさん mean? Is 'tsu' a syllable (mora) and is san a suffix in this\ncase?",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-13T19:28:26.573",
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"tags": [
"translation"
],
"title": "What does \" 万寿一 \" and \" つうさん \" mean?",
"view_count": 151
} | [
{
"body": "「万寿一」 should be a given name if it was placed behind a surname.\n\nIt would be read 「ますいち」 and the characters mean literally \"10,000 -\nfelicitations - one\". It is not a regular word, so it does not really have a\nclear meaning.\n\nRegarding the reading, it may actually turn out to be totally different. That\nis because the Japanese civil laws allow kanji used in a baby name to be read\n**_anyway_** you want when you register it.\n\nOnto 「つうさん」...\n\nWithout context, It is just impossible to tell what it means. There is the\nword [通算]{つうさん} meaning \"final aggregate\" but that is not the kind of word one\nwould write in hiragana.\n\nIt is possible that it is a nickname. In any case, you would need to provide\nthe context.\n\nEDIT: Now that we have some context and it sure would be someone's nickname.\nMany nicknames include さん、ちゃん、くん, etc at the end.",
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{
"accepted_answer_id": "23287",
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"body": "I don't have a Japanese sentence example of something long, but let's say I\nhave to sentence that has two clauses that are separated with a が followed by\na comma. You feel that this second clause that sounds more natural in English\nwhen translated to be at the front of a sentence than towards the back. Is it\npossible to move stuff around within the complete sentence or should I treat\ntwo clauses as separate parts when I'm translating it.\n\nRight now I've only been reading simple sentences like:\n\n彼女は、学生じゃなくて、先生だ。 She is not a student, she is a teacher.\n\nApologize ahead of time if this question seems vague.\n\nEdit: How about a sentence like this: 嫌がらせの可能性も、山口さんは捨てきれなかったが。\n\nThe last が in the sentence I thought perhaps it could be a colloquial way to\ntrail off in a sentence like \"but...\" More like it's seems better to say\nUnfortunately or Although at the beginning of the sentence.\n\nAlthough Yamaguchi-san couldn't discard the possibility of also being\nharrassed.\n\nSo, is it perfectly possible to move the second half of this sentence to the\nfront of if translated in an English sentence and first half towards the end?\n\nI been usually just been keeping both halves separate where they are and not\nmoving words around much from where they are between the clauses if that makes\nany sense.",
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"tags": [
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],
"title": "Sentence structure between two clauses question",
"view_count": 339
} | [
{
"body": "Your question is about ordering of phrasing in translation, at least that's\nhow I interpret it.\n\nIt's a good question. Here are some foolish examples:\n\n> 東京に行った私が新しいシャツを買った\n\nDestination Verb Subject が Object Verb.\n\nIn English, we can render it naturally like:\n\nSubject Verb Destination, Verb Object.\n\nroughly, for sake of illustration:\n\n> The me that went to Tokyo bought a new shirt.\n\nAs you can tell by the breakdown of grammatical pieces, they are pretty much\nentirely reversed (by clause). You can find numerous examples of situations\nwhere live-interpreters have to wait until the very end of a long sentence to\nhear the verb being used, before they can start to translate into English (or\nwhatever).\n\nSo feel free to switch the clauses around if it sounds natural. The word order\nis not exactly \"anything goes\" but \"backwards\" or \"inverse\" might be a good\nterm to describe the changes one can make (really what one should strive for)\nwhen translating complex sentences from Japanese to English.\n\n> So, is it perfectly possible to move the second half of this sentence to the\n> front and the first half towards the end?\n\nPrecisely so my friend.",
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{
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"body": "I'm curious what 元本払戻金 means (in a financial/investment context), if there is\na corresponding single English word, and how it is pronounced.\n\nThanks!",
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"tags": [
"meaning"
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"title": "What does 元本払戻金 mean?",
"view_count": 601
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{
"body": "「元本払戻金」 is read 「がんぽんはらいもどしきん」 and it basically means the same thing as\n\"capital dividend\" in English in the investment world.\n\nIt is a tax-free dividend, I might add.",
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"body": "# **元本払戻金【がん.ぽん.はらい.もどし.きん】（特別分配金【とくべつぶんぱいきん】）**\n\n元本払戻金 is a technical term from the field of [投資信託【とうししんたく】, investment\nfunding.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investment_fund). Formerly, it was\ncalled 特別分配金, but the name got changed to avoid confusion relating to tax\nexemption (see source 2 below).\n\nIn short, it refers to a special dividend that is tax free. Each investor has\ngot a 個別元本【こべつがんぽん】 (X), initially the cost basis, the value of the shares\nwhen you bought it (or averaged if you bought more). Now suppose a divident\n(value Y) is paid back. If the current value of the share is greater or equal\nto your 個別元本, Z≧X, you need to pay taxes normally. If it smaller, the entire\ndividend is tax free if X-Z≧Y; or only a part of it, ie. Y-(Z-X), otherwise.\nAfterwards, the 個別元本 is reduced by the tax-free amount.\n\nFor example (taken from the third source below):\n\n * value of share when you buy it: X=10,500\n * value when divident is paid: Z=10,700\n * divident to be paid: Y=300\n\nIn this case, part of the divident is tax-free, ie.\nY-(X-Z)=300-(10700-10500)=100. You need to pay taxes for the remaining 200.\nAfterwards, you 個別元本 is reduced to 10500-100=10400.\n\nSources, and some pages explaining it in detail.\n\n * [Nissay Asset Management Corporation](http://www.nam.co.jp/seminar/rescue/operation/dividends/b10.html)\n * [The Bank of Saga Ltd.](http://www.sagabank.co.jp/unyou/toushin/saginsensei/vol6.html)\n * [Kokusai Asset Management Co., Ltd.](http://www.kokusai-am.co.jp/simulation/calculator/bunpaikin/kaisetsu.html)\n\n* * *\n\nThe closest equivalent in English I found is this: [Trade King, Mutual Funds\nand Taxes](https://www.tradeking.com/education/mutual-funds/tax-guide).\n\n> Nontaxable return of capital\n>\n> It's possible for a mutual fund to make a distribution to you without your\n> having to pay tax on it. This generally occurs when a distribution involves\n> recovery of all or a portion of your cost basis (i.e., the amount of your\n> investment) in the fund. Such a distribution is not subject to taxation\n> because it does not represent investment earnings. It still must be reported\n> on your tax return, however.\n\nEssentially, the 元本払戻金 is supposed to be a return of your investment (元本). So\nmy suggestion for a close English translation of 元本払戻金(特別分配金) would be `cost\nbasis distribution/return/dividend (special divident)`. 普通分配金 would be `normal\ndivident`. You should consult with a professional translation service if you\nneed this for legal purposes.\n\n* * *\n\n**Disclaimer** : This is not legal or financial advice. I know only what I\nread on the net.",
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] | 23243 | null | 23246 |
{
"accepted_answer_id": "23249",
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"body": "I'm stuck with the word **かけ** in the following text below (towards the\nbeginning of Japanese tale, _Kachikachi yama_ ).\n\nObviously, \"(こしを)かけ\" stands for \"(腰を)掛ける\" (to sit down). But what's the\ngrammar behind 掛け ? Is it a 仮定形 (kateikei) ? I don't understand what's the\ngrammatical construction. Any help would be appreciated !\n\n* * *\n\nAn old man wants to catch a mischievous tanuki, and ...\n\n> そこで、 つぎ の 日、 たぬき の すわって いた きりかぶ に とりもち を べっとり ぬりつけて おきました。 おじいさん が まめ を まいて\n> いたら たぬき が やって きて、 きりかぶ に こし を **かけ** 、 せん つぶ まいたら ひと つぶ に なあれ ひと つぶ まいたら\n> くさって しまえ と からかい だしました。\n\nTranslation from Tom Ray and Sachiko Matsubara, which was available during\nsome years [here](http://www.his.atr.jp/~ray/stories/kachikachiyama.html).\n\n> Then, the next day, the tree stump where the raccoon had been sitting, had\n> been prepared with a lot of tanglefoot. While the old man was sowing beans\n> the raccoon approached, and sat on the tree stump : \"if you sow a thousand\n> seeds they become one seed, if you sow one seed it will completely rot\", he\n> begain to tease.",
"comment_count": 2,
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"tags": [
"grammar",
"conjugations",
"syntax",
"renyōkei"
],
"title": "Is this a 仮定形 (kateikei) form, and how to analyse it?",
"view_count": 1052
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{
"body": "No, that's a _ren’yōkei_ 連用形。 A _ren’yōkei_ mid-sentence is for coordination,\nlike English “he sat, **and** …”. You can think of it as a literary equivalent\nof 「こしをかけて、。。。」\n\n_Kateikei_ is what comes before _-ba_ , so in this case it would be _kake\n**re** -_. Full table, with sample context:\n\n * 未然形： 掛け- _kake-_ _(-nai)_\n * 連用形： 掛け- _kake-_ _(-masu)_\n * 終止形： 掛ける _kake-ru_ _(yo.)_\n * 連体形： 掛ける- _kake-ru-_ _(hito)_\n * 仮定形： 掛けれ- _kake-re-_ _(-ba)_\n * 命令形： 掛けろ／掛けよ _kake-ro/kake-yo_ _(!)_\n\nThis is because 掛ける _kakeru_ is a vowel-stem _(ichidan)_ verb. Perhaps you\nwere thinking of consonant-stem _(godan)_ vebs, such as 書く _kaku_. These have\ndifferent vowels depending on the inflection:\n\n * 未然形： 書か- _kak-a-_ _(-nai)_\n * 連用形： 書き- _kak-i-_ _(-masu)_\n * 終止形： 書く _kak-u_ _(yo.)_\n * 連体形： 書く- _kak-u-_ _(hito)_\n * 仮定形： 書け- _kak-e-_ _(-ba)_\n * 命令形： 書け _kak-e_ _(!)_\n\nNotice the difference between 「書けば」 and 「掛け **れ** ば」。",
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{
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"body": "Nobody seems to say those things.\n\nI want to know the meanings of おはようございません and ありがとうございません.",
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"tags": [
"meaning"
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"title": "What are the meanings of おはようございません and ありがとうございません?",
"view_count": 2925
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{
"body": "ありがとうございます and おはようございます (\"Thank you very much\" and \"Good morning\") both end\nin ございます, which may be inflected to its negative form ございません to give\n\n> おはようございません \n> ありがとうございません\n\nLike you already say yourself, these don't get used in Japanese, just like\n\"Ungood morning\" or \"Few thanks\" don't get used in English. I don't know where\nyou got these expressions, but if you came up with them by yourself, you're\nnot the first one. They're an obvious play on words, which depending on\ncontext _may_ be used, e.g., to say that someone's late to work (おはようございません)\netc., although generally they would probably just be interpreted as rude.",
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"body": "I would like to add a bit to the **Earthliŋ** 's answer. Such standard phrases\nas \"Good morning\" are not taken at literal value, they are _formulas_ to\nexpress some figurative sense. What is the literal sense of \"Good morning\"?\n\n> \"This morning is good\", or maybe \n> \"I wish you a good morning\"\n\nAnd what does it actually mean?\n\n> \"I greet you, and it is morning\"\n\nSo, when you inflect such phrases, they immediately lose their figurative\nsense, and come back to the literal one, which is then inclined. Thus, \"Ungood\nmorning\" would sound nothing like \"I do not greet you\". So the deeper level of\nthe question is, maybe, **What is the literal meaning of such expressions like\nおはようございます and ありがとうございます?** And that is easy:\n\n> おはようございます = _polite of_ はやい = _lit._ \"Early\", meaning \"How early do I meet\n> you!\" \n> ありがとうございます = _polite of_ ありがたい = _lit._ \"Thankful\"\n\nNow you can easily deduce their negated meanings yourself. These forms -おう are\nunusual for beginners, they are rare, except for several everyday expressions.",
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"body": "So, I have this sentence:\n\n身動きすると、シャリンと涼やかな音が鳴り響く。\n\nAnd I have no idea what シャリン is doing here. As far as I can tell, it's\nmodifying 音, sound, but the only word \"シャリン\" that I've been able to find is\n車輪, which means wheel. I thought maybe it could be an onomatopoeia, but I\ncouldn't find anything when I searched...\n\nHas my dictionary failed me? Or am I misunderstanding the と particle somehow?\nThe only thing I can think at this point is that the sound is clear/refreshing\n(涼やか) like a wheel, which seems kind of weird to me.",
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"tags": [
"words",
"meaning"
],
"title": "What does シャリン mean here?",
"view_count": 804
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{
"body": "First off, you should have mentioned what the thing is that is making the\nsound シャリン. That is the unmentioned subject of this sentence.\n\n> \" As far as I can tell, it's modifying 音, sound..\"\n\nNo, it is not. It is modifying the verb 鳴り響く.\n\n> \"the only word \"シャリン\" that I've been able to find is 車輪, which means wheel\"\n\nWhy would anyone write 「車輪」 as 「シャリン」? If it were 車輪、how would you explain the\n「と」?\n\nIt is an onomatopoeia and when you see a 「と」 attached to an onomatopoeia, it\n**_always_** modifies a verb.\n\n「シャリン」 is not such a common onomatopoeia. The best I could describe it is that\nit is the sound it makes in your mouth when you bite into lotus root. It is\ncrisp and moist at the same time. (If you do not have a Japanese kind of ear,\nit might not sound シャリン even if you had a chance to eat lotus root.)\n\nIt is also used to describe the sound made when someone draws a sword in a\ndrama or film (if not in real life).\n\nシャリン is less metalic than チャリン (clink).\n\nI know I am not giving you what you want to hear; hence, my first paragraph\nabove.",
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"body": "It is an onomatopoeia. Some one heard the sound and made it a word which is\nmost resemble. 車輪 is not relevant in this case.",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-15T00:15:30.570",
"id": "23259",
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"body": "シャリン ( Sharin ) is not a word of Japanese origin, hence, its written in\nKatakana, so it definitely does not mean 車輪 ( wheel ) in this case. This is\neither a foreign word phonetically spelled out ( could be a person's name as\nin Sharron ) in Katakana or a made up word to represent a sound as an\nonomatopoeia as was mentioned earlier. The \"と\" of course is just \"and\". This\nis one of the most challenging parts of the Japanese language, trying to\nfigure out words in katakana because many of them are so obscure and don't\nshow up in any dictionary at all.\n\nI usually resort to either Japanese to Japanese dictionaries ( online ) and/or\njust googling the word ( in Katakana ) to find any usage out there in the\nworld. In this case it is only coming up with the name of a restaurant / cafe.\n\nBecause so many words in Japanese sound the same much of Japanese is dependent\non the surrounding context or the Kanji which has meaning ( the reason so\noften Japanese people draw kanji on the palm of their hand when holding a\nconversation to get across the real meaning of what they are trying to say ).\nEven for native Japanese speakers it can often be impossible figure out the\nmeaning of words that are not in Kanji as in this case.\n\nDo you have any more of that sentence or paragraph that could put it more into\ncontext?",
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] | 23254 | 23258 | 23258 |
{
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"body": "I found this sentence in a book :\n\n> この魚もうたべあきただものね。だからあんたにやるよ。色は青いけれど刺身にしてくうとうめえから。\n\nI didn't understand the last part of `くうとうめえから`",
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"tags": [
"meaning",
"colloquial-language"
],
"title": "What is the meaning of \"くうとうめえから\"",
"view_count": 136
} | [
{
"body": "That would be 刺身にして食うと[美味い]{うまい}から\n\n_'If you eat it as sashimi, it's delicious'_",
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"creation_date": "2015-03-14T21:36:57.360",
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] | 23255 | 23256 | 23256 |
{
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"body": "This might be a bit weird, but when I listen to Japanese music, sometimes I\nnotice \"r\"-like sounds in syllable-final positions, or between vowels where\nthere should be no [r]. I know that /r/ is not allowed in a syllable-final or\nword-final position, so I'm trying to figure out what exactly I'm hearing in\nthese songs. If there really is an [r] sound in these positions, why is it\nlegal?\n\nI've tried searching for information on Japanese dialects and allophonic\nvariation, since I thought that's what it would be related to, but I can't\nfind anything that seems related. I mostly find things about language\nacquisition, like native Japanese speakers learning English, or vice versa,\nand generally concerning syllable-initial [l/r]. My only guess is that what I\nhear is nasalisation that I'm interpreting as\n[rhotacisation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotacism) due to my own\ndialect, but the vowels I hear rhotacised aren't always connected to nasal\nconsonants or anything, so I'm left wondering why they would be nasalised...\n\nThe first example that comes to mind is in the song \"Smile Ichiban Ii Onna\" by\nAn Cafe, right around 3:28, where I hear a very distinct [r] at the end of\n「たいよう」. Immediately followed by 「さ」:\n\n[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlO2N2t6MA8&feature=youtu.be&t=3m28s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlO2N2t6MA8&feature=youtu.be&t=3m28s)\n\nThe other example is from a band called 摩天楼オペラ. The singer's pronunciation is\noften rhotic to my ears. The first line of this song is 「どれだけの善意が どれだけの悪意が\nこの地上にへばりついてる」, but when he sings 「善意」（ぜんい） it sounds like he's replacing the ん\nwith a schwar or something similar. And when he sings 「悪意」（あくい） I hear an [r]\ninserted between the く and い. As the song goes on, I continue to hear\nrhoticisation in various vowels, but not as remarkably...\n\n[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxCie8nujj8&feature=youtu.be&t=40s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxCie8nujj8&feature=youtu.be&t=40s)\n\nSorry if this question isn't as detailed/focused as it should be. It's just\nsomething strange I noticed and can't seem to find anything about.\n\n**Possibly relevant information: The other day, I happened upon a [pinyin\npronunciation chart](https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-pinyin-chart.php), and\nnoticed another vowel sound that sounds rhotic, but technically isn't\n(probably). Obviously, this is a completely different language, but it made me\nremember my long-time question here. In the first paragraph below the chart\nitself, it talks about the difference between production of the \"sh\" and \"x\"\nsounds. And while I can't hear the difference between these consonant sounds\nthemselves, they drastically change the following vowel. Specifically, the \"x\"\nmakes the following vowel sound rhotacised to my ears.... but that's as far as\nI can get with it. Having my tongue in such a low position (for \"x\"\nproduction) lowers the following vowel production as well, and also seems to\nprevent my lips from rounding or stretching to the same degree as when\nproducing my normal \"sh\" sound... But again, I don't notice anything that\nwould cause a similar lowering effect in all of my examples...\n\nI also realised looking back that I didn't include the very first example of\nthis I heard: Miyavi's \"Jibun Kakumei.\" I don't hear it anywhere else in the\nsong except in the word 「[言葉](https://youtu.be/9sLXqM7zGpk?t=3m37s)」, which\nsounds like \"kerterba\" to me. It's softer than the other examples, the [o]\nsound has become like the German \"ö,\" or [œ] in IPA...",
"comment_count": 8,
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"tags": [
"pronunciation",
"song-lyrics",
"phonology"
],
"title": "Why are Japanese vowels occasionally rhotacised in songs?",
"view_count": 1699
} | [
{
"body": "To me, the singer's tongue is moving backward, and his throat has tension for\n\"vibrato\" in the first one and in the second one. And, I guess this makes you\nhear the r sound, something like French R.\n\nFrench R is difficult for Japanese to hear. I think it is not nasalised\nbecause Japanese can hear syllable-final nasalised sound.\n\nIt is said that Arabic only has three vowels [a,i,u], but I found a lot of\nother vowels when they used their throat to pronounce. I think they are pretty\nsimilar. A phone and a phoneme are different, and phonemes depend on a\nlanguage.",
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"body": "I used to listen to An Cafe too. He makes the same stylized glottal sound\nwhere the glottal stops are. I think he ends in a glottal stop type of\nstylization. I used to talk with my Korean friend, that it sounds like he's\n\"shredding\" through the vowels. Like a guitar. If that makes sense.",
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{
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"body": "I had always been told this never happened. I was a little skeptical, but\nsince I never saw a sentence with two of the particle, I gradually came to\naccept that it was probably true.\n\nWell ironically, in the DoBJG, where I'm pretty sure I've also read the above\nfactoid, I've encountered this sentence:\n\nこの道を靴を履かずに歩けますか。\n\nSo I'm wondering if this is a mistake, or a weird exception, or if this \"rule\"\nI've heard is simply misleading or outright fallacious, and if so, when is it\nokay to use multiple wo particles in a sentence.\n\nCheers.",
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"score": 6,
"tags": [
"grammar",
"syntax",
"particle-を"
],
"title": "Multiple \"wo\"s in a sentence?",
"view_count": 3857
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{
"body": "I think the reason here is that those two を apply to two different verbs.\n\nこの道 **を** [靴を履かずに] **歩けます** か。",
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"body": "This is a simple case of subclauses - you've still got one を per clause:\n\n[この道を[靴を履かずに]歩けますか。]\n\n靴 is the object of 履かず, 道 is the object* of 歩けます.\n\n*Depending on your interpretation of を with what you would think are intransitive verbs. You can read more about these sorts of cases here: [It seems that 渡る is categorized as 自動詞 (intransitive verb), yet it is frequently used with を. Why?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/12734/3639)",
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] | 23261 | 23263 | 23263 |
{
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"body": "地区 and 地方 have similar definitions, and 地帯 and 地域 are also defined similarly\n(at least according to\n[JMdict/EDICT](http://www.edrdg.org/jmdict/edict_doc.html):\n\n> 1. 地区【ちく】 = district; section; sector\n> 2. 地方【ちほう】= district; region; area; locality\n> 3. 地帯【ちたい】= area; zone; belt (of land)\n> 4. 地域【ちいき】 = area; region\n>\n\nSearching around for answers, I also found\n\n> 5. 区域【くいき】 = limits; boundary; domain; zone; sphere; territory\n>\n\nThe 類語例解辞典 dictionary [has an explanation of\nsorts](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/thsrs/13827/m0u/) in Japanese, but I'm\nnot too confident in my Japanese skills.\n\nWhat I have gathered so far:\n\n> * 区域 seems to be some very small area, like the premises of a factory, or\n> a park.\n> * 地区 has something to do with residential areas, I think.\n> * 地方 is often used with the regions of Japan, like 「関東地方」、「東北地方」.\n>\n\nBut I'm not sure if that's right, and I still don't quite understand the other\nwords, so I'd appreciate if someone could give an answer, at least explaining\nthe first four words.",
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"tags": [
"word-choice",
"nuances",
"synonyms"
],
"title": "Words for area/district/region: the actual difference between 地区、地帯、地域、地方 (and also 区域)?",
"view_count": 3942
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"body": "To help you understand those words I will give you few examples :\n\n地区 : Those are districts/wards in a city, there are for example 23 special\nwards in Tokyo. ( Shinjuku, Shibuya etc ...)\n<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_wards_of_Tokyo> You will say 新宿区 (the\nward of shinjuku) 渋谷区(the ward of shibuya). In every japanese city you have 地区\n\n地方 is a region like Kanto or Kansai, it is the word for an administrative\nregion.\n\n地域 is a general word for the term \" a region\", it could be the asion region,\nthe oceanian region, north of USA, north america ...\n\n地帯 and 区域 definition and nuances you gave are accurate and pretty clear :\n\n地帯 = area; zone; belt (of land)\n\n区域 = limits; boundary; domain; zone; sphere; territory\n\nEdit : As the Author asked about more details, here they are : First japanese\nis about kanji :\n\nin 地区, you have : 地 : earth, soil, ground 区 : area, district, region, ward (\nlike 新宿区, 渋谷区 )\n\nso for a ward you will use : 地区 for a city I don't think you can use this form\nfor a prefecture you will use 地市 for a region you will use : 地方( example :\n関東地方 )\n\nAll those word are talking about the area, the soils of those places. So it\nmeans in your roman, the author is considering 西東京 as a fictional special ward\nof tokyo and then calling it 西東京地区.\n\nAbout the word 地帯 and 地域\n\n帯 : the main meaning of this kanji is a belt. 地帯 : is what is written up\nthere, an area, a zone, a belt of land, for example : サンベルト地帯 ( the sunbelt in\nUSA ). Indeed, a belt of land is a zone, and is an area. The meaning is a belt\nof land, but it can be translated into those 3 words depending on context,\nthat's why you gotta think about Kanjis, and not about translators.\n\n域 : level, limits, range, region, stage.\n\n地域 : I let you think about the meaning of this word, it can describe anything.\n( the most general word to speak about \"a region\" of the world, of a country,\nof a anything ).",
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"body": "If you ask about \"actual\" difference, the fact is that the major part of their\nmeanings are overlapping so you can't really find an example only one of them\nis acceptable and others are not. Administrations might define these words as\nthey like.\n\nHowever, according to my personal sense, the basic ideas are:\n\n**地区** vs **地帯** vs **地域**\n\nThey are suitable for indicating continuous areas that surrounded by rigid\nlines, belt-shaped, or have vague boundaries, respectively.\n\n\n\n**地方** : It's a word for regions which don't only have geographical continuity\nbut cultural, traditional solidarity, and at least as big as a county.\n\n**区域** : It's artificial zoning that geographical characteristics may be\nignored. A good example is 避難区域 (evacuation zone) around Fukushima 1 power\nplant, which was designated automatically by radius from the site.",
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"body": "I've read on various web sites that in English, some people pronounce the word\n\"geisha\" as \"geesha\", and that it's a mispronunciation.\n\nFor example, from [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisha):\n\n> They almost exclusively serviced American GIs stationed in the country, who\n> referred to them as \"Geesha girls\" (a mispronunciation).[79][80]\n>\n> ...\n>\n> Shortly after their arrival in 1945, some occupying American GIs are said to\n> have congregated in Ginza and shouted, \"We want geesha girls!\"[81]\n\n(I haven't checked the citations, as they seem to be books about history, not\nlanguage)\n\nand from a blog post at [Nubui\nKuduchi](https://chaari.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/did-geisha-engage-in-acts-of-\nprostitution/):\n\n> mispronounced, as it often is today by the average person on the street, as\n> gee-shah, not gay-shah\n\nWhether \"geesha\" is a valid pronunciation in English is outside the scope of\nthis stack exchange, but I'd like to know whether it's a valid pronunciation\nin Japanese.\n\nThe hiragana of \"芸者\" is \"げいしゃ\". According to [How 「えい」 should be pronounced in\nthe words like 英語, 先生,\netc?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6572/how-%E3%81%88%E3%81%84-should-\nbe-pronounced-in-the-words-like-%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E-%E5%85%88%E7%94%9F-etc) ,\nSino-Japanese words can have a pronunciation of えい or ええ. According to\n[jisho.org](http://jisho.org/kanji/details/%E8%8A%B8%E8%80%85), the hiragana\n\"げいしゃ\" of \"芸者\" is based on on-yomi readings of the two kanji characters, which\naccording to [this\ncomment](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/23098/how-to-tell-if-a-\nword-is-sino-japanese-or-yamato?lq=1#comment49115_23098) in another question\nmeans that \"芸者\" is a Sino-Japanese word. This would suggest that \"げえしゃ\" is a\nvalid pronunciation in Japanese.\n\nHowever, I'm not 100% sure, partially because some people explicitly claim\nthat \"げえしゃ\" or \"geesha\" isn't a valid pronunciation in Japanese. From a\n[discussion page on\nWikipedia:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Geisha/Archive_2#Geesha_pronunciation)\n\n> I think to regard Geesha as a mispronunciation is not correct. In modern\n> Japanese written \"ei\" is quite frequently pronounced as ee (i.e. long e) by\n> Japanese native speakers. True, the Furagana based pronunciation as \"ei\" is\n> also heard but the GIs stationed in Japan picked up the Geesha-pronunciation\n> from native speakers.\n>\n\n>> No, it's not pronounced \"geesha.\" Remember, basing pronunciation off of\nromanization is never a good idea.\n\nAnd likewise, from the [comments\nsection](https://chaari.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/did-geisha-engage-in-acts-of-\nprostitution/#comment-405) of the blog post mentioned above, which seems in\nthe first sentence to be talking at least somewhat about the pronunciation of\nwords in Japanese:\n\n> Ditto Toranosuke here–Americans often don’t understand the “ei=ay not ee”\n> rule. Similarly, my elementary schools think it’s hysterical when I teach\n> them the American English pronunciation of words that came from Japanese\n> (SUmo vs. suMOU, “kerry-okee” instead of “karaoke”), but I always tell them\n> that an American will likely not understand what “suMOU” is…\n\nAlso, is there any difference in tone or nuance between the two\npronunciations?\n\nOne blog post, [Words that are different in Japanese and\nEnglish](http://edition.tefl.net/articles/home-abroad/words-different-\njapanese-english/), claims that in English, the word \"geesha\" has a different\nmeaning to the word \"geisha\". The English-language Wikipedia article on\ngeishas also claims that. I used to believe that, but now I regard it as\nunlikely. I suspect that it's more that people who pronounce it one way have a\nslightly different mental image of what a geisha is to people who pronounce it\nanother way. However, is there any difference in Japanese between when it's\npronounced \"げえしゃ\" or \"げいしゃ\"? The Japanese SE post on えい pronunciation claims\nthat えい is more formal than ええ, which would be consistent with the difference\nbetween \"geisha\" and \"geesha\" in English according to the blog post.\n\nTo summarize: is \"げえしゃ\" a valid pronunciation of \"芸者\", and is there any\ndifference in tone or nuance between it and \"げいしゃ\"?",
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"title": "Is \"げえしゃ\" a valid pronunciation of \"芸者\"?",
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"body": "In the real Japanese-speaking world, 「えい」 and 「おう」 only exist in orthography,\nnot in pronunciation for most native speakers on most occasions. Those are\npronounced like「えー」 and 「おー」 respectively. So, 「げえしゃ」 is would be a fairly\nvalid pronunciation, if not as much so as 「げーしゃ」.\n\nIn fact, these irregularities, together with particles 「は」 and 「を」 are often\nthe causes of \"misspellings\" among first-graders as they represent the few\nexceptions in the otherwise completely phonetic kana orthography.\n\nThey would write something like:\n\n> 「ぼくの おと **お** さん **わ** え **え** ご **お** はなせます。」\n\nbecause that is exactly how they will read it.\n\nThe correct way to write that will be:\n\n> 「ぼくの おと **う** さん **は** え **い** ご **を** はなせます。」\n\nOn the rare occasions where 「えい」 and 「おう」 are actually pronounced the way they\nare spelled, it is usually for some kind of emphasis. This tends to occur much\nmore often with proper nouns than with other types of words. For instance,\n「[慶応大学]{けいおうだいがく}」 may be pronounced 「けいおうだいがく」 with affection by some of its\nalumni, but it is just pronounced 「けーおーだいがく」 by everyone else most of the time\nincluding professional announcers.\n\n(This is why I do not understand the enormously popular \"best\" answer to that\nold question about how 「えい」 should be pronounced that you linked to. That is\nnot something a fluent or native speaker would say at all.)",
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"body": "* ゲーシャ (GAY-sha) is the usual pronunciation in Japanese.\n\n * ギーシャ (GHEE-sha) is not a valid pronunciation in Japanese.\n\nI think \"geesha\" is supposed to be read GHEE-sha and not GAY-sha, whence\n\"Geesha girls\" is indeed a mispronunciation and all the English sources you\nmention talk about the difference ゲー (GAY) vs. ギー (GHEE) and not about the\ndifference between げえ and げい.",
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"body": "How do I express the concept of with/without in the following sentences:\n\n> I'd like a coffee with sugar please.\n\nThe best I can do is to use 'and':\n\n> コーヒーとさとうを下さい\n\nAnd for 'without':\n\n> I'd like a pizza without cheese.\n\nMy best attempt at this would be:\n\n> チーズがないピザを下さい\n\nMaybe I could re-engineer the coffee and sugar one in that way too. It seems\nclunky though. Is there a better way?",
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"tags": [
"grammar",
"usage",
"particles"
],
"title": "How to say noun with/without noun",
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"body": "Pizza without cheese :\n\n> チーズ無しピザを下さい\n\nShoyu Ramen without garlic\n\n> 醤油ラーメンニンニク抜き\n\nWith cheese\n\n> チーズ付き\n\nCurry with Tomato\n\n> トマト入りカレーを下さい\n\nYou don't ask for sugar in your coffee since you have to pour it yourself in\nmost coffee shop.",
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"body": "抜き is also an option for 'without':\n\n> チーズ抜きピザ",
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"body": "ピザはチーズ抜きお願いします。 piza wa chiizu nuki onegaishimasu.\n\nYou can also use なし: ピザはチーズなしお願いします。\n\nWhen I want to drink water without ice. I just say the following: 水は氷なしお願いします。\n\nmizu wa kouri nashi onegaishimasu",
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"body": "I'm using RTK to learn the Kanji and yet am pretty happy with it.\n\nTo review the Kanji I am using an Anki deck.\n\nMy question is about the usage of Heisig's 大 radical for example in 器. In the\nbook the radical for \"big\" is used in the middle but if I draw the Kanji in\nthe Kanji Draw Android app without the drop all I get is the same Kanji but\nwith the little drop on the top right hand side. If I look the Kanji up in the\nじしょ app it says \"utensil, vessel, receptacle\" which fits Heisig's keyword of\n\"dishes\" (in the german edition). Also the Anki deck shows me the Kanji with\nthe drop.\n\nI know that the Kanji for dog has this little drop and that its radical is\nused in other Kanjis and as it has a slightly different meaning(big dog vs\nsmall dog) I assumed that this may be an error in RTK.\n\nBut if I type \"utsuwa\" on PC I get the exact same Kanji but without the little\ndrop on the top right.\n\nMy conlusion is that it doesn't matter which one I use which doesn't really\nmake sense to me.",
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"title": "Usage of Heisig radical \"big\"",
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"body": "**Short answer** : As snailplane said, 器 was originally written with a 犬, and\nthat's still the preferred form in China. Nowadays 大 is the standard in Japan,\nbut you'll spot the older version from time to time depending on the font,\napplication etc.\n\n**Long answer:**\n\nOk so first, it's important to understand that RTK is _not_ an analysis of how\nare kanji built, or what's the actual logic behind their components and how\nthey combine. RTK a system of _arbitrary_ mnemonics to help memorizing kanji\n(in the same spirit as similar mnemonic techniques to memorize an entire deck\nof playing cards, or digits of pi and so on). The stories in RTK do not\nnecessarily bear any relationship to the actual reality of how were the\ncharacters made, and why. If they did, they'd be a lot messier, with lots of\nmultiple meanings and graphical variants and characters based on\npronunciation, etc.; and \"messy\" don't work very well for mnemonics. That's\nwhy the author decided to just invent \"stories\" out of the blue for his\nsimplified system of \"radicals\". The system of meanings described in RTK is an\ninvention of Heisig's; it's only loosely related (at best) to the system of\nmeanings of the kanji themselves.\n\n器 is a good example. In the modern Japanese shape, the middle part is drawn\nlike 大, not like 犬. So if you're making stories to memorize Japanese kanji,\nyou'd want to use radical \"big\", not radical \"dog\". However, the original\nshape of the character was something like this:\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bchUl.gif)\n\nNow, compare it with the original form of 大, which was a stick figure of a\nperson:\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qarSL.gif)\n\nAnd compare it also with the original form of 犬, which was a drawing of a\ndoggo:\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IJvR5.gif)\n\nIt should be clear that 器 was definitely built from 犬, not 大. You can clearly\nsee that slanted stroke standing for its head, which would later become the\ndrop in 犬 when calligraphers simplified the shape.\n\nWhy does the standard shape in Japan use 大, then? Purely for convenience! It's\none less stroke to draw, and it won't be confused with any other character\nanyway. This kind of simplification dates a long way back; even in ancient\nChina, by the time 犬 started looking like 大, they would sometimes draw the\ndoggie head in 器:\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EqZWw.gif)\n\nAnd sometimes they'd omit it and just draw the 大 shape:\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lvu7k.gif)\n\nOr even simplify it even further:\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FawDr.gif)\n\nThis latter abbreviation, 噐, with a 工 shape, didn't catch on enough to be\nwidely used today; but 器 with 大 did, to the point of becoming the standard in\nJapan. Here's an image directly from the _Jōyō Kanji_ table, the document in\nwhich the Ministry of Education defines the kanji used in the school system:\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/M3AKt.png)\n\nThe first shape is the one currently prescribed for general use. The one in\nparenthesis is the 旧字体{きゅうじたい} (\"old\") variant. These were never different\n_characters_ ; the were just _alternative shapes of the same character_ (like\nthe 'a' and 'ɑ' characters when writing English by hand). So you were right:\nas it regards meaning, it doesn't really make a difference which one you use.\nYou said that this variance doesn't make sense to you. That's probably because\nyou've become used to Heisig's neat little system where every shape has only\none meaning and all compositions always have a logic behind them. As we've\nseen with this example, the real world of kanji isn't like that. In\nparticular, 大 in kanji combinations is often not a real 大 but a simplification\nof 犬, just like 王 in combinations is often not about kings, but a\nsimplification of 玉.\n\n**Bonus** : Why _did_ they put a dog in there, anyway? The four boxes are\nclearly 'vessels, receptacles'; but what do 'dogs' have to do with anything?\nWe don't know! The oldest explanation is that of the _Shuowen_ dictionary,\nwritten in the 2nd century, which says it was a guard dog protecting wares.\nHowever, the _Shuowen_ was written a good thousand years after the invention\nof Chinese writing, and today we know that many of its explanations were\nwrong. The \"guard dog\" theory might be a stretch. What is it that it adds to\nthe meaning compared to 品? The respected Japanese kanji researcher Tōdō\nAkiyasu thinks 犬 had a secondary nuance suggesting \"varied; of various kinds\",\nby its association with dog races; that feels like even more of a stretch to\nme, but who knows? Whoever created the characters left no explanation of what\nwere they thinking. Welcome to the world of kanji research.\n\n(All images from [chineseetymology.org](http://www.chineseetymology.org/).)",
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"body": "I attended a talk at SXSW and the chef Paul Qui had a great quote but I don't\nknow how to spell the work in English (and Japanese) and could use some help.\nHere is the quote, with the best attempt at the word as I could manage.\n\n> I don't know what that dream project is and I am always in search of that\n> dream project. In Japanese there's a term called **_shokaneen_** that means\n> to be the master of something, but nobody is ever **_shokaneen_** you're\n> always to trying to chase (that) to be a master in whatever that is. For me,\n> whatever that dream is—and I don’t know what it is—I keep on chasing it.",
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"tags": [
"spelling"
],
"title": "Heard that \"master of something\" is pronounced as 'shokaneen'—could you help me find the right term?",
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{
"body": "Since I'm guessing you're intending the _ee_ sound as approximately that of\n\"between\", that's represented by _i_ in romaji, making the end _nin_ , which\nrefers to people, appropriately enough.\n\nHowever, I couldn't think of (or find) any word _shokanin_ or _shoukanin_ , or\neven _shokkanin_ , so I had to take a few liberties.\n\nI think the word you most likely heard is actually\n[職人](http://www.romajidesu.com/dictionary/meaning-of-%E8%81%B7%E4%BA%BA.html)\n( _shokunin_ , lit. workman or artisan). It doesn't precisely mean \"master\" by\nany stretch, but it fits the idea of always working hard to perfect one's\ncraft.\n\n(Note: Converted from a comment in lieu of other answers.)",
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"body": "This is a placard next to a work of art from a museum in Japan. I'm curious as\nto what it says—particularly, what the artist's name is.\n\n",
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"tags": [
"translation",
"names"
],
"title": "Can someone transliterate this artist's name?",
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} | [
{
"body": "The artist's name is Mitsuo Banba (番場 三雄). \nThe title of the painting is ヤルンツァンポ渡る \"Crossing the Yarlung Tsangpo\".\n\n[Yarlung Tsangpo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarlung_Tsangpo_River) is the\npart of the Brahmaputra River that flows through Tibet.",
"comment_count": 0,
"content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
"creation_date": "2015-03-15T23:05:02.777",
"id": "23279",
"last_activity_date": "2015-03-16T03:05:28.587",
"last_edit_date": "2015-03-16T03:05:28.587",
"last_editor_user_id": "107",
"owner_user_id": "1628",
"parent_id": "23278",
"post_type": "answer",
"score": 5
}
] | 23278 | 23279 | 23279 |
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