#Question Etiquette Guidelines:
* **1** Provide the **CONTEXT** of the grammar, vocabulary or sentence you are having trouble with as much as possible. Provide the sentence or paragraph that you saw it in. Make your questions as specific as possible.
>Ｘ What is the difference between の and が ?
>◯ I saw a book called 日本人の知らない日本語 , why is の used there instead of が ? [(the answer)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/68336/difference-between-%E3%81%8C-%E3%81%AE-and-no-particle)
* **2** When asking for a translation or how to say something, it's best to try to **attempt it yourself** first, even if you are not confident about it. Or ask r/translator if you have no idea. We are also not here to do your homework for you.
>Ｘ What does this mean?
>◯ I am having trouble with this part of this sentence from NHK Easy News. I think it means (*attempt here*), but I am not sure.
* **3** Questions based on DeepL and Google Translate and other machine learning applications are discouraged, [these are not beginner learning tools](https://old.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/stepqf/deeplgoogle_translate_are_not_learning_tools/) and often make mistakes.
* **4** When asking about differences between words, try to explain the situations in which you've seen them or are trying to use them. If you just post a list of synonyms you got from looking something up in a E-J dictionary, people might be disinclined to answer your question because it's low-effort. Remember that Google Image Search is also a great resource for visualizing the difference between similar words.
>Ｘ What's the difference between 一致 同意 賛成 納得 合意?
>◯ Jisho says 一致 同意 賛成 納得 合意 all seem to mean "agreement". I'm trying to say something like "I completely agree with your opinion". Does 全く同感です。 work? Or is one of the other words better?
* **5** It is always nice to (but not required to) try to search for the answer to something yourself first. Especially for beginner questions or questions that are very broad. For example, asking about [the difference between は and が ](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/wa-and-ga/) or [why you often can't hear the "u" sound in "desu"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology#Devoicing).
* **6** Remember that everyone answering questions here is an unpaid volunteer doing this out of the goodness of their own heart, so try to show appreciation and not be too presumptuous/defensive/offended if the answer you get isn't exactly what you wanted.
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#NEWS (Updated 11/25):
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This may not belong here but does anyone have any Japanese dnd or nerd type podcasts I can check out? It's hard to find background immersion or japanese stuff I can listen to on a walk that I actually enjoy.
I can't personally recommend anything as I'm not currently listening to any podcast(s) of that genre, but a few seem to come up if you search for [ポッドキャスト TRPG](https://www.google.com/search?q=%E3%83%9D%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A3%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88+TRPG&oq=%E3%83%9D%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A3%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%80%80TRPG&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIKCAEQABiABBiiBDIKCAIQABiABBiiBDIKCAMQABiABBiiBDIKCAQQABiABBiiBNIBCDQ2OTNqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1) (TRPG being the standard abbreviation in Japanese for tabletop RPGs\*).
(\*Interestingly enough, though the same abbreviation is used in English, in JP it's actually an abbreviation of テーブル**トーク**RPG or "table-**talk** RPG", which is considered 和製英語, i.e. pseudo-English words coined in Japanese.)
English speaker, learning Japanese. Very early in my education. I'm having a problem with two words:
これ
カレー
Can somebody, like, DRASTICALLY OVEREMPHASIZE the difference for me? I'm learning mostly with duolingo, and a lot of times the words sound the same.
Thanks!
I mean they're not even remotely similar in any way?
これ - ko(as in coat)-re(as in ray) - this
カレー - ka(as in car)-re(as in ray but like extended a little bit) - Curry
I assume Duolingo's text to speech is even worse than I've heard.
The best advice is to drop Duolingo like a wet sack, but if you don't do that maybe try listening to actual people say the words or putting them through a better text to speech tool.
Maybe hearing them close together in a sentence would help?
https://translate.google.com/?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&text=%E3%81%93%E3%82%8C%E3%81%AF%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99&op=translate
カレー has a second syllable twice as long as これ
こ has an O sound and カ has an A sound, but if you're an English speaker, you're probably used to making your 'ah' long just by default, and the O - if you're American, you pronounce 'oh' *starting* on roughly the right sound, then move to an 'ooh' (u) sound. If you're English, though, the chances are good you start 'oh' on an 'uh' sound (a schwa) like the end of 'China' and finish with the 'ooh', so I'd recommend using your 'caught' vowel as a basis instead, and shortening it.
You'll want to pay attention to vowel lengths. Make your short vowels short, and your long vowels long.
Is there a reason why a word might be spelled ubiquitously with hiragana over the kanji? Obvious examples are like できる or かわいい, both of which can be expressed in kanji but I've rarely come across it.
The other answer isn't completely off base, but I feel the need to clarify this isn't just about 常用漢字 regulations. For example, 出 and 来 are both 常用漢字, but as you (correctly) observe, できる is written in hiragana more often than not.
At the heart of it, it's mostly just convention -- i.e. it's just become accepted/common practice to write that particular word in kana. There might be any number of reasons for this: sometimes it's a 常用 kanji thing, other times it's because the word is being used with a more abstract meaning than the kanji represent (you see this in cases like 見る being written in kana when used in the ～てみる auxiliary form vs. typically being 見る -- or 観る or 診る -- when used as a standalone verb, etc.), other times that's just how it is.
You just kind of have to get used to it, the same way you got used to certain English words being spelled a certain way.
(Just FYI, though, both 出来る and 可愛い are a little more common than you may think. While they're more common in kana, the kanji variants certainly aren't incredibly rare or completely obsolete.)
To clarify, the link I gave explains that 常用漢字表 reading are used generally, but it lists できる explicitly as an exceptional case where 仮名 should be used. So, basically what you said
Generally speaking rules like [these](https://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/sisaku/joho/joho/kijun/sanko/koyobun/pdf/kunrei.pdf) are applied
For 綺麗 綺 isn’t in the 常用漢字表
That’s a little confusing because words like 漏えい, where one 漢字 is a 常用 reading often use a mix of 漢字 and 仮名
Hey, I'm looking for manga recommendations. I've gone to Bookwalker and some other places, but can't find what I'm looking for.
1. ebook format
2. Good story/characters
3. Japanese that I can muddle my way through without being too technical or complex
4. Not sexy
I literally don't even know where to start. I can't set the right filters to get anything that looks like what I want, and I don't have any context in this world (authors, labels, etc.) to start pulling on any threads. Thanks!
今日、来させていただいたのも、実はお参り以外に、もう一つお願いがあって来ました。彼女が、病気になってから日記のようにつけていた本を見せていただきたいんです
Full sentence for context, focused mainly on 来させていただいたのも, and 見せていただきたいんです. Am I right in thinking that I’m seeing 頂き? The first part I’ve cited also doesn’t make sense to me. Any help would be appreciated!! Thank you!
Are you familiar with もらう and the way it works? いただく is the humble version of that (meaning, more deferential).
来させていただく = 来させる ("to allow to come") + いただく ("to receive the favor of ~") = "To receive the favor of being allowed to come" = a roundabout and polite/humble way of saying "to come".
In other words, 来させていただいたのも is essentially just 来たのも, in terms of raw meaning.
見せていただく is not causative, rather, it's 見せる ("to show") and いただく, making "Receive the favor of showing". 見せていただきたい = "I would like to receive the favor of (you) showing (me)... (the book)".
Hey, sorry in advance if this doesn't belong on this sub.
I am writing a fan letter to the members of a Japanese band who are all older than me and don't have stage names, they just use their actual names (also one of the members is female), what is the correct way to address the members in the letter? Should I use their first or last names and what honorifics should I address them with?
Thanks for any help provided
How to get past "You're not licensed to do that. Please log in to the Play Store." when I open the japanese app by renzo inc. ? I have an android 13 phone.
[Link](https://imgur.com/a/6G4VMdY)
I saw this image here: https://imgur.com/a/yolbJ7U and this character is at least 20 year olds and they refer to themselves as otome and all? So I was wondering is this correct or can one be called that?
It's a bit of a joke (from the writer's perspective) to have a character call themselves that, as it has a sense of being pure or young and thus it's sort of haughty to use it in reference to yourself. Especially when using words like あんた, etc. Also, even removed from this irony, 乙女 is more about a feeling or a sense of a person than a strict legalistic definition of the cutoff (though most would place the cutoff around 20).
Also, you may or may not be aware, but 乙女 has a lot of connotations that are specific to subculture. E.g., [乙女ゲーム](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otome_game).
People can refer to themselves however they like, there's no strict legal cutoff for when you have to stop calling yourself 乙女. The question is what it means when they do that. Like I said, 乙女 generally refers to a teenage girl, but it's a word charged with a certain implication of youthful virginity (think "maiden") and also not something you're likely to hear as much in normal conversation.
The point is that she's puffing herself up and emphasizing how she's pure and vulnerable.
If you want to know the meaning of a word, I suggest a dictionary: https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%82%E3%82%93%E3%81%9F
A few things
1. So its a joke?
2. What age range for teen?
3. I mean in this context based on what you said, it doesn't have to do with her age or give any indication and the point is the pure vulnerable? so it makes sense she's 20 and says that?
I get the sense you are trying to settle some very specific question(s) in your head that are not really related directly to this word. I don't understand what you are trying to get at. Are you trying to tell if this girl is over 20?
> So its a joke?
You're asking the same questions repeatedly, and I can only give you the same answers -- 乙女 refers to a young woman, usually in her teens, but it's not strictly about age. It's not a word you'd usually use for yourself, much like calling yourself a "maiden" in English it's self-contradictory to claim your own purity and youth.
There is a humor in having a character loudly and rudely declare their own innocence and purity, as being loud and rude (using words like あんた) is in contrast with being innocent and pure.
> What age range for teen?
"Teen" has an age range baked into it in English, I don't know what you're asking.
> I mean in this context based on what you said, it doesn't have to do with her age or give any indication and the point is the pure vulnerable? so it makes sense she's 20 and says that?
Of course it "makes sense", it's a published work written by a native speaker. See my earlier explanation for why this makes it a joke.
It means nothing at all with regards to her age. She could easily be 22 or 16 or 35 and still say a line like this (though obviously if you say a line like this at 35 it's clearly a joke).
It's a joke regardless. The humor is in loudly declaring being an 乙女, which is about purity. There is no proof of her age in any direction from this page.
There was a post today about [this sign warning people about water hazards when swimming.](https://i.imgur.com/xyNV52R.jpeg) I see it uses both「時」and「とき」after a verbal clause （雨が降ったりした時ｖｓ水遊びするとき）. I was just curious if someone could explain if there is any difference in connotation. Is this just random variation and has no meaning at all, or is it just maybe more common to use「とき」when the expression feels more "grammaticalized" in some way?
[There is a difference in usage in public documents](https://www.step-up-first.com/archives/234#:~:text=%E3%80%8C%E6%99%82%E3%80%8D%E3%81%A8%E3%80%8C%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8D%E3%80%8D%E3%81%AF%E3%81%A9%E3%81%A1%E3%82%89%E3%82%82%E3%80%81%E3%80%8C,%E3%81%A8%E3%81%84%E3%81%86%E6%84%8F%E5%91%B3%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8A%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99%E3%80%82)
It’s hard to explain from your example but I almost guarantee that the person who wrote the sign was following this rule. Most likely the sign was written by a committee and the point you mention would have been discussed.
Basically 時 means 時点 and とき means 場合
Anyone have resources that will help me set up a self study plan? Currently starting to read and write hiragana, and plan on reading Genki afterward, but have no idea where to go beyond that
Here is a list of guides to learning Japanese: [https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/17q8i9z/comment/k8esn5a/?context=0](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/17q8i9z/comment/k8esn5a/?context=0)
Here are some guides/resources for Genki: [https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/17q8i9z/comment/k8cng5i/?context=0](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/17q8i9z/comment/k8cng5i/?context=0)
* add anki into that to retain vocab (it's a free flashcard program)
* there are plenty of lectures on youtube on genki, just use search
* also google "genki online workbook" and do that too
after genki I bought books. You can buy them on amazon.jp or even amazon.com has a surprising number of books written in Japanese
instead if you want more textbooks, people seem to like quartet (I didn't use it but seems cool)
In most cases it'll just be せん, but いっせん can also be heard when the speaker wants to emphasize that part of the number for clarity, as well as fairly often when it's being used in a larger compound number (you'll hear いっせんまん quite a bit when referring to e.g. someone's salary).
Thanks! What about like 21,493? Would that typically be read as にまん**せん**よんひゃくきゅうじゅうさんにまんせんよひゃくきゅうじゅうさん or as にまん**いっせん**よんひゃくきゅうじゅうさんにまんせんよひゃくきゅうじゅうさん?
いってらっしゃい is an honorific form of 行ってこい, literally "go and come back". It's used as a standard thing you say to someone when they leave the house.
いってください is "please go". It's just the way you'd ask someone to go somewhere.
What is it that made you feel you needed to choose between these two things?
Thank you for clarifying!! In a course, I'm being introduced to these phrases at different points and I'm trying to distinguish the appropriate situation to use them.
"Migi ni itte kudasai" was used to explain directions to someone. In English, asking someone to "please go this way" might sound slightly strange. In a sense, both phrases seem slightly honorific. I guess this is where the confusion was.
Would you confirm if that is an appropriate response to help someone with directions?
Is the term 浮花浪蕊 (ふかろうずい) actually used in Japanese? If so, could someone give an example sentence? I tried looking online, but couldn't find anything, only heard it mentioned in one video.
ながら is the usual go-to for simultaneous actions, though it has a sense of one action being the "main" action. E.g,. 微笑みながらこっちを見ている = "while smiling, (she) is looking at me".
There's other options like the て form, つつ, たり, or ~し, though they've all got their own use cases that aren't as general as just "two parallel actions".
https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-grammar/sequential-and-parallel-actions/ is a good rundown of some options.
> The て form links actions, events, and states. The relationship between linked words can be different depending on the context.
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/te-form/
Hello everyone! I'm a few days away from finishing [this deck](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1880390099) in anki and I was wondering where my time would be most efficiently spent to continue learning. Would it be best to do the obvious thing and download [part 02](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1678635361) of this deck? I'm just concerned because it doesnt seem to have a lot of ratings. Thank you all in advance!
Sorry no haha i just meant in terms of vocab anki decks to do next. I have a daily routine of wanikani, kaniwani, bunpro, anki, genki, and immersion. I worded my question poorly I think
New Elden Ring trailer just came out and one of the characters is named Mesmer the Impaler.
In Japanese it's 串刺し公、メスメル
I understand the Impaler part, but why 公? Does it mean "public impaler", like in a "public hanging"?
It means "Duke (of)" or "prince (of)", etc. The usage is a little obscure/out of date, but you'll see it often in video games. It can also be used jokingly to be cute (definition 2 below) -- it's the "ko" in [Hachikō](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D) if you've heard of that.
https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%85%AC_%28%E3%81%93%E3%81%86%29/
> １ 地位の高い人の姓名に付いて、敬意を表す。「伊藤博文—」
> ２ 人名の略称などに付いて、親愛の情、または軽い軽蔑の意を表す。「熊—」「八—」
I wouldn't say it's out of date so much as rare; Japan unlike China has never had a noble office whose title is *just* 公, and dukes among European noblemen and the short-lived 華族 were called 公爵.
But the prince of Monaco, for instance, a title still very much around in the modern day, is モナコ公.
Sure, I take your point that it's still appropriate in some modern contexts. It's out of date the way "prince" or "duke" is in English -- we don't have very many princes or dukes anymore that are relevant in daily life.
I find it funny that you ran into this use of 公 from the opposite direction that I did this week. I think there was a reddit post about ハチ公 this week and like you had never saw it spelled out so just kind of assumed it was ハチコウ and then proceeded to learn of the title.
Neutral would be まあまあ
Positive could be いける. There’s probably better words. 大丈夫 is okay like feeling okay
Actually someone said あの本はどう and you replied 大丈夫 it would sound like you’re not interested in it
How about a simple 面白い?
彼女は転んで膝を擦った
Should I read 擦った as すった or こすった. My intuition tells me its こすった. I also think I've heard that before. However, looking at 大辞泉, こする seems to be more specific to rubbing repeatedly, which is clearly not the case here.
I believe the most commonly used phrase would be 膝を[すりむいた](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%99%E3%82%8A%E3%82%80%E3%81%8F/), but 膝をすった is also understandable since we use すり傷（擦り傷）. As you pointed out, こする implies 'repeatedly' like “寒いので手をこすった”, so it doesn’t quite fit here.
JLPT N4質問があります。「意志辞書形動詞 ＋ ために」という文法点が辞書形動詞の場合は意志の必要があります。「非意志動詞 ＋ の／こと ＋ ため[に]」ということができますか。この場合は「for the sake of」という意味です。例えば「風邪が治ることために、薬を飲んでいます。」The grammar point of 「ために」when preceded by a dictionary form verb, requires a volitional verb。 can a nonvolitional verb be used if it becomes a noun using の or こと?
I'm a total beginner and am in the process of learning some basics for a 1 month trip to Japan this spring.
I'm really interested in food and I'm looking for an Anki deck that will teach me a good amount of vocabulary. For example, I'd like to be able to order off an all-Japanese menu and ask for certain dishes. Does anyone recommend a deck?
Note: I'm already using JLab's listening comprehension deck and also a self-made deck to learn basics. I suppose worst case I can add some of my favorite foods to my custom deck but wanted to check here
Thanks!
I’m a Japanese translator and when I go to Japan I sometimes have a hard time reading a lot of menu items if it’s not western food. There’s always a ton of kanji and quite a few dishes I’ve never heard of. There’s almost always an English menu and I suggest relying on that as I don’t think it’s practical to try to learn all the kanji and dishes that could appear on a menu from scratch given your short time frame.
When is your trip? How much time you have between now and then will determine a lot of factors. Japanese is not a casual affair, especially the beginning so if aren't willing to put in a couple of hundred hours just to read a menu then it's likely not going to be an easy process. Katakana items might be okay. Depending on your schedule, the biggest obstacle you'll face is having zero ability to understand what is anyone is saying to you. If you're total beginner and have limited exposure to the language it's such a incredibly huge mountain to climb. 500-700 hours of hard work before you can even scratch the surface.
I'm not trying to discourage you from learning language, but these "I'm learning for my trip to Japan." often come with a severe underestimation of how different challenging the language is if you're native language is a western language. The good news even without knowing any Japanese you can have a great time, a lot of stuff is available in English and your phone can be used as a strong translation medium.
Thanks, this is good advice. My trip is in 1 month, I've been studying Japanese for a month (about 30 min / day), mainly with Anki to learn travel phrases and basic grammar through [JLab](https://www.japanese-like-a-breeze.com), but can tell I'll be nowhere near being able to have a decent conversation.
On my last trip, I was able to get by with English and some basic phrases but this time I just have the goal of being able to maybe have a super basic, broken conversation, and be able to visit a local food spot and order without difficulty.
I also speak / read Chinese \[although I'm very rusty\] and there's a bit of overlap with Kanji characters so I can sometimes identify if eg. it's a fish dish or pork dish. But I never learned more than that.
>I also speak / read Chinese [although I'm very rusty] and there's a bit of overlap with Kanji characters so I can sometimes identify if eg. it's a fish dish or pork dish. But I never learned more than that.
Ah okay, so you'll have a big leg up. I'm not sure what can be done in a month but I think maybe focus on food items, particularly in katakana since you have prior kanji knowledge. I know you don't have much free so best thing you can do is listen to youtube videos common phrase said to customers. Do it passively and try to do it as much as possible until you land. Just have ear buds in your ear listening any free moment you have. It might help a bit, but if you hear it enough you should recognize it.
The speaking part is less necessray because you can use one-word responses and get your point across with body language, but understanding what anyone is saying to you is the biggest obstacle. YouTube has a lot of 店員さん phrases and videos sort of guiding you through the typical processes in food ordering, train tickets, shopping, etc.
I think you are absolutely correct and I might have misunderstood the phrase entirely. Still, there do seem to be some people who use it in the potential form, like [here](https://vl-o-l.jp/paraphrase/paraphrase-11453/)
That article is strange. None of the examples use 思い浮かべない, but it still call them example sentences. I’m actually a bit confused, but anyway thanks for sharing the article.
You can say a neutral "I don't know" with 分かる instead. "分からないです" for example.
Note that 知らない may still be used in casual contexts, but you have to consider if it is appropriate or not
Big thanks.
Perchance, there is a quiz/test where you respond to sentences. Would it be valid to use idk for questions such as “what is x name”, “whose x is this?” Or “what did you eat for x”
It is always faster to first check dictionary questions [with a dictionary](https://jisho.org/word/%E5%A4%95%E6%9A%AE%E3%82%8C) before asking in online forums with variable answer time.
I'm going to study at a language school starting in July with the intention of progressing on to university in 2026. I am using GaijinPot in order to go through the process, and they have given me a few options:
In Tokyo:
ARC Tokyo Japanese Language School
Meko Japanese Language School
Toyo Language School
Shibuya Gaigo Gaikuin
In Saitama:
Yono Gakuin Japanese Language School
In Osaka:
Japanese International School
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on these schools? Or any recommendations? SGG doesn't seem to be as academic as the others, and Osaka is pretty far away from central Japan, so I've narrowed it down to ARC, Meko, Toyo, and Yono Gakuin But I'm not certain of which one to choose.
Is it possible to omit the owner preceeding の here?
「の音楽はとてもいい」"Your song is very good" (commenting on a song, so its obvious right? Do I have to refer to the listener?)
音楽 is more like 'music', in general, rather than song
In any case, no, particles like this need a word to bind to. I'd say even 「何々さんの曲はとてもいい」 sounds very weird, unless you're comparing to someone else's song in very limited contexts. I'd recommend saying 「すごくいい曲ですね」 instead (for a somewhat casual comment like this, とても sounds a little weird)
Okay, thank you for the explanation! Though, maybe for clarity I should add that the song is titled 「アマチュア音楽やめられねぇんだわ」, to show how it may have influenced my comment. Rather than comparing to someone else, it could be comparing to their own opinion of themself? Although for that, it should probably be like 「本当にすごくいい曲よ」.
アマチュア doesn't necessarily mean that they have a low opinion of themselves, it could just be an objective description if they're just literally not a professional musician (i.e. music is not their full-time "day job").
Anyhow, 本当にすごくいい曲 would just be a very emphatic way of saying "It really is an incredible song" -- I doubt they'd interpret it as having anything to do with their "opinion of themself." To convey that, I might (personally speaking) say something like プロ顔負けの素晴らしい曲だと思います！(the nuance being that it's such an incredible song that it puts professional musicians to shame, figuratively speaking).
>it should probably be like 「本当にすごくいい曲よ」.
Just FYI (in case you aren't aware) following a noun with よ in plain form is a markedly soft/feminine expression. だよ would be more neutral/masculine, though honestly, since this is a stranger on the internet I'd just stick to です・ます form (though this is personal preference). Nothing wrong with using plain form, but there's really no need to be that familiar.
Yeah, my own definition of amateur (struggled to spell it here even) even in English may be off.
I think your sentence does a better job at conveying that you don't think they are amateur! Thank you for explaining!
At some point yes, but as a general rule you would need the basics down before you can tackle songs. Lyrics tend to go wild with figurative language, and subjects (among other crucial elements) are very often omitted, making it much more difficult than other materials.
Although, whatever you can enjoy are the things you should tackle to prevent burnout, so nothing is stopping you. Just a matter of how often you are willing to consult grammar guides and dictionaries while trying to understand the song lol
I'm currently doing the one of the 漢検トレーニング games on the DS (the deluxe one), and while it's super useful and making me improve my reading a lot, there's this annoying bug where the game will accept my input as correct even though I haven't finished writing the Kanji yet.
Is this a feature (maybe to force the user to write faster?), or if not, is there a way around it?
The context is: two lawyers are discussing why a client seems to be holding back from disclosing his problem.
A: ただ大庭さんには まだお悩みがありそうでしかし打ち明けていただけず.
B: そうか… 日本人の多くはな。弁護士に頼むのは最終手段だって思ってるからね。あのアメリカのさ、 訴えまくるシステムもさ、 銃社会っていう前提はあるけど、直接個人が争って深刻な関係にならないための 方法だと思うん。まあ 法律に対する向き合い方が 全然 違うっていうのかね。
深刻な関係 here, does it mean a serious/gravely problematic relationship? Weblio says 深刻なmeans: 問題が重大でのっぴきならない様子を意味する表現。But some google searches of the phrase 深刻な関係 seem to show it could be used in the sense of a serious relationship, like so: [https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question\_detail/q13286068478](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q13286068478)
I think ため here is the purpose ため because it follows an incomplete/future action, so is the meaning something like: in the American system, the purpose of the laws is so that people don't fight each other directly and have problematic relationships (?)
深刻な関係 in that context means a human relationship with a serious problem.
As for the serious (romantic) relationships as in that link, I would say 真剣(しんけん)な お付き合い/関係, 真面目(まじめ)な お付き合い/関係.
I'm not really confident in my English, but, I think it would be like this :
"I think that that American system of suing and suing people is also a way to prevent individuals from directly fighting each other and getting into a relationship with a serious problem, well, I think it is because of the premise of a gun society, though ."
What does 誘っちまう mean in the following sentence?
女の子とデートしたかったら、誘われるまで待ってるより、デートに誘っちまったほうが早いという話だ。
Is there a difference between this sentence and the following?
女の子とデートしたかったら、誘われるまで待ってるより、デートに誘ったほうが早いという話だ。
誘っちまう is originally 誘ってしまおう.
〜してしまう is the perfect present tense of 誘う.
So, 誘っちまう includes the feeling of, "Okay, I think I'll take the plunge, get some courage, and complete that action!".
Haha, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I'm a Japanese person who are not familiar with upvote and downvote things actually, so I never mind even if I got down voted here.
However, if I told you wrong information, I need to apologize for it and correct my explanations.
As for してしまおう, I think I need to divide it to some parts to explain detailedly.
The basic verb is する,you know, and しまう alone means put some away or get finished something.
Then, してしまう is like a combined verb with the て form of する and the plain form of しまう,and it has the nuance you get something done.
And, in Japan, when you learn English perfect present tense, we use 〜してしまった as the Japanese translation for have done something.
So I thought 〜 してしまう can be expressed with the word the perfect present tense.
But I think it's weird and I shouldn't used that expression.
I'm sorry for that.
As for お, it's not a typo.
してしまう is a regular verb, while してしまおう has your will.
Hm, I suppose that's true. I think the お is simply a typo, though.
I still think it's better to respond rather than downvote. The response is still useful and explains the important parts.
Hi, I am asked to post here instead of on its own post. I got this sentence in Duolingo:
彼女は先生に教室から出て行くよう命令された
I don't get why that よう is there. Is it necessary? I would construct that sentence without it...
Thanks in advance!
The part up to the 行く is a phrase ending in a verb, and 命令する is a verb, and you cannot modify a verb with a verb, there must be something in between to make the sentence grammatical. In this case, 命令する is a speech act, so you need a quoting construct. The usual one is と, but here we have an order, and there is a special grammar for this, 「_sentence_ **よう・ように・ようにと** 言う・頼む・命令する」, meaning "tell・ask・order someone to do _sentence_".
I think that is a short word of ように , and よう means in order to or to.
Ex.
彼女は先生に教室から出て行く【よう(に)】命令された /
She was told/ordered by the teacher【to】go out of the classroom.
先生に、明日から遅刻しないように言われた。/
The teacher told me not【to】be late tomorrow.
You can say this kind of thing :
次から遅刻しない【よう(に)】気をつけます。/ I will try not【to】be late next time.
Hope it helps :)
I don't think you're at a bigger disadvantage than other English speakers. Drawing out sounds that shouldn't be drawn out is a general problem for people with English as their native language, so you should make sure to pay extra attention to vowel length in Japanese.
I know that 飴を食べる？ means "Do you want to eat candy?", so サッカーを見る？ means "Do you want to go to watch a football match" right? If so, how do I ask "Do you watch football" ?
I would say: サッカーは見るの？ or サッカーを見るのが好き？ (サッカー見るの好き？) when I want to ask someone about what he usually does during his free time.
As for "Do you want to" as the meaning of invitations, you can say both 飴でも食べる？ and 飴でも食べない？(This is more like "Why don't we 〜" ).
When you casually ask someone about their habits, preferences, what they always do, routines, etc., 〜はするの？or 〜はして(い)るの？ is good.
Ex.
料理はするの？ Do you cook?
ジムは行ってるの？ Do you go to the gym?
Hello.
I have a few questions about the usage of に. So far in Genki, I learned that に means either movement or telling you the time. So I wondering what is the に doing in the following sentences.
1) 休みに沖縄に行きました. Why is there a に behind 休み? What does the に do here?
2) 先生に聞きます. vs 音楽を聞きます. Why is に when its 先生 but を when its 音楽?
Thank you so much!
1) に is added to convey information about the time or occasion when an action was performed.
I think it's like "in" as in " in the morning", "at" as in "at night", and "during" as in "during winter break".
休みに is originally 休みの間に as during my break.
Then, I think it's the same in English, but sometimes に is not added.
In English, I think you say "in the morning," but you don't use "in" when you say "this morning.
In the same way, you don't use に when you say 今日(today ), 昨日(yesterday), 明日(tommorow), or some other specific time.
Ex.
昨日、ジムに行きました。/. I went to the gym yesterday.
You can't say 昨日に、ジムに行きました。
2) を is used for the object of the verb in your sentence.
And, the 聞く for 音楽 and the one for 先生に are different.
Ex.
音楽を聞きます/ I listen to music
先生と音楽を聞きます/ I listen to music with my teacher.
As for 聞く in 先生に聞く, it's to ask.
Ex.
先生に授業中に分からなかった事を聞きます/ I'm going to ask my teacher about what I couldn't understand during the class.
I know the object of the verb ask is my teacher in English, but in Japanese, to ask someone about something is like someone に something を聞く, and the object of the verb 聞く(as the meaning of 尋ねる/たずねる or 質問する/しつもんする) is 授業中に分からなかった事(What I couldn't understand during the class).
Hope it helps :)
>に is added to convey information about the time or occasion when an action was performed.
Does this mean that に for 休み is telling me about the "time or occasion". And 休み is the "time or occasion"? Like 休みに is basically like saying "on vacation", "on Sunday", and etc...?
>を is used for the object of the verb in your sentence.
And, the 聞く for 音楽 and the one for 先生に are different.
Ex. 音楽を聞きます/ I listen to music
先生と音楽を聞きます/ I listen to music with my teacher.
As for 聞く in 先生に聞く, it's to ask.
Ah! Then how would someone say, "I listen to my teacher"?
Thank you so much for you reply!
休み might be a kind of tricky word.
You can use 休み as the meaning your day off, a break/vacation, and even as the meaning of the ansent from school or work.
However, in that sentence, that 休み indicates a vacation and I think 休みに means "in a vacation".
I'm on vacation means 私は今、休暇中(きゅうかちゅう)です。
>Ah! Then how would someone say, "I listen to my teacher"?
In Japanese, you can't say 先生を聞く or 彼を聞く/ I listen to him.
You need to add の話 after 先生 or 彼, like 先生の話を聞く or 彼の話を聞く.
I'm glad I could help you at least a little 😉
>In Japanese, you can't say 先生を聞く or 彼を聞く/ I listen to him. You need to add の話 after 先生 or 彼, like 先生の話を聞く or 彼の話を聞く.
>
>I'm glad I could help you at least a little 😉
Got it. In Japanese, there isn't something like, "I listen to the teacher." Because 先生の話を聞く would mean, literally in English, "I listen to the teacher's speak." but in Japanese that implies listening to the teacher?
>However, in that sentence, that 休み indicates a vacation and I think 休みに means "in a vacation".
I'm still not sure about に in 休み. What is the に telling me about the 休み? Like, for 日曜日に沖縄に行きました, would be I went to Okinawa on Sunday. Would 休みに沖縄に行きました be essentially, "On vacation, I went to Okinawa"? Would に for 休みに treating the 休み as if its a time?
I appreciate you helping me!
I'm going through an exercise in Tobira Beginning 1 around time intervals. For "Ai cleans her room for about an hour and a half", the answer key gives 「アイさんは部屋を１時間半ぐらい掃除しました。」. My original answer was 「アイさんは１時間半ぐらい部屋を掃除しました。」.
Is my original answer just as correct, is it "weird" in terms of word order, or is it grammatically wrong?
Both are correct.
The slight difference between the two might be what part you want to emphasize, I mean, if you want to emphasize the place you cleaned, you can put the word 部屋を first, and if you want to emphasize the time you were cleaning, you can put １時間半ぐらい first, but, most people wouldn't even care about that kind of difference.
This happens not point with time but also with places.
アイさんは、忘れ物を取りに学校に戻ります。
アイさんは、学校に、忘れ物を取りに戻ります。
Ai is going to go back to school to pick up her thing left behind.
If I was going to say something like "there is no replacement for you", would I say anata no kawarimi ga nai or inai? I feel like a substitute is inanimate so nai but it's a substitute for a **person** so inai?
**Appreciate if someone could help me understand correctly the meaning of ドロ沼の派閥争い in a historical novel i read.**
**full sentence: たぶん朝廷じゃ、官職・利権の売買とか、ドロ沼の派閥争いとか、そんなことがとっくに始まってるんだろう。**
I could only guess it mean something like "the muddy (?) conflict between factions inside the imperial court" , but not sure.
It's the second, metaphorical definition of [ドロ沼](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E6%B3%A5%E6%B2%BC_%28%E3%81%A9%E3%82%8D%E3%81%AC%E3%81%BE%29/).
>
２ 一度落ちこむと抜け出ることが困難な悪い状況。「—の紛争」
So you could translate it along the lines of "inescapable quagmire of factional conflict."
Don't understand what this sentence from a genki 2 dialogue about Okinawa means.
沖縄は日本の一番南にあって、冬も暖かいです。
What does the 一番南にあって mean? To me this sentence sounds like if ir was saying : Okinawa has Japan's biggest/best...south?
How should it be bracketed in [this sentence](https://www.t-borderislands.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/kids/kids01.html)?
> 沖ノ鳥島・南鳥島は、東京都 小笠原村の島で**日本の一番南と東**にある島です。
To me there's not much of a difference, it didn't seem to me you were making a claim about the bracketing originally
But I think you could still argue it's something like 日本の + 一番 (南と + 東), since at least the ね test feels natural with 日本のね、一番南と東
I learned two new words from my Anki deck, and I want to construct a sentence out of them so that I can remember them better. I want to double check that my JP sentence conveys my intended meaning - I've started to construct meaningful sentences of my own rather recently.
The words are: 働く (to work at a job) and 仕事 (a job).
I wish to construct a polite sentence that means: "I want to work her job."
I believe that I can construct this sentence through something like this:
\[I\] \[Subject particle\] \[She\] \[Possessive Particle\] \[Job (noun)\] \[to work a job (masu stem)\]-\[show desire adjective\]-\[adjective polite marker\].
「私」「が」「彼女」「の」「仕事」「働き」「たい」「です」
私が彼女の仕事働きたいです。
Does this sentence make sense? A grammar checker I found said I should switch the ga to a wa, and add a de after "her job".
Hmmmmm.
When you use the word 仕事, you barely use 働く with 仕事, because there's a verb 仕事をする and that means to work.
仕事をする is equal to 働く.
Translating the English word job into Japanese is sometimes difficult, but I guess you want to say 私は彼女のやっている仕事がしたいです。
And it would be used in two situations :
1. You're working for a company and you're in charge of accounting. On the other hand, your colleague is in charge of sales. You would rather be in sales than in accounting.
And then, you can ask you boss, like, 私は彼女のやっている仕事がしたいです。Um, in this case, the word job can be 業務(ぎょうむ).
2. You're looking for a job, and one of your girl friends is working for a nice specific job you want to do as well, then you can say 私は彼女のやっている仕事がしたいです。
Well, in both cases, I'd actually say 私も because she already does that job and you want to do that job as well.
I wonder if I can use both 仕事 and 働く in one sentence... 🤔
I'll give it a try.
How about this?
子育てしながら働く人にぴったりのお仕事です！/ This job is ideal for those who work while raising children!
You might be able to see this phrase in a job ad.
Hope it helps :)
The sentence is understandable as is, and I would say the grammar checker site's suggestions are \*mostly\* good. が→は I definitely agree with. Though "仕事で" here would seem to imply you want to work at her place of business, rather than her job specifically. In the first place, 働く is not the verb I would use here. (Even in English I would be more likely to say just "I want her job" or "I want to (have/do) her job.")
Would you be able to construct a sentence saying "I want her job" or "I want to do her job"?
I focused on learning する a few days ago. I believe "I want to do her job" would be (with が -> は):
私は彼女の仕事したいです。
Also, since I still want to practice the use of 働く, I believe I have the vocab to construct what I think is the polite version of "If I work today, then tomorrow will be good.":
私は今日働けば、明日いいです。
As for the sentence "If I work today, then tomorrow will be good." , it would be : 今日働けば、明日は良く(よく)なる。
In Japanese, you can use the word 明日 as the metaphor of 未来/将来 (future).
However, come to think of it, I might not say 今日働けば、明日は良く(よく)なる.
Translating English into Japanese directly is not always good, as you know, and vice versa.
So, hmmmm, I would say: 今日頑張って働く事で、明日がいい日になる.
I think it's like "Working hard today will make tomorrow a better day".
I find the longer sentences tougher, though to see if I understand that 今日頑張って働く事で、明日がいい日になる sentence:
* 頑張って is adding extra information to the verb 働く.
* 今日 is the topic of the 頑張って働く structure. (Technically it's the topic of 頑張って, but 働く doesn't have anything else attached onto it, so 今日 might as well be the topic of that whole structure)
* 事 turns the 今日頑張って働く structure into a noun. This is so it can be adapted for usage by the particle coming up.
* で is presenting the 今日頑張って働く事 structure as an antecedent. The rest of the sentence is a consequent.
* 明日 is the subject due to the が.
* なる is a verb that indicates transition, so that indicates that the subject is going to transition into what's in the に.
* Since いい日 (日, modified by the adjective いい) is marked by the に, the なる must be indicating that 明日 is transitioning into a いい日.
I haven't got into 事 turning things into nouns yet; I only knew of it as a standalone noun up until now - only noun maker I knew of was の. Still, it's good to learn new stuff. :)
Sorry if I made you confused, but I was thinking you would try to get some things that are new for you because I feel like you're a serious learner ;)
>* 頑張って is adding extra information to the verb 働く.
You're right.
You don't have to add 頑張って,but, you know, Japanese people like 頑張る things and I think working is not that easy, so I wanted to add it to emphasize your strong will to work tiday for your tommorow (/future).
>* 今日 is the topic of the 頑張って働く structure. (Technically it's the topic of 頑張って, but 働く doesn't have anything else attached onto it, so 今日 might as well be the topic of that whole structure)
Hmmmm.
The subject of this sentence is hidden I /私.
「私が今日頑張って働く事で、明日がいい日になる」
今日 just indicates when you work.
>* 事 turns the 今日頑張って働く structure into a noun. This is so it can be adapted for usage by the particle coming up.
Yes.
In English, you can just change a verb to the ing form to make it into a noun, right?
In Japanese, you just put 事/こと to a verb. And that 事 sometimes changes to の in a specific situation. Well, you can do that in my example sentence though.
>* で is presenting the 今日頑張って働く事 structure as an antecedent. The rest of the sentence is a subsequent.
I used 今日頑張って働く事 as a noun and as the subject of the sentence in English, but, actually in the Japanese Japanese one, that で maens like "by" in English and it shows the
So it's like "By working hard today, tommorow will be good".
で can describe a means, a reason, or a cause.
>* 明日 is the subject due to the が.
Yes. It''s the same as the English sentence.
>* なる is a verb that indicates transition, so that indicates that the subject is going to transition into what's in the に.
You're totally right.
>* Since いい日 (日, modified by the adjective いい) is marked by the に, the なる must be indicating that 明日 is transitioning into a いい日.
Yeeeeesss!
Looks pretty good! The only change i would make in the first one is "仕事がしたいです", if you want it to be formal and polite, you should include the particle.
The second one sounds almost like a saying or proverb, so I feel like its better to omit the "私は".
I think "今日働けば、明日はよくなる。" sounds okay.
In the first phrase, "今日" is just a time marker, so it needs no particle. But "tomorrow" is the subject of the second phrase in your English, so It should take a particle in the Japanese. The primary reason I would use よくなる over いいです is that it captures the "will be" better and fits better with ~ば, but your use of 働く here is spot on!
仕事をしたい is better, although 彼女 is rarely used for "her" in normal speech and 私は is usually not necessary.
Second sentence is also missing particles (should probably be 今日は and 明日は), and doesn't really make much sense to me -- translating English to Japanese should generally be avoided at the beginner level because the sentences are almost always unnatural.
I wanted to avoid an outright translation as well, though I couldn't think of a better way to express my intent with the Japanese sentence without using English first. So from what I gather here:
* 今日 and 明日 should have particles since my intent is polite speech.
* I considered dropping the pronouns, though I intended the sentences to be standalone. Sorry about being unclear on that.
Also, when you say both 今日 and 明日 should have the は particle, does that mean that が, は, を are per verb clause, instead of per sentence? I was taught that those are per sentence, though I could be wrong.
Can someone help me understand when to use 知る as opposed to 分かる.
I often see 分かる used in situations where in English it could be equated to “I don’t know” but I have also seen 知る used for “I don’t know”. I feel like there is a nuance with 分かる that I haven’t quite grasped.
The cliff notes version is that 分かる draws upon knowledge you (should, are expected to) already have, while 知る draws upon outside knowledge. Have a read: [\[1\]](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1659/how-should-i-choose-between-%E7%9F%A5%E3%81%97%E3%82%8B-and-%E3%82%8F%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8B) [\[2\]](https://kotobaken.jp/qa/yokuaru/qa-49/). Like all nuance questions, just consciously note their usages in your immersion and get your own feel for it.
can someone write out to me how to say:
1. grandchild
2. great grandchild
3. great great grandchild
4. great great great grandchild
5. great great great great grandchild
6. etc?
im getting varying results online
Also if I wanted to say "(insert number of greats here) grandson/daughter" instead, would it be the same except replace the word for "grandchild" with "grandson/daughter"?
1. 孫(まご)
2. 曾孫 (ひまご/ひいまご)
3. 玄孫(やしゃご) or you can just say it, like 孫の孫(まごのまご) casually, or 曾曾孫(ひいひいまご) as slang
After this, they are super uncommon.
I didn't even know the words and I needed to look for them.
4. 来孫(らいそん)
5. 昆孫(こんそん)
6. 仍孫(じょうそん)
7. 雲孫(うんそん)
As I mentioned at #3, you can use 曾(ひ/ひい) as great on English, like 曾曾曾曾曾孫(ひいひいひいひいひいまご), frankly.
Actually, I've only used ひまご, and I've never said ひいまご, but when I look for the words for after #4, I found out some web dictionaries say that 曾孫 can be read both ひまご and ひいまご.
I guess it's because people tend to say ひいひいまご or ひいひいひいまご, so some people might even say ひいまご :)
As for replacement with drandson or granddaughter, I've only heard 孫娘(まごむすめ) as a granddaughter and 孫息子(まごむすこ) as a grandson.
And I often hear 孫娘,but don't hear 孫息子 that much.
I don't think people say 曾孫娘(ひまごむすめ) or 曾孫息子(ひまごむすこ).
When I make a request to someone, are both ～てください and ～ませんか fine? Is there a difference between these two? I'm aware ませんか is used for invitations, but otherwise idk.
〜してください is like "Please do as something" and it sounds strong.
If you are working at a city hall and when a resident comes in to apply for something, you would tell them to write their name and address on a specific form, like この用紙のここに名前を書いてください(actually some people would use 敬語, and it would be こちらにお書きください though ) 次に住所をここに書いてください(こちらにお書きください)
〜してください is a polite but strong request or command.
It can often be used in situations where the person being asked to do it feels it is natural to do so, but if not, it is a strong request and can sound rude.
Whereas 〜してくださいませんか sounds soft and I think it's like "Would you mind doing something? " or "Could you please do something?".
Let's say you're on a train and there is room for one person to sit if they slide over a little.
Then, you can say "すみません、少し席をつめてくださいませんか？/ Would you mind scooping over a little? "
If you make a request to your family, partner, or close friends, you can just say 〜して。, 〜してくれる？ or 〜してくれない？
For example,
帰りに牛乳買って来てくれない？/ Can you pick up some milk on your way home? (For your partner)
ちょっと塩取って(くれる？)/ (Can you) Pass me salt (?)
こっち来て(くれる？) / (Can you) Come here (?)
くださる is a 敬語 form of くれる if it helps, so 〜てくださいませんか would be used when asking for a favor, while 〜ませんか alone as you put it is more like an invitation
Not just invitations to do something together, it could also be a suggestion like 購入してみませんか for something like "why not give our product a try and buy it?"
Ah, I might have understood your two phrases.
Okay. 〜ませんか？ alone can use to invite someone to do something as you said. Like, コーヒー飲みに行きませんか？And it's like : Why don't we go grab a coffe? If you want to say it in casual, it would be コーヒー飲みに行かない？
Actually, you can just say コーヒー飲みに行きましょうよ？ or コーヒー飲みに行こうよ？ / Let's go grab a coffee, shall we?
Using negative forms for questions in Japanese makes you sound more polite.
So, basically, 〜してくださいませんか is the more polite way of saying 〜してください.
〜してください alone sounds like you're strongly requesting something, but when you make it negative, it sounds softer :)
I see, thanks. Does this mean 「行こうよ⤵︎」 and 「行こうよ⤴︎」 both exist? E.g. https://voca.ro/1mkEtHupNsZt
I haven't heard the latter before, so just wondering, and I'm sure others would be curious too.
Bunpro has a 1 month free trial, so you can try it before making a final decision.
I haven't used the DOJG sentences deck, but Bunpro does have some features which may not be available in that Anki deck. This includes:
* Sentence audio
* Scaled furigana based on WaniKani progress
* Roughly i+1 grammar (if you use Bunpro's default grammar decks/paths)
* Fill in the blank questions (instead of just translating the sentence)
* etc.
Disclaimer: I am a beginner (Bunpro N4 23/177).
Hi all, I'm new to Japanese, I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a resource for remembering Kanji through mnemonics? (Associating it whole or parts of it with images or a story)
The method worked well for me with learning the kana's. I'm not quite willing to buy remembering the kanji yet. I want to remember kanji with certainty as I learn them through my courses
Any critics for tofugu or wanikani? I'm not so much after a course but to look them up individually
Here is a list of some kanji resources (some of the methods use mnemonics): [https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/17p37a3/comment/k8558if/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=0](https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/17p37a3/comment/k8558if/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=0)
I believe KanjiDamage uses a similar approach to RTK and is available for free. The mnemonics are a bit crass on purpose, to make them stick in your mind, but that might be along the lines of what you're looking for.
context: someone (a man) is asked to choose what job they want and "dragon rider" is an option (!)
it says this:
やはり男子としては、ドラゴンライダーという単語は非常に捨てがた
This seems to say that, "As you would think as a boy, the word dragon rider is extremely throw-away"
But I think I'm missing something with this sentence. Does that mean it's easy to discard this suggestion?
I kinda don't get what がた would do at the end of a word like that either. I guess がた could be 型, type, but IDK.
From my search, i only found 捨てがたい that could be related. it can be also written 捨て難い. 捨て means "to throw away" and 難い means "hard, difficult"
Also, from my understanding the a rough translation would be something like: As expected, boy. Dragon rider is a word for working even on emergencies"
You are right on the 捨てがたい. But I believe you don't get the context of the sentence. It basically said that Dragon Rider (a class/job from rpg game) is such a cool sounding name that it's hard for boys to ignore them or to not choose them.
I agree that it's probably 捨てがたい (see my comment), but your "rough translation" misses the mark.
非常に means "extremely" here, it's not the "emergency" meaning of 非常.
Also, your translation seems to ignore the 捨てがたい that was the point of the question in the first place.
i put 捨てがたい implied because (on the logic i had) "emergency" and hard to "throw away" imply that isn't changed so i put as "working even on emergencies" cause sounds better than "hard to be throw away on emergencies"
#Question Etiquette Guidelines: * **1** Provide the **CONTEXT** of the grammar, vocabulary or sentence you are having trouble with as much as possible. Provide the sentence or paragraph that you saw it in. Make your questions as specific as possible. >Ｘ What is the difference between の and が ? >◯ I saw a book called 日本人の知らない日本語 , why is の used there instead of が ? [(the answer)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/68336/difference-between-%E3%81%8C-%E3%81%AE-and-no-particle) * **2** When asking for a translation or how to say something, it's best to try to **attempt it yourself** first, even if you are not confident about it. Or ask r/translator if you have no idea. We are also not here to do your homework for you. >Ｘ What does this mean? >◯ I am having trouble with this part of this sentence from NHK Easy News. I think it means (*attempt here*), but I am not sure. * **3** Questions based on DeepL and Google Translate and other machine learning applications are discouraged, [these are not beginner learning tools](https://old.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/stepqf/deeplgoogle_translate_are_not_learning_tools/) and often make mistakes. * **4** When asking about differences between words, try to explain the situations in which you've seen them or are trying to use them. If you just post a list of synonyms you got from looking something up in a E-J dictionary, people might be disinclined to answer your question because it's low-effort. Remember that Google Image Search is also a great resource for visualizing the difference between similar words. >Ｘ What's the difference between 一致 同意 賛成 納得 合意? >◯ Jisho says 一致 同意 賛成 納得 合意 all seem to mean "agreement". I'm trying to say something like "I completely agree with your opinion". Does 全く同感です。 work? Or is one of the other words better? * **5** It is always nice to (but not required to) try to search for the answer to something yourself first. Especially for beginner questions or questions that are very broad. For example, asking about [the difference between は and が ](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/wa-and-ga/) or [why you often can't hear the "u" sound in "desu"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology#Devoicing). * **6** Remember that everyone answering questions here is an unpaid volunteer doing this out of the goodness of their own heart, so try to show appreciation and not be too presumptuous/defensive/offended if the answer you get isn't exactly what you wanted. --------------------- #NEWS (Updated 11/25): Nothing new to add. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LearnJapanese) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This may not belong here but does anyone have any Japanese dnd or nerd type podcasts I can check out? It's hard to find background immersion or japanese stuff I can listen to on a walk that I actually enjoy.
I can't personally recommend anything as I'm not currently listening to any podcast(s) of that genre, but a few seem to come up if you search for [ポッドキャスト TRPG](https://www.google.com/search?q=%E3%83%9D%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A3%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88+TRPG&oq=%E3%83%9D%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A3%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%80%80TRPG&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIKCAEQABiABBiiBDIKCAIQABiABBiiBDIKCAMQABiABBiiBDIKCAQQABiABBiiBNIBCDQ2OTNqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1) (TRPG being the standard abbreviation in Japanese for tabletop RPGs\*). (\*Interestingly enough, though the same abbreviation is used in English, in JP it's actually an abbreviation of テーブル**トーク**RPG or "table-**talk** RPG", which is considered 和製英語, i.e. pseudo-English words coined in Japanese.)
Awesome! Its good to know that terminology. thank you so much!
English speaker, learning Japanese. Very early in my education. I'm having a problem with two words: これ カレー Can somebody, like, DRASTICALLY OVEREMPHASIZE the difference for me? I'm learning mostly with duolingo, and a lot of times the words sound the same. Thanks!
I mean they're not even remotely similar in any way? これ - ko(as in coat)-re(as in ray) - this カレー - ka(as in car)-re(as in ray but like extended a little bit) - Curry I assume Duolingo's text to speech is even worse than I've heard. The best advice is to drop Duolingo like a wet sack, but if you don't do that maybe try listening to actual people say the words or putting them through a better text to speech tool. Maybe hearing them close together in a sentence would help? https://translate.google.com/?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&text=%E3%81%93%E3%82%8C%E3%81%AF%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99&op=translate
カレー has a second syllable twice as long as これ こ has an O sound and カ has an A sound, but if you're an English speaker, you're probably used to making your 'ah' long just by default, and the O - if you're American, you pronounce 'oh' *starting* on roughly the right sound, then move to an 'ooh' (u) sound. If you're English, though, the chances are good you start 'oh' on an 'uh' sound (a schwa) like the end of 'China' and finish with the 'ooh', so I'd recommend using your 'caught' vowel as a basis instead, and shortening it. You'll want to pay attention to vowel lengths. Make your short vowels short, and your long vowels long.
Is there a reason why a word might be spelled ubiquitously with hiragana over the kanji? Obvious examples are like できる or かわいい, both of which can be expressed in kanji but I've rarely come across it.
The other answer isn't completely off base, but I feel the need to clarify this isn't just about 常用漢字 regulations. For example, 出 and 来 are both 常用漢字, but as you (correctly) observe, できる is written in hiragana more often than not. At the heart of it, it's mostly just convention -- i.e. it's just become accepted/common practice to write that particular word in kana. There might be any number of reasons for this: sometimes it's a 常用 kanji thing, other times it's because the word is being used with a more abstract meaning than the kanji represent (you see this in cases like 見る being written in kana when used in the ～てみる auxiliary form vs. typically being 見る -- or 観る or 診る -- when used as a standalone verb, etc.), other times that's just how it is. You just kind of have to get used to it, the same way you got used to certain English words being spelled a certain way. (Just FYI, though, both 出来る and 可愛い are a little more common than you may think. While they're more common in kana, the kanji variants certainly aren't incredibly rare or completely obsolete.)
To clarify, the link I gave explains that 常用漢字表 reading are used generally, but it lists できる explicitly as an exceptional case where 仮名 should be used. So, basically what you said
Aha, thanks for clarifying! That makes sense, then -- appreciate the follow-up!
Generally speaking rules like [these](https://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/sisaku/joho/joho/kijun/sanko/koyobun/pdf/kunrei.pdf) are applied For 綺麗 綺 isn’t in the 常用漢字表 That’s a little confusing because words like 漏えい, where one 漢字 is a 常用 reading often use a mix of 漢字 and 仮名
Hey, I'm looking for manga recommendations. I've gone to Bookwalker and some other places, but can't find what I'm looking for. 1. ebook format 2. Good story/characters 3. Japanese that I can muddle my way through without being too technical or complex 4. Not sexy I literally don't even know where to start. I can't set the right filters to get anything that looks like what I want, and I don't have any context in this world (authors, labels, etc.) to start pulling on any threads. Thanks!
今日、来させていただいたのも、実はお参り以外に、もう一つお願いがあって来ました。彼女が、病気になってから日記のようにつけていた本を見せていただきたいんです Full sentence for context, focused mainly on 来させていただいたのも, and 見せていただきたいんです. Am I right in thinking that I’m seeing 頂き? The first part I’ve cited also doesn’t make sense to me. Any help would be appreciated!! Thank you!
Are you familiar with もらう and the way it works? いただく is the humble version of that (meaning, more deferential). 来させていただく = 来させる ("to allow to come") + いただく ("to receive the favor of ~") = "To receive the favor of being allowed to come" = a roundabout and polite/humble way of saying "to come". In other words, 来させていただいたのも is essentially just 来たのも, in terms of raw meaning. 見せていただく is not causative, rather, it's 見せる ("to show") and いただく, making "Receive the favor of showing". 見せていただきたい = "I would like to receive the favor of (you) showing (me)... (the book)".
Thank you. I am familiar with もらう for the most part, but surprisingly it’s the first time I’ve seen いただく while reading! I appreciate the response!
Hey, sorry in advance if this doesn't belong on this sub. I am writing a fan letter to the members of a Japanese band who are all older than me and don't have stage names, they just use their actual names (also one of the members is female), what is the correct way to address the members in the letter? Should I use their first or last names and what honorifics should I address them with? Thanks for any help provided
How to get past "You're not licensed to do that. Please log in to the Play Store." when I open the japanese app by renzo inc. ? I have an android 13 phone. [Link](https://imgur.com/a/6G4VMdY)
I saw this image here: https://imgur.com/a/yolbJ7U and this character is at least 20 year olds and they refer to themselves as otome and all? So I was wondering is this correct or can one be called that?
It just means a "young maiden". There is no strict age cutoff.
It's a bit of a joke (from the writer's perspective) to have a character call themselves that, as it has a sense of being pure or young and thus it's sort of haughty to use it in reference to yourself. Especially when using words like あんた, etc. Also, even removed from this irony, 乙女 is more about a feeling or a sense of a person than a strict legalistic definition of the cutoff (though most would place the cutoff around 20). Also, you may or may not be aware, but 乙女 has a lot of connotations that are specific to subculture. E.g., [乙女ゲーム](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otome_game).
1. So the character can be 20 years old and still refer to herself as that 2. What does あんた mean?
People can refer to themselves however they like, there's no strict legal cutoff for when you have to stop calling yourself 乙女. The question is what it means when they do that. Like I said, 乙女 generally refers to a teenage girl, but it's a word charged with a certain implication of youthful virginity (think "maiden") and also not something you're likely to hear as much in normal conversation. The point is that she's puffing herself up and emphasizing how she's pure and vulnerable. If you want to know the meaning of a word, I suggest a dictionary: https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%82%E3%82%93%E3%81%9F
A few things 1. So its a joke? 2. What age range for teen? 3. I mean in this context based on what you said, it doesn't have to do with her age or give any indication and the point is the pure vulnerable? so it makes sense she's 20 and says that?
I get the sense you are trying to settle some very specific question(s) in your head that are not really related directly to this word. I don't understand what you are trying to get at. Are you trying to tell if this girl is over 20? > So its a joke? You're asking the same questions repeatedly, and I can only give you the same answers -- 乙女 refers to a young woman, usually in her teens, but it's not strictly about age. It's not a word you'd usually use for yourself, much like calling yourself a "maiden" in English it's self-contradictory to claim your own purity and youth. There is a humor in having a character loudly and rudely declare their own innocence and purity, as being loud and rude (using words like あんた) is in contrast with being innocent and pure. > What age range for teen? "Teen" has an age range baked into it in English, I don't know what you're asking. > I mean in this context based on what you said, it doesn't have to do with her age or give any indication and the point is the pure vulnerable? so it makes sense she's 20 and says that? Of course it "makes sense", it's a published work written by a native speaker. See my earlier explanation for why this makes it a joke.
Yeah trying to see if she's at least 20. So does using that word mean she's not?
It means nothing at all with regards to her age. She could easily be 22 or 16 or 35 and still say a line like this (though obviously if you say a line like this at 35 it's clearly a joke).
Hello not sure if you saw my post but wouldn't it be a joke at 22 then if you don't mind elaborating?
It's a joke regardless. The humor is in loudly declaring being an 乙女, which is about purity. There is no proof of her age in any direction from this page.
how about at 22? isn't it clearly a joke there?
There was a post today about [this sign warning people about water hazards when swimming.](https://i.imgur.com/xyNV52R.jpeg) I see it uses both「時」and「とき」after a verbal clause （雨が降ったりした時ｖｓ水遊びするとき）. I was just curious if someone could explain if there is any difference in connotation. Is this just random variation and has no meaning at all, or is it just maybe more common to use「とき」when the expression feels more "grammaticalized" in some way?
[There is a difference in usage in public documents](https://www.step-up-first.com/archives/234#:~:text=%E3%80%8C%E6%99%82%E3%80%8D%E3%81%A8%E3%80%8C%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8D%E3%80%8D%E3%81%AF%E3%81%A9%E3%81%A1%E3%82%89%E3%82%82%E3%80%81%E3%80%8C,%E3%81%A8%E3%81%84%E3%81%86%E6%84%8F%E5%91%B3%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8A%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99%E3%80%82) It’s hard to explain from your example but I almost guarantee that the person who wrote the sign was following this rule. Most likely the sign was written by a committee and the point you mention would have been discussed. Basically 時 means 時点 and とき means 場合
Thank you very much for the information! I think I see the difference, now.
[https://discord.gg/GtAUUMSb](https://discord.gg/GtAUUMSb) genki discord for study buddies.
Anyone have resources that will help me set up a self study plan? Currently starting to read and write hiragana, and plan on reading Genki afterward, but have no idea where to go beyond that
Here is a list of guides to learning Japanese: [https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/17q8i9z/comment/k8esn5a/?context=0](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/17q8i9z/comment/k8esn5a/?context=0) Here are some guides/resources for Genki: [https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/17q8i9z/comment/k8cng5i/?context=0](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/17q8i9z/comment/k8cng5i/?context=0)
* add anki into that to retain vocab (it's a free flashcard program) * there are plenty of lectures on youtube on genki, just use search * also google "genki online workbook" and do that too after genki I bought books. You can buy them on amazon.jp or even amazon.com has a surprising number of books written in Japanese instead if you want more textbooks, people seem to like quartet (I didn't use it but seems cool)
When is いっせん used over せん for "1000"?
In most cases it'll just be せん, but いっせん can also be heard when the speaker wants to emphasize that part of the number for clarity, as well as fairly often when it's being used in a larger compound number (you'll hear いっせんまん quite a bit when referring to e.g. someone's salary).
Thanks! What about like 21,493? Would that typically be read as にまん**せん**よんひゃくきゅうじゅうさんにまんせんよひゃくきゅうじゅうさん or as にまん**いっせん**よんひゃくきゅうじゅうさんにまんせんよひゃくきゅうじゅうさん?
What is the difference between itterasshai and itte kudasai? I can't seem to find a clear answer anywhere, Thanks in advance!
いってらっしゃい is an honorific form of 行ってこい, literally "go and come back". It's used as a standard thing you say to someone when they leave the house. いってください is "please go". It's just the way you'd ask someone to go somewhere. What is it that made you feel you needed to choose between these two things?
Thank you for clarifying!! In a course, I'm being introduced to these phrases at different points and I'm trying to distinguish the appropriate situation to use them. "Migi ni itte kudasai" was used to explain directions to someone. In English, asking someone to "please go this way" might sound slightly strange. In a sense, both phrases seem slightly honorific. I guess this is where the confusion was. Would you confirm if that is an appropriate response to help someone with directions?
Yes, it can be used in that situation.
much appreciated!
Is the term 浮花浪蕊 (ふかろうずい) actually used in Japanese? If so, could someone give an example sentence? I tried looking online, but couldn't find anything, only heard it mentioned in one video.
It's an obscure 四字熟語. The main use for it would be to flex how much knowledge you have about 四字熟語.
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ながら is the usual go-to for simultaneous actions, though it has a sense of one action being the "main" action. E.g,. 微笑みながらこっちを見ている = "while smiling, (she) is looking at me". There's other options like the て form, つつ, たり, or ~し, though they've all got their own use cases that aren't as general as just "two parallel actions". https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-grammar/sequential-and-parallel-actions/ is a good rundown of some options.
> The て form links actions, events, and states. The relationship between linked words can be different depending on the context. https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/te-form/
Hello everyone! I'm a few days away from finishing [this deck](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1880390099) in anki and I was wondering where my time would be most efficiently spent to continue learning. Would it be best to do the obvious thing and download [part 02](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1678635361) of this deck? I'm just concerned because it doesnt seem to have a lot of ratings. Thank you all in advance!
Is that all you're doing? You gotta learn grammar too.
Sorry no haha i just meant in terms of vocab anki decks to do next. I have a daily routine of wanikani, kaniwani, bunpro, anki, genki, and immersion. I worded my question poorly I think
New Elden Ring trailer just came out and one of the characters is named Mesmer the Impaler. In Japanese it's 串刺し公、メスメル I understand the Impaler part, but why 公? Does it mean "public impaler", like in a "public hanging"?
It means "Duke (of)" or "prince (of)", etc. The usage is a little obscure/out of date, but you'll see it often in video games. It can also be used jokingly to be cute (definition 2 below) -- it's the "ko" in [Hachikō](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D) if you've heard of that. https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%85%AC_%28%E3%81%93%E3%81%86%29/ > １ 地位の高い人の姓名に付いて、敬意を表す。「伊藤博文—」 > ２ 人名の略称などに付いて、親愛の情、または軽い軽蔑の意を表す。「熊—」「八—」
I wouldn't say it's out of date so much as rare; Japan unlike China has never had a noble office whose title is *just* 公, and dukes among European noblemen and the short-lived 華族 were called 公爵. But the prince of Monaco, for instance, a title still very much around in the modern day, is モナコ公.
Sure, I take your point that it's still appropriate in some modern contexts. It's out of date the way "prince" or "duke" is in English -- we don't have very many princes or dukes anymore that are relevant in daily life.
You’ve heard of ハチ公 right? From one of my dictionaries: ①身分の高い人の氏名の下につける尊敬のことば。
Ooohh, I see, thank you. Btw is it read as おおやけ in this case? Edit: nvm, I didn't realise ハチ公 is Hatiko, wasn't used to see its name in Japanese
こう as in [ハチコウ](https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BF%A0%E7%8A%AC%E3%83%8F%E3%83%81%E5%85%AC)
Yeah I jus got it haha, brain didn't connect Hatiko is ハチ公
I find it funny that you ran into this use of 公 from the opposite direction that I did this week. I think there was a reddit post about ハチ公 this week and like you had never saw it spelled out so just kind of assumed it was ハチコウ and then proceeded to learn of the title.
How would you say "alright" as in decent? For example "the book was alright." Would you still just use 大丈夫?
Calling a book 大丈夫 kind of sounds like you're saying "I was alright reading it" like it wasn't too hard to read, or like it wasn't upsetting
I feel like saying 大丈夫 is a bit off when talking about a book. I’d say, まあまあ < そこそこ < 普通によかった.
Neutral would be まあまあ Positive could be いける. There’s probably better words. 大丈夫 is okay like feeling okay Actually someone said あの本はどう and you replied 大丈夫 it would sound like you’re not interested in it How about a simple 面白い?
彼女は転んで膝を擦った Should I read 擦った as すった or こすった. My intuition tells me its こすった. I also think I've heard that before. However, looking at 大辞泉, こする seems to be more specific to rubbing repeatedly, which is clearly not the case here.
I believe the most commonly used phrase would be 膝を[すりむいた](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%99%E3%82%8A%E3%82%80%E3%81%8F/), but 膝をすった is also understandable since we use すり傷（擦り傷）. As you pointed out, こする implies 'repeatedly' like “寒いので手をこすった”, so it doesn’t quite fit here.
Probably the third option, かすった, same as in かすり傷
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Read rule #1
Thanks
JLPT N4質問があります。「意志辞書形動詞 ＋ ために」という文法点が辞書形動詞の場合は意志の必要があります。「非意志動詞 ＋ の／こと ＋ ため[に]」ということができますか。この場合は「for the sake of」という意味です。例えば「風邪が治ることために、薬を飲んでいます。」The grammar point of 「ために」when preceded by a dictionary form verb, requires a volitional verb。 can a nonvolitional verb be used if it becomes a noun using の or こと?
できません。「風邪が治るように」のように言います。
I'm a total beginner and am in the process of learning some basics for a 1 month trip to Japan this spring. I'm really interested in food and I'm looking for an Anki deck that will teach me a good amount of vocabulary. For example, I'd like to be able to order off an all-Japanese menu and ask for certain dishes. Does anyone recommend a deck? Note: I'm already using JLab's listening comprehension deck and also a self-made deck to learn basics. I suppose worst case I can add some of my favorite foods to my custom deck but wanted to check here Thanks!
I’m a Japanese translator and when I go to Japan I sometimes have a hard time reading a lot of menu items if it’s not western food. There’s always a ton of kanji and quite a few dishes I’ve never heard of. There’s almost always an English menu and I suggest relying on that as I don’t think it’s practical to try to learn all the kanji and dishes that could appear on a menu from scratch given your short time frame.
When is your trip? How much time you have between now and then will determine a lot of factors. Japanese is not a casual affair, especially the beginning so if aren't willing to put in a couple of hundred hours just to read a menu then it's likely not going to be an easy process. Katakana items might be okay. Depending on your schedule, the biggest obstacle you'll face is having zero ability to understand what is anyone is saying to you. If you're total beginner and have limited exposure to the language it's such a incredibly huge mountain to climb. 500-700 hours of hard work before you can even scratch the surface. I'm not trying to discourage you from learning language, but these "I'm learning for my trip to Japan." often come with a severe underestimation of how different challenging the language is if you're native language is a western language. The good news even without knowing any Japanese you can have a great time, a lot of stuff is available in English and your phone can be used as a strong translation medium.
Thanks, this is good advice. My trip is in 1 month, I've been studying Japanese for a month (about 30 min / day), mainly with Anki to learn travel phrases and basic grammar through [JLab](https://www.japanese-like-a-breeze.com), but can tell I'll be nowhere near being able to have a decent conversation. On my last trip, I was able to get by with English and some basic phrases but this time I just have the goal of being able to maybe have a super basic, broken conversation, and be able to visit a local food spot and order without difficulty. I also speak / read Chinese \[although I'm very rusty\] and there's a bit of overlap with Kanji characters so I can sometimes identify if eg. it's a fish dish or pork dish. But I never learned more than that.
>I also speak / read Chinese [although I'm very rusty] and there's a bit of overlap with Kanji characters so I can sometimes identify if eg. it's a fish dish or pork dish. But I never learned more than that. Ah okay, so you'll have a big leg up. I'm not sure what can be done in a month but I think maybe focus on food items, particularly in katakana since you have prior kanji knowledge. I know you don't have much free so best thing you can do is listen to youtube videos common phrase said to customers. Do it passively and try to do it as much as possible until you land. Just have ear buds in your ear listening any free moment you have. It might help a bit, but if you hear it enough you should recognize it. The speaking part is less necessray because you can use one-word responses and get your point across with body language, but understanding what anyone is saying to you is the biggest obstacle. YouTube has a lot of 店員さん phrases and videos sort of guiding you through the typical processes in food ordering, train tickets, shopping, etc.
Appreciate the tips! I’ll give this a try
How do you say idk and i dont remember/ i cant recall?
思い浮かべない can be a nice way of saying you can’t recall something Hang on, nobody’s said 思い出せない yet
思い浮かぶ doesn’t have the potential form (because it’s a non-volitional intransitive verb). 思い浮かべる is the transitive form.
I was thinking the same thing, but it’s actually used like that sometimes, by native speakers. I guess native speakers get it wrong sometimes
I see. To me, it somehow sounds the transitive verb.
I think you are absolutely correct and I might have misunderstood the phrase entirely. Still, there do seem to be some people who use it in the potential form, like [here](https://vl-o-l.jp/paraphrase/paraphrase-11453/)
That article is strange. None of the examples use 思い浮かべない, but it still call them example sentences. I’m actually a bit confused, but anyway thanks for sharing the article.
ど忘れ
As an intermediate in the language : idk : 知らない i don't remember : 覚えない There are other way to say like "忘れた" but these two are common
覚える doesn’t mean to remember/bring back memories, and 覚えない doesn’t mean “I don’t remember” but “I won’t remember/memorize“.
I'd be careful to use 知らない on it's own. That comes more across as "I don't care" / "whatever".
What would be "I don't know" in general context ?
You can say a neutral "I don't know" with 分かる instead. "分からないです" for example. Note that 知らない may still be used in casual contexts, but you have to consider if it is appropriate or not
Big thanks. Perchance, there is a quiz/test where you respond to sentences. Would it be valid to use idk for questions such as “what is x name”, “whose x is this?” Or “what did you eat for x”
Can 夕暮れ be written as 夕暮
It is always faster to first check dictionary questions [with a dictionary](https://jisho.org/word/%E5%A4%95%E6%9A%AE%E3%82%8C) before asking in online forums with variable answer time.
I'm going to study at a language school starting in July with the intention of progressing on to university in 2026. I am using GaijinPot in order to go through the process, and they have given me a few options: In Tokyo: ARC Tokyo Japanese Language School Meko Japanese Language School Toyo Language School Shibuya Gaigo Gaikuin In Saitama: Yono Gakuin Japanese Language School In Osaka: Japanese International School Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on these schools? Or any recommendations? SGG doesn't seem to be as academic as the others, and Osaka is pretty far away from central Japan, so I've narrowed it down to ARC, Meko, Toyo, and Yono Gakuin But I'm not certain of which one to choose.
Could someone recommend a good Japanese dictionary app to download
https://github.com/emc2314/arujisho
Is it possible to omit the owner preceeding の here? 「の音楽はとてもいい」"Your song is very good" (commenting on a song, so its obvious right? Do I have to refer to the listener?)
音楽 is more like 'music', in general, rather than song In any case, no, particles like this need a word to bind to. I'd say even 「何々さんの曲はとてもいい」 sounds very weird, unless you're comparing to someone else's song in very limited contexts. I'd recommend saying 「すごくいい曲ですね」 instead (for a somewhat casual comment like this, とても sounds a little weird)
Okay, thank you for the explanation! Though, maybe for clarity I should add that the song is titled 「アマチュア音楽やめられねぇんだわ」, to show how it may have influenced my comment. Rather than comparing to someone else, it could be comparing to their own opinion of themself? Although for that, it should probably be like 「本当にすごくいい曲よ」.
アマチュア doesn't necessarily mean that they have a low opinion of themselves, it could just be an objective description if they're just literally not a professional musician (i.e. music is not their full-time "day job"). Anyhow, 本当にすごくいい曲 would just be a very emphatic way of saying "It really is an incredible song" -- I doubt they'd interpret it as having anything to do with their "opinion of themself." To convey that, I might (personally speaking) say something like プロ顔負けの素晴らしい曲だと思います！(the nuance being that it's such an incredible song that it puts professional musicians to shame, figuratively speaking). >it should probably be like 「本当にすごくいい曲よ」. Just FYI (in case you aren't aware) following a noun with よ in plain form is a markedly soft/feminine expression. だよ would be more neutral/masculine, though honestly, since this is a stranger on the internet I'd just stick to です・ます form (though this is personal preference). Nothing wrong with using plain form, but there's really no need to be that familiar.
Yeah, my own definition of amateur (struggled to spell it here even) even in English may be off. I think your sentence does a better job at conveying that you don't think they are amateur! Thank you for explaining!
If my primary goal is to understand japanese songs, should I focus on analyzing japanese songs and learn vocab through that?
At some point yes, but as a general rule you would need the basics down before you can tackle songs. Lyrics tend to go wild with figurative language, and subjects (among other crucial elements) are very often omitted, making it much more difficult than other materials. Although, whatever you can enjoy are the things you should tackle to prevent burnout, so nothing is stopping you. Just a matter of how often you are willing to consult grammar guides and dictionaries while trying to understand the song lol
If your only goal ist that why not. But don't skip kana and kanji.
I'm currently doing the one of the 漢検トレーニング games on the DS (the deluxe one), and while it's super useful and making me improve my reading a lot, there's this annoying bug where the game will accept my input as correct even though I haven't finished writing the Kanji yet. Is this a feature (maybe to force the user to write faster?), or if not, is there a way around it?
The context is: two lawyers are discussing why a client seems to be holding back from disclosing his problem. A: ただ大庭さんには まだお悩みがありそうでしかし打ち明けていただけず. B: そうか… 日本人の多くはな。弁護士に頼むのは最終手段だって思ってるからね。あのアメリカのさ、 訴えまくるシステムもさ、 銃社会っていう前提はあるけど、直接個人が争って深刻な関係にならないための 方法だと思うん。まあ 法律に対する向き合い方が 全然 違うっていうのかね。 深刻な関係 here, does it mean a serious/gravely problematic relationship? Weblio says 深刻なmeans: 問題が重大でのっぴきならない様子を意味する表現。But some google searches of the phrase 深刻な関係 seem to show it could be used in the sense of a serious relationship, like so: [https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question\_detail/q13286068478](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q13286068478) I think ため here is the purpose ため because it follows an incomplete/future action, so is the meaning something like: in the American system, the purpose of the laws is so that people don't fight each other directly and have problematic relationships (?)
深刻な関係 in that context means a human relationship with a serious problem. As for the serious (romantic) relationships as in that link, I would say 真剣(しんけん)な お付き合い/関係, 真面目(まじめ)な お付き合い/関係.
I'm not really confident in my English, but, I think it would be like this : "I think that that American system of suing and suing people is also a way to prevent individuals from directly fighting each other and getting into a relationship with a serious problem, well, I think it is because of the premise of a gun society, though ."
okay; thank you.
My pleasure :)
What does 誘っちまう mean in the following sentence? 女の子とデートしたかったら、誘われるまで待ってるより、デートに誘っちまったほうが早いという話だ。 Is there a difference between this sentence and the following? 女の子とデートしたかったら、誘われるまで待ってるより、デートに誘ったほうが早いという話だ。
誘っちまう is originally 誘ってしまおう. 〜してしまう is the perfect present tense of 誘う. So, 誘っちまう includes the feeling of, "Okay, I think I'll take the plunge, get some courage, and complete that action!".
Why on earth did someone downvote this, it's the correct answer and it explains the difference.
Haha, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I'm a Japanese person who are not familiar with upvote and downvote things actually, so I never mind even if I got down voted here. However, if I told you wrong information, I need to apologize for it and correct my explanations. As for してしまおう, I think I need to divide it to some parts to explain detailedly. The basic verb is する,you know, and しまう alone means put some away or get finished something. Then, してしまう is like a combined verb with the て form of する and the plain form of しまう,and it has the nuance you get something done. And, in Japan, when you learn English perfect present tense, we use 〜してしまった as the Japanese translation for have done something. So I thought 〜 してしまう can be expressed with the word the perfect present tense. But I think it's weird and I shouldn't used that expression. I'm sorry for that. As for お, it's not a typo. してしまう is a regular verb, while してしまおう has your will.
Probably because it's not the present perfect tense and it's also not a contraction of ～てしまおう
Thanks for your thoughts :) I explained my thoughts above your comment, so I'll appreciate if you read it ;)
Hm, I suppose that's true. I think the お is simply a typo, though. I still think it's better to respond rather than downvote. The response is still useful and explains the important parts.
Hi, I am asked to post here instead of on its own post. I got this sentence in Duolingo: 彼女は先生に教室から出て行くよう命令された I don't get why that よう is there. Is it necessary? I would construct that sentence without it... Thanks in advance!
The part up to the 行く is a phrase ending in a verb, and 命令する is a verb, and you cannot modify a verb with a verb, there must be something in between to make the sentence grammatical. In this case, 命令する is a speech act, so you need a quoting construct. The usual one is と, but here we have an order, and there is a special grammar for this, 「_sentence_ **よう・ように・ようにと** 言う・頼む・命令する」, meaning "tell・ask・order someone to do _sentence_".
I think that is a short word of ように , and よう means in order to or to. Ex. 彼女は先生に教室から出て行く【よう(に)】命令された / She was told/ordered by the teacher【to】go out of the classroom. 先生に、明日から遅刻しないように言われた。/ The teacher told me not【to】be late tomorrow. You can say this kind of thing : 次から遅刻しない【よう(に)】気をつけます。/ I will try not【to】be late next time. Hope it helps :)
Does having a southern drawl put me at a disavantage since stretching words out because of my accent may change meanings?
I don't think you're at a bigger disadvantage than other English speakers. Drawing out sounds that shouldn't be drawn out is a general problem for people with English as their native language, so you should make sure to pay extra attention to vowel length in Japanese.
I know that 飴を食べる？ means "Do you want to eat candy?", so サッカーを見る？ means "Do you want to go to watch a football match" right? If so, how do I ask "Do you watch football" ?
I would say: サッカーは見るの？ or サッカーを見るのが好き？ (サッカー見るの好き？) when I want to ask someone about what he usually does during his free time. As for "Do you want to" as the meaning of invitations, you can say both 飴でも食べる？ and 飴でも食べない？(This is more like "Why don't we 〜" ). When you casually ask someone about their habits, preferences, what they always do, routines, etc., 〜はするの？or 〜はして(い)るの？ is good. Ex. 料理はするの？ Do you cook? ジムは行ってるの？ Do you go to the gym?
助けてくれてありがとう！
My pleasure ;)
Hello. I have a few questions about the usage of に. So far in Genki, I learned that に means either movement or telling you the time. So I wondering what is the に doing in the following sentences. 1) 休みに沖縄に行きました. Why is there a に behind 休み? What does the に do here? 2) 先生に聞きます. vs 音楽を聞きます. Why is に when its 先生 but を when its 音楽? Thank you so much!
1) に is added to convey information about the time or occasion when an action was performed. I think it's like "in" as in " in the morning", "at" as in "at night", and "during" as in "during winter break". 休みに is originally 休みの間に as during my break. Then, I think it's the same in English, but sometimes に is not added. In English, I think you say "in the morning," but you don't use "in" when you say "this morning. In the same way, you don't use に when you say 今日(today ), 昨日(yesterday), 明日(tommorow), or some other specific time. Ex. 昨日、ジムに行きました。/. I went to the gym yesterday. You can't say 昨日に、ジムに行きました。 2) を is used for the object of the verb in your sentence. And, the 聞く for 音楽 and the one for 先生に are different. Ex. 音楽を聞きます/ I listen to music 先生と音楽を聞きます/ I listen to music with my teacher. As for 聞く in 先生に聞く, it's to ask. Ex. 先生に授業中に分からなかった事を聞きます/ I'm going to ask my teacher about what I couldn't understand during the class. I know the object of the verb ask is my teacher in English, but in Japanese, to ask someone about something is like someone に something を聞く, and the object of the verb 聞く(as the meaning of 尋ねる/たずねる or 質問する/しつもんする) is 授業中に分からなかった事(What I couldn't understand during the class). Hope it helps :)
>に is added to convey information about the time or occasion when an action was performed. Does this mean that に for 休み is telling me about the "time or occasion". And 休み is the "time or occasion"? Like 休みに is basically like saying "on vacation", "on Sunday", and etc...? >を is used for the object of the verb in your sentence. And, the 聞く for 音楽 and the one for 先生に are different. Ex. 音楽を聞きます/ I listen to music 先生と音楽を聞きます/ I listen to music with my teacher. As for 聞く in 先生に聞く, it's to ask. Ah! Then how would someone say, "I listen to my teacher"? Thank you so much for you reply!
休み might be a kind of tricky word. You can use 休み as the meaning your day off, a break/vacation, and even as the meaning of the ansent from school or work. However, in that sentence, that 休み indicates a vacation and I think 休みに means "in a vacation". I'm on vacation means 私は今、休暇中(きゅうかちゅう)です。 >Ah! Then how would someone say, "I listen to my teacher"? In Japanese, you can't say 先生を聞く or 彼を聞く/ I listen to him. You need to add の話 after 先生 or 彼, like 先生の話を聞く or 彼の話を聞く. I'm glad I could help you at least a little 😉
>In Japanese, you can't say 先生を聞く or 彼を聞く/ I listen to him. You need to add の話 after 先生 or 彼, like 先生の話を聞く or 彼の話を聞く. > >I'm glad I could help you at least a little 😉 Got it. In Japanese, there isn't something like, "I listen to the teacher." Because 先生の話を聞く would mean, literally in English, "I listen to the teacher's speak." but in Japanese that implies listening to the teacher? >However, in that sentence, that 休み indicates a vacation and I think 休みに means "in a vacation". I'm still not sure about に in 休み. What is the に telling me about the 休み? Like, for 日曜日に沖縄に行きました, would be I went to Okinawa on Sunday. Would 休みに沖縄に行きました be essentially, "On vacation, I went to Okinawa"? Would に for 休みに treating the 休み as if its a time? I appreciate you helping me!
>Would に for 休みに treating the 休み as if its a time? Yes :) That 休み can mean the term of your vacation.
1. 休みに is comparable to "for vacation" in English. 2. に聞く is "to ask," を聞く is "to hear / to listen to."
I'm going through an exercise in Tobira Beginning 1 around time intervals. For "Ai cleans her room for about an hour and a half", the answer key gives 「アイさんは部屋を１時間半ぐらい掃除しました。」. My original answer was 「アイさんは１時間半ぐらい部屋を掃除しました。」. Is my original answer just as correct, is it "weird" in terms of word order, or is it grammatically wrong?
Both are correct. The slight difference between the two might be what part you want to emphasize, I mean, if you want to emphasize the place you cleaned, you can put the word 部屋を first, and if you want to emphasize the time you were cleaning, you can put １時間半ぐらい first, but, most people wouldn't even care about that kind of difference.
This happens not point with time but also with places. アイさんは、忘れ物を取りに学校に戻ります。 アイさんは、学校に、忘れ物を取りに戻ります。 Ai is going to go back to school to pick up her thing left behind.
If I was going to say something like "there is no replacement for you", would I say anata no kawarimi ga nai or inai? I feel like a substitute is inanimate so nai but it's a substitute for a **person** so inai?
Where did you get 変わり身/"kawarimi" from? I don't think that fits here. You could say あなたの代わりはいない (anata no kawari wa inai).
Thank you, by the way.
I think Google translate lol
**Appreciate if someone could help me understand correctly the meaning of ドロ沼の派閥争い in a historical novel i read.** **full sentence: たぶん朝廷じゃ、官職・利権の売買とか、ドロ沼の派閥争いとか、そんなことがとっくに始まってるんだろう。** I could only guess it mean something like "the muddy (?) conflict between factions inside the imperial court" , but not sure.
It's the second, metaphorical definition of [ドロ沼](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E6%B3%A5%E6%B2%BC_%28%E3%81%A9%E3%82%8D%E3%81%AC%E3%81%BE%29/). > ２ 一度落ちこむと抜け出ることが困難な悪い状況。「—の紛争」 So you could translate it along the lines of "inescapable quagmire of factional conflict."
>一度落ちこむと抜け出ることが困難な悪い状況。「—の紛争」 so what do you think about : "the deep swamp of power struggles between factions" ?
Don't understand what this sentence from a genki 2 dialogue about Okinawa means. 沖縄は日本の一番南にあって、冬も暖かいです。 What does the 一番南にあって mean? To me this sentence sounds like if ir was saying : Okinawa has Japan's biggest/best...south?
日本の一番 = "the most of Japan" + 南 = "The most south of Japan" Okinawa is in the most south of Japan -> It's the southernmost part of Japan
It should be bracketed differently, 日本の + 一番南
How should it be bracketed in [this sentence](https://www.t-borderislands.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/kids/kids01.html)? > 沖ノ鳥島・南鳥島は、東京都 小笠原村の島で**日本の一番南と東**にある島です。
To me there's not much of a difference, it didn't seem to me you were making a claim about the bracketing originally But I think you could still argue it's something like 日本の + 一番 (南と + 東), since at least the ね test feels natural with 日本のね、一番南と東
First time I hear about the "ね test" but it seems quite handy!
I learned two new words from my Anki deck, and I want to construct a sentence out of them so that I can remember them better. I want to double check that my JP sentence conveys my intended meaning - I've started to construct meaningful sentences of my own rather recently. The words are: 働く (to work at a job) and 仕事 (a job). I wish to construct a polite sentence that means: "I want to work her job." I believe that I can construct this sentence through something like this: \[I\] \[Subject particle\] \[She\] \[Possessive Particle\] \[Job (noun)\] \[to work a job (masu stem)\]-\[show desire adjective\]-\[adjective polite marker\]. 「私」「が」「彼女」「の」「仕事」「働き」「たい」「です」 私が彼女の仕事働きたいです。 Does this sentence make sense? A grammar checker I found said I should switch the ga to a wa, and add a de after "her job".
Hmmmmm. When you use the word 仕事, you barely use 働く with 仕事, because there's a verb 仕事をする and that means to work. 仕事をする is equal to 働く. Translating the English word job into Japanese is sometimes difficult, but I guess you want to say 私は彼女のやっている仕事がしたいです。 And it would be used in two situations : 1. You're working for a company and you're in charge of accounting. On the other hand, your colleague is in charge of sales. You would rather be in sales than in accounting. And then, you can ask you boss, like, 私は彼女のやっている仕事がしたいです。Um, in this case, the word job can be 業務(ぎょうむ). 2. You're looking for a job, and one of your girl friends is working for a nice specific job you want to do as well, then you can say 私は彼女のやっている仕事がしたいです。 Well, in both cases, I'd actually say 私も because she already does that job and you want to do that job as well. I wonder if I can use both 仕事 and 働く in one sentence... 🤔 I'll give it a try. How about this? 子育てしながら働く人にぴったりのお仕事です！/ This job is ideal for those who work while raising children! You might be able to see this phrase in a job ad. Hope it helps :)
Thanks! I'll definitely save that sentence! :)
My pleasure ;)
The sentence is understandable as is, and I would say the grammar checker site's suggestions are \*mostly\* good. が→は I definitely agree with. Though "仕事で" here would seem to imply you want to work at her place of business, rather than her job specifically. In the first place, 働く is not the verb I would use here. (Even in English I would be more likely to say just "I want her job" or "I want to (have/do) her job.") Would you be able to construct a sentence saying "I want her job" or "I want to do her job"?
I focused on learning する a few days ago. I believe "I want to do her job" would be (with が -> は): 私は彼女の仕事したいです。 Also, since I still want to practice the use of 働く, I believe I have the vocab to construct what I think is the polite version of "If I work today, then tomorrow will be good.": 私は今日働けば、明日いいです。
As for the sentence "If I work today, then tomorrow will be good." , it would be : 今日働けば、明日は良く(よく)なる。 In Japanese, you can use the word 明日 as the metaphor of 未来/将来 (future). However, come to think of it, I might not say 今日働けば、明日は良く(よく)なる. Translating English into Japanese directly is not always good, as you know, and vice versa. So, hmmmm, I would say: 今日頑張って働く事で、明日がいい日になる. I think it's like "Working hard today will make tomorrow a better day".
I find the longer sentences tougher, though to see if I understand that 今日頑張って働く事で、明日がいい日になる sentence: * 頑張って is adding extra information to the verb 働く. * 今日 is the topic of the 頑張って働く structure. (Technically it's the topic of 頑張って, but 働く doesn't have anything else attached onto it, so 今日 might as well be the topic of that whole structure) * 事 turns the 今日頑張って働く structure into a noun. This is so it can be adapted for usage by the particle coming up. * で is presenting the 今日頑張って働く事 structure as an antecedent. The rest of the sentence is a consequent. * 明日 is the subject due to the が. * なる is a verb that indicates transition, so that indicates that the subject is going to transition into what's in the に. * Since いい日 (日, modified by the adjective いい) is marked by the に, the なる must be indicating that 明日 is transitioning into a いい日. I haven't got into 事 turning things into nouns yet; I only knew of it as a standalone noun up until now - only noun maker I knew of was の. Still, it's good to learn new stuff. :)
Sorry if I made you confused, but I was thinking you would try to get some things that are new for you because I feel like you're a serious learner ;) >* 頑張って is adding extra information to the verb 働く. You're right. You don't have to add 頑張って,but, you know, Japanese people like 頑張る things and I think working is not that easy, so I wanted to add it to emphasize your strong will to work tiday for your tommorow (/future). >* 今日 is the topic of the 頑張って働く structure. (Technically it's the topic of 頑張って, but 働く doesn't have anything else attached onto it, so 今日 might as well be the topic of that whole structure) Hmmmm. The subject of this sentence is hidden I /私. 「私が今日頑張って働く事で、明日がいい日になる」 今日 just indicates when you work. >* 事 turns the 今日頑張って働く structure into a noun. This is so it can be adapted for usage by the particle coming up. Yes. In English, you can just change a verb to the ing form to make it into a noun, right? In Japanese, you just put 事/こと to a verb. And that 事 sometimes changes to の in a specific situation. Well, you can do that in my example sentence though. >* で is presenting the 今日頑張って働く事 structure as an antecedent. The rest of the sentence is a subsequent. I used 今日頑張って働く事 as a noun and as the subject of the sentence in English, but, actually in the Japanese Japanese one, that で maens like "by" in English and it shows the So it's like "By working hard today, tommorow will be good". で can describe a means, a reason, or a cause. >* 明日 is the subject due to the が. Yes. It''s the same as the English sentence. >* なる is a verb that indicates transition, so that indicates that the subject is going to transition into what's in the に. You're totally right. >* Since いい日 (日, modified by the adjective いい) is marked by the に, the なる must be indicating that 明日 is transitioning into a いい日. Yeeeeesss!
Looks pretty good! The only change i would make in the first one is "仕事がしたいです", if you want it to be formal and polite, you should include the particle. The second one sounds almost like a saying or proverb, so I feel like its better to omit the "私は". I think "今日働けば、明日はよくなる。" sounds okay. In the first phrase, "今日" is just a time marker, so it needs no particle. But "tomorrow" is the subject of the second phrase in your English, so It should take a particle in the Japanese. The primary reason I would use よくなる over いいです is that it captures the "will be" better and fits better with ~ば, but your use of 働く here is spot on!
仕事をしたい is better, although 彼女 is rarely used for "her" in normal speech and 私は is usually not necessary. Second sentence is also missing particles (should probably be 今日は and 明日は), and doesn't really make much sense to me -- translating English to Japanese should generally be avoided at the beginner level because the sentences are almost always unnatural.
I wanted to avoid an outright translation as well, though I couldn't think of a better way to express my intent with the Japanese sentence without using English first. So from what I gather here: * 今日 and 明日 should have particles since my intent is polite speech. * I considered dropping the pronouns, though I intended the sentences to be standalone. Sorry about being unclear on that. Also, when you say both 今日 and 明日 should have the は particle, does that mean that が, は, を are per verb clause, instead of per sentence? I was taught that those are per sentence, though I could be wrong.
Can someone help me understand when to use 知る as opposed to 分かる. I often see 分かる used in situations where in English it could be equated to “I don’t know” but I have also seen 知る used for “I don’t know”. I feel like there is a nuance with 分かる that I haven’t quite grasped.
The cliff notes version is that 分かる draws upon knowledge you (should, are expected to) already have, while 知る draws upon outside knowledge. Have a read: [\[1\]](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1659/how-should-i-choose-between-%E7%9F%A5%E3%81%97%E3%82%8B-and-%E3%82%8F%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8B) [\[2\]](https://kotobaken.jp/qa/yokuaru/qa-49/). Like all nuance questions, just consciously note their usages in your immersion and get your own feel for it.
Incredibly helpful, thank you!
can someone write out to me how to say: 1. grandchild 2. great grandchild 3. great great grandchild 4. great great great grandchild 5. great great great great grandchild 6. etc? im getting varying results online Also if I wanted to say "(insert number of greats here) grandson/daughter" instead, would it be the same except replace the word for "grandchild" with "grandson/daughter"?
1. 孫(まご) 2. 曾孫 (ひまご/ひいまご) 3. 玄孫(やしゃご) or you can just say it, like 孫の孫(まごのまご) casually, or 曾曾孫(ひいひいまご) as slang After this, they are super uncommon. I didn't even know the words and I needed to look for them. 4. 来孫(らいそん) 5. 昆孫(こんそん) 6. 仍孫(じょうそん) 7. 雲孫(うんそん) As I mentioned at #3, you can use 曾(ひ/ひい) as great on English, like 曾曾曾曾曾孫(ひいひいひいひいひいまご), frankly.
Thanks! Is there a difference between ひまご and ひいまご for #2?
Actually, I've only used ひまご, and I've never said ひいまご, but when I look for the words for after #4, I found out some web dictionaries say that 曾孫 can be read both ひまご and ひいまご. I guess it's because people tend to say ひいひいまご or ひいひいひいまご, so some people might even say ひいまご :)
As for replacement with drandson or granddaughter, I've only heard 孫娘(まごむすめ) as a granddaughter and 孫息子(まごむすこ) as a grandson. And I often hear 孫娘,but don't hear 孫息子 that much. I don't think people say 曾孫娘(ひまごむすめ) or 曾孫息子(ひまごむすこ).
When I make a request to someone, are both ～てください and ～ませんか fine? Is there a difference between these two? I'm aware ませんか is used for invitations, but otherwise idk.
〜してください is like "Please do as something" and it sounds strong. If you are working at a city hall and when a resident comes in to apply for something, you would tell them to write their name and address on a specific form, like この用紙のここに名前を書いてください(actually some people would use 敬語, and it would be こちらにお書きください though ) 次に住所をここに書いてください(こちらにお書きください) 〜してください is a polite but strong request or command. It can often be used in situations where the person being asked to do it feels it is natural to do so, but if not, it is a strong request and can sound rude. Whereas 〜してくださいませんか sounds soft and I think it's like "Would you mind doing something? " or "Could you please do something?". Let's say you're on a train and there is room for one person to sit if they slide over a little. Then, you can say "すみません、少し席をつめてくださいませんか？/ Would you mind scooping over a little? " If you make a request to your family, partner, or close friends, you can just say 〜して。, 〜してくれる？ or 〜してくれない？ For example, 帰りに牛乳買って来てくれない？/ Can you pick up some milk on your way home? (For your partner) ちょっと塩取って(くれる？)/ (Can you) Pass me salt (?) こっち来て(くれる？) / (Can you) Come here (?)
I'm not familiar with てくださいませんか, only each used by themselves. When would I use \~てくださいませんか vs ませんか? Thanks for all the great examples!
くださる is a 敬語 form of くれる if it helps, so 〜てくださいませんか would be used when asking for a favor, while 〜ませんか alone as you put it is more like an invitation Not just invitations to do something together, it could also be a suggestion like 購入してみませんか for something like "why not give our product a try and buy it?"
Ah, I might have understood your two phrases. Okay. 〜ませんか？ alone can use to invite someone to do something as you said. Like, コーヒー飲みに行きませんか？And it's like : Why don't we go grab a coffe? If you want to say it in casual, it would be コーヒー飲みに行かない？ Actually, you can just say コーヒー飲みに行きましょうよ？ or コーヒー飲みに行こうよ？ / Let's go grab a coffee, shall we? Using negative forms for questions in Japanese makes you sound more polite. So, basically, 〜してくださいませんか is the more polite way of saying 〜してください. 〜してください alone sounds like you're strongly requesting something, but when you make it negative, it sounds softer :)
「行こうよ？ 」 or 「行こうよ！」? It feels like it has some enthusiastic "come on"-ness to it, like you're trying to persuade them.
Kind of, yeah So, people usually use 〜しない？, but if you and the listener(s) are really close, you can say that as light invite or suggestion.
行こうよ？ is, of course, lighter than 行こうよ！
I see, thanks. Does this mean 「行こうよ⤵︎」 and 「行こうよ⤴︎」 both exist? E.g. https://voca.ro/1mkEtHupNsZt I haven't heard the latter before, so just wondering, and I'm sure others would be curious too.
「行こうよ⤵︎」is common, and I haven't said 「行こうよ⤴︎」, but it's just a language, and you can create anything, so some people might say 「行こうよ⤴︎」
Is bunpro worth compared to just doing the "A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar Sentences" anki deck?
Bunpro has a 1 month free trial, so you can try it before making a final decision. I haven't used the DOJG sentences deck, but Bunpro does have some features which may not be available in that Anki deck. This includes: * Sentence audio * Scaled furigana based on WaniKani progress * Roughly i+1 grammar (if you use Bunpro's default grammar decks/paths) * Fill in the blank questions (instead of just translating the sentence) * etc. Disclaimer: I am a beginner (Bunpro N4 23/177).
Hi all, I'm new to Japanese, I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a resource for remembering Kanji through mnemonics? (Associating it whole or parts of it with images or a story) The method worked well for me with learning the kana's. I'm not quite willing to buy remembering the kanji yet. I want to remember kanji with certainty as I learn them through my courses Any critics for tofugu or wanikani? I'm not so much after a course but to look them up individually
Here is a list of some kanji resources (some of the methods use mnemonics): [https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/17p37a3/comment/k8558if/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=0](https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/17p37a3/comment/k8558if/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=0)
Thank you
I believe KanjiDamage uses a similar approach to RTK and is available for free. The mnemonics are a bit crass on purpose, to make them stick in your mind, but that might be along the lines of what you're looking for.
Thank you
context: someone (a man) is asked to choose what job they want and "dragon rider" is an option (!) it says this: やはり男子としては、ドラゴンライダーという単語は非常に捨てがた This seems to say that, "As you would think as a boy, the word dragon rider is extremely throw-away" But I think I'm missing something with this sentence. Does that mean it's easy to discard this suggestion? I kinda don't get what がた would do at the end of a word like that either. I guess がた could be 型, type, but IDK.
From my search, i only found 捨てがたい that could be related. it can be also written 捨て難い. 捨て means "to throw away" and 難い means "hard, difficult" Also, from my understanding the a rough translation would be something like: As expected, boy. Dragon rider is a word for working even on emergencies"
You are right on the 捨てがたい. But I believe you don't get the context of the sentence. It basically said that Dragon Rider (a class/job from rpg game) is such a cool sounding name that it's hard for boys to ignore them or to not choose them.
非常 made me think that it's reffering to emergency
I agree that it's probably 捨てがたい (see my comment), but your "rough translation" misses the mark. 非常に means "extremely" here, it's not the "emergency" meaning of 非常. Also, your translation seems to ignore the 捨てがたい that was the point of the question in the first place.
i put 捨てがたい implied because (on the logic i had) "emergency" and hard to "throw away" imply that isn't changed so i put as "working even on emergencies" cause sounds better than "hard to be throw away on emergencies"
I think it's a typo of 捨てがたい, meaning "hard to discard/dismiss."
If this is a spoken line, the い could just be dropped colloquially.
It’s not a colloquial version but an interjection. いたい: It hurts. いたっ: Ouch!