302 Answered Questions for the topic Japanese

Japanese Grammar Set Phrases

03/26/19

Why does　なんてね　mean "Just kidding"?
I very often see なんてね or some similar phrase being translated to "Just kidding"? but why does it mean this and how does the grammar behind it work?
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Japanese Grammar Word Choice

03/26/19

Is there a difference between からすると and からして？
These two phrases seem to have very similar usage and I'm unable to determine the difference between them. The examples I have are: > 彼は服装からしてだらしない。きっと他の面も同じだろう。 > *kare ha fukusou... more
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Japanese Grammar Time Tense

03/26/19

How do I say "before" or "used to" in Japanese?
朝、作文を書いた時、疑問に思いました。 How can I say something like: > I didn't use to like this band. > Before, I didn't like this band.
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03/26/19

I don't understand what のも means in this sentence?
Here's the sentence in question: > 生まれた**のも**育った**のも**京都なんですよ I thought using の in a sentence signified possession (ie. 私の本 [My book]). If I interpret the sentence as such, it doesn't make any... more
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03/26/19

Function of the sentence final particle こと in this sentence?
I am wondering what is the correct way to interpret the こと in this sentence: >どこかへお花見に行きませんこと。 It is an example sentence found in the book "All About Particles" (page 120). It's described as... more
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Japanese Grammar

03/26/19

Positioning of quantities (using counters)?
**Example 1** > ビール一杯を飲む >一杯のビールを飲む >ビールを一杯飲む **Example 2** > ネジ2本を取り付ける >2本のネジを取り付ける > ネジを2本取り付ける Is there any difference between the above examples with the positioning... more
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Japanese Grammar Usage Nuances

03/26/19

ねば in 食べねば; relation between ねば and なければ?
I would like to know a bit more about the "ねば" grammatical construction. Every now and then, I hear people say sentences like > 東京に行かねばならぬ > 粘々丼を食べねば倒れる > なんとかせねばいい It's quite clear... more
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03/26/19

can we omit verbs when speaking casually?
I've heard that we can usually omit nouns and stuff like that, but can we actually omit verbs or must they still be there? Example sentence: アイツ帰るなり、すぐに部屋にな～ **Edit** Can we omit verbs in the... more
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Japanese Grammar Puns

03/26/19

What is the meaning of putting あれ at the end of these statements?
I saw an ad for Indeed today that had a couple tag lines with an あれ at the end, and I don't understand their use: 求人募集【きゅうじんぼしゅう】にサーチあれ。 仕事【しごと】、バイトさがしにサーチあれ。 Normally I'd assume that あれ would... more
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Japanese Grammar

03/23/19

How does this ように work?
>今年も良い年でありますように！ I hope you have another good year! What is going on exactly where the ように means hope? Does the よう derive from a verb? I would also like to know how to describe this word in the... more
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03/22/19

相手の日本人 or 日本人の相手?
If I wanted to describe the person I was speaking about as being Japanese, to me it seems natural to say: > 日本人{にほんじん}の相手{あいて} ... however, one time a Japanese teacher told me it's more... more
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03/21/19

Double subject construction?
I've recently been having trouble with constructions that seem to mark two subjects in the same clause. I've only encountered them in ～の方が... constructions, but I can't seem to make sense of them... more
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Japanese Grammar Word Choice

03/21/19

The difference between からすると、から見ると、から言うと?
Are there any differences between these three sets: >からして、からすると、からすれば vs. >から見て、から見ると、から見れば vs. >から言って、から言うと、から言えば These 'sets' seem to be used in 2 basic ways: 1. Presents... more
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Japanese Grammar

03/21/19

How to say "a year has 12 months"?
一年は十二ヶ月があります. I'm trying to say "a year has 12 months" or "there are 12 months in a year." Is the above sentence correct?
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Japanese Grammar

03/21/19

What does 「学校が学校」, 「年が年」and such mean exactly?
So I came across this sentence when reading "Kokoro" by Natsume Souseki: > ...友達は中国のある資産家の息子で金に不自由のない男であったけれども、**学校が学校なのと年が年なので**、生活の程度は私とそう変りもしなかった。 And a translation says: > ...My... more
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03/21/19

Japanese Buts: でも, しかし, ただ, ただし, ところが, が, けど, けれど, けれども?
I'm sure someone asked a similar question but I did a search and couldn't find any. Usually I just translate everything into but, but (no pun intended) I think it's about time I got into the nitty... more
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03/21/19

What is the purpose of the suffix "さ" on adjectives?
What is the purpose of the suffix "さ" on adjectives like 美しさ and 多さ? The former is the title of an essay by Banana Yoshimoto, so I don't have much context for it. The book editors translated it as... more
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03/19/19

Does the nominalizer 〜の require the adnominal form before it? If yes, why?
A while back I was trying to break down 〜なの, and this is what I decided on (with the help of some of Bart Mathias's posts on mailing lists). ---------- My hypothesis is that the nominalizer 〜の... more
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Japanese Grammar Usage Nuances

03/19/19

Difference between 向かう, 向く, 向ける?
From my understanding 向ける　is transitive and means to face/turn something towards something. > 安藤は日本国内から世界に目を向けたのです。 > > -Andou turned his eyes from inside Japan to the world. 向く　on the... more
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Japanese Grammar Particles

03/19/19

How to say "also" or "too"?
The sentence "I also ate in Tokyo" can mean three different things: >*(Aside from my friends who ate there), I also ate in Tokyo.* >*(Aside from the other places where I tried local... more
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Japanese Grammar

03/19/19

How to say regrets [I should not have X]?
How in the world does this: > 晩ご飯を食べるんじゃなかった。 translate as "I should not have eaten breakfast"? This roughly translates as "It was not that I eat breakfast."
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03/19/19

「～たじゃない」 expression in spoken Japanese?
I noticed in an anime I watched, one of the characters said something like below: > さっき食べたじゃない。 And what I think the meaning is: Didn't you just eat a few while ago? From what I have learned... more
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Japanese Grammar Verbs Future

03/19/19

Does the volitional form of a verb mean both "let's" and "I want to"?
I was taught ages ago that the volitional form of a verb means "let's" do something. For example, if you take `行{い}く` and change it to `行{い}こう`, you get "let's go". However, I feel like I can use... more
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03/19/19

Usage of ～じゃん (～じゃない)?
I'd like to know if I can put ～じゃん at the end of every adjective, if there are any exceptions to that usage, and if it's different from ～じゃない. **Adj (na) + じゃん** > 便利じゃん > 便利だったじゃん >... more
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03/19/19

How is 何者にもなれない translated?
> 何者にもなれない Let's break it down... *何も here means nothing (with negatives) *者 means people *に is the target particle *なる means to become *なれない is the negative potential of なる How in the... more
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